[Lobo0311]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Mooseman684

I do swear By the .300 Win Mag and the 45-70 (for close in work) on Bears ! The 30/06 will do OK on most 8 ft. and smaller bears and Black bears ! Now if you run into "Freight Train" the 14 Ft. Grizzly Bear...HIDE ! LOL You will look at your guns and realize they aint Quite big enough !!! And file the front sight off that Taurus.... Rich

I don't know about you, but I'd be a little concerned if I was armed just "OK". Personally I'd keep the .300 win mag as my minimum, but that's just me. As for the .44 Mag.............. Well I think enoughs been said already.
Good luck on the hunt.

[Brother Bob]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Lobo0311

I don't know about you, but I'd be a little concerned if I was armed just "OK". Personally I'd keep the .300 win mag as my minimum, but that's just me. As for the .44 Mag.............. Well I think enoughs been said already. Good luck on the hunt.

You better have skills of a Navy Seal sniper if you tangle with a big bear and a .30-06! Like Mooseman said, that bear will rip you to shreds! Save one round for yourself. I own a .300 Winmag and I assure you that I feel it would be, just Ok for a big azz bruin! My Alaskan hunt would have a .375 H&H and my .338 Winmag as backup. Not because I'm a lousy shot, but because the thought of being disemboweled while I'm still alive doesn't seem too appealing to me!

[big shrek]

Quote:       Originally Posted by cremley

Sorry to be PC, but do you really need weapons for an Alaska hunt? I can understand hunting rifles and firearms but are the bears and other animals going to be shooting back? Sorry, The anti-gunners will use anything they can to fuel their fire. Watch what you post (i.e. sniper rifle that is really a long range target rifle and a weapon that is really a hunting rifle).

I like hunting socialists, commies, and liberals.

The best call to use are "No Nukes...No Nukes!!" or "Greenpeace Forever!!"
When they respond...BLAMMO!!!

Then they usually moan out..."Socialized Medicine...Socialized Medicine!!"



I miss Berke Breathed!!!

[Mooseman684]

^ LOL....good one !

In Alaska , when you are being Hunted by Grizzlies , You carry a Weapon , It Might be A hunting rifle , It might be a shotgun , It might even be a Handgun , but it is still a Weapon...firearm...Makes no difference !

Don't make me use My Weapon of Mass INSTRUCTION on you ! LOL

Rich

[forestgleaner]

45 70 can be loaded up to a decent big bear gun. Just make sure the loads function in your lever action, and don't let them lie around where some one with the old 45 70 might accidently put them in his gun. The main reason marlin developed the 450 marlin was to address the weak actions of the older 45 70 guns, yet still get preformance out of the 45 round. They did not want to risk the putting the new rounds in the older guns, so they made the shell slightly differant.
No one recogmended the bear spray? I think you take four of them, wrap them with duct tape. When the bear is chomping on you, put them inside his mouth, and then shoot with the 44mag. This take real patience, and should only be done by the really stupid.

[angler]

forget the 45-70 unless you use +p+ factory ammo.
the 44 mag best stay home, just pulls your belt down and will be in your way.
the 30-06 would be enough if you use Hornady's Light Magnum ammo, such as the 180 grain load.
no need to buy a new gun, just use what you can shoot well enough.

[moosemike]

Quote:       Originally Posted by SwedeSteve

Moosemike- If you go deerhunting on Kodiak, Montague or Afognak you WILL see bears, BIG bears !! About 2 minutes after you drop your deer, they're gonna show up to that "dinner bell" you just touched off !!

I hear ya. I still feel better with my .30-06 760 carbine than with a bigger gun. Mainly because I know my gun and I can shoot fast if I need to. I will probably (if the trip happens) load my rifle with 180's for the first two and 220's for the last three. If a big bear is bearing (pardon the pun) down on me I want a 220 grain load in my '06.

[big shrek]

Quote:       Originally Posted by forestgleaner

No one reccomended the bear spray? I think you take four of them, wrap them with duct tape. When the bear is chomping on you, put them inside his mouth, and then shoot with the 44mag. This take real patience, and should only be done by the really stupid.

So far, the only thing I've noticed about Bear Scat is that sometimes it smells like Cajun Cooking...then you know some poor hiker tried to use Bear Spray.

[2taps]

Just picked up on this thread and will make a couple comments. I am a moose guide for the month of Sept out of Galena. We fly up to the Arctic Circle for our base camp. Myself and all the other guides I know plan for the top of the food chain when carrying a firearm. The minimum would be a 338 or 340 Weatherby Mag. The most common is the 375 H&H. For back up and for packing bloody meat we use a Mossberg 500 12 ga, pistol grip w/ slugs and 00 buck. When I see a client w/ a 44 mag I think of Dirty Harry and wonder if we will run into any gangster thugs on the tundra. You would have to get real lucky or real CLOSE for that pea shooter to deter a charging Grizzly! The trip should be awesome and the Moose is an incredibly large animal. You have heard of ground shrinkage on animals like whitetails and pronghorn. Well get ready for ground swellage when you get one of these guys on the deck. You will wonder what you have gotten yourself into. Good luck and stay safe.

