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View Full Version : Advice needed pt 2



Seabass
01-13-2005, 03:36 PM
Like I've said ealier I have a Marlin guide gun in 45/70. I just love the thing and I handload for it now. The gun is very accurate and is a deffinate stopper. Easy to cary through thick woods with a little 18.5in barrel all in a 7lb package.
What I was wondering was among you seasoned Moose hunters is what is your ave shot that you;ve taken moose with? THis is a 200yrd gun max.. It will kill about as far as one could place a bullet but there is a hellofa lotta drop with this thing. So 200yrds is max for me. I know moose are big and I have good target for sure, just curious about the range most guys shoot them at.

3kills
01-13-2005, 05:50 PM
u wont be going out to far past 200 yards...u get closer to moose or u can bring them in pretty easy...moose are pretty stupid creatures...

MB_Boy
01-13-2005, 05:55 PM
u get closer to moose or u can bring them in pretty easy...moose are pretty stupid creatures...
Darcy.....for your sake I hope there are no moose on this forum. :lol:

THE KID
01-13-2005, 06:02 PM
hey seabass,its hard to say what the average shot is,it just depends how far of a shot you don't wanna take,usually when your hunting them in the rut you can get the moose to come as close as 40yrds,i'd say between 100-200yrds would be an average shot though.If your confident at 200yrds with your 45/70 ,fire away.Where ya going moose hunting if don't mind me asking?

todbartell
01-13-2005, 06:04 PM
I have shot three moose, one @ 120 yards, one @ 80 yards, one @ 130 yards. Average is 110.

Seabass
01-13-2005, 06:49 PM
[QUOTE=Where ya going moose hunting if don't mind me asking?[/QUOTE]
Haven't decided yet. My partner and I are still deiscussing the matter and I am continuing my research on places to go. Thus the most likely area to bring home moose meat.

3kills
01-13-2005, 07:32 PM
if u know u can comfortably kill out to 200 yards with ur 45/70 use it but if u can use this as an excuse to buy a new rifle thats what i would do lol

416
01-13-2005, 07:41 PM
From my experience, 200 yrds would look after the majority of the moose l have shot. Your 45/70 would be a great choice for swamp donkeys......

ape
01-13-2005, 09:29 PM
Hey Bass I haven't had a shot yet over 100 yrds but am very comfortable with my GG out to 200yrds with the 350 gr hornady and re7 powder. Good luck.

swamper
01-13-2005, 09:55 PM
Just my humble opinion, but unless you are trophy hunting for monster swampdonkeys up north then I would say that your max shot would most likely not be more than 150 yards. As for guns, I prefer a 30-06 as I can handload it to hunt anything from varmits to griz. As long as you are comfortable with the 45/70 there is no need to change, although our good buddy amphibious would like to tell you otherwise. He lives by the code "go big or go home". As for hunting area, anywhere north of Williams Lake as long as you have an LEH. Last year here in Quesnel we dropped 3 moose in 3 days. Contrary to what the treehuggers would like to tell you, there are a ton of moose out there.
Chris

bone-collector
01-13-2005, 10:48 PM
I would second swampers advise , a 45-70 is a deadly big bore but dont exceed its limitations your just asking for troubles one day , just my .02

Seabass
01-14-2005, 12:08 PM
I'm confindent I can hammer something out to 150 (200yrd max) maybe not pop cans at 200 no. But moose and big stuff yes. Anything more and I'm guessing and the animal and I don't deserve that. My faith in my guns abilty to kill in not an issue at all.:grin: My curiosity is in what range most moose are taken at so that I can be preapred. For instance I wouldn't take this gun on a sheep or goat hunt. It aint no long range plains/mountain rifle. The trajectory is the only downside to this good old cartridge.
So far it looks resonable to take my little marlin out next year. Although not everyones choice, it will do the job it is given.

willyqbc
01-14-2005, 12:36 PM
Moose are easily a 200yd animal, and of the dozens I have taken or been in on the majority of them under 100. I can only think of a few instances over the years where we had to take shots at longer yardage! So take your 45-70 and have fun....call me if you need help "disposing" of all that moose meat!;)


Chris

bone-collector
01-14-2005, 02:15 PM
Seabass your talking with a fellow big bore junkie, most of my moose have been under 125 yards I would have to say with 1 at about 250 yards (375H&H) that one, I wouldnt ever take much more than 150 yards on any big game animal with a big bore like my 458 or a 45-70 for the simple fact they do lose alot of speed and energy , if the moose had already been hit then yes I would pound another in him on the move @ 175-200 yards no doubt.


