A lot of truth here. The problem in my experience is this: very few...and by that I mean I have maybe seen a handful of hunters in my 30+ year guiding career that can handle big calibers. Any time you start getting into the 338 WM kind of recoil accuracy starts to suffer. There are some that can shoot the big calibers accurately don't get me wrong, but the vast majority of hunters would be way better off sticking with something they can shoot. That is my biggest pet peeve with these types of threads; guys read them and think they gotta have a 416 to hunt grizzly, or browns. It just aint true. What happens is they bring a rifle they can't handle on a hunt and either wound an animal ( that a guide like me has to risk life and limb to find ) or completely miss. They would be much better off if they knew that a 30/06 class rifle with good bullets will do the job just fine. Im currently using a 338 Federal and with good bullets I get all the penetration I need for any angle on interior bears. I've killed wounded bears at point blank range, and shot clean through a big bull bison at 300 yards. More isn't needed, but if you can accurately shoot them by all means bring a heavy rifle.
A friend of mine hunted with this well know outfit and of course by no means the standard, but they want you to bring a 416 at least (if you can shoot it) even for black bears. Apparently they don't like chasing after them in the alders. I hope to some day hunt Alaska and when I go, at the very least, I'll carry a 338. I've hunted Africa and have no issues with shooting big bores.
Cant quite fathom why anyone would suggest a 416 for black bears, but I can promise you it isn't needed. I actually had a guy shoot a black bear with one once. It was a spring hunt and we were sitting on a moose carcass that had drowned then washed up on shore. Just at last light a big black bear came in to feed. The bear bolted for the pucker brush at the shot. I knew he was hit but wasn't sure where. We found him the next morning still very much alive. I finished the fiasco with my 308, turned out the bear was hit about 4 inches to far back. Thats the only shot I ever saw that hunter fire so I can't comment on his ability as things happen sometimes, but I do know that most hunters could have anchored that bear with a 30/06. I know very few hunters that are going to admit that they CANT shoot a 416 accurately, so advising them to bring one is asking for trouble.
