I am guessing that these hunters were hunters for food and probably didn't own another rifle, because they cannot afford another rifle. I do not know them nor do I live their lifestyle, so I cannot comment. Having said that, I read an article that did talk about how popular the AR15 is up North. It is relatively inexpensive, easy to fix, accurate and very reliable.
Yeah, the caliber sucks, and I wouldn't even use it against the 100lb swamp deer in my area. But then again, Karamoja Bell (arguably one of the finest elephant hunters in history) liked to use the .256 Gibbs (and the .303, and the 7x57 and .... almost any another small bore round made at the turn of the 20th century) for killing elephants. And Bell was known for one shot kills.
First off you’re replying to a 6 year old post.
AR 10 in 308 might be a better choice.
Bell hunted elephants for ivory…not necessarily for self protection.
A charging Bear, Moose or elephant needs to be put down quickly. The most powerful rifle round I currently own is 30-06. I would choose that. If I could go hotter it would in the .400 to .500 range, though a 12 gauge sabot round is nothing to sneeze at.