Moose cartridge?

I hunt elk, deer, and pronghorn with a .308 Rem. I'm honestly wondering if I should take something else on my moose hunt in unit 49 this year. Bull tags are rare enough to pull I'd consider a longer shot to fill my tag.

I'm certainly capable of accurate shooting with my .300 win mag, practicing out to 600 yards (farther than I'd likely be comfortable shooting an animal, for the record). My .300 is entirely too heavy to carry through a hunt, but I'm also always looking for a reason to buy another rifle.

For anyone who has taken moose or done some pondering on the question, which cartridge would you use?

To clarify, I don't want to not take a moose because 350 to 400 is farther than I'm comfortable with using my .308.

How far are you looking to shoot? And what do you use for Elk?

I also find that bullet is a huge difference maker. If you don?t use a premium bullet you may want to consider a Barnes TTSX (or similar) or nosler partition. At 300 to 400 yards max I?d have no problem using these at a moose from a 308.

If you want more behind it, the 300 WSM is a great option.


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I found a .35 Whelen in the safe I haven’t done much with, might be a good reason to break it out. I’d be staying with 400, that’s a long way out. I need to comb google maps and go walk the area to be sure.

.308 for elk currently, using Federal Fusion, which has always been enough. I haven’t actually loaded my own hunting ammo since I started using a .308. I’ll check out the Barnes bullets no matter which way I decide on cartridge.

There?s many factory options that use the all copper bullets from different manufacturers, I assume their bullets are similar to the Barnes. They really penetrate well and retain their weight. Since using them, they are about all I use on big game now. So even you don?t load you will be able to find some. Drop down in grain weight when using them, for the 308 I would go with with the 150 or 168.


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Not to discourage you from buying a new rifle but I think your .308 is perfectly adequate. The .35 Whelan would be fine too. As Whitewalrus said, a premium bullet and bullet placement are key.

ALL of my encounters with moose were and continue to be at close range, less than 100 yards. Go the the Alaskan tundra to shoot moose from long distance.

I actually scaled down when I bought my commemorative once in a lifetime 2018 Colorado bull moose rifle. Shelving my trusty Winchester 54 .30-06, I bought a Kimber Adirondack in 7mm-08. It's a necked down .308, but faster and more accurate. It sports an 18" threaded barrel and weighs just under 5 lbs. It's light, quick handling and soft shooting. Suppressed, it feels a little like shooting a .22 magnum.

Using factory Barnes VOR-TX cartridges with the TTSK 120 grain bullets, I took two shots on my bull, both of which were fatal. He took three steps and collapsed.

Fwiw, I think you should buy a new rifle if only to commemorate your once in a lifetime Colorado bull moose license opportunity. But I know you don't need some heavy beast of a rifle to reach out and touch your trophy Shiras bull.

Cheers!

.308 or .35 Whelen would be fine. Moose are not too hard to get close to and shoot once you find them. I steer clear of the Barnes TSX and TTSX. Even call Barnes and ask them. They generally need higher velocity to expand and work well, so you are either limiting your range, or increasing the potential of wounding an animal at ranges past about 300 yards depending on impact velocity. I've seen them pencil through Elk past 350 yards.

A heavier partition on the .308 would be perfectly fine.

Groovy, thanks.

Rocket launcher, 27600-caliber.

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When I was living in Canada the 30-06 was the most popular choice in the 1980's for moose. I used a 270 and it did the trick shooting 150 grain speer grand slam bullets (heavy jacketed bonded). You might be thinking that you need a super duper magnum when the lungs are bigger than a beech ball and the heart is the size of a football. Always be ready for follow up shots and keep shooting until it is down. With a heart shot they have been known to travel 1/2 mile. All that said I currently use a 300 win mag for elk and moose.

IMO, your .308 with quality bullets will work just fine. Moose aren't real hard to kill, they'll take a bullet and just stand there giving you time to hit them again. If they do move after the shot, they just don't cover much ground, not like elk often times do.

I used my .300 WM for two AK. Yukon moose. One took 3 shots before he dropped and the other dropped before I could recover from the recoil, load, and shoot again. These moose around here are much smaller, although still have a large kill zone. Put the bullet where it belongs from your .308 and enjoy the meat.

Of course, if a man just needs an excuse for a new rifle, I'm onboard for that. Maybe a .300 WSM?

I haven't hunted moose but I have seen enough of them while elk hunting that I have yet to have an encounter that was more than 50yds. They seem to like to get in to thick stuff.