Best cartridge for hunting North America

[Uncle Nicky]

30.06, but if you're serious about brown bear, I'd go with .300 Win Mag.

[G-Man]

The boring 30-06... or ask an Eskimo they use .223 polar.bears

[Pygmy]

The boring 30-06... or ask an Eskimo they use .223 polar.bears

 

Hehehehehe.. That's true.

 

When I hunted caribou near the Arctic Circle in 1994, my Inuit guide showed me a video on his camcorder of his 9 year old son shooting a 10 foot polar bear with a .222.. Dropped him like a rock.

 

My guide, George Konana ,was carrying a .300 Win mag, which he said belonged to his father...

 

I commented that the .300 might  be a better polar bear rifle than the .222.

 

George replied " Nope... Ruins too much meat"...End of conversation....<<grin>>...

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The boring 30-06... or ask an Eskimo they use .223 polar.bears

Yeah but they can have 30 round mags there...lol

[Dr Ignominious Death]

A well placed eye shot with a .22 lr is my recommendation. Cheap? Yes.  Requires skill? yep  Make hunting brown bears more exciting? Probably won't live to tell about it. 

 

Second to that, why not a 270 over a .06?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The top end on the bullet weights are not available in a 270.

 

and it may actually be easier to find '06 ammo compared to .22LR...LOL

[NFA-ADK]

30-06, 55 - 110 - 130 - 165 - 180 - 220 grain heart shot, yea, nothing in North America would survive. 

 

PS:  Don't tell bow hunters about this, they might really feel underpowered!  I think the 30-06 is more powerful than any bow?  :-)

[Pygmy]

A well placed eye shot with a .22 lr is my recommendation. Cheap? Yes.  Requires skill? yep  Make hunting brown bears more exciting? Probably won't live to tell about it. 

 

Second to that, why not a 270 over a .06?

 Why would a .270 EVER be superior to a 30-06 ?

 

Essentially the same velocities with equal bullet weights, and the 06 will  handle significantly heavier bullet weights than the .270.  The 30-06 has a big edge on heavier game, due to it's ability to use 180-220 grain bullets at  velocities high enough for shots out to 300 yards or so.

[G-Man]

availabilty of ammo and type/weight of bullet selection from factory it has to go to that boring 30-06.

[ncountry]

30-06, 55 - 110 - 130 - 165 - 180 - 220 grain heart shot, yea, nothing in North America would survive.

PS: Don't tell bow hunters about this, they might really feel underpowered! I think the 30-06 is more powerful than any bow? :-)

I bet I can out penetrate a 30 06 with my bow ..Shooting at a gallon jug full of sand.. Watched the video, thought it was cool, tried it myself ..lol

[Pygmy]

I bet I can out penetrate a 30 06 with my bow ..Shooting at a gallon jug full of sand.. Watched the video, thought it was cool, tried it myself ..lol

 

You might win that bet....

 

How about this one ?

 

I'll shoot a charging grizzly at 20 yards with a 30-06 and 200 grain bullet..

 

You shoot a charging grizzly at 20 yards with your bow and whatever arrow you choose.

 

Want to bet on which one of us is more likely to end up as bear s**t ??

[Hock3y24]

308 or 06

[bkln]

+1 on 30-06, sure you can have a rifle for each existing caliber but when you talk versatility and one rifle that does a lot I would stick with 30-06

[Lawdwaz]

I bet I can out penetrate a 30 06 with my bow ..Shooting at a gallon jug full of sand.. Watched the video, thought it was cool, tried it myself ..lol

 

Try that little exercise at 100 yards...........................................................

[ncountry]

Try that little exercise at 100 yards...........................................................

I am not sure I have enough arrows to hit a milk jug at 100 yds..lol

[ncountry]

On topic, I am a 300 win mag fan. If you do not like the recoil one coul always load down to 30-06 levels or less.

[Pygmy]

No problem there.

 

Fungus Face, one of my hunting buddies,  hunts everything with his .300 Win mag.

