What cartridge would you choose for hunting Bull Moose in Canada?

[Foxi]

Unfortunately, I've never had the chance to shoot a moose. But given its size, I wouldn't use a .308 if I had any other options.

 

[pilar]

I hunted the Alaskan peninsula and bears are a there so we used a 300wm ( didn’t have my 375 yet) but imo any thing will work on moose and caribou, bigger is better imo if bears are common where you are going

 

[mitch4570]

I have not hunted moose but my Grandfather killed five bull moose and my father two. Savage 99 F chambered in 308 using 180 grain bullets were used by both. Any of the rifles listed will work.

 

[dgr416]

The 338 win mag is awesome for moose out to 400 yards .I let my best friend borrow my win model 70 stainless with a boss in 338 win mag for 7 years .He shot 7 moose with 7 shots from 15 to 350 yards .He also shot a nice grizzly with it .He had hunted with 3006 forever always had to shoot moose 6 to 8 timess .The 338 win mag was made for larger game .

 

[farmer_john]

The 338 win mag is awesome for moose out to 400 yards .I let my best friend borrow my win model 70 stainless with a boss in 338 win mag for 7 years .He shot 7 moose with 7 shots from 15 to 350 yards .He also shot a nice grizzly with it .He had hunted with 3006 forever always had to shoot moose 6 to 8 timess .The 338 win mag was made for larger game .

6-8 times? Sounds like he either is not a good shot. Or shooting farther than he should.

 

[Ragman]

Unfortunately, I've never had the chance to shoot a moose. But given its size, I wouldn't use a .308 if I had any other options.
View attachment 734385

I shot this moose with my .308 in a Browning BLR. First shot was around 100 yards. He ran 30 yards and stopped. He likely would have gone down there on his own but I hit him once more anyway. He tipped over onto his back on impact and was done.

 

[buffybr]

Moose are not hard to kill with properly shot hits and proper bullets. You want a deep expanding bullet into the heart/lungs.

I've shot 3 moose. Two Montana Shiras bulls with my .30 Gibbs and 180 gr Nosler Partitions and an Albert bull with my .300 Wby and a 180 gr Barnes TTSX. I took a friend moose hunting in Montana and he killed a B&C bull with his 7mm RM. All were less than 100 yd one shot kills.

There are folks over on another Forum that claim 500+ yard one shot moose kills with their .223s.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Big cased 300s, 338s, same in 358 (all using heaviest for caliber 220 & 250 gr), 375, 416 or 458. There are maneaters ready to visit you and your kill site. Being allowed to carry a sidearm (a la AK) would allow for other choices. Brown bear were everywhere on our trip to AK/BC/AB One kid got killed on a moose hunt (AK) and same for a fam in AB. 'Happens all the time according to my son that lived in AK.

 

[dgr416]

6-8 times? Sounds like he either is not a good shot. Or shooting farther than he should.

I saw a moose shot with 300 weatherby run a mile the bullet blew up on its shoulder 150 gr .The moose my friend had shot a bunch of times headed towards water he had to stop them before amost impossible to get out of the tannana river .He killed every one in its tracks with 338 win mag 15 to 350 yards no problen .You mess around with a little gun cleaning a moose you can become a bear taco wiick .I had to help clean moose at dark you really had to keep up your guard .The hungry grizzlys of Alaska will take any person who is in the way of their free moose meal.I carried my 416 rem mag and 454 pistol just for cleaning duty for hungry bears .

 

[Surgeon1]

375 works well. If no bears or wolves, then you might get away with 270-338 using heavy for caliber bullets. I've taken 6 Shiurs Moose and 5 in Canada and 4 in AK and if there are bears or wolves then a 375 or bigger. Moose are not that hard to kill but a poor shot may end up being a problem.

 

[akrifleman]

I saw a moose shot with 300 weatherby run a mile the bullet blew up on its shoulder 150 gr .The moose my friend had shot a bunch of times headed towards water he had to stop them before amost impossible to get out of the tannana river .He killed every one in its tracks with 338 win mag 15 to 350 yards no problen .You mess around with a little gun cleaning a moose you can become a bear taco wiick .I had to help clean moose at dark you really had to keep up your guard .The hungry grizzlys of Alaska will take any person who is in the way of their free moose meal.I carried my 416 rem mag and 454 pistol just for cleaning duty for hungry bears .

So, somebody used a 150gr whitetail bullet and it failed. Doesn't seem like a surprise.

