one shot 150 yds fell like a sac of potatoes with the 30-06 with 150gr

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I'm a animal specific gun kind of guy. I'm currently looking into an Alaskan hunt and researching different weapons. Frankly, my 06 is plenty to kill a moose, but it provides an oppurtunity to get a new gun with minumum interference from my better half. Why not buy guns specifically for the animals you hunt? .338rum for elk, 06 for deer, 25-06 for pronghorns etc? I have a 30.30 that I want to take a high country Muley with, just for the guns sake. I'm not a wealthy man, but I always can find enough in the budget for a new gun. Buy em up, get yourself a collection, go buy that .410 for your kid, go get that over-under 20 gauge for your pheasants, pick up that Ruger 10/22 for plinking, I have never been sorry I purchased a gun. Lottery tickets yes, plane ticket for mother inlaw definately yes, but never a gun. Regretted selling a few, but never purchasing one.

I think that the 06 will do the job, but with the griz, which may take that gun away from you and paddle your A$$ w/ it, I think I'd like something a little bigger. but lots of em have been taken w/ the old 06, it is the REAL do it all caliber.

I have used a Remington Gamemaster 30-06 (pump) for 38 years. My Dad bought it for me as my first rifle. I have quite a number of rifles in the gun safe, but none can compare with that Gamemaster. At 100 yards, it is dead nuts on with a cheap ole scope. It is more than a sentimental gun anymore (which it still is). It is a utility gun that has a job to do. And it does it extremely well I might add. I have shot over 30 bucks alone with this gun, and I would never be afraid to use it on any North American game. However, I believe the real key is in the ammo. I have used a variety of shells, and what I have found with this rifle is that for shots of 100 yard or less, there is absolutely nothing that can compare with the Remington 180 grain Core-Lokt. Most recently in Saskatchewan at 100 yards I hit a big buck back and high in the body cavity (he was running chasing a doe and I am not the best running shooter). What that Core-Lokt did from the liver shot was nothing short of amazing. I thought he would go a long ways and be hours before he expired, but he made it just 50 yards and went down in a heap. Over the years I have had many similar experiences with the combination of Gamemaster and Core-Lokts. I know there are others with similar good luck with their guns of different calibers and choice of shells. But for me, I will never use another combination than these two old reliables.

First off: There are no grizzley bears in Maine, so you don't have to worry about that.

Secondly, a 30-06 loaded with the CORRECT BULLET will kill any grizzley bear 100% of the time, under any circumstance. Those who say otherwise, simply don't know what they are talking about. A mammoth, 1000 lb grizzley charging you at 10 ft that takes a 180 gr. nosler partition from a 30-06 in the brain will die immediately. If you hit him in the neck/spine, he will die immediately. If you hit him in the shoulder, it will knock him for a circle, upon which you fire again. A shot to the body will change his mind very quickly about attacking you, upon which you fire again. The secret is to fire until he dies.

I know there are those who believe that you need a 375 H&H, etc. to get the job done, but that isn't true. A 30-06 has 3000 lbs of energy at the muzzle, and if that won't get you out of the situation that you are in, a bigger gun won't do you any better. Once the bullet exits (likely to happen with a more powerful gun), all that extra energy does you no good. Stick to a 30-06. Recoil is much more manageable, and if you need a second shot, time is much more precious than energy.

Any of the following callibers with the right bullet will serve you well:
30-06
7 Mag
35 Whelen
358 Win
45-70 govt

Technique and shot placement are most important. If possible, drop to one knee because movement or changing distances won't matter if you are shooting strait out into the bear. Aim for the head. If you go high, you hit the spine. If go low, you'll hit the heart, but keep firing.