Hunting moose with .280 ?

[pirate ammo]

She was persistent and it took me several minutes to evade her.

find that tree quick,,me and mike in it already

 

[msinc]

I'm seriously curious as to why so many people seem to be infatuated with the idea of using the smallest caliber possible to kill an animal?

It aint that way in these parts, in fact.....I am seriously curious as to why so many people seem to be infatuated with the idea of having to use no less than a field howitzer to shoot a deer!!!!!
Don't get me wrong, cant remember which one it was, but there was one of the old gun writers that had "been everywhere/done everything/been attacked by everything/killed everything" and he used to say simply, "use enough gun". Maybe he was strictly referring to Africa, but it has worked as good advise for me since 1975.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Moose are not hard to get close to. And in many areas its thick where they live so long shots are not likely. I like the 280ai, but if I had a 30-06 action and wanted it for moose, I would do a 30-06, load it with heavy bullets and be happy.

 

[pirate ammo]

more deer have been taken down with a 22 mag.,,then you would want to know,,then again,,I took one out with a 416 Rigby,,don't ask why,,

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have a 25-06 that Im going to change out to a 280 Rem caliber. Throat so I can load slugs such as the 175 RN Hornaday out to get max powder capacity and my intent is to use this for MOOSE! and probably moose alone although a black bear may slip into the scope on occasion.

Will a 280 fulfill my needs or is it a pipe dream? Dont want some shoulder busting pachyderm killer just something to put an end to a large moose!

I have been a big .280 fan since Rem. first chambered it. I never shot a moose but if I did it would be with a Nosler Partition. The failure of a traditional cup/core bullet on a moose hunt is what prompted John Nosler to invent the Partition and get a bullet company started.

 

[hogpatrol]

Be ready for any game, L'Atelier Verney-Carron .700 Nitro Express.

https://www.africahunting.com/data/xengallery_videos/219/219275-9154d6c3a7c6a7cadf91ac9c34242f04.mp4

 

[K22]

I would defer to guys who actually hunted and shot a moose, I haven't.

However I have hunted for over 40+ years and I'm convinced, within reason, it's more about bullet selection and shot placement than the caliber. All one has to do is read the accounts of Jack O'Connor's hunting experiences with the 270 Win.

The 280 is a fine cartridge, kind of mid way between a 270 and 30 06. With with 175 grain Nosler Partition bullets and proper shot placement I doubt that you would any problems dropping a moose within sensible shooting distances.

My ex-boss was born, raise and hunted extensively in Wyoming. He also hunted Utah and Colorado. He and his brothers have taken Elk. Their firearms: 270's and 30 06's. They kind of snicker at us Easterners at our obsession with magnums.

 

[Brians356]

I'm seriously curious as to why so many people seem to be infatuated with the idea of using the smallest caliber possible to kill an animal?

Who are you referring to? I ask because the 280 Rem is not even in the same zip code as the smallest caliber possible to kill a moose. Some Nez Perce indians I know kill their elk with a 22 Magnum. Yes, from close range - behind the ear. I have an uncle who meat hunted elk for many years in N. Idaho with a 243 Win, typically from far less than 150 yards, with no drama. Undoubtedly many times more elk have been killed with the 270 Win than with, say, the "classic elk cartridge" 338 Win Mag. Of course the 270 had quite a long head start, but still. I suppose one can argue a moose takes more killing than an elk, but I wouldn't.
-

 

[hogpatrol]

W. D. M. Bell killed hundreds of elephant and cape buffalo with a 7x57 Mauser shooting FMJ ammo. Killed many with a 6.5s. It IS shot placement. From Wiki but one can read his exploits in his books. From this chair, a more skilled and amazing African hunter than any that ever lived.


Bell recorded all of his kills and shots fired. It was a business to him, not pleasure, and he needed to record expenditures.

