Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Interior Grizz hunt

Going on an interior grizz hunt, last week in May, what can I expect for weather ?

Will be hunting with Cole Ellis, in the Nabesna area.

Also, thinking about taking my 300Rum, 200 partition, or I can take my 375 H&H, 270tsx... opinions ?

Thanks in advance,

Tony

Your outfitter would be a good person for those questions. After all, he hunts the area.

The Nabesna country is usually some of the last to break up in the spring. Beautiful country but dress warm. Like all of AK in the spring be prepared for rain and snow. Either rifle and load will be fine, just remember to shoot them in the front half.

I would carry a 375 and the 270-gr tsx is a very good one I and many others have seen it work wonderfully. Alternately, one I haven’t tried, but that seems it would very good also is the 250-g ttsx.

Variable weather in spring. Be prepared for rain/snow, or some pretty nice days. I noted on the nice days, skeeters were thick. I grew to like the cooler, breezy days. No skeeters.

Either rifle looks like a good choice.

Enjoy! A spring grizzly hunt is an amazing experience.

Regards, Guy

Should be lots of bears near Nabesna with the park acting as a buffer, and few moose so as my old Buddy Thor said, if you see a bear please Oblige, it. Beautiful area.

Late-season blizzard to sunny and mild, or anything inbetween. And perhaps all of it.

As always, either rifle will work. Take the one you shoot best.

Take the rifle/scope that is the most reliable.......ballistics mean nothing in a jammed rifle.

Do not miss going through their museum!!! Good people and a great place. I used to spend a bunch of time up there.

I could never understand what would posses a man to take a deer caliber, and push that bullet at varmint rifle speeds like a RUM and similar calibers. In large game, the bullets upset like a varmint bullet, often with shallow wounds.

Frequently, these guided chaps empty the 3-round rifle, relying on the guide to finish the job. May as well bring a 30-06 before a bear-induced epileptic seizure kicks in as you pull the trigger, when you realize this bear is not behind a fence at the zoo, but in my back yard. That way there, holding 4-5 rounds, you'll get a lucky shot.

I could also never understand why a guy steps up in caliber, but goes light for caliber in bullet weight? Boat tails, plastic tips, pressure relief grooves, fancy coatings like moly, lrx this, ttsx that. By gully are things changing at a pace I can't keep up with. Why are scope and bullet preferences always so monkeyed-up with desire for the long shot?

Are guys afraid of a plain, true-to-caliber, 300 grain, flat base spitzer? I've sent two of these through a moose and a caribou at 500 yds and 400 yds. Up close, or far away, clean kills, deep penetration, lots of blood, no blood-shot meat.

Go with your 375 H&H. It probably came with open sights for back-up, as opposed to your 100 yd, western-pronghorn-1000 yd-300 rum-pipe-dream-dealio.

Mainer,

How many grizzly hunts have you been on or shot.

.300 Rum is a varmints rifle?

I watched a friend put a 7' bear down with a 300 ULTRA 180 Nosler. 1 shot no drama


Really guys using varmint loads?


Lefty

Mainer,

With all due respect, a 200 grain Partition at 3100 is hardly varmint hunting speed, nor will it cause a shallow wound.

I'd be willing to bet it would punch both shoulders, even on a big bear.

Be that as it may, my outfitter is a 375 fan, and I'm inclined to listen to him and shoot the 270 TSX.

One of my pards has taken cape buffalo with the 270tsx, so that bullet should be fine on a bear.

Pressure grooves and all....

Tony

Good choice, and good luck. If you you're just going for the hide, and don't want the meat, pm me if you get a bear. I'm always taking bear meat from guys up here in Alaska.

Maybe he is talking about my son... he shot a coastal brown bear with a 25-06 and 80gr TTSX. He shot twice, but either shots would have killed the bear in about the same amount of time, fast...

Bears are not magic and as far as bullets are concerned quite light-boned and soft. It always cracks me up when folks start calling bears big-boned. Like chubby chicks, the bones are the same size on the inside, just coated with a lot of fat.

