BLUE WILDEBEEST PRACTICAL CALIBERS

After much debate about practical calibers I would like to know 1) how many have shot and recovered thier Blue Wildebeest,2) What chambering you used,3) how far did it go after it was hit ?

I recovered my Blue Wildebeest approx 90 yrds from where he absorbed a 180 soft point (Federal Classic factory ammo) from a 30-06. One bullet...

Next one will be taken with a 35Whelen (using 225gr. TBBC), and I anticipate the same results.

I have shot three.

The first was with a 416 Rem shooting 400 grain TSX. It ran maybe 75 yards. This was in the Selous in Tanzania.

The next two were in the Save in Zim. Both were with my 375 H&H and 300 grain North Forks.

The first of these two is still running. Too high for the heart , probably grazed the lungs, and missed the spine. It hit ground spinning and kicked up so much dust I could not get another shot. When it jumped up I missed a running offhand shot and it was gone. It remains the only animal I have wounded and lost in Africa.

The third with a properly placed shot did not go anywhere.

Christines Wildebeest was shot once with a .270 win and 140gr Barnes X. Double lunged and with a broken shoulder it went 40 yards or so.

My blue was hit center chest facing me from over 100 yards, probably 130. Ran about 90 yards, piled up. Cartridge was the 9.3x62 using a Barnes Tripleshock 250 gr. Recoverd bullet weighed 249 grs. My white bearded gnu was hit in the face basically with a 300 gr .375 solid and fell over dead. Took forever to find the bullet hole but we figured basically the bullet blew bone shards into his brain. At first we thought we scared him to death!

Originally Posted by Mike70560

The first of these two is still running. Too high for the heart , probably grazed the lungs, and missed the spine. It hit ground spinning and kicked up so much dust I could not get another shot. When it jumped up I missed a running offhand shot and it was gone. It remains the only animal I have wounded and lost in Africa.


The third with a properly placed shot did not go anywhere.

Do you really think he's still running? If you hit him where you think, I would say he died the same day. Sure you didnt hit higher above the spine? That would knock him down, but he would get up and run like hell. He probably died after a week or two anyway. There is a reason why a wounded animal are consider dead and has to be paid for in full.
But I wasn't there....
Unfortunately I have not shot a BW yet. I did shoot a black one and I has shot an eland. He slowly walked 50 yards an fell. 7 mmRM trough the heart.

Do I think he is really still running? Kind of ridiculous do not you think? Lighten up a little.

And yes the shot was high, either right above or right below the spine. I am beginning to believe I am the only person who has ever admitted to losing an animal. FYI I paid the trophy fee without even a question. There was very little blood at the site of the shooting and none after 50 ft. We spent many hours looking and the next several days if we saw vultures we investigated. A wounded animal on the Save has very little chance with the amount of lions, leopards, and wild dogs in the area.

You are right you were not there, but I was. I screwed up the shot and paid for it. It was that simple.

Originally Posted by Mike70560

I am beginning to believe I am the only person who has ever admitted to losing an animal. ....

You are right you were not there, but I was. I screwed up the shot and paid for it. It was that simple.

Mike, I was very lucky that I did not follow you up with being able to admits losing a critter. Absolute good luck!

I'll let you know if I join the club in Africa. (I have, sadly to say, done it at home.)

Mike, I lost a waterbuck in the same way. My PH figured the shot went high just under the spine. Knocked it down, floundered around briefly and took off. Found lots of blood from a thru and thru shot and lost him at dusk. Next day we lost all sign of his trail. Just gone, never found. Like you I paid the fee without squeaking, have to do it. It hurts but thats the way it is.

blue wilde you say.

known as the poor man's buffalo.

i shot one at about 350 yds with my 338 win mag with 225 Remington ammo. The bugger was hit at a 1/4 away shot and i was about 6 to 8 inches back hitting the right lung in the rear and the left lung in the about middle. This was a center body hit above and behind the heart. The Old boy just bunched up and walked away.

We gave chase and went tracking and we track the poor old boy for about another 3/8 to 1/2 mile hitting him another 5 times. When they have there juicdes up they become hard to put down. Shot full of steroids and wanting to move on.

The PH had taken all his clients out after this lone old Nyasa Land wildebeest in the Selous.

Now my black wildebeest dropped in it tracks at 187 yds. using the same rifle and ammo in South Africa.

