Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Caribou rifle

6.5x55 loaded with a 129g Hornady Sp is wicked, wicked meds for Caribou...think Tikka. 129 works lots better than 140 in the hornady line up.

Caribou don't need much killing. I've eaten a bunch that died from 100 measly grains (6mm). It worked great though had less noticeable impact than when shot with the 7mm-08, with which I've killed a bunch more. And the 6.5 Swede (with 120 NBTs mostly) has accounted for plenty more with similar aplomb to the small 7.

Some folks dote on the 25-06 for caribou since it gives a flatter trajectory. I never killed 'em deader with it either...nor less deader.

Don't over-think a caribou rifle. Lots of speed can get messy at times. Being familiar enough to hit well at a variety of distances is probably the most useful thing to consider.

Plain old Interlocks work great on 'bou. Anything 'better' is gravy (and may be less messy if you hit bigger bones.)

True, but recoil makes hitten em farther away....harder...

No matter how well you handle recoil, I've yet to meet anyone who shoots a 7Mag/.300Mag better than they shoot a .22LR or .223.

7 Rem mags don’t have much recoil!!

Exactly. I've never had trouble shooting 7 mag to the potential of the rifle.

I see the :grin , okay.

We all have diff personalities and recoil tolerances. Whether it's caribou, Anti lopes, etc. they inhabit some expanses in terrain.
Guys/gals should shoot what THEY can handle. The 25-06 is pretty mild yet fairly flat.

The 7 mag is banana puddin to me. We have to live within our limitations and live with the results.

Jerry

ps: maybe a 240 Wby would be good.

If going on a solo hunt in the wilderness of Alaska, I'd not even consider the creedmoor. I go with a 7mm magnum or bigger loaded with 160gr bullets. The 338WM is hard to leave at home when Bears are present.

No argument here. In fact, the 7 Mag is no big deal to me, either. But that doesn't change the fact that people shoot softer-recoiling rifles better than harder-recoiling ones.

One's ability to place the shot perfectly is a compromise between precision/shootability, and ballistically mitigating variables as much as possible, like elevation and wind drift.

Like others have said, the 6.5 would work just fine. I’d personally use something a bit bigger if it were my trip- like my .280, .30-06, or 7RM, but to each his own. My father has had excellent luck with both 125 Partitions and 140 Accubonds from his Creedmoor, so those are two additional bullets I’d recommend.

But the bears! I got to wondering one time why it was that I often heard guys when I lived in AK say, “yeah I know you can kill caribou with less than a 375, but there’s bears around”. But I never met anyone who went out hunting grouse or ptarmigan with their 375 or 338. Guess there’s only bears when you’re hunting big game or fishing in downtown Kenai.

Caribou are easy to kill and generally don’t have to be shot at long distances IME. Assuming on the distance part that you aren’t going to be hunting heavily pressured animals near a road or village. The last drop hunt I did for them I discovered after the plane left that I had mistakenly grabbed the wrong ammunition for my 257WBY. Instead of 100gr X bullets I had 85gr Ballistic tips. Not one to be put off by a little setback I promptly killed two nice bulls with one shot each. Don’t recall staying up nights worrying if I had enough gun for the bears either.

Agreed. If one cannot handle a 7 mag, then they have issues. I have had three different ones and never had issues with any of them. I have shot .270s that kick harder than my 7 mags.

Threads like this never fail to point out that no matter how hard we try, there is really not much (if anything) that will better a 30-06 or 270 for 95% of the hunting we do here in NA. They might be boring to some, but they do get the job done as well or better than most of the new offerings. If one was after caribou where there may be bear trouble, it would be hard to beat a 30-06 with a 180gr Partition.

I shot mine with a 375.

SC.....wow!

SC - Agree on you analysis and let me also say "WOW" on the photo!

Hey Cub,

That's a dandy 'bou your Son killed there.




Jerry

LOL ....... That was only 8 yrs ago. I still have a couple winters left.

Didn't read the whole thread, but I have been led to believe that the caribou rifle is whatever is standing behind the kitchen door...

Geezzz, Cub that is a nice animal.

The more I think about it I have done my best shooting with a 7mm Mag. Some of the best groups I've ever fired in my life were with a 7 mag. I can't shoot any better with a 243 or even a 5.56. Now my dad did start me on a 30-06 at age 12 so I have little fear of recoil.

Given equal rifles that are equally accurate, I’d be very surprised if that trend turned out to be the case.

Fear of recoil isn’t the problem (at least not always). Recoil management is what robs accuracy. There’s a reason BR shooters use heavy rifles, chamberings with minimal recoil, and stock/bag designs that allow the rifle to recoil straight back with no muzzle rise. And many use free-recoil techniques, too...