There is one glaring problem with this: Most guides have exactly zero experience using smaller caliber cartridges on big game, anecdotal or otherwise. Their opinions are often -less- informed than those people with anecdotes from 3 or 5 or 10 animals (not to mention the 100s of examples here on a single thread).What do most professional guides say? If you ask them what caliber they want to see clients use for moose or Caribou or brown bear are they going to suggest a 223 or a 6.5 Grendel? Or are they likely to suggest something a little stiffer?
The base recommendation should come from a broad spectrum of people with extensive and statistically relevant first-hand knowledge. It should not come from anecdotal opinions from folks that have shot three or five or ten. The ideal answer rarely exists at the extreme low end or high end of the spectrum. And the base recommendation probably shouldn't consider who gets offended. It's about killing humanely and having a reasonable chance of recovering game.
My response would probably be the same if the minimum caliber was a 30-378 weatherby. Still, I don't really have a dog in the fight in Alaska.
The state I live in requires 22 caliber centerfire and handguns having over 500 ft lb of energy.
Two weeks ago I was talking with a guide friend who was about to head out to guide moose. He said if he gets a chance to hunt his own moose he was -thinking- of using his 6.5CM instead of his 375 Ruger, at least in part because of his conversations with me. He still wasn't sure if his 6.5CM was adequate. I reminded him of what I do and insured him his 6.5CM was 100% capable of taking any moose in AK.
I think guide's opinions are mostly impressive to people without a lot of personal experience of their own and with a large over estimation of guide's level of knowledge on ballistics and terminal performance. That's just not what most guides are interested in.
In my experience, a guide's take is something like "Well, I don't know if that works, but I know this does, so that's what I want you to use". Most are get 'er done kind of guys and don't fool around much beyond what they have experience with.
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