• He shot exactly 1,011 elephants; about 800 of them were shot with Rigby-made 7x57mm (.275 Rigby) rifles and round nose 173 grain military ammo.
• He shot elephants with a Mannlicher-Schoenauer 6.5x54mm carbine using the long 159 grain FMJ bullets and noted that it was probably the most beautiful rifle he ever had, but gave it up due to faulty ammunition.
• He shot his first safari with a Lee Enfield in .303 British and the 215 grain army bullet. Thereafter he kept a ten shot Army& Navy Lee Enfield as a sort of back up and in the hope he might find ten elephants silly enough to stand around long enough for him to use the whole magazine.
• He went to rifles chambered in .318 Westley Richards for a while, which is a .32 caliber cartridge firing a 250 grain bullet at about 2400 fps, but found the ammunition unreliable and again returned to the 7x57mm. He later wrote that the .318 Westley Richards was more of a reliable killer for certain shots, while the 7x57 was a "surgeons" rifle.
• He also recorded that one of the reasons why he favored the 7x57 was that the ammunition was more reliable and he could not recall ever having a fault with it; whereas British sporting ammunition, apart from the .303 military ammo, gave him endless trouble with splitting cases.
• He owned a .450/400 Jeffrey double rifle made by Thomas Bland & Sons, but did not use it after his first safari, as he considered the action not rugged enough and the Mauser repeating action to be just as quick as a double for aimed shooting.
• He wrote about being able to drop an elephant with a light caliber rifle if he shot it in the same place that he would have shot it with a heavy rifle and realised this fully when he saw that elephants shot with a .303 died just as quickly when shot in the same place as a .450/400 double rifle with both triggers wired together, so they went off at the same time.

 

[bcott]

I have shot a total of 13 Moose. All of these were Eastern Canada species. Province was Newfoundland. Calibers ranged from 300 Win Mag, 30/06 or .270 Win. Ranges were all within 150 yards. The .270 did fine with either the 130gr or 150gr Win Silvertip. Just remember that lung shot moose to not immediately fall over. But they DO fall over. The .280 will do quite well.

Carl L.
White Pine, MI.

 

[rammac]

I'm not referring to anybody, I simply asked a serious question, why do so many people like to find as small a caliber as they can to kill an animal. A .22 to kill a moose is pretty irresponsible as far as I'm concerned unless you are hungry and that's all you have available but to say that just because someone did it, it's OK for everyone to do it isn't reasonable or responsible. People have killed charging grizzlies with a 9mm handgun, that doesn't mean that I'd recommend using one for a grizzly hunt.

Yes, we all know that it's all about shot placement but the reality is that most people overrate their own shooting skill, I base that statement on having been a Range Master for several years. I'm not saying that it takes a cannon to take animals but I am saying that I think that too many people are buying in to the idea that it's easy to take an animal and they are going to the field with too little experience for the tools they have.

I don't think that the .280 is a weak cartridge but with all the cartridges available it wouldn't be my first choice since I'd be limited to bullets no heavier than 175gr. Under perfect circumstances you can use just about any reasonable cartridge to take game but I haven't run in to too many perfect circumstances in the field and I like a little more flexibility than the .280 cartridge has.

 

[hogpatrol]

Could you use the 180s or 195s in a .280, with sufficient freebore of course?

 

[spencerhenry]

I'm going to use a 375 winchester or 348 winchester this year, it will be my third moose.
First one was a bull, shot straight on about 50 yards, dropped in his tracks. Second was a cow, she took 3 shots to the lungs while covering 40 yards, and then fell over. 338 winchester with 225gr.

 

[bobinpa]

I have a 25-06 that Im going to change out to a 280 Rem caliber. Throat so I can load slugs such as the 175 RN Hornaday out to get max powder capacity and my intent is to use this for MOOSE! and probably moose alone although a black bear may slip into the scope on occasion.

Will a 280 fulfill my needs or is it a pipe dream? Dont want some shoulder busting pachyderm killer just something to put an end to a large moose!

I agree with everyone that has said it is all about shot placement. I firmly believe that a 1600 lb, full grown bull moose could be taken with a 243 if the shot was perfect...... IF the shot was perfect. But in a hunting situation, sometimes things go wrong, they just do. Sometimes you just get excited and the shot isn't perfect. Maybe the animal moves at the last split second as you are squeezing the trigger and you hit him a little too far back or a little too high. I believe I owe the animal a humane kill, so for me there is no such thing as being over gunned. Animals are never too dead either. When I killed my moose I was in a canoe that was rocking from our wake and I was really glad that I had my 338 RUM. It literally lifted the moose off it's front feet. I made a good shot but it was still a relief to see him DRT. It never gives me an easy feeling when I think I made a good shot and the animal disappears into the brush....... So my advice would be to take the biggest thing you can get your hands on and do your best to make a perfect shot. Good luck.

