6.5 Creedmoor for moose

[Ingwe]

The moose I shot needed to die right where he stood. Had he run even 75 YDS there would have been exponentially more work involved. I would say the same for the last several elk I shot. Dying elk go downhill usually, and usually that's right into some gnarly ravine. I always wonder if the proponents of using inappropriate cartridges for these animals have ever really been in that situation? I strongly suspect the answer is no.

All those ballistics, high BC"s, expensive equipment, and fancy lingo sound good on paper though

 

[WildRose]

This is foolish. Last year we were hunting ducks. My daughter decided she wanted to go deer hunting. I didnt have a big rifle in camp. Only rifle i had was an AR loaded with 68gr hps for coyotes. I told her if she wanted to take it to be very careful with the shot. She shot a big doe. She said the shot was good and the deer ran into a field of head high geass. Not a drop of blood anywhere. Deer wert about 75yds and it took us three hours to find it. Bullet hit the deer dead center in the heart and cane apart. By your standards this would be adequate. Hunting moose with a creed is the exact same thing. Shooting that deer with the 223 was a bad idea and shooting moose with a little 6.5 is too. Just because it will kill him does not make it a good idea.

She shot a big deer with a varmint bullet in a varmint caliber, predictable result.

Lots of deer killed with a .223 for sure but it requires the right bullet and proper placement for that bullet.

We have killed some huge hogs with AR's shooting the TSX but only with head/neck shots. Shoot them in the heart/lungs with the same bullet and your recovery rate isn't going to be good.

Pick your caliber, and bullet and put it in the right place for what each are optimal and your success rate goes up dramatically.

 

[bigngreen]

The moose I shot needed to die right where he stood. Had he run even 75 YDS there would have been exponentially more work involved. I would say the same for the last several elk I shot. Dying elk go downhill usually, and usually that's right into some gnarly ravine. I always wonder if the proponents of using inappropriate cartridges for these animals have ever really been in that situation? I strongly suspect the answer is no.

Some of us are willing to pass on a shot and have self control, I have yet to see an animal I just had to put bullets in no matter what with exception of the predator type but I'm generally packing something for that.

 

[Orange Dust]

She shot a big deer with a varmint bullet in a varmint caliber, predictable result.

Lots of deer killed with a .223 for sure but it requires the right bullet and proper placement for that bullet.

We have killed some huge hogs with AR's shooting the TSX but only with head/neck shots. Shoot them in the heart/lungs with the same bullet and your recovery rate isn't going to be good.

Pick your caliber, and bullet and put it in the right place for what each are optimal and your success rate goes up dramatically.

The bullet was a 68gr hornady match hp. My coyote load. The scale is similar. To a creed on moose. Neither are a good idea for several reasons. The deer only went 75 yds. Almost impossible to find with no blood. Put a little hole in a moose with no exit and face the same thing. A proper gun for any animal is one that will kill him quickly from any reasonable angle. It will also have enough power to break both shoulders and immobilize it if need be at normal hunting ranges. IMO this is how you know if you have enough gun. Less will work under the right conditions. Optimal works all the time under all conditions. A 223 is not enough gun for deer and IMO neither is a 6MM.

 

[WildRose]

The bullet was a 68gr hornady match hp. My coyote load. The scale is similar. To a creed on moose. Neither are a good idea for several reasons. The deer only went 75 yds. Almost impossible to find with no blood. Put a little hole in a moose with no exit and face the same thing. A proper gun for any animal is one that will kill him quickly from any reasonable angle. It will also have enough power to break both shoulders and immobilize it if need be at normal hunting ranges. IMO this is how you know if you have enough gun. Less will work under the right conditions. Optimal works all the time under all conditions. A 223 is not enough gun for deer and IMO neither is a 6MM.

No it's a completely different equation because hopefully he will use an appropriate bullet and put it in the right place.

Nothing works all the time in all conditions, that's just ridiculous. You still have to match your aim point with the type of bullet and type of game or you can still screw thing up with a cannon.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

It will also have enough power to break both shoulders and immobilize it if need be at normal hunting ranges. IMO this is how you know if you have enough gun.

We are all a product of our environment...you must live in the east or southeast with thick woods? If you hunt open sage brush or desert, 75 yards isnt a big deal - its open enough you can see where they go down. If I was hunting in thick woods, I would probably feel differently. The deer I had run the furthest was shot with a 215gr berger out of a 300 rum at 200 yards. That sucker went almost 300 yards. I thought I missed until I found massive chunks of lung blown everywhere where I shot him. I can't believe he took a step. Thats a big round for a little 3 point muley.

 

[Mk308]

I have had great results with the ttsx and scirocco on deer in 223. Use a good bullet and it works ok, use a great bullet and it works great. Crummy bullets or varmint bullets work poor.

