What is the largest North American game that should be hunted with a .308 Win and 150/165 grain bullets at 300 yards and in.

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Looking for opinions

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the largest North American game that should be hunted with a .308 Win and 150/165 grain bullets at 300 yards

Caribou.

With a well constructed 165 gr bullet such as the TSX or Aframe, I think you COULD go up to elk or moose. Having said that, though, I think if you're going after game that heavy, you'd probably be better served with a heavier slug.

A 308 with a 150 or 165 grain bonded core, partition, or barnes will easily handle elk or moose to 300 yards without a problem whatsover.
Just put it through the lungs and start sharpening your knife.

I will let you guys know how my Elk hunt gose. I am taking a Ruger Frontier Rifle in .308 win with me, it has a 16.5" barrle, and have loaded 168gr Barns TSX with 45.5grs of Varget (Max charge in the barns book) and getting a 2510-2515FPS avg with that short barrle.

my groups at 100yards are .776"-1.15" and at 200 yards they are 1.57"-1.89" that was with a Straight 2X Luepold M8...

My goal is to take a cow elk with in 200 yards and in my zone of 150 yards but I will shoot at one at 200yards if that is my only shot. I have been hitting 1 gal milk jugs at 200 yards center mass every time so I am confident in the accuricy of that little gun....

With 165gr Premium bullets I would not be afraid to shoot an elk or a grizzly bear with a 308.

My wife used a 308 on zebra and wildbeast with Federal factory 165 TBBC with excellent results.

Will kill anything on 4 or 2 legs in North America just great!!! Except Brown/Griz Bear should probably be avoided. Very versatile to load light and fast (150) fairly heavy (180) and hard.

At 300 yards I would want a 180 gr. Nosler myself...your tailing a 30-30 at that range and it will do the job but you do need the bullet weight for those larger animals IMO...

I'll give it a pass on cow elk, but I personally prefer something larger on bull elk..I can kill an elk with about any caliber but to me an elk rifle should kill an elk pretty quick with any shot angle offered and that adds up to the .338 Win and up....

For cow elk to 300yds, I think you are fine w/ 165grNP or sim. For moose & bull elk, I would want to be another 100yds closer. They are big & absorb a lot of punishment. Yes, you are likely to kill it, but where is it going to go before it dies, thickest blow down or middle of the river?

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Originally posted by NESIKA308:
What is the largest North American game that should be hunted with a .308 Win and 150/165 grain bullets at 300 yards and in.

Bigfoot. But you'll need an icepick.
.

Whitetail.

300 yards??? Mule deer if there ain't too much cross wind and she's full frontal or total broadside standing still in clear view. roger

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Originally posted by 500MagMan:
I will let you guys know how my Elk hunt gose. I am taking a Ruger Frontier Rifle in .308 win with me, it has a 16.5" barrle, and have loaded 168gr Barns TSX with 45.5grs of Varget (Max charge in the barns book) and getting a 2510-2515FPS avg with that short barrle.

my groups at 100yards are .776"-1.15" and at 200 yards they are 1.57"-1.89" that was with a Straight 2X Luepold M8...

My goal is to take a cow elk with in 200 yards and in my zone of 150 yards but I will shoot at one at 200yards if that is my only shot. I have been hitting 1 gal milk jugs at 200 yards center mass every time so I am confident in the accuricy of that little gun....

For most shooters, I suspect prairie dogs would be about it. One either pretty much hits them fatally or misses them entirely at 300 yards.

The question I would ask is not what your rifle shoots from the bench at 100 or 200 yards,but what does it group offhand, with you shooting it, at 300 yards? Often in the field, it is either offhand or nothing.

Then it is important to know actual trajectory (not a calculated one) with the same ammo as you will be using on your hunt, and to be able to shoot it well enough to justify firing at a live, noble, animal at that range.

Personally I would load a stout 165 ahead of a max load and take along my walking stick.
I can't remember the last time I shot at an unwounded big game animal at 300 yards with out a rest of some sort.
A rock, a stick, a knee, prone, a tree, a fence post, a backpack, sitting, hell even a bipod or tripod for that matter.
Sight it in 3 inches high at 100 and you will be able to hold center of lungs on an elk or a moose to 300 yards without worrying one ounce about bullet drop and unless you are shooting in a gale you should not have to worry about drift either.
Sometimes I wonder if these guys have shot anything in the field under real conditions.
Now if you were talking 400 to 600 yards,, yes things start getting real dicey once you pass the 300 mark.
But to there it is a no brainer.
If you havent already go out in the field and practice seeing how fast you can get your rifle off your shoulder and into the best and steadiest position possible.
dropping onto your heel with your elbow on your knee puts bone on bone all the way to the ground.
A walking stick is a great aid, drop into a sitting position and put your elbow on your knee with your off hand gripping the stick and your front sling swivel.

Learn how to be aware of possible aids near you, a tree limb, or a rock or as I said drop to prone if the angle and view is right.
You can kill the largest elk or moose ever to suck air with a 308 at 300 yards if you have any kind of clue at all what you are doing , and you have practiced getting steady and are able to hit a grapefruit sized target every single time under field conditions at that range.
With some practice, an accurate rifle, good optics, sweet trigger and good loads you should be able to make it look easy.

Excellent posts on this thread....

Don

One of the reasons for knowing the actual trajectory of your rifle and load is to confirm that you DON'T have to hold over or under out to ranges where you are capable of hitting dependably. Some rifles, bullets and loads produce surprisingly less flat trajectories than advertised. If you know you don't have to try to allow for trajectory, it adds to confidence, shooting ability, and concentrating on putting the shot where it needs to go. It also makes it possible to shoot a tiny bit faster, which may be important sometimes.

I still stick by my observation too that many hunters have absolutely no business shooting at anything larger than a prairie dog, maybe even a chipmunk, at 300 yards. I see hundreds of them sighting in during September ever year, and have a fair chance to assess the average Joe's shooting ability. Most North Americans I have seen would have little chance of even passing the hunting license shooting tests in Scandanavia. Then there is his ability to estimate range, all that sort of stuff. Better he only shoot at stuff that he is likely not to hit at all, rather than just wound it around the edges (or worse yet, in the middle of the guts).

Agreed everyone should use some improvised kind of rest in the field if any at all is available. That is, if any is available which still allows one to see the game and have a clear shot at it. Fairly frequently in thickly forested areas there is a tree handy alright, but not in such a position that one has a clear shot through the branches of that tree or the others around it. Maybe it is a rock that's handy,but is there grass or brush growing in front of it? Yes, fairly often there is.

The answer then is to not shoot until one CAN find a clear shot, but I have seen too many so-called "hunters" who just rare back and whang away anyhow....Followed by all the cheesy-ass comments about how they paid a lot of money for the hunt, or it's the last day, etc., and they're not gonna pass up a chance....

I learned a lot of this stuff shooting elk on control hunts for the F&G department and running a rifle range, so it isn't fantasy. It is my experience. Others may have different experiences, but he asked for opinions.... My opinion is that most modern hunters need to put in a LOT more work with their guns somwehere other than at a bench before they even consider shooting at game at 300 yards.

I don't think that shoe fits everyone, but if it does fit.....

A good 30 caliber 165 bullet is a lot of power. but 300 yards is along ways.
But still placed well , if you don't hit on the shoulder, it should go into the lungs of any elk or moose.
I,ll pass on grizzly , or brown bear.
...tj3006

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
My opinion is that most modern hunters need to put in a LOT more work with their guns somwehere other than at a bench before they even consider shooting at game at 300 yards.
QUOTE]

X 2, roger