Moose Hunt Cartridge and Bullet

[roymunson]

Awesome! Good to hear! I have taken deer and a wolf with it and never had an issue either! Just going off what I've heard so I'm glad to hear it works well with larger game!

There's a lot of knowledge on the internet. There's also alot of bad information and lies and outright misleading things online.

Best bullet you can shoot is one you're confident with. Put it on em and have some fun.

 

[Gkhuc]

I'd choose 300 PRC and Berger 215 Hyb Targets – that combo's straight fire for moose at 600 yards.

 

[Boston1]

Moose are so big they soak up the cartridge no matter how big it is-- unless you hit the spine/ shoulder and drop it in its tracks. If you put the round in the bread basket it will do the job. I know people who do it regularly with a .243- that makes me nervous but they make sure of their shot and it works. I've taken 2 with .308 trophy copper 165 grain. One was 200 yards and the other was 370 yards. Both were double lung shot and they didn't travel 50 yards. This year I'm taking the 300 win mag just in case I need confidence for a longer shot. Take your favorite gun and have fun.

 

[bigunit]

My moose experience has been,
Bull moose 250gr sst from muzzleloader 165yards
7mm08 140gr federal trophy bonded tip, 125yards, 2 shots
7mm rem mag 140 gr etip. 80 yards. 1 shot
308 win 150 ttsx 150 yards 2 shots 2 moose
280 ai 168gr lrx. Bow range 1 in the spine and a finishing shot.

All cartridges worked very well. The farthest any of the moose went was about 20 yards. That was with the muzzleloader. The rest took 1- 10 steps and fell over.

 

[benbhunter]

Moose missiles ready to launch T-minus 36 days. 300wm 220 Eld-x with 75 gr H-1000 powder.

 

[roymunson]

That dog will hunt

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Moose missiles ready to launch T-minus 36 days. 300wm 220 Eld-x with 75 gr H-1000 powder.
View attachment 912702

Ouch time!

 

[Diamondback]

7mm PRC
Nosler 169gr Accubonds, LR BC of 0.616
Nosler 175gr Accubonds, LR, BC of 0.648
Nosler 175gr Partition BC of 0.519
Barnes 168gr LRX BT BC of 0.513
Whatever is the most accurate load going 2900 - 3000fps

Old school, a 30-06, whatever below shoots the most accurate in a Tikka T3x stainless:
Optic: 1-6x24 with shots 300 and under because if going through thick brush, 1x is nice to have in bear country.

You can find 30-06 ammo anywhere, if it comes down to it.
Nosler 180gr Accubonds, BC of 0.507 2700 - 2800fps - preference
Nosler 190gr Accubonds, BC of 0.597 2650 - 2750fps
Nosler 200gr Accubonds, BC of 0.588 2600 - 2700fps

 

[OXN939]

I would bet a years income more moose in Alaska were killed with 30-30's and 30-06's than all other cartridges put together.

Facts and a half. My buddy brought a .375 H&H on a moose trip a few years ago under the "ensuring he had enough gun" argument. Took four rounds rounds to put his bull down.

Meanwhile, all the moose pros I know shoot '06 with either TTSX or accubond and rarely have dramatic recovery stories

 

[rookieforever33]

Its amazing that the good old partition still gets love. When I first started hunting in my state I could get 12 gauge partition slugs. That dried up, but worked better than anything available since. When I got i to animal hunting with a rifle I tried monos, not as good as the partition. Ive tried "softer" bullets, not as good as the partition. I tried partition rifle bullets, bingo. Good wound channels plus good penetration, just as designed. These might not be your bullets past 500 or so, but inside, they are my Huckleberry. Especially above 150 grains.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Its amazing that the good old partition still gets love. When I first started hunting in my state I could get 12 gauge partition slugs. That dried up, but worked better than anything available since. When I got i to animal hunting with a rifle I tried monos, not as good as the partition. Ive tried "softer" bullets, not as good as the partition. I tried partition rifle bullets, bingo. Good wound channels plus good penetration, just as designed. These might not be your bullets past 500 or so, but inside, they are my Huckleberry. Especially above 150 grains.

The 180g partition on 30-06 is an absolute classic.

