GForce

Hey guys - I spend most of my time in the Bowhunting Forum. I came here to ask a question similar to another post but with some other game animals in mind.

I've only experience with .223 and .220 Swift for coyote and other varmits. .308 and .30/06 for whitetail.

What caliber(s) do you think of for the great bears and cougar for the dangerous animals?

How about for range, say 300 yds and under for smaller game; mountain goat, wolf, lynx...

I'm looking to buy a new rifle and would like to be able to select one caliber with power for the dangerous and accuracy with lighter bullets for the smaller game.

I would appreciate any suggestions.





Shoot often - Hunt always

Prairie Boy

if u want to hunt all the animals u mentioned there with 1 cartridge i would suggest a 338 rum. shoots flat and hits hard.

cheers

BeaverJack

For the record, a 30-30 and a 300 RUM are the same caliber. You mean cartridge don't you?

BJ

highfive

You see so many hunter now adays over powered. If you have a 06 you will be fine with that. The wide range of bullet weights will allow you to hunt any NA biggame. I don't think i would classify a Mountain Goat as small game, they can take a hit from a large cartridge and not even flich, and do it more than once. Most of the time it is not important how big your gun is but how accurate you can shoot it. A person does not really have to go any bigger than a 300WM for NA big game.

GForce

I didn't intend to refer to mountain goats as "small" game, I just said smaller, meaning smaller than bear. I know they can range from just over 100 lb. to over 300 when mature.

I'm gonna need a lot more to convince me to use an /06 on bear.

If it is an adequate cartridge, then why not .308? Load for load, with the same bullet the KE differences are negligible. The same goes for the comparison between 300 WinMag and 300 WSM.



Shoot often - Hunt always

Bowhuntur777

300 Win. Mag. Just make sure of what's on the other side BEFORE thaking the shot. Anything the size of deer it will go right through, but not before it putts a mean hurting on them.

highfive

When you are talking bear are you talking griz and polar or just Black. I know many hunters who have taken grizz with a 06 and a 220 grain bullet. It is a bit small what will do the job with a well placed shot.


Edited by - highfive on 01/24/2003 15:05:48

sam 444

350 remington magnum

stubblejumper

A lot of cartridges will kill the big bears but the minimum cartridge that I would use is the 338 winmag.

handloader1

340 Wby. Mag. Good luck.