| Posted: Fri Sep 11th, 2009 02:30 PM |
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chucksniper
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What range would be too far to take out a moose? Or an elk?
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11th, 2009 07:58 PM |
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Paul B
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Depends. How well can you shoot? What bullet are you shooting? Is the moose calm or disturbed and nervous?
For elk, I would want at least a 150 gr. Nosler partition and for moose the 160 gr. Partition, either one loaded as hot as my rifle can safely stand. Sub-MOA accuracy i not needed here as the kill zones on both animals is quite large.
I've never hunted moose but friends who have say most of the time ranges are not too far out. Elk on the other hand can be up close and personal or way the hell out and gone on a large open area where they can se you coming from a hell of a long way out. One of the areas I draw for elk is Area 1, and shots there after the start of he hunt can be a long ways out there. I usually use a .300 Win. mag. there with a very stiff loaded 200 gr. Speer Hot Core for the long shots (out as far as 500 yards) and a Nosler 200 gr. Parttion up the spout in case I jump one up close and personal. The two loads were worked up so that both hit topoint of aim at 100 yards and are clse enough to 300 yards. Shots longer than 300 yards are taken with the Speer bullet as they will open up better way out yonder. I am fortunate enough to have a range where I can practice out to 500 meters and another that I can shoot out to 1,000 yards although I rarely shoot on that range.
The last cow elk I shot was laser measured at 530 yards. I held accordingly and she dropped DRT. I do prefer to get close enough to see the whites of their eyes but in that area, once the first shot is heard, the elk head out into these very wide open "parks" where they can see you coming. I won't even go into how far I had to belly crawl to get as close as I did to reach the last little bush I could hide behind. Should I have pased on that shot? Some would probably say yes, but after shooting from field postions withthat rifle for three months prior to the hunt, I felt the shot was doalble. it was early in the morning, hardly any beeze at all, if any. The elk were undisturbed,relatively speaking and I had a good solid sitting position. Would I have tried that shot with my .270? I don't think so. Maybe 400 yards under perfect conditions and a 160 gr. bullet, but not 530. I have a lot of confidence in that .300 magnum with 200 gr. bullets. So where did Ihit the elk? The bullet dropped just right and broke the spine. I did high a bit highr than I expected but the shot was good.
Paul B.
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11th, 2009 09:14 PM |
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chucksniper
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Thanks Paul for your input. I was just wondering what kida shots Jack O'Conner used to take with his 270. Long range like you said 500 yards. I like those Bear claw speer bullets, I think they would do the job at futher ranges. I know read Jack took moose with his 270, and all critters up to brown bear up to griz.
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11th, 2009 11:54 PM |
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Paul B
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I kow that jack shot one moose with the .270 and 130 gr. bullets, but only because he said that's what was in his gun at the time. If he'd had hos druthers, and was using the .270, he would have much preferred using the 150 gr. Nosler Partition rather than the 130 gr. partitopn in his rifle. make sense to me.
FWIW, when Jack retired and Jim Carmichel replaced him at Outdoor Life, Carmichel asked O'Connor the question, "If you were retricted to only one cartridge to hunt all North American game, what would it be? Surprise surprise, it was not the .270. Without hesitation, Jack said, "The 30-06." I'm inclined to agree. Like the late great Col. Whelen once said, "The 30-06 is never a mistake."
Paul B.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 12th, 2009 12:13 AM |
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chucksniper
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Damn..!! and just to think, I "had" an '06. Although I read the 270 will do what the 06 does just without the recoil. And that's the reason I gave up the '06.
Is a 200 grain bullet really nessesary or will a 160 grainer do the job.Last edited on Sat Sep 12th, 2009 12:14 AM by chucksniper
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17th, 2009 05:32 PM |
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458 Shooter
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chucksniper wrote: What range would be too far to take out a moose? Or an elk?
I have shot moose out to about 300 yds with 130 grain handloads. One in the engine room puts them in the dirt pretty fast.
I used an old Brno .270 for the first twenty years of my hunting life, never had any game run off.
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