i have talked to a few different big game and DANGEROUS game hunters from alaska....overwelmingly they like the performance of
the 270 winchester and the 30.06 ....without talking to them i would have guessed that a .338 mag or .300 mag was the norm...one hunter showed me a pic of a bear (i believe it was a grizzly) that he had taken with a .270 using winchester failsafe bullets..i am planning a hunt in alaska and i think i will be taking a 30.06 to take care of business... i am interested in what everyone else would take if they were planning a trip to hunt near polar bear areas..... looking foreward to responses.. thanks mike l...

Polar Bear area's????? A .223 will work well for everything there, that is untill you meet up with mr. polar bear!! Polar Bears stay out on the ice flows, what will you be hunting out there??? Seals???

Drilling Man

The 30-06 is the single most versitile round ever made,every gun made after the 30-06 was made to beat or duplicate it's performance.
It has good BC and SD also good range and power.You realy don't need anything else in the Ol' gun cabinet if you have a "06,but what a boring world it would be.
I would not hesitate to shoot a Griz,Polar bear or Moose with the 30-06,shooting 220gr. or 180 gr. bullet you should be good.

If I was going where the chance of meeting a hungry bear,I would op for bigger,300 WSM,300 Win Mag or my favorite 338 Win Mag.

I shoot a .338 Win Mag. I would maybe take a .270 caribou hunting, but not for moose, mostly because I pretty much want the moose to drop where I shot it, and not go running into the swamp. My chances of that are better with a .338.

If you were just out hunting, I would think a .270 is okay. Its not like there is a bear around every corner, and even when there is, they are mostly happy to just leave you alone. Now, would I go HUNT bear with a .270 or .30-06? No way, I would take a .338 at a minimum, but more likely a .375 H&H. We'll see though if I draw my Cold Bay hunt.

When I lived in AK, I owned a 270, 30-06, and a 7Mag. I did all my hunting with the 270 because I was most accurate with that particular rifle/caliber combination. I took 2 moose, a Dall sheep, and several caribou, all with 1 shot, and all with a 150gr Nosler Partition handloads. It ain't the gun, it's where you hit em' and what (bullet)you hit em' with. Use your 270 with a bullet suited for the game you are hunting and have a great hunt.

I would use a Weatherby Mark V Dangerous Game Rifle .416 Wby. Mag. Good luck.

The .270 win and 30-06 are popular everywhere. It is easy to get good accurarcy out of these calibers. You can find good, cheap ammo everywhere. Most adult shooters can handle the recoil and manage to hit where they aim. Handloading is easy for these as well, they are not very particular what you feed them. Such is not the case with other calibers. What's not to like.

Sounds like really good advice!

I can drive a car with my knees, that doesn't make it a good idea! I still would not go brown bear hunting with a .270.

i am a DEVOUT 30.06 fan....i would hunt any animal in north america including polar bear with my 30.06...i think (my opinion) that people who shoot the big magnums are not
confident with their shooting ability... i can hit anything that i aim at. i would be living in alaska if my wife would move with me.(with my 30.06) 180 grain winchester fail safes
are good on any animal that i will ever run into..I personally witnessed a gruesome event
while deer hunting.... i witnessed a hunter shoot a doe muley with a .338 magnum , she did not drop.. it took 4 more shots from his browning bar to drop her.. (this hunter shot her at 100 yards or even less.and they were front quarter shots.... i have never had to fire a second shot at any deer or elk that i hit the first time...the MAGNUMS are useless at close ranges.. i know that i will get alot of flack for this but this is my thesis that i have developed by hunting big game animals in idaho for the past 14 years...REMEMBER NOT TO FLINCH WHEN YOU SHOOT A MAGNUM..LOL...