
The Monarch of the Muskeg 
Effective Moose Loads 
Notes on Effictent Ammunition for Use on the World’s Mightiest Deer, 
Together with Several Instances of Their Lead-Carrying Propensities 
By PROFESSOR ALBERT V. S. PULLING 
UCH has been written about 
M this, the mightiest deer that has 
ever existed, and much remains 
to be written. My experience with 
moose has been fairly extensive for the 
past ten years, but not as a moose hun- 
ter! I have lugged much moose meat, 
both under the belt and on the back. 
I have seen many moose, nearly a hun- 
dred during one closed season. I have 
talked with many hunters. But I have 
never shot a moose and hope I never 
will. Deer are a different proposition. 
I have killed some deer and hope to 
kill some more. When a deer is down, 
the worst is over; when a moose is 
down, the trouble hasn’t started, un- 
less you whack off his head and leave 
five hundred pounds of meat, fit for 
the gods, to rot where it falls or be 
divided among ravens, bears, and other 
scavengers. I helped butcher several 
moose one fall, and since then—the de- 
tails of the butchery are interesting 
but too long for this screed—I have no 
interest in a moose from the time he 
stops his mad rush for liberty until he 
is served, brown and juicy, on the ma- 
hogany (or spruce). 
So we won’t say much about natural 
history, weights, antlers, or butcher- 
ing, but confine these poor notes 
largely to the big bull’s lead-carry- 
ing capacity and the types of lead- 
slinging tools that will stop him. 
I remember very well when the first 
reaction AGAINST big bores for big 
game began. As a young chap, I lived 
in southern New York, and, though I 
never saw big game outside of an oc- 
casional visit to New York and the 
Bronx Zoo, my thoughts of shooting 
big stuff always considered the .45. 
Then everything went to the .30 group 
and every hunter I knew used a .30-30, 
a .3803 or a .32 special. Later, the .25- 
35 was the forerunner of the .22 hi- 
power, the .250 and the .280. Always 
certain sportsmen used European guns, 
of 7mm., 8mm. or a little smaller bore. 
My own opinion, based solely on experi- 
ence, makes me believe that the .30 
class mentioned above and now includ- 
ing the .30 and .32 rimless, is the gun 
for deer, when in the hands of a good 
shot, and that the smaller bores are 
“varmint” guns and nothing else. 
COUPLE of years ago I was stand- 
ing in front of the McMurray Book 
store in Fredericton, where the prizes 
for the coming Guides’ Field Day were 
on display. In the window was a high 
power .22. As I looked the stuff over, 
Harry Allen, President of the New 
Brunswick Guides’ Association, came 
along and also looked. I asked, “Mr. 
Allen, what do you think of that .22?” 
The reply was to the point: “Wouldn’t 
take it as a gift, if I had to use it.” 
That expresses the opinion of most 
hunters about the small freakish cal- 
ibers for use on really big game. 
CONCERNING the killing capacity 
of the very high power .30 caliber 
class, including the .380 ’06 and the .30 
703 Springfield, the .80 Krag and the 
.303 British, there is no argument about 
their efficiency for deer, providing the 
heavier class of bullets are used. I am 
yet to be shown their superiority for 
moose. They are fine for caribou at 
long range, but the lead is pretty light. 
There are many New Brunswick moose 
killed every fall with the .303 British, 
using 215 grain bullets, but I know a 
number of good hunters who smile at 
them as popguns. I have a .30 Spring- 
field, but don’t use it much. A colleague 
of mine, Professor E. O. Turner, uses 
it some. He shot a deer with it this 
last fall (1923) using a standard 150 
grain U. M. C. Umbrella Point bullet. 
The deer was about seventy-five yards 
away. He hit it in the fore shoulder 
and the bullet quartered back. Some 
of the shoulder bones were blown 
nearly back to its tail. It didn’t stir 
from its tracks! 
We won’t attempt advice about moose 
rifles. Good advice is cheap at best, 
Page 658 
