Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Minimum 'caliber' for Kodiak Brown Bear?

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My cousin and I will both be bringing 300's loaded with 200gr LRX bullets for Kodiak next April. We'll be down there for two weeks, so he should get the chance to put a hurting on one.

ps....save the 223's for coyotes or the like.

F-you. "Last word"? I haven't posted on this since July 13 despite several comments about me since then. And my dad was awesome and took me hunting, fishing, and shooting all the time. He spent constant attention on me, teaching me about all kinds of things about the world. Least of all, he taught me not to act like a jerk like you. You won't find any post from me like you just made attacking a person's upbringing based on them not agreeing with my caliber choice or anything else. He apparently did better than your daddy did. My mom survived but almost died three times when I was young from two incidents of cancer and one of hydrocephalus. But she too taught me not to attack people personally based on their views of things like caliber choices. Probably better than your mommy did apparently.

Sorry I didn't respond earlier. I was backpacking with my ten-yr-old son in Colorado and then shooting a 71" bull in AK. Up yours.

Awesome Bool MH! What part of the state did you get that beast in?

MarineHawk-
Incredible bull- congradulations

Indeed!

Beauty!

whoa, nice moose. Dare I ask what you shot the moose with? (grin)

Nice bull! That will make book.

Thanks Moosemike. It was about 100 miles north of Dillingham. I wrote up many of the details here: http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com...-AK-Bear-Hunt-and-First-Attempt-at-Moose

But here is another pic at the end of the hunt:



Thanks Royce and BobinNH.



Thanks Calvin. I shot it with my .340 Wby Mk. V Accumark.



Didn't flinch a bit with three hits out of three in about three seconds before the bull managed to disappear into the dense brush he was heading for. I hiked through the dense brush for tens of miles over 11 days, and the round rubber knobs on my bipod tucked tightly against my barrel never snagged on a single branch. If I ever get to go on a sheep hunt, I will take something lighter.



Thanks trapper. A few people have said the same thing. I will have it scored after the tanner sends the cape and horns to the taxidermist. We measured it at 71" with our tape, but one guy said it was 70". In the pic above, I on the left am 70" tall. Not sure at this point, but I got to feed my two sons moose steaks last night, and they loved them. I have about 45lbs or so of backstraps and one huge side of ribs. The rest went to the guide and to charities.

Thanks for all of the nice comments. I hope you all have great luck yourselves. If we had been at that spot a minute earlier or a minute later, I would have gone home empty handed. I am thankful.

Nice. Nothing wrong with the 340.

Thanks Calvin. Yeah, if you can portage a big moose and 1,500lbs of gear and boat across a quarter mile of swamp in nasty wind and driving rain, I can't imagine worrying about the recoil of a .340, which pales in comparison.

The meat and experience is definitely the goal, not making the book.

My biggest bull was 72" that made book but I see more going on with your bull. Points,length etc. I'd be surprised if it didn't make it.

Tenderloins with the family is what it's all about though!

Thanks trapper. I totally agree. Congrats on the 72" bull. My ten-yr-old son helped me with the meat (cleaning, cutting, packing, and freezing) and he had an even better appreciation of the meat after that. It is really good though. My wife, who is not big on wild game, was surprisingly pleased with how good it was.

It is a very nice bull, but will not come close to making book. Not suggesting there is anything wrong with the moose, but the right side has no point up near the top to match the main single up there so the palm length will be taken from way down at the second point.

Second, the palm width is not going to be particularly wide, the long points add absolutely nothing on moose.

Width was the ONLY measure used in the very early days of B&C and it has been given far more credit than it deserves as a result.

Again, absolutely no disrespect toward the moose, but it is no Booner.

I have a shoulder that has been operated on 2 times and needs to be replaced. I am otherwise pretty darned fit. I could handle any of the above, but cringe with the thought of touching off a 340 round. Mild duck loads with a 12 gauge are pretty bad.

NICE moose w/a GREAT story.

So Paul what's your big game rifle chambered for?

I haven't lived in big game country in quite some time. The largest caliber rifle I have right now is a 257 Roberts which is ideal for what I hunt. I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to hunt brown bear, but I have been knocking off bucket list items for a while now. One of those bucket list items is elk or moose, and I doubt I'll be fortunate enough to do that trip in AK, so a brown bear worthy caliber isn't something I can justify even in the unique way us gun owners justify stuff. After my replacement surgery, I'll see what I can shoot comfortably. Right now I am thinking about the 338 Federal. I do my own loading and have an affinity for oddball calibers. Heck, I reckon if I lived in Kodiak again, I'd probably favor the 338 Federal even with a good shoulder.

The Roberts is a GOOD one. Especially with the 115gr Partition as an all arounder.

The larger calibers in the 308 Winchester case are underated IMHO. I know at one time Dr. Howell had alot of confidence in the .358 Winchester with the 225 Partition for protection against grizzlies and browns. The .338 Federal with it's higher sectional density bullets may be a bit better.

No disrespect taken Sitka. Thanks for the info. I know very little about the B&C requirements, and you seem to know a lot about them; so I assume you're correct. I'll have it scored just to see what it is, but it's not going to make me sad if it's just a big moose-head on my wall, invoking good memories and maybe inspiring my kids to hunt.

Sorry about your shoulder Paul, and I wish you the best with it. My 12ga with 2-3/4" slugs recoils more than my .340, but it's A LOT lighter.

I suppose I'm just saying that, for me, last Wednesday morning, if someone told me that they would portage all my meat and gear though the 1/4-mile swamp in the driving rain over 6-1/2 hours (while my guide was working on the cape) if I could shoot a one-inch group with my .340, I would have been ecstatic at the option, and spent all day near any kind of fire I could have built from Coleman Fuel, paper, lighter fluid, and plastic plates.