Big Game- One caliber rifle------ 3 animals, ----blk bear, Moose, and Elk

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338 win 165-300 gr bullet who do you go wrong?



For a 1 gun that does it all, I would agree. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I did that for several years. I liked the old 308 Norma Mag with 180 grain Noslers, then went to the 8mm Rem mag and 220 grain Sierra's.

This worked well in Alaska for the big bears and Moose and caribou and back in Idaho for deer, black bear and elk. Been shooting that rifle since 1978 for everything bigger than coyotes. Got to agree that the Win 338 mag or the new Rem 338 Ultra would do as well.

Lots of good guns out there that will work. Black bear are fairly easy to put down, same with moose. Elk on the other hand can be tough critters and when wounded can go a long ways in brush and timber that can leave a person wondering how the heck they got thru. I gave up the heart lung shot on them years ago and just put one thru the front shoulders anymore. Remove their means of locomotion and they won't go far (hopefully).

Corse you gotta realize I'm an expert and have the pix to prove it.

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When you you include elk I prefer .30 caliber, whether it be .308, .30-06, 300 win mag, .338...... My personal favorite has been the .300 wm or wsm which I have put many animals down quickly & easily. Long term performers with gun models & ammo available nearly anywhere for a reasonable price.
 
i have taken all three and i used the 30-378 weatherby also took my musk ox with it not to much you cant take with it i used 180gr nosler partitions on all except the musk ox i used 200gr partitions and all performed great.
 
I'm assuming that Bear includes Kodiak.

Anything between a .30-06 (180 gr.) and .340 Weatherby (250 gr. NP) will do it. Shoot what you like, tolerate what you can, less energy/bullet weight vs. more recoil, your choice.
 
MIne is the 300Win MAg with 180gr Accubonds, but my wife its the 270WSM with 140gr Accubonds. The 270WSM with 140 gr AB's sure is impressing me in the field.
 
Not me but was with my friend when he shot an 850 lbs cow Moose she went 25 yard and dropped. He shot it with a .270 win with 130 gr. bullet. Complete pass through and turned her lungs into scrambled eggs. Have a friend that is a black bear hunting guide and he says that it kills them just fine so doesn't a 30-30, .308, 30-06, 7mm-08, and so on. I'm sure it would take an Elk down too but until they migrate to Maine I will never know. Got my Moose permit this year and plan on taking it with my .44 mag Super blackhawk hunter but my trusty .270 win will be with me too.

Bullet placement and knowing your own limits and your rifle's limits will be the deciding factor in which is the best caliber. A poor shot is a poor shot no matter what caliber. Good luck on harvesting all 3.

I have a question for you elk hunters. What makes the elk so much harder to take down than a Moose or black bear? No expierence here on elk, a heart is a heart and a lung is a lung rupture those and presto death. They can't be structurely that much different then a Moose or are they? This is just a question not a statement.

 
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Elk are very tough animals. I dont know the exact reason, but they are way tougher then a black bear or moose.

The black bear and moose, relative to there size are not hard to bring down. On the other hand, a big bull elk is about twice as hard to bring down on a consistent basis. Elk very rarely give you that "1 shot drop" unless you take out both shoulders..They just plain soak up a lot of lead. I"ve had 1 shot drops with the 300 WM and 300 RUM, but they were shoulder shots...

I've used 25-06, 7mm RM, 300 WM, and 300 RUM for elk and black bears, all with success from 200-550 yards. Pick a good middle-heavy weight bullet and your good to go...

Like one of the above posters mentioned, if you wound an elk, more en likely, there going to the deepest and darkest hole (canyon) they can find. I"ve had to help track my fair share for other hunters in my camp, its not fun, trust me..
 
Just for the record, I started hunting 50 years ago. During that time I have shot too many elk to count, same with bears (including one grizzly), moose, caribou, mountain goat, white tails, muleys and blacktails....the rifle......the .270 Win......I grew up with Jack O'Conner for a mentor. Yeah, I have used a 7mm mag, a .375 H&H mag and got rid of them. Game lost...with the 270, one. With the magnums...one. Used the same kind of bullet on all of them...130 grain Bronze-Point. Each to his own, but thats where I am at.
 
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