I shot this Gemsbok in the Alldays area (SA) last week. About 100m shot using a .303 150gr bullet, a bit light for Gemsbok I know, but never the less that’s what I used. At the shot she hunched her back and took off at high speed.

We waited about 15 minutes and took the spoor. After a fair amount blood and about 300m on the spoor we saw her about 40m away in very thick Mopani bush. She moved slightly to the right and all I could see were the tips of her horns - NOTHING else.

I took a calculated guess and shot through the bush. She again took off at speed and I resigned to the fact I had missed.

We tracked her for about another 800m - very slowly - I don't want to be pegged with those horns. The blood dried up and we found no more on the ground. There was blood on the leaves that she had brushed past so we could confirm we were on the right spoor.

We pressed on for about an hour and after a total of about 1.1km we found her dead under a tree.

During the autopsy we found my first bullet had gone through the bottom of the heart and through 1 lung, she was facing me slightly at the shot. The second shot had in fact connected and was a neck shot but failed to hit any bone.

This girl ran over 1km with the bottom of her heart gone and on one lung.

Incredibly tough !!!

You can see the first shot on the shoulder in the photo.

Lesson – use right bullet for the job……………….

I'll wager she isn't going to be tough to the jaw though ! A nice well fed looking beast too. Wish I was coming to your brai. Well done.

I kinda figure a kilometer per inch off of the perfect shot. (I hate to admit that is from some small practical experience.)

I much prefer the DRT ... but stuff happens once in a while.

quote:

Originally posted by Ridgeman:
I'll wager she isn't going to be tough to the jaw though ! A nice well fed looking beast too. Wish I was coming to your brai. Well done.

You are only a plane ticket away....

Very nice indeed.

ghundwan, don't blame your .303.

I shot a bull gemsbok once in the very same spot, right through the heart, with a .338 Win. Mag., 225 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw soft point, at about 210 yards.

He ran off as though unhit.

We canvassed the area and followed up the blood trail. We found him about a quarter mile from where I had shot him, resting on his knees, as if bedded down, behind a tree.

He was just hunkered down, and looking right at us, from about five yards distance. I raised my rifle and fired again. My second bullet struck him just an inch or so forward and slightly above the first one.

He did not react at all to the shot! So, I immediately fired a third time, directly into his shoulder.

At the shot, he rolled onto his off side and roared out a deep, low bellow.

I had fired three rounds of .338 Win. Mag. into him, two of them from a mere five yards, and each of them mortal wounds. But still, he was not dead.

He thrashed on the ground, bellowed several more times, kicked his hind legs, and glared at us for several minutes.

We approached him twice during that time and touched his eyeball with the muzzles of our rifles, and both times he flinched and kicked.

Finally, after struggling mightily for so long, and after one last spasm of kicking, he died.

Gemsbok are incredibly tough animals. Perhaps the toughest I have ever seen.

quote:

Originally posted by Ridgeman:
I'll wager she isn't going to be tough to the jaw though ! A nice well fed looking beast too. Wish I was coming to your brai. Well done.

I'll wager she will be. With enough adreneline to run that long and far with that much damage, she may not be the tastiest critter. Wouldn't mind testing my theory at the brai though .

Dean

I hunted gemsbok on White Sands Missle Range. Got a shot at a nice bull at about 125 yds. He humped up at the shot and ran straight away from me. I followed on foot for about 1/2 mile, got another shot at about 150 yds. Again he humped up and took off. I followed on foot and the same thing happened again. Tracking was easy, plus you could see everything that was going on. Found him dead down in a small arroyo. All three shots I could cover with my hand. The lungs were non existant when he was field dressed. He ran maybe 1 1/2 to 2 miles. I was using a 3006 with 165gr nosler partitions.

I have shot 8 Gemsbuck, some DRT if you get the CNS or heart and double lung. I shot one through the shoulders high, breaking both shoulders. He turned away and I broke his right hip. On one leg he was still moving. The third shot got the CNS (spine). They are as tough as a buff or blue wildebeast and dangerous. There is no quit in them.....Tom

That is why I believe in the biggest gun you shoot well! Have shot 18 of them in two trips to Namibia, with the 375 H&H using 260 grain Nosler AccuBonds. Furthest any went was 80 yards.