BLUE WILDEBEEST PRACTICAL CALIBERS

[sestoppelman]

Yes that may help though I think less than imagined by bullet makers. When I was loading up Triple Shocks last year for Zim I didnt see that velocity was any easier attained to any degree over Accubonds. But that is limited experimentation. I cant really speak to pressure having no proper testing equipment but didnt have any issues.

 

[tap]

Well, from an energy standpoint a .22 shooting solids has more energy than a bow and arrow. so if you place the perfect shot behind the front shoulder I can assure you that a 22 will kill a blue wildebeast. Heck I've killed full grown bovine bulls (2000 lbs) at 15 yards with a 22 at a slaughter house. So when you ask what caliber is good and your not talking about cape buffalo, rhino, or elephant the correct answer is 22 to 50 bmg. Just depends on the experience you want. A 22 would be a very challenging experience and a 50 bmg would be a cool deal in itself. I've been on a couple of kull hunts for blesbok and gemsbok and all I used was a 223 with solids. took out a lot of animals. Shot my livingstone eland last year at 200 yards with a .270 130 gr softpoint. Right between the eyes. Caliber is really not the issue here. The issue is bullet choice more than anything. Most calibers with muzzle energies between 2300 fpe and 3800 fpe will do the job just fine. However when you ask questions like this you will get the answer I just gave you over 13,000,000 replies as everyone out there has their favorite caliber and are going to let you know why. In reality they are all good and none is better than the other. Just make sure you know your bullet and how your bullet works.

 

[Diamondhitch]

Well, from an energy standpoint a .22 shooting solids has more energy than a bow and arrow. so if you place the perfect shot behind the front shoulder I can assure you that a 22 will kill a blue wildebeast. Heck I've killed full grown bovine bulls (2000 lbs) at 15 yards with a 22 at a slaughter house. So when you ask what caliber is good and your not talking about cape buffalo, rhino, or elephant the correct answer is 22 to 50 bmg. Just depends on the experience you want. A 22 would be a very challenging experience and a 50 bmg would be a cool deal in itself. I've been on a couple of kull hunts for blesbok and gemsbok and all I used was a 223 with solids. took out a lot of animals. Shot my livingstone eland last year at 200 yards with a .270 130 gr softpoint. Right between the eyes. Caliber is really not the issue here. The issue is bullet choice more than anything. Most calibers with muzzle energies between 2300 fpe and 3800 fpe will do the job just fine. However when you ask questions like this you will get the answer I just gave you over 13,000,000 replies as everyone out there has their favorite caliber and are going to let you know why. In reality they are all good and none is better than the other. Just make sure you know your bullet and how your bullet works.

Good example of why Momentum is a far better measure of power than KE. I would much rather have my arm hit by a bullet at 5000mph than a bus at 50mph.

 

[35bore]

So, I guess it's settled. Proper bullet construction and placement of said bullet are much more important that caliber size.

Very good topic BART.

 

[buffybr]

Do you really think he's still running? If you hit him where you think, I would say he died the same day... He probably died after a week or two anyway. There is a reason why a wounded animal are consider dead and has to be paid for in full.

I had a similar situation on my first African hunt. On the 4th day of my 10 day hunt I shot a Waterbuck bull. After 35 years of hunting deer, elk, etc in Colorado and Montana, I used the North American aim point and shot the Waterbuck just behind his shoulder and 1/3 to 1/2 up into his body. We searched for that bull for five days with up to 10 hunters, PH's, and trackers. Finally, on the evening of the 10th day we found and killed that Waterbuck bull. He was running with a group of cows and appeared healthy. Five days after I had first shot that bull, he didn't show any signs of having been shot except for the entrance and exit wounds (behind both shoulders) that he had licked clean. We will never know, but I believe that bull would have survived.

