I went on a Nilgai hunt last May for the first time ever. After two days of hunting and spot and stalking for over 21 miles, on a private ranch, I was only able to connect with a cow.
I decided to book another hunt scheduled for a couple of weeks ago. Well, as I was driving to the airport, I was informed the hunt was cancelled for some sort of issue with the land owner.
The cancelled hunt gave me a chance to seek out a rifle I wanted to take along and one I have wanted for a bit. I found what I wanted at a local gun show...300 Weatherby Mag. The new to me rifle is about 25 years old and still retains its beautiful colors on the stock. The original owner told me he used it in Africa three times. He had an older Leupold scope so I worked out a deal without the scope since I prefer mil dots. I took it to Bass Pro to get bore sighted and use the shooting tube. The tube was only working to 40 yards, but I was able to calculate correct zero at 100.
My buddy found another place to go so I flew in Sunday afternoon. We decided to try a night hunt since I had never done such a thing. After checking a few places and seeing some decent bulls, we came upon this beast. After watching him run a bit and then back track, I knew he was mine. The guide asked how I felt since we were 185 yards out and it was dark. I let him know the scope had a pretty clear picture so I was going to squeeze off the round. Just as I got into the second stage of the trigger (my feeling, not an actual two stage trigger), he turned his head back to the right so I let off. His head turn was in direction of my round and I did not want to chance hitting his head.
He soon thereafter looked back forward as the cows in front of him started running. He was about to step as I squeezed. The 200 grain round smacked him just above the shoulder and he dropped immediately. It was a slam dunk! We were all pumped as I hit exactly where I was aiming and we didn’t have to crawl through the rattlesnake filled night searching for him.
He is a pretty good size by my standards and was the herd bull-no other bull was even remotely close to his size. I will be getting the capped head sent to Alpine Taxidermy for mounting and will have that meat shipped when ready.
I decided to book another hunt scheduled for a couple of weeks ago. Well, as I was driving to the airport, I was informed the hunt was cancelled for some sort of issue with the land owner.
The cancelled hunt gave me a chance to seek out a rifle I wanted to take along and one I have wanted for a bit. I found what I wanted at a local gun show...300 Weatherby Mag. The new to me rifle is about 25 years old and still retains its beautiful colors on the stock. The original owner told me he used it in Africa three times. He had an older Leupold scope so I worked out a deal without the scope since I prefer mil dots. I took it to Bass Pro to get bore sighted and use the shooting tube. The tube was only working to 40 yards, but I was able to calculate correct zero at 100.
My buddy found another place to go so I flew in Sunday afternoon. We decided to try a night hunt since I had never done such a thing. After checking a few places and seeing some decent bulls, we came upon this beast. After watching him run a bit and then back track, I knew he was mine. The guide asked how I felt since we were 185 yards out and it was dark. I let him know the scope had a pretty clear picture so I was going to squeeze off the round. Just as I got into the second stage of the trigger (my feeling, not an actual two stage trigger), he turned his head back to the right so I let off. His head turn was in direction of my round and I did not want to chance hitting his head.
He soon thereafter looked back forward as the cows in front of him started running. He was about to step as I squeezed. The 200 grain round smacked him just above the shoulder and he dropped immediately. It was a slam dunk! We were all pumped as I hit exactly where I was aiming and we didn’t have to crawl through the rattlesnake filled night searching for him.
He is a pretty good size by my standards and was the herd bull-no other bull was even remotely close to his size. I will be getting the capped head sent to Alpine Taxidermy for mounting and will have that meat shipped when ready.
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