I have been hunting Alaska since 1965 when I was 15. Shot my first moose and caribou on the same day with the old Springfield 03A3 my Dad fixed up for me with a old Weaver scope. Due to some neglect on my nephews part the bore was ruined after not cleaning it forever when firing old WWII tracer ammo and ball ammo. Any way, it is now a 338-06 I gifted to my Grandson. I probably should of saved some money and retired it to a wall hanger and just bought him a stainless Mod. 70 with the old style trigger.
My primary hunting rifle is a customized .338 based on a Mod. 70 "Classic Stainless", been using it for many years. I have one other stainless center fire rifle and it is a Tikka T3X Superlite in 6.5 Creedmoor I got mainly for grand kid's to use. All my other rifles are blue steel and walnut. Can't think of much I couldn't kill with it with the 127 grain Barnes LRX bullet if I did not stretch the range. But, the .338 and my wonderful old Mod. 70 Featherweight 30-06 are my hunting rifles. Nothing has ever felt as good in my hands as that old Mod. 70, except for a custom Browning Hi Power I have had for probably 30 years and carried on duty.
After it is all said and done, I believe the 30-06, 338-06 and .35 Whelen are the three best Alaskan cartridge's. With the right bullet in the right place they do the job at any reasonable range on any Alaskan critter. I have many friends who use and swear by the .338 and I am one of them and the .300 Win. or Win. Short Mag. cartridge. But, if I was starting over my main hunting rifle would be based on a 30-06 case and as light as is reasonable and have a 22-24 inch barrel, a synthetic stock and stainless and cerakoted.
I am 69 now and plan on hunting more with my Marlin 45-70 and a Mod. 71 Win. in .348 Ackley Improved with receiver sights. I really like those lever guns and if I do my job I know the Kodiak Bonded bullets will do their job. If I come home empty handed it would not be the first time, besides, I have grand kid's that can shoot with a scoped bolt gun. I am also a Barnes X and Nosler Partition bullet fan for bolt guns and an Alaska Bullet Works Kodiak Bonded bullet for lever guns. I know lots of other bullets work, but I trust these and after years of using them they have never failed me. I am not a believer in taking long shots at un-wounded animals and have found the majority of shots at Alaska's critters have been well under 200 yards.
What is long for me is not long for some one else, so it is a judgement call for me and every one else. But, in my mediocre 55 year Alaskan hunting career I have never failed to quickly recover a shot animal and my prayer and intention is to go to the grave with that record intact. So I will continue to get close, get as good a rest as possible, try to shoot at a stationary animal and hit it in the right place with a good bullet from an accurate gun. I also do not believe I need over a 10 power scope for any hunting I have ever done and a 4 power scope works. Guys on You Tube hit game sized targets with a 3-9 SWFA mil scope at 1,000 yards and that is the scope I put on the Tikka 6.5 so the grand kid's can learn the mil system. Just saying...
Researching and area and species and time in the field pay off. A pair of strong legs and traveling light pays off and buy the best gear possible. Binoculars, buy the best you can afford and spend more money on them then your sighting instrument which is your scope and should only be used to deliver the bullet, never to glass with. Live in your binoculars when hunting! Many a book has been written on hunting and shooting and You Tube lets us see actual hunts and stalks and shooting and the games reaction to the shot, learn from it.
I wish I was young and strong again. Me and my 71 year old wife have our moose and caribou hunt with the grand kid's planned out. Hopefully the darn virus won't interfere in it.
