.30 Cal: Eland & Kudu = Moose & Elk ?

[Hunt33]

Should eland and greater kudu be treated like elk and moose ballistically?
Does .30 caliber rule of the day?
What bullet grain do you recommend?
What 30 caliber would you use?

 

[Puddle]

Eland, Southern Greater Kudu, and Elk (sadly, no Moose. Yet.)

.30-06, 180 grain Swift A-Frame, 2,725 fps MV

 

[Joker12]

I used a 30'06 for both, 180gr Nosler partition at 2700fps. Both one shot kills.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

Moose is generally considered relatively “soft” for its size. Eland is probably tougher pound for pound. Neither will survive a properly placed 30 caliber bullet. Something tough like an A-frame, TSX, or a north fork is appropriate and will help ensure adequate penetration. Don’t take less than ideal shots.

As far as ruling the day, I’d say not. While I killed my eland with one shot from a 30-06 168g TSX, it didn’t react as if it had been hit as hard as I’d like. A 375 just hits things harder and I’d prefer it. That said, I’m fairly insensitive to recoil and shoot my 375 as well (as poorly?) as I shoot my ‘06. Shot placement is more important than having something bigger than a 30 of some sort.

 

[Puddle]

Moose hunting outfitter prices are coming down. The general response I get when I tell them I'll just hunt Africa instead is "you can hunt how many for how much?

It's beginning to look like I may be adding a Moose to the .30-06 within the next couple of seasons...

 

[AimSmall]

300 win mag, 180+, tsx, a-frame, partition, or nf will work.

+1 on the 375 will work better.

 

[Hunt33]

30-06 is still king in Alaska. Can buy it everywhere and with the exception of "southern sheep hunters" 30-06 is the go too. (everyone is a southerner to alaskans with the exception of some Canadians and Russians). You'll do fine with it.

 

[375Fox]

A reason to treat them differently is the location of vitals and placement of shot. North American game is behind the shoulder. African game is further forward on the shoulder. I wouldn’t feel under gunned on a moose with a 300 but I have felt under gunned on eland with a 300. Larger, heavier, and/or better constructed bullets are more important on African game because of the shot placement on the shoulder.

 

[Fatback]

I have been fortunate to take all 4 animals you have mentioned with the closest being a moose at 75 yards all the way out to an elk at 400 yards. All shot with a 300 win mag and 200 grain trophy bonded bear claw bullets. None of the animals went more than a few yards before giving up the ghost. I would have no issues using this set up on any PG in Africa or anything in North America.

 

[fourfive8]

I've killed multiples of all 4. No, they are not equivalent. Will relatively small calibers kill any of them?- of course. But why play that game. Small calibers leave no margin for error. Hunting situations, conditions and stress cause errors. Eland are larger than moose by some margin and I would rank them tougher than moose. Elk are quite a bit larger than kudu and I would rank elk tougher than kudu. Shoot a big bull eland in prime condition, walk up to it and you'll know.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Should eland and greater kudu be treated like elk and moose ballistically?
Does .30 caliber rule of the day?
What bullet grain do you recommend?
What 30 caliber would you use?

I believe whole hardly a 30.06 with a 180 grain bullet will kill any kudu. The right 7mm bullets will also. I shot my kudu in the neck at 160 yards with a .325 wsm. Dropped like a bag of bricks. Eland are huge and tough. I've seen them shot with 300s of all types. Win mags, Weatherbys ect ect.

Admittedly I've never shot an Eland or moose. I had the awesome experience of shooting a 400 inch elk in 2019 in Utah. I used a good old fashioned 300 win mag 180 grain nosler long range accubonds. I shot him coming up the side of a mountain. He was walking from my right to left. One shot, he ran about 60 yards and tumbled about 200 yards down hill into thick brush. Recovery took about 2 hours to dress and get him off the mountain.

 

[MarkB]

I do not think moose is same as eland, kudu or elk. I have shot dozens of moose with 30 cal, 165, 180 or 200 gr partitions and accubonds and all except one stood after the shot and let me shoot again. Of all the elk, kudu and the two eland I have shot NONE did this. One shot and their gone in my circumstances, my eland were hit with 375 300 gr partitions but still ran off.

Yes shot placement is different for antelope over deer. But as already stated all will be dead walking when hit in correct place with any 180, 200 gr well constructed (bonded) 30 bullet.

Love my 308 and 165 accubonds, used on all safaris for PG and just last week for my British Columbia 5x6 elk. For eland maybe step a up in 30 cal power. 300WM, 300 WSM and others in that power level.

MB

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I took my eland with a .300WM shooting a 200gr North Fork bonded core. Bullet was found under the hide on the offside. Would a 180gr do as well? Maybe, but if using a .30 cal for Eland, I'll stick with the heavier bullet.

I personally don't think Kudu are as big as elk. At least not from side to side. They're taller from back bone to belly, but they're not as barrel chested as an elk. A 200gr will of course take one out of a .30 caliber, but a strong 165 or 180gr bullet I'd expect to do just fine.

 

[mark-hunter]

What 30 caliber would you use?

I shot eland and kudu with 375 HH.
But, I shot Zebra with 300 HH. (400 kg)

For plains game, large antelopes, 300 magnums are just fine!
Go with 300 mag. (wm, wsm, hh etc..) Bullet as heavy as possible.

 

[375Fox]

Something else to add. I think I’ve taken 8 kudu and 7 eland. Every mature kudu I’ve ever shot has been about the same body size. Eland can get really big. I’ve seen a lot of body size differences depending how old and where taken. This bull is from Caprivi. I shot a similar bull with a 300 win and felt under gunned. The angle isn’t always perfect. A 30 caliber is very suitable but a 375 is better.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Here Is my AK moose, Colorado Elk hunting with Comanche wilderness outfitters, and my Eland with a 48# recurve bow.

The elk and moose were 7 Rem mag. And so was my only rifle Kudu but I don’t have a picture of the rifle Kudu on my phone.

note the picture of the Eland turning to run with my arrow still entering its side, hard quartering away. taken from video.

Both pics are to show how wide a mature Eland is in May when in top condition.

IMHO, Eland should not be categorized with the other three. Just because of the body size alone. I would rank them

Eland

Elk

Moose

Kudu

I think a 30:06 with a proper bullet would kill them all.

 

[CBH Australia]

The common denominator here seems to be Quality Bullets of proper construction. Regardls of brand preference many posts are stating a particular bullet for .30-06 and other .30's.

I shot Kudu and a Wildebeest with a borrowed 7mmRem mag.

I've owned 2 different.300wm rifles and shot tons of critters with smaller cartridges.

But if were going to target all of the animals you listed I would expect the .300wm would be adequate and even excel with the appropriate ammo and good shot placement within practical ranges. Shooting further may be difficult with a heavier cartridge anyway unless well practiced and confident. .

For what it's worth the PH guiding me in Africa said that the .300wm would be suitable and versatile for a lot of African plains game. Hence, if we're were taking one rifle on a one way trip to hunt the species the op lists I think the .300wm would be it.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Yes, a 30 cal can and does work. For kudu, a 7mm mag or 300 WM is ideal, with a Swift A Frame bullet. For elk and moose, I prefer a 338 WM. For eland, a 375.

 

[Justbryan]

+1 on the 375

 

[Hunt33]

What bullet grain did you use?