As to the question of shots on Blue Wildebeest, I shot mine with a 7 mm Rem mag, 140 gr Balistic Tip bullet. One shot at about 100 yds, he was quartering away, the bullet entered behind his left shoulder, exploded his lungs, and he fell dead on the spot.

 

[tap]

I shot mine with a 7 mm Rem mag, 140 gr Balistic Tip bullet. he fell dead on the spot.

Ballistic tip, really? I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about that right now. Thats worth two knuckle bumps right there buddy! Can I call you son cuz that right there makes daddy proud! lol

I've heard so many ph's bash ballistic tips. Problem with those bullets is that people just don't know how to shoot them properly. A ballistic tip in the hands of a competent man is the most destructive bullet ever made! those ballistic tips transfer 100% of their energy to the intended target almost every time. Put that explosion within the confines of the chest cavity and not on a shoulder and you have some seriously dead critters!

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Guys
While I understand what you are trying to get at, ballistic tips have proven not to provide sufficient penetration on African Game, more times than what they actually have. I for one think that you are extremely fortunate in having your Wildebeest drop like a bag of potatoes, Don't get me wrong... I am extremely happy for you.

But please as a firendly request from a full time professional hunter, to possible new Africa addicts... do not follow this advise,....it could potentially work,....... but the chances that you will regret it are much greater.

My best always.

 

[vgruan]

Hey guys,

Personally I have also seen to many African Game run away being shot with the ballistic tip out of any caliber. It is actually worse when shot out of a faster calibre. They break up and dont penetrate at all. My personal favourite is the TSX bullet from Barnes and also Nosler Partition. I have had the most consistent success with clients using these bullets.

Best regards,

Jacques

 

[Diamondhitch]

Jacques, I knew I liked you. LOL Those are my picks as well.

 

[libertarian]

I shot a nice big BW with a 30-06 using a 180grain Barnes MRX. It went all the way through both lungs and the major vessels of the heart, it walked about 40 feet and fell right there.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I shot a nice big BW with a 30-06 using a 180grain Barnes MRX. It went all the way through both lungs and the major vessels of the heart, it walked about 40 feet and fell right there.

The way it should be! Congratulations on that Bull.

 

[vgruan]

Jacques, I knew I liked you. LOL Those are my picks as well.

What can we say....Great minds and hunters like qaulity bullets and good equipment that has proven itself over and over again my friend..... ;-) :beer:

 

[Calhoun]

I shot my Blue Wildebeest with a 30/06 with a 180 gr Nozler Partition. It went about 200 yards hit behind the front shoulder.

 

[enysse]

Ballistic tip, really? I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about that right now. Thats worth two knuckle bumps right there buddy! Can I call you son cuz that right there makes daddy proud! lol

I've heard so many ph's bash ballistic tips. Problem with those bullets is that people just don't know how to shoot them properly. A ballistic tip in the hands of a competent man is the most destructive bullet ever made! those ballistic tips transfer 100% of their energy to the intended target almost every time. Put that explosion within the confines of the chest cavity and not on a shoulder and you have some seriously dead critters!

I agree with you tap...100 percent....I love the ballistic tips!

 

[buffybr]

Ballistic tip, really? I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about that right now. Thats worth two knuckle bumps right there buddy! Can I call you son cuz that right there makes daddy proud! lol

I've heard so many ph's bash ballistic tips. Problem with those bullets is that people just don't know how to shoot them properly. A ballistic tip in the hands of a competent man is the most destructive bullet ever made! those ballistic tips transfer 100% of their energy to the intended target almost every time. Put that explosion within the confines of the chest cavity and not on a shoulder and you have some seriously dead critters!

Thanks tap. That hunt was back in 2000, on a hunt that a friend bought at a SCI auction and I was a late addition to the group. I also didn't have access to any of my guns so I bought a Rem 700 ADL in 7mm Rem mag from a newspaper ad. With limited time, I only worked up loads with the 140 gr Balistic Tips and 160 gr Partitions. I couldn't get acceptable accuracy with the Partitions, so I went with the BTs.

