30 06 on Blue Wildebeest

Good day I need some advice on the best "grain" bullet to be effective on a Blue Wildebeest . Last year I used a 180 gr PMP bullet but wasn't totally happy with the results . Shoulder shot at +/- 150 meters and had to take a 2nd shot before he went down will a 220 gr do perhaps a better job?

180 is fine, but your experience with wildebeest is not unusual. Almost everyone who has shot very many has a story to tell. My son had to wear one down over a two mile stern chase after what seemed to be a perfect first shot a few years ago. They seem to be particulary resistant to follow-up rounds. I am a great fan of the TSX and partitions on African game; they offer almost solid penetration with nice controled expansion. A 30-06 with a 180gr TSX will do anything a 300WM will with a traditional soft point. That said, my personal favorite plains game rifle is a .338WM. Many here will tell you it is heavier than necessary, but it is hardly too heavy. I like to think that I am a very good shot, but it is very easy to be off just a tad and a partition or TSX from a .338 will almost always produce an exit wound on anything up to eland. In my role as client, that exit wound can be a big help to the PH.

Red Leg..well said. I would just like to follow up on the exit wound. A well constructed bullet that will exit from most normal angles is whats required. I too am a fan of the Barnes TSX for that reason and I also like the medium bore chamberings between 338 and 9.3mm. The wildebeest, hartebeest and oryx clan are notorious for their toughness and can take multiple hits before going down.

Very valid comments so far and seconded.

I have found personally that it is standard protocol to take a 2nd shot almost 70 % of the time on Blue Wildebeest - they just seem not to adhere to the 1st shot - unless it is a head / neck or spine shot. Very similar to Gemsbuck (Oryx) i have found that placing the bullet in the heart / lung area will most of the times result in the animal making distance from a couple of meters to 200 m before it goes down.

What i do when hitting the heart / lung area is wait exactly where i am for a couple of minutes - yes - let the animal run - if you do not chase after it and do not follow up with a rapid second shot, not to worry - if you are sure of your shot placement in the 'gearbox' it will not go far. Please note i am not advising this method on a wounded animal - there your second shot should be quick and on target.

Incidentally - i also hunt with PMP's (piet marais petrone) in 180 gr but with Pro-Am - and i get acceptable results. You did not state what PMP brand you are hunting with. However - the advise below on Barnes TSX is sound.

My personal suggestion - if your hunts (BWB and Oryx) is exclusively up to 150 m max - then i suggest you try the 220 gr and check results after a couple of animals. But when you go beyond 150 m + i will suggest to stick to 180 gr

Good luck!

BWB are called the poor mans buffalo and I agree. Next time I will hunt my animal better. I've only shot one cull BWB and one cull BlackWB. I shot both in the wrong place.



The BWB I shot low and head on at 40 metres with a .308W and 165 PPSN. The projectile travelled around the outside of the rib cage and lodged under the R scapula. There was Nil blood loss or internal pooling and we found the animal stone dead 400 metres away. We assume the impact stopped its heart ???

The projectile after impacting the sternum.


Lesson: Never shoot one low and front on, aim for under the chin and a neck shot.

The blackWB was quartering on and I pulled the shot (with the same load as before) at 200 paces too far right. The projectile took off the top corner of the L lung, penetrated the rumen and was found in the ham.



Lesson: Get closer.

It cost me R20 per bullet to get the skinner to find them.

Good post Code4.

How did you get so close to that 1st BWB??? 40 M !!!
I see the vegetation is dense - where did you hunt?

A .338 WM with Swift A- Frames is good medicine for the Wildebeest.

I have both Black and Blue Wildebeest, and only needed one shot.

Those quartering on shots...should be avoided....I had the same problem...bullets bouncing off the rib cage bones! Sometimes they go through and animal dies right away..other times...you swear at yourself for taking the shot!

Use 180 grain bullets.

Blue Wildebeest, quite a good shot, some 150 meters, 300WMag, Norma Oryx 200 grs, but the humerus was there. 7 hours after it. Very tough animal. For this year I have another recipe, 9,3x62
and Barnes TSX 250 grs. Think more about the bullet than the caliber

Originally Posted by fhm3006

Good post Code4.

How did you get so close to that 1st BWB??? 40 M !!!
I see the vegetation is dense - where did you hunt?

