I am going to try moose hunting next fall and was wondering what you all thought about my rifle. I use a Savage bolt action 30-30 shooting 150 gr Winchester PP's.It is devastating on whitetails out past 200 yards. I know I can put the bullet where it belongs , but will it be enough out to 100 yards. I am asking now because its early enough to get something else.

Hmm. Here's my thought. Ever tried to cut up a moose in a bog? A 30/30 will kill one, but you might not care for WHERE he goes to die......

I'd try to find a 358 or 35 Whelen, myself. JMO, Dutch.

There certainly have been lots of moose taken with the 30-30, and probably just as many lost. Sounds like you have the perfect excuse to get a new gun! A 30/06 will fill the tag as well as anything else, but you may consider a .300 Win Short Mag. The step up from a 30-30 to an '06 is quite a bit and may be enough depending on your ability to handle recoil. If you decide on a new gun, practice. The 30/06 is a very practical caliber for us Canajuns.

I hit a bull with three shots from a 9.3X74R, all in the lungs, and he kept walking slowly. Fortunately, he walked up a cut bank and died where we could back a truck right up to him, and then we nearly killed our backs just to lift him the 9 inches into the pickup bed.

You may not be so lucky, and whether its 100 feet, or 100 yards, or 1000 meters, a moose is best dead where he stands, and not where he goes, espeicallly to water..

I was using 293 grain TUGs, a fine bullet, and only a shoulder, spine, or neck shot would have stopped him in the tracks.

I would suggest that you get a bigger rifle than a 30/30 for an animalthe size of a horse. Even a smaller caliber, like a 270 or 280, but with more bonebreaking power than the 30/30, would be my suggestion.

You would surely see your dream moose at the other side of a clear cut, at distance like 300 meters, and then you would say, "*&^(**& maybe that is what they were meaning last xmas".

I hunted, with a good guide, for three seasons before getting a single shot at a good bull, and that was a five second take it or leave it shot at 165 yards with no chance of a stalk to get closer.

Hawky
The 30-30 will kill a moose, I have done it. But the moose went about 100 yards into a swamp before it died. The recovery was just short of horrific. This was my first of 23 moose.I now personnel use big guns. 35 cal or larger.
My favorite two are a 378 Weatherby and 358 STA. I hunt moose from a boat on the rivers and I do not want them to get into the river or a swamp. We break bones when we shoot them. When we get a chance for a shot at an animal that is unaware of us there, we punch him in the boiler room. I have noticed that almost everyone we have shot in this situation takes 15 seconds to realize it is dead. They usually shutter a little then about 15-30 seconds later take a step and fall over. Moose are not all that hard to kill but you will rarely get them to drop in there tracks.
I think that the best 200 yd or less moose rifle a man can own is the 35 Whelen. I have taken several with it. But when I started hunting where some shots could be longer. I brought out the big boys. Also another thought is if there are a lot of bear in the area you are going to hunt. I would feel a lot better with something bigger than the 30-30.

All good advise, all I can do is re-inforce it. In the past 30 years or so, we have killed a whole bunch of moose with everything from a .303 Brit to a .300 Win Mag. and most everything in-between. If you have ever tried to field dress a moose that has made it into 3 feet of water you would trade your left arm for a rifle that would have dropped him in his tracks.
If you do use your 30-30, hit him,then hit him again and then hit him again. Resist the urge to stand and watch the results of your first shot. Moose do not seem to be big on the adrenalin surge like deer or elk, but they can take an amazing amount of punishment and not re-act much. They don't take a lot of killing, but they do take their time to lie down and admit it.

Tom

I would personaly go with a 338 winnie or bigger. I haven't shot a moose yet, but I sure don't want to pull one out of a swamp like these guys are talking about. I have no doubt my 338 would plant them but good.
JMHO X-Ring

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Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!

A .30-30 within 150 yards will do the job if the moose is broadside to you and you can shoot through the lungs. A .30-06 or a .308 will work, specially when you use heavy-for caliber bullets; these cartridges will also stretch the distance for you.

Where I hunt in Alaska, most shots on moose are taken from 30 to 200 yards, and a few around 300. I have only had one moose walk 25 yards after one shot with a 230-grain FS bullet, and the rest have dropped on the spot (or pretty close to it) with one well-placed shot through the lungs/heart (or low on the shoulders) from my .338 Magnum. A 230-grain FS out the barrel somewhere around 2,800 fps, is capable of breaking both shoulder bones on moose. I have done that with mine.

If you still want to use your .30-30, get the best factory ammo you can find for it (use heavy for caliber bullets), and close the distance to within 150 yards. I got a friend who does that all the time, but he is very proficient with his .30-30 and knows moose like the palm of his hands.

If you can tolerate the recoil from a .30-06 but want to shoot a heavier bullet with it, then a .338-06 or a .35 Whelen will do the work. I would recommend the "Alaskan" (.338 WM) if you hunt in bear country, but since I am very bias towards this popular cartridge, I won't tell you what to get.

