I've had a good amount of time while glassing this season to think again about the best hunting rifle setup for Alaska. I have been hunting with a 338 the last two years with the idea that it can be great everywhere but it has been occurring to me that as great as it is, it's not as 'perfect' as either of those in the below respective regions, and there's really no reason to limit myself to one great hunting rifle. The idea being that the rifle is great for the intended big game found in those areas while also still plenty good for the more rare unexpected situations. The set up would simply be this:
- A 30 cal for interior GMU's or higher elevations that usually have pretty open country with higher chances of longer range shots. These hunts for me have a lot more hiking involved so a lighter weight rifle is also better.
- A 375 cal for coastal GMU's or lower elevations where vegetation is usually thicker, shots are shorter range, and bears are larger. I might even say a 416 could take this role if all other rifle characteristics were the same and it would be fun to throw 400 gr pills. Rifle weight (or lack thereof) isn't very important.
Happy to hear other ideas and perspectives in this. And yes, I understand there's a good argument to make for one gun, a 30-06 for everything but I am still young enough to explore the other options before I settle on that