 

[Liven The Dream]

You need to look up Jack O’Connels and Col. Whalen.
Moose Hunt . Best Read.
It may be printed in Speer Reloading Manual ?

 

[Bc'z]

more deer have been taken down with a 22 mag.,,then you would want to know,,then again,,I took one out with a 416 Rigby,,don't ask why,,

Because you could

 

[JRS]

I'm not referring to anybody, I simply asked a serious question, why do so many people like to find as small a caliber as they can to kill an animal. A .22 to kill a moose is pretty irresponsible as far as I'm concerned unless you are hungry and that's all you have available but to say that just because someone did it, it's OK for everyone to do it isn't reasonable or responsible. People have killed charging grizzlies with a 9mm handgun, that doesn't mean that I'd recommend using one for a grizzly hunt.

Yes, we all know that it's all about shot placement but the reality is that most people overrate their own shooting skill, I base that statement on having been a Range Master for several years. I'm not saying that it takes a cannon to take animals but I am saying that I think that too many people are buying in to the idea that it's easy to take an animal and they are going to the field with too little experience for the tools they have.

I don't think that the .280 is a weak cartridge but with all the cartridges available it wouldn't be my first choice since I'd be limited to bullets no heavier than 175gr. Under perfect circumstances you can use just about any reasonable cartridge to take game but I haven't run in to too many perfect circumstances in the field and I like a little more flexibility than the .280 cartridge has.

This is America. Home of "the bigger the better". Take a look at the number of moose and elk killed by bowhunters. Is a broad head simply not "enough" medicine Howard Hill and Ben Pearson must not have known much about the anatomy of the elephants and cape buffalo they killed with their paltry bows and arrows.

 

[hogpatrol]

In Africa, where there are a lot of large animals, large caliber, HIGH SPEED cartridges for game at CLOSE RANGE are pretty much non starters. So are schutzenboomers in the hands of recoil ruined hunters. Best advice is use the rifle in which you are most confident and in a reasonable cartridge.

 

[effendude]

A few years ago, I shot an Alaskan bull moose with my 6.5-284 with Nosler Partition and Berger VLD bullets. The first two bullets were partitions into the lungs, broadside. The third was a VLD on a frontal shot through the wind pipe and into the spine which dropped the bull instantly. It wasn't my intention to use the 6.5, but that is another story. My experience is similar to the other 15 guys in camp that September. Shots fired from .270 up through .338 at moose, all into the vitals, all more than one shot, until the bulls tipped over. The additional shots maybe were not required, but why risk losing an animal on a $20,000 hunt? Echoing most of the above statements, shot placement is more important than caliber.

Alaskan and canadian moose are big animals, quite a bit larger than eastern and shiras moose. My buddy is the outfitter with over 20 years guiding moose hunters and the rifle he uses is a 7mm Rem Mag with 168 VLD bullets. He tells the hunters to hit the bull in the lungs and 30 seconds alter the bull will blow blood and tip over. They all have a hide that will quickly dull your best knife so use a good bullet.

Scott

 

[hogpatrol]

This is America. Home of "the bigger the better". Take a look at the number of moose and elk killed by bowhunters. Is a broad head simply not "enough" medicine Howard Hill and Ben Pearson must not have known much about the anatomy of the elephants and cape buffalo they killed with their paltry bows and arrows.

In Africa one year, a couple guys from Hungary shared the camp. Both had 300 WinMags, IIRC in Blasers, one with an SHV and another with a Swarovski of some stripe. The SHV guy stalks a kudu bull within 150 yards, misses, gets to 100 yards, misses, gets to 75 yards, misses and then bye bye kudu. PH later tells me he was recoil shy. It ain't the arrow, it's the indian. From this chair, unless shooting long range, the big boomers are like paint. They hide a multitude of sins.
and yeah, YMMV.