with one load and one rifle like Grancel Fitz did with his Remington model 30 .30-06 and Winchester 180 Silvertips, what would your cartridge and load be? I would do it with a .270 Winchester and a 130 grain Partition. I realize it would likely be easier with a .300 mag but I think the .270 would make it a more interesting story.

Three things.

Polar Bears


Woods Bison


Brown Bears on Unimak


338 Win mag with 250 grain accubonds or 225 grain Barnes TTX.

Just my view.

338 Lapua

Fitz's choice would still work for me but I might switch from Silvertips to Partitions.

For those, I'd use a 338 win mag as well...

.35 Whelen 250gr Partitions

Mike

338 Win. mag with 225 grain partitions

My 35 Whelen with 225 gr Accubonds would do everything in NA easily. I wouldn't stay home if I used the 200 gr Accubond or TTSX either.

8mm Rem Mag - Probably with a 200gr X-Bullet

My 30-06 Ti with the 155 Scenar at 3k.

After seeing my 270 Win Montana throwing the 140 gr TSX throttle a big bodied bull elk at 250 yards this year I might just hang up my 338-06, 35 Whelen's and 9.3x62's.

300 WSM or 300 Win. Mag. 180gr TTSX bullet.

I'd probably go this way. That combo has done it here and worldwide so many times there's no speculation involved. Would not have to be a TTSX but bet it works great.

.30-06 using 180 or 200 gr Partitions.

.45-70 stuffed with 405 casts at 1600 just because.

^^^^^^^^^

This

I had expected that yours would be a 7x57 with 175's

I thought seriously about that...it would work "better" on all but the big bears and moose.....I think.....

Since I value my hide and I own one..

My .375 H & H with 285 gr Speer

KC

.30-06 with 180s.

Who is Grancel Fitz and his Rem model 30?

Doc

I could do it all with a 300 win and 180 grain easily.

270 Win / 150 Partition

308 Win 165/168 Barnes TTSX

I'm glad you are still on that kick...

WTF did you guys do with the real Ingwe???

.222

All these guys saying 270 and you choose the 300 WSM?? WTF? The boat has left without you and you were supposed to be the captain....

If you left out the thick skinned dangerous game, I'd shoot pretty much anything in the world with a 300 WM and 180 grain TSX bullets.

In a Magnum...

You mean 22 magnum, and from the window of a truck. Spotlight probably involved too...

Don't know about the rest of North America, only have bush experience in BC and Alberta and a bit in Canada's northern territories.

I am often solo, usually by choice and am currently enamoured of a Kimber MA in 280AI, using 160NPs over 65-MagPro.

However, I would choose one of my .338WMs with 250NPs over 76-RE-22 and I always take a .338 on any hunt. now usually one of my Dakota 76s in synthetic handles.

30-06 with 180 NP's or a .270Win with 150 NP's.

300 win mag with 180gr partitions or ttsxs.

My 378 bee.
The whole world.
250 TTSX at 3130 fps

My 7mm mashburn using 160 grain or 175 grain partition

Most anything from 308 Win and up would work if you watch your range and put where it needs to go.

30/06 would get er done

What I use now for everything, my 338wm loaded with 250grn swift AFrames over 72 grns of H4831sc.

300 win mag 200 Accubonds.

My 270 is at catholic sexual reprogramming classes 5 days a week but when she/he has it together it's feed the straightest 140 Accubonds ever pressed. Pray for him /her whatever.

^^^^Thats great!

He was a schoolteacher and the first man to take every NA big game animal and he did it all with the old Remington 1917 Enfield sporter .30-06 and Winchester 180 grin bullets. In the 50's Sports Illustrated featured some of his articles. If you Google him you can read those articles.

You beat me to it Mike but I can't imagine a better combination for all of North America.

.300 Weatherby, 165 gr. Barnes TTSX bullets.

I'd probably take my skeleton stocked Ruger 7Mag. It's tough as nails, not terrible on recoil, and ridiculously accurate with 150NBTs in reduced and full power loads. That would take care of most things in the lower 48. I figure a 160TSX or a 160-175 Partition would take care of the rest.

