New Rifle question

[awholelottabull]

I am planning a trip to Alaska next year for blacktail. I want a new rifle to take but I am torn between a 6.5/.284 and a .264. First, is that enough gun or should I be thinking more in the lines of a .300 wsm? Also, any suggestions on bullet weight for the above mentioned calibers? Thanks for the info in advance.

 

[Speedo]

Sitka blacktails aren't hard to put down but they can be close to big bears. A guy that I worked with for several years hunted deer with a 375 RUM for that reason.
You need to know what the bear population is like where you're planning on hunting.

Gus

 

[awholelottabull]

Thanks Gus! The thought has crossed my mind as well as my hunting partners. We are hunting on Kodiak Island so the bear population is huge as well as the body size of those bears. I wonder if I carried a .454 Casull if that would be an option. I don't want to get caught out there with my pants down so to speak. I also need an excuse to get a new rifle!

 

[awholelottabull]

By the way, I've been to Talkeetna, AK and had lunch at a little place by the landing strip in town. Great people and great food there too. Can't wait to go back.

 

[Speedo]

If you make it back to Talkeetna let me know, I'll buy you a cup of coffee.

Gus

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Both are excellent choices for deer. Every year I have many people ask me about a top caribou rifle for Alaska. The best caribou rifle is not the best rifle to carry. Like Speedo said the best rifle is one that will stop a bear at close range and also good at deer. When I hunted all the coastal islands for blacktail from Kodiak on down to the southeast I used a 340 wby mostly. Poor little deer but I felt better with the bears. A very important thing for me was the deer went straight down and did not run through the brush spraying blood everywhere I had to track him in bear country.