Eland with a .30-06?

@TMS Simon can't agree with you more.Big yes,hard yes,bulletproof never.Would rather have a client pitch up with a 06 he knows and can shoot well than with a 375 he got a month or two ago.

Shot placement: minimum calibre 338 Winchester magnum, recommendet calibre 9,3 x 62 or 375 H&H magnum.
Witold

Sorry Witold but I have to disagree with you there... Claiming minimum caliber .338 is just wrong. A .308win or 30-06 is more than adequate for the job.

If you don't hit the vitals or cns it doesn't matter what caliber you use, just use common sense and don't try to reach the vitals from stupid angles or distances.

Would the 338 or 375 offer more penetration and more angles to shoot from? Absolutely but with a bit of thought behind the shot it is not necessary.

Wouldn't use a bullet that is too soft though in case you hit the bone in that large shoulder. If a 180gr Northfork from my .308 can smash straight through it and penetrate the vitals from 120 ish yds away a 30-06 sure can do too.

This is not my opinion, this is written in the" Shot Placement".

I've killed one with the 168g Barnes.

Aleksandar said:

When was that photo taken?

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Aleksandar, That photo was taken last year (2014), I hunt on this property at least twice a year. There is a fairly large eland population here.

Guys, I really like the photos of your eland trophies!

I am well aware that a larger caliber would be better suited to eland than my .30-06...the only hassle is I don't own one (any longer), and I cannot borrow one either. I would also prefer to hunt with my own rifles.

I am very confident, without being over confident of my abilities with my .30-06 as well as my 7x57 for that matter, to place my shots where I want them (I know things don't always work out when hunting), I just wanted to use the best bullet for the job. Especially with a large animal like this. I also dont really want to conduct an 'experiment' with marginal bullets on a living animal, that is not ethical in my book!

Once again, thanks for the great input from all of you, I am enjoying your comments...

Let us know how the 06 & your bullet choice performed when you return.

BWH said:

Let us know how the 06 & your bullet choice performed when you return.

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That I will definitely do!!

Hello Everyone,

A hunter might be able to bag whales with an air rifle but, why would you not want to use a proper harpoon gun, stout recoil perhaps ?

It is no secret that I am a bit recoil shy compared to many who post in this forum but, rifles in the .33, 9.3 and .375 H&H and even the .404 Jeffery caliber are very manageable for me and so, if I can train well / shoot accurately with these calibers, so then can almost any hunter who is serious about hunting eland.

For as much as it costs me to fly not only the length but also the width of the globe (I live in Alaska) to reach Johannesburg, then a separate flight from there to the hunting area, not to mention daily rates, trophy fees and limited amount of days to hunt, fish and sight see in Africa, I am not interested in trying to discover how small a caliber might work on a one ton animal.

For my hard won money, the .33 caliber / 250 grain bullet / 2400 feet per second, would be my personal minimum.
That's if I owned a .318 Westley Richards or .338-06.

However, I do not own either of those calibers (yet - LOL).

Of the rifles I do own, my personal minimum would be my 9.3x62 Mauser / 286 grain Swift A-Frame bullet and I would not be embarrassed to use my .375 H&H either.

Here in Alaska, the .338 Winchester with 250 grain Nosler Partition, is probably the most popular big game cartridge in our state, because we have moose, grizzly and bison.

When I first moved here (33 years ago) I had one but, sold it to buy a .375 H&H, not because the .338 was inadequate but, because I am rifle nut and wanted the capability to shoot 300 grain bullets.

Winchester had quit making their .338 / 300 grain round nose bullet (and Speer quit making their 275 grain bullet about then as well).

However, judging by its excellent record (since the 1950's) on grizzly, moose and bison, the .338 Winchester with 250 gr bullet seems like it would be a fine choice for things like eland (and zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, etc).

In other words, I agree with Witold.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

Agree with Witold and Velo Dog, use enough gun !

30-06 is enough gun on eland.

Thank you Velo Dog and Nyati.
Witold

Simon
"Karamojo" Bell took the elephants with .275 Rigby but the minimum is 375H&H. Calibre 30-06 is enough for Eland but the minimum calibre is determined Shot Placement.
Witold

All the Eland myself and clients have shot with 308 Win's and dirty 06's must have died of fright
Perfect shot is a guide, a good one too,but it has never been the last word on hunting Africa or caliber choices for that matter.
I have shot Eland with both a 375H&H and 308 Win it did not bother the Eland with which caliber I shot it,it died the same way.
By all means use enough gun,but don't make the error in thinking a .30 size bullet hole won't drop a Eland. You can use a pin to pop a balloon or you can use a jackhammer,result stays the same. If you can't hit the balloon with a pin,chances are you won't do it with a jackhammer either.
Exactly how far through the Eland would anyone want to shoot?

my son shot his eland with a 3006 at 220 yards. one shot and the eland was down. like most have said it is shot placement make the first one count.

TokkieM said:

Exactly how far through the Eland would anyone want to shoot?

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Hello Hunthardsafaris,

If I was so fortunate that my animal would stand broad side for me, then breaking both shoulders with one shot would be my preference.

