Eland Shot Placement

Hunting Eland Shot Placement

Post your questions, comments or pictures relating to hunting shot placement.

Hunting Eland


Hunting Eland

Has anyone taken a front shoulder blade/spine shot ? What did you use and how effective was it ?

I used a 338 Win Mag with 225 gr swift A frames on a large eland and it performed splendidly.

I have heard that most PH's like a 300 Win Mag or better for eland, but have heard that a 7mm Mag will also do nicely - but it is all bullet placement.

In my limited experience I would say that the 7mm is too light esp if you have a poor shot presentation or have to take a follow up shot.

If I was going to do it again I would use a 338 again. But it does have a fair kick although not as bad as its reputation. You need to be comfortable with the calibre and make the first shot count!

Hope that helps.

Eland are a great hunt - tough animals to hunt.

I have hunted about 15 Eland the past 25 years in South Africa and Namibia. On all hunts i have used a 30-06 with Pro-Am sn 220 gr. Shot placement was behind the shoulder blade, neck (right below the head) and head shots. The head and neck shots brought them down immediately on the spot, but the (behind) shoulder blade shots resulted in some running, the furthest was about 100 meters if i recall correctly.

I was lucky (???) enough to have had good shot placement on all Eland i have hunted so far, the distances varied between 120 m to 300 m. Although some of you gents will probably feel that a 30-06 with 220 gr bullet is a 'chancy choice' - i must say that i have had a perfect record on Eland up to now with this caliber and bullet. Like every sucessfull hunt - shotplacement is everything - period!

Personally - i believe that 30-06 with 220 gr bullets is the minimum requirement to go after the 'daddy' of African antelope. They are tough and if you are just a inch off-target - especially on the shoulder shot - you may be in for a long day...

I have shot a number of Eland in the spine and the juncture of the neck and shoulder is always an excellent shot on any animal IMO...Mostly I have used the 375 or 416 on Eland but have killed a few of them with the .270 and 30-06, 9.3x62 and my 7x57..Seen a few killed with such calibers as the .308, 7x57, 8x57 to name a few, and one with a .243 100 gr. corelokt that penentrated him lengthwise. I am fond of the 30-06 with 180, 200 and 220 gr. Noslers, especially the 220 gr. Noslers on eland.

I would say the 7x57 with a proper 175 gr. bullet would be my minimum suggestion for Eland or elephant for that matter. I have shot enough Eland, Cape buffalo with a 7x57 to be content with it on anything...I also observed a PH kill a big bull elephant with a heart shot with a 175 gr. Nosler, the elephant ran 100 yards and died and bled like a stuck hog..an awesome amount of blood on the ground..About what I would have expected with a 458 Lott or 505.....

The Eland is a very large animal at considerably over 2000 lbs in some cases and can take a lot of killing on ocassion..Bullet placement and the use of properly constructed bullets is absolutly critical and certainly takes precidents over caliber IMO...Within reason, I have found caliber to be the least important aspect of killing any animal...

Hi Ray,

I totaly agree with you on this one. The use of a propper, tuff bullet and shotplacement is the most important aspects in killing game.

A small hole in the heart is better than a big hole anywhere else!

Well I can give some final feedback on my query. I hunted a 750kg Eland in June 2009. At 40 metres range it ran from left to right, I swung my 9.3x62 and swung onto its shoulder and touched off the shot. I must have continued to swing as I shot it fair in the middle of the neck. DRT.

i also have hunted a view eland, and i also just use my 30-06, ammo i use is Norma loaded 180gr Nosler Partition and 180gr Oryx. Nothing more needed i would say, i shot a 900kg bull this year on the shoulders over 230m, and no problem, i was amazed that it entered the right shoulder and actually exited just behind the left shoulder over that distance i would say is damn impressive
muzzle velocity is 2800fps on the 180gr Nosler's

They're not hard to kill but a real bastard to find if they're wounded! In zim only a 7mm mag > is legal! Hunting the big blue bulls is much the same as a dagga boy buff hunt when you track them from water early morning! Lots of fun!

Eland with a bursar, I thought was a broken leg at first! Shot with a .308!

Maybe one day when I'm big I'll be able to hunt an Eland. I regularly hunt with Prvi Partisan 170gr Grom for .308

One day.....

I hunted eland last year. My guns were'nt allowed to leave the country so I was force to use my ph's gun. He handed me a 270 with 130 gr softpoints. He said it will more than do the job if I listen to him. So I did. my bull was at 30 yards broadside with a massive amount of muscle. PH told me to shoot slap bang in the middle of the shoulder. I looked at him with a bewildered look on my face. He said "Do as I say". So I did. The eland jumped, kicked almost fell and bolted. 2 days later with dogs at hand we still couldn't find that eland. Bullet impacted middle of the shoulder. Just didn't penetrate. When the ph gave me a second opportunity he told me the eland was at 200 yards. Told me to shoot once he had a scope on it so he could see the impact point this time. He gave me the go ahead and I waited 30 more seconds as I was standing free hand against a tree trying to steady the cross hairs between the elands eyes. Finally it all came together and he dropped where he stood. I would definitely say to take a gun that can run through the shoulder and not stop on it.

Originally Posted by tap

I hunted eland last year. My guns were'nt allowed to leave the country so I was force to use my ph's gun. He handed me a 270 with 130 gr softpoints......

Those "soft points" would have been the mistake.... along with the 30 yard shot.

I have had 6 inches of penetration on an Elk shot with .270 130 soft points at 30 yards. Without other holes in the boiler room this one would have joined your first Eland.

The same bullet had complete penetration of 30 inches on a Moose at 380 yards. (Ribs and Shoulder) (Follow up insurance shot, just to make sure) It slowed down enough to keep on going.

So much energy so close the bullets blow up close in. Big bad learning experience for me.
This sold me on high quality bullets for Africa.


Even with great shot placement (200 grain 8mm) my Eland soaked up more than I ever expected an animal could.
Glad I did not need dogs to trail him to recovery.