I've seen the same happen (blow ups) from a 375 using cup and cores from the "when bullets failed" era. I've also seen plenty of 6.5mms (Swede, Rem, RPM, PRC) take them with a proper bullet.

It is difficult to fix bad bullet selection and bad placement with any cartridge, when the failure was between the ears.

Bears definitely think of gunshots as gut pile dinner bells in some places.

 

[jlb1036]

Go with the good old 30/06 180grs or 220 grs bullets will do and exceptional job
remember its all about shot placement
I like the 220grs old winchester silvertip for moose good penetration and expansion
good energy for big soft skin moose.

 

[leslie hetrick]

I saw a moose shot with 300 weatherby run a mile the bullet blew up on its shoulder 150 gr .The moose my friend had shot a bunch of times headed towards water he had to stop them before amost impossible to get out of the tannana river .He killed every one in its tracks with 338 win mag 15 to 350 yards no problen .You mess around with a little gun cleaning a moose you can become a bear taco wiick .I had to help clean moose at dark you really had to keep up your guard .The hungry grizzlys of Alaska will take any person who is in the way of their free moose meal.I carried my 416 rem mag and 454 pistol just for cleaning duty for hungry bears .

only a fool would use a .30 caliber 150 gr bullet at max speed on a large moose, unless it was one of the new bullets.

 

[farmer_john]

I saw a moose shot with 300 weatherby run a mile the bullet blew up on its shoulder 150 gr .The moose my friend had shot a bunch of times headed towards water he had to stop them before amost impossible to get out of the tannana river .He killed every one in its tracks with 338 win mag 15 to 350 yards no problen .You mess around with a little gun cleaning a moose you can become a bear taco wiick .I had to help clean moose at dark you really had to keep up your guard .The hungry grizzlys of Alaska will take any person who is in the way of their free moose meal.I carried my 416 rem mag and 454 pistol just for cleaning duty for hungry bears .

So its a wrong tool for the job. Sorry but 8 shots in my books basically animal cruelty.
I also question the quality of 8 followup shots on a running moose at any decent distance

 

[AB2506]

I am planning a Fall 2026 Bull Moose hunt in Canada. I have never hunted moose but know them to be larger than an Elk and a bit harder to kill. I know that a good bullet and good bullet placement is more important than the rifle and cartridge used but I also know that using enough gun can prevent longer tracking jobs and that using a flatter shooting gun can make taking longer shots less of a guessing game. Our tag also gives us the option of a Bull Elk if one is found. The terrain is mostly flat and open where we will be hunting so, spot and stalk using terrain and limited cover is the plan and longer shots are expected in some cases.

I am blessed to own multiple rifles all capable of taking moose. I will likely limit my ranges to 300y or less and endeavor to be inside 200y if at all possible so we do not need a long range precision rifle for this hunt but accuracy builds confidence and confidence makes taking the shot when presented less of an issue. Here are my current options:

• 308 FN Browning - 180g Fusion bonded a proven killer in Africa. Has never failed to result in a 1 shot kill for me. Light and handy and good out to 300y. I know it can work but think it a bit small for this job. Not my 1st choice.
  
  
• 30-06 Husqvarna - 180g Swift Scirocco bonded or Barnes TTSX. One of the most accurate rifles I own and the one I would choose if I had to shoot over 300y due to its extreme accuracy. Shoots sub MOA out to 400y. How good is the 06 on Moose? This one is a maybe.
  
  
• 7mm Mag 175g Fusion or Barnes TTSX - Fierce Firearms CT Edge. A true 1/2moa hunting rifle that is also light in weight and capable of running a suppressor. Has a nice 3.5-16c Swarovski on it and is also a 400y rifle. How effective is the 7mm on Moose? I have killed deer with it but nothing this large.
  
  
• 338 RCM - Ruger's light and handy little Compact Mag. The only ammo I can get for it is the Hornady 225g SST. Works great on deer but is the SST the best choice for Moose? I love this rifle but it is at best a 1.5-2.0" gun at 100y and at anything over 200y I would struggle with it. That and the ammo limitations disqualify it unless I reload for it and can load a 225g TTSX and get under 1" performance - Two very big "If's". This one is lowest on my list.
  
  
• 338wm - Sako 85. This is the one I like the best for this job but it too is less than a tack driver but I can get Barnes 225g TTSX ammo for it and it shoots about 1" at 100y with them. At the moment, it is my front runner. Enough velocity and energy to reach out to 400y but not enough precision to suit me for such long shots. Keep it inside 200y and it is money. Current front runner.
  
