nilgai with a 308?

[skeeter]

whatcha think?

Im thinking of going to a 165 grain solid copper bullet. But, what do yall thing is the best 308 bullet for niggai?

[Jamerendino]

I used a 308 with nolser accubonds and killed 2 wildebeest and 1 kudu with it. Almost full weight retention and pass through on all shots. If that's what you have I'd say shoot it and keep shots close with a bonded bullet.

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[Jmh05]

The first Nilgai bull I killed was with my .300 Win Mag and I shot it in the heart and he only stumbled about 30yrds and died…and I still wish I had a larger rifle for those beasts. I highly recommend a .338 or .375 H&H.

Those things are tough. Don’t under gun. Just my opinion.

[BLACKFINTURKEY]

Originally Posted by Jmh05

The first Nilgai bull I killed was with my .300 Win Mag and I shot it in the heart and he only stumbled about 30yrds and died…and I still wish I had a larger rifle for those beasts. I highly recommend a .338 or .375 H&H.

Those things are tough. Don’t under gun. Just my opinion.

Sounds like you had plenty of gun…

[Javelin]

My buddy just got back from a nilgi hunt and shot a bull with a 308 with federal fusions Ran 30 yards and died

[tward1604]

Originally Posted by skeeter

whatcha think?

Im thinking of going to a 165 grain solid copper bullet. But, what do yall thing is the best 308 bullet for niggai?

Do it. they're not bullet proof.

[Randell]

Just talking off the cuff and never hunted them but I know some folks who bow hunt them and have had success, I’d think anything from a 270 on up would do the job.

[Mitchell8]

It will kill

[DUKFVR]

Use the 308. Do your part & it will kill.

[freerhunter16]

While I personally would want more gun, keep shots at a reasonable distance with a well constructed bullet and it will kill just fine. I would suggest Barnes TTSX, Nosler Accubond, Partition, etc. with the TTSX being my first choice.

[gonzaleziam]

Went on a guided hunt this weekend. The guide wanted my son to use his 450 bushmaster. Dropped the nilgai in its tracks. It was awesome!! My son said the 450 didn’t have a terrible kick.

[CentralTXHunter]

You can kill them with darn near anything. Stick and a string and .243 and up.

However, a lot of guides won’t take bow hunters and have a minimum caliber requirement. That’s not because you can’t kill them. It just makes recovery that much more difficult. If you’ve never been in that brush county, it gets thick in a hurry and Nilgai are prone to weak blood trails.

Big caliber, bigger hole, more likelihood for a recovery when you get the shakes and make a less than perfect shot.

Your .308 should be fine, but if you have access to a larger bore rifle, I’d borrow it.


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[Muddy Bud]

You’ll be fine. We shoot them with 257 Wby mags 110 grain soft points. Hit them low or high in the shoulder and they don’t go far. That little bullet does a number internally. We like to keep the shots under 200.

[PYBUCK]

Shot placement is key. You do your part, the 308 will do it's.

[B Lasater]

I used .308 on both of mine with winchester ballistic silvertips, both were shot at the Kennedy and this is the bullet they shoot out of their loaner guns usually. Good luck and I'd practice shooting off of sticks.

[miket]

Hunting Oryx down south next week ( smaller than Nilgai ) and when I told the guide I wanted to use my 308 Win ( favorite rifle ) he said bring something bigger. I have never shot one, so dont know, but people kill Elk with smaller rifles.....Im just assuming he has dealt with a lot of bad shots

[Jmh05]

Originally Posted by BLACKFINTURKEY

Sounds like you had plenty of gun…

Yes sir, any caliber will work with a well placed shot like I made but despite almost perfection, I learned that those animals will take hits and vanish if you do not have near perfect shot placement.

[DUKFVR]

Originally Posted by miket

Hunting Oryx down south next week ( smaller than Nilgai ) and when I told the guide I wanted to use my 308 Win ( favorite rifle ) he said bring something bigger. I have never shot one, so dont know, but people kill Elk with smaller rifles.....Im just assuming he has dealt with a lot of bad shots

Yep, being a guide he has seen it all. I have had guides tell me they hate to see magnums, because lots of times the clients are scared of them & flinch, causing bad hits or misses.

[Killer]

You bet it will work fine. My son has killed several with 150gr Speer SP handloads out of his 308.

