Moose......

[cmh]

Was curious what was your.caliber of.choice when handgun hunting moose?

[sixshot]

I used my Ruger SRH 480 with a 370 gr softnose cast, one shot. My buddy Callshot used a 230 gr. Keith style in his Redhawk 41 maggie, again one shot. Another buddy Brent used my custom Harton 480 Bisley to take his with a 370 gr softnose cast & it was also one shot. Last year a friend shot a nice bull with his Ruger 44 maggie & in his excitement when they were loading the moose onto the boat he set the revolver on the edge of the boat & drove off, they never found it & it was his uncle's gun!

Dick

[snappy]

Dec 1, 2013 17:16:20 GMT -5 sixshot said:

... in his excitement when they were loading the moose onto the boat he set the revolver on the edge of the boat & drove off, they never found it & it was his uncle's gun!

Dick

Oh dang!! Nothing hungrier than a river...

[cmillard]

did he buy him a new one or did he give the moose to him? that would suck.

[Snyd]

Moose are pretty easy to kill. I've killed quite a few and seen quite a few die. I'm still trying to get one with my 45 Colt though, 355gr wfn. I don't feel under gunned one bit. I'll be packin it again this year. Well, maybe the new 500L if I have it by Sept .

[cmh]

Interesting to see the variety used

[Snyd]

Lots of em have died to a 30-30 here in Alaska.

[whitworth]

On my one and only moose I used a .500 Linebaugh loaded with 500 grain LFNs at 1,150 fps.

[bradshaw]

Moose are easy to kill... until they're not. Poor bullet placement running gaboons of horsepower wound game, which escapes to suffer. Stories come in every year of game lost to abstract shot placement. To go by reports I hear, and to factor game recovered from number of animals shot at, handgun hunters easily top the list for ethical engagement. Rifle hunters rate second. Bow hunters are far down the list, as I continuously here, year after year, of game wounded with arrows and lost. I repeatedly hear these stories from very good archers, who practice frequently with the best equipment.

Against the hypothetical average rifle hunter, the handgunner takes a serious interest in his and her handguns, and in handgun marksmanship. Marksmanship is the replacing of abstraction with specific co-ordinations in the making of a shot. This practice enables the marksman to judge when not to shoot. Knowing when not to shoot liberates us to shoot.

This year I've heard of moose lost to .300 Win Mag and .325 WSM. Apparently, these animals were tracked for hours. How can anyone prove where they were hit without the animal? I have also helped recover moose that were shot many times with high power rifles, where it seemed the so-called hunter considered the whole animal the target. By far, most of the wounded-and-lost game I hear about are whitetails. With very generous seasons, the bow hunter who wounds and loses a deer just looks for another to fill his tag, or tags.

When small calibers fail to take bear, that should be expected. Nothing in hunting should be assumed. And to celebrate a kill before it is bled out invites the worst amateur folly.
David Bradshaw

[contender]

Well put David.
I was shown a game cam pic just a few weeks ago of a whitetail, after dark, feeding in a food plot, with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. A high, in the shoulder blade hit. Non-lethal, and so far, still stuck in the deer. A nice typical 6 pointed buck. Hopefully he'll be harvested during our gun season so he doesn't suffer anymore.
As you have noted, we handgun hunters know when to NOT make a shot a lot more often than other hunters. Did I tell y'all about the time I had the biggest whitetail I've ever seen while handgun hunting in my home area. The one I had wanted to kill for 3 years,,, and I let him walk because I couldn't get the shot I wanted,,,? Never saw him again,,,! It still haunts me,,, but I know I did the right thing.

[cmillard]

I completely avoid all that when I hunt deer. I do not shoot bucks, only does and strictly go for meat. I have had plenty of meat from those huge bucks like we have here in Iowa. time and time again, I did not like it--way too tough. the only buck I have shot was a button buck--but I did not know that until I started gutting it. the point is, I hunt deer strictly with handgun and have done so since Iowa started allowing it about 10 years ago. the only issue I had was one deer ran off and I could not find it--searched for hours but lost a blood trail. shot it at about 10 yards while I was sitting. it nearly walked into me. I can still see the shot in my head. was using my springfield 1911 with, at that time, factory ammo. it was purely my fault. I go a beautiful hit--saw right where the bullet struck. the deer jumped straight up and took off and out of sight. needless to say, I did not use that brand of ammo again, as now that I look back, it was a less than ideal choice. I have shot several deer with that springfield and that was the only one I lost. the ones I took with that were shot with factory 200 grain gold dot hollow points. all shot with that ammo either dropped or ran 20-30 yards and piled up. that is the only deer I have lost and I am haunted by that. I don't get "buck fever" like some do. I pay close attention to everything around me and take careful aim and will not take a shot at a running deer like some fools do. like contender said about not getting the shot he wanted--I wont shoot if I know I can't make the shot. all of that being said--even though I have never shot a moose, but would like to do so, any good 5 or 6 (depending on caliber) shot revolver in .41 mag and up, loaded with the right bullet and proper bullet placement (lots and lots of practice) will do the job on a moose. I would not feel under gunned one bit with a 5 inch plus long barreled .41 mag ruger bisley shooting 265+ grain hardcast bullets after putting lots of lead downrange.

[sixshot]

Some of the best venison I've ever eaten has come off of big old fat bucks (like me), mostly it depends on when you shoot them, a late season buck can be so tough you can't stick a fork in the gravy but before the rut they can be quite tasty. That Gold Dot is an excellent bullet out of your 1911 & it sounds like you are doing it the right way, even then its possible for any of us to lose one, never a good feeling.

Dick

[cmillard]

I wish I could remember the bullet I used on that deer I lost. another great bullet that I swear by is the barnes xpb. after seeing firsthand how it drops deer in their tracks, then shooting one into a massive elm log then recovering it--no wonder it is so devastating. a hardcast bullet and the barnes xpb are the only bullets I use for hunting nowadays. I would not hesitate one bit to shoot a moose with either or those bullets. opening day this coming Saturday for shotgun season 1. we can shoot handgun here in Iowa during shotgun seasons. just haven't decided which handgun i'm taking

[bradshaw]

cmillard.... I wouldn't be in a hurry to shoot a moose with the .45 ACP. And the one black bear I took with the 1911 (old Colt National Match) I took through the brain, as I wouldn't consider a body shot with that round. Shot numerous livestock, cows and beef, with the .45 ACP----all in the brainpan. Penetration utterly unremarkable. Anyone thinks a moose with bullets in it can't travel should have a pair of comfortable hiking boots. (Note on Speer bullets: the old 200 JHP "Flying Ashtray" tends plug with hair and not expand. In my carcass experiments, the Gold Dots expanded more reliably.) The Remington Golden Saber 230 JHP expanded very well on a lung-shot whitetail buck from the Les Baer. Nevertheless, I doubt this could be a reliable shoulder-breaker, and I can only see it coming up short----very short----on moose penetration.

The other subject, alluded to elsewhere by Dick, is the playout of handgun power as range increases. Nowhere will this be more noticeable than on a big animal. When we shoot it accurately, power is a good thing.
David Bradshaw

[cmillard]

sorry, I didn't mean that I would shoot one with my .45 acp. now my .460 Rowland with a nice hardcast bullet is a different story. I would have no problem doing that. but those bullets in .41 mag and up, I would recommend--that is what I meant. I have had hollow points plug up when shooting into wood. the recovered bullets did not expand, just acted like a FMJ. the xpb was a different story--it looked like peeled back banana skin.