A buddy may be going on a baboon only hunt in South Africa this August.

He likes lever actions.

Are most baboons taken within 100 yards? I saw some in Tanzania on a hunt in 2008 and they looked like they would not take an awful lot of punishment, but I may be wrong.

If he is shooting inside 100 yards, do you think a 32-20 with proper projectiles would be suitable? I know a 357 or 41 magnum would make more sense, but he is not very conventional. I also thought of a 38-40, but I don't think the velocity would be sufficient. I doubt he could get a 256 Win Mag built in time.

I appreciate your input.

well good luck...

How many does he want to shoot...

Maybe he will get 1 with the rifle you are suggesting.

If he is going for more than 1 then he needs to be Thinking varmint rifle and like a 243 - 25-06 - 7MM.

Baboons, are fairly smart and will stay out of rifle range after the first shoot. Last year a ranch owner had some baboon issues with his garden and a grand son was put out to shoot as many as he could and after 2 days the baboons were leading the match 2 to 0. He missed on his first shot at about 100 yards and after that it was 3oo yards or longer and he passed on the shots.

Will tell him to take the the BLR 284 in that case. Thanks for the input.

I prefer the 375. Treats them real good, and keeps you sharp for big stuff.

That's funny.

A few that had been "smartened" up a bit in South Africa, wouldn't let us get under 300 yards. A few groups in Zimbabwe you could get pretty close but still "pretty close" was 100+ yards.

If I were to go a baboon only hunt I would have a LR set up in .308 or 7mm. Or even .338 Lapua, then you could have lots of LR fun.

I would suggest Lever gun in .308 with 130gr ballistic tips at whatever velocity you can get out of them.

The lever will be great for the departing troop, be ready to keep firing. Also try and get in as close as possible before the first shot.

Ask the outfitter how often he is selling these baboon hunts and what his recent success rate has been.
The way I know a baboon tells me that the troops will very soon know what is going on and will become the most difficult creature on the planet to hunt.
The will post extra sentries and only move in cover. They will break and run the first time any vehicle stops and they will feed randomly throughout the territory and even at night if you put enough pressure on them.

Good luck and I hope he nails the bastards
Ian

Baboons can be very smart.

If I was going just to shoot baboons, I have two rifles perfectly suited for that, both are custom rifles we built ourselves.

One is a single shot 22-243 Improves
The other is built on a Remington 700 action, chambered for the 243 Ackley.

I think the 243 Ackley might have the edge at the longer distance.

Identify the boss and nail him first - the others will hang around a while until a replacement takes over then nail him as well.

You might just be able to take out half a dozen before they disperse.

quote:

Originally posted by HAY-MAN:

I prefer the 375. Treats them real good, and keeps you sharp for big stuff.

Every farm boy in SA has been shooting at baboons since 1652, in farming areas baboon hunting often starts at 300 yards. To have some fun and be succesfull I would suggest a gun that can shoot MOA up to 600 yards.

That said I have stalked and shot baboon as close as 30 yards, it really depends on the hunting pressure. Baboons are extremely intelligent and learn instantly from their mistakes, sometimes it feels as if they know your shooting ability better than yourself, and they will hover just out of range.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Baboons can be very smart.

If I was going just to shoot baboons, I have two rifles perfectly suited for that, both are custom rifles we built ourselves.

One is a single shot 22-243 Improves
The other is built on a Remington 700 action, chambered for the 243 Ackley.

I think the 243 Ackley might have the edge at the longer distance.

I haven´t yet shot a Baboon, but hopefully this year Andrew McLaren will find some. I will bring a .240Wea for this "job". A 90grain Swift Scirocco II leaving aprox 3500 ft/sec should really give the baboons a challenge.

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:
Identify the boss and nail him first - the others will hang around a while until a replacement takes over then nail him as well.

You might just be able to take out half a dozen before they disperse.

Spot on Sir.
A bit like Crow shooting.
Be prepared for a lot of noise and confusion from the troop.

In SA the baboons are very gun shy! You would be lucky to get one within 200yds. High velocity calibers are ideal. I have killed 2 with a 22lr at around 100yds but I was lucky to get that close back then! Now I use my 7x57 loaded with Impala brass monos 110gr at 2900fps. Flattens them at 400yds plus!

I've hunted 3 countries and the baboons were very wary...Might I suggest a takedown BLR in 7mm-08 or 7mm mag? That way, if he opts to shoot a medium sized antelope he's good to go. In some African countries, any military calibers are banned (eg- .308, .30/06 .223)

I have a takedown BLR rebarreled to .375 Ruger that has MOA accuracy every time its "snapped" back together. I love shooting it & travelling with it.