[trophy8]

Originally Posted by B Lasater

I used .308 on both of mine with winchester ballistic silvertips, both were shot at the Kennedy and this is the bullet they shoot out of their loaner guns usually. Good luck and I'd practice shooting off of sticks.

Neck shot I assume?


They are very tough OP. Yes a 308 will work. The point of a bigger gun is to get em down quick. They don’t bleed much. Can run a long way in sone very thick country with marginal shots. “My daughter killed one with a 223”. They forget to tell you it was a neck shot lol. Break their front end down and they won’t go far.

Lots of folks play with fire and just haven’t been burned. Put odds in your favor any way you can. Good luck! They are fun to hunt.

I will add that we all want to make perfect shots. And that many small calibers can do it. Just know your limits on what you can shoot best and limits on the shots you take.

[Main Frame]

Hunted the Yturria in Raymondville a few years ago. We brought a few 300 WM and a 300 Wby. Guide wouldn’t let us use them. Made us use his 33 Nosler and 338 Lapua. I think our rifles would have worked fine, but as others have said, you want to get those nilgai down quick as possible. I’m sure your 308 will work with proper placement.

[miket]

Originally Posted by DUKFVR

Yep, being a guide he has seen it all. I have had guides tell me they hate to see magnums, because lots of times the clients are scared of them & flinch, causing bad hits or misses.

I hadnt shot my 338 in years, so was a little apprehensive when I went to shoot it, especially since I dont shoot rifles much any more. I do remember it kicking pretty good. It actually wasnt bad at all. Compared to the turkey rounds I have been shooting in my shotgun, it was pretty manageable. Those turkey shells made me think I was turning into a wuss! No, those mofos kick!

[B Lasater]

One was a neck, one was a heart shot, both required shots at point blank to finish them off. My larger of the 2 required a back hoe to load and had 2 other random bullets lodged in him.

[C-dubyah]

I shot mine with 308, it took 3 steps and fell. Also, took my canadian moose with the same 308. Shot placement matters, not size.

[piercebronkite]

.308 can be done but trophy8 is spot on with his response.

Shot this one at 200yards, that hole is the entry point. I shot him through a vary narrow brush window and clipped a tiny branch.

Single shot of a .30-.378 Weatherby magnum dumped him in his tracks.

[Arrowthreat]

I shot mine with a 30-06 and a Barnes TSX bullet. I shot him in the base of the neck in the white patch. Dropped in his tracks. I wouldn't shoot one with a .308 in the shoulder.

[Mitchell8]

Good excuse for a 45-70

[miket]

Guide told me to bring "plenty of coolers". Are 2 of the 150qt coolers big enough?

I have another 120 I could bring. I am thinking maybe I should ask what the cost is to shoot a nilgai too

[trophy8]

Originally Posted by B Lasater

One was a neck, one was a heart shot, both required shots at point blank to finish them off. My larger of the 2 required a back hoe to load and had 2 other random bullets lodged in him.

I’m very curious of why the Kennedy uses BTs. I don’t see that actually happening on nilgai guns.

I shot mine with my 300 win mag and 200 grain ELDX. First shot did him in. He got 2 more pumped in him as he ran 100-150 yards. Hit em till they’re down lol

[MetalMan2004]

Originally Posted by Main Frame

Hunted the Yturria in Raymondville a few years ago. We brought a few 300 WM and a 300 Wby. Guide wouldn’t let us use them. Made us use his 33 Nosler and 338 Lapua. I think our rifles would have worked fine, but as others have said, you want to get those nilgai down quick as possible. I’m sure your 308 will work with proper placement.

That’s odd. I had the opposite experience at the King ranch. I had planned to use a .308 but found a deal on a 300wm so I went with that instead. I mentioned it to the guide and he said the bill would’ve have dropped just the same with a .308.

Originally Posted by miket

Guide told me to bring "plenty of coolers". Are 2 of the 150qt coolers big enough?

I have another 120 I could bring. I am thinking maybe I should ask what the cost is to shoot a nilgai too

I brought a 200 and a 150. Ended up borrowing another 50 from a friend in addition.

[RR 314]

A well placed .17 or .22 will kill them. I killed one as a kid with an HK91 in .308. My weapon of choice now is a .375 RUM. As others have stated, .308 will work. . . or fail depending on shot placement. Same is true of larger caliber magnums. Bonded bullets, with adequate mass and speed (that you shoot adequately) is the best combination.

