Minimum caliber for Alaska / Yukon Moose�. My hunting partner is planning to hunt moose with a weatherby .270. I feel this might be slightly under gunned and that the min is probably .300 with a good 200 grain bullet. Any comments?

If you are spending the money a alaska moose hunt cost, shot the biggest caliber you can handle.I would say .30, but 7mm could be alright. my freind has a 270 weatherby, and a .300 win mag. Took the .300 for moose hunt.

I have watched a bunch of moose get shot by little guns.I saw two guys shoot two moose fighting with 30-06.The finally killed one after shooting it six times.The other one was hit 4 times and got away.They are very big about 7 ft at the hunp and up to 10 ft long.I would not waste my money fooling with a little gun on these big moose.I watched one shot running.The guy hit it 3 times with a 300 weatherby witgh 180 gr Nosler Partitions.I would recomend 338 win mag with 250 gr bullet for moose or Alaskan game in case you bump into mister bear.I let one of my best friends use my 338 win mag with 250 gr bullets.He has shot 5 moose in 5 shots in 5 years .They all fell over in their tracks.They were not bloodshot and with out much meat loss.He was use to shooting the 3 to 5 times a piece with 30-06.He got one this past Fall the furtherest shot yet 300 yards.He loves that rifle and wont give it back.I dont recomend using that 270 Weatherby on moose.You want to drop you moose as close to the shot possible so they dont get in the water or head to the thickets or cross a river.Its hell to get a moose ouT of a river or lake after the shot .That moose that was shot 6 times with 30-06 the bullets didnt go through .They shopped under the shoulder .He finAlly killed it with two neck shots.

I belive that if a Hunter hoes his/her part a .30/06 will handle almost anything. But I would personally take a .338 Win or .35 Whelen.

My father took a nice Newfoundland Moose with a 7mm-08. Hit it twice, but the second shot was fired just as the animal fell. 175 gr Speer Grand Slams. Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. Get it? The man is a great shot.

I usually don't like a bore size less than 7mm, however, I've seen excellent results from a .270 on large eastern Canada moose.

I personally wouldn't go lighter in power for moose than a .300 Savage, however, I've seen clean kills with a .35 Remington, and a 30-30. 30-06's, .308's and .303 British all do a great job on moose.

I know a fellow down McCarthy way, he owns just one rifle a 7mm-08 shoots just one bullet a 140 gr Nosler Partition. He collects his Moose every year and with one shot. If your friend can shoot a 270 Weatherby will do, if your friend can not, then nothing will work. Your friend puts a good 270 bullet where it needs to go, and he is going to have a lot of work to do. Lot of guys shoot a lot of Moose and what have you with 270's. The 270 seems to be pretty popular with guys around Haines Junction, seen a lot of moose in the back of pick ups when I passed thru last year.

A good friend of mine went up on a Moose hunt with a group of eight guys. They shared 2-3 rifles for the group and shot 7 of the 8 moose with a new 270 WSM using 140g Failsafes. Only one required a 2nd shot.

But I still like a bigger gun in case of bear.

I have taken moose with a .35 Whelen and a .30-06. Both will work and so will the .270 Wby. I would certainly use a premium bullet in the 150 grain weight. Put it in the right place and he will have his moose.

Ryan: You may want to ask the same question in the Alaska forum.

The most popular cartridges in Alaska are the .30-06, .300WM, and .338WM (not necessarily in that order). The .30-06 and .300WM with 180-grain Nosler bullets are popular with moose hunters up here. You can also use those two with heavier bullets if you prefer. My favorite is the .338WM with 250-grain bullets, but I have killed a few moose with 230-grain FS.

The .270 will be fine for moose hunting as long as you can shoot them through the lungs, but I would be hesitant to take a quartering shot with it. Also, keep in mind that moose roam in bear country, so it's not a bad idea to use one of those three calibers I listed above (bring the biggest gun you can shoot well). Some years I don't see any bears, but every now and then, specially when bears are not in my mind, I see some. They usually move away when they hear you, but every year or so somebody gets too close for comfort.

Some friends went moose hunting a few years back. It was a bowhunt, but at the last minute one grabed a 270 Win to take along...figured they ought to have some kind of gun in bear country. All three shot their moose with that 270. I asked how it did. No problem what so ever was the response.

I'm sure the .270 would do the job if the hunter does his, but you might want something a little stouter for Bear country, they have a knack of showing up in the worst place at the worst time.

John

His bullet choice will matter most in his .270 . With a good bullet it will work fine.

I have a buddy that has shot maybe a dozen moose with his 30-06 and most with one or two shots. He has been using a 338 win mag for about ten years now and I don't know if he even shoots his 30-06 anymore.

Ryan: If proper bullets are used and the shot can be well placed, your friend should have no problem. I'm going to assume he'll be going with at least one other person. One thing he should be cautious about is to be sure he can put the animal down before it can get to a river, lake or slough. Also, your friend probably should pass on a shot if the animal is running or has his adrenalin up. If that's the case, they can go a very long distance even with a lung shot & the only way to put it down in that situation is to break the shoulder. I do think a .277 cal. bullet, no matter how well constructed, will not, normally, do substantial damage to the shoulder of a moose. I personally normally try to break the shoulder just to avoid the chance of the animal escaping to the river we hunt on but I use a .338 mag. too. Hope this helps some. Bear in Fairbanks

A 270 Wby will kill a big moose no prob. Tell him to load a Barnes 140 gr. TSX bullet, and to keep his shots to 400 yards and in. It's all about shot placement.

I put 3 175gr. 7mm Trophy Bonded slugs in a bull just 40km south of the Yukon border(same moose as AK). He just walked off like he never was hit. He died not far in the bush but I was surprised by the lack of reaction. I recovered two of the bullets and they performed perfectly. I'll use my 7mm mag again but when I get my 338Rum, I'll be more comfy with it.

This bull was by no means a big bull for that area. Under 1000lbs.

What Ray in AK said,ditto.I have killed moose with a 270,and

308.Both one shot kills...270 moose drop in his tracks.The

308 moose at 265 yards (ranged) staggered 15 yards,fell

stone dead.



My moose/elk/bear gun (being built now) will be 338wm.



His choice will work...there are better choices.



Jeff

The question is MINIMUM, so in response to that I say the 6.5X55 with 140 to 160 gr bullets. Moose are not hard to kill and the only issue other than bullet placement is penetration.

This has worked for almost 100 years for the Swedes and other norsky friends, so it will work in AK.

Ryan, I shot a moose in AK this year with a 7 mm RUM, using 160 gr. A-frames; moose went down after 8-10 seconds, about 10 feet from the spot where I shot him. It was only a 65 yard shot, though. I've got a .270 Wby that I love, and comtemplated taking it on the trip, which was moose/sheep combo, but the 7 RUM won out as it was a little heavier in case we ran into a grizzly. The .270 Wby would work fine for moose I'm sure, provided the shot placement was there.

Craig

Swedish Moose are somewhat smaller than those in Alaska, but you still have a pretty valid point. The 6.5x55 has been used effectively on elk, and by most accounts, they're tougher to kill than moose. Shot placement is probably the most important factor, as long as you aren't horribly undergunned. The .270 Wby should be alright with a premium 150 grain bullet.