Moose Hunting

[deergrunt]

I am going Moose hunting this Oct. for a week. I have never gone hunting for Moose before. I intend to use my .308 Winchester for the hunt. My question is, "What bullet/powder combination should I use?" I have taken bear and countless number of deer with this rifle. I know that bullet placement is key for such a large animal. Thank you in advance for your help.

Deergrunt.

[Dave King]

I've shot several and the double-lung shot worked well..

Don't expect a big reaction from the moose when it's hit, the three I shot seemed to care less about the slight annoyance of the bullet going through their body...

They're pretty BIG so I'd probably use a good stout bullet just in case there's a big bone in the way of the vitals. All three I killed were with 300 grain Sierra MatchKings from 338 caliber rifles.

[Whitewolf393]

Your .308 will handle the moose, but I echo the sentiment that the moose will not react probably even in the slightest...I'd personally prefer my 30-06, but with correct shot placement in the lungs and using something like a Nosler partition, bonded round or ballistic tip you will get your moose meat :]

There is an excellent book out by Craig Boddington called "The Perfect Shot North America", in which he delves into the proper shot placement on nearly every type of North American big game, and I believe he also is photographed in the book with a moose that he took with a .308, if I'm not mistaken. I highly recommend it, and there is even a pocket field guide of the same available for carry along with shot placement diagrams, believe it or not.

Dave of the three moose, what was the closest shot with the 300 SMK?

[Michael Eichele]

Dont worry about the powder so much. Use what ever your rifle likes. I do recomend using the X bullet or the Partition or some other good bullet so as to get it all the way through to the other side. Dont worry about it going all the way through either. Moose even BIG moose dont have near the spirit that elk and whitetails have. They give up pretty easy for the most part. Hunt with your 308 for moose with confidence provided you use a suitable bullet.

[Dave King]

Closest was about 175 yards...he was walking (moose walk pretty fast) and I poked a hole through the lungs...he had the slightest of gait change at the hit, like a tiny little stumble and continued on until he found a suitable clump of willows to entangle himself and die.

[deergrunt]

Thank you for all your comments. It has been very useful. I think I'm going to load up some 165 grain Interbonds from Hornady with 45 grains of H-Varget. This load should yeild better than 2750 fps at the muzzle. The book shows better than 2000 ft/lbs @ 200 yds. This should be enough to deflate both lungs. I have some deer damage permits to stress test this load on. The Moose hunt in Oct. is a trip of a life time for me. I don't want to leave anything for chance!

Thanks again,
Deergrunt
I live to hunt!