 

[Nick4050]

Thanks again for the thoughtful and thorough responses! In regards to the questions for me, here are the answers:

@Nickziegler it is not guided by a professional, but some family members that live in Palmer/Wasilla area will be hunting with me and assisting. I will be taking a pistol in a chest holster as well.

@VernAK six decades of experience?! I'm sure you have quite the library of experiences and stories! In regards to the shot distance, I totally understand. I honestly don't think the people I'll be hunting with ever shoot more than a 100 yards or thereabouts. I only listed the 600 yard range because I've shot elk at greater distances than that and figured it would be an absolute maximum for everyone to consider in giving me feedback.

In the experience of those who have shot animals with the Barnes bullets, do you have any data on what the approx terminal velocity was for your kills and were you able to recover the bullets or verify the exit hole diameter to see how much expansion there was?

I've personally shot 4 moose, 6 black bear, and a brown bear up here with a Barnes tsx/ttsx in either 7 mag or 300 win. I've watched hunting partners take another 5 or 6 bear and 5 moose using a 180 ttsx out of a 300 win. I've had 2 complete pass throughs on black bears. the rest all stopped in the spine or against the far hide with either picture perfect expansion or missing 1-2 petals. All of the bullets we've pulled out of moose have had picture perfect bullet deployment, with the exception of one that went through both shoulder blades resulting in the petals shedding. These pictures are of a 160 tsx out of a 7 mag, pulled out of a black bear shot at 495 yards. My ballistics chart puts the impact velocity at about 1900 fps, which isnt too far off from the advertised minimum expansion veloctiy of 1800 fps. I've also pulled bullets of of a moose shot at 40 yards that looked identical.

There's a reason 95% of people up here shoot 7mm and up, and usually a monolithic such as the ttsx, or a tough bonded like the Accubond or Federal's Terminal Ascent. Moose might not be the toughest thing out there, but I've heard of the thick hide causing issues with thinnner jacketed bullets such as the Bergers and Eld's.

 

[optimusfried]

For years we hunted on a lake with really rocky shores. If the moose ended up running into the bush it would take hours and hours of extra time and effort to haul them back to shore and load them on the boat navigating boulders and trying not to break ankles or legs if you slipped and fell. After lung, heart, and head shots with a 308 win the animals would walk, trot, or run into the bush. We started using 3006 or bigger. I don’t know if hydrostatic shock is what you would call it, but when they got shot with the 300 win mag or the 300 rum with a 180 grain accubond they didn’t take another step. I have been a part of harvesting over 40 moose over the years and that turned into our rule at the cabin, nothing smaller than 3006 for hitting power.
Shot placement is always key, if you don’t hit the boiler room it won’t matter what caliber you use.

I'm trying my 9.3x62 this year on moose. Going up north to hunt with my brother. Just got the gun. Sauer 100 XT. Have a vortex 2-7 on it.

 

[optimusfried]

one example with the 270 gr spire point from hornady that i will consider a little more fragile than the speer and i worked on one moose, one bison and one grizzly but it is one example of each ... for now i prefer the 250 tsx in the 9.3s ...

Ill be using my 9.3x62 this fall

 

[optimusfried]

For years we hunted on a lake with really rocky shores. If the moose ended up running into the bush it would take hours and hours of extra time and effort to haul them back to shore and load them on the boat navigating boulders and trying not to break ankles or legs if you slipped and fell. After lung, heart, and head shots with a 308 win the animals would walk, trot, or run into the bush. We started using 3006 or bigger. I don’t know if hydrostatic shock is what you would call it, but when they got shot with the 300 win mag or the 300 rum with a 180 grain accubond they didn’t take another step. I have been a part of harvesting over 40 moose over the years and that turned into our rule at the cabin, nothing smaller than 3006 for hitting power.
Shot placement is always key, if you don’t hit the boiler room it won’t matter what caliber you use.

Dragging those moose over the shore wasn't fun, was it bro?

 

[optimusfried]

I've shot and seen moose shot with 308, 30-06, 300wm, 300rum, 7mm, and 45-70.
The 45-70 was my last moose. Frontal quartering shot, 47 yards away. 405gr going in, destroying the lungs and liver, as well as one tenderloin, 393gr recovered bullet.

 

[medvedyt]

Ill be using my 9.3x62 this fall

what bullet do you intend to use?

 

[optimusfried]

what bullet do you intend to use?

I have hornady 250gr and ppu 285 gr