is a 30.06 enough?

[explodingvarmints]

booked my first saskatcewan (sp?) hunt for next year:)
i am being told that the shots will range from 50 to 250 yards depending on what stand your in. also these deer are supposed to dress well over 230 lbs.
i was looking to maybe buy a new rifle anyway (maybe) so was wondering is the ol' .06 enough for this animal should a 250 yard shot on a 250 lb. deer occur? also what would you guys pick if you had to buy a new bigger rifle? i was thinking of a few 1) 300 wsm. 2) 300 ultra mag 3) 7mil. what do you guys think?

[Jcox7]

You .06 would be plenty but if you were buying a new weapon I prefer the 7mil mag

[Kodiak Hunter]

Is it enough?

In a word, YES.

Heck - a .30-06 can take down a huge moose, grizzly, brown bear, black bear, caribou...

Yup, it's enough. And it's especially enough if it's a gun you have shot a lot, and know well.

[SR-Mechead]

Yep 06 is a great all around gun.

[chrisu]

I agree that the '06 is a great all-around gun. I don't know if you reload, but as a reloader, I prefer the 300Win-mag. The newer short-mag's and ultra mags are nice as well, but when I bought my 300, it was a single gun I could load down for deer and larger for bear/elk, etc.

If you reload, the 300 is a great caliber; if not, the '06 is fine...Good luck!

[slayer]

30-06 has my vote... been my gun of choice for 20 yrs

[fishin' fin]

For crying out loud!!! I personally have "DROPPED" in their tracks many "moose, caribou, elk, mule deer, antelope, and whitetails" with my trusty 30/06 180 grain silvertip. It most assuredly is an adequate round for anything your heart desires to kill!!! :eek:

[trout]

If I had to buy one rifle only.
My choice would be the 300 win mag or a 30-06
The down range specs on the 300 are awesome.

[explodingvarmints]

thanks for all of your comments.

i knew that my .06 was enough at a reasonable range say 0-150 or 200; however i always like to lean twoards the overkill side..... and i was also looking for a "viable" reason to go and buy a new rifle. we will see if the $5,000.00 for the hunting portion of this trip scares me away or not.

thanks again

[Skibum]

..... and i was also looking for a "viable" reason to go and buy a new rifle.

Can't argue with that :D That said I would not give a second thought to using your 30-06. Load it with 165 or 180 gr Nosler Partitions, whichever shoot best, sight it in dead on at 200 yards, shoot at 100 and 300 so you know your trajectory, and go kill a monster. Two years ago I killed a big mule deer buck in Idaho at 425 (lasered) yards with my 06. The 165 gr Partition gave complete penetration. He staggered about 10 yards and went down. If you want a new rifle any excuse is good with me. You don't need one though. Please don't ever pass that comment to my wife.

Jeff

[Big Nic]

EV ,

Of course the trusty '06 is enough gun in the hands of a capable shooter. Once again its all about accurate shot placement. You will have some bullet drop at extended ranges but as long as you know the drop you can compensate for it .
A suggestion would be to spend ALOT of range time and know without a doubt
where your particular gun / load combonation shoots at 50 , 100 , 200 yards.
then you can go west with complete confidence in your rig and be ready for that monster sask. whitetail !! Its worth the price of a few boxes of bullets to be totally sure of your abilities and also your limitations. Best wishes to you on the trip of a lifetime. Put em' in the 10 ring BN

[Skibum]

Big Nic hit it right on the head. Practice, practice, practice. Shooting ability and familiarity with your rifle is far more important than the caliber.

Jeff

[Hunter333]

Like the others said PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! You have till next year so get out there and do some shooting!! Be sure to let us know how it is going!

[Bwana]

For crying out loud!!! I personally have "DROPPED" in their tracks many "moose, caribou, elk, mule deer, antelope, and whitetails" with my trusty 30/06 180 grain silvertip. It most assuredly is an adequate round for anything your heart desires to kill!!! :eek:
As long as you don't have to do any close up work on the Grizzly Bears, Brown Bears, Buffalo, Muskox, or Polar Bears. Good luck with some of those dangerous game animals in Africa with the '06 as well fishin' fin ;) .

The 30-06 is more than adequate for deer at the ranges you reference. When I purchased an all-around gun for my Africa Plains Game Hunt I went with a .300 Weatherby Mag. Another member mentions the .300 Win. Mag. which is also a fine choice.

[jmoser]

The .06 is fine, but I never go on far away trips with only 1 rifle. Would not be the first time somebody's gun or scope broke and ruined the hunt.

Buy or borrow a backup, I would go with the .300 but the 7mm is fine too (I have both.) Any of these 3 calibers will shoot flat to 250 yards if zeroed in at 200. Remember that at shorter ranges you may be a lot higher than you expect - practice first at different ranges.

If you handload you can load the .300 down to .30/06 levels or way up to MegaWhomp territory as well. The 7mm you don't want to download much for your situation.

[fishin' fin]

Bwana. You have a valid point. I don't have any experience in Africa. The legendary Jack Oconnor in his book " THE HUNTING RIFLE ", explains that although he has killed lions and brown bears with the 06 and 270. he prefers a 375. for these animals.

[Ogre]

I shot my first caribou with my 30-06 at about 275 yards and my second caribou at about 340 yards. Both animals dropped with one shot. Zero'd the gun at about two inches high at 100 yards. Go for the 30-06

[Masterblaster1]

Load up your 30-06 with 180 grain partitions at close to a max load and you'll have more than enough power. Even if you used a 180 grain core lokt factory load you'll be fine. Core-lokt have been killing all sorts of game for 100+ years. I bet most of the locals in that area still use 30-30s

[explodingvarmints]

thanks again for all of your help. i suppose i will stay with the .06 since it has been an accurate gun for me for 10 years. i do not reload so factory ammo is what i've been using (rem. core-lokt 180 gr. pointed soft point). i am by no means a snyper when it comes to free-hand shooting, however the outfitter said that all blinds will have a shooting rest of some kind in them i.e. log, limb, etc.
i will deffintely be running alot of rounds through this gun to find out what it does at the different ranges this off-season. does anyone know of a pill that you can take while practicing that will make you as 'bucky' as a 160 class buck will in the field? :lol: i guess i will just drink a couple of pots of coffee before shooting;) . as always thanks a bunch

[Bwana]

Bwana. You have a valid point. I don't have any experience in Africa. The legendary Jack Oconnor in his book " THE HUNTING RIFLE ", explains that although he has killed lions and brown bears with the 06 and 270. he prefers a 375. for these animals.
Jack o'conner was around when people were allowed to make choices for themselves. Heck, Karamojo Bell (famed Ivory Hunter) use to kill elephants by shooting them in the brain with a .25 caliber rifle loaded with solids. Unfortunately, many hunters died trying to replicate these feats so it is much more controlled now.

Now, if you want to hunt Lion you have to use .375HH as a minimum (by law)with a .416 with soft points recommended.

IMHO:
If you have enough room the '06 will kill all North American game. But I wouldn't be taking shots on bears that were too close, as it doesn't have the knockdown power, without a guide backing me up if I were using it on one of the larger mean spirited Bears. Moose are relatively easy to kill so the '06 is fine (but you are in Grizzly Country). Elk are a great deal tougher than Moose despite being smaller and are generally taken at much greater distances. Buffalo and Muskox are too large for the '06 to humanely kill. As I said, IMHO;)