45 minuets to dress a moose? Man, I shot a little 200lb black bear and it took me a couple hours to "field dress" it alone. And no, I'm not a "beginner" hunter. I've taken black bears, in my time, dozens upon dozens of deer, a few elk, antelope and 1 caribou. It takes time to dress out an animal. (Deer in my opinion is the exception.) Elk and caribou take way more time for me.

But I guess when stressed, you can quickly dress a big animal. Maybe you meant 1hour and 45 min. I don't know. Or, you just hacked away like a chain saw.

Also, the Breneke slugs ARE awesome, .....for a smooth bore. They are the best period. HOWEVER....

If you have a rifled barrel, a copper SABOT slug will and does penetrate beter than a Breneke. Also, range and accuracy with SABOTS/rifled barrels are superior. The only reason I'd suspect that Alaska law enforecement and Fish/game officers carry the Brenekes is because they do not have rifled slugs. Either or, it doesn't matter. I'd use Brenekes in a heart beat. Both slug "systems" work very well. I was just getting "technical" here regarding the best and hardest hitting slugs available in the civilian market. Sabots are the way to go.

One other note,,,,some village in Canada (somewhere way up there, i don't know the name) near the North Pole etc..., uses the good 'ole Remington 870's with regular Foster type 1oz slugs for POLAR BEARS!!!!

I saw a documentary where the "neighborhood-polar-bear-watch" group uses that gun/ammo combo when bears stray too close to the villagers and become "dangerous pests." To date, they haven't lost a "gun fight" with a polar bear and those regular good old fashioned slugs and an old pump gun.

The villagers are, let's say, "poor" and can't afford a "Benelli M3 Super-90" (great gun by the way). With a Foster type slug at modest to close range, shot placement is gonna hurt and bring down a bear. Especially with rapid follow up shots. I'm so comfortable with a smooth bore that I'd use an 870 and Foster slugs without any hesitation.

Also, I agree with Thaninator and the .44mag issue. THe heaviest bullet I use in my Anaconda 6" barrel is a Federal, Premium Hard cast lead bullet (same type of bullet Thaninator was describing) but it's only a 300 grainer. Federal says the bullet is specifically designed for deep penetration on large dangerous game. It worked for me on a Rocky mountain bull elk in Idaho and a California 440lb black bear. No problems. Yes, that's not a 1000lb grizzly, but hey, if that's all I had, I'd use it. Id just try to get off some accurate "double taps" etc...provided I dont cr*p my pants.

I know that the same 300 grain bullet drops wild pigs left and right. One pig I killed was a "charging" wild pig and it dropped him with one shot! I hit him right in the spine just below his shoulder. It broke his "engine compartment" in two pieces. So, those hard alloy bullets in .44mag really penetrate like a hot knife in butter.

I know that my M1-A with a 20 round magazine with 165grain soft points would stop a charging grizzly bear if I HAD to use it in an emergency.....(wishful thinking). All guns (including shotguns with 00 or 000 buck) are capable of killing anything on earth. Maybe not practicle, but definately capable. (Just my humble opinion)

Edited by - Hk45USP on 01/08/2002 03:18:52