Why do we always argue over acceptable elk cartridges, but never moose cartridges?

Bull elk have a reputation for being tough, sure, but a big bull moose is a huge animal. They often take alot of killing!

I think to give the moose the respect they deserve we need to have a full-on heated battle about moose guns!

Let's hear from the guys whose brother-in-law kills a moose every year with a .223, and let them do battle with those that believe moose guns start with the .416!

This could be fun!

I haven�t shot enough moose to claim to be a "expert" in this area, far from

But I�m quite sure of that the choise of a good bullet is as important as the choise of calibre. This is of corse within the area of "usual" moose rounds (if there is any sutch area).

Here in Sweden the minimum legal limit is the 6,5X55 loaded with a 139 gr bullet at aprox. 2800 f/s. With bullets over 10 grams the v/o doesn�t have to be that high.

I would rader take a 6,5X55 with a good bonded core bullet than a, let�s say, 30-06 loaded with a fragile bullet that go to pieces when hitting a big bone in the shoulder of a moose.

I�m considering the 9,3X62 as a close to ideal moose round for the moose hunting here in Sweden.

Loaded with a good bullet of corse

Stefan.

I dont think a 270 is not enough cartridge perse but I do believe a bigger bullet than available in a 270 would be preferable and/or desirable for slaying Bullwinkle. I would want about 200 grains of lead or so myself.

You can kill moose with a 270 all day if you choose your bullets carefully. Moose don't tend to run off like elk do after a well placed shot. You can usually stalk and move in close and issue the coup de grace. They may not drop right away but you can usually slip in some more lead if needed. sure-shot

All depends on how much damage the bullet inflicts on the lungs/heart of moose. If you can get within 125 yards from a moose, and then shoot it through the vitals with a good bullet from a .30-30, that will kill it.

A few years back there was moose standing broadside to a guy I know. He fired 4 shots through the moose's lungs with .300 Magnum, then he reloaded his gun and fired one more time before the moose dropped. I imagine the moose was "just" about dead with the first shot, but it just stood there. There was nothing wrong with this guy's gun.

Moose will walk away after being shot, specially if they see you; that's when they will panic and run. When I shoot moose I usually stay out of view, and shortly after they drop without knowing what had happened. I have had several moose killed with one shot through the lungs/heart. Sometimes by the time I am reloading the chamber of my .338 Magnum they are dropping on the spot.

Also, moose will walk if you shoot and only break a leg, but as long as you hit and damage the vitals with the proper bullet they will drop within a few yards.

I prefer a rifle such as the .338 Magnum for moose, but only because I hunt in bear country, and because .338 bullets give any animal a great wallop. But the .270 can do the work.

.270 Winch can be used for moose, when loaded with heavy, strong bullets and with proper shot placement on an undisturbed animal. As mentioned, a considerable amount of mooses are killed here in Sweden with the 6,5x55. With the proper choice of bullet, the cartridges are practically equal.

However, the .270 W or the 6,5x55 wouldn�t be my first choice for moose. I would rather go with my 9,3x57 - or anything stronger than a heyvy loaded .30-06.

With correct shot placement the moose will drop in less then half a minuit. But there are heavy shoulderbones, which will smash a weak bullet into smithereens when hit. And in that case a standard .30 cal bullet is to weak - I have personally experienced that, when had to shoot a lying wounded moose at long distance. The .30 cal 180 gr RWS TUG just exploded in the shoulder. Later, when I had killed it with another shot, we found a coffe cup large crater in the shoulder bone. Since that I prefer heavier calibers - and better bullets. I think that the .270 or the .30 had worked properly then with an X-bullet or another premium. But I lost my confidence for that gun and sold it.

Yours,

Fritz

How is it going Gatehouse, did you get some time in for some hunting this fall? How's the ranch coming along?

To your question,

The last moose I guided this season was shot at about 25 yards with a 270 with 150 grain failsafes. The bullet broke a rib going in, penetrated the lungs and lodged in the meat on the edge of the shoulder on the off side.(no other bone was hit other than the one rib.)The Yukon/Alaskan moose ran about 50 yards and piled up. In this case the 270 was more than adequate. The bullet did the job but I feel that you would be limiting yourself on your shot options. A good example would be the largest B&C bull we took this season. On the last day of a 12 day hunt I got my hunter on a good bull but in heavy timber choked with willow. It was to risky to approach the bull so our only option was to try and coax the bull in closer and out of the willows that were hiding the bulls body.The rut had barely started so we had trouble keeping him intrested. It took 3 hours for him to move 150 yards towards us. We could see him trash a tree now and then but he never offered us a clean shot. Finally we seen a small opening ahead of him. When the bull stepped into that opening quartering towards us, he only offered us a marginal shot at 125 yards. My hunter was using a .338 Win. Mag. and we decided to take the shot. The bullet was able to penetrate and knock the bull down. The bull still needed anouther round. We got back to camp at 1:00 in the morning and the hunter flew out the next day after a successful hunt. I do not think the outcome would have been the same if my hunter had brought a 270.
The .270 is clearly adequate to kill a moose. You are stacking the odds in your favor if you use a larger caliber though. There is a chance where you may go home empty handed on an exspensive hunt because you had to pass on a less than ideal shot because you brought a caliber on the lower end of the scale.