Do "AR sniping" rules also apply to baboon hunting? If they do, good luck. Just asking.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

I have taken some baboons and all of them at long distance ,they never permitted me a shot under 300yds and i have to shoot them walking or running .I supouse in some areas it can be easier but i hunted them in the Karoon near Beaufort West ,very open terrain .I would never use anything under the 308 ,but for long distance work you needlond distance calibers ,here the 300winch and 300wbys aare the kings.
Please forget about the calibers your metioned they are good for nothing .

I appreciate all the responses. Heck, I never knew the various governments permitted baboon hunting until my buddy informed me of the hunt.

Now I am really disappointed that I am not able to go with him. It is not so much that I want to shoot a baboon -- it is that he always chokes on shots over 200 yards. I would love to observe the anxiety! I thought I was going to have to conference call in a psychologist or crisis counselor when I took him groundhog hunting and the shots were at 300 yards.

390ish,
The gents on this thread speak the bitter truth learned from bitter lessons. A baboon is not a big target, perhaps a max of 8 inches diameter, and the vitals are far forward. This means that when a baboon is on all fours, the shot is often too far back, and when the baboon is sitting, the shot is often too low. A gut shot baboon can go a long way, even with a .375 hit. Forget the cowboy guns and take some serious medicine. Personally, I would use a 7mag and a scope with lots of zoom.
Cheers,
Tim

Anything that shoots flat and long. Ive never seen one less than 500 yards in sa. Being persecuted and shot at for 100 plus years does that. I managed to kill one in Tanzania from 50 yards. Go figure.

I shot 5-6 from a Troop on one hunt with a 300 WSM. We had Marula fruit and fresh hay out for them near a water hole below their Kopje. If I had to do it over again, I would love to use a 22-250 with a long range scope. Most shots were taken at about 200 yards.

I just got back from a hunt yesterday. I killed one at 265 with my .338 Win Mag and one at 457 with a .300 RUM. Missed one at 805 (I forgot my anemometer but I guessed the wind was 12 mph and held 6 MOA - missed just right) and one at 580 (same day, same wind).

I am going back in two years and devoting a big part of my hunt to shooting baboons at long range. May bring my .220 Swift with 75 gr Amax bullets.

I shot two Baboons last year in South Africa. I used a .300 British and a .243Win and shot two big males. Was absolutely no problem. Shot both of them within 60m.

So in my opinion the caliber and bullet is not that important. The shot placement and accurate aiming is way more important.

About 10minutes ago, i was shooting them with a borrowed steyr mannlicher .270 and it was great fun. Used a musgrave .243 yesterday.

An old male baboon i shot at 200 mts running from the left to the rigth in a dead river

i used aZoli 3006 with supressor ,and 180grains ,i shot a full body in the front and at head heigth ,i trained a lot for a shot of this type while in the army .

If I were going for Baboon only...I would take my .22-250 and my .264 Win Mag.

The devils are dam smart. If they have ever been shot at all you have to do is point a gun at them and usually they start running. X2 on the 22-250 w/Nosler partitions or similar. It does incredible damage on them, more than enough gun. The few we have shot have all been +250 yards and its usually only one good shot they will let you have.
Actually a pretty fair and fun hunt as you are matching wits with a pretty cagy animal, although we shot them as animals of opportunity-they pissed us off by barking and spooked away what we were actually stalking. If I had the time and money I would not mind spending a week or so just hunting baboons

In two trips to SA I've only shot one. It was running at 300+ yards and I hit it on the second shot. I didn't hunt specifically for them but they were always targets of opportunity. The only shot I got at a stationary animal was at a big male sitting on top of a steel fence post at about 500 yards. I still don't know how they can do that!

+1 for the 375 they make outstanding training for the big animals. After they are shot at you need a long rifle say 3006 270 something like that to reach out

Last trip I got lucky and we found two big males sitting on a rock outcropping on the other side of a canyon. They ranged at 530 yds - I had taken my 30-378 over just for this purpose as I could never get close enough for anything else. Laying rock solid prone, I wacked the first one and I swear the second male had that WTF??? look on his face when the bullet hit him!!!

We all laughed our asses off for 10 minutes :-)

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
May bring my .220 Swift with 75 gr Amax bullets.

Funny, we think alike on this one. Baboons are smart and very wary if hunted. That said, they are not hard to kill and they are not real big(100 pounds). A 220 swift if perfect for a baboon only hunt.

I have shot three baboons, one with a 375 and two with a 30-06. I know that I could have shot more if I had something fast and flat(like a swift)