[moosemike]

Hunt Alaska: Choosing a Firearm, Cartridge and Bullet, Alaska Department of Fish and Game


Found this on Alaska's website.

[2taps]

I agree with most of the info that was published by the state of Alaska which encouraged the use of a firearm that you can shoot well. When I have a client that has a .270 and can shoot it well I am skeptical and ready to back him up. The Moose is a relatively easy animal to kill but not easy to drop in it's tracks. From birth a moose is taught to go to water when in a distress mode. This is natural because of the abundance of killing machines called wolves and Grizzly's. We hunt close to water as that is where we find bulls during the rut in Sept. Either lakes or rivers. I wish you could see the look on my clients faces when he smacks a big bull in the shoulder w/ .270, 30'06 and the bull gently ambles to the nearest water to escape the stressful situation that exists in his world at that moment. I also wish you could see the result when I have to back him up with a more potent bullet that will drop them in it's tracks. Not to mention the top of the food chain every one needs to be concerned with. So the chamber of commerce info published by the Alaska Gov site is encouraging to prospective hunters but till you have been in the field and seen the result of small caliber hits you cannot judge. When these clients say that they can shoot this .270 really well it changes when you are faced with real life stuff and if you have a super knock out cartridge it can make up for some errors in placement. My .340 Weatherby Mag has a brake that puts the recoil at less than a .270. Just speaking from experience and not from a desk in Juneau.

[moosemike]

I personally would use either a .35 Whelen or a .350 Rem. mag if I was moose hunting in Alaska.

[Purdy]

RE: 30/06
As I recall (correct me if I'm senile) in the 20's-early30's there was a well known hunter named Jose Sarber (sp?) who shot many Kodiaks wirh a Springfield sporter (30/06).
He obviously knew what he was doing and was a cool headed shooter.

[Archetype_wyo]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Mooseman684

I do swear By the .300 Win Mag and the 45-70 (for close in work) on Bears ! The 30/06 will do OK on most 8 ft. and smaller bears and Black bears ! Now if you run into "Freight Train" the 14 Ft. Grizzly Bear...HIDE ! LOL You will look at your guns and realize they aint Quite big enough !!! And file the front sight off that Taurus.... Rich

Jeremiah Johnson used a Bowie Knife didn't he?

[moosemike]

Hosea Sarber did use a Springfield 30-06. There are better choices now for the Brown/Grizzly however.

[forestgleaner]

I think I would go with the quide on this one. I would want a 338win mag, and for back up a nice little 870, with the biggest magazine I could get for it. The 338 win mag is not a heavy recoiler, I enjoyed shooting one with out a muzzle brake, and fairly stiff hand loads. No I am not a little guy, and yes the macho factor is there when you pull out a gun like that when the rest of the people on the range are shooting 30-30's, 270's, and the like, but those same people more than likely don't have a reason to want a bigger gun.
I would have to look at the numbers again on what the 45/70 can be loaded up too. I thought with the new marlin, they could handle some pretty stiff loads as well. If I had one of those or was wanting to use a lever, I would go for that, or the 450 marlin. Just practice, practice practice, a lever gun, when worked in a hurry, can get short thrown, and end up not picking up the next round. that can be embarasses, or worse.

[Kentucky Fan]

How would a rifled slug from a 12 gauge shotgun do lol

[JESSEDR]

Hell if a 303, 30.06, 8MM. and a 50 cal. blackpowder can kill one I'm sure the rifle you have will do fine. Just place the round in the right spot. GUNG HO.

[dmsbandit]

If you're looking for a new rifle, get a Hawkeye Stainless in either 375 Ruger or 35 Whelen. The 375 ruger equals the H&H in power and fits in a standard action. The Whelen with 250 grain bullets at 2500FPS is well known for killing ANY BEAR that ever thought of walking up to hunters.

[Lobo0311]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Brother Bob

You better have skills of a Navy Seal sniper if you tangle with a big bear and a .30-06! Like Mooseman said, that bear will rip you to shreds! Save one round for yourself. I own a .300 Winmag and I assure you that I feel it would be, just Ok for a big azz bruin! My Alaskan hunt would have a .375 H&H and my .338 Winmag as backup. Not because I'm a lousy shot, but because the thought of being disemboweled while I'm still alive doesn't seem too appealing to me!

Wasnt a SEAL but was designated marksman and squad/fireteam leader in my platoon while in the Marines. Also I'm talking as far as a spot a stalk hunt, not an OH CRAP moment. I think however most will agree that the best gun, within reason, is the one you shoot and are the most comfortable with. ANd you are absolutley right being disemboweled while still alive doesnt sound like much of a good time, still beats shopping with the wife though.............