just country
Well-Known Member
morning, very good choice with the 340wbee.
this caliber and rifle r very good choice!! justme gbot tum
this caliber and rifle r very good choice!! justme gbot tum
Gemsbok Oryx
- Thread starter Raidergrad
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Plinker147
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Both your rifles with heavy bullets will be fine out to 1k. I've shot them with Bergen's, accubonds, ballistics tips, and core locks all worked fine. Depending on which hunt you drew the Oryx can be a little spooky and start moving off at 400-500 yards. Early hunts they will stand around a little more than the later. Front shoulder is your best shot since heart and lungs are more forward and they have a large paunch.
You can easily get 200-300 yard shots with a little stalking. Being able to shoot 400-500+ will be a benefit. One issue you will have on WSMR is that most of it is flat with tall brush and opportunities to go prone are few. Be prepared to shoot standing use a tripod or bipod as this will be most of your shot opportunities.
Also field judging at distance is hard with Oryx which limits shot distance. It take some experience to get good at it. With once in a lifetime hunt you want to be sure your pulling the trigger on a nice one.
There is a lot of Oryx and you will see 100+ a day with a little glassing. Enjoy
You can easily get 200-300 yard shots with a little stalking. Being able to shoot 400-500+ will be a benefit. One issue you will have on WSMR is that most of it is flat with tall brush and opportunities to go prone are few. Be prepared to shoot standing use a tripod or bipod as this will be most of your shot opportunities.
Also field judging at distance is hard with Oryx which limits shot distance. It take some experience to get good at it. With once in a lifetime hunt you want to be sure your pulling the trigger on a nice one.
There is a lot of Oryx and you will see 100+ a day with a little glassing. Enjoy
Congrats! I put in for the White Sands Missile Range area when I was stationed at Kirtland AFB, NM in 1996-2000 but no such luck. My primary set-up at the time was a .338 WM with 225 NAB backed with .300 WM 200 NAB.
Both of your set-up should work as long as you keep it when in their limits as you noted. Between the two, the .300 WM 215 Berger combination would be my personal preference.
Good luck and happy safe hunting.
2Rope
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The Oryx in NM are the toughest animal I have ever tried to kill. I have been on several hunts on WSMR and have taken three Oryx. I believe if you find an unmolested one they are easily taken, if they have been stirred up all bets are off. My one in a lifetime hunt ended with a nice bull that had been running from another hunter and took 3 rounds from a 300 Wby through the shoulder to anchor him. I killed the other two with a 7mm rem mag loaded with Accubonds with no problem. My advise is "if they are on their feet, keep shooting", they can run a long distance when wounded. Good luck on your hunt!
I drew that same once in a lifetime tag for Oryx in White Sands. Great hunt. Everyone gave good advise regarding their vitals. They are farther forward than the critters we hunt here in NA. Get "The Perfect Shot" or find some pictures online to study. The only thing to add that no one said is to keep shooting until the animal is down.
RockyMtnMT
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WildRose
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That's pretty common especially in the brushier parts of the RSA. If you don't break the running gear or hit the spine they will commonly move off a 1/4 mile before cratering even with a good hit to the vitals.
Mine was a perfect heart/lung shot and he still ran about 250-300 yards. He was just about to go down but I put a finisher in him just in case. We were in the Karoo so there wasn't a whole lot of brush to hide behind. The area looks very similar to central NM, WY, MT on the eastern slope.
Further north the cover gets much taller and thicker.
Raidergrad
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The part about finding an "unmolested" oryx is my concern. I have heard it is like the Daytona 500 once they let the group of hunters go in the morning. That's a little why I want to be prepared for a longer shot if necessary.
Theres been some good advice here. One of my biggest concerns is the possibility that there is a lack of elevation to set up as was stated on one of the posts above. Makes me want to think about a tripod setup such as a hog saddle or something similar.
More than anything I am probably just a little OCD and I want to be as prepared as possible and have considered all the possibilities to be prepared for.
Plinker147
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Don't get caught up in the frenzy start. There is no need to rush, just let everyone go on and clear out. If all go right you will have 2 1/2 days to hunt, the first day being a half day. Use that 1/2 just to look around, don't shoot unless you see a no brainer. About 25-30% of hunters will kill the first day which makes the next 2 days with less hunting pressure.
A couple of judging tips, the bulls rings will go up about 50% of the horns, cows rings will go up about 30% ish of their horns. Cows horns generally flare out towards the top. Bulls generally stay straight closer together, not always but most of them do.
Beware of juvenile herds. Juvenile tend to run together and one will stand out to you but they are just a bigger juvenile. Really look a body size and look for large chest and pronounced shoulder humps of the mature animals. There are lots of 35-36 + in. cows and bulls and that should be your goal. IMO 36+in bull is a shooter as is 38 in cow. Your average adult will be around 33-35 and there are lots of them.
Don't waste time stalking herds unless your reasonably sure there is a shooter you will be happy with in the herd. Don't fret you will have a blast, they are fun relatively easy hunts.