Daryl

It seems unanamous that a 270 will do the job. No doubt in my mind, but on the flip side of the coin why would you want to? Unless that were the only gun available I would go larger. Do your prey a favor and get a one shot kill whenever possible.

I beleive the 270 bullet diameter is a little too small to hunt moose. It will kill moose anyway but the bullet hole is too small and the blood may bleed or not. "Highly Recommend" is over .30 cal for bigger expansion. 30-30 will not always kill a moose. One time the butcher remove the hide and noticed that 30-30 stuck in the rib. It is been there for years. Not enough kinetic energy.

Dang, my moose forgot to read this board! Got mine yesterday, at 100 yards with a 35 Whelen, high lung shot. I touched off, and that bugger took of for parts unknown in the highest gear he had. Took me an hour to find himin the willows. Should have told him he wasn't supposed to run, I guess. Dutch.

Great answer Daryl. I agree 100%. The main question in my mind is not whether the .270 is adequate, its whether your prepared to accept the limitations. Some are, some aren't.

Glad to see you made it back safe from another guiding season. Got any good stories this year? Are you going to have a chance to do some hunting for yourself?

Regards,
Canuck

Thanks Canuck,
As you know I always have a story to tell. This fall was no exception for being eventfull. The water was high and the weather was warmer than normal. Sheep and caribou hunts were not effected much, but I was suprised at how much it had an effect on the moose. Moose hunting was very slow. We killled some great bulls none the less. Lots of grizzly around but no real problems. A couple of new guides, who did a fine job and were a pleasure to meet. The horses did well this year. We got half a dozen green horses to replace some old ones. There were a few rodeos but otherwise they will work out fine.
I am sure to no ones suprise, that alot of hunters were showing up with 300&338 ultra mags. I seen some pretty fine rifles come in. I am happy to say that the majority of the hunters could shoot them pretty well.
Widrig had his supercup parked on the Stewart river in Mayo,Y.T. The Indians smashed all the windows out it and damaged the leading edges of the wings. He was not able to scout the sheep areas before the season but we were able to kill 11 rams for 12 hunters. Yet Chris still continues to give the Mayo band meat. Other than that, over all we all had a good hunting season.

Once I get over this cold that I caught from my last hunter I will hunt sheep. I will not turn down a grizzly if I run in to one. I will most likely hunt caribou on the Dempster when they come down from Alaska this month. I know you hunted the Dempster in January, It would be nice if you got the opertunity to hunt them in late October when all the bulls come through and it is a bit warmer. Basicly,I have all of October to hunt so I will take advantage of whatever comes along.
I do have an odd or humourous story I would like to share. I will post it under the miscellanious section a little later.

Let me know how your season has been for you,
Daryl

Wow guys...Here I started this as tongue-in-cheek but we actually really got some good information!

Daryl-
Nice to hear from you and hear you made it back safe and sound. I was out for a little over a week in the western Chilcotin Mtns. Had a great time despite not shooting anything. I was mainly hunting mule deer, but had a goat tag and a black bear tag.

I saw a bunch of three points and does, but held out for a 4 point, but he never appeared. Saw no goats, although this was a resonably good goat area. Saw no black bears, but I expected that as the elevation was about 6500 ft.

I DID see 4 grizzlies (a couple pretty close, and one right near camp) and a nice big bull moose. Unfortunately, both moose and grizzly are on a LEH in that area, and I hadn't drawn tags. So that's the way it goes...

No more long trips this season, for me, just hunting around home for blacktails.

Looking forward to reading more stories!
Clarke

Dutch, You ought to thank you're lucky stars that nobody told him he was supposed to die in the middle of a bog or lake.

I think DarylD presents the most considered opinion on these boards (remember the 6.5x55 for Grizzly) but I do wonder about the example given. Would a 150gr 270 partition threaded through the trees to a small gap really be less effective than a 3338WM? Would it actualy not break a shoulder or penetrate to vitals (assuming sane shot angles)Would a 338WM be less affected by a glancing blow of a twig? Or is it more a matter of confidence?

In general I would prefer a smaller adequate rifle with a well trained dog at heel to an ample rifle and no dog. But then I've seen zero moose and I'll be going for the bigger rifle AND a dog!

Slamfire -- Indeed!

Hi folks;
I dont profess to be an expert but I've been getting moose every year since I been old enough to keep both ends of the rifle off the ground, and I'm dragging 40 well behind me. I've seen the ol' 270 take many moose out to 400 yds. In the right hands that bullet will punch through both lungs and that animal is not going far. The only trick with moose is, balance the caliber against how far you want to have to pack it back to the truck.

Daryl,
How did the Ultra Mags perform for your hunters? I just got the 338 Ultra and am anxious to see what it does. I will be using 180gr Ballistic Tips for Antelope this weekend, I just hope my shoulder survives the sighting in. I'll let you guys know how she does.

------------------
God Bless and Shoot Straight

Not truly an expert as I have only shot 6 moose all with either a 7mm mag. or a .270. Last one was broadside across a lake in Alaska at about 400 yards. It was early in the morning everything was wet including me and the moose. At the shot I saw the spray from the hit, a 150 grain from a .270. We marked the spot by a dead snag with a nest in the top. After slogging around the lake we found him dead not more than 20 yards from where he had been standing. The bullet was against the hide on the far side. For that moose, that day, that .270 was enough gun.