Poll: Which caliber for deer, elk, sheep, auodad, and moose?

[jsparks747]

For 50 years I've been in love with the .270 Win. Doesn't kick much, easy to shoot, wonderful ballistics and common ammo. I've killed my share of deer, elk and black bear with it. Might want something bigger for griz or moose but I've never hunted them.

I don't know why they seemed to fade away as most of my friends preferred them years ago even when mil surp 30-06's where plentiful. Can't knock the .06 or .308 or mags though. They are wonderful rounds.

Cheers.

View attachment 327350

That was one of the issues. I want a rifle that can handle deer and elk without blowing the whole chest cavity up yet I can hunt grizzled and caribou in AK with my uncle who is crazy when it comes to hunting. He has a moose, a Himalayan Tahr, a red stag, a deer, a cougar, 5 elk, and one other deer from new zealand, plus a couple bear.

 

[jsparks747]

I would hate having only those two choices?

Mainly because they are calibers I have grown up shooting so I am used to them. I am open to the .30-06 though.

 

[jsparks747]

Given your list of animals there I'd pick the .300 WinMag with some reservations. First, moose with a .300 WinMag means you better 1) make dang sure of your placement, 2) be able to cycle the bolt quickly and place a very accurate second shot, and, 3) be able to dodge one that's charging you if you didn't put it down with the first two rounds.

The reverse is true with respects to the smaller animals in your list. It might be a bit of overkill.

My grandfather had one rifle he used for deer and elk on both sides of the Cascades here, that being a .300WinMag. I asked him one time about that, thinking it was overkill on blacktail and even muley's. His response was, "If I miss the muzzle blast will knock 'em down."

Papa was such funny man...

That is one of the worries I have is ending up with a deer missing its chest. I have been shooting the .300WM since I was 12 and can put a round into a 1 inch area around the bullseye at 200 yards so I have gotten quite comfortable with it but also with the .308.

 

[Deavis]

This is America. Buy both. I have killed Elk with the .308 reliably but prefer the .300. I use a Silencerco harvester suppressor on the gun which does not make it a real dream to field but it reduces recoil and negates need for ear pro hunting. Recoil impulse of about the 22-250 with 3000 FPS 180 grain.

I also hunt a lot with a Remington model 7 in .308 for deer, some Elk and bear. Short, light perfect for me.

 

[blaster1145]

I like Deavis' thinking. This IS America! Damn right, especially now. And thank God.
Rifle-wise, '06 if you want just one. It's boring like vanilla ice cream, but only because many if not most have forgotten how special it really is. And that's the truth.
Then, if you ever want to hunt Africa, buy a 458 Lott and you're 100% set, my man. Any animal on the planet.
My 2 cents, anyway. Best of luck, sir!

 

[mjbskwim]

If you can hot a small target at longer ranges then caliber won't matter much.

Out at longer ranges the caliber make more difference. 308 doesn't carry as much energy out past say 600 yards.
Not nearly as effective on an animal the size of an elk.
That said,I don't believe shooting past 500 yards is that smart on a big game animal.

 

[tac]

Beware of the .300 Win Mag. A few of us were over on the Izaak Walton range outsie Yoojeen a while back, and watched in silent horror as a proud father gave his boy of around 12 y/o and 100 pounds his lightweight Model 70 in .300 Win Mag and some factory loads.

Por little guy got beaten shirtless - luckily without getting his head too far long the stock to collect the scope in his forehead. Three shots and he was done. Prolly forever, if the truth be told.

Wearing T-shirt and shooting seven pound rifle in .300 WM is about as much fun as walking into a combine harvester head.

tac

 

[jsparks747]

Beware of the .300 Win Mag. A few of us were over on the Izaak Walton range outsie Yoojeen a while back, and watched in silent horror as a proud father gave his boy of around 12 y/o and 100 pounds his lightweight Model 70 in .300 Win Mag and some factory loads.

Por little guy got beaten shirtless - luckily without getting his head too far long the stock to collect the scope in his forehead. Three shots and he was done. Prolly forever, if the truth be told.

Wearing T-shirt and shooting seven pound rifle in .300 WM is about as much fun as walking into a combine harvester head.

tac

That is terrible. When I shot my dad's Winchester 70 .300WM he always made me use a gun holder bolted onto a heavy table. When I turned 15 he let me shoulder fire it but not very often.

 

[Prescott]

In my opinion, what you really need to assess for the selection of the right rifle for hunting is the energy of the bullet. For a clean humane kill, you need to impact the animal with enough force to provide a clean killing blow.

Standard ballistic tables will show the energy of the bullet at given distances. Just make sure that the bullet carries the necessary energy for the animal you are shooting.

For deer, it is usually recommended to have a minimum of 1000 ft-lbs of energy for the kill.
For elk it's 1500 ft-lbs and for moose it's 2000 ft-lbs.

A .308 will provide necessary the energy to make a humane kill on all of the these animal, but you will be limited to the range you can take them. Using the Winchester ballistic calculator with the .308 and the 168 grain Ballistic Silvertip bullet, here is the energy vs distance data.
100 yds = 2301 ft-lbs
200 yds = 1982 ft-lbs
300 yds = 1698 ft-lbs
400 yds = 1447 ft-lbs
500 yds = 1227 ft-lbs

Therefore, you would be limited to about 175 yards while hunting moose, 375 yards for elk and over 500 yards for deer.

The .300 win mag of course puts up much larger numbers. Here is the data for a 180 grain Ballistic Silvertip
100 yds = 3054 ft-lbs
200 yds = 2586 ft-lbs
300 yds = 2331 ft-lbs
400 yds = 2024 ft-lbs
500 yds = 1749 ft-lbs

You can take a moose at 400 yards, elk at over 500 yards and deer from a long long ways. This calculator stops at 500 yards.

