If you had to choose one caliber to hunt all North American game which do you choose?

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Case in point. Good luck with that.
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Courage has nothing to do with caliber...

Personally, I would **** my pants in front of a bear charge even with a shoulder fired rocket....I have no desire to hunt a big bear in my life, never mind witness a charge situation....the caliber of your weapon (up to a point) has nothing to do with it...

I did talk to several responsible people that found themselves in hairy situations with big nasty critters....no fun at all.....

In a charge the only thing that matter is a CNS hit...30-06 or 458 Lott doesn't matter... you get there, lights out.....markmanship, shot placement (repeat 100 times)

It is a very dangerous proposition when people level of confidence increase with the caliber...this is how gun writers get people killed in the woods....

Some forgot to tell to the grizzlies killed during a charge for decades that they should not suppose to die with the good old 30-06....:rolleyes::D
 
Here in Alaska the 30-06 and 338 Win mag are the two most popular hunting cartridges. The 30-06 being considered the minimum required for Alaskan bush work by city folk and the max needed by most native hunters.

The caliber size seems to increase the closer you get to a big city like Anchorage with all their gun stores.

That said, I have harvested every critter up here, except Bison, with a 7x57mm Mauser using hot handloads. But I am a rifleman and know how to stalk. I would not want to stop a 1,000 pound brown bear with a 7x57mm. But then again I have never been charged during the last 50 years. The ones I took, never knew I was there. The bears that know I am around give me wide berth...They can tell what you are thinking...

So there is a difference between being the hunter or the hunted.
 
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Well said FLoat Pilot...


Years ago a fisherman had to use his Marlin lever in 35 Remington to stop a charge from a fairly big one up there...2 nice rounds and was all over....I guess he was incredibly lucky...according to some people, a 35 Rem bullet should bounce off a Grizzly or tickle him......

By the way, the 7X57 is no slouch either...I'm not sure, with the right loads, if I want to be Mr. Bear in front of it at short distances if the shooter knows his trade....
 
saturno,
I wouldn't mind it IF the bear wasn't full stride and heading towards me at less than 50 ft. Bears can run 35 miles an hour and get there pretty quick. You may kill him, but then you have a sliding/rolling 1k of dead bear to dodge :) I would hate to be killed by a dead bear. I would never live it down :)

'06 or .308 for me. Is the .270 capable of dropping a bison/buffalo humanely? Probably.. but I'd rather have the 220 grain 06 doing the job instead.
 
RugerOldArmy


Nobody said that the 30-30 is an elk gun...what many said is that is perfectly doable within limits....and H&H even posted the elk his daughter got under non ideal conditions...you should read more the post....and trust people that been there and done that...


This is a video about a Siberian Brown Bear hunt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU3wIorO04s

Look at the rifle the Russian guide use to back his American clients....yes a sporterized Mosin Nagant chambered for the good old 7,62 X 54R....I guess he's lucky that he is still alive after all these years huh??

Yes, maybe you should work at your shooting skills indeed, if you think power is the most important factor....:rolleyes:
 
saturno,
I wouldn't mind it IF the bear wasn't full stride and heading towards me at less than 50 ft. Bears can run 35 miles an hour and get there pretty quick. You may kill him, but then you have a sliding/rolling 1k of dead bear to dodge I would hate to be killed by a dead bear. I would never live it down
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In the situation you described you could be as easily in trouble with a 458 Lott as a with a 30-06...at that distance both rounds would go through brisket to butt....the important thing is to get in the right spot in between...
 
saturno,
That was my point. That fisherman and his .35 very well could have been lucky. I could see it working outside of 50y, but round here (1. we don't have big bears, 2. cant see past 50y in the most hunted areas) it could have very well ended differently if that bear was really coming for him. It's not that the 35 isn't up to the task, its that almost any round will take too long in close encounters. A 50bmg or 20mm vulcan would probably be the only two rounds I would consider up to the task( stop paddington grisly right there in his tracks) in the situation I gave above (I don't know enough about the 416 to say on that one).
 
Saturno,

Nobody said an '06 can't KILL a bear. Karamojo Bell killed elephants with a .275 Rigby. Now, he didn't claim it was ideal, he claimed he couldn't tolerate recoil. And he had backing.

Maybe you've got bear anatomy down pat, experience hunting them, are never surprised, and a fine marksman of moving targets.

Wether the cartridge is ideal for it, is another thing entirely. Coastal Brownies get huge. They have teeth. Using a light cartridge for Elk may not be ethical, but it likely won't get you killed.

When I went fishing in Alaska, my guide carried a .375 H&H, and had a strong preference for it.