I'd take whichever one is more pleasant to tote around.

SD

When I shot my Brown bear I was amazed that the shoulder blade was pretty thin. If I remember right I was using a .375 with 260 gr. partitions, and it blasted right through.

I was also surprised that the chest cavity seemed pretty small for such a big animal



.Lefty

I’d go in the opposite direction and use whatever rifle you shot the worst and had the least amount of confidence in. Since you’re paying the guide you might as well make him work for it and make it an exciting and memorable trip. Have fun. 👍

Haha! Don't need none of those wizz bang magnums or those newfangled moly x bullets that came out when Mainer was but a teen, just to kill bears.

The puppies gotta eat....😎

You might be remembering the picture I posted of OlBlue's Kodiak bear scapula. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had all kinds of time. I fleshed a scapula and took a picture of Mel's orange-handled knife through the scapula. The picture is far from perfect, but considering you can see an orange knife THROUGH the bone it makes my point perfectly. It is somewhere here in cyberspace.

As for Partitions, they are reasonable bullets, but they usually cost more than premium bullets and frankly, I have caught FAR too many of them to consider them a premium bullet. If I recover a bullet it is unlikely I will use that bullet again.

I can report the snow at mile 29 on nabesna road is all but gone.. We road to Tanada lake on sleds last weekend, and nothing better riding sleds across the tundra with no snow.

You sitting on a pillow right now while writing that I take it?

I like your logic so from here on out I'm not using Barnes tsx bullets I recovered one in a elk, same for partitions recovered them on a moose. But the eld-x no recovery so keep using. Sierra gameking no recovery keep using. Man I'm saving money now lol..

In the '60s we used to go there every spring to shoot "rats for the hides. I am guessing we are at least a month early there.

I'm not riding no 95 skidoo with no suspension.. so no to the pillow...

Last time I looked the Partitions were the most expensive.

Not paying extra for ordinary...

What were you doing with hides? I'm assuming selling them..

I buy the seconds I haven't bought nosler 1st in years.. but I'm a huge hornady fan, the eld-x is a impressive bullet. I like tsx because they very easy bullet to get to shoot.

Well you're lucky because I've done exactly that out in King Salmon once chasing caribou in February. My back still hurts I think!

I have a bearcat and it's comfortable machine and we took it easy.. hopefully next year when we do the trip again be more snow..

Those bearcats are like caddys! Big heavy machines and they do ride nice! Be a bitch to get unstuck though I bet.

Never ride alone take a couple suckers uh I mean friends to go riding with you lol..

Yup, a 22 to the head is no big deal on price for AK rats because they shaft us on price every time.

ROFL

I would personally go with the lightest rifle to carry.

The 300Rum, 200 partition @ 3,100 would be brutal.

Especially if it turned out to be the lightest rifle...

Always interesting to read about what hunters consider adequate for interior grizzlies.

Don't vast experience with them, but do have some, including in Alaska, and friends who took them here in Montana when the season was still open. They are not small bears here, as some might assume. One spring bear, snared by biologists, bottomed out an 800-pound scale. It would have easily weighed well over 1000 in the fall.

Dang, some lunker bears there~

Yeah, except we haven't has a hunting season since the early 1990's. When we do, there will be some BIG bears taken.

To answer the questions posed, 300 Rum is lighter by a bit, over the 375.

700 SS bbl'd action, Slimline brake, Micky rem classic, edge fill

Talley's, Zeiss HD5, RZ600.

I'll have to weight it, thinking 8ish lbs . The 375 is pushing 10 lbs.

Because the bears there are 7-8 footers, and the possibility of long walks and shots, thinking the 300rum with 200 partitions is the way to go.

Tony

Have shot a pile of big game with 200-grain .30 caliber Partitions, many of them bull elk at least as large as an interior grizzly, both from the .30-06 and three .300 magnums. They don't always exit, but usually do. One example was a 6x6 bull at 75 yards, quartering toward me. Shot it through the big shoulder joint with a handload from the .300 Winchester Magnum with a muzzle velocity right around 3000 fps. The bullet smashed the shoulde and exited at the rear of the ribcage on the other side. Elk pretty dead, pretty fast.

