Nilgai hunt booked!!

[MySRT8U]

Did a little bit of trade out and January 26th I will be heading south the chase a big blue bull! Gonna take my .308 on the trip. I know a lot of people say you need a magnum caliber but I would rather take a rifle that I am comfortable shooting and put a good shot on one in the vitals. Now I do have one question, I currently shoot 168 grain sierra game king rounds. My rifle will shoot groups at 300 yards that you can cover with a nickle, using this ammo. Is that an adequate bullet for a nilgai? I shot an elk with it at just over 300 yards over the Christmas holiday and he folded up like a cheap lawn chair but I know these nilgai are tough, tough animals.

[MitchParker]

I've always heard that you "should" use a bonded bullet (e.g., partition) or a mono bullet (e.g., Barnes). I'd also think a 180gr would be better.

And, congrats on booking the hunt.

[Mrsailfish]

I think most places require a 300 win mag at the smallest to use. The also require bonded bullets as already said.

[Jmsck12]

Nilgai hunt booked!!

My dad shot this cow on our lease last week with his 270 WSM shooting a 130 grain nosler partition. She weighed 210 dressed, puts the live weight around 240-250. She went maybe 100 yards with a blood trail that I could following looking backwards over my shoulder.
If I were hunting a bull I wouldn’t hesitate to use that 308, I’d be aiming for a neck shot though, we have a good bull on camera right now, if he steps out on me the bullet is headed straight to his neck, no fun dragging those animals out of the brush. If it makes you feel better, a hunter I know shot a 300 pound bull with his 243, he said it spun him around in his tracks and dropped him.



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[IDFWU]

Not much help on the type of bullet but you deff should practice shooting off sticks while standing. Bracken range will let you do it. Before I hunted mine I practiced off a bench at 100 to establish my group of 4. Then stood up and shot 4 as fast & smooth as I could....obviously there was a big difference. But after some practice I had a manageable group off the sticks.

Obviously a 300+ yard shot off of sticks is way harder than prone or on a bench rest. I got lucky, mine came out at about 450+ yards and walked right towards us. When he got to 75 yards I shot him in the middle of the chest (he was facing us), then ran up and put another in his vitals as he was crashing down.

Also, who are you hunting with?

[S-3 Ranch]

IMO most people over think, nilgie and elk , a good .30cal will kill them DRT I have seen them killed with British 303 ,7x57 .270 .dont rush your shot and just punch a good hole in them

[kyle1974]

I had a guy that was shooting 150 grain remington core lokt's out of a 30-06. his first shot was too far back and into the guts. after we chased it down, we found it with it's head in a water trough. It stood up and he shot it in the neck from about 65 yards away. I told him to keep shooting until it was dead. He had to hit it 3 times total in the neck from 65-80 yards away. not a single bullet passed through the neck. He was putting them in a good spot but those bullets just weren't penetrating for ****. so, shoot a good bullet.

I've seen them killed with .243 and 25-06, but that's not ideal. head on shots in the white throat patch is a good spot. I have a buddy that's killed a couple hundred of them, and his favorite shot was head on, dead center in the chest. If you can get a quartering away shot and tuck one up behind the shoulder bones, that works pretty good too. High shoulder shots that might hit back and be high in the lungs will usually lead to a long trailing. the hide on their lower neck and shoulders is very thick, so 300 yards with a .308 wouldn't be my first choice.

[dphillips62]

I would look at something in the 175 to 180gr range i have been using a hornady 178 gr ELD-X very accurate and well constructed. I took a moflon ram at 480 yards just before thanksgiving (I know it's not a Nilgai) also took a large boar at 600 yards the 178 gr blew through both shoulders with my 308. Had to throw away both shoulders on the hog because it was too damaged.

[sierracharlie338]

Barring any restrictions from the place you are hunting, the 308 should be fine. Take your time and make the right shot and you will have your trophy. I would try to keep it inside 200 yards just for the extra energy dump over 300 yards.

[Dlove]

My son shot this bull a few weeks back. 7mmSTW 150gr Barnes triple shock dropped in his tracks bullet ended up under the hide on opposite shoulder. I used partitions before but they loose a lot of weight when shot out of hot guns and nothing seems to beat the Barnes. The bull my son shot had hide over an inch thick.

[AntlerCollector]

Good luck on your hunt

[Jmsck12]

My son shot this bull a few weeks back. 7mmSTW 150gr Barnes triple shock dropped in his tracks bullet ended up under the hide on opposite shoulder. I used partitions before but they loose a lot of weight when shot out of hot guns and nothing seems to beat the Barnes. The bull my son shot had hide over an inch thick.

That bull is beatiful, love the color, I’ve only seen one other one like that and he was on refuge land.


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[Rick]

It is weird, you can kill them w an arrow, but not w a 308?

I have always heard that you need 300 or bigger, the one I shot was with a 300, good shot and still went 100 yards, they are super tough animals

[bustacap]

Hit a bull in the shoulder with my 280ai and 145gr Barnes LRX at 200yds....
Never found the bull and only one drop of blood.
Stay away from the shoulder! If I could take the shot over again, it would have been in the neck. Keep shot within 200 yds and you’ll be fine.

[txpitdog]

I shot my nilgai cow with a 300gr SGK from my 375 Ruger. It killed the animal but the jacket separated...but no question did it kill it. If I hunt then again I will still take my 375 but will probably use a 270gr TSX or a NPT

They aren’t bulletproof but they are tough. I personally would use a tougher bullet than the SGK.