[justletmein]

Kid on a youth hunt a few years ago shot one with an AR10 in 308, frontal shot, went down in around 10 yards the guy said. I thought 308 wasn't enough so had my son using my 300 WSM which he had issues the whole time seeing through the scope and cost him several shots. I still regret not just letting him use his 308 that he's used to and practices with.

[Tiburon1]

Originally Posted by skeeter

whatcha think?

Im thinking of going to a 165 grain solid copper bullet. But, what do yall thing is the best 308 bullet for niggai?

I am not sure how well that round will mushroom. I've killed plenty of nilgai and I use the Federal Nosler Partition. The 308 will work just fine provided that your shot placement is good. If it's broadsided, put it right in the shoulder and break it. Be ready for a follow up round if you can or it's needed.

[S-3 Ranch]

Like said before keeping the shot close and bust a shoulder or break a neck
When I worked on the Kennedy we killed them with .270, 8mm Remington mag, 300 H&H
303 British ( 180gr cor-loc)
Pick and choose the right shot, which is the hard part with daylight nilgai

[brrdnk]

A 165gn Swift A frame would be good medicine in the .308

[Jon B]

I love my .308 but would take or borrow a bigger gun. Just my preference. If it bleeds you buy so why wouldn't you stack the deck in your favor?

Little curious about the almost full weight retention and complete pass through comment above.....would that person elaborate?

[BillyJack1975]

308 with the proper bullet and placement will easily do the job. I’ve taken half dozen with my scout rifle and 220 grain handloads. This is my go to guiding gun and it’s always worked.

I’ve had clients lose Nilgai with 7mm and 300 magnums. And I’ve had em lose em also with 3006 and 308. A whitetail deer 150 grain factory load isn’t recommended for Nilgai. I’ve seen Winchester PowerPoint and similar factory loads fail several times, where a better bullet construction would have done better. Granted, shot placement wasn’t always ideal.

If your set on a 308, go with a bonded or copper bullet, or development a heavy hitting handload like I did. I specifically developed this handload for Nilgai hunting.


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[Pica11]

300 win mag break both shoulders. Your welcome

[Black Ice]

Originally Posted by CentralTXHunter

You can kill them with darn near anything. Stick and a string and .243 and up.

However, a lot of guides won’t take bow hunters and have a minimum caliber requirement. That’s not because you can’t kill them. It just makes recovery that much more difficult. If you’ve never been in that brush county, it gets thick in a hurry and Nilgai are prone to weak blood trails.

Big caliber, bigger hole, more likelihood for a recovery when you get the shakes and make a less than perfect shot.

Your .308 should be fine, but if you have access to a larger bore rifle, I’d borrow it.


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You can’t write a better response to what you said when it comes to Nilgai.


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[KX500]

I hunting them on the King Ranch in March. Considered buying a 300 Win mag or something like that, but having a 30.06 and realizing the difference between these 2 is 100 fps for so many loads, decided to stick with what I have.

Then started shooting it off sticks & kind of sucked with it.

So I tried my 308 and that made a huge difference. Realized the stock on the 30.06 is kind of narrow and can move around in the 'Y' of the sticks where the 308 fits in there just right.

Then started looking at 308 loads, found the Barnes TTSX 150 grain and saw that it is as fast as most 30.06 150 grain loads. Saw many a recommendation saying 'use a heavy bullet', but then only a couple of these went on to say 'because when that bullets sheds 20% of it's weight, you'll still have enough bullet moving through vitals to get the job done'. Seems the TTSX loads don't shed much if any weight.

King Ranch sends out some intsructions/FAQs when you book. As far as caliber goes they say .30 & up with no mention of bullet weight, but several recommendations on which bullets (TTSX, Accubond etc.) - and pretty sure somewhere they say they don't recommend bullets made for deer.

I'm sure they've seen lots of hunters with big magnums they've not shot a lot and don't shoot too well-with results as you'd expect.

[RifleBowPistol]

Originally Posted by KX500

I hunting them on the King Ranch in March. Considered buying a 300 Win mag or something like that, but having a 30.06 and realizing the difference between these 2 is 100 fps for so many loads, decided to stick with what I have.

Then started shooting it off sticks & kind of sucked with it.

