ballistic tip too much for antelope??

[buffybr]

With proper shot placement, antelope are not that hard to kill. Just about any bullet shot into the central nervous system (spine or brain) or into the heart/lungs will do the job. A Ballistic Tip out of anything from a .243 or larger should do the job nicely.

I have only used BT's once for antelope. It was a 140 gr from a 7mm Rem Mag. One shot into the lungs at 150-200 yds put him down.

I also used that gun and bullet combination on my first hunt in South Africa. It accounted for one shot kills on a Kudu, a Gemsbok, a Blue wildebeest, 2 Impala, a Blesbok, and a Bushbuck. I also shot another Impala and a Waterbuck, but they required a finishing shot.

As to the question of why use a .22-250 for antelope? I guess the answer is because we can. Just like some people hunt with archery equipment, and some hunt with black powder guns.

As to the energy of a .22-250, according to a Hornady reloading manual, a 53 gr bullet with a muzzle velocity of 3700 fps has 1280 ft-lbs of energy at 100 yds. That is more than adequate to cleanly kill an antelope IF the bullet penetrates into the central nervious system or the heart/lung vitals. I think my lost antelope was the result of a varmint bullet that opened up too quickly and did not penetrate into the vitals.

This coming season, I hope to use Nosler 110 gr Accubond bullets from my .257 Ackley for antelope.

[loaders_loft]

Its hard to find a 22 cal bullet that's intended for "penetration". Maybe a 60gr partition, or a 53gr TSX. Not sure if a 1:14 twist will stabilize these...

Anyway, thanks to all who have chimed in about my ballistic tip question. Unless something miraculous happens with the bergers, I'm going to hunt with the ballistic tips...

[loaders_loft]

In the final day before my hunt, the ballistic tips won out over the bergers for accuracy - haven't sorted out the berger fliers just yet.

Anyway, the 150 gr ballistic tip performed nicely, without too much meat damage.

The first shot was 203 yards, deflected my shoulder shot off the sage in front of me and actually hit high on the hams, which sat the antelope down. After waiting about 10 minutes for a standing shot I broke out the rear bag and made the 203 yard headshot to finish. Surprisingly, I didn't lose much from the hams, and very little hydraulic shock (jello effect).

The second was a 185 yard shot just behind the shoulder, punched through the ribs no problem and dropped with one big lurch forward - dead.

Pics to follow...

Here were a few things we learned on our first antelope hunt.

- once they spot you standing, they will spook from a long ways off. Stay in the low crevices along the prairie, and use elbow & knee pads to crawl & shimmy up close for the shot. Even sitting doesn't seem to spook like standing.

- a poorly shot antelope can run forever, and can be hard to spot the fall, if they're running in a pack.

- even if they spook over a hill, the buck will sometimes peek back over the rise to check on whatever spooked them. Curious animals I guess.

- the highway is good cover.

- there are no trees on the prairie, and boning out 4 antelope on the ground is hard on the back...

[loaders_loft]

Here's the gorey details we all love to see



see the entrance



see the exit!