Ok, I'll probably get ridiculed here, but I'll confess anyway.
I'm 12 days away from my first guided Aoudad hunt. I am told by my
guide that the average shot will be 400 yards (I am hoping closer).

I have several different calibers and here are my options:

.7mm WSM
.280 Rem
.300 Win
.30-06

Given that I have shot all of them, and not really
shot any of them better than the other, I've decided to
shot the boring old .30-06.

It has a little better scope than the others. Therefore, I feel a little
more comfortable with it. Now, putting the sarcasm aside,
what are your thoughts? I'm thinking I'll use a 165 grain soft point.

Great choice. I prefer 150 grain bullets in the 30-06 but most don't agree.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason P:
I am told by my guide that the average shot will be 400 yards

I've never shot an Aoudad so take it for what it's worth. It's my understanding they can be pretty tough so how about a sleek 180 grain like a Nosler Accubond? But I'm also a heavy bullet guy too.

I plan to hunt Aoudad in the next year or two. I shoot both the 30.06 and .300 Win Mag. Currently for both I reload with Barnes TTSX 165 gn. Game taken with this bullet includes Zebra, Gemsbok, Springbok, Kudu - all well killed with this bullet. With this bullet in my loads I will take either rifle on my Aoudad hunt. I think whatever soft point bullet you choose, provided it's a quality product, will be entirely satisfactory for your Aoudad. Hunt hard, and I hope your hunt is very successful.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason P:
Ok, I'll probably get ridiculed here, but I'll confess anyway.
I'm 12 days away from my first Aoudad hunt. I am told by my
guide that the average shot will be 400 yards (I am hoping closer).

I have several different calibers and here are my options:

.7mm WSM
.280 Rem
.300 Win
.30-06

Given that I have shot all of them, and not really
shot any of them better than the other, I've decided to
shot the boring old .30-06.

It has a little better scope than the others. Therefore, I feel a little
more comfortable with it. Now, putting the sarcasm aside,
what are your thoughts? I'm thinking I'll use a 165 grain soft point.

Feeling comfortable with a rifle is important.

It sounds like you don't have time to try out new bullets, so I won't recommend a lighter GSCustom. In TTSX or lead-based bullets I would go with a lightweight with the highest BC that you can get and test in the next 10 days. Maybe an Nos Accubond 150gn. with .435 BC, hopefully at 3000fps. Barnes 150gn TTSX has a .420 BC which is also good at 3000 fps.

A shot at 400 yards raises the problem of wind and the better BC will minimize wind drift errors.

Check out JBMballistics.com for good ballistics printouts for drop and drift with a large selection of bullets at 10 or 25 yard intervals out to whatever distance you would like.

You aren't out of your mind. I think the bullet will be fine especially at long range. There won't be much velocity for a "blow up".

quote:

Now, putting the sarcasm aside,what are your thoughts? I'm thinking I'll use a 165 grain soft point

Place it properly and you well have dead critter.

Be not afraid of shooting more then once.

quote:

Place it properly and you well have dead critter.

Be not afraid of shooting more then once.

Plus One

whew - what a relief - by the title of the post i thought you might have bought a blaser

I guide Aoudad hunts in West Texas. They are thicker than a white tail deer but not bulletproof. 165 grain soft point will be fine with the '06. Especially as you get further out, the soft point will expand and penetrate without blowing apart. Depending on terrain and vegetation, it can be hard to get close. They are pretty wary animals. 400 yards is a pretty long shot and I always try to get closer than that. I try to get all of my hunters less than 250 if at all possible.

Great advice from all and it's appreciated.

To be honest, I like to hunt more than I like to
shoot. However, I do enjoy shooting. I would rate myself
Good up to 300 yards. I'm going to avoid 400 yards unless
I can improve some more.

I just returned from town (I live in the sticks). I'm going
to use either 30-06 Federal Fusion 165 grain or .300
Federal Nosler Partitions in 180.

I've shot both guns a lot, especially in Africa on all types
of plains game. Both worked great.

Thanks again and I'll be sure to post a report!

Spoke to the guide today and it sounds 250-300 is realistic.
That sounds better! I did a self guided Aoudad hunt several
years back and was unsuccessful. It was tough and we did a lot
of walking!! More walking than most of my elk hunts.

Really looking forward to heading out to Texas. I like the area,
people, and the excuse for another hunt!!

