Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Pick your North America big game battery.

If I was choosing 3,

-my ruger 270 or my montana x2 30-06 as my all around rifle that I'd do 85% of my hunting with, I've used these on everything from deer to elk to moose with great success.

-kimber montana 308, with Swarovski z5. This is what I take when there's lots of hiking and climbing involved, it's dropped several sheep with authority so I'd hold onto it even though there's some overlap, I like having a 6lb rifle around.

-the last one is hard, I've got 2 schools of thought going on here, part of me thinks that my 375HH is fairly essential given my location and the Bears here but a 22 is also something I can't really do without so I guess I'd bring my old ruger 77/22.

Mr. Day communicated the same pairing (270 & 338) to me as well. I've made good use of a 338, just need to get around to picking up a 270.

22LR
30.06
12 guage shotgun.

all you ever need really for NA game.

I don't need three. A Sringfield Armory M1A in .308 is now my first choice for where I like to hunt deer, with my custom mauser in 30'06 as a possible second choice.
The M1A wears a Leupold 1.5-4X VX2 Scout Scope. The '06' wears a 6X42 Leupold FX3 with the Heavy Duplex. E

All you need is a 6.5 Creedmoor, it will kill anything. You don't even have to aim. Just shoot in the general direction.

Boy, you would think so, wouldn't ya? The Creed is completely acceptable for Mammoth at 1000 yards, but a 7-08 or .308 is inadequate for deer past 300 yards.

You can shoot down satellites with a 6.5 Creedmoor. Tanks, no problem!

Exactly what my Dad said 45 years ago. I didn't listen to him, I had to buy lots of guns. Now, I'm getting back to those 3 and going on more hunts. Bob

It would have to be;

Left handed model 70 400 Whelen, Lyman 48 or Redfield 2 3/4x PCH. 400 grain Woodleigh bullet.

Left handed model 700 KS Mountain rifle, 300 H&H, 3-9x Leupold Vari-x II. 180 or 220 grain Nosler Partition

WR Pape 256 Mannlicher, Lyman 36 and 160 grain Woodleigh RN or 160 grain Sierra SMP.

I might switch out the 256 for a TC Renegade 62 cal with a patched round ball for those weapons restricted hunts and the 300 might get swapped out with a model 70 converted to left hand, in 308 Norma Mag, once owned by Col Askins.

OK, for NA big game:

Spend the $'s to get one really nice 270.

When you actually have $27,000+ to book a coastal brown bear hunt, buy a 375 but not until then.

Since we cover the whole scale of game, I'll pick 3 that I have to cover the whole range:

1. Savage 22LR Mark II BV with a Leupold 2x7 scope.
for squirrels, rabbits, etc
Rifle- because it is (1) accurate (2)pretty
Scope- dependable, right size.

2. Savage 116 SS/Syn 300wsm with a Leup VX6 3-18x50 Firedot CDS
for everything larger than rabbits and smaller than brown bear
SS/Syn because it's what I prefer.
300wsm because it does the job nicely, more than needed for much North American big game, but I'm ok with that.
Scope- CDS for long shots. firedot for low light shots.

3. Nosler M48 Outfitter 375ruger with VX-3L 3.5-10x50 CDS
for grizzly/brown bear and other big animals.
Synthetic stock and cherakote barrel for hunting in cold, wet weather.
Scope choice- sometimes a longer shot is necessary.
QR mounts- for when/if it's necessary.

Yeah, my answer above is predicated on if money didn't factor into the equation.
I will likely never do a brown bear hunt.
I have the 375 for Africa. Taking it for the first time in June.

I'd love to hunt brown bear, but for $27K I could hunt a cape buffalo and every plainsgame animal I want and have change left over.

My wife and I are hunting plainsgame this time, but hope to go back in 3 years (or if/when I can save up) for a buff.

The easy answer is that we already have and leave it at that.

In thinking on this more, a great choice was made by Eleanor O'Connor.

A 7x57 covers 99% of need
A .30/06 was her big rifle which she used up to Elephant using 220gn FMJ's, but the OP states NA as the hunting perimeter, so again, Eleanor may have it right.

.243
7mm-08
.30-06

6MM (243, 243AI, 240 wby) 50 - 105gr
7MM (7mm-08, 7x57, 7mm Rem Mag, 7 wby) 120 - 160gr
8MM (8mm mag) 170 - 220gr

With that being said if I could only have one no doubt 06

.243
7mm-08
8x57 is my big rifle .

My hunting battery over the last 30 years or so has generally been comprised of rifles in the following three categories;

1. A .223, .22-250 or .243

2. A .270 (Winchester and/or Weatherby)

3. A .300, .338 or .340

I usually have a rifle or two (or three or four ) in each of the three classes, but could make do with one of each.

Slingshot
BB gun
Pellet gun

I believe in the old saying that you don't need to buy your second rifle until you buy your first reloader.

With that in mind a 338-06, 338RCM, 358 Winchester, 350 Remington Magnum or 35 Whelen can cover a lot of ground. Everything else is just filler.

I'm probably going with a Howa Mini in 223 with a straight 6x or 10x SWFA scope.

A 358 Winchester in a Ruger All Weather Hawkeye with a Burris Veracity 2x10 scope.

And a 1886 Browning 45/70 with peep sights or a 760 Remington rebored to 9.3x62 with a 1x6 scope.

Guys with families and short on money need to be looking at some of these guns with options in my opinion.

A Savage in 25/06 with a 338/06, 35 Whelen or 9.3x62 barrel added later would have about everything covered big game wise. A CZ 455 22lr could add a 17 HMR or 22Mag barrel later and have all the rimfires covered. A AR15 could add a 300 Blackout barrel and 22 conversion kit.

That's a bunch of different options with basically 3 guns.

Currently have a model 70 Featherweight .270 in a McMillan Edge for a lightweight.
A nicely customized 1909 Argentine in 30/06, probably destined to become a 338/06 or 35 Whelen
And a 375 Ruger African
Should cover pretty much anything, anywhere.