  
• 375HH - ER Shaw Custom P14 Enfield. My DG rifle. Super accurate and capable of 400y accuracy but does not have enough oomph in my opinion for shooting game out past 250 or maybe 300y. Still a great choice for Moose but a load to pack around all day. Heavy. TSX might not expand well out past 250y. I have TBBC and Nosler AB ammo for it too but all are running under 2000fps out past 250y. Better for closer range shots but we may be force to shoot out there on this hunt due to the terrain.

One of my hunting partners is bringing a 300wm. In many ways the 7mm Mag out performs the 300 once you get out past about 300y. Would I be better off to hunt with the 7mm which is several pounds lighter than my larger options? Or bring the big boomer and be done with it? Some of you knowledgeable Moose slayers out there please chime in. Pic of the 7mm below.

View attachment 734265

Honestly, any of them would work.

I've shot three Canada moose. Two were with a 338WM with the discontinued 230gr Winchester Failsafe bullet. The third was with a 300WSM with a 168gr Barnes TTSX.

A family member used my 6.5 Creedmoor with a Hornady American Whitetail factory loaded 129gr Interlock bullet. The shot was at about 80yds and the bull ran maybe 80yds before tipping over from the bullet through the lungs. A finisher to the brain was required.

Of your rifles, I think your prospects ideally starts with the 30-06 and ends with your 338WM. I'll rule out your 375H&H, not because it isn't competent, but because a 375H&H and especially yours built on a P14 Enfield is a HEAVY rifle. You can do a LOT of walking on a moose hunt. For that reason, I'd rule out the 375H&H.

 

[Flbt]

If you can shoot the 338 as good as the rest a good 250 gr bullet
Why not sine you have it?

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Big cased 300s, 338s, same in 358 (all using heaviest for caliber 220 & 250 gr), 375, 416 or 458. There are maneaters ready to visit you and your kill site. Being allowed to carry a sidearm (a la AK) would allow for other choices. Brown bear were everywhere on our trip to AK/BC/AB One kid got killed on a moose hunt (AK) and same for a fam in AB. 'Happens all the time according to my son that lived in AK.

I have never hunted in Canada but my understanding is that they are picky about allowing foreigners to bring their own handguns into the country. I have a 44mag revolver but would not consider it a better bear stopper than any of the high power rifles. I am not yet clear how common bears are on the concession we will be hunting but would rather arrive prepared for anything.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Go with the good old 30/06 180grs or 220 grs bullets will do and exceptional job
remember its all about shot placement
I like the 220grs old winchester silvertip for moose good penetration and expansion
good energy for big soft skin moose.

The old Winchester Silvertip is the only rifle bullet that ever failed on me. This was the original design, not the improved version that appeared later. It was in 165g 308 and I had up until that year dropped about 10 deer in a row with one shot kills using my handloaded ammo with 165g Nosler BT's. They simply dropped them. The Silvertip required five shots to kill a buck and there was zero evidence that any of them expanded at all. It was like I was shooting FMJ rounds. I never used them again. Maybe they work better with faster loads like the 30-06?

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Honestly, any of them would work.

Of your rifles, I think your prospects ideally starts with the 30-06 and ends with your 338WM. I'll rule out your 375H&H, not because it isn't competent, but because a 375H&H and especially yours built on a P14 Enfield is a HEAVY rifle. You can do a LOT of walking on a moose hunt. For that reason, I'd rule out the 375H&H.

You are correct. The P14 is a chunk. It is an amazing rifle and I shoot it well but the thought of lugging it all over Canada is not exactly fun. Plus it is a blued steel, walnut rifle that is too pretty to drag thru the mud. It is one thing to use it in Africa where it never rains as opposed to Canada where it may rain all week or snow, lol. For that reason, I will probably take two rifles. The #1 choice for the fair weather hunting and the Carbon/Ti 7mm for the days when it is nasty out. Still leaning toward the 338wm. It shoots OK, not great but OK and I have a hard time using the smaller ones as first choice when a bigger boomer is around and available. But, I also agree that any of them will work. Bullet choice and placement is more important than caliber or cartridge as long as the hunter can shoot well and does not try to do more than the chosen rig is capable of.

 

[Uncontrolled_round_feed]

Put the rifles one by one on the kitchen scale. Take the one with the lowest number.