338WM with 225ABs

I luv'em and have two each of these two calibers. A friend of mine on a mixed bag hunt in the Yukon shot a grizzly with .270 Win. 130 Partition. It dropped at the shot, and he shot it again on the ground. However, I personally would feel uncomfortable using a .270 on say a Kodiak island brown bear.

So I would use the 300 WSM with a Limbsaver pad (for a single gun)it is not uncomfortable even for the smaller stuff.

Savage 99.
.300 Savage..
165 Partition...

Yeah, well on the range it might be your shizzle, but I doubt you've hunted big bears, etc. I'd rather have more than enough on a 100 lb. deer than not enough on a big bear (gotta see them in the flesh and at close range to actually understand that part).

My semi-custom pre 64 M70 300 H&H 180 TTSX's

I'm going to have to say it would be the 338 Win mag and whatever 225gr pill it liked best. Be it the A-Bond,Partition, or the TTSX. I do love the 338. My first belted magnum rifle was a tanger Ruger in 338. There have been a couple others since. The lightest was a T3. That animal kicked like two sons-a-bitches. I'm thinking a M700 based custom. 23" barrel. All up at between 8 or 8.5 Lbs.in a McMillan hunter. Maybe even one of those Nightforce NXS 2.5 - 10 jobbies. Hey,the OP didn't say I had to be able to afford it,right?

They do hunt these big bears with bows do they not? Even with recurves and longbows. Somehow I think a .270 is at least as good as a longbow.

Fred Bear must have had a huge set of cajones.

I had his Polar bear hunt and one of his Grizzly bear hunts on VHS. On both hunts he was backed up by a guide with a .458 Win.

Didn't he walk around with a 10-man armed hunting party though? Or was that Jack? A 270 or the likes would be great to use, especially since the guide, assistant guide, multiple packers, will all be along with guns as well!

He did have a wheelbarrow full. Have you ever seen his videos?

A man after my own heart right there.

338 Win Mag with 225gr TSX or TTSX. I have not tried the TTSX yet. But, I am a believer in the 225 TSX and the 338 Win Mag. With grizzly, brown bear, and polar bear on the menu, this is a small as I care to go.

----------------------------------------------------------------

270/150 grain Partition

or

35 Whelen 225 grain Accubond or 250 grain Partition.

DONE

I'd let the chump who paid for all the tags decide.


I'm nice like that...

At this point in my life, if I had to choose just one, I would choose MM's option above: .270 Winchester and a 130 gr Nosler Partition. Via the LH Stiller / Lilja #2 combination being assembled by my gunsmith right now...

6.5 Jap. 156 grain Norma ORYX.

Japanese, you racist bastard.

.308 or 30-06 with a mid-weight T/TSX would work for me.

I can't help myself, since there have been several misconceptions already posted here.

First, moosemike, Grancel Fitz did not shoot everything in North American with 180 Silvertips from his .30-06. He used lighter bullets for some of the deer hunting, and 220 Core-Lokts on heavier stuff.

Somebody also posted that he was a "school teacher." No, he was an advertising executive in New York City.

If you want to read about his adventures (and know what he used) buy a copy of his book, NORTH AMERICAN HEAD HUNTING.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Winchester-Model-Pre-Grancel-Fitz-H-H-Mag/1774136.uts

Well I stand corrected on a few points but that doesn't change the basis of the thread. I should have freshened up my memory on Fitz first. It's been several years.

Well I believe Basil Bradbury did it with one load.

Years ago, in prick cop school, I made an A in "Racist Bastid Comments".

J.Y.Jones did it with a .30/06 and wrote a book about his hunts called "One Man,One Rifle,One Land."

That is probably first choice for me, but I do like the 338 WM with 250's NP

Easy to point out the "one" for everything, hard to determine why we bother with everything else.

Conundrum wrapped in a mystery......

Either a 308, or most likely a 30-06, with 168TTSX.

My .30-06Spr.Loaded with the toughest bullet it shot best...The next on my list would be the .270Win w/good Handloads...ScottyO.

What kind of accuracy do you see with the 200 grain accubonds?

How do they do a little ways out? 4-600?

A .338 WM would probably make more sense but I would do it with my .300 Weatherby Accumark and 180 grain Partitions.