It was a cull animal (ie cheap) as stated in my post on a small, over stocked, fenced property 45 min NNE of Rustenburg. Spot then stalk from the Bukkie. On that trip we went to three different locations. I had my entire family with me and the place usually did private functions eg small business meetings or family birthdays 'in the bush' so was well equipped for the girls with pool, lapa etc..

The cull BlackWB was the following year alone with Andrew McLaren Safaris and was a 12km stalk on the Grassveldt.

I only use two bullets in the 30-06 these days. The 200 gr. Nosler partition at near 2700 FPS or the 220 gr. Nosler partition at 2550 FPS, both will work on those tough old Wildebeest, and they will also work pretty darn good on Cape Buffalo, but the caliber is not legal in todays Africa, however Africans are a practical lot and the 30-06, 308 and 7x57 are still used by a considerable number of locals to kill problem buffalo, lions and whatever.

I shot one Blue wildebeest with a 30/06 using a 180 gr partition at 2500 fps. double lung shot and he went about 400 yds and died. I shot a Black Wildebeest with a 150 gr ballistic tip at 2996 fps which dropped him in his tracks with a perfect heart shot. I would love to try another Blue wildebeest with the ballistic tip. Some major devastation internally.

Shot mine with a 7x57 at 100 yards. 175 grain factory loaded softpoint. Nothing fancy; double lung shot right behind the shoulder. Traveled 100 yards and was DRT. Bullet was recovered just under the skin on the far side. I took 4 more head on that trip with that load; one shot each put them down within 100 yards. I say a 30-06 with any decent softpoint will do. I am considering the Barnes TTSX next year...

I will go ahead and give my 2 cents worth on this topic. 30-06 with a 180 grain is plenty to bring down a Wildebeest. I shot mine with Hornady superformance 180 gr interbond. Performed perfectly. Bull was shot at about 75 yards. He had no idea we where there. That may have been why he only went 20 paces and fell over. I recovered the bullet in the off shoulder just under the skin. It fell out while the skinner was skinning it out. Any good bullet should work great with a well placed shot.

168g Triple Shock has served me well on everything from blesbok up to eland in Africa, and a big old bison bull here in the states. Never a problem with the bullet.

I will admit that I've not shot a blue wildebeest with one, however, my wife did. Shot placement was poor, but it did the job and no problem with the bullet.

I fully understand the idea behind sectional density and heavy bullets. What seems to be left out is that at reasonable distances, the resistance of the air is not the issue, the resistance of the animal is. Therefore, it isn't so much the weight before impact that matters as the weight after impact. The triple shock holds together, so a 168g TSX will do what an old fashioned less durable 180 or 200 grain bullet would do, with less recoil and/or a flatter trajectory. While I happen to like the TSX, any bullet that holds together is going to give it an advantage in penetration over a similar weight bullet that fragments. Therefore, I feel confident using a TSX of lesser weight than what the classic advice would give as optimal. I think tough expanding bullet construction is a game changer.

My son killed his blue wildebeest with a 243 85 grain triple shock, and it only went about 50 yards. I will grant that it was a rather unusual shot: he pulled his shot, hit it in the neck and took out both carotid arteries. Not much resistance to a bullet there, but through and through penetration nonetheless. Since I don't think there is the slightest chance of pulling it off with any regularity, I can't recommend the carotid artery as a target, but it works like nobodies business and by far the best blood trail I've ever seen.

You know what they say about Blue Wildebeest: They are born sick. The more you shoot one, the healthier it gets.

Originally Posted by Gerhard.375

You know what they say about Blue Wildebeest: They are born sick. The more you shoot one, the healthier it gets.

Excellent 'G375'! Almost like warthog (no really!)

Btw - i note on your 'hunted places' below your nametag "Hunted Namibia when it was still SWA" Dunno how long you've been a stranger to our valley Gerhard, but the game is still the same bro. Become a man with a plan and hunt cross border again 2012

Originally Posted by Gerhard.375

You know what they say about Blue Wildebeest: They are born sick. The more you shoot one, the healthier it gets.

I enjoyed that one, too.

I find it interresting that many people will use an underpowered cartridge to shoot a tough and resilient animal. The last one I shot had his heart totaly destroyed so much so that he ran over 200 meters only spilling two qarter size drops of blood. He couldnt pump blood to bleed! So its your trophy fee shoot it with a 30-06 but dont expect him to fall over on the spot. I recomend a 375 or a 9.3 for the Blue Wildebeast.