That 30 cal, 200 gr Nosler Partition is one heck of a bullet.

I only sent 'em out at a bit over 2600 fps from my 30-06, it was such a sweet shooting load. But the accuracy and performance on the bear was terrific. I was so impressed that I almost made it my standard 30-06 load!

Best of luck on your hunt!

Regards, Guy

Thanks for the responses John and Guy

I agree, have utmost confidence in the 30 call, 200 partition

I’ve used the 200 grain Partition on interior grizzly and several other big animals including elk. Great bullet, great performance EVERY time when properly placed. I’ve also used the 270 TSX on a pile of big stuff including brown bear. Same thing with the TSX. Put it where it’s supposed to go and it will do it’s job EVERY time. I don’t think you could go wrong using either bullet or rifle.
Im a huge fan of the 375 H&H and a 300 RUM was my go to elk rifle for years. Either would work just fine.

Having said that I’ve hunted the area you will be in. All things equal I’d probably end up taking a 300 RUM or 300 WM pushing the 200 Partitions especially if your 375 is a 10 pound rig. That country has a way of making you regret every single unnecessary ounce once you start hiking and especially climbing. When I hunted there I was carrying my 300 RUM.

One other thing to consider is mag capacity. Some RUMs will only hold 2 down with bolt closed on an empty chamber. I never liked that idea in grizzly country and installed PT&G bottom metal to allow another round down in my 300 RUM.

Pulling for you to have a great hunt. Wish I was tagging along.

Official weights.

300rum .....8lbs, 9oz...so just a smidge above 8.5lbs

375 H&H . 9lbs, 15ozs.... just a smidge below 10lbs

No comparison, 300rum carries way easier, more balanced.

375 is bbl heavy, but for good reason. Very easy gun to shoot, recoil is really just a push, very accurate rifle, as is the 300rum.

Recoil on the RUM has been tamed, via a brake. Also very easy to shoot.

Tony

From experience, guides hate the noise brakes make... just saying...

I dont know anyone that does not hate the brake noise.

Sitka,

Add me to the list of people who hate brakes.

But, I don't have a choice. I have fusions in my neck..c3 thru c7. Can't shoot the really heavy kickers, can't risk it.

I had an unbraked 338rum, and 300rum but sold them after my neck surgery. I'm not recoil shy at all.

I'll bring extra earplugs for the guide.

Tony

Truth be told, my unbraked 20" 375AI is not exactly a church mouse when it goes off.

There is a lot to the geometry of the stock and how hard it recoils. I have an extremely light 30-06 that is a kitten for right-handed shooters (absolutely brutal for lefties) with a 23 ounce stock and 1" Pachmeyer pad. Cast makes a huge difference.

“Necessary evil” comes to mind.

Good luck Tony.

That 375 AI is a smart cartridge. 7-7.5 lbs unscoped, they carry ok. Standard cartridge dimensions allow for 4-5 cartridges down. 375 caliber size needs less barrel for efficient burn of medium-fast powders, so 20" is on par. Chambered in standard sized rifles, you don't have to carry the heft of the magnum bolt rifles. Powder capacity around 55-65 grains of powder, the recoil is minimal closer to the 55 grain mark, but manageable up towards or slightly past 60 grains.


If I were elderly, or had serious injuries to neck, back or shoulders, I would personally pick up a 308 Winchester, 338 Federal, or 358 Winchester for all my Alaskan Hunting. At 45-50 grains of powder, the recoil is a non issue, Follow up shots will be quickest of the bunch. 6-6.5 lbs, they carry like a dream.

Doctari wrote about the sweet spot in velocity for good penetration in all African Game. I believe 2400 fps was the upper end.

It's no wonder that yukon 254 sent a 250 grain partition clear through a very large bison, fired from a 358 winchester. That's about as tough of a test you'll find in North America.