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I am very aware of all that John. I spend 11 months in three African countries many years ago and I was in an among elephants dozens of times. But in most cases if the elephants got wind of us they moved off quickly.
No so a cow moose if it has a calf. The don't run from you if you surprise them very often.
And as I said (go back and read) if either of them turn on a hunter or hiker the result is far more likely the elephant will kill the man then the moose. But in my experience (near a year in Africa and 50+ years in the western Rocky's) the moose is the one that is a LOT more likely to attack.

In the last 30 years I have run into 4 grizzlies at under 15 feet when out in the mountains and all of them ran. But I have had to dodge 5 moose. One of which was VERY intent on trying to stomp me. I never had to dodge an elephant, even though I was within 7-10 yards of them, probably 10 times.

This in no way would qualify me as an "expert" on the comparison, but that's not the reason for the post I made.

The reason for my post it to bring a bit of light on what is called "dangerous game" because that was how the article was addressed, and also to bring some thought on the "best" cartridge for use when in danger. The "best" one is the one that saves you if you have to shoot to stay alive.

I don't give a lot of weight to "the best" cartridge but I do give consideration to the use of a firearm and what bullets I'd prefer. The cartridges I have depended on the most for VERY dangerous situations in my life (from about 20 years old until about 35 years old) were not anything special. 7.62 NATO and 45 ACP, and in 2 cases a 41 magnum.

In my 11 months in Africa I used a Mauser quite a few times chambered in 404 Jeffery. Ammo was some old Kynoch, but more RWS stuff made in the 70s. Never had any problems with either one, but the British ammo was loaded about 200 FPS slower then the German ammo if I recall correctly.

I never had ANY opportunity to use other guns or cartridges at all, and I never felt any deficiency at all either. So if I would have had a bunch of guns to choose from I doubt I would have changed. I never saw anything wrong what what I had.

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My experiences with elephant have been different than yours Steve. I believe one of the biggest reasons is all the poaching going on in the area.. the elephants see man and are pissed. The last time I hunted with the late Ian Gibson (who was killed by an elephant BTW) we were hunting tuskless. We came into a small herd that, once they saw us, instantly became very agitated.. they ran towards us to within 40 to 50 yards, perhaps a bit more, grabbing small trees out of the ground and throwing them at us with their trunks.. I know, I know, the weren't "touching" us, but, had we made a play on them, Ian figured we would have had to take out the entire herd to get back out of there alive..

Same trip, hiking into a hyena blind one morning in the dark..Tuskless cow charged us out of the brush..we both flipped on our flashlights and backed up with our rifles pointed at her head..yelling and shouting until she finally stopped at 8 yards..

Same trip, hiking , we came across a younger elephant bull..he turned and started walking very briskly our direction.. we started to split up and run.. he also started to move faster after us.. after about 100 yards or so, Ian and I stopped..he as still coming and getting closer.. we took off again.. ran ..stopped and turned around.. still coming and even closer..we finally shot..which stopped him.. he paused for a bit..turned and finally walked away..

Same trip.. had a younger bull come at our vehicle one morning .. we sped up and so did he.. we sped up even more and so did he.. we was very close before we finally out ran him by picking up the speed..

I too have run into bears... black and grizzly as well as moose..bulls and cows.. fully agree with you, cow moose can be VERY aggressive.. fortunately I have never been charged by one, however my father in law played ring around the rosie with a cow one day for about 10 minutes...chasing him around a tree..he finally pulled a 44 and fired a shot over her head.. he stopped and walked away.. as he was walking from the tree, she turned and saw him walking from the protection of the tree..she gave chase again.. and did the same thing for another 5 minutes or so..he again fired another shot ..this time she turned and trotted off.. WE were in camp wondering what he was shooting at..

Bottom line..they both are and can be very dangerous.. having said that, my most hair raising experiences have been with elephant.. I have had 3 individuals I have either hunted with or had met that have all killed by elephant.. I have 0 individuals who have died from moose..

Agree, articles that say "best" of anything automatically are a turn off.. best is as you stated, the one in your hands at the time you needed it..

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ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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