You could check this link on brown bear hunts. Consider their experience. I quote from the page:
Firearms for brown bear will always be the subject of much debate, but one thing is certain, we prefer that any hunter seriously wanting to hunt the big bears carry nothing less than a .338 Win. Mag with 250 grain premium bullets, and I do mean premium. We are not in the business of chasing wounded bears all across the country because someone wanted to prove a point made by some dim-witted outdoor writer. Personally I prefer that hunters use .375 H&H, and up, if they can handle them effectively. The key phrase here is certainly "handle them effectively," and if an individual can't stomach the larger bore rifles they should use something they are more comfortable with, but there is a limit in this area. We really don't want guys asking to bring their 7mm's or 30-06's into brown bear camp, and yea I have heard all about the great numbers of bears taken with the '06, and no I am not impressed by those stories. I am impressed by the numbers for the .50 caliber BMG, and if you could handle shooting this I would prefer you bring it into camp.
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Took a charging bear years ago with a .444 Marlin. That said, a 30-06 would have taken that grizzly just as well. ...And oh yes, he scared the .... out of me.
 
to Saturno five

My friend you need to take a trip to Ketchikan alaska to see what a real grizzly can do. They have Old Moaner there stuffed finally after killing 4 hunters over 4 or five years. When the last guy got him he had 4 slugs in his chest and one in his head, all of them bigger than 30 cal. If you go for Grizz you bring the biggest gun you can carry.
Amen
 
We really don't want guys asking to bring their 7mm's or 30-06's into brown bear camp, and yea I have heard all about the great numbers of bears taken with the '06, and no I am not impressed by those stories. I am impressed by the numbers for the .50 caliber BMG, and if you could handle shooting this I would prefer you bring it into camp.
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This last sentence make the writer of this piece simply not credible as experienced hunter and guide....I would say it make him ridiculous....

we prefer that any hunter seriously wanting to hunt the big bears carry nothing less than a .338 Win. Mag with 250 grain premium bullets
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So now the 338 is almost borderline adequate.....entry level....interesting....

Like Float Pilot said, I bet this outfitter shop is in downtown Anchorage and they go out full of ultrasophisticated electronic gear, GPS trackers and so on....

I'm going to send him an e-mail to know if I can bring to camp my 155 mm Howitzer or a Sidewinder launcher...

Bell killed elephants wiht a 275 Rigby....it's apples with oranges....that is what I would call being seriously undergunned.... elephant can be up to 20 times bigger than a Grizzly and think skinned too....

My friend you need to take a trip to Ketchikan alaska to see what a real grizzly can do. They have Old Moaner there stuffed finally after killing 4 hunters over 4 or five years. When the last guy got him he had 4 slugs in his chest and one in his head, all of them bigger than 30 cal. If you go for Grizz you bring the biggest gun you can carry.
Amen
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Again this has nothing to do with your firearm caliber...I do not need to take a trip to Ketchikan....i knwo for a fact that grizzly have been killed for defense and hunting very effectively with 30-06 and similar by natives and fishermen....

What is so hard to understand about shot placement??

Took a charging bear years ago with a .444 Marlin. That said, a 30-06 would have taken that grizzly just as well. ...And oh yes, he scared the .... out of me.
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Hollywood Marine prove my point..

Regardless of caliber, in situations like that you would be dead scared....what it has to do with the caliber??
 
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scythefwd

That grizzly was dead on that firsherman....he barely had the time to fire his two shots...because it was a lever gun....with a bolt gun would have been only one round....
 
saturno_v said:
RugerOldArmy


Nobody said that the 30-30 is an elk gun...what many said is that is perfectly doable within limits....and H&H even posted the elk his daughter got under non ideal conditions...you should read more the post....and trust people that been there and done that...


This is a video about a Siberian Brown Bear hunt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU3wIorO04s

Look at the rifle the Russian guide use to back his American clients....yes a sporterized Mosin Nagant chambered for the good old 7,62 X 54R....I guess he's lucky that he is still alive after all these years huh??

Yes, maybe you should work at your shooting skills indeed, if you think power is the most important factor....:rolleyes:
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i dont think that bear died from the shot :eek: it died from the fall :what::neener:
 
Guys

Do you think this would be adequate for grizzly hunting??

G5_howitzer_%28Impi%29.jpg


I think it may be on the light side wouldn't it???
 
Right now I own a .243 Bolt gun that is easy to shoot very well. If I had to, I would use it on anything in NA if I was hungry.

If given the choice to replace it with any caliber, I'd opt for a .308 or .30-06.
 
what happens when you shoot a squirrel or rabbit with a 30-06?
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If you are going to talk about ONE cartridge for anything in North America some compromise is going to have to be made on the extreme edges of available game. No, a 30-06 is not ideal for small game. It's not ideal for grizzlies either, but it would be a lot better for them than a squirrel rifle.
 
So for the most part majority will take a 30-06. I like that though because I like being different and I still take the 270. Shot placement is most important and I think with a 180 gr in my 270 I could drop a bear.
 
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