I have a great deal of confidence with the 270 and would use it if I didn't have anything else. Has anybody here heard of Hoseah Sarber, the expert bear guide and hunter who ended up getting killed when he went into the brush with his 270 Win? Better bullets now but a lot of mental play from behind keyboards.

Unimak is not like other places. Think of it as the island in King Kong. They are really big bears. Sure it is open ground and you can shoot from 200 yards. But that bear will see you too.

Afognak or SE Alaska also has some really tight brush.

Heavy 30/06 has worked forever. However, has anybody read Elmer Keith's Rifles for Big Game. The 338 came into being because of failures on Brown Bears with 06.

You owe it to the animal to use rifles with enough knockdown power. Somebody is going to say yeah I can do it like Fred Bear, Charles Sheldon or Karamojo Bell. I have gone hunting with a 30/30 or with a 22-250 or a 26 nosler but I wasn't looking to take a very large bear with any of those rifles. Out of the three I would probably pick the 30/30 with 190 grain round nose bullets.
Staged or not this picture gets you thinking....

300 Weatherby, 180gr TTSXs and one would not be under gunned, even for the big bruins.

338 Fed Kimber 84M with 160gn TTSX (3060 fps)

That is a giant of a bear! Is that Mr Sarber in that first picture? BTW I wouldn't stay home either only having a 270 Win especially with great bullets like the 160 gr Partition (I just love those semi spitzer bullets).

You are 'mighty' right.

I don't know and don't care - IF it was staged somebody did a danged good job!

Jerry

m m -

IF, IF I had to choose only 1 rifle it would be either 30-06 or 300 WM.


Jerry

If all I had was a 270 Winchester and 150 or 160gr. partitions, you are damn right I'd still go out hunting.

My choice would be a .350 mag with 225 partitions. Kinda the same difference.

The lower 48, Tikka 30-06 with 168 ttsx
Up north On dangerous game 375 ruger.
Yes I know that's 2

Savage 99F .308 Win with 180 partitions.

Hosea Sarber wasn't killed by a bear. His boat was found floating in a bay and his body was never found. Theories were that he either fell over board or was killed by a poacher since he was a game warden.

And Sarber killed a lot of Brownies with that .270. To clarify, I would only hunt the large bears with a .270 if I had a guide backing me up.

Using a rifle and load combination I already have, it would be one of these:

Marlin 1895 .45-70 with a 350g North Fork FP @ 2181fps

Ruger MKII .338WM with a 22" barrel and a 225g AccuBond @ 2742fps


The .45-70 is not a long range weapon but it shoots well out to 300 yards. At 7500feet altitude it has a drop of only 19" at 300 yards and retains just short of 1500fps with over 1700fpe.

Klikitarik took a grizzly with one of my .45-70 North Fork handloads. Probably as close to taking one myself as I'll ever get. Maybe he will see this, post a pick and provide details as to the range, how far the bear traveled after bullet impact, etc.

The only thing they knew for sure was Sarber's boat was found but he never was.. I don't think they ruled out a bear..
Somewhere in my stuff, I have old articles either by him or about him.. He had all kinds of rifles.. If I remember right he mostly used the .30-06, but he killed some bear, maybe only one with the .270 and a heavy bullet..

He also did a lot of predator control.. He shot a .220 Swift Improved.. I am not sure if he was a warden or and ADC man.
He did shoot seals to use in making a special wolf poison..
He wrote the best bear hunting story I ever read.. It was republished in FUR-Fish-Game some years ago.. He hunted down a mankilling bear.. To say it was a thriller isn't enough..
He shot it in the neck with a .30-06, mentioned the bullet broke up.. He was also a custom stock maker at least for his own rifles.. Very interesting man..

I find myself wondering the same thing. I've OFTEN thought about selling most every rifle I have and just using one that covers it all. My pard in ID has two big game rifles and one shotgun. One in 300WSM that he uses and a 30-06 that he doesn't. He still uses the 870 12ga he got when he was 12. He kills a lot of stuff and doesn't really give two hoots or worries about gack.

Thoughts to consider....

1) You can never have too big a truck
2) you can never build too big a pole shed
3) and you can never have too much rifle...


FWIW..

For me, the "one and done" theory only works when the reloading press gets packed away. Damn if I'm monkeying with one set of dies. It'll be a "one load" as well.

