best bullet for antelope

[VarmintGuy]

Mark308: I would suggest the 150 gr. 30 caliber Nosler Ballistic Tips for your two Rifles.
In the past 39 years I have shot Antelope every year sometimes in two states per year and often have killed multiple Antelope per year!
Antelope (like someone mentioned) are not difficult to kill.
If the bullet is placed through the heart/lungs area!
You will waste virtually NO EDIBLE MEAT with a broadside heart/lung shot!
Avoid hitting the shoulder blades at all costs or you will have significant meat loss no matter what bullet you use!
I have been using Nosler Ballistic Tips on Antelope for many years now in several calibers!
They fly fast and flat and accurately! And they expand quick enough and reliably enough for certain and quick kills on Antelope!
I will be in the next region east of you and your brother and I will be using my Remington 700 Sendero in caliber 270 Winchester with Nosler Ballistic Tips this year!
Best of luck to you and again avoid the shoulder blades - put your bullet into the heart/lung area and go gather up your trophy and eat it all!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

 

[RedChili]

I would choose an accurate bullet that resists the wind (high B/C) because the winds out west can be unpredictable and strong. I found it harder to dope the wind than anything else. This is why I would not advocate using a 22-250 or similar cartridge even though they have sufficient terminal energy for lopes.

No doubt. Last year I stalked a troop of does (I am primarily a meat hunter and had already gotten my buck) and crawled up behind a bush - ideal spot about 275 yards out. Ideal except for the wind, about 30 mph steady crosswind from the west, with stronger gusts to 50. Wyoming 'breezy' in other words (beware when you see that word on wunderground.com, and batten down the hatches if they say 'windy').

I was guessing at the windage, shooting the .300WSM/ 150gr. factory win ballistic silvertip$$, which is overkill for goats for sure, but I was glad of it. I held just at the very front of the chest and fired. Her mates ran every which way, no idea where the shot came from, and she just stood there for what seemed an eternity - I feared I had gutshot her, but she didn't hump, so I waited. She turned butt to me, stood for a few seconds, and just fell over.

I had hit in the lungs just south of the heart and a bit high, clipping the aorta, but north of the liver. Missed every rib somehow. No waste at all though! Yeah, wind has an effect and I am partial to that .300 for sure - it's got reach and punch. The bullet didn't expand though, which I guess is why she could just stand there, dead but not yet knowing it. Usually they get punched down NOW and never move again.

My wife's Savage .243 seems to fly similarly (with 100gr. Speer spitzer boattails) but doesn't have the punch. Nice caliber though, I like that rifle, and it doesn't pitch my new-hunter petite wife on her butt or make her afraid to shoot. Cheap ammo too if you shoot factory.

I'll hafta give those Noslers a try next year.

 

[IChaseCoues]

Another option for the 300 WSM would be a 168 or 178 a-max. If they are anything like the 7mm a-max, they would make a great antelope and long range bullet.

My $.02

 

[RedChili]

At the range Sunday a fella was shooting A-max's (7mm IIRC) and mentioned they don't hold together well much above 3000fps - any truth to this? Seemed strange to me.

 

[gnettleton]

Red Chili, never heard that at all, of course many different variables involved in shooting at altitude because of Barometric Preasure and lack of humidity. Hell, what do I know, I shoot deer in Texas at 450 ft above sea level, and go to South texas you are 10 feet above sea level and I shoot the same bullet

 

[Varmint Hunter]

At the range Sunday a fella was shooting A-max's (7mm IIRC) and mentioned they don't hold together well much above 3000fps - any truth to this? Seemed strange to me.

NOT TRUE - at least not in my experience with the 162gr A-Max. I was shooting the A-Max at velocities between 3,050 & 3,150 ft/sec with no problems at all. My buddy shoots them even faster but I was more interested in accuracy.

I killed several Carolina whitetails with this combo with DRT results at all ranges out to 469yds. Broadside chest shots and high shoulder shots produced dead deer very quickly. The shoulder shots dropped them on-the-spot.

 

[IChaseCoues]

Was the guy talking about not holding up out of the barrel, or when they impact an animal?
I will say they come apart when they hit an animal at 3000 fps. I had to shoot an antelope at 7 yds with my WSM and let me tell you, the A-max came apart.......and thats why I like them for antelope, coues, and whitetail.

 

[TCKev]

I just got back from Casper and I shot both my buck 445yd's and doe 175yd's with a Berger 7mm 168gr VLD from my 7.21 Lazzeroni XP at 2850fps and both went less than 30yds and never moved again. Was really happy with there performance.

 

[IChaseCoues]

Where did you hit them?
Any pics of the exits?

 

[TCKev]

No pics of the exits but the doe was a quartering away shot that went from right before the hind quarter thru the boiler room and out with a nice exit wound. The buck was shot broadside again right behind the shoulder and exited with a 1 1/2 to 2" exit wound, there was a lot of blood pooled under him when we got to him. I plan on using this bullet for all my whitetail, antelope needs.

 

[Clark]

If a 243 will take a bull elk in a broadside shot, the .223 should be plenty for an antelope, if it were not for wind.

I will be antelope hunting, when it opens Sunday, with a 117 gr Sierra bullet from a 26" barrel on a 257 Roberts Ackley Improved.

The Quickload program comes with Quicktarget, and it shows the trajectory is more important than the 10mph wind with the 117 gr.
Not so with the .223.

 

[IChaseCoues]

Yep, A 223 is big enough for antelope at 300 yds, and a 22-250 will do it at 400.
Let the flaming begin!! Just going on personal experience here. They work.

But for long range shots the game changes.
I haven't found the perfect LR antelope round yet, but am looking. A 6.5 WSM seems the closest so far.
I shoot a 7 WSM right now, but haven't shot an antelope with it yet, tired of killing the things, I'll let someone else shoot'em.

This one got some .243 medicine from my wife last month.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Nosler Ballistic Tips. Only problem I see there would be meat loss, but antelope aint all that great to eat anyways...NBT's are accurate as target bullets, expand reliably, and dump a lot of shock into game. I'd go with a 180g in the 300 WM, or 150-165g in the 06.

Who needs a TSX for antelope??? That would be my LAST bullet for antelope.

Howdy remington_25_06,

Interesting point of view... A ballistic tip is the *last* bullet that I would use for antelope out of a high velocity rifle. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of destroying meat. Don't know how many lopes you've killed, but probably more than me. I've killed about 9 with a 7mm RM with various bullets and they all deid very quick. All the bullets went through the ribs except for a couple that I shot a little far back, just behind the ribs and they walked a few feet but not far. The bullets made little holes going in and a little larger going out. Very little meat damage and very effective. That is why I would recomend a TSX or ETip which remain intact and effectively kill antelope without blowing them up. Now if I were shooting prairie dogs, an NBT would be the choice. Would sure love to hear your reasoning on why a TSX is the *last* bullet you would use?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Red_Chili]

Just got back with filled doe tags. My wife was successful (first big game success!) with a .243 loaded light, Speer BSBTs, 100gr.. Seemed to do decently in light wind. Another gal in our group had scope problems and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, then borrowed my wife's little Savage with a Burris BallisticPlex 3x9 and made the first shot dead on at 300 with a slight wind. She was pleased obviously. Both had moderate exit wound damage.

My .300WSM with 150gr. SGKs loaded mid range seemed to pincushion them more than the .243, which was fine by me. I got quite a bit of drift with a stiff crosswind and took down a doe a little sloppy, but effective.

I always find it interesting when folks say antelope ain't tasty. Mine always are...??? I admit elk is better, but... how fast do they skin them, quarter them, and get them on ice, I wonder? Same holds true with deer.