best bullet for antelope

[mark308]

I drew a tag for district 6 in montana my brother also the brother will use his 300wsm with a 150 gr bullet. I have both a 30/06 and a 300 win mag. I shoot the 125 & 150 accubond nosler in the 06. range is good to 350 yds. Im still debating on what to use for the mag. leaning towards the 165 accubond. shoots at 3200fps. at the start of the season they should let us get "reasonably" close. I practice out to 600yds with both guns using 125-180wt. I just dont want to destroy meat on the little guys. wish I still had my 25/06 gun)

 

[grit]

Kind of hard to go wrong with antelope. They'll die from a slingshot wound. I think accubonds would be a great choice. Reliable, controlled expansion. Hard to ask for more. I would consider a neck shot if you really want to conserve meat. I don't personally see a ton of value in the front shoulders (3lbs of jerky), so don't have a problem sending a berger or accubond through them.

I'll be shooting a 7mm 189 cauterucio into mine this year. Somewhere between a smk and a berger. Have fun!

 

[Tbone]

What Grit said, and you don't need a cannon for these little guys. I've taken many with the 25/06 and a 120 gr. Sierra. The lighter the bullet-weight to caliber, the more meat you'll loose. A well-placed shot, behind the front-shoulder, will do the trick.

Personally, this year I will use a 45/90 black-powder cartridge rifle, with a full-case of the holy black and a cast lead bullet at around 1400 fps. No wasted meat here . It leaves a nice round 1" exit-hole. That load is good out to 300 yards or more, using barrel sights.

Best of luck,


Jim

 

[jacack]

ditto,anything will do the trick if placed well, I used a 220 swift for yrs and now have a 223wssm loaded with 80grn bergers that works very good,not sure on caliber laws where you hunt but 22cal is fine where I hunt em.

 

[TCKev]

I usually shoot 168gr Berger's in my 7mm Lazz XP-100 but I ordered some of the new 140gr Berger's and need to get some loaded to test. I'm thinking I can get 3200fps but whether I can hit anything with it we'll have to see.

 

[Dskiper]

Dskiper

I drew wyoming #69 for antelope&#89 for mulies.Using 130gr.Nosler Part.in.270wsm.Worked great last 2 seasons! Can't wait!

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I drew my 700 tag... an easy draw. Antelope die easy. I would use a high retetion bullet like a TSX, that will put a clean hole through it. I'll be using 180 gr E-Tips out of my 300 WSM. Way more rifle and bullet than needed, but will will give me more long range options. A double lung a few inches behind the shoulder will put it down and save meat.

Good Hunting

 

[cornstalker]

I have had the best results on speedgoats with Nosler Accubonds. I have used Ballistic Tips and Ballistic Silvertips with a great deal of success also.

The only poor bullet performance I have experienced was with a 160 grain Barnes XLC in my wife's 7mm Rem Mag. They seemed to expand too late, resulting in decent exit wounds, but didn't seem to dump enough shock to take 'em out quickly. We shot two antelope with that gun/load combo and had to chase them both for a mile. Both first shots were clearly in the normal kill zone. One we finished with a shot in the face, the other we blew to pieces, with three total shots in the engine compartment. Never used that bullet on A-lope again, never had that problem before or since.


Just for the record, that same Barnes bullet is awesome on elk.

 

[IChaseCoues]

My advise would be to take the bullet you have the most confidence in.
Not expansion confidence, but accuracy confidence.
Ya gotta know where it's gonna hit, because goats die easy.

By that I mean shoot what is most accurate, and worry about BC if the shot will be over 300yds.


These critters are only about 12" thick at the chest and a little more at the shoulders, so the bullet doesn't have much distance to dump energy.
If hunting for meat a rapidly expanding bullet in the heart zone is the best option.
If meat loss is not that much of a concern, a rapid expanding bullet in the shoulder will give instant results.

Of the choices you listed I'd pick the 300 WM with 168 A-Max's, and practice a lot in field conditions.

My $.02

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Nosler Ballistic Tips. Only problem I see there would be meat loss, but antelope aint all that great to eat anyways...NBT's are accurate as target bullets, expand reliably, and dump a lot of shock into game. I'd go with a 180g in the 300 WM, or 150-165g in the 06.

Who needs a TSX for antelope??? That would be my LAST bullet for antelope.

 

[RedChili]

Hi, first post. Been turbogoat hunting for about 8 years, really the first and favorite big game (easier on the knees than elk) for me.

Shooting .300WSM in a Browning A-bolt, Synthetic Stalker. I like the shootin' iron, it brings home the meat and is tough. Burris 4-14x 50mm ballistic plex. Good in low light, I found, elk hunting and end of legal shooting goat hunting.

I am new to handloading, and am trying a buddy's recommendation of Sierra GameKing BTSPs (150gr.), W760, Winchester brass, Remington mag primers, trimmed and lightly crimped and from what I read loaded on the light end of the scale. He loads to the max. We are both rather new to hand loading.

To date I have shot boxed Winchester Ballistic Silvertips 150gr. and taken goats at 200-400 yards pretty darn accurately. I am dreaming of being one-shot accurate to 600-800 yards. (Yeah, gotta dream...)

Can you edjumacate me on my handloading choice above? I have generally found no matter what I shoot they pincushion and fall down, which is fine by me.

Oh, and I find antelope tasty, but I do a thing or two to it in the field and on the grill.

My "ATV":

 

[IChaseCoues]

RedChili,
Welcome, and great name.
I have no advice on the load (have never owned a 300WSM or shot SGK's).

But that's my type of ATV.
What year is that 'Runner?
And I really like the contraption on the front. It would be worth alot if there aren't any trees around.

What part of the world do you hunt?

 

[RedChili]

Wyoming generally, around Kaycee, though access there is drying up and getting quite expensive. We had free access, but some morons dumped antelope carcasses in the rancher's pond mad:!!!!!!), and that was the end of that. I grew up on a Kentucky horse farm, so I understand his reaction. I live in Colorado.

The truck started out as a 1987, but I cut out the front end and it now has a 1984 front axle, a 1992 FJ80 high pinion front diff, double transfer case, 1996 3.4L V6, and actually tows a camper pretty well. It's my baby and where I get my handle (it helps that I like and make good red chili too, a very good use for antelope!). Has a new body since I rolled it once, and has nearly 200K on it. I figure it will be good to 4-500K, no joke either. As long as I don't pull another moron move and wreck it.

I tend to overthink things, I built that 'goat hoist' out of small square tubing and made it folding, and the winch makes it height adjustable. My buddy is not welder endowed, so he just used straps, some rigid electrical pipe, and puts one end on his ball mount on the back of his truck. Works just as well as mine and was a bunch easier and cheaper. DOH! I still like mine though. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Here's my 2 cents for whatever it's worth:

Virtually any expanding bullet will do an adequate job of killing pronghorns if the shot placement is good. I would choose an accurate bullet that resists the wind (high B/C) because the winds out west can be unpredictable and strong. I found it harder to dope the wind than anything else. This is why I would not advocate using a 22-250 or similar cartridge even though they have sufficient terminal energy for lopes.

I used a 162gr A-Max bullet because it was very accurate in my rifle, had a rather high B/C and because the A-Max bullets will expand at virtually any distance. The closest I ever got to my lope was about 450yds but he was no match for the 7STW & A-Max bullet combo.