Thread: What rifle calibre do you shoot a whale with?

Has to be the 460 weatherby mag - it's even IWC approved

from wiki...'The .460 Weatherby is one of the very few rifle cartridges approved by the International Whaling Commission for the harvesting of whales. The cartridge was deemed to have the penetration necessary to penetrate to the brain stem to provide a quick kill on whales. The Makah people of the Pacific Northwest have used this rifle cartridge for decades hunting whales.[32]'

I think I saw one for sale on here recently, the seller should update their ad to make mention of the rifle being suitable for whaling expeditions..

Originally Posted by Backcountry Bob

Whales can't be towed off the beach. Their bodies are used to being supported by water and they have very little skeletal structure to support their weight when stranded

I am sure that they can be assist towed back into deep water. We are not considering a cradle lift with a crane, just a straight pull out then release the line before it turns and gets tangled. There is no way that whale was 40 tonne that's like saying it was the size of a 40 foot high cube container loaded with steak which it is not

Didn't I read that someone shot an elk at around 800yds with a .243? Imagine the damage it would do at close range on a whale. Personally whats wrong with a 12 gauge and slugs. It puts most big game cartridges to shame at close range and is a hell of a lot cheaper. Any way what right do we have to stop evolution when a whale decides it wants to become a land mammal we should let it. If it becomes an Asian delicacy on the way then that surely is part of the natural process isn't it? All I hope is that they are 1080 tolerant When they join us on the land ... Or maybe 1080 is another "humane" way of euthanizing them? ....

Originally Posted by r87mm

Didn't I read that someone shot an elk at around 800yds with a .243? Imagine the damage it would do at close range on a whale. Personally whats wrong with a 12 gauge and slugs. It puts most big game cartridges to shame at close range and is a hell of a lot cheaper. Any way what right do we have to stop evolution when a whale decides it wants to become a land mammal we should let it. If it becomes an Asian delicacy on the way then that surely is part of the natural process isn't it? All I hope is that they are 1080 tolerant When they join us on the land ... Or maybe 1080 is another "humane" way of euthanizing them? ....

You're saying the whales are trying to evolve? Fair enough, we better not shoot them then. Darwin would've been pissed at us for interrupting the process.

Originally Posted by r87mm

Didn't I read that someone shot an elk at around 800yds with a .243? Imagine the damage it would do at close range on a whale. Personally whats wrong with a 12 gauge and slugs. It puts most big game cartridges to shame at close range and is a hell of a lot cheaper. Any way what right do we have to stop evolution when a whale decides it wants to become a land mammal we should let it. If it becomes an Asian delicacy on the way then that surely is part of the natural process isn't it? All I hope is that they are 1080 tolerant When they join us on the land ... Or maybe 1080 is another "humane" way of euthanizing them? ....

As 1080 is a routine kill method used by DOC surely you can't be too severely criticised for inflicting unnecessary suffering.

[NB, sarcasm]

I was offered an old rusted .303 once that had been used to put many whales down over the years, somewhere up round Nelson. They used military .303 ammo.

454 whalebley

The whale was shot, Im not sure what caliber, but it was big.

I understand that the chances of re-floating a whale on the west coast is very low, much greater chance on the east coast