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To all those who have shot at or heard about being shot,what would you have to say the average maximum shot was..I guess in a way I'm asking for a bit of a poll.I've been told that brush smashing calibers are a good idea.I've also been told the norm is 400 yds..I'd love to hear a general overview | ||
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Depends where you hunt. DB Bill aka Bill George | |||
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150 to 200 yards, not many at greater distance | |||
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As per DB Bill?George Where you hunt will impact heavily on average diatance for shots. The skill of the PH and yourself for stalking. The ability you have to hit a 5" diamater circle with field shooting positions. The speed with which you can apply a confident shot. My personal advice - use a .375H&H with a low power variable and keep your shots at less than 200yds. Make sure the first shot is at a static animal with a good soft nose in 270gr at least. Fill the magazine full of solids and keep shooting if the animal runs from the first shot. More often than not the Texas heart shot will be the follow up shot so solids work best to penetrate through to a vital area from any angle. Kudu are quite slim of body but tall and long with tough bones. Thus raking shots from the rear require very good penetration. A final note - they are curious animals and if disturbed and running off will most likely stop briefly to look behind in a bid to determine what has alarmed them. This can be for 3-5 seconds before taking off again in high gear to dissapear over the horizon or into thick bush. If you are ready for this you will often get a perfect opportunity without having to take a risky running shot initially. APB | |||
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I´v shot two one at about 60 and the other at 40 meters. That was in the Limpopo bushveldt. | |||
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I've shot 2, the first with a 375 H&H at about 240 yds., the second with a bow at 11 yds. JD | |||
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| <mikeh416Rigby> |
I've shot three: 140 yards, 90 yards, and 35 yards. All with a rifle. | ||
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I have taken 3. All shots were under 50 Yards and were taken off-hand. I have only hunted them in the bush. I have seen shots taken up to 200 yards however that is rare in the areas I have hunted. ****************************************************************** R. Lee Ermey: "The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle." ****************************************************************** We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, Which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that didn't read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a President, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we'll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke!!!!! 'What the hell could possibly go wrong?' | |||
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I've shot them at 20 yards and at a bit over 200 yards. | |||
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I have shot three: 200 yards, 225 and 35. I can't imagine any African (or any animal anywhere) where the shot average 400 yards. To average 400 yards, you would need two shots at 500 for every shot at 200. Lechwe might be the longest range, but I would be surprised if the avg shot is 400 yards. | |||
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We shot 3 in the Okavango delta. Longest shot was 80 yds. One with 375, two with 30-06. | |||
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Shot 2 - one at 150 yds and the other at 200 yds. | |||
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I've only seen two killed - mine and my Dad's. They were 289 and 315 yards respectively. This was in pretty open country in Namibia. Incidentally, these were the longest shots of our trip. _____________________ A successful man is one who earns more money than his wife can spend. | |||
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Well my minds made up ,its the LOTT..350 gr speers fn 2850 fps.If the slut runs,I'll give him an asshole out the brisket | |||
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I should probably have added that I've shot two. The first was an ambush at about 25 yards with a 350 RemMag....off-hand in the heart and he ran about 25 yards. The 2nd about 100 yards where he thought he was hidden behind some brush. I found a hole and using the sticks to sho0t him in the neck with my 375. Dropped in his tracks. DB Bill aka Bill George | |||
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spined one with a 300 from elevation at 150+m, dropped dead where he stood and then lost one at 65m with a 270.Kudu took the shot in the shoulder, fell over and then got up after 5 secs and ran off, never to be seen again. after that i have lost all confidence in the 20 cal bullets and have gone to 30-06 as the lightest caliber i'll use on any african game of decent size. "one of the most common african animals is the common coolerbok(or coleman's coolerbok). Many have been domesticated and can be found in hunting camps, lodges and in the back of vehicles." | |||
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I've only shot one- about 100 yards with a 7x57 with a good whitetail-type neck shot as that was all I could see. A shot not taken is always a miss | |||
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1 kudu. Shot at approx. 65 to 75 yards. Canuck | |||
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Depends on the terrian where you are hunting..Bushveld can be close, High veld can be long shots... I have shot Kudu in the Eastern Cape and Namibia at 350 to 400 yards, and even made some very long shots in the Kruger Park area..Long shots in Zimbabwe... If I hunt Kudu I use a 300 H&H with 200 gr. Noslers and a .338 with 210 Noslers, then I can take what comes, close or far...that covers all the basis... Remember these words of wisdom  its easier to kill and animal with a long range rifle at close range than it is to kill an animal at long range with a short range rifle...Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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 charger, Personally I don't think you look smart. The photo won't hurt me and I'm SURE the shotgun is unloaded (but I do know a policeman who put a .357 round through a dresser drawer doing the same thing.....). It's a personal prefernece thing.....so it's all about choices.  The responses so far have been great, my take -away s not folks have responded with relatively short Kudu range. It really depends on where you are doing your thing.....Eastern Cape, Namibia, or elsewhere. Much of what you see in most plains game areas looks very similar to Texas, New Mexico & Arizona, flat, realitely low vegaetation, open with some, a little or no opportunity to get any elevation. My experience is Limpopo Valley bushveld. Three Kudu, 1 at @ 85 meters - the other two at (longish) spitting distance, say +/- 40 meters. All three didn't go further than 20 meters with a 300 grain .375 bullet right on the point of the shoulder. I use a 1.5-6x42 Kahles scope and don't ever remember having fiddled with it at all - it just stayed on 6x.  Cheers, Number 10 | |||
