Moose calibre?

[WildRose]

When I was a lot younger I lived in Alaska during the late 70's, the only rifle I had was a Remington 700 in 270 Win and I only used 130 PSP Remington ammo. Killed lots of big game animals including ole' grizz. I shot 2 moose with that 270 but it took 2 rounds each. All other big game animals were one shot drop in your tracks dead. If I was to do that all over again I would be packing the 338 Wim Mag. Great for moose and great for ole' grizz.

The trouble with Moose is just the amount of hide, fat, muscle, bone you have to penetrate to get to the vitals.

That is literally why the Nosler Partition was invented. Old man Nosler put several killing shots at close range into a moose and watched it walk away so he went home and started working on a better penetrating bullet that would still expand.

The one complaint you'll hear consistently is that they don't expand enough for people on light bodied animals but that's a matter of not selecting the proper bullet to start with and then failing to put it in the right spot.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

For most of us who don't live near moose inhabited lands, a moose hunt is a big deal and can involve spending a fair amount of time and money.

I've got plenty of guns that are capable of taking a moose. However, all things considered, I'd rather be over-gunned than under-gunned when/if an opportunity arises to take an exceptional bull.

I'd love to take a nice moose with my 45-70 but as luck would have it last year my opportunity to take a bull came at 315yds. Thankfully, I brought my 338RUM and had been practicing regularly at 400yds.

 

[mcseal2]

I'm taking my 300 win mag with 180gr Nosler E tip ammunition when I head to AK on the 17th. My buddy that's going and my rifles both shoot that ammo well. The 180gr E tip is moving 2896fps on average over the chronograph and I think it should do the job fine. It will be nice having both rifles shoot the same ammo on a trip like that.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Good luck. It sounds like you will be well armed. It will be interesting to see if a moose can actually stop one of those bullets.

 

[CODzilla]

Shot my Idaho Shiras with an open sighted 30-06 pushing 220 gr Sierra Pro Hunters. I shot him 3x (each shot was lethal, but wanted to ensure he didn't go anywhere) and only recovered one bullet under the off side hide. He went about 5 yards.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I shot a 15 pt bull on the point of his shoulder with a 250gr Accubond. The bullet traveled through both shoulders as the bull flipped over backwards. DRT

I was lucky enough to recover the bullet in the off-side hide. When it comes to bullet recovery, ya just never know.

 

[NDF]

Just finished a moose hunt with a good friend, his was a archery tag and he killed a 40" shiras in Idaho, my observation is this your 06 & 7mag are plenty of gun, shoot a bullet designed to retain weight and penetrate, heavy for caliber as your rifle shoots best, shoot till there down, takes em' awhile to realize there dead and you don't realize how big they are till it's time for the knife to come out, good luck

 

[mcseal2]

Both 180gr E tips from the 300 WM exited the moose at 300 yards.

Interestingly I did stop one in my whitetail buck. I shot him right inside the shoulder quartering toward me at 370 yards and it stopped under the hide in front of the opposite hind quarter. Impact velocity should have been a little over 2000fps. It mushroomed well and looked really good.

 

[Paparock]

I envy anyone who has harvested a moose! While living in Wyoming for ten years I sent in my application and money each year yet never got picked for a license. Of course where I hunted elk I was up to my eyeballs in moose. My best friend and I used to joke about them during the rut as being "landmines" as we had to dodge them going up this one valley in Western Wyoming. We often were within 50 yards or less of them making sure we were down wind of them. In one huge valley east of Jackson Hole we counted over 60 head. I think the dang things knew we had no licenses and were showing off. One of our friends was 38 years old and a native of Wyoming and had never got a license yet. I heard after I transferred out of Wyoming after they closed the Amoco Refinery where I worked that Wyoming finally instituted a point system so you received points for every year you applied but did not get picked toward getting a license. It was way past time for that to happen!

 

[Beaver10]

Ok you ridge runners,, What caliber of rifle would recomend for Moose hunting?
I have .3006 03A3s and Remington 7MM Mags in my safe.

Question: are you hunting rut, or after the rut...Rut hunting, your 06 would be perfect for Bullwinkle coming hard into calls. After the rut, you could find benefit in the extra flat shooting reach of your 7mag.

 

[Deane]

In 2008 I was drawn for a cow tag in my home state of Maine. Third day we spotted a cow feeding in a cut as we were driving along. She was uphill and facing slightly away to my left. The brush didn't allow for a body shot. From 75 yards one 150gr from 270 placed right behind the ear dropped her so fast that I didn't see it happen. She might half heartedly kicked.

I'd feel comfortable using that same caliber with a better bullet on a larger moose. If I was going into grizzly country I'd want a bigger rifle, big handgun or someone with a 12 guage if they didn't have a rifle.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Ok you ridge runners,, What caliber of rifle would recomend for Moose hunting?
I have .3006 03A3s and Remington 7MM Mags in my safe.

I used the 06 with 180 grain partition bullets and never needed anything else, all superb results. Accurate shot placement is the most important factor regardless of any caliber. I have experimented with 180 grain partitions vs 200 grain and could not find any differences. I guess 165 grain mono metals might be all you need nowadays?

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I used the 06 with 180 grain partition bullets and never needed anything else, all superb results. Accurate shot placement is the most important factor regardless of any caliber. I have experimented with 180 grain partitions vs 200 grain and could not find any differences. I guess 165 grain mono metals might be all you need nowadays?

The OP posted that question 8 years ago. I'm guessing he made his selection by now.

 

[WildRose]

The OP posted that question 8 years ago. I'm guessing he made his selection by now.

There's a gremlin somewhere that brings these threads up to where they're visible and we reply. If after you reply you notice the date of the original it's like, "Where did that come from"?

Aske me how I know... .