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I'm heading to Limpopo South Africa in 27 days for my first PG safari. I'll be taking a 300 Rum & a 7mm SAUM. I'm shooting 160gr TSX bullets at 2883 ft/sec the engery at the muzzle is 2953ft/lbs and at 200 yds its still 2199ft/lbs. I've been practicing alot from the shoting sticks and I'm very comfortable with the rifle and very happy with the accuracy. Is this enough rifle to take an Eland with. I think it will fine but I was wondering what other people's thoughts are. | ||
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I should have stated that I'm enquiring about the 7mm SAUM. | |||
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| One of Us |
I'll be headed to SA in about 45 days. I'm planning on taking a Cape Eland with my 300 wsm shooting 180 mrx bullets. It worked well on my last safari. So I wouldn't worry to much about it if I were you. Put the bullet were you want and you'll have a dead eland My guide uses a 7mm Rem mag shooting 160gr tsx bullets that he loans to clients and many of them take eland Good luck on your hunt  | |||
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If you're taking a 300 RUM, I would use that for the Eland. I did a 16-animal Plains Game hunt in 1999 with a Remington KS in 300 RUM, and it was an awesome killer. 200gr Partitions for big stuff, and 180gr Scirocco for everything else. | |||
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Broadside shot; not a problem with the 7 mag. However, Eland tend to be skiddish and many times your broadside shot will turn away, quartering before you can squeeze the trigger. Because of their size, the 300 RUM would take up some slack if need be, but if your patient and keep in mind; wounded and lost game is paid for, taking only broadside shots, you should be fine. If it's your first journey to Africa, it's not "hunting at home in a blind or stand." Your going to have someone telling you when to shoot; when the animal is clear of other game or brush/trees; asking you to move this way or that, so the issue of stress/nerves can catch you off guard. Any doubt take the .300 RUM. Good hunting, David Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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Shot a cape eland with the 300 wm and a livingston with a Rem 7 mm mag. Both dead right there. Both of your rifles a fine as long as you place your first shot. I have also seen them shot with 375hh by someone else and had to track the sob for the better part of 2 days. Happiness is a warm gun | |||
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took one with my 375 double and took to shoots broadside before collapsing. bachelors party 4 years later borowed a 30-06. one shoot on the chest= stone dead. shoot straight with your 7mm and you´ll have no problemo. happy hunting diego | |||
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whitehorse, They are about the size of a big bull moose, and are capable of sucking up lead about the same. The 7mm SAUM is plenty, but the RUM would be even better.  Cheers Canuck | |||
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I'm off to CAR in 10 days after Derby eland. Ruger .375 with Hornady 300 grain DGX is what I am betting on. Dave Fulson | |||
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Dude I am like so jealous! On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of ten thousand, who on the dawn of victory lay down their weary heads resting, and there resting, died. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch... Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! - Rudyard Kipling Life grows grim without senseless indulgence. | |||
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Me too. Lots of pics and a write up when you get back. Good hunting. Happiness is a warm gun | |||
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Use the .300RUM. An Eland trots faster than you can run, and they can trot for hours. You don't want to chase a wounded Eland. It is only good sense to use enough gun on the largest antelope on the planet. Mike ______________ DSC DRSS (again) SCI Life NRA Life Sables Life Mzuri IPHA "To be a Marine is enough." | |||
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Given the choices, I believe I'd get a case of "RUMmy" on the Eland. They can go over 1500lbs and be tough to bring down from what guys here tell me who have hunted them. Rich | |||
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I shot an Eland in 2003 with a .300 WSM using 180 gr. Winchester Failsafes. They worked very well. I think the 7mm SAUM would work as long as shot placement is ideal, but why not use the .300 RUM? Just curious..... In the near future, I would like to buy a .338-.378 Weatherby to use on large antelope such as Eland and Nilgai. _______________________________________________________ Hunt Report - South Africa 2022 Wade Abadie - Wild Shot Photography Website | Facebook | Instagram | |||
