Questionable Moose Kill

Is .270 Enough For Moose??

  • Yes, it's adequate for moose

    Votes: 13 34.2%

  • No, I'd opt for something more

    Votes: 25 65.8%
  • Total voters
    38
MassMark

MassMark

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I posted this over at THR after watching what I found anyway to be a not so clean kill on the Outdoor Channel the other night. I'm more curious than outraged and just wondered what your thoughts were. Sorry for the rambling post, but I had much coffee today... [wink]

I rarely visit the Hunting Forum here at THR, as I do not hunt. Perhaps I should qualify that. I started hunting at age 7 with my grandfather, (Pop). He was a wise old Swamp Yankee, who taught me much about the woods, tracking, stalking, killing cleanly, honoring the environment and the sacrifice of the animal. I think sometime in my late teens, I forgot about much he had taught me before he passed away. Call it the "indiscretions of youth" or a kid gone awry, but I became less than a conscientious hunter. I'll not get into details in this post - perhaps another time. Suffice it to say that I had lost my way. Then I hit my late teens and met a surrogate father figure from the hills of West Virginia who brought me back to square. At 23, I decided on my own accord that hunting was no longer for me personally. I had lost my taste for it - harvesting game just didn't work for my concepts of nature anymore. That said, I still support and advocate for hunters. I open my land to those who respect it and if my family were in need, I would hunt again in a millisecond. My rifle is now a Nikon F5 and a 600mm lens. I find greater peace in shooting film over bullets when it comes to wildlife, but still do have the occasional pang for the traditional hunt. Sorry for the ramble - I just felt the need to qualify that I'm not an anti-hunter type.

With that over, I wanted to pose a question to the hunting community here at THR and will likely post this on NES. I was watching Outdoor Channel the other night while flipping through the channels. I can't remember the exact show, just that it was on about 11EST. It was a guided moose hunt with a man who was looking to hunt moose for the first time. They were sidetracked briefly trying to track, stalk and take a black bear, (I was always a singular game hunter, so this rubbed me a tad) but they seemed to refocus on moose and came across a few bulls jostling in a thicket. After some time picking out just the right bull, the newbie took aim and fired what I seem to remember to be 5-rounds from his rifle into the moose. It seemed to be anything but a clean kill and it looked as if the hits were all over the place. Who knows if they edited, but the series of shots that it took to take to put this moose down seemed to go on for quite some time - too much time for my taste or memories of moose hunting.

I think the thing that got to me the most, was that the newbie was using a .270 Winchester, which kind of surprised me as much as the kill seemed disturbing to my senses. I understand the history and the merits of the cartridge, but I figured, (through some experience), that the .270 had a stopping point somewhere around mule deer and elk, (at the extreme). The bull he was shooting at was over 60-points and quite large. It seemed to be a needless amount of suffering to put this animal down. My Pop taught me to always bring enough gun, always try and reduce the suffering of the animal as much as possible, (kill cleanly) and to honor your quarry. It seemed none of this was followed in this case. When I took my moose with my handed down, (thanks Pop), .338 Winchester Magnum, it turned took a step and dropped like a rock. Two puffs of breath hung in the morning mist. The ones I remember my grandfather hunting and his buddy with the .30-.06 ended much the same way.

So my question after this long ramble ladies and gentleman is: Is the .270 Winchester enough gun to bring to a moose hunt? My vote would be no. What say you?
Click to expand...
 
"It seemed to be anything but a clean kill and it looked as if the hits were all over the place."

Doesn't really matter what caliber was used. If the shots are not in a vital area, the animal will not die quickly. Large calibers do not make up for poor marksmanship or not waiting long enough for a clean kill shot to present itself.
 
dixidawg said:
Shot placement is EVERYTHING.
Click to expand...

I agree.

I don't know the exact circumstances, but even if the shooter had a larger caliber, a miss with a 30.06 is still a miss no matter how you slice it.

Also, sometimes bad things happen out there: even if we're 100% careful and conservative with our shots, things can still go wrong. It's sad and hard when it happens, but living is itself partly an act of violence. Hunters know this well. I won't judge the guy as I didn't witness the shots.

Having acknowledged the fact that sometimes bad things happen, I will say that I personally would not hunt moose with a .270.
 
While it may be an adequate round to do the job with a perfectly placed shot, I would opt for something that would adequately do the job weather your shot is exact, and perfect, or much more likely, a bit off perfect placement.
 
Adam_MA said:
While it may be an adequate round to do the job with a perfectly placed shot, I would opt for something that would adequately do the job weather your shot is exact, and perfect, or much more likely, a bit off perfect placement.
Click to expand...


Good point. However, I was referring to this:

"When I took my moose with my handed down, (thanks Pop), .338 Winchester Magnum, it turned took a step and dropped like a rock. Two puffs of breath hung in the morning mist. The ones I remember my grandfather hunting and his buddy with the .30-.06 ended much the same way."

