Good all around caliber?
#21
RE: Good all around caliber?
Night Hawk. Ditto that. I have a Browning A Bolt in 308. I really like that rifle. A friend of mine just did a trigger job on it. Its a sweet shooter as are most 308 rifle that I have owned.
#22
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Calgary
Posts: 194
RE: Good all around caliber?
I have two hunting rifles, my grandfather’s old P-14 .303 and my model 70 .270 and now I only use the .270 and in my little world that is a perfect gun for North America. Filled my elk tag this fall with one shot 150 grain partition.
I find all this bear and ‘griz’ talk amusing. There are 100s of thousands of people who are in the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies and Foothills each year and there are very few bear encounters that lead to confrontation, injury and/or death. Statistically speaking the bush is a safe place and probably much safer with blaze orange.. When bear attacks do occur, the majority of them could have been avoided and usually involve tourists who don’t understand basic bear precautions when in the wild, specifically on the side of the highway when they stop to take a lovely pic of a feeding bear, or try feeding it themselves.
All year round I’m playing in ‘griz’ country and from spring to fall, I mountain bike unarmed, backcountry camp unarmed, I fly fish in the foothills unarmed and I bow hunt in the fall unarmed, except for maybe 4 arrows and a 4” Grohmann knife. I have had my share of bear encounters, but never an issue to date. Give them their space.
No caliber will replace basic bear precautions.
But as far as which all round caliber to chose from, I would suggest which ever caliber you prefer out of the .308, .270 or .30/06…
I find all this bear and ‘griz’ talk amusing. There are 100s of thousands of people who are in the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies and Foothills each year and there are very few bear encounters that lead to confrontation, injury and/or death. Statistically speaking the bush is a safe place and probably much safer with blaze orange.. When bear attacks do occur, the majority of them could have been avoided and usually involve tourists who don’t understand basic bear precautions when in the wild, specifically on the side of the highway when they stop to take a lovely pic of a feeding bear, or try feeding it themselves.
All year round I’m playing in ‘griz’ country and from spring to fall, I mountain bike unarmed, backcountry camp unarmed, I fly fish in the foothills unarmed and I bow hunt in the fall unarmed, except for maybe 4 arrows and a 4” Grohmann knife. I have had my share of bear encounters, but never an issue to date. Give them their space.
No caliber will replace basic bear precautions.
But as far as which all round caliber to chose from, I would suggest which ever caliber you prefer out of the .308, .270 or .30/06…
#24
RE: Good all around caliber?
ORIGINAL: Whitehorn
I find all this bear and ‘griz’ talk amusing. There are 100s of thousands of people who are in the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies and Foothills each year and there are very few bear encounters that lead to confrontation, injury and/or death.
I find all this bear and ‘griz’ talk amusing. There are 100s of thousands of people who are in the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies and Foothills each year and there are very few bear encounters that lead to confrontation, injury and/or death.
#26
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 182
RE: Good all around caliber?
in my opinion the 308 is the greatest all around caliber....id confidently hunt any game animal in N.A with my 308 browning blr...my father shot a 1300lb bull moose with his remington model 7400 308........308 is the best all around caliber
#27
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Calgary
Posts: 194
RE: Good all around caliber?
NY Hunter
Interesting analogy, but in Canada more people are killed by collisions with animals on the highway then bear attacks. The seatbelt is a far more effective piece of safety equipment than any magnum and I don’t equate the two.
I had an interesting chat with a conservation officer a year ago. It is his opinion that it is probably safer to not have a rifle in a bear encounter. If you’re unarmed and mauled by a bear, you’ll still have a great chance of survival, but if you shoot and wound that same bear, you’re guaranteed dead.
Do magnums ensure a quick instant kill 100% of the time?
Interesting analogy, but in Canada more people are killed by collisions with animals on the highway then bear attacks. The seatbelt is a far more effective piece of safety equipment than any magnum and I don’t equate the two.
I had an interesting chat with a conservation officer a year ago. It is his opinion that it is probably safer to not have a rifle in a bear encounter. If you’re unarmed and mauled by a bear, you’ll still have a great chance of survival, but if you shoot and wound that same bear, you’re guaranteed dead.
Do magnums ensure a quick instant kill 100% of the time?