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Have a GREAT trip. If you use the light rifle make sure of your shot placement. As someone pointed out ... a wounded Eland can go 10s of kilometers! I'd use the BIGGER one. I took no chances with mine. I hit him at 186 yards quartering away with a 435 gr Rhino bonded core, solid shank bullet at muzzle velocity of 2400 fps (from a .458 AR). He dropped very quickly and I was greatly relieved! Mike -------------- DRSS, Womper's Club, NRA Life Member/Charter Member NRA Golden Eagles ... Knifemaker, http://www.mstarling.com | |||
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ThAT is not much more gun than my 280 & I would want a bit more for Eland in the bush. I would stick w/ the 300RUM if you can shoot it well. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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They're huge. And you won't be shooting at long ranges. Supervelocity cartridges are a sort of a waste of time in my African experience. What you want is penetration. I'd work up a load of the toughest 220 gr. .30's for the RUM and use it. Otherwise, get a .375. Sarge Holland's .375: One Planet, One Rifle . . . for one hundred years! | |||
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mate I don't know why you are even bothering to take those two rifles???? The 300 will kill them all and there is not enough difference in calibre between the two to make it worth your while taking two!stick with the 300 and save youself some extra weight  | |||
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The 7mm and the TSX will work but dont expect an exit wound unless maybe fully broadisde and going trough the lungs. The RUM is going to work better you might as well take everything with it. Eland are big but the biggest hassle with them is that people shoot them too high they have a very big deep chest area and you must shoot into the lower 1/3 rd area of the body to hit the heart. Frederik Cocquyt I always try to use enough gun but then sometimes a brainshot works just as good. | |||
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Since you have loaded the 7mm to 150 fps less than max, you might as well use the 300 RUM. Why take two rifles with such close ability? "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
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The .300 with 200 gr. A Frames. That is an unbeatable combination. Why go smaller? The man said it a long time ago. Use enough gun. | |||
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+1 for the 300 | |||
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my policy has always been to take a gun that will get the job done on the biggest animal under the worst circumstances. I killed a large Eland in the Save with a 375H&H. It was laying down 150 yards away across an open pan. Quartering away, leaning towards us. I took several minutes to analyze the bullet path before firing. The bull lept to its feet and blistered a 300 yard run, died on its feet. Almost no blood. I would not of tried that shot with a 300 or 7mm. It required almost four feet of penetration by the 300gr TBBC bullet, recovered in the off shoulder. Entrance hole was waaaaaay back, almost to the hip and 3/4 way up the flank, bullet ended up in the front of the off shoulder. Take a bigger gun..... troy Birmingham, Al | |||
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+2 With a good soft your OK. Eland as a rule aren't the toughest critter, if they were as tough as a wildebeast we'd all be using big bores on them. "An individual with experience is never at the mercies of an individual with an argument" | |||
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For whatever it is worth I killed my only eland with my 30-06 using aframe 180g bullets at around 110yds | |||
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The 375 H&H with a 300 gr quality bullet is tops for things like Eland, Giraffe, and Wildebeaste! However all those can be killed easily with a 30-06 but with anything less than 9.3X62, or 74R you need to stay away from the shoulder bones, and try to pick a line through the ribs into the heart/lung area. Every eland I've shot, or seen shot the bullet has always been found under the hide on the off side even with a 375 H&H. With a little 7mm, 8mm .30,even with a quality bullet, if the shot is not perfect, you may well be paying for an Eland that you can't find! The trophy fee is paid on blood sign, not an animal on the ground. Use what ever you want that is legal, but make the shot count! Personally I wouldn't shoot an Eland with less than a 9.3 with a heavy 286 gr bullet, but that, and the 375 H&H is simply what I use for my light rifle in Africa. So for me it is a moot point! ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith  | |||
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I took an Eland in 2007 in Zimbabwe with a 300RUM with 180gr trophy bonded bearclaws at 3100f/s Eland are tough. I hit it 5 times all in the lungs it finally just laid down. I actually thought I was missing. The shots ranged from 200 to 300 yards from start to finish. I recovered all 5 bullets three had stopped just under the hide on the off side. FYI, the trophy bonded held together great 1 still weighed 168gr when I weighed it at home. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject. | |||
