noharleyyet
Well-known member
Tempted to take the .257 Wby to CO as backup this October.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
25-06 Around 200 yards - 1 shot with with a 100 grain Barnes triple shock
110 grain accubond worked out of mine when I had it
noharleyyet
Well-known member
92 Hammer
Warp speed. mtmuley
noharleyyet
Well-known member
As Lamb would say...rayon de la mort
Pretty sure these work on elk too.
Bet you’d be shocked how fast that elk drops.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
You're not getting the Mash back.
L
longbow51
Guest
So sounds like 92 gr Hammer + 25.06 wins. And I'm not croaking yet (I hope). She's good with .243 for now. Her dad is loading Hammers in the .243, and also for my wife's .260 for this fall. If anyone has any pet 25.06 Hammer loads, go for it. Otherwise I'll just ask Steve when he returns from Africa.
colinstewart
Member
I’ve killed plenty of elk with a 25-06. Since upgraded but it’s a fantastic round. Shot placement and getting on range are key.
You don’t know how many times in the last two weeks I’ve looked for mashburn dies
Mustangs Rule
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I hold you in very high regard OH, really do.
That said, I would sugget you read the kinda recent Herero-Smith study about bear spray effectiveness.
OntarioHunter
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Yes, I would prefer bear spray as first line defense. But I would also prefer something more substantial than 25-06 for backup.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
Friend of mine did bear duty in AK oil country. Carried a shotgun w/ 00 buck and a 9mm. You can shoot a bear with a 458 win mag and it will still eat you if it isn’t hit well. A 9mm will bust the skull or spinal cord as well as other rounds. 25-06 vs. other rifles are NON-ISSUES when it comes to elk hunting in bear country. FACTS.
OntarioHunter
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Talk to your friend. Sounds like he was Park Service law enforcement/bear control. 9mm was for former and 00 shotgun the latter. That's how our guys at Katmai were outfitted. At the time I worked there (2007) similar staff in USFS had .375 rifles for bear service. If he is good enough to hit a charging grizzly in the brain or spinal cord with a 9mm, then he must get dressed in a phone booth.
I would be interested in hearing experiences of anyone who shot grizzlies with .25 calibre bullets. To me those would be meaningful "facts." Growing up in Montana back in the 60s and 70s when it was still legal to shoot griz, I knew of many guys who put them down, mostly because they had to. One .44 mag and the rest were 30 cal or larger grownup guns. Mostly magnums as I recall.
Any guide with experience will tell you grizzly bears are a much different animal to knock down than same size elk. I think I can say without a doubt if anyone shows up to a lodge to fill a grizzly tag with 25-06, he is probably going to get sent home. Yes, some crazy people do hunt grizzly with bows but a guide is usually standing behind them with .375 or .458, NOT 25-06. Yes, the guide could be there to back up a lightweight gun but outfitters typically are not interested in cleaning up unnecessary messes (and neither is their insurance company). Bow hunting grizzly is inherently hazardous so any cleanup comes with the territory ... and probably a hefty price tag. I have a feeling purchasing a guide for a grizzly bow hunt is a lot more expensive than for a rifle hunt. Hmmm. I'll email my PH about that. What do they charge for dangerous game bow hunts? Watching the youtube videos I see the cape buffalo bow hunts have two PHs with backup big guns. Though clients can legally hunt with .375 (nothing smaller), I've never heard of a PH backing them up with anything smaller than .416. Not in the modern era anyway.
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Mustangs Rule
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Once again i find myself aligned with you on another critical issue. I actually used to hunt regularly in Grizz country in NW Wyomimg. I began doing that in the pre-bear spray era. I lived in Wyoming back then and residents could get so many antelope tags that current hunters would drool in envy.
My place of choice to hunt antelope was in high mountain meadows surrounded by aspens with a diet that really took antelope meat to anither level of enjoyment. Eating wild geranimums instead of sagebrush, plus a host of other delicate plants.
They would stay up there till the first big snow. It was some of the finest big game hunting I ever did, absoutely gorgeous country, lots of them and next to no other hunters. Access to my favorite areas required river crossings which I did either by canoe or just walking across wide shallow areas with shorts and flip flop sandals with long pants in my pack and hiking shoes around my neck.
Stepping through thin ice in quiet water in both sides was often the norm.
Prior to bear spray the smallest caliber I would use in that Grizz country was a 270 with 180 grains Barnes originals. They were not the most accurate do to rifling twist issues but with aspen forests to stalk in, shots were rarely farther than 100 yards so all was well.
I also enjoyed hunting in that pristine envitonment with my 35 Whelen and my dearly beloved 30-06 in a Safari Grade Beigium Browning which I have now had the pleasure of owning for over 50 years.
Bear spray completely changed the need for having a rifle be the first line of defense for bears but I still prefer some type of "manly" caliber for hunting big game anywhere, bears or not.
What really upped the effectveness of all my calibers was going to Barnes all copper bullets
I think no greater source of valid in the field testimonials regarding Barnes bullets, are the many ones coming from Professional Hunters in Africa.
I get that hunting big game with a combo "varmint/deer caliber" is irresistable to some hunters but is not for me.
Hunting invloves a lot of dynamics that can shift the factors in an equation in a hearbeat.
The smallest caliber i would go afield with is the 6.5x55. With it's heavy bullet twist it never really was a varmint combo compromise caliber.
I have become quite pleased with my 280AI and would feel quite confortable with it all situations, but then i would also feel that way about my 30-06.
The thing which keeps me grabbing my Kimber 280AI is it is an all weather stainless syntheic and only 5 3/4 pounds.
Regarding the 25-06 for elk,,,sorry no deal.
I want a caliber that i can, with confidence, place a bullet behind the last rib of an elk as it is walking into some dark timber .
Mustangs Rule
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All very well said. Really like the "dressing in a phone booth comment".
i am no longer a guide but a young friend of mine is. Most of his clients are not really phyically fit for the outdoors and think they can shoot as far in the field as they do off a bench at the range.
He has a simple course he takes them shooting on before he takes them hunting.
He finds that most who claim to be 1000 yard hunters, when a little out of breath and under real game field situations really are "at most" 300 yard shooters,,,at best.
FFS she’s hunting elk. She’s not hunting grizzlies. I bet if you ask those guides if a 25 cal bullet between the eyes of a grizzly would work they would say yes. If you aren’t hitting them in the brain or the spine you aren’t stopping a charging bear with a 375 either. Jesus Christ