So I tried my 308 and that made a huge difference. Realized the stock on the 30.06 is kind of narrow and can move around in the 'Y' of the sticks where the 308 fits in there just right.

Then started looking at 308 loads, found the Barnes TTSX 150 grain and saw that it is as fast as most 30.06 150 grain loads. Saw many a recommendation saying 'use a heavy bullet', but then only a couple of these went on to say 'because when that bullets sheds 20% of it's weight, you'll still have enough bullet moving through vitals to get the job done'. Seems the TTSX loads don't shed much if any weight.

King Ranch sends out some intsructions/FAQs when you book. As far as caliber goes they say .30 & up with no mention of bullet weight, but several recommendations on which bullets (TTSX, Accubond etc.) - and pretty sure somewhere they say they don't recommend bullets made for deer.

I'm sure they've seen lots of hunters with big magnums they've not shot a lot and don't shoot too well-with results as you'd expect.

Either the 30-06 or the 308, virtually identical on performance, but the 30-06 will work better with bullets over 180 gr. I would be looking for a 165 to 180 gr. bullet for the 308, then an Accubond, Accubond Long Range, Nosler Partitian, or a Swift A-Frame. You are not really wanting velocity, when using a rifle such as a 308 or 30-06 on an animal of that size. You want some expansion but not a lot. A 180 gr. bullet of any of the types I listed, you will be fine, if you put the bullet in the right spot. A spine shot of some type would be preferred, either a neck shot, which might be hard to figure out where the spine is in those wide neck. Or top of the shoulder, that will intersect the spine.

But with a bullet like I listed, if you have to take a heart shot, it will do enough damage to put them down quickly. If you took the 30-06, as a back up gun, I might look for a 200 gr. bullet. But a 180 gr. would work very well. Then before you go, learn whatever ammo you choose to use. As far as bullet drop, then carry a range finder. With a 308 or 30-06 and 180 gr. bullet or heavier, it's going to drop noticeably by 300 yards. A spine shot could wind up quite a bit low.

[sharkhunter]

Barnes LRX or the TTSX are fast becoming the go to bullet for Nilgai

[Gherkin05]

I’m running the Hornady Outfitter 165gr out of my 308. Crushes everything, big Aoudad, etc. Put a quality 165gr bullet or larger slug in the boiler room and you’ll be fine.

[Briar Friar]

Originally Posted by skeeter

whatcha think?

Im thinking of going to a 165 grain solid copper bullet. But, what do yall thing is the best 308 bullet for niggai?

Shoot it in the shoulder.

[Briar Friar]

Originally Posted by Muddy Bud

You’ll be fine. We shoot them with 257 Wby mags 110 grain soft points. Hit them low or high in the shoulder and they don’t go far. That little bullet does a number internally. We like to keep the shots under 200.

What he said…
Shoot it in the shoulder.

[Briar Friar]

Originally Posted by trophy8

Neck shot I assume?


They are very tough OP. Yes a 308 will work. The point of a bigger gun is to get em down quick. They don’t bleed much. Can run a long way in sone very thick country with marginal shots. “My daughter killed one with a 223”. They forget to tell you it was a neck shot lol. Break their front end down and they won’t go far.

Lots of folks play with fire and just haven’t been burned. Put odds in your favor any way you can. Good luck! They are fun to hunt.

I will add that we all want to make perfect shots. And that many small calibers can do it. Just know your limits on what you can shoot best and limits on the shots you take.

What he said…
Shoot it in the shoulder

Good skilling MrSkeeter. I look forward to the LDPs.

[Masmak]

Hunted the Kennedy Ranch about ten years ago. Our guide recommended 30.06 with 180 gr minimum. Some beautiful deer down there

[justletmein]

Then gogo gadget necks lol

[Mike D]

I like Barnes bullets but not in lower velocity cartridges. Barnes TSX and TTsX bullets like speed; the more the better they perform. The would probably work ok out to 150, maybe 200 yards but then they are getting too close to the low velocity expansion threshold.

I would lean more toward Accubond, Partition or maybe Swift A gram if you can find those.

Or even better yet, take a bigger gun.


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[miket]

Sure hope the old Rem Corelokt will work in 338, yall making me nervous talking about all these fancy bullets. Rem is literally the only ammo available I could find after hours of searching online