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"Into the Wild" movie gun question (movie spoilers)

Another_David

Another_David

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I watched "Into the Wild" last night on DVD, which I thought was pretty entertaining. I haven't read the book but will soon.

Question 1: Is it realistic that he could kill a moose with a .22? I suppose anything is possible with proper shot placement, etc, but is it realistic?

Question 2: what gun would you take?

I think a .22 is pretty practical considering you could carry a lot of ammo.
 
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Ive read the book but have not seen the movie. I guess you could kill alot of big game with a .22 with proper shot placement and enough ammo. But the guys starves to death at the end - right?

I'd want a .22 for small game, a shotgun for birds and a large caliber rifle along with a fishing pole.........
 
Reading the book now, will see movie when I get done.

I wouldn't want to be down range of a moose that just got pissed off by a .22 ... note I said "pissed off" not killed.
 
Another_David said:
Question 1: Is it realistic that he could kill a moose with a .22? I suppose anything is possible with proper shot placement, etc, but is it realistic?
.
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I read the book a while ago, but have not seen the movie.

Not sure if I'm missing something with your question, but if I recall he did kill a moose with a .22 (I thought he recorded this is his journal and a moose carcass was found by the bus). The book is a true story.
 
Alexander Supertarmp died of starvation because he was not properly educated in the local flora. Apparently he had been eating some vegetation he shouldn't have (it was al around the bus) and something in it stops the body from absorbing nutrients (I can't remember the plant). He was eating plenty, just getting no nutrition.
 
Mass-diver said:
I read the book a while ago, but have not seen the movie.

Not sure if I'm missing something with your question, but if I recall he did kill a moose with a .22 (I thought he recorded this is his journal and a moose carcass was found by the bus). The book is a true story.
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I haven't read the book so this helps. I don't have any experience hunting. I guess another way to phrase the question is has anyone ever hunted moose or deer with a .22?
 
Howie and I were hunting Bear up in VT when we came across a couple of locals with .22 and corn (bait) and asked us if we wanted some. They were actually hunting with a .22 Illegal in VT and baiting the illegal again! we were polite and sent them on their way. [slap]
 
zenprop said:
Alexander Supertarmp died of starvation because he was not properly educated in the local flora. Apparently he had been eating some vegetation he shouldn't have (it was al around the bus) and something in it stops the body from absorbing nutrients (I can't remember the plant). He was eating plenty, just getting no nutrition.
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Not true. A botanist at the university of Alaska tested the seeds from the potato plant that were thought to have killed him. They were found to have no poisonous properties. This was known prior to the printing of the book but the publisher didn't want to spend the money to change it. Your hero Alexander Supertarmp just lacked basic wilderness skills. Not surprising for a geek from suburban DC
 
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springer said:
Not true. A botanist at the university of Alaska tested the seeds from the potato plant that were thought to have killed him. They were found to have no poisonous properties. This was known prior to the printing of the book but the publisher didn't want to spend the money to change it. Your hero Alexander Supertarmp just lacked basic wilderness skills. Not surprising for a geek from suburban DC
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This, the kid was an idiot who didnt know what the hell he was doing, simple as that.
 
Another_David said:
I haven't read the book so this helps. I don't have any experience hunting. I guess another way to phrase the question is has anyone ever hunted moose or deer with a .22?
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While it is possible, with proper shot placement, to kill a moose or a deer with a .22 rim fire rifle (such as a .22 LongRifle) it is not advisable and illegal in most (if not all) states that allow hunting of moose.

If I was specifically hunting moose, I would likely be carrying my Winchester 1894 in 30-30. In a survival situation, if I had a .22LR rifle and saw a moose, I would likely take the best shot I could manage and hope that I took the moose down.
 
This thread reminded me of an interesting story.

In the 80's when I was living in Alaska I had read an article in a hunting magazine about an Indian woman (An Alaskan Indian I believe) who was hunting rabbits with a 22 in the snow. During the course of hunting she came across her own tracks and found a set of either brown or grizzly bear tracks which she believed was following her scent. Believing the bear would catch up to her, she sat and waited for the bear to come to her. She killed that bear with that 22 rifle ( I think she shot it in the eye on her first shot.) To make the story more crazy, the bear ended up being a record at the time, around the 1940s or 50s.

Dave
 
Wow, thread resurrection. Since 2008 I've taken at least three moose in Alaska with a .20 air rifle. I should add they were hollow point pellets. Stay thirsty my friends.

[/kidding]
 
The difference between stupind and ballsy is: with ballsy, you didn't get hurt.

Stupid to live in a bus and starve to death.

SHoot at a moose with a .22.....well, if you live and the moose ends up in the freezer, it was a ballsy move. If you're in a position where dotting Yogi's eye is how you get home, go for it.

A lot of things that are truly not best practices get done, occasionally sucessfully. That's why Youtube exists.

Another_David. I've got the cooler, you bring the beer! [laugh]
 
Tackdriver said:
This thread reminded me of an interesting story.

