Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Most popular caliber carried in AK.

Albeit, 4:10 ratio at that range, however.

But anyway....

When I was on the Board of Game and even prior, when working as liaison to the BOG and also as a natural resource lobbysit at the State Capital, anecdotal information was always interesting to examine, but the fact of the matter is that science always won over the anecdotal aspect.

Anecdotes are great, but they're not science.

Nevertheless, this thread has been interesting and of course, the range employee's estimations that CMG submitted are well noted.

Anecdotes are not science.

Yet, the range masters survey was not an estimate, either.

Sound science is nice to have - I am a scientist.

Science also is expensive - so may not always be feasible to apply.

Disregarding information just because it is not "science", when nothing really is at stake, is funny.

Somebody here asked which caliber is most popular in AK.

1848 hunters at an Anchorage range in two months seem to be a sound indication - if good enough for the question asked, is for everyone self to decide.

Considering that AFG states just 7000 Big Game Tag sold for residents in AK for 2007 (example) the number in the range masters survey becomes even more impressive.

I apologize for my nitpicking and will end my part of it here.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/license/pdfs/2007info.pdf

An Anchorage range is, quite likely, only going to give you a feel for what Anchorage area hunters and shooters are using. Does it actually represent the greater Alaska area? Who knows?

BTW, what's a Ruger 375? Is that a 375 Ruger...(what's that? ), or is it a Ruger 375 H&H? (The latter is not uncommon in one version or another.) Remington Core-Lokt ammo is very common in Alaska FWIW.

Day Packer,

Not too many 375 Rugers here. I suspect that it is popular with some just getting into the .375 caliber game, though it will never gain the popularity of the Holland...in my lifetime at least. Could be that people here subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" crowd. Personally, I cannot imagine anyone that had a decent 375 H&H trading it for the Ruger. Now, buying one just because you could (another rifle loony-thanks JBar )would make sense.

There are small smatterings of .375 Bee's and some 378's, of course. Ammo (as answered previously) for the 375 Ruger is available in most places larger than 5000 net population.

Makes sense,I knew the 30-06 would be in the the top 5 but i didn't think it would #1. I thought the 300WM would have got that honor.

Some of you guys are saying that in your area the 243 win is popular,what are you all hunting with a 243. I like my 243.....alot but i would have never thought of it as an "ALASKA"caliber.

I had a client who with one shot at 40 feet, whacked a B&C mountain goat with a .243 Winchester. For anyone who knows anything about mountain goats, that's quite the accomplishment.

less so for anyone with a clue about bullets...

Even still, I was somewhat surprised when the billy dropped at the shot. I've seen dozens and dozens of goats killed and oftentimes they seem impervious, in both definitions of the word. That one-shot experience with huge billy killed by the client killed with the .243 was kind of astonishing.

I've carried and killed with a 6mm quite a bit, the rifle loony equivalent of a 243 that is commonly carried by many people who know how to hunt and shoot out in the outlying parts of the state. While much of my killing with it has involved the excellent, now-defunct 100 semi-pointed Pro-Hunter, what these calibers can do when loaded with a Partition or mono is not different than many cartridges bigger in bore size.

I agree. It's an excellent black bear round. I was hesitant at first to lead a goat hunting client who preferred that caliber, but I'd guided him before when he was using other calibers and I knew he could shoot very, very well. A couple of my cousins had .243's and they killed all sorts of things with that caliber on hunts in Canada, the Lower-48 and Mexico. It is quite the cartridge.

I do know it kills whitetails just as dead as my 30-06 did.

I do prefer big rifles, like one of my 7mm-08s.

OK. i'll bite.

How many shots and where was da goat hit?

Klik, Klik, Klik...............

Now you're just trolling, man!

Sorry, Mav. I missed that part.

Nice hit it seems.

i'm unconvinced about the //passing through all that hair and dense flesh\\ business.

What kind of boolit, if you please?

Why thanks!

(Nevertheless, and distortions aside, the point should not be missed that smaller, non-magnum cartridges do support a big share of the hunting which gets done in Alaska. That isn't a recommendation, BTW, just an observation.)

Yeah, I was very apprehensive about him using a .243 Winchester on a mountain goat hunt because of the density of those animals and their impervious nervous system. But, in the end I let him bring it. The bullet was a handloaded Nosler.

I'll guess partition.






Oh, Aaaaart!

Oops, I missed the "T". You troll!

I'll agree about the most successful cartridge.

I've long said that the lowly '06 has killed more grizzly/brown bear than the next two cartridges.

I just can't be bothered to do the research to prove it. nonetheless, there it is and i have a nice can of Pepsi to back it up.