Rugers7

You are right, I get in the bad habit of using Griz and Brown interchangeably. DM, you still live in AK?

DM

Ruger,

I no longer live in Alaska. Things changed too much there over the years for my likeing, so i pulled up stakes, bought the farm i grew up on, and that's where i now live.

I have excelent hunting right here on my own place, and i'm enjoying a bit of retirement. In fact, i have better hunting here walking from my home, than i did in Alaska walking from my house. :&gt

Drilling Man

Hornet Man

Thanks DM

You hunted them and you say it is good enough. I take your word Sir. My hunting partner has a 375 H-H and he shot an Elk with it several years ago. He hit in right in the boiler room and it ran off. He found the Elk after tracking it several hundred yards. Does that mean that the 375 is not a Great Elk round ? Not at all.
Hornet Man

windriverhunter

Ever stopped and considered why bowhunting with a little 125 grain broadhead is so popular and no-one says anything about lack of power, but then you turn around and people are raving about using a 7mm STW or a 300 ultra mag for antelope? Even for deer that is too much. Id say go with a 7mm rem mag at most so that you dont ruin any meat. Its all just a matter of where you shoot the animal, not how hard you hit them. You dont have to drop them right where they stand, or rather flip them over and blow a hole the size of your fist in them for the people using ultramags and other huge guns on little deer and antelope. So there is no way a 338 is not enough for brown bears.

WyoGreff

I would have to agree, thats an awfully big bear if a 338 magnum wont do the trick!

Howler

Well, I hope the .338 is enough for griz! I am going to AK this fall with my buddy on a combo hunt, and he will be carrying the griz tag and his .338. I'll be carrying my .300 Win. with a moose tag. We are going to try to spot a good bear and call it in with a predator call and TRY to get it all on video. So, if the .338 turns out to be inadequate, at least we will have the effidence His dad will be with us to video the hunt!

DM

It's all about the bullet construction!!!!!!

A 375 H&H may not put a rib shot elk right down because the bullet "is designed for bigger heavier animials"!!! I see guys shooting whitetails with 375's and complaining it's not putting them down quick enough!!! When you look at the deer, the bullet hardly expanded at all!!! Bigger isn't always better when it comes to matching game to the gun!!

Too many focus on the cal. instead of the bullet!!!

Drilling Man

ELKampMaster

Some focus on the caliber, the velocity, AND the bullet.

Not to fast, not too slow.
Thin skinned bullets for thin skinned game.
Medium constructed bullets for medium density game, etc. etc.

I like 300 gr. Nosler Partitions in a 375 HH for elk, plenty of expansion, plenty of bone bustin' penetration too. Since getting bumped off of my 338's by my two boys, I have had 3 elk with the 375HH. All three with Partitions. All three just gave it up right on spot they were hit (of course I'm in the minority and just bust'em right thru the shoulder and take out the front axle). I've got enough rifles I could choose to go smaller and weaker in cartridge or go larger and more powerful in cartridge. Seems like I like what I see happen off of the business end of my barrel when I choose bigger and more powerful cartridges. Maybe I'm hallucinating, but I think know the results I like best when I put a shot on something --- the closer it comes to "bang - plop" the better I like it--- that is just me. [Ever present disclaimer: "Don't try this if you can't handle the rifle."]

Of course, this is a Brownie thread that has touched on and off onto "proper" cartridges for ungulates. Regarding Brownies and the "proper cartridge", I'll have to just sit back and listen. I've heard it both ways from those that claim to have hunted Brownies. It seems like each has a bit different viewpoint, some view points being way different. Just an observation, but it seems depending on which "flock" a given forum member belong to, folks go running to the "shepperd" that sings the song they like to hear and one that supports their existing ideas and ESPECIALLY if it supports their current inventory of firearms.

When the quarry can bite back, some will probably choose to err on the heavy side. As always in these forums, to each his own.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,

EKM

338UltraMag

My uncle, who lived in the bush of Alaska from 1973-2000, only hunted with a .243. He told me in that time he killed probably 20 or more grizzlies with his trusty .243, not to mention all the moose and other animals he got. It's all about bullet placement. Size doesn't matter if you hit where you are supposed to.

ELKampMaster

Excellent, I think I'll keep the .223 then, that will let me practice ad nauseum so's I can be one of those master marksmen and that will take care of everything. The wife and I are already planning all the fun we can have with the money from liquidating the rest of the unnecessary stuff. I'm saying it ought to go towards a Brownie hunt. I wonder what the State of Alaska and my guide are going to say about my new approach?

Much relieved,
EKM