 

He is ugly as sin,  dumb as a stump, and as recoil proof as a tractor tire. He's also one of my most treasured friends and is a very good shot.  He's as solid a friend and hunting partner as there is and I would ( and I HAVE )  trust him with my life in a tight situation.

 

I would not want to have him know I said such a thing, but he's too busy chasing loose women to read forums like this.

 

I  load his ammo for him and I worked up the loads for his M70 .300 Win mag , featuring 180 grain Speer Grand Slams.

 

The damn thing kicked the snot out of me while I was working up loads, but it doesn't bother him a bit.

 

He said he never realized it kicked that much until he watched ME shoot it from the bench.

 

Works for him...<< GRIN>>....

[Uncle Nicky]

No problem there.

 

Fungus Face, one of my hunting buddies,  hunts everything with his .300 Win mag.

 

He is ugly as sin,  dumb as a stump, and as recoil proof as a tractor tire. He's also one of my most treasured friends and is a very good shot.  He's as solid a friend and hunting partner as there is and I would ( and I HAVE )  trust him with my life in a tight situation.

 

I would not want to have him know I said such a thing, but he's too busy chasing loose women to read forums like this.

 

I  load his ammo for him and I worked up the loads for his M70 .300 Win mag , featuring 180 grain Speer Grand Slams.

 

The damn thing kicked the snot out of me while I was working up loads, but it doesn't bother him a bit.

 

He said he never realized it kicked that much until he watched ME shoot it from the bench.

 

Works for him...<< GRIN>>....

 

Like Fungus Face, I never really got the recoil issue either. I won't say I enjoy patterning slug guns, but the recoil on most big game rifles has never bothered me much. I sorta like the idea that anything I shoot at is going to get slammed just as hard or harder than I am. Just hold on tight & keep your eye back from the scope.

[moog5050]

Actually shouldering the gun and keeping your eye from the scope is a good idea.  I KNOW SOME IDIOT THAT DIDN'T THIS YEAR AND HAS A NICE PERMANANT REMINDER.  LOL

[Pygmy]

Actually shouldering the gun and keeping your eye from the scope is a good idea.  I KNOW SOME IDIOT THAT DIDN'T THIS YEAR AND HAS A NICE PERMANANT REMINDER.  LOL

 

I  have developed some scar tissue in the brow area myself over the years....Let's see, if my  moldy old memory serves me right, there was a 12 gauge slug gun, a .50 cal muzzleloader, my M70 .280, and, of all things, my M700 Mountain rifle in 7mm08  that all left me bleeding profusely...

 

Believe it or not, it was the last time, with the 7mm08, that did me the worst. I had a cut between my eyes and the two most beautiful black eyes you ever saw  for about two weeks.

[ants]

LOL!! I watched a friend add "character" to his face on time. I felt bad for him, but I still laughed….

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I  have developed some scar tissue in the brow area myself over the years....Let's see, if my  moldy old memory serves me right, there was a 12 gauge slug gun, a .50 cal muzzleloader, my M70 .280, and, of all things, my M700 Mountain rifle in 7mm08  that all left me bleeding profusely...

 

Believe it or not, it was the last time, with the 7mm08, that did me the worst. I had a cut between my eyes and the two most beautiful black eyes you ever saw  for about two weeks.

I got it twice. 12 ga slug gun both times. Nice scar tissue. Hard to believe that the little thin patch of tissue between you eyes could have that many blood vessels in it.

[moog5050]

Good to know I am not the only one.  Phade had little sympathy laughing his butt off since we almost both stepped on the deer we were tracking.  BTW - I missed her.  We did finish her off before I went to the hospital for stitches.

Edited June 12, 2014 by moog5050

[G-Man]

Never been scoped, but had a 50 cal black powder handgun i was shooting come up and hit me in the forehead with the barrel.... no blood but didn't fell good and it will shoot 150 grains accuatly..though I've scaled back' to 90 grains

[chiefbkt]

I'm going with my personal favorite, the Barrett .50 cal topped with a Leupold Mark 4 long range scope.