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ELKampMaster

Actions speak louder than words -- Nice choice of cartridge -- I trust with good reason given your extensive experience.

Nice overview of moose hunting history and lore. Thanks.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

bearhuntr

The 308 is more than enough gun for moose if you do your part. I have a 7x57 mauser in my closet that belongs to my cousin and he drops a moose every year with 140 grain Barnes bullets. I' ll be using my new 280 Rem. with 140 XLC' s this year for moose. Of course, I' ll take my trusty 338 Win. Mag. and 250 grain Nosler Partitions out on a few trips as well for moose.

Syd1981

Keep it under 200 yards and your fine the group I hunt with use 2 30.06' s, one 7mm rem Mag. one .300 Win Mag and a .308 all are adequate all can take a moose down keep it under 200 and hit em where it counts!

BeaverJack

.243 for moose? Outta have yer liscense pulled for life. Don' t spread that kinda crap to new hunters. Use a ' 06 with GOOD 180s as a minimum. If you ain' t got nuthin' but a .308, stoke it up hot with premium 180s. Worst thing ' bout these sites is the advice thet' s doled out thout no regard to who its goin' to an' what might happen to a fine animal if things don' t go 100% right.

bigbulls

Beaver, the same can be said about recomending big, hard kicking magnums in the hands of a younger person, or someone that is recoil sensative. I would rather see a person use a 6mm cartrige that can shoot the Bal** of a fly at 100 yards then give him a magnum that he flinches at on every shot and can' t hit the broad side of a barn with it. A 243 or a 7mm-08, or 308 through the lungs is a hell of a lot better than a 338, 375, 444, or 45-70 in the stomach.

ELKampMaster

BigBulls,

A bit of exaggeration and a bit over simplified with a lot of middle ground left out -- don' t you think?

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

bigbulls

Not really! There are many people out there that can not shoot magnum cartriges accurately enough to reliably hit an animals vitals. But they can shoot 308 class cartriges very well. So if one can not handle the recoil of a hard kicking magnum then it would be much better for the animals and himself if he did not use a magnum. Like I said a bullet from one of the smaller cartriges through the lungs is a lot better than a 338 through the stomach.

Example: You have two people one 6' 2" tall and weight 250 pounds the other person a small framed lady at 5' 4" tall and weighs 110 pounds. The 6' 2" guy can shoot pretty much any magnum rifle out there accurately with out it bothering him. The lady can not handle the recoil of a 30-06 very well at all. Would you not let her hunt with you just because she can' t shoot a magnum class rifle or even worse would you make her use a magnum and risk wounding an animal because she is scared to shoot it?

Seemed pretty cut and dry to me.

ELKampMaster

bigbulls,
Again isn' t the middle ground being left out for the convenience of arguing a given view point: 110 pound women and 250 pound men -- nary had anyone who looked like either one of those two in my elk camp nor in my Michigan mentor' s camp up the road over all these years.

Also, is it written in granite somewhere that if one shoots a sub 30-06 you' ll automatically be a great shot and if one shoots an over 30-06 caliber rifle you will be doomed to gut shoot everything you hunt? It must be -- I keep hearing the same refrain everytime a smallbore fan even broaches the question of larger calibers.
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My boys are 20 (almost 21 now) 6' 1 and 165 pounds and BOTH shoot 338 mags (after starting with a 270 and a 30-06, they took over my 338' s (2) and bumped me on up) -- these kids are wirey. " ..... Dad, when I shoot at an elk I don' t feel anything....it' s not a problem." I' ll grant you that this is an instance of only two out of thousands; however, they fly in the face of such magnum assumptions.

So is there something wrong with these kids? I' d say they' re closer to average than the 110 lb woman and the 250 lb fire hydrant. Why aren' t their boyish shoulders being torn asunder by their rifles and their brows bloodied by their scopes? [It might have something to do with being TAUGHT how to do it.]

Leapin' Lizards, Batman! They' re shooting magnums AND they are accurate! What are we going to do now? Well....

Never Go Undergunned
EKM

bigbulls

I see your point on the middle ground but the point is still the same. There are many women and young kids out there that like to hunt elk and moose but can' t handle recoil very well. I am 6' 2" and weigh 245 pounds and can handle just about any gun out there. My son, when he turns twelve, will be going on his first elk hunt with me and he will be about 5' 5" and weigh about 115 pounds. What rifle (cartrige) should he use?

No it is not written that someone will be a great shot if they use a sub 30-06 cartrige but they have a better chance of being a better shot if they don' t get kicked around a lot when they practice. And no you won' t gut shoot animals just because you shoot a medium bore magnum, but my almost 12 year old son wouldn' t like shooting a 338 mag. and almost certainly would not shoot it well. He will probably start out with something along the lines of a 7mm-08 or my 270 and work his way up from there just like your kids did.

I' m just saying there is good and bad to everything and as far as guns and recoil go each person has their own limits and i would rather a person be comfortable in shooting a rifle than be worried about having scope eye. Yes, like you said they need to be tought how to handle it but you can' t start them out at the top.