rybohunter

Its all about knowing ones limits, with both your ability to put the pill where it needs to be and what the pill is going to do when it gets there. The more "marginal" the caliber, the stricter you need to be with shot selection and placement. Some people are wise in thier selection, some overestimate either thier, or the calibers capabilities.

gorse

VERY well said, rybohunter. That is EXACTLY the point that many others (and myself) have been trying to get across. Thank you.

gorse

DM,
Your post illustrates exactly the issue. You hit a moose (running away) at about 55 yds, with TWO .44 Mag rounds - he still ran. It required a THIRD round to finish him. Certainly, it is possible (even likely) that the moose would have died, eventually, from the first two rounds. But, what if you had only connected with ONE shot ? The Moose, by your own admission, was heading for the woods. If you HAD only connected with ONE shot, you most likely would have lost the animal. If you had connected in the same place, at the same range, with, say a .30-30..... he might have run, but that probably would have been enough. Yes, you got your Moose. Congratulations, well done. But the odds were that, under those circumstances, you could have just as easily LOST that Moose.
Lucky for the Moose, you were a good shot.
Thank you for your honesty on this, by the way.

DM

Gorse,

I do NOT believe i would have lost the moose if i had only shot him one time with my 44, i also do not believe i would have lost him if i had been carrying a 30-30 and also shot him one time in the same place!! When i walked up to him he could not get up, and i only shot him behind the ear for a finisher, as the last thing you want is to be kicked by a moose!! Been there done that!!!!!!

I said in my last post, and can tell you from experence that the 30-30 "does" kill faster than a 44 mag.... (with proper bullets) There's no question about this in my mind.

I'm not takeing sides on this, i'm telling you what my experence has been with both cals. on big game!

Drilling Man

Briman

Yes because a moose, deer, elk, or polar bear shot under the same conditions with a 30-06 has never ran 55 yards after being hit, or has been lost from being wounded.

Lets take this one step further and ask why hunters should be able to use muzzleloading or archery gear for hunting when .460 weatherby magnums are available.

Knightia

I have deer hunted with shotguns before - not by choice- but because it was the law .
I personaly would hunt with a 44 mag where legal ( under the right conditions). As some of yall say its knowing the limitations of you, the caliber & the distances involved , the killing power remaining etc.
( everything has limatations)But i almost aways prefur& use a rifle& they have limitations too.
The antalope, deer, elk , moose are all different too- but a 44 mag will kill them all up close- blow right thew the lop& deer- the further out you go & the bigger they are the more energy you will need to kill them.. clean.

The only handgun i have ever used hunting was a contender 45.70

and If i used a 44mag for brownn , grizz& polar bears- think id have a large cal rifle as back up.

They use to kill grizzly bears with flint locks too ,I even when young wanted to try hunting them with a bp perrcussion weapon.much older &no longer with a death wish(i?0 i value my skin more now.& cant run as fast anymore either.( but a 58 cal with 500+ grain conicals works well i heard )

( Back tracking to find your own tracks your see bear tracks following yours- suddenly A heavy rain& wind storm comes up soaking your flash powder.But lucky for you the mother moose you didnt see jumps on you stomping you into the mud knocking you out . As the light gets brighter& you wonder why your bed feels so cold & like a bear is trying to eat your intestins threw your ....

Now if you read the( non fiction) son of sam book(if i rememeber correctly) - the author makes theselaborate claims & presumtions- based on the fact that a lil ol 30-30( with a hunting bullet) when pressed up aginst someone head could not do the damage it did- But i always wondered how many skulls has he see shot with a 30-30 up that close or any other cal& human heads as a compairson.It also is under estamated by some- when com;paring it to 30.06 & above- of course it has less power& of course the 30-30 will kill things just fine - within its own limitations- just as the 44 mag will.