Remember that proficiency with your gun/bullet combination will do more for you than gun size alone. Check around the areas you hunt, and see what works around there. You will be surprised to find that must hunters don't use cannons to hunt moose, and that the best hunters around you understand the limitations of both their guns and themselves. Once that is accomplished, they adapt by getting closer, passing a shot, etc.

why chance a good rack and a lot of meat?

Get something with as Tim Allen says, "MORE POWER"

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When in doubt, do a nuclear strike.

What Ray Alaska said! If you do use the 30-30 for heavens sake dont use a 150 gr bullet, a 180 or 200 gr roundnose behind the shoulder as close as comfortably possible would be my strategy in that situation. Being ready to fire multiple rounds is sound advice as well but placement is paramount IMHO.

Hawky,
I belive if you are a good cool shot,you could easily make a head shot on a moose with your 30-30.While it would be a bit messy,it would certainly drop a moose in its tracks.

If you must use your 30-30 and don't think you can or want to use head shots,find a friend who reloads.Get them to load you some rounds with the Nosler 170 grain round nose Partition,which is made for the 30/30.If I had to hunt moose with a 30/30,this is the bullet I would use.Have heard good reports of it working on elk,so it should work fairly well on moose.

Personaly,I think if you have the money you should buy a bigger gun.Find a good used 30/06 in a Remington 700.It won't set you back to much $$.Outfit it with a 4x Leupold (tough,cheap,and all the magnification you need for game the size of moose).If you don't want to pay much for ammunation (most people don't),buy Remington ammo loaded with 180 or 220 grain bullets.Or,you can do the same thing and get a 7mm Remington Magnum and use 175s.

Just my humble opinion.

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I'm out to wrong rights,depress the opressed,and generaly make an ass of myself!

I got my first moose with a .30/30, but like the others here, I would not reccommend it.

Moose can suck up a lot of lead before they drop, but they don't take a lot of killing. Guys ruin way more meat than necessary with this animal because they just stand there and take it unless you hit them in the head or spine. Unless your are near water, just give 'em one or two in the boiler room and wait til they fall over.

I think a .338 is probably the ideal moose gun, but there is nothing wrong with anything in the .30/06 or .300 Mag class. I personally use a .300 Win Mag.

FWIW, Canuck

I put 3 X .308, 180grn in the head of a bull @ 30' one time & it walked. Now I always shoot for the lung-heart. Your 30-30 will do the job if your close & a compitant shot, but I to would vote for 06 or even an 308.

Sxr6,

Obviously you did not hit the bull in the brain.Miss the brain (easy to do even on a deer),and they usualy run off.

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I'm out to wrong rights,depress the opressed,and generaly make an ass of myself!

Not direct experience here but a good friend shot a moose up in Alaska with a 7mm Rem and it did exactly as some here have described...it got as far as some sort of bog where they were up to their chests working on getting that beast onto dry ground. That story made me think something bigger might be in order for one of these big suckers.

Reed

Personally I don't think moose are that hard to put down. I have shot several over the last few years with rifles from 7 REM mag to 375 JRS. I honestly couldn't tell the difference on which worked better. However Last year I shot a cow moose at about 80 yards facing dead away from me The gun I was using was a .340 Wby. and a 225 gr Barns X. The bullet entered the rear of the animal and came out the base of the neck. She was absolutely toast. I was pretty happy. I wont say you need a 340 but I sure was impressed.

Happy Hunting

Something else I forgot to add: It is very easy to forget to aim a little low or through the center of the lungs. If you aim a little low (through the center of the lungs), more than likely you will hit the heart, too. If you aim too high and right behind the shoulder bone, more than likely the bullet will pass cleanly between the spine and the lungs.

It is the same when taking broadside shots on bears, except that a bear's heart is a little lower than a moose's heart. Take a look at shot placement at the following site:

http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/wildlife/geninfo/hunting/huntak16.htm

The problem with "smaller" guns is if you need an "anchoring" shot (to prevent it from going too far). Quartering shots could also be a problem. That's where proficiency with the gun and knowing enough about the game become important.

The first moose I shot was with a 7MM RM/160gr Noslers, at 200 yds. First shot took out heart and lungs, I watched the impact thru the scope, the hide opening streched out dinner plate size, then closed. He just stood there. Second shot was a repeat, from the other side. If he had gone 50 yds, it would have been an all nighter to get him out. 3rd shot was a take down shot, removed the left rear hip joint, put him down. He was dead from the first shot, but he didn't know it till I got on scene and cut his throat. Pretty tough animal, and he wasn't even excited on adrenalin. Can you kill a moose with a 30-30, yes. You may have to put him down, not sure the venerable 30-30 would do that. BTW, very little meat damage from the hip shot, just a 1" hole thru the hip, meat edible right to the edge.

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Good Shooting!

Thank you all for the help. I do handload, that is why I thought the 30-30 might be enough. After reading all this I think I will look into a 30-06, I have wanted one anyway. I will keep the 30-30 for whitetails.
Thanks again.

Hey hawky,

The first moose I saw killed, my buddie shot it with a 6.5 Jap from about 200 yards in Alaska. Dropped straight down. He put the gun back in the boat and we got the saw, knives and packs out and hiked over there.