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If you catch just one lung on a quartering shot, you will be in for quite a hike. Remember if you lose it you still pay a hefty trophy fee plus lose a day or two of hunting while the pursuit is on. I have a 300 grain TBBC that turned into a silver dollar on the spine of an eland. It knocked him down but did not sever the spine. They are really big animals and in my limited experience can take a lot of punishment. I would use 200 grain Swifts in your RUM. | |||
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Thanks for all the great replies. I'll try to answer all of your questions. I do intend to use the 300 for Eland but I was thinking that if I were stalking a smaller species with my 7mm & happen to come across a trophy Eland. Would it be adequate. Part of the reason the 7mm isn't at max is because it has a 22" barrel & this load gives me the best accuracy. I am taking 2 rifles as an insurance policy. I take two rifles everywhere I hunt even if I'm hunting near home. I've never had a problem with a rifle but like to be sure. Thanks again for the replies. Have a great day & happy hunting. | |||
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.300 WSM. DRT.  | |||
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On our 2006 RSA trip, my friend shot a 2,500 lb Eland with a 270 winchester (not a 270 wsm, a 270 win) It went 40 yards and fell over dead. "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" -- Ronald Reagan "Ignorance of The People gives strength to totalitarians." Want to make just about anything work better? Keep the government as far away from it as possible, then step back and behold the wonderment and goodness. | |||
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In o5 I shoot mine at 80 yards with a 416 rem mag 350 gr tsx. As it quartered away I hit it at the last rib, it was found under the hide at the front shoulder. He stood there for a min or two then walked toward me for about 50 yards. I put the second shot through the front shoulder and out the other side by the last rib. The shoots must have crossed right over the heart. After the first shot he was walking like I had missed him. Bigger is better. JD DRSS 9.3X74 tika 512 9.3X74 SXS Merkel 140 in 470 Nitro | |||
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I've shot cape and livingston elands with 375 with good results. I never felt overgunned. The cape ran 100 yards and fell over. The livingston staggered in place, heart shot, for a minute before falling. I shot him again as we approached as he was lifting his head and trying to get up. I was present when a marginally shot lord derby ran a great distance after being shot with a 338. Moral: Either of your rifles will certainly kill an eland as well as most every creature that walks the face of the earth, but the lighter calibers require precise shot placement and give you much less room for error. Personally, I love a 200 grain nosler partition in a .30 cal rifle. Will J. Parks, III | |||
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They sure can trot, and if you don't get a shot the first time you see them, you can trot after them forever. They will trot for a mile or more, then stop for a while, and when you get close to them and if they hear or smell you, they break into a trot again. | |||
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As someone has already said, velocity isn't going to mean much to you in Africa. Your chosen projectile has an SD .283. More than enough with the force you have behind it. You said you are comfortable with the rifle, that statement says it all. I shot my running(trotting) Eland in the neck with a 9.3x62. If your shot placement is correct you won't have problems. Just because you see an Eland doesn't mean you have to take any shot given to you. I think this is where all this larger calibre philosophy comes from. 'Gotta get that trophy no matter what'. Discuss it with your PH beforehand and insist on only takeing shots you feel comfortable with. | |||
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I know a recoil-shy fella (because of surgery) that has killed I think 5 with the 270, not a problem. | |||
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Apparently Dtala took time to "calculate a trajectory". I'm impressed. No woodchuck I shot at at age 8 (and for years afterwards) ever gave me that opportunity (and I shot at ranges up to near 700 yards {with a 220 Swift,48 gr, bullet for the doubters}. I'm with MacD37 - I spent only about 3 and 1/2 weeks in the real African bush - but despite becoming friends with my PH he never convinced me that the 30-06, 180 gr. wouldn't plant the biggest leopard that ever walked. He didn't know the '06. Us old types kinda thought it was a pretty good cartridge in its day. (I do have to admit that I am also a lover of the 7mm Mauser (7x57 to you Europeans or plain gun nuts) It really always comes back to what you can shoot -without blinking. (As the old Westerners used to say - Beware of the man with one gun - He may be a crack shot with it -and,in the end it is always where the bullet hits that matters) | |||
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