I am mostly a moose and caribou hunter with the occasional bear tossed in. Every fall my 70 year old wife and me moose hunt together for about a month if needed. We often sit on water holes in the evening and shots are often under 50 yards. I have had the thrill of having a brown bear come in when calling moose and don't want to go through that again. That is the down side of calling moose when the light is fading in the pucker brush. I want my .338 in my hands when doing that. I also like my 30-06 for hunting caribou and also trust it for moose and bears. But, if a big bear is close I will always vote for the .338 Winny over my 30-06.
When the light is fading and a moose is in the thick stuff I will try to hit part of the shoulder to keep him from moving in to the dark timber after the shot.
We always pray before and during and after each hunt. One of the prayers is that I never wound and loose a big game animal. So far God has blessed and answered our prayers. It is not because of my excellent marksmanship. It is because of choosing what I believe is the right tool for the job, getting as close as possible and picking our shot. Life is full of choices and this works for me.