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RockyMtnMT
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I was curious of the shot that was spoken of in the post that I quoted. On our Team Hammer trip to South Africa non of our group took a gemsbok, but we did take 37 animals from impala to giraffe, none of the animals taken required tracking. There were two animals that were not mortally hit that did require tracking. Once located they were dispatched quickly with well placed shots. Even the 1800 lb trophy eland that was taken with a 116g Sledge Hammer from a 257 Weatherby only traveled about 50y in a semi circle. This was a frontal shot that was recovered in the small intestine. A follow up shot was taken as the eland was wobbling that took the large shoulder/leg bone and was recovered in the brisket on the far side. Both bullets looked identical. Both shots about 100y. We were hunting thick bush and most of our shots were 100y to 200y.That's pretty common especially in the brushier parts of the RSA. If you don't break the running gear or hit the spine they will commonly move off a 1/4 mile before cratering even with a good hit to the vitals.
Mine was a perfect heart/lung shot and he still ran about 250-300 yards. He was just about to go down but I put a finisher in him just in case. We were in the Karoo so there wasn't a whole lot of brush to hide behind. The area looks very similar to central NM, WY, MT on the eastern slope.
Further north the cover gets much taller and thicker.
To the OP. Use a bullet that will deform properly and be able to get through the animal. I would recommend breaking down the shoulders if you are worried about tracking the animal. Look forward to hearing about the hunt. Sounds like a blast. Definitely on my bucket list.
Steve
WildRose
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I wish I'd known you were going, I'd have been happy to set you up with the friends and family deal. If you ever decide to go back let me know.
I took 24 different species while I was there, I had a chance on a huge Eland cow but she was in such thick cover I only had about a 3" window to shoot through at around 350yds and I just never could convince myself to pull the trigger because I couldn't identify for sure what part of her body I was looking at.
What I found for sure on all of them is you have to have the right bullet. I had great lock with the Peregrines (monometal) and with the Gromm bonded bullets.
The hornadyinterlocks killed fine but they broke up and didn't always exit, the Swift Scirocco II's were next to useless because they flattened out and would peel off at right or near right angles instead of tracking through.
I was never a fan of solid copper/allow bullets but that trip made me a convert and that's pretty much all I'm shooting exclusively now as long as I don't run out between shipments and when I do I just go back to the Hornady Interbonds to get by.
What you give up in BC going with a well designed mono is at least as far as I'm concerned more than made up for in terminal performance.
Gemsbok are just super tough, you have to hit them right with a tough bullet or get lucky and hit the spine or you're liable to have a long day.
In a lot of the RSA the cover is just so dense it's mindboggling. when we think "Plains Game" we think of the wide open prairies from NM/TX north to Montana and the Dakotas. To them it just basically means everything except the big 5.
Anyone making that trip needs to prepare themselves to both spot game and shoot through dense cover, something I just didn't realize before I went.
As for the "shot". We'd driven into a wide open flat area and parked near a long Rocky Ridge.
We worked our way up to the top and then down along the ridge to the left. To our right there was a gap/pass through the rocks about 50 yards wide then another long rocky ridge and both ran for miles in opposite directions.
As we worked down the ridge we stayed below the skyline just popping up every few hundred yards to glass and see what we could see. Finally near the end of the ridge we spotted a heard of about 13 with one large bull two huge cows and the rest younger cows and one very young bull.
We dropped back, worked our way down, I climbed up and got set up on a bipod on a fairly flat rock but at a bad angle. I was set for about a 500yds shot and loading the bipod when just as I touched off the trigger the legs popped loose and the shot flew high.
They took off running back the way we'd come with no signs of slowing down so we figured that opportunity was blown.
We worked our way down, and both Francois and the PH were giving me hell for blowing the shot while I was going over in my mind everything that went wrong.
We worked our way back to the truck loaded up and started driving.
The herd it turns out had cut through the gap/pass and was now on our side of the ridge. We spotted them a mile or so ahead and worked out a plan.
We just drove the road and acted like we were there to feed the cows or check the windmills and just ignored them as we passed them at about a half mile but Francois and I bailed out as the PH slowed down and just kept driving away.
After a few minutes we got low in a shallow brushy draw and I worked to within 350-400yds and the wind which had been blowing 30-40mph all day finally slowed to 25-30 blowing almost directly in my face so I set up on the Primos Tripod, had Francois lean against my off shoulder, leaned into and took the shot.
It struck almost perfectly just below and ahead of the point of the shoulder. He took off to the left in a semi circle obviously hit very well, head down blowing blood and when he stopped again I aimed at the original point of impact,which we could see from the blood oozing, moved it about mid neck for the wind. As he started what probably would have been his final stagger I put another one into him. That shot was at about 300yds.
The two impact holes were within 2.5" of each other and the exits within 4" so I was pretty proud of my shooting since the 2nd shot was in a full crosswind.
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RockyMtnMT
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Next time we go I plan to take my 30-30. It is crazy thick.
Steve
Steve
WildRose
Well-Known Member
I'll send you to the Karoo where that isn't a problem. HA!
Honestly though Steve that's why I'm so in love with the .375Ruger. From the end of the muzzle to 400yds it's pretty much perfect.
