Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Latest caliber strategy for Alaska

I'll have to disagree with that. I have worked with men who have for many years, harvested 30 to 40 Alaska Coastal Brown Bears in "TWO WEEKS". Or harvesting 300 Black Bears a year. Or shooting 50 or 60 Caribou for Bear Bait. It is a giggle how naïve current sport hunters are.......I guess that is for the best, overall.

I'll respectfully disagree that it's possible for anyone in 2021 to have killed as many Alaskan big game animals as a guy who was a professional hunter for four decades over a century ago... but you're welcome to your opinion.

Suggest you reread the book, Alaska's Wolf Man. He was only a market hunter for the mining company and only for a very brief time. He made his living as a trapper. Towards the end he did work for the Government.

He was only a market hunter for the mining company and only for a very brief time. He made his living as a trapper.

That is categorically wrong. Glaser executed multiple contracts as a hunter for the Road Commission (page 52), the U.S. Biological Survey (page 82), and the Park Srrvice (page 89) to name a few. He trapped and he hunted.

I found an old trapper cabin up the headwaters of Richardson Clearwater that is still maintained. It is carved on the door: HANS SEPPALA 1940. He lived up Banner Creek and had Siberian huskies. When Frank Glasser was outta dogs, he would hire Hans

That is categorically wrong. Glaser executed multiple contracts as a hunter for the Road Commission (page 52), the U.S. Biological Survey (page 82), and the Park Srrvice (page 89) to name a few. He trapped and he hunted.

Good info right there. Thanks.
I wonder if he was a relative of Leonard.

Ive hunted my share of caribou and although the 45/70 wouldnt be my choice, it certainly isnt useless in the right hands. One of the best hunters I know has used an old JM Marlin for decades. Its his only rifle. I was standing right beside him one cold November day years back when he shot a nice bull at 250 yards. Just a couple of years ago I was again by his side when he killed a mountain goat at a ranged 198 yards. He does all his shooting with an old Williams aperture sight. No glass. Ive personally busted a few interior grizzlies with the 45/70 so I know anyone who says its "useless" really doesn't know what he's talking about. Personally, I prefer the 444 Marlin. It shoots a tad flatter for those longer shots..

Because it is overglorified in it potence, a huge number of gundummies @ nates cannot be swayed with crisp, clear data of the lousy ballistics, they cry "45-70" yet have zero clue of it's uselessness for ALL hunting conditions.... limiting themselves to rock throwing distances and tracking for hours into the night and often into the next day ... to be shot with a fkn 270 Win

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

I’ve killed close to 100 blacktails with a .375, from 5 to 300 yards, using 300gr partitions and the old Hornady RNs of the same weight. It tears them up less than any .270 or ‘06 load I’ve used.

This has been my experience as well. (Although not on nearly as many deer)
My buddy hunts with a .338wm on admiralty and I've seen that tear volleyball sized holes in those little blacktail.

The 338 Winchester is certainly my idea of the one cartridge for all larger game. I do have a favorite rifle in 338 Winchester.

But, I have been using the stainless 20” barrel 375 and 416 Rugers for moose for the past several years. The maximum shooting distance / visibility in my normal hunting area is about 225 yds. Usual actual shooting distance is much closer. I have been using the 270 grain TSX in 375’s and 350 TSX in the 416’s.
No complaints with their performance. The tipped versions definitely maintain the velocity a bit better.

Lots of specialized rifles and cartridges for long / super-long distances and higher elevation hunting for others to discuss.

The lightest rifle / scope combinations that I have are Kimber Montana’s in 325 WSM and 338 Winchester.