If the more typical quartering toward me pose is offered, then breaking through the on-side shoulder, tearing through the close lung, also the heart / major blood vessels, and on through the far lung, finally exiting just behind the far shoulder, leaving about a golf ball to tennis ball size hole for "blood out - air in" would be to my liking.

I repeat that a PH I know very well has a .30-06 for clients to use and it has sacked many eland with 220 gr Hornady bullets but a few, in spite of receiving an otherwise life threatening .30 wound, have nonetheless required follow-up tracking and finishing shot or shots.

Therefore, as much as I pay for an African hunting trip, not to mention two days flying to get there, I generally prefer to use a bit more gun than any .30 on such a sometimes one ton and always magnificent animal as the eland.

On this same subject, a few years back I read in another forum that one of The Moderator's recommendation for eland was a 6.5x55.

No doubt it has proved plenty adequate in his experiences and I presume by this that he might declare your .308 to be overkill on eland.

Right about now, somebody might chime in with: "my .30-30 is adequate for anything on earth, as long as I do my part".

Earnest Hemmingway's preference for buffalo was the .30-06 / 220 grain, however for my safari dollar, I used a .450 / 480 gr bullet and if I ever get to hunt buffalo again, I will continue preferring to use minimum .40 caliber / 400 grain bullet and a .45 caliber / 480 to 500 gr is none too much for buff in my simple, paying client opinion.

None of my jabbering here is meant to be The Gospel for anyone but myself, as I am just sharing my opinion, not trying to convert anyone to large / heavy bullets for large heavy game.

If other hunters wish to hunt one ton animals with a .30-06 or .308 (or even the 6.5x55 evidently), far be it from me to sit down and cry about it but likewise, anyone trying to sell me on such ideas is wasting their energy, I will always use a rather heavy bullet for rather heavy game.

Kind regards,
Velo Dog.

As far the the original question goes if I were gonna use a 30-06 I would ask my ph what he recommends. Good luck, shoot straight, and send pics!

Thank you BWH.
Witold

@Velo Dog It is your safaris,money,time and experience and by all means stacking the odds with a bigger bullet has never been wrong. The question was simply if the 06 was adequate to use on Eland, it is in my opinion and experience.
I hunt Bushpig and Wild boar with a 375H&H at night,I have killed many with a 308,but I preffer to use the 375H&H for many reasons. It does not make the 308 unable to kill them,just my preference and experience that the 375H&H has a few advantages in my scenarios when hunting pigs.
It all comes down to were the bullet goes and if you are using a premium bullet like the NF. You preffer a exit wound,I want the bullet to stop just under the skin on the opposite side. There is always going to be a few diffrent views on this,happy that there is otherwise we would all be using the same caliber and rifle and that is just not interesting

All the best.

hunthardsafaris said:

@Velo Dog It is your safaris,money,time and experience and by all means stacking the odds with a bigger bullet has never been wrong. The question was simply if the 06 was adequate to use on Eland, it is in my opinion and experience.
I hunt Bushpig and Wild boar with a 375H&H at night,I have killed many with a 308,but I preffer to use the 375H&H for many reasons. It does not make the 308 unable to kill them,just my preference and experience that the 375H&H has a few advantages in my scenarios when hunting pigs.
It all comes down to were the bullet goes and if you are using a premium bullet like the NF. You preffer a exit wound,I want the bullet to stop just under the skin on the opposite side. There is always going to be a few diffrent views on this,happy that there is otherwise we would all be using the same caliber and rifle and that is just not interesting

All the best.

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Hi again Hunthardsafaris,

I totally agree with you on this.

As I described before, the PH I have hunted with the most supplies his clients who travel with no rifle - a .30-06 and 220 gr bullets, with which many eland have been taken.

If the majority of them required long distance follow up tracking / additional shots, he would have abandoned this cartridge for the taking of large animals long ago.

Your experiences are evidently the same as his.

Large bore rifles are usually fine but accuracy is usually final / many clients can only shoot a .30-06 more accurately than they can larger calibers.

I therefore agree that a .30-06 is a good choice for many clients and of those bullets the OP listed, in my original response I recommended to him the 180 gr North Fork, with the suggestion that I would prefer heavier and also that I like the Swift A-Frame.

My preference for larger calibers and heavy bullets for large/heavy game is not to make up for bad shooting, as recoil shy people sometimes like to say but instead, to add extra insurance for when everything is not quite perfect (Murphy's Law).

Regarding the exit wound vs bullet stopping just under the far side skin, I am happy enough with either but, the targets just seem to tip over sooner when blood is leaking from two holes instead of one, in my experiences.

Possibly air leaking back into the chest cavity, between the lungs and rib cage might play a major role in the swiftness of the desired affect as well, by making the damaged lung or lungs more difficult to inflate.

That being said, I have yet to see an eland with an exit wound, even from the .375 H&H / 300 gr soft - LOL.

You and I evidently agree but we word our opinions a bit differently to state pretty much the same ideas, therefore as always - great minds think alike.

Kind regards,
Velo Dog.