.358 Winchester in a 99 F lightweight for me.

There can only be one! In the end it is and will always be, for me, the 375H&H in a Winchester Mod.70. Using Sierra 250gr or the 260gr Noslers it is wonderful on deer, elk & moose. For the big fury guys with teeth & claws the 300gr bullets have there place. Ammo can be found on the selves of even the smallest hardware country stores. Plus there are many other folks that have greater means than I that share their thoughts in script that agree. Although they include "the World" & not just NA, if the 375H&H is used in Africa for everything from the smallest gazelle to the largest land mammal I'm sure it will handle everything in NA.

To quote just a few:

"[I]f I could have two cartridges to hunt the world, I'd be quite happy with the .30-06 and the .375 H&H. And if I could have just one cartridge to hunt the world over, my only answer is the .375." -- Craig Boddington, "Classic Hunting Cartridges: .375 Holland & Holland Magnum," Petersen's HUNTING, June 1995, p. 43 (emphasis in original).

"The .375 is one of my real enthusiasms in big-game cartridges. If I were going to hunt all over the world and could use only one rifle, it would be the .375. If I could have only two, one would be a .375 and the other would be a .270." "And there isn't any doubt that a good big gun is better than a good little gun - if it's properly handled." -- Jack O'Connor, The Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns, Outdoor Life (1961).

"It (the .375) handles anything from small deer to the heaviest bear or moose. I have used the .375 Holland and
Holland Magnum on a great deal of game with good results." -- Elmer Keith, Hunting Big Game, Peterson Publishing Company (1965), Chapter Three, "Stalking Rifles," p. 53.

As I recall, when O'Connor went to Admiralty Island to hunt brown bears, he didn't use a 270...............

Just sayin'..........for those that think a 270 is enough gun for big bears.

Jack wasn't stupid nor did his ego over-ride his sensibilities.

MM

Living where I do there is something to hunt year round. A 30-06 with a 200gr Accubond or Partition run at 2650-2700 ft/sec with a fixed 6X and elevation turret in S/S.
Ya, boring but reliable and easy to become 'one' with, my go to for everything.

I would imagine it could be done with smaller calibers, but why risk it. For 99% of it a 223 or 243 would get it done. The big stuff would likely warrant a much larger caliber, or risk serious injury to the hunter. Why shoot a polar bear with a 243 when you could take a 375

Harry Selby said there was just "something" about a 375H&H and they did it all.

I almost picked the Mashburn as well, but bigger stuff warrants the P64 Alaskan 338 Win Mag with 210 PT's..

30-06 165 TTSX or Accubond

338 or 375 of some flavor, easy to load down for smaller, enough HP to mostly stay out of trouble on the big stuff.

Generally speaking, Barnes projectiles all the way.

For EVERYTHING
I would have to go with my Winchester 1895 405 WCF

9.3x62 or 35 Whelen, you choose.

My M70 300 WM with 200 NPs.

My one gun preference would be my .30-06s. Just in case I have three. The 200 NP would seem to do most well enough, but 150 and 180s have a place.

Just in case the government ever gets nasty, and I am______forced_____ to comply with a one rifle edict, mine is a Blaser R-93 with a .270 and a 9.3x62 barrels. Might even get a ..22-250 barrel.

Jacj

Good points, MD. I remember reading an article by him in one of the hunting magazines of that period. He used a 220 gr. FMJ on his Walrus.
The Remington 30S was a very slick rifle. My grandfather had one in the then wildcat .22-250. We shot the barrel out of it. E

223AI 53 tsx

stunt shootin' super slam!

But really. 30 aught 6--200 partition

308 with the same partitions in a light weight rig

I'd roll with a VZ-24(new yugo barrel in a McMilian) in 8x57 200gr Partitions loaded to 2550 or so....and a Weaver Classic K4 on top. Not really the "best" at anything, but it would get it done.

Hunting an animal is one thing, retrieving another. Anyone that has hunted big, mature billies knows how tough they can be. Even the best placement might still amount to the "death dive" in tough country.

I've killed them with a .270/.280 and others with a .300wm and I've since learned....give me the .30 cal and magnum for the best chance of anchoring a big goat.

Do-it-all: .300wm 180 gr.