I'm hunting pronghorns in NE Wyoming this fall. My partner has hunted the area before, he says to expect wind and long range shots. Any recommmedations on factory ammo in .308? I'm leaning towards Fed. Fusion, 150 gr.

I prefer a 168 or 165 myself. May perform better in the wind for you. Take a look at the Winchester ballistic silvertip in 165/168 if available, or Hornady 165 BTSP.

About any good 165 gr. bullet would be my choice..The 165 seem to hold their velocity better than the 150s or 180s in the .308, but the difference would be so little that in the field you could not tell the difference..So shoot a 150 or 165 and a 180 wouldn't be much of a problem IMO....In truth most antelope are shot at under 300 yards.

White Owl, I wouold agree with the thinking that is a toss up. Doc is probably giving you some good intel on 165's or 168's in wind, that is the reason most match guys go to that weight. 180 is overkill in my opinion, and if a 150 shoots good out of your rifle, I wouldn't hesitate a second to go with it, I've shot several WAY out there with a 130 Gr TSX in 308.

I'd go with whatever shot best out of my rig.

I hunted WY for 15 years straight for antelope, mulies and elk and only had one shot over 300 yards and could have gotten closer on that one.
Wind is tough to read. Watch your grass. It might not be blowing where you are and blowing a gale where the goats are. Practice, practice, practice.
Bulletwise, goats don't take much killing with a decent hit. Don't get too stout a bullet 'cause there ain't a lot of mass to a antelope to open it up. Something in the order of a Core Lokt, Hot Core, and bullets on that order would be my choice over a harder, bonded premium bullet. Of course, the NP is always a crowd pleaser.
Aim for the exit hole.

The Fusion Bullet should work great on Antelope. It is NOT a tough bullet, and will expand just fine on them.

Strangely enough I'm just now working up a load for a new trail gun I just bought....It's a Rem 700 .308 with a 20" barrel...it's just for the drives we make in Wisconsin where we like short rifles to help us climbing through the crap! I prefer a different gun for stands....like a M-70 FWT in .257 or something like that.

I've used a few guns in Wyoming for speed goats and the one hanging on the wall was taken with a .264 WM at over 400 yards so I really like something with range abilities for that type hunting.

Speed goats are easy to kill as they have no place to hide if wounded and they're not large so it don't take a lot of bullet for them.

I'm going to disagree with the others here and say that if I was using the .308 Winchester for pronghorns I'd hand load 125 ballistic tips to about 3,100'/sec.....if you want more bullet the 150 SST is very sleek and aerodynamic and can be pushed to 2,900'/sec using RL-15. The latter lad may actually be flatter shooting than the first one.

Personally, I wouldn't go over 150 grains of bullet for pronghorns in the .308 winchester....

I have used fusion on several deer and they open fast, should work great on lope, just avoid taking meat shots.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:


I'm going to disagree with the others here and say that if I was using the .308 Winchester for pronghorns I'd hand load 125 ballistic tips to about 3,100'/sec.....if you want more bullet the 150 SST is very sleek and aerodynamic and can be pushed to 2,900'/sec using RL-15. The latter lad may actually be flatter shooting than the first one.

vapo: he's asking about Factory loads

quote:

Speed goats are easy to kill as they have no place to hide if wounded and they're not large so it don't take a lot of bullet for them.

Vapo,
I can agree with the second part of that statement but I've seen firsthand too many times that if you don't hit them right they get there blood up and can go a long ways and take more hits than an animal that size should. I've been lucky and not had to shoot any Antelope more than twice and most only once but I've seen friends and relatives make a mess of them and chase them for an incredible distance.
If it were me and using a .308 I'd have no trouble using either 150's or 165's whichever shot the best in that rifle and the Fusions would work well as would a lot of other bargain cup and core factory ammo (if it shoots well in your rifle). I've shot most of my Antelope with a 30/06 and 180 grain bullets!
Good luck on your hunt and on your quest for the right ammo.

MMMMMMMMM, nothing like the sweet aroma of a goat that's run halfway acrost eastern WY before realizing he was dead. It'll bring tears to your eyes.

Ive had the opposite experience, even with marginal/non fatal hits, they usually split from the pack and lay down as soon as they can. Those are ND pronghorn, maybe different in other areas.

The Derek,

I've seen that happen as well on a couple of doe 'lope. They completely stopped when wounded allowing the hunter to place a finishing shot. I made the poor decision in my teens to fill a doe tag on a running doe at 300 yards. I just grazed her leg and she stopped and stood for me to get one in the vitals. I saw another that was shot running and hit too far back do the same thing.

Reloader