Caliber Recommendation for Mt Goat

Joined
Jan 11, 2016
Messages
902
Location
Broomfield, CO
Don't overthink it. Take the gun you're most comfortable with. As stated above be very careful where the goat is when you shoot him to reduce chances of him cartwheeling down the mountainside. Also make darn sure you can get to where he is at and recover him before taking a longer shot. Again, my Swede was fine with one shot, but I took the time to get close. Been on 2 friends goat hunts. They both got theirs with a single shot from a 3006 and a 280ia respectively. Good luck!
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
7,413
Location
Chugiak, Alaska
Looking for feedback and recommendation. Have an Alaska Mt Goat hunt coming up this fall. Continue to hear/see how tough these spectacular animals are. I have two great rifles I’m considering for this hunt. A 6.5 PRC or a 338 Win Mag. What are the different factors I should be considering for which rifle to bring with.
Non-resident guided hunt? I'd go with the 6.5 PRC, assuming that it's considerably lighter than the .338, and you can shoot it as good, if not better. Let your Guide worry about the bear protection firearm.

If that's not the case than I would still opt for the 6.5, again assuming the above is correct, and also carry a pistol for bear protection (one that you're familiar with and comfortable shooting).
 

WCB

WKR
Joined
Jun 12, 2019
Messages
3,266
I have yet to run into these mythical super tough soak up .338 Lapua and .300 Rum bullets like a pellet gun type animals. Get a properly constructed bullet out of the gun you shoot best and go hunt. Learn the anatomy of the animal and shoot accordingly.

It is like the tale of every thing in Africa has to be shot with a .375H&H. Don't tell that to the dozens of animals we killed with cheap soft points out of .308win and 7rem mags.
 
Joined
Jan 23, 2022
Messages
10
P
Both will do the job, what one do you shoot better?


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Looking for feedback and recommendation. Have an Alaska Mt Goat hunt coming up this fall. Continue to hear/see how tough these spectacular animals are. I have two great rifles I’m considering for this hunt. A 6.5 PRC or a 338 Win Mag. What are the different factors I should be considering for which rifle to bring with.
I used a 300 RUM and it worked fine. As others have said, take what you shoot best. Good luck.
 

hicountry1

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Messages
298
Formy mtn goat hunt in BC, I used my 300rum, shooting 200ab.

I was on a combo hunt for moose and goat, plus was in grizz country.

350yard shot, nice tumble down to us....
 

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EastMT

WKR
Joined
Dec 19, 2016
Messages
2,872
Location
Eastern Montana
I’ve used 26 nos, 300 WSM, 338. The 6.5 at 400 yards in the shoulder it went uphill, and that’s bad. The 300 WSM and 338 both dropped. The 6.5 was LRAB, which did not perform as expected, the other 2 were partitions and did as they were expected.

The worst was the 26” barrel on kodiak, if I could have found a hacksaw the 26 would have been 20” in about 5 min haha. If you have to break alders for hours, take a short barrel. It’s been my experience that the anatomy of goats skeletal system is a hair diff, high shoulder hits seem to be 1 and done, lower not so much.
 
Joined
Aug 6, 2019
Messages
302
Location
Las Vegas
I used my .338 on the goat I got. Glad I didn't use something smaller. As above, they are tough, and can jump off the cliff if you don't use enough gun.
 

Britt-dog

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
230
Location
Cheney WA
I've killed three goats with .284 120gr TTSX. One from a 7-08 and two from a .284 Win. Don't think they went fifty yards combined.
 

Grisha

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 22, 2021
Messages
114
Location
California
For what its worth I'm running a 65 prc with a 20" barrel for mt goat in alaska this fall. I've got zero anxiety about that.
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2018
Messages
86
Location
Pennsylvania
Read up on mountain goat anatomy and don't take a marginal shot. On my goat this past October, we waited till he gave me a quartering away angle before I took the shot. Wanted to tuck it in behind the front leg and somewhat lower and towards the front of the body. He was at 185 yards and feeding, so we had plenty of time to wait. A couple of times he stretched his head as far as he could reach to feed without moving his leg for the longest time. When he finally moved the right leg forward is when I was able to get the shot we wanted.
 

dukxdog

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
199
I chose .338WM with 225gr Swift A-Frame in a Rem 700 KS.

I'd go that way again.
 

lonedave

WKR
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
363
Location
West Richland, WA
I've taken 3, all with a .264 Winchester Magnum and 140 gr Speer. That said, like they say, you can never have too much gun. I'd caveat that with "as long as you can shoot it"!
 

Viper*6

FNG
Joined
Feb 14, 2022
Messages
63
Location
Washington
I used the 338 Win Mag with 210 gr NP bullets. The only reason I used the 338 Win Mag is because I was hunting the Alaskan Coast Line where you could encounter big brown bears otherwise I would have used the 270 Win.
 
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