I found myself pushing the limits of distance a few times because I had made a similar shot before or because it was a wounded animal 1 of my hunters had shot , but I did back down again so I know that at the range I am shooting the bullet will pass through even shoulder blades if needbe , I hate tracking wounded game so dont even risk it if I think for a moment theres a chance something could go wrong , maybe if I wasnt so catious I would have a couple nice deer racks but hey theres always next year :lol:

Seabass
01-14-2005, 02:44 PM
Your relpys intstill confidence within me. I look forward to my moose hunt and doing it with an ancient big bore!!! Some friends of mine (or so called, there're not big bore guys so I can only like them so much) had me doubting the range of my gun on moose (ie 500yrds shots). So this news from you fellas in much appreciated.

todbartell
01-14-2005, 03:13 PM
I wouldnt ever take much more than 150 yards on any big game animal with a big bore like my 458 or a 45-70 for the simple fact they do lose alot of speed and energy
That's why the 416 is a better choice than the 458 for hunting :mrgreen: you can stretch them to 300 yards+

bone-collector
01-14-2005, 03:33 PM
Seabass my last 2 moose were under 50 yard shots and in 20+ years of shooting moose I only ever recall 1 450 yard shot and he was the last day of open season and along the cutline on the other end of the logging block , he died a painless death with 1 165Gr grand slam bullet through his lungs from my hopped up 30-06 , people like to think they shoot at animals 500, 600 and 900 yards away but in reality its more like 100, 125 and 150 yards away , distance judging sucks :lol: why I own a rangefinder :wink:

Doug
01-14-2005, 03:52 PM
I think one of the more important comments on this thread is in Bonez's last note. That is, JUDGING DISTANCE.

At a rifle range, you take your .45-70 with the rainbow ballistics and you can hit the 200 yard gong five times out of five.

You go moose hunting and see a pretty big animal somewhere out there about where the 200 yard gong would be.

But is he at 200 yards?

150 yards?

250 yards?

300?

More than 300?

I know very few people who are good judges of distance. I know that I am not.

So...........YES most shots at game in this whole country I am guessing are well within that 200 yards. In Ontario where I live I am betting that the majority of all big game animals are taken well under a hundred yards. BUT unless you can estimate range accurately, you may find that the moose, at the moment of truth, is hard to hit no matter how damned big he is.

GOOD LUCK to you!

Doug

Fred
01-15-2005, 12:14 AM
I have only been in one one Moose harvesting so I am definitely not an authority but my buddy took his young Moose last year near Chetwynd at about 20 yards. He definitely did NOT need that 340 Weatherby! :eek: Fred

huntersdad
01-15-2005, 09:21 AM
Hey Guys
If you want a good way to practice distance/range estimation...GOLF!
Yardages frrom 50yards to 450yards on every hole.

Mauser98
01-15-2005, 09:51 AM
If you're hunting moose in an area where there's point restrictions, the long shots are pretty much out unless you have the time and equipment to accurately count points. Even at 100 yds counting points can be bloody near impossible.

My last four moose were at 125yds(.35 Whelen), 30yds(.300 Win Mag), 20yds(.300 Win Mag) and 30yds(.35 Whelen) for an average of 51 yds.

Your 45-70 will be an awesome choice for moose out to 200 yds.

oldtimer
01-17-2005, 07:57 AM
One point nobody is mentioning is most of us at some point have turned down those long shots for a couple of reasons : can't tell how many points, not sure of our accuracy etc. but for me the biggest reason for not taking that long shot was : DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO DRAG A MOOSE THRU 400 YARDS OF A CUT BLOCK ??? unless you are in a region that allows quads it is not much fun. Mike

3kills
01-17-2005, 09:41 AM
oldtimer..my first and only moose shot so far was about two yards down into a cutblock we had a quad and it still took us a good 3 or 4 hours to get it out...shot it at about 5 or 530 got out of the bush by 1030 so 5 hours to cut it get it to the road and load it and get back to the hiway....

Seabass
01-17-2005, 08:10 PM
I'm not really too concerned about dragging stuff out. I'm young, stong, and dumb enough to do things now that I wont when I'm old (and maybe responible). :-) . And anyway, if I hit a moose at over 200yrds with my gun something has frozen over, I'll have bragging rights for a while:wink:

Mulie_Hunter
01-17-2005, 09:01 PM
Well I'm not even close to being the authority on anything ,but the moose I did shoot was 250+ yards out in a logging slash we did have a quad and getting it out wasn't a big deal. I've never shot any animal with any other gun than my .270 win , and my moose was no exception it did take a little more than I would have liked to put it on the ground.(first shot hit the vitals, second shot missed,3 shot hit him in the spine and put him on the ground, I had to give him a finishing shot when I got to him also) If you are proficient with your 45-70 out to 200 yards I see no reason why you would need anything more.