In the 80's when I was living in Alaska I had read an article in a hunting magazine about an Indian woman (An Alaskan Indian I believe) who was hunting rabbits with a 22 in the snow. During the course of hunting she came across her own tracks and found a set of either brown or grizzly bear tracks which she believed was following her scent. Believing the bear would catch up to her, she sat and waited for the bear to come to her. She killed that bear with that 22 rifle ( I think she shot it in the eye on her first shot.) To make the story more crazy, the bear ended up being a record at the time, around the 1940s or 50s.

Dave
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The story is true Dave, and I believe the inuit woman still holds the record for largest brown bear taken in North America.
 
That show where they sent 8-10 people off to Alaska armed them with a 22/410 combo. Seemed to work well for them, able to get small birds and such with the 410 and I think a porcupine and a rabbit with the 22.

I reckon if the .22 could pierce a bear's skull, and you could get off a headshot it could be done reasonably... but that's a lot of if's.
 
Hiltonizer said:
That show where they sent 8-10 people off to Alaska armed them with a 22/410 combo. Seemed to work well for them, able to get small birds and such with the 410 and I think a porcupine and a rabbit with the 22.

I reckon if the .22 could pierce a bear's skull, and you could get off a headshot it could be done reasonably... but that's a lot of if's.
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.22 will not penetrate a bears skull , This i know for fact becuase a .357 magnum fired at the back of a bears skull took 6 rounds to get one to penetrate the bears skull , the other 5 deflected into the neck area. The rounds were Jacketed Hollow Points. So unless the the planets align just right and the bullet gods give you devine guidance killing a bear with a .22 probably it not gonna happen. Maybe shooting them in the eye or placing gun in bears mouth might do it but do you really want to try. Shotgun / 22 combo probably best in survival situation and the shotgun should probably be 20 guage or better. Savage Model 24 comes to mind.
 
As to a weapon I would use and used to be made by many manufacturers is the over under rifle shotgun combo. One version is a 22 caliber rifle as the top barrel and a 410 for the bottom barrel.
The other option which I would choose would be the 223 rifle top barrel and the 20 gauge bottom barrel.
Savage used to make them but I don't think they offer them any longer.

Mine is the 223/20 gauge made by savage. Its a nice rifle, I carry bird shot and slugs for the 20 gauge.

As to a 22 taking down a Moose, one hell of a shot, or one really ill on his death bed anyway Moose.[laugh]
 
Hi!

I just moved down from Alaska, although I wasn't there when the original events happened. (I was around for the hoopla when they came up to film the movie a few years back though)

Anyhow, if it helps -


1. The story is pieced together from Chris McCandless's diary, so assuming you believe him, it obviously it can be done. Chris McCandless had IIRC a Nylon 66 .22 rifle, and no other firearm. His diary mentioned killing a moose for meat. He was very excited on that day, but was unable to successfully process and store enough of it before the meat rotted.

2. The most common firearms I saw in the bush those times I was there were beaten-up old centerfire bolt action rifles, .44 revolvers (and similar) in chest harnesses, and an assortment of .22 rifles - the Marlin Papoose I particularly remember, 'cause at least one fell into a glacial river and was unrecoverable. Marlin lever action .45-70s were also not uncommon, and seem to have taken over a role previously filled with Winchester 1895s. I've heard second hand of some gun-community type folks who carried the large-bore AR carbines in bear country, but don't think I've ever personally seen one.
 
el duderino said:
This, the kid was an idiot who didnt know what the hell he was doing, simple as that.
Click to expand...
In the book they also go into the fact that there just wasn't much game where he was. Also that there was a cable car over the river not far from the bus: apparently he didn't understand the notations on the map he had.

a detailed map would have shown him that about half a mile north, where the Teklanika narrows into a two-hundred-foot channel and rushes through a canyon, there was a gauging station. If he had gone to investigate, he might have discovered a cable tram spanning the river. Its existence is not widely known, and you can’t see it from where the Stampede Trail crosses the river. It was built by the United States Geological Survey in 1970 and was decommissioned in 1974; the aluminum cab hanging from the cable is supposed to be locked and chained to the eastern side of the river, the side opposite Chris.

Last fall [1993], however, the tram was being used unofficially, and at the time he was trying to get across the Teklanika the cab was actually on the west side of the river. A scant half-mile away then, lay the means by which Chris could have hauled himself across the barrier that blocked his passage out.
Click to expand...
 
Business said:
I love that movie but the .22 thing always bothered me.
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In the 1950's an indian woman in Canada killed a large griz with a bolt action .22, dropped it with one shot to the dome at close range. Many people contend that every large game animal on the planet, likely including elephants, has been killed with the humble .22 .

That being said, I wouldn't want to go into grizzly territory with even a .357 .
 
springer said:
Not true. A botanist at the university of Alaska tested the seeds from the potato plant that were thought to have killed him. They were found to have no poisonous properties. This was known prior to the printing of the book but the publisher didn't want to spend the money to change it. Your hero Alexander Supertarmp just lacked basic wilderness skills. Not surprising for a geek from suburban DC
Click to expand...

I just read an article about this the other day. It's now thought that while he believed he was eating wild potato seeds, he was actually eating wild sweet pea, which looks very similar. Wild sweet pea effects the nervous system and causes a slow and steady paralysis. Basically, he became so weak he could neither hike out nor gather food.
 

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