My 11 yo son shot an 800lb elk this year with his 6.5 and 127lrx bullets. Roughly 120 yds and it was down in 40. Straight thru the shoulders and im pretty sure the bullet is still flying as we speak. Massive damage. That said a friend a few weeks earlier shot a 520lb red stag with the 143 hornady's. Bullet came apart. No damage on offside ribs. A sliver of jacket or lead luckily went thru the heart and made a small hole but enough to put it down in less than 100 yards. Once again, dont use a crummy fragile hunting bullet to determine a caliber's appropriateness on game based on a crummy bullet vs a good one.


The best example of this i can give is guiding at my friend's ranch and having my daughter handily kill an oryx with a 243 using ttsx bullets. Full penetration and massive damage. The oryx went less than 20 yards. Had a hunter the next week shoot a 375 h/h cup and core style 270 grain bullet into an oryx that came apart on the shoulder. Minimal damage and we tracked it all day to finish it.

 

[WildRose]

I have had great results with the ttsx and scirocco on deer in 223. Use a good bullet and it works ok, use a great bullet and it works great. Crummy bullets or varmint bullets work poor.

My 11 yo son shot an 800lb elk this year with his 6.5 and 127lrx bullets. Roughly 120 yds and it was down in 40. Straight thru the shoulders and im pretty sure the bullet is still flying as we speak. Massive damage. That said a friend a few weeks earlier shot a 520lb red stag with the 143 hornady's. Bullet came apart. No damage on offside ribs. A sliver of jacket or lead luckily went thru the heart and made a small hole but enough to put it down in less than 100 yards. Once again, dont use a crummy fragile hunting bullet to determine a caliber's appropriateness on game based on a crummy bullet vs a good one.


The best example of this i can give is guiding at my friend's ranch and having my daughter handily kill an oryx with a 243 using ttsx bullets. Full penetration and massive damage. The oryx went less than 20 yards. Had a hunter the next week shoot a 375 h/h cup and core style 270 grain bullet into an oryx that came apart on the shoulder. Minimal damage and we tracked it all day to finish it.

Lot's of folks simply don't understand matching the caliber, and bullet to shot placement thinking it's all about velocity and mass.

 

[Pmacc60]

Lot's of folks simply don't understand matching the caliber, and bullet to shot placement thinking it's all about velocity and mass.[/QUOTE
It is 100% true that shot placement and bullet construction are the most important things to insure a quick humane kill. No one is saying that you can't kill bigger game with smaller rifles but they do make bigger more powerful cartridges for bigger more powerful game. It's just not marketing and gimmicks! Big 7's , 30's and 33's are there for a reason , to handle a plethora of situations that may arise in the field. It is also many can shoot these bigger rifles very accurately thus making the point mute on shot placement . I guess my point is I get tired of the innuendo that only small calibers like the 6.5 CM can be shot accurately in the field! That's just pure hog wash!

 

[Orange Dust]

Lot's of folks simply don't understand matching the caliber, and bullet to shot placement thinking it's all about velocity and mass.

I have a 224tth. I shoot 75gr sciroccos in it. I dont like it for deer. It is too small. I know about bullets. The 6.5 is too small for moose.

 

[David Emerson]

Is the 6.5 Creedmoor an adequate round for moose hunting in Alaska ?

Depends. Put a nosler partition or a Woodleigh into a moose and it will die. My question is. Are there bears around? 6.5 creedmoor is not my idea of a bear rifle. Reference the man that was deer hunting on Kodiak with a 270 and a bear killed him. 270 is plenty for deer. Kodiak bears? Not so much. Why when I hunt deer on Kodiak a 338 with 250,s is my deer rifle.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Lot's of folks simply don't understand matching the caliber, and bullet to shot placement thinking it's all about velocity and mass.

Haven't you heard it's all about energy!

 

[Mk308]

I have a 224tth. I shoot 75gr sciroccos in it. I dont like it for deer. It is too small. I know about bullets. The 6.5 is too small for moose.

How exactly are the sciroccos too small for deer out of a 224? Had several put down by my kids and my cousins kids with the federal fusion 224's this year. Not only did it work it did so very definitively.

 

[Orange Dust]

How exactly are the sciroccos too small for deer out of a 224? Had several put down by my kids and my cousins kids with the federal fusion 224's this year. Not only did it work it did so very definitively.

They are fine in fairly open country. Poor blood trails and narrow wound channels on angle shots make it less than desireable in heavy cover. The little 22 will kill deer like Thor's hammer under the right conditions. Not all conditions. The big difference is if you are hunting around home, have all the time in the world, or are paying for a guided hunt where you may get one chance, and it may not be the best shot. Under those conditions you need a rifle that you can aim center mass and put him down, or go home empty handed, having spent thousands of dollars.