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I have shot two, one at 50 yards and one at 110 yards with my 338. When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults! | |||
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I shot my kudu at a little over 300 yards in the OMAY [Zim]. All my other shots were under 200 yards. The only reason the kudu was shot so far away as he was on the top of a ridge, and it would have been difficult to get closer. The PH asked if I could make the shot. I was using my 9,3x74R double rifle with a 1.5x6 scope. I had shot the rifle on paper at 300 before leaving for Africa. DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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The kudu I shot in Zim was only about 50 meters away. While the one my wife shot in Namibia was about 100. I think my mothers Kudu was at about 200 meters (but I'm not quite sure). | |||
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Well hell I must look atleast as smart as any body else who does it...NO????? | |||
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 charger, My apologies, pal. I was outa line and agree with you! Cheers, Number 10 | |||
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Sounds a lot like a mule deer,with the bolt and stop thing..Well theres where the lott comes in..The 45 cal enema | |||
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Some of these 250 yd + shots I'm hearing about...I trust you fellas did em if you say you did,but I also trust that I could not make them 101% of the time totally off hand..Are we leaning,kneeling or what ?? | |||
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Hey Gerry:: Not to worry | |||
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Ray has it right on the nose. Take a gun that can handle both situations. | |||
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[..I'd love to hear a general overview[/QUOTE] The distance will depend on yourselelf or your PH. To kill a Greater kudu in Namibia can be so easy that even a twelve year old can do it, you just need to be able to shoot. To kill an old lone kudu bull can be very challenging and rewarding. I am not talking about shooting it from a vehicle or from a blind, that is what the twelve year old can do. It often happens that you drive past a bull that is standing motionless in thick bush only 30 yards away, hoping that you did not see him. Here is a perfect opportunity to decide if that is the bull you want.It is sensless to get of the vehicle, you will not see it again. The challenge is to drive on and come back for it on foot. Kudu try to avoid open land and will only cross it to reach thick bush again. This might be the situation where you will try a long shot and probably wound it, because they seldom stop before they reached cover again. On foot you will have to be patient and wake up. Kudu feed for a few seconds and then listen and observe before going on again. You will have to stalk and stop to listen and observe before moving on again, always going on your knee to look for the legs if you are in thick bush. This way you can come into spitting distance if you know what you are doing. If spotted, you need to judge fast and shoot fast, because it will stand motionless for a few seconds and then jump away and head out of town. If you are persuing a bull that knows about you, you might need a heavy calibre, because it will be waiting for you in thick bush and dash out of it just to put several 100 yards between you and there it will be waiting for you again. In short, if your PH is as good as he says and you want to hunt kudu the right way, you do not have to shoot further than 100 yards. " fine men are remembered for their reaction after a kill " | |||
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Over sticks....and mine was 265 yards.....and I hit the son of a gun 5 times. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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Mine was off the sticks while sitting down, almost as steady as off the bench. First shot was 280yds, and he didn't fall right down, so I took one more shot at almost 300yds, and he went down right there. It was slightly downhill so the ballistic range was slightly less. This was in the Eastern Cape. Shooting from one side of a valley to the other. Les | |||
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Both of the shots to which I refer above were made using the PH's homemade shooting sticks for a rest from the standing position. Both shots were confirmed with a laser range finder immediately following the shot. Unfortunately, neither one presented the opportunity to check the range before the shot. In fact, that happened only a couple of times. I used a .338 loaded with 225 grain TSXs, while my dad used a .270 WSM with 140 grain TSXs. Interestingly enough, both shots were tightly quartering away, which required shooting through a lot of gut to get to the vitals. Both animals, though mortally wounded, required a followup shot to end things more quickly. Make your first shot at a calm animal count, but be prepared for rapid followups. _____________________ A successful man is one who earns more money than his wife can spend. | |||
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Well...I'll throw my $.02, I thinkt he looking down the bbl photos are look stupid. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Myself, I kind of like them. Sometimes especially ....  PS Hopefully most sane people can work out the difference between a photo and real life.  PPS It's a pretty sad individual who uses up his profile photo and signature line to flame someone with every post.  PPPS Gentlemen, enjoy the pretty lady.  ************************************** PPPPS To keep this post on the "African Hunting" topic, I shot my kudu at about 200 yards with a .30-06. Missed one on the run at 25 yards too another time. Just bad shooting on my part. Had one - a 57" plus bull plus two other bulls - walk maybe 15 to 20 yards behind us (I was hunting with Pierre van Wyk in the Gwayi) crossing an open paddock. We were completely in the open with a tree behind us and buffalo on the far side of the tree. The kudu never saw us. It was one of the most magical times I have ever had in Africa. I wish I had a video camera at the time. | |||
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I think Elmer Keith hit one running at 600 yards with a 4" Model 29. Oh wait, that was a whitetail. I guess hed could extend it out to 800 or 900 with a target as large as a Kudu. DC300  DC300 | |||
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Since we're showing pictures. And yes Virginia those are the firing pins. And no Weatherby Kiss either.  40 to 200 yards. If you can hit a 7" pie plate off hand at 200 your grinnin. There is usually a rest close by and shooting sticks if you like them. I don't by the way. Take any rifle that you can shoot off hand to 200. Have fun. | |||
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"Charger" Thanks for bringing the beautiful Tara back up . I had the pleasure of sitting next to this lady on a flight once for an hour and a very pleasant conversation it was.She wasn't pointing at handgun at me though. | |||
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