OT - Moose Tag - What to Use?!?

[stretch]

Well, I had a good Father's Day. After blueberry pancakes
with my 6-year-old , my neighbor called me to tell me my name
was in the paper. After (just!) a decade or so of trying, I was
pulled out of the hat at Cabela's in Scarborough, and I'm after
a cow in November!

I'd like to take it with a handgun - 41 Magnum being the preferred
caliber. A 220 gr. Speer JSWC over 17.0gr of 2400 is showing promise,
although I'm going to order some 250gr or 255gr LWFNGC to try over
H110. Primary gun is a Ruger Blackhawk. I'm thinking 220gr. in the JSWC
configuration would be heavy enough for moose at 50 yards, but 250gr.
might be better.

If the range is longer and I can't get closer, I'll go to a long gun.
Primary rifle will be a Mosin-Nagant I bought - it shoots VERY well for $79.95,
and I sure won't feel bad if I ding it! Ammo will be handloads with
Remington's 180 gr. Corelokt, methinks. Secondary choice is my Marlin 336 in, of
course, 35 Remington. I'll use Remington factory 200gr ammo - unless I shoot
it all up by November, and then I'll handload using the same projectile.

Camp reservations are already made.

Suggestions or comments?!

-Stretch

[Pete44ru]

Shucks - If thet's a Maine Moose tag, you kin just rest thet .41 on the window sill, and have at 'er !

.

[Terry Murbach]

I WILL JUST NOTE HERE THAT IN CANADA THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF MOOSE HAVE BEEN KILLED WITH 30-30 AND 303BRIT RIFLES. THEY ARE NOT A HARDLY BEAST ATALL AND MY DADDY'S 30-40 CARBINE DROPPED TWO IN THEIR TRACKS ONLY SECONDS APART, ONE HEAD-ON CHEST SHOT A PIECE. BOOM THUD BOOM THUD...

[FWiedner]

I'd bet that .35Rem and a well-placed shot will do the trick.

A major portion of their diet comes from foraging for aquatic plants.

I reckon you'll do yourself a huge favor if you drop 'er on "dry-land".

[Sixgun]

Stretch,
Good for you on the lucky draw. Choices, choices, choices...but fun choices .. Never having hunted moose but have dropped a few elk, I'd have to say to take the gun that "stirs your soul" and make the best of it. If its the 41 mag, get yourself a hard cast bullet in the 220 gr. size---push it to the max and practice, practice, practice. I would not trust any jacketed handgun bullet.

The good 'ole 35 Rem will most likely do the job but I would make sure I would use a premium bullet in case you hit one of those big bone thingy's. The standard CoreLock might come apart.

......................or.......................................you can do what is the proper American thing and that is to ask lots of questions...................kiss up to the better half.......................and buy a new/old gun that will make your hunt memorable

Ain't no question what I would use after witnessing over the years what a hard cast bullet in a 45 calibered rifle will do.-----------------------------Sixgun

[stew71]

I reckon you'll do yourself a huge favor if you drop 'er on "dry-land".

You WILL come to know the true meaning of the word 'misery' if you drop a big one in a waist-deep bog. My wife's uncle had the misfortune of doing so on a moose hunt near his place in Alaska.

[MrMurphy]

I see terry has yet to discover CAPS LOCK.


Me, a .41 backing up a rifle sounds fine but i wouldn't use a pistol as a primary.

[Ji in Hawaii]

I see terry has yet to discover CAPS LOCK.


Me, a .41 backing up a rifle sounds fine but i wouldn't use a pistol as a primary.

Yet to? He invented it!

Actually it's easier for him to read with his declining eyesight, and us oldtimers don't mind a bit.

He's our "sensei".

[kimwcook]

I see terry has yet to discover CAPS LOCK.


Me, a .41 backing up a rifle sounds fine but i wouldn't use a pistol as a primary.

Yet to? He invented it!

Actually it's easier for him to read with his declining eyesight, and us oldtimers don't mind a bit.

He's our "sensei".

That's a big 10-4 big buddy! That's how Terry is. Domo arigato, Murbach san.

[Mescalero]

Murbach san!
He would probably hit you.

[kimwcook]

Murbach san!
He would probably hit you.

For calling him Mr. Murbach? I was taught to respect my elders......

[Mescalero]

Mistaken meaning, he would probably thought you said something bad.

[Ji in Hawaii]

I WILL JUST NOTE HERE THAT IN CANADA THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF MOOSE HAVE BEEN KILLED WITH 30-30 AND 303BRIT RIFLES. THEY ARE NOT A HARDLY BEAST ATALL AND MY DADDY'S 30-40 CARBINE DROPPED TWO IN THEIR TRACKS ONLY SECONDS APART, ONE HEAD-ON CHEST SHOT A PIECE. BOOM THUD BOOM THUD...

...and the Swedes love their 6.5 Mausers for their "moose".

[Ji in Hawaii]

Doesn't "san" mean saint in Spanish?

[Mescalero]

Ji,
That's santo.

[Mainehunter]

You lucky dog! I have been trying for 20 years now and got denied again What zone did you get? My hunting buddy got picked last year near our camp last year zone 8. He was the primary and I was his alternate. We scouted the area quite of few times prior to the hunt. He really wanted to take one with his Ruger Super Redhawk 44Mag. but couldn't connect. We tried calling them in but they would not cooperate. We ended taking a nice bull around 890 pounds. He ended up using his Marlin 444, distance was around 135 yards. I think you shouldn't have any problems using the 41Mag. Keep you distances around 50 yards and your good to go. You may want to check out Paco's article on the 41Mag. GOOD info!!!

Mainehunter

[stretch]

Geez, Mainehunter - I'm right down the road from you in Belgrade. PM me if
you want to go shooting sometime.

