Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska If you were to have just one caliber ?

I carried a 30-06 and a 35-06 most of the time I was stationed up there.

Prolly covered before but those are Cartridges not calibers.

30 cal

Fun to dream and commiserate about the perfect one caliber. Truth is dead is forever and plenty of folks have filled their caches with 270s and even 243s. Definitely not bear guns. Most people filling their larder and only have one gun are not hunting bears, they are hunting what the bears hunt.

So bear calibers are a mute point, people that can only own one gun, do not have wheelers and rvs and riverboats and snowgos and super cubs. If so guaran ffing Teed that can afford several firearms. People that cant own all the "stuff" are not hunting multiple species, moose & caribou are where its at, and a occasional berry black bear, which can typically be taken with a smaller caliber.

Coastal bears are for mostly wall hangers not meat, so meat hunters typically do not hunt the big brownies or blacks, if they are eating fish they are not fit for consumption.

Bear protection is best done with a shotgun, which can be used for fowl that can be eaten and is at times, plentiful.

I always figured guys who bought 338s couldn't hit jack schit and just hope they hit some part of the animal and make a big enough hole to f it up.

Ought six, is all you need if yer a meat hunter, ok, a 308 would make sense as well if ya gots to have two and only two.

Cannot begin to count the bears I have seen killed very neatly with .243, 6mm, 257Roberts, 25-06...

And they were mostly destined for the table.

I’m not a bear hunter, no expectations of becoming one.

But, I’ve read that the 200 NPT out of an ‘06 will penetrate tough critters about as well as most any round.

Someone mentioned the shotgun as good bear medicine. I’ve also read that a shotgun slug won’t penetrate nearly as well as the above mentioned combo.

Would appreciate comments by those who’ve BTDT.

DF

I’ve yet to kill anything with a 200gr partition, but I can testify that foster slugs are absolute garbage as a projectile to be used on brown bears. I maimed a grumpy one with 12ga fosters years ago. The fiasco involved a lot of roaring, shooting, and slide shucking until matters were properly settled by a .458 and a .375.

One of the best ways I know for a person to instantly demonstrate ignorance is if they use/recommend foster slugs or buckshot for bear defense.

Well, sure. But the smart way to go is to alternate slugs and buckshot. (/sarc)

Ok, I'll add this to the conversation about using a Shot Gun, and Yea, the Foster Slugs are for Deer or the like in the lower-48, the ONLY Ammo I use here in Alaska in my Shot Gun is Brenneke's 12ga 3"mag Black Magic Slugs, that's a 602gr Slug @ 1502 fps => 3,014 ft/lbs of ME.... That's what Allen Gilliland (Katmai Parks Pilot) used to Kill the Bear that Killed and Ate Timmy Treadwell, and his Girl friend in 2003, I know of what I speak, as I was there.....
LJ in Alaska....

45-70 Government.

A perfect caliber for everything is just about as silly as a perfect boat for all over the state.

Takes a minimum of 5 boats to get the job done, often 2 at a time!

Did the bear make any noise ?

Yeah, he roared at the start of his charge and after he was hit.

Truth

I agree, could never decide on slug first or double ought first....

The .338 Marlin Express

Yeah, I expect a few sniggers and some outright skepticism. That's OK.

I favor lever actions. I particularly like Marlins. I bought my MXLR 11 years ago because it was purported the .338 ME had more long range pop. It has become my go-to rifle.

Thus far I've killed 25 critters, to include a bunch a of moose and caribou (include a 50" bull moose this year), and a number of African game species such as kudu, wildebeest, impala, wart hog, blesbok, and springbok. Everything I have shot it at, it's killed, without exception. I know for some of you that's a small sample size, but I am happy with how it's performed.

I use factory ammo because it's really accurate, but if the factory ammo every dries up, I have enough brass to last several lifetimes. (I handload)

Just one caliber? The .338 Marlin is my choice.

👍! memtb

IMO….There is no such thing as anything being “perfect” for any one specific purpose. There are always other options that will work as well. It generally “boils down” to personal preference! Perhaps if you could perfectly script every scenario….one could have the “perfect (?) cartridge/firearm for each of these scenarios! I for one would love to know how to script, without variance, any hunting scenario!

There are however, a few cartridges/firearms that will check most of the boxes. Probably not “perfect” for any specific one…..but, will work quite well!

In the “real world” everything is a bit of a compromise! memtb

I live "downstairs" and won't pretend to know the answer to this one.

I think many living down here forget just how vast Alaska is. Which means highly varied conditions and topography. Not to mention greater variance in game size and temperament.

I would guess that like here, many (most?) hunters stay fairly local, hunt what is there and arm themselves appropriately.

Is that fair or even accurate?