If the 30-06 was able to do the job, there shouldn't be much of a difference with a similarly placed shot from a .270.
 
The difference between a 130 gr bullet and a 220 grain bullet is great. Even the difference between 130 and 180 is significant.

I know a case of 2 moose shot in VT a few years back. First one was shot with a .308, with 165 gr Hollow Points (game bullets, not match). Died fairly quick. Next one, a week later by the step-father of the first shooter, was with a 7mm Rem Mag, with 150 gr factory loads. Died much slower.

Needless to say, we were making a bunch of 160 gr Hollow Point loads for that 7mm Rem Mag soon after.

Moose are pretty dumb, it takes them a while to realize they're dead.
 
Assuming a well placed shot, the .270 Winchester has more than enough power to drop a moose.
Cartridges like the .303 British, 8MM Krag, and 7mm Mauser have accounted for mountains of moose, elk and bear. The .270 Win. is certainly no less a cartridge than these.
Bullet weight and construction, regardless of caliber, will have a significant influence on the outcome.

Jack
 
No replacement for Displacement.

.270 is NOT Reccommended by the Maine Fish & Game.

Minimum is 30-06

the Best Moose gun is something like a Weatherby .340 Mag!

4800ft pounds of energy

or something BIGGER of Course.


One shot. One kill. But this is where I like to have 1 or 2 extra in the magazine just in case.

I suppose you could wimp out and use a .338 Mag if you really had to.


Picture 1,200 to 1,400 pounds of Angry Bull Moose running at you going 35 MPH.

yea you could use a .270. you could even use a .22 mag
 
Last edited:
It's my understanding that the Scandinavians shoot lots of them with 6.5X55 rifles, so I would think a .270 should be fine all things being equal.

B
 
Tough poll. A .270 is adequate, but isn't my first choice. It isn't my second or third choice either. That being said, it's hard to comment on the rest without having seen the video. Often deer and other game live for a considerable time after a shot, even with proper shot placement. I've seen deer travel a few hundred hards after taking a shot in both lungs and a small chunk of the heart. It's rarely like the movies where you shoot them and they fall over dead.
 
I'd answer both. I think it would be adequate to handle a moose with a well placed shot, but I would personally opt for a larger caliber.
 
zero cost?

Average out of pocket expence for a Non Guided Moose hunt runs in the range of $2,000 per person. It goes up from there.

This is asuming that you already have all the gear for the hunt.

Of course there are always cheaper ways



p_mhunt.jpg
 
A .270, loaded with good bullets, and used by someone who can place their shots, is adequate for moose. If somebody has something larger in the gun cabinet, I would probably recommend taking that instead.
 
I literally watched a Moose hunt this weekend on the Outdoor channel. The guy was shooting a .338 and the Moose acted like flies were biting him when the bullets hit him. I think the guy hit him 6 or 7 times before the Moose took about 15 steps and fell over. I was quite amazed after seeing it.
 
derek said:
I've seen that video before and even before the charge I said to myself "Who in their right mind would hunt a Moose with a bow while on the ground????"

IMO He should have been a Darwin winner, that was dumb.
Click to expand...

It takes either:

1. Big Balls
2. Little brain.
3. All of the above.
 
I don’t know about Moose hunting.

I always thought I’d want to hunt them but after trying to get them out of my way while going to and from my stand. I just don’t know if that’s what I’d call “sporting”, maybe though.

I worry that I might get that empty feeling I imagine one has during a "canned" hunt.


Respectfully,

jkelly
 
I did not come up with it

Martlet said:
Huh? How do you come up with that figure?
Click to expand...



I did not come up with it. Take a look at any of the Sporting Camps in Maine/NH that offer Guided Moose hunting trips. Most run in the range around $2,000. per person and they require both the Permitte and Subpermitte book a hunting package trip for a resevation.

That does not include your lottery tickets, Moose Hunting Permit, Hunting Licence, Gun, Ammo, Clothing, Travel expence, Butcher Expence. let alone Taxidermy (Not even considered)

So I guess I way understimated the cost.

I wonder what an Alaska fly in Moose hunting trip would cost? And then you have to pay to fly all that meat back home. YEO!!!
 
N.E. CHARTERS said:
I did not come up with it. Take a look at any of the Sporting Camps in Maine/NH that offer Guided Moose hunting trips. Most run in the range around $2,000. per person and they require both the Permitte and Subpermitte book a hunting package trip for a resevation.

That does not include your lottery tickets, Moose Hunting Permit, Hunting Licence, Gun, Ammo, Clothing, Travel expence, Butcher Expence. let alone Taxidermy (Not even considered)

So I guess I way understimated the cost.

I wonder what an Alaska fly in Moose hunting trip would cost? And then you have to pay to fly all that meat back home. YEO!!!
Click to expand...


You said non-guided cost $2000 in your first post. [thinking]
 

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