One rifle for North American big game?

[WAB]

Looks like a big bear, what did it weigh in at? That picture is the reason to grab the 9.3 or 375 for a brown hunt.

No chance to weigh them in the back country. We skin them and pack them out.

 

[colorado]

270 Win, 30-06. If you like magnums the 7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag are great choices too. If you decide to go for alaskan brown bear the 300 Win Mag is enough gun.

 

[Chago]

the .300 win mag over a 10 day period in North America in 2019.
I wanted to travel with one gun as these trips had me going to several location back to back. I used different bullet of course for the different species (another good reason to have a .30 caliber is lots of bullet choices for different game).
View attachment 352909 View attachment 352910

now, if we are talking one rifle to hunt the world the edge goes to the .375 H&H
if i had to have one rifle for the rest of my life that would be the caliber.

Why did you shoot the cub. The dad would have been right behind him if you would have just been patient ...... Lol

That's a hell of a bear man. Congrats.

 

[rookhawk]

Hello,

Wondering if any North American hunters can help me out.
I am wondering if anyone could suggest a rifle to sort of "do it all" for North American big game.

The main things I will hunt with it are Whitetail Deer and Wild Hogs in Florida.
However, there are other hunts I plan to do with this ride - out in the west for pronghorn, elk, and mule deer - as well as black bear somewhere further north.

First of all, what caliber would be suggested to take all these species? On average they will be 100-200 pound animals, so it needs to b comfortable to us for that - while still having the power to handle a 500+ pound elk.

As far as rifle action, weight, barrel length, and scope variation - what would you suggest? It's got to be comfortable in denser cover for hunting Florida, but still able to take game to 250+ yards for pronghorn and mule deer.

Can't wait to hear your suggestions.
Drew

7mm Remington would probably be it.

it can take elk and moose but isn’t absurd for deer, black bear, or hogs.

never owned one, but have owned several 7x57 and have accounted for a large swath of animals here and in Africa. I just said 7mm Rem because it’s probably a better all around gun adding in moose and big bull elk.

 

[Ridgewalker]

So, Drew what did you get? Surely you have purchased one by now?

 

[Papabear55]

Id have to say 7mm rem, 3006, 45-70, 375 or 416 rem for north America. Any of thise calibers would be great. I've recently decided to try moving back to alaska and i believe my 45-70 and 416 rem will do the bulk of my hunting

 

[Erny]

300 Win Mag. Your good from Kodiak brown bear to Javelina and every in between. I personally shoot 180 grain Nosler Partions. The 300 Win Mag is also a fantastic plains game caliber.

 

[jacques smith]

7mm rem mag will work just fine

 

[Shootist43]

Biggiesmalls, your question isn't exactly a new one. The advice that the thousands before you have gotten is quite simple. A 30-06. There are a couple of other calibers worth considering, but when it come time to make the final choice it is an '06 that gets my recommendation and vote.

 

[R.M.C.]

I think any of the magnums are a bit much for javelina sized game so I gotta go with the ageless 30.06. I think from a recoil standpoint it would be a pain in the ass to have to shoot nothing but a belted magnum for mostly deer and maybe elk and black bear. Lots of different weight bullets out there for a .30 cal. With today's bullets and powders a 30.06 is knocking on the door of a .300 win mag

 

[JLF]

.338 Win. Mag.

 

[Ravensview]

.308 or 30-06 would cover what you are asking.

 

[fourfive8]

30-06 for your list or if you add big bears, grizzlies and brown bears, then the 375 HH will do all well.

 

[R.M.C.]

Yeah it's hard to pick an "all around gun" if you have Brown bears on the list lol but for most stuff I love my 30.06. Brown bear may be in a different category lol
But unless I'm mistaken Brown bear was not on the list.

 

[R.M.C.]

But unless I'm mistaken Brown bear was not on the list

 

[JimP]

But plenty of brown bears have been shot with the old 30-06 and 220 grain loadingsd

 

[R.M.C.]

Dang right JimP!! And it's not like he's gonna hunt browns every day lol

 

[colorado]

I like the choices of 7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag, both will be fine for everything in North America including Alaskan brown bear and don't kick too much. Both very flat shooting with great ammo and premium bullet availability. I've used my 270 Win for everything including finishing off two grizzlies in the Bob back when I was guiding for Howard Kelsey and we still could pull permits (late 60s), but I think it's light for the grizzlies/kodiaks. If they aren't on the list a 270 Win would work just fine with 150 grain Partitions.

 

[WAB]

Having messed with brownies a lot, I’ll stick to my recommendation of something .338 up if they are on the list. It’s a different scenario if you hunt with a guide, as he’ll clean up any mess you make.

The guides offer you a pretty good clue, not many of them back up with a .30 cal, magnum or not.

 

[rookhawk]

Seeing some recommendations that are fairly impractical. With animals like moose and brown bear on the list, and then muskox would be in the big tough stuff too, you need something to cover that.

but then down to javelina, black tails, and the like you need a reasonably small bullet too.

then you have sheep, goats, pronghorn, and maybe elk on occasion where you need a flat shooting gun.

Combine all those together and you need a compromise. Could you do it with a 300 win mag or 300hh? Yes. Are you losing some small animal and distance shooting finesse? Yes. So it probably reverts to a 7mm magnum or a 7mm weatherby.

Of the four calibers I just rattled off, I’ve only owned 1 of them, a 300HH a quickly sold as the recoil was stout in a 6lb single shot. I couldn’t live with the inherent compromises above so I just own more guns.

To put it succinctly, the compromising do-all’s above are a composite of a two gun solution which is what I always have had: 7x57 and 375HH.

Perhaps it’s best to map out a “life plan” to own three exceptional rifles and start acquiring them rather than making the compromises to own one gun poorly selected for everything?

A 6.5 or 7mm.
A 375 or 404.
A 470 or 500.