And yes, I did get a lot of flack from the PHs in camp and especially from the Outfitter after I shot and lost the Waterbuck that I mentioned earlier. However, on that same hunt, in addition to the Blue Wildebeest and with the 140 gr Balistic Tips, I made one shot kills on a Kudu, a Gemsbok, a Blesbok, a Limpopo bushbuck, and 2 Impalas.

After that hunt, I worked up an accecptable load for my 7mm RM with 160 gr Accubonds. I sucessfully used that load on another South African hunt in 2005, where one PH was VERY inpressed with the performance of the Accubonds, and on a Caribou and Musk ox hunt in northern Canada (along with enysse), and for Elk here in Montana.

A few years ago I also replaced my long standing favorite Deer/Pronghorn/Sheep load with 117 gr Sierra GameKing bullets in my .257 Ackley with 115 gr Balistic Tips. I've been very happy with that change.

And tap, do you really want to call a geezer "son"???:heh:

 

[johana]

I shot a nice bull at 250m with my .270 win and a 150gr pro amm soft point, it ran about 40 m, and that is where I picked him up.

 

[desertloper]

My wife shot ours from 85 yds with 7mm WSM, 160gr TSX. High heart/ lung, pranced in a 15 ft circle, then down.

The PH commented on shot placement as this was not the norm for 7mm..

 

[lwaters]

The frist shot that I toke at a blue wildebeest was apparently a miss. I think I was so worried about holding low on the animal that I shot under him. We looked for blood and found none then we followed the herd for a couple hours and never found any blood. Finally I got another shot face on and dropped him in his tracks at about 200 meters. When we got up to him he was still alive so I gave him a shot down through the lungs and he let out the loudest bellow I have ever heard and died. The frontal shot was off center alittle but apparently broke him down. The ph said he was the same bull that I missed. That made me feel better because I would rather miss than wound. He was a beautiful animal with a fantastic hide that I think is prettier than a zebras.

 

[lwaters]

Oh I forgot I used a 300 Ruger Compact Mag. with 180 grain Nosler Partition loade to around 2800 fps out of a 20in. barrell.

 

[BryceM]

I have killed exactly one BW. The only shot I had was a spine shot as the bottom 2/3 of the animal could not be seen. It wasn't a shot I liked, but it was that or nothing. We had been following the herd for miles and this was the best (and only) shot opporunity. I took a solid rest and hit it squarely in the spine at about 150 yards. Of course it went down immediately. We rushed forward and, considering my allergy to prolonged forced marches, gave it one more on the shoulder. I use a .300 Wby with handloaded 180gr TTSX Barnes. In retrospect, I'd probably not take this shot again, but real-world circumstances sometimes just are what they are.

A couple of months ago my dad shot a nice BW bull at about 100 yards with a 210gr Barnes TTSX in .340 Wby. His shot was in-line with the back of the shoulder, but a bit too high. We were lucky it was a very, very old bull. We tracked him for about 1/2 mile and he jumped up, giving us another shot. The second shot was much better, low in the shoulder. He went about 250 more yards where we found him dead.

About bullets, darn near anything can work. Shot placement of course is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th most important thing. I think the North American custom of shooting behind the shoulder has more to do with a long history of innadequate bullet penetration than is does with anatomical differences. Since discovering the TTSX, I've gone to a through-the-shoulder shot for everything, including NA deer and elk. Penetration is fantastic. I finally recovered my first bullet in April under the hide of a 2000 lb Eland. Mushrooming was textbook perfect. Retained weight was 179.2 gr. Over-penetration doesn't appear to be a problem. None of the animals have ever had time to complain about it. The eland went maybe 10 yards. Nosler Partitions are also lethal but explode a tremendous amount of meat and ruin a lot of good capes when used on smaller critters at high velocities. Even on springbok and duiker the TTSX makes one little hole on the way in and one slightly larger hole on the way out.