The .300 win mag is a great elk rifle for the Missouri Breaks where you may have to take a shot at 500 yards or greater. Here is the NW, it is pretty infrequent that you get a shot out at that distance.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.The .300 win mag is a great elk rifle for the Missouri Breaks where you may have to take a shot at 500 yards or greater. Here is the NW, it is pretty infrequent that you get a shot out at that distance.

You can see Florida from Steens Mountain. That's a long way.
lol

 

[U8395279]

That was one of the issues. I want a rifle that can handle deer and elk without blowing the whole chest cavity up yet I can hunt grizzled and caribou in AK with my uncle who is crazy when it comes to hunting. He has a moose, a Himalayan Tahr, a red stag, a deer, a cougar, 5 elk, and one other deer from new zealand, plus a couple bear.

You actually believe that a .270 Winchester will do more damage than a 300 Winchester Magnum? Bullet performance typically has more to do with bullet construction, than it does using different calibers. I hope that you realize that not all ammunition of the same caliber performs the same way.

Is this going to be your first big game rifle that you will own yourself? Do you have any experience at all hunting big game?

It is difficult to tell from your posts where you are coming from, in terms of your background and experience.

.

 

[coop44]

The only drawback to your 300 - 500 yard shots, you got to go get it. Hopefully you can drop it on the spot, if not, and it runs......

Be a hunter, not a dick. I only say this because I've come across abandoned kills. Pretty obvious that a few died slowly, it's a damned shame they let irresponsible hunters out of the city.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Another drawback to those 300-500 yard shots ... Is can you shoot and make a clean kill at that distance?
Shooting that far is quite the challenge under range conditions , let alone in the field under hunting stress.
( Hunting stress : Bad weather , fatigue , no bench etc ... )

I have seen many a shooter hit well on paper at our club , but do badly on our trail walk.
We have 20 odd targets at ranges from about 25 yards to almost 100 yards ( 92 at last range finder test).
Granted this is a muzzleloader club , but my point still applies.
If you want to hunt , it will help you greatly to practice at shooting in field conditions.
It can really show you what you and your gun are able to do under real world conditions not just the ideal situation at the range.
Andy

 

[jsparks747]

You actually believe that a .270 Winchester will do more damage than a 300 Winchester Magnum? Bullet performance typically has more to do with bullet construction, than it does using different calibers. I hope that you realize that not all ammunition of the same caliber performs the same way.

Is this going to be your first big game rifle that you will own yourself? Do you have any experience at all hunting big game?

It is difficult to tell from your posts where you are coming from, in terms of your background and experience.

.

This will be my second big game rifle. I had my dad's model 70 but sold it when I got into archery. I hunt mule deer in the Steen's Mountains and go on a few trips to alaska with my uncle.

 

[jsparks747]

Another drawback to those 300-500 yard shots ... Is can you shoot and make a clean kill at that distance?
Shooting that far is quite the challenge under range conditions , let alone in the field under hunting stress.
( Hunting stress : Bad weather , fatigue , no bench etc ... )

I have seen many a shooter hit well on paper at our club , but do badly on our trail walk.
We have 20 odd targets at ranges from about 25 yards to almost 100 yards ( 92 at last range finder test).
Granted this is a muzzleloader club , but my point still applies.
If you want to hunt , it will help you greatly to practice at shooting in field conditions.
It can really show you what you and your gun are able to do under real world conditions not just the ideal situation at the range.
Andy

This may sound strange but I hate shooting at ranges for that very reason. I always go to my hunt location a few days before the hunt and check the sights in the conditions.

 

[Cheezit]

If you are only going to have one rifle, go with the .30-06. You will find there is a wide variety of factory ammunition and it will be readily available nearly anywhere you go.
If you plan to reload, there are any number of bullet weights and types to handle everything from sage rats to polar bears.

 

[orygun]

I'm a little late to the party, but I would suggest the '06, too. The 300 Win Mag has more power. The 308 has better ammo prices and very good selection of ammo. The '06 packs more wallop than the 308 without the level of expense, and to some, recoil of the 300. To me the 7mm, 30-06 and 300 Win seem to recoil about the same, with the 308 and 270 a step down.
That said, you can do it all with any of the cartridges I listed. Take your pick and get to know it well.

 

[jsparks747]

The only drawback to your 300 - 500 yard shots, you got to go get it. Hopefully you can drop it on the spot, if not, and it runs......

Be a hunter, not a dick. I only say this because I've come across abandoned kills. Pretty obvious that a few died slowly, it's a damned shame they let irresponsible hunters out of the city.

I unfortunately have too. Came across a massive pronghorn covered in maggots in the steens. Such a shame.

 

[jsparks747]

Just added .30-06 to the poll.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I had first voted for the .308.
But now that you added the .30-06 , I changed my vote to it.
With the .30-06 you get a wide range of bullets ( both weight and style ) , rifles and can hunt anything in North America.
All without excessive noise and recoil.

Yes I am aware the there are many other cartridges out there that can say the same.
I just have more experience with the .30-06 than with other cartridges for hunting big game.
So I am reluctant to comment on that which I don't have as much experience with.

I feel so strongly about the .30-06 cartridge , that my only "Modern" high powered rifle is in .30-06.
( its a 1943 dated 03A3 , as issued . )
As I said above I have owned and hunted with other cartridges and there is nothing wrong with using a different one but...
For what and how I hunt the, .30-06 fits the bill nicely.
Andy