Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer- Know of any .270 brown/grizzly kills?

I've discussed polar bears with a few natives in Alaska and also in the NW Territories. One in the NWT guides for them and has supposedly been in on around 100 polar bear kills. They all seem to prefer mild mannered rounds of .257" or 6.5mm. The NWT guide recommends the .243 Win to his clients. They all say that .300 Magnums (I presume they're referring to the Winchester round) is too destructive. I am not sure if they'r referring to the hide, the meat or both.

I am guessing they shoot their bears bayed up by dogs or those chased down on snow machines, so close shots are the norm...but that is just a guess. Take that for what it is worth...

Mule Deer was Moose Johnson, who guided O'Connor on sheep hunts, a Eskimo? He later went mentally ill after surviving a grizzly attack. I have no knowledge of the native tribes in Alaska or Canada.

If I recall correctly, Moose Johnson was from one of the western Canadian tribes, maybe Cree, and not an Inuit.

IIRC he was from the Dease Lake area, perhaps Tahltan?

Dease Lake , probably Kaska

Money is a big factor. The last time I hunted with Inuits, a "summer" hunt for musk ox and caribour along the southern shore of the Arctic Ocean near the mouth of the Ellice River, my primary guide wouldn't even use such a powerful rifle as his .30-30 Model 94 Winchester if he could help it, because it made too big a hole in polar bear hides--which at the time were bringing up to $2000. This was around 20 years ago.

From our conversations (which were translated and added to by his nephew) most polar bears were either taken by using sled dogs to bay them, or by stalking amobearsng the pressure ridges of sea ice, which allowed the hunters to get well inside 100 yards.

That sounds a lot like what I have heard. I wonder if Polar bears have thinner hides? I wouldn’t think so due to the conditions they thrive in, but who knows. The bears (both griz and black) that I have shot with a .300 Win Mag and similar rounds didn’t have any more hide damage than those I have taken with smaller rounds and similar bullets.

This guy mostly used the .22 Rimfire Magnum.

I have seen IIRC several times. What does it mean?

If I Recall Correctly= IRCC

Hi BC30CAL

The stories you have given here are just what I have been looking for. I knew that there must be a good number of people that are/have used the .270 to kill big brown bears. Thanks! I am really enjoying this Thanksgiving gift of .270 Brown Bear stories.

Thànks for your experience. I knew that people were killing brown bears with .270 Win. BUT, where were all the stories. Was there some kind of an agreement by the gun makers to hide the truth.

Phil Shoemaker just forwarded this photo to me, of one of his brown bear clients who used 150-grain Nosler Partitions with a .270 Winchester:



Phil had these comments:
"He is a Colorado rancher and serious hunter who can shoot. On the first shot from 120 yards the bear spun to bite at the wound and a second hit in the same place dropped it in his tracks."

Years ago I took a large adult grizzly with the old 160NP and also found it very effective on moose.

Mule Deer!!!???///$$$$$$YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS! What a photo and what a tell all story in just two sentences. I have been known to utterly punish my buddies with tall tales of the Mighty .270 Winchester. This photo of THE BIG BROWN BEAR KILLED BY THE MIGHTY .270 WINCHESTER will cause me to be utterly
endeared by my poor buddies when I punish them again with .270 stories. WELLLLLLL? Do you guys believe I should show a wee bit of mercy? Thumbs UP or Thumbs Down, it is all you deciding if any mercy is shown. What say y'all?

Tell 458, the king of all bear hunters, someday I hope to be able to hunt with him for a BIG, BIG, Brown Bear. Thanks Mr. Shoemaker.

Glenn

Will do! Though Phil checks in here now and then....

Will also mention that the quickest/deadest I've seen a bull moose drop from a non-spine shot occurred with one shot from a .270 Winchester and a 150 Partition handloaded to 2850 fps. It took a step-and-half and folded up dead. The bullet entered the middle of the left ribs and ended up under the hide in front of the right shoulder....

Thanks John. I came back home from the Viet Nam war time mess, spent some time with the old folks, and went to the Yukon with a fellow soldier who had a dad there and we went hunting. Moose, reindeer, grizzly. All killed with a
270 130gr Nosler partition. The reindeer took two shots as I was so cold I couldn't hold steady was my excuse. The grizzly fell flatt and was hard hit then got up and ran forty yards and just rolled. I knew that people were killing big, mean animals with the .270. Where were the stories? This Thanksgivimg was great with all the stories here that has spoiled a lot of urban legends about the so called inadequacy of the .270. Only experienced hunters can ever really know the truth. The 150gr Nosler partition is the equal of a 7mm 160gr and the moose you saw killed didn't have a chance against that bullet. My only moose went down a whole lot slower.

This might help.

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Mule Deer;
Good evening, I hope you and Eileen had a fine Thanksgiving and this finds you well.

That hunt story - I want to say he called it a ".22 Mag a num" unless I'm messing up the stories - anyways that muskox hunt story is one of the top 5 for me that you've written.

As an aside last summer we were at a game farm in Whitehorse where they had muskox and honestly if there's anything cuter than baby muskox, I'm not sure what it might be.

His photo is in the last Sports Afield article you wrote too maybe?

All the best to you both and thanks for the many times you've taken me along on your hunts across the globe.

Dwayne

I have no doubt a 270 and many others work. That said, I will take my 375 H&H M70 that my previous guide, Brad Dennison, was happy to see and happier to see how I shot it. The same rifle for bear next year.