I got picked for WMD 8, which is Jackman - Mecca for moose hunting, or so
I'm told.

I'm familiar with Paco's articles - which is why I'm thinking about the heavier
bullets in the 41 Mag!

The late, great Jeff Cooper was impressed with CoreLokt performance on moose,
so that's why I'm thinking I'll stick with that for the rifles. I've had good luck on
deer with that bullet in the 35 Remington, too. Through-and-through, with a
quarter-sized exit wound.

-Stretch

[Old Time Hunter]

I used a .30-30 to drop mine...guess forgot to tell the critter that .30-30's bounce off.

Oh yeah, congrats on get'n picked!

[Mainehunter]

Geez, Mainehunter - I'm right down the road from you in Belgrade. PM me if
you want to go shooting sometime.

Sounds like a plane!

WMD8 is the zone we hunted last year and the camp is located south of Dead River/The Forks area, East Carry Pond to be exact. When we weighed/tagged our moose in Solon, we decided to hang around for a bit. We spotted three large bulls in the back of trailers and we wanted to check out to see how much they weighted. All three ended up over 1000 lbs. which is a really good size for the area. I have been told by the guys who shot them they said if want the size and a decent rack, stay north of Dead River and follow Rt.201 to Jackman.

I shoot mostly lever guns now but back in the day I hunted deer with a hand gun. What was it??? Herter 401 Powermag

Mainehunter

[Old Ironsights]

Nothing less than a Phased Plasma Rifle in the 40 megawatt range will do.

Bullwinkle cannot be killed with puny human firearms.

He has been blown up, arrested, degenerated, stabbed, shot, smashed, smooshed, crushed, bashed, mashed and squished... yet he returns to Frostbite Falls and Whatsmatta U every year anyway.

Face it... you cannot win.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Ji,
That's santo.

Then please explain the names of these famous US cities named after saints: San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, San Antonio, etc.

Edumacate this simple islander.

[Mescalero]

Spanish has gender, it's santo or santa; male/ female
San is the american bastardazation of santo/ santa
IE
Santa Fe
Santo Domingo
etc.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Spanish has gender, it's santo or santa; male/ female
San is the american bastardazation of santo/ santa
IE
Santa Fe
Santo Domingo
etc.

Are you saying that all these city's names were changed by Anglos after the Mexican/American War conquests of former Mexican territories? My admittedly limited knowledge of American history does not seem to indicate this these names being much older than US conquest and even the colonization by the English of North America in most cases. Also "San" still used in Latin American place names (San Jose- Costa Rica, Cabo San Lucas- Mexico, San Luis- Mexico, San Sebastien- SPAIN, etc.).

From a brief Google search, and my wife's 4 years of high school Spanish "San" is an accepted shortened form of the masculine Santo (no American connection).

[hfcable]

i have cut up several in icey cold nearly waist deep water but my adivce is : do not shoot when they are in this position:



down at the end of the lake last saturday evening.

as to caliber....sometimes they will act like they are not hit even with a 338 etc but usually they just stand there a little then drop. my choice is 45.70 but wouldnt hesitate to use my 303 savage if i get the chance.

congratulations!

[Bigahh]

I used my BLR in .308 A decent Bull, and it went maybe 10 feet. Loaded 165 Grain Nosler Partitions, and it was a pass thru behind the shoulder. Deer are sometimes tougher !

[Molasses]

I've got a buddy that's shot more than a dozen over the years up on the Rez.

He spends less time talking moose guns and calibers (and he'll still talk yer ear off about that!) than he does 4-wheelers, chain saws and brush whackers, winches, cables and rigging up a detachable mount for the winch so it can be repositioned at the head of the trailer or pickup bed for loading... And he still says that there are a lot of places where if he drops one, might as well set up camp right there and figure on staying until it's eaten up, because he'd never get it out.

[stretch]

Thanks for all of the advice. That much of it was on Spanish
grammar is not really a problem.....

I've been told by many folks to shoot the beast near a road.
There are skidder operators that can recover an animal from
almost anywhere, but that runs into money.

We've got two 4WD vehicles lined up, with a 9,000 lb winch,
chainsaws, cable, rope, straps and a trailer, so I'm hoping
we'll be all right. I'm not planning on spending 2 mins
on the shooting and 12 hours on extracting the caracass!

-Stretch

[hfcable]

We just cut them up on the spot. Put meat in game bags. Pack out or use 4 wheeler if you can
Leave the rest of it right where it fell n mother nature will recycle it
I can cut a moose up n salvage all the good parts in very little time
Wouldn't think of hauling the who,e thing anywhere - you would just have a lit to haul off later if you did

[Mainehunter]

We just cut them up on the spot. Put meat in game bags. Pack out or use 4 wheeler if you can
Leave the rest of it right where it fell n mother nature will recycle it
I can cut a moose up n salvage all the good parts in very little time
Wouldn't think of hauling the who,e thing anywhere - you would just have a lit to haul off later if you did

I wish we could do that here in Maine! Save time and money!

Mainehunter

[hfcable]

Didnt realize, dang that is lots more work!

[hightime]

I helped haul out my neighbors bull. Tough job for a couple older guys. Finally we got the Jeep close enough to do the drag and then winched it on to a trailer.

I'd like to get the draw. Then I'd use my Sharps 45-110. Not because it's the best, that's just how I fly.

Owen

[kimwcook]

You're a very lucky man. We don't have many moose in Washington State. There is a very limited draw, but I've never put in for it. I'd love to take one though with my Shiloh 45-70 shooting BP or my Winoku '86 45-90 (not BP). I think that'd be just cool. Or, my Linebaugh 475 or FA 454....... Either one of the revolvers would be on me anyway.