Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer - Elk Cartridges Question

Yup - on hunts on grizzly country it's wise to have a rifle that does well as a stopping rifle. .30-06 with very heavy bullets in an option, but really not a good one.

In fact, that sums up the .30-06 generally. It's an option, but really not a good one.

I've only killed one elk in my life 7mm Rem mag 165gr. extended range. This was outside of Meeker Co. in 1994 . Mule deer same hunt 30-06 PMC Eldorado 165gr. "X" bullet.
A black bear in AK with a .325 WSM 200 gr. Accubond. And a moose in Canada Same 325 WSM with a Speer 200 gr. Hot-Cor.

Said that to say this. No wonderboomer in the world will make up for bad marksmanship.
Hunting with what you can shoot proficiently, be it a .223 or a. 458 trumps poor marksmanship all day everyday.

Shoot what you want but shoot it good. See signature line.

"great minds" etc...

That’s a nice hook to hang a hat on! Load-wise what are you favoring for your 270 these days?

LB, please tell us how many grizzlies you've encountered while elk hunting. Also might want to list how many grizzlies you've seen killed, and list the various cartridges.

Uh, Mr Mule Deer, you'll have better luck high jumping 8ft in the next Summer Olympics than getting a straight answer out of that loser. You probably knew that though.......

John, I've had one friend killed by a grizzly guiding elk, and two mauled (one guiding elk, one fishing). I don't give a flying [bleep] what you think because you've exposed how massively ignorant you are too many times to count, but anyone who hunts elk in grizzly country without a stopping rifle ready to hand is as big of a moron as you are.

So...you yourself are devoid of the experience you are trying to "share" with us, and at the same time, rude as hell.

Yep. Came through perfectly clear with your last post. Thanks for clearing that up for us.

Bob,

I wasn't asking about other people's experience, but yours. You keep mentioning your vast experience hunting elk in Colorado, which hasn't had any grizzly/hunter confrontations since the late 1970s.

Yes, people get killed by grizzlies when guiding elk, and get mauled both when hunting and fishing. I would be willing to bet that I know more who've been mauled/attacked than you do, because I've lived and hunted in grizzly country here in Montana for all except for the few years I lived in other states.

Have run into grizzlies not only when hunting elk in Montana, but when hunting caribou, moose and black bears--along with fishing in various places.. Those encounters occurred not only in Montana, but Alaska, and Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest and Nunavut Territories in Canada.

In fact was taking apart a bull moose in northern British Columbia with my guide when a grizzly tried to come in on the kill. Luckily the horses let us know, quite loudly, beforehand. We finished the job with one of us holding a rifle, and the other working with his rifle next to his hands. On that trip alone saw 9 grizzlies, including one we had to spook off by shooting at its feet.

Also know more than one brown bear (not grizzly) guide who's killed charging bears with the .30-06.

Would also like to know, since you obviously think you do, exactly what are "stopping" cartridges on grizzlies?

Have you ever seen a grizzly in the wild? Meaning not in a national park or zoo.

I'll answer your question if you answer mine: Are you really as much of a dumbfuck as you seem, or is it some sort of act? Colorado is adjacent to Wyoming, where my friend was killed and where I hunt most years depending on tags. Now, here's why I want you to answer my question. Because most people with an IQ above room temperature know where the bears are in the US but you, a "hunting writer" in the loosest sense, are acting ignorant. So do you just play a dumbfuck on TV, or is that how you really are?

My advice is correct: use a stopping rifle in grizzly country.

I don’t know a thing about bears, but do you mean to tell us you carry something substantially more powerful than a 30/06 when you’re fishing in bear country? What would that be? 338WM? 375?
Don’t we have a very accomplished Alaskan bear guide on this forum that killed a grizz/brownie with a 9mm because that’s what he had?

good grief......

I’ve since gravitated to the 338 win mag after a bad experience with a 162 gr bullet from a 7mm rem mag not tracking straight after hitting the near should on a quartered toward me elk. I have no idea if the 338 is better at tracking straighter but my logic tells me it will be better at less than ideal angles. I think physics is on my side here ?

Regardless, I haven’t had it fail me in 15 yrs of taking animals with that cartridge. It shoots fairly flat and recoil is easily mastered with some practice. It’s my go to for everything bigger than a whitetail.

I suspect LB and MD are actually the same person. Perhaps some kind of internal strife playing out on these very pages? Tragic, yet entertaining at the same time. Well, OK, maybe not.

Haha! I could totally understand how MD would need a sock puppet. I would if I was him. That’s a thread of its own right there!

Honestly, fishing is tricky. I don't fish that side of Wyoming (or Alaska) that often, and in the past I've used a .44 revolver with 300gr punch bullets when I did. Mark getting killed did cause me to re-think a bit though and I've been more cautious the last couple years. That's one of the reasons I built a light .375 WSM last year. Hard to use with a fishing pole in your hand though - as I said I'm a lot more cautious now.

John's a good person, not apt to fling arrows or "act".

You're doing a grand job of doing both. GFY and may your odds of needing a stopping rifle in grizzly country equal your ability to be an azz to someone who has nothing to do with your need to compensate...

Apparently I am real DF, because I can't see where you answered any of my questions. You just keep side-stepping, as some people already suggested you would.

A "good person" would give people interested in engaging in a dangerous activity the correct advice: use a stopping rifle when hunting in grizzly country. A "good person" might ponder a bit why so many people have suffered life changing injuries, or in the case being discussed actually died, for want of that advice,

I take this seriously because I know what consequences of not doing so are. I encourage others to do the same.

You still don't get it,. and yes of course you're a massive dumbfuck. That's just the way you are, and it's OK - many people are born that way, and by and large they get on fine in life not really realizing how incompetent they are. But in this case you're giving horrible advice, and that's where your dumbfuckery has to run in to some resistance.

The correct advice is simple: when hunting in grizzly country, use a stopping rifle.