That's when I learned you can kill a BIG moose with a .357 Mag. Andy shot that moose right through the knees and he wasn't goin' nowhere, until I parted the weeds about 10 foot from him. I didn't even remember dropping the gear and drawing my revolver, but Andy said I shot in about a half second.

I shot two moose with a .30-06. The first was probably 225 yards, broadside, and I hit him with a 220 grain Hornaday factory load. He just stood there. I hit him again and he just stood there. I aimed a little higher and shot again and he dropped in his tracks from a spine hit.

The second one I shot broadside from maybe 50 yards with the same bullet. He took off running, quartering away. I shot again and this time hitting the last rib and breaking the off shoulder. He disappeared into some willows and went close to 100 yards before he went down.

Next time I want to use a .338-06AI I plan on putting together. I'll use at least a 225 grain bullet and go for the shoulder the first time.

[This message has been edited by Ol' Sarge (edited 12-26-2001).]

I took my Moose with a .340 Wby, using a 250 gr. Nosler Partition Gold bullet. I am going back and will be using a .358 STA for Caribou and Wolf, realizing they don't require that much gun, but out of respect for their fellow resident Bears, the larger chambering will make me feel better. Good luck and good shooting.

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Hawky, your new 30-06 will certainly be enough gun for moose. But you must always be prepared for the "hit-and-run". Several moose I've shot with good heart- and/or lung-shots have gone up to 100-150 meters after the shot. I'm now putting together a 375 H&H for moose butI don't expect this to *ancor* them on lung-shots either. It's just to be able to take those "bad angle" shots.

Hawky: There is a lot of good advice here on caliber and bullet choices to use on moose or any other truly large animal...my experience with one moose using a .338 Win Mag with 210gr Nolser Partitions was like most of the others recounted above: I made two good shots on a quartering away moose at about 120 yards, both shots through the lungs and one of those breaking the off shoulder...the moose travelled at least an additional 100 yards before falling down...as I have said elsewhere, I really did not like that extra travelling part! I was lucky, he did not land in a bog or in thick bush. I have read that you can shoot a moose once in the lungs with a 30-06 or 5 times in the lungs with a 30-06, and it will still take him 2 minutes die...I have since shifted to bigger, tougher bullets....I prefer a .378 Wby with .300 grain bullets for most animals big and small...not to kill them deader but to break more stuff faster...but you should hunt with the gun you like the best and finding that gun can and should be lots of fun! Now go get that moose!

Robert Jobson

rwj
Glad to see another cannon fan out there

Hi Hawky. I used to live in Thompson and chased a lot of swamp donkeys in my youth, usually with a 30-30 or 303 (what we had, at the time). Everyone here is right. Moose aren't hard to kill, they just take a while to realize they're dead. We got one with a 270 one time that wandered about 1/2 a mile up a partially frozen creek and finally died on a beaver lodge. What a pain. Since then I've tried most of the calibers out there, and a lot depends on how recoil sensitive you are. I think, and it's just my opinion, that a 35 caliber hole from a 35 Whelen or 350 Rem. Mag (those wonderful light 600/660/Mohawks)would be about perfect. Where you planning on hunting them? Last time I was in sw Manitoba I didn't see a whole bunch of moose. You won't lose out on much range with either 35, and for in the bush they will really do the job. Hope this helps. - Dan

35nut: I am with you on that! The value of a .378 will be our secret...

Several Cartridges jump to the front of my list for a great Moose cartridges now available. The 35 Whelen, 300 Win. Mag., 338 Magnum, 338 Ultra Mag, 45-70, 12 gauge slug gun out to 100 yards.
The 30-30 is very limited by the bullet selection available and they are desinged to shoot deer sized game not thick skinned moose using the 150 gr. or 170 gr. bullet. You would do the moose and your self a favor by choosing another cartridge to harvest your moose.
You can purcahse a Weatherby Vanguard 300 Win. Mag. from WalMart for $388.00 plus tax and they are very well made rifles in my view and far better quality than the Remington 700 rifles now being produced. I own two Vanguards and they are accurate reliable hunting rifles. I would purchase a Weatherby Vanguard rifle in every cartridge it is chambered for and not look back. One thing is certain with a Vanguard by Weatherby you will not have to replace the trigger as you do in a Savage rifle.

Hawky,

I've no experience of huntng moose, but I would think again about buying a 30-06. Why?
Well you seem to really love your 30-30, and have had a lot of success with it on deer...I suspect the 30-06 is just a bit too similar and covers much of the same ground. Personally, I would look at either a 338-06 or a 35 Whellen and then you would have a rifle battery that is that much more versatile. Either of those calibres would be better suited to moose than the 30-06 too.

Just a thought,

Peter

I used a 32 Win Special for moose for the first 6 years I hunted. The 32 is pretty much equal to the 30-30 in all respects. The area we hunted was THICK, shots over 100yds did not present themselves, the norm would be 75 to 150 feet. I was taught to split the neck or head shoot moose, if one of these shots didn't present itself you didn't shoot. Even using this practice I have shot a few bulls in the neck, missing the spine and had them get back up for more lead. Once I could afford a new rifle I bought a 30-06 and moose hunting became a whole lot easier.

...Peter