Ideal bullet weight for eland?

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A Good heartshot

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Just heard from a friend from Canada who went twice to Namibia for Plain game,he said that Eland tend to be harder to knock down than a moose，So I'm a little concern of bring my 338-06 rifle (bought from my friend at a fair price) to my eland hunt,and considering using a 338Win Mag for carry heavier bullets like a 275gr SAF or 300gr A Tip,or should I switch to my dad's .35 Whelen for better close range?Which one is better among these three cailber?What cailber and bullet do you prefer for your old eland bull?
 
A Good heartshot said:
Just heard from a friend from Canada who went twice to Namibia for Plain game,he said that Eland tend to be harder to knock down than a moose，So I'm a little concern of bring my 338-06 rifle (bought from my friend at a fair price) to my eland hunt,and considering using a 338Win Mag for carry heavier bullets like a 275gr SAF or 300gr A Tip,or should I switch to my dad's .35 Whelen for better close range?Which one is better among these three cailber?What cailber and bullet do you prefer for your old eland bull?
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Hi, @A Good heartshot

All three are magnificent choices for eland. I personally like the .338 Winchester Magnum loaded with a 250Gr Nosler AccuBond.

Remember that while caliber and bullet selection are important, initial shot placement must be quite critical. To put matters into perspective, I have made one-shot kills on eland with the .30-06 Springfield (loaded with 220Gr Remington Core Lokt soft points) and even the 7x57mm Mauser (loaded with the old 175Gr Winchester Super X soft point). But for a novice, I strongly recommend a minimum of .338 caliber.
 
Take them both...Pick your poison and have the other rifle as a backup.
 
I have a stately eland on the wall as I write that dropped to a 180 cup and core 300 Win mag I rented that trip I think it was basically a Sierra Grand Slam. My PH used that round on a lot of animals and had faith enough for an eland. So, I can say your 338-06 or 35 Whelen will both do the job well as long as you put it in the right spot at a reasonable range for the caliber. I'd choose the Swift A Frame or a Barnes TTSX in their medium to heavy weights for the caliber if I were hand loading. Looking over the338' A-Frame, either the 250'or 275 gr. should hit an eland with authority.
 

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A Good heartshot said:
Just heard from a friend from Canada who went twice to Namibia for Plain game,he said that Eland tend to be harder to knock down than a moose，So I'm a little concern of bring my 338-06 rifle (bought from my friend at a fair price) to my eland hunt,and considering using a 338Win Mag for carry heavier bullets like a 275gr SAF or 300gr A Tip,or should I switch to my dad's .35 Whelen for better close range?Which one is better among these three cailber?What cailber and bullet do you prefer for your old eland bull?
Click to expand...
I would not hesitate to use any of those 3 choices on Eland. The 338-06 with 225’s would be solid. So would the .35 Whelen and the .338 Win Mag. I’ve only shot a couple eland so far, with one more on license this year in Mozambique.

Shot a big Livingstone in Zambia with my .338 and a 225 grain TTSX at about 325 yards. It was pretty much bang flop, he took a step or two and collapsed. Shot a Lord Derby with my .375 H&H and 300 grain TSX at 220 yards and that was a bang flop, he never took a step, just crumpled. When I go to Moz later this year, I’ll be carrying my .338 with 225 grain TTSX’s and know I’ve got more than enough gun for the job at hand.

Take whichever of those 3 choices you feel like carrying and shooting and know you have plenty of gun for the task at hand. Practice off the sticks you’ll be using. You’re going to have a great time.
 
dchum said:
Everything you just mentioned is more than enough. All seem like sensible choices as well.

What ever is very accurate. Just shoot the bull in the shoulder and don’t drift too far into the ribs.

Where are you from?
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Thanks for your advice!Currently I live and work in China but my dad lives in Texas,I came to join him every summer,winter and whenever time is available.
 
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Hunter-Habib said:
Hi, @A Good heartshot

All three are magnificent choices for eland. I personally like the .338 Winchester Magnum loaded with a 250Gr Nosler AccuBond.

Remember that while caliber and bullet selection are important, initial shot placement must be quite critical. To put matters into perspective, I have made one-shot kills on eland with the .30-06 Springfield (loaded with 220Gr Remington Core Lokt soft points) and even the 7x57mm Mauser (loaded with the old 175Gr Winchester Super X soft point). But for a novice, I strongly recommend a minimum of .338 caliber.
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Thanks your advice,what bullet weight do you recommend?My dad said he can hand-load some 338 ammo for me with his 250gr and 275gr SAF but I'm a little concerned about such heavy bullets on 338-06.
 
I'd suggest the .338" 250 gr, SAF will be almost perfect for your eland hunt. Good bullet, Completely adequate. And if you you also choose hunt other plains game, they might perform a little better than the 275 gr. version which really is a very large game specialist. If you'e only hunting eland, the 275 grain is a very good choice, perhaps a tiny bit better than the 250 for penetration through bone, with a little less forgiving trajectory because of the lower velocity.
 
As others have stated, all of those options are plenty for eland..

My wife took hers with not problem using a 35 whelen shooting 225gr accubonds at about 250 yards…

I was in camp with a guy back in 2016 thst took a particularly massive eland in Limpopo with a 30-06 shooting 200gr a-frames..

Put the bullet where it belongs and you’ll be good… all of your options are plenty enough gun for the task
 
As previously mentioned, all 3 your choices are solid for eland.
I hunt eland quite regularly (about 1 a year, sometimes more)
They're not especially tough, but as always, selecting the best bullet is important.
Put said bullet on the center of the shoulder and they go down quickly.
Due to their weight, they're unable to move very far if the front leg is broken, so in thick bush, that's a good shot to take.
A frontal shot requires a bullet that can penetrate a long way before the vitals are encountered.

My "eland" rifles are as follows:
30-06 with 168gr Mono or 180gr Swift A-Frame.
300H&H with a 180gr Mono or 200gr Swift A-Frame.
 
you are really overthinking it
is an elabd i bag animal, yes for sure, so knocking him down, no easy
but one decent shot in the heart or lungs and he is not going far
they have a thin skin
concentrate more on placement than anything else, a lot of people get thrown off by the huge neck, hump and dew lap
most bad shot i have experienced is when guys shoot low in the brisket/dew lap, especially on frontal shots
a good shot on the shoulder or just behind, 1/3 to half way up the body(they have very big lungs, room for error their) and he aint going far
they are magnificent and huge beasts and are really great to hunt

any of those guns will do the job, what else are u hunting on that trip and what ranges are u expecting, this should determine calibre choice
bottom line is u dont need a heavy bullets to kill and eland, just a quality bullet.
 
338-06, 338WM and 35W are all sufficient to get the job done with proper bullet selection. I'd recommend the Barnes TSX, Swift A-Frame or Federal Trophy Bonded Tip.

That combined with proper shot placement will sort you out. Also keep in mind what else you may want to hunt. If DG is a possibility, you may want to consider a 375H&H as a "one gun" solution to your hunting needs.

Mine was taken with a 375H&H 300 grain Swift A-Frame at about 100 yards on the point of the shoulder.
1776242183140.png
 
Great looking bulls guys. If you put your bullet where BeeMaa did and he may go 80 yards. Maybe

In my humble opinion. tracking an eland in prime condition early in the season is the best bang for the buck hunt. Love those beasts
 
Disclaimer - I did shoot this eland two more times. One was a raking shot as it started to run. It entered the left side ribs and was recovered in the right side of the neck just under the skin. This can be seen with a slight bulge just forward of the shoulder muscles. The last was a coup de grâce to end the suffering.
 
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