In the East Cape, .338 Win Mag with 180gr Ballistic Tip. Quartering to me at 175yds, ran 50yds and piled up. Life wife shot hers with a 7mm Rem Mag with 160gr Accubond @ 140 yds. Dropped and never quivered.

Shot mine through the chest, it threw it's off-side foreleg out sidewise, took off and was never found. That was using 30.06 with triple shock, 180gr.

Have shot way too many with clients and for myself, problem is the deep chest and guys tend to hit them too high, or on the frontal if you hit it slighlty off centre it becomes a tracking job, But a .30 Cal with a well constructed bullet is more than enough I have seen them wounded with 470's and 30 06's its all about bullet placement.

Simply put if you hit both lungs and or Heart its dead, penetration is not an issue for any good well constructed .30 cal bullet. With that being said with a Barnes you can kill it from ANY angle as long as it goes through the vitals (shot placement) or once again any well constructed soft.

My best.

Originally Posted by sestoppelman

My blue was hit center chest facing me from over 100 yards, probably 130. Ran about 90 yards, piled up. Cartridge was the 9.3x62 using a Barnes Tripleshock 250 gr. Recoverd bullet weighed 249 grs. My white bearded gnu was hit in the face basically with a 300 gr .375 solid and fell over dead. Took forever to find the bullet hole but we figured basically the bullet blew bone shards into his brain.

At first we thought we scared him to death!

LMAO!

My wife shot hers too far back but managed to hit just a little bit of lung with her 30-06. It took quite a while to find it, but eventually we did. Her 168g TSX performed perfectly, it just wasn't placed perfectly. My son shot his with a 243 87g TSX and took out a major blood vessel; it went less than 40 yards. The 243 offered limited acceptable shots thereby requiring patience. The 30-06/TSX allows one to take a wide range of shots. That said, when I'm hunting, I am on vacation and I take things as they come. If I don't get a shot that I feel extremely confident about, I don't take it. To me the 243 is adequate but certainly not ideal, while the 30-06/TSX is about perfect.

Originally Posted by Mike70560

Do I think he is really still running? Kind of ridiculous do not you think? Lighten up a little.

And yes the shot was high, either right above or right below the spine. I am beginning to believe I am the only person who has ever admitted to losing an animal. FYI I paid the trophy fee without even a question. There was very little blood at the site of the shooting and none after 50 ft. We spent many hours looking and the next several days if we saw vultures we investigated. A wounded animal on the Save has very little chance with the amount of lions, leopards, and wild dogs in the area.

You are right you were not there, but I was. I screwed up the shot and paid for it. It was that simple.

QUOTE "I am beginning to believe I am the only person who has ever admitted to losing an animal"
Hell no...I have confessed mine in detail in an article "Shot Placement Enigma" ...still haunts me...
Incidentally - some wise member mentioned somewhere on this forum in a different post "when you do wound a "gnu" every shot you throw at him afterwards makes him feel a little better everytime...

Originally Posted by Bert the Turtle

My son shot his with a 243 87g TSX and took out a major blood vessel; it went less than 40 yards.

Ouch!

Around a 100 meters distance, heart shot with a .338WM, Remington 225 gr. Swift A Frame.

Took a few steps and died.

The last one I shot took a 270gr tsx 375 slug broadside. It hunched up and bolted into the brush. we tracked it for 200m thruogh thick Limpopo terrain about 100meters in I thought my trackers were just lost. Then Jacob lead tracker called me over and showed me a nickle sized drop of blood at this point I was thinking Damn I lost it! In broken english Jacob said " Hard Hit We Find Not Far". There were Buff milling around us to say the least my PH Zirk was on edge. We covered another 100m slowly Due to some aggresive Duggaboys. then we found him not the largest Blue ive shot but the experiance was worth it. I had placed the shot perfectly top of the heart destroying the aorta and top of the Heart. Sitting off sticks 180 meters.

The one Blue Wildebeest I've bagged took three 180 grain Nosler Partitions from a Weatherby .300 mag.
The first shot was at 100 yards. The bull traveled about 80 yards and laid down.
We followed its tracks and he got up and squared off with us at 15 yards and I gave him one in the heart.
The last shot was through both lungs at 10 yards.
The first shot wasn't perfect but not far from it.

Ty