Any of your mentioned calibers will be perfectly adequate. Aoudads in far west Texas are just like sheep and goats elsewhere, sometimes you simply cannot get at them. But in most cases, if the country is rough and you are patient, there is no reason to take extremely long shots. I hesitate to say that because it depends on how you hunt. I have looked over many big rams. The ones I shot were 172, 119, 340 and 256 yards. Two were bedded and two were on walkabouts.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason P:

Given that I have shot all of them, and not really
shot any of them better than the other, I've decided to
shot the boring old .30-06.

It has a little better scope than the others. Therefore, I feel a little
more comfortable with it. Now, putting the sarcasm aside,
what are your thoughts? I'm thinking I'll use a 165 grain soft point.

The '06 is only boring because it works with such predictable results.

Some cartridges may be (theoretically) better for a specific task, but you could hunt a lifetime with a 30/06 and 180gr Partitions and flat kill everything in NA plus most everything in the world.

Enjoy your hunt and post a report when you're done.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason P:
Great advice from all and it's appreciated.

To be honest, I like to hunt more than I like to
shoot. However, I do enjoy shooting. I would rate myself
Good up to 300 yards. I'm going to avoid 400 yards unless
I can improve some more.

I just returned from town (I live in the sticks). I'm going
to use either 30-06 Federal Fusion 165 grain or .300
Federal Nosler Partitions in 180.

I've shot both guns a lot, especially in Africa on all types
of plains game. Both worked great.

Thanks again and I'll be sure to post a report!

If you are using factory ammo it would be good to shoot the loads over two chronographs, or at least one. The real velocities in specific rifles are often 200 and even 300 fps different from published velocities on a box or advertisements.

That will make a difference in aim point from 275 yards and on out.

I was raised in West Texas and suspect I know the ranch your hunting on..If it were me Id opt for the 300 and 180 gr. Nosler Accubonds..Im a great fan of the 30-06 but I see it as a great 300 yard gun...That said many big game animals have been killed at 400 to no telling how far with lesser calibers...Ive witnessed and shot a lot of long range game at short distances in long range country btw!!

BTW, being out of your mind keeps you fron going insane according to Wayon Jennings..

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I was raised in West Texas and suspect I know the ranch your hunting on..If it were me Id opt for the 300 and 180 gr. Nosler Accubonds..Im a great fan of the 30-06 but I see it as a great 300 yard gun...That said many big game animals have been killed at 400 to no telling how far with lesser calibers...Ive witnessed and shot a lot of long range game at short distances in long range country btw!!

BTW, being out of your mind keeps you fron going insane according to Wayon Jennings..

Thanks, I am going to now try to keep the shot 300 or less. I was shooting a lit yesterday. The 06 started great, didn't end great. This was due to me hurrying and shoot too much at the end.

Fortunately, I can shoot 3 minutes from my house. I'll be spending a lot of time practicing this week.

My .30-06 with 180 grain bullets and 2 1/2" high at 100 is still 24" low at 400.

The 06 and 180's works great also. In my rifle, I am about 2 inches high at 100, about 1 foot low at 300(actually a little less), 2 feet low at 400 and 4 feet low at 500. It is easy to remember. I have shot red stags in Patagonia out to 500 using this simple estimation of drop.

I have hunted Aoudad in West Texas where long shots may be in order if you want a huge trophy ram. But there are also places where shots are usually close.

Some areas with rolling hills (or high-fenced ranches) will offer shots in the 75-200 yard range. If you are hunting free-range aoudad in the rugged West Texas mountains or along the Mexico border, be prepared to take long shots across canyons and ravines up to 400-500 yards out. Those free range mountain hunts are not easy.

I hunt them with my 300 H&H, and most guides recommend 300 Mag or 7mm mag for the free-range animals. Be well prepared to shoot between 100-400 yards.

Aoudad get bigger than most people realize and are a pretty tough animal in general. Also don't forget; you will be taking a SHOULDER SHOT on a big aoudad, as its vital placement is just like most other African animals. This means a tough bullet that holds together and penetrates well. I shoot the Barnes 175gr LRX in my 30 mags and it is a real performer. The Accubonds also have a solid reputation on Aoudad. Both guides I hunted with ask me not to bring VLDs, as they have seen too many instances where it couldn't bring down big rams with shoulder shots. Not gospel, just something to think about.

Man, when I saw the title of the thread I thought someone was considering buying a Blazer.

I'm getting good groups with 165 grain.

I'm 3" high at 100 yards and that should put me at zero at 200. I realize I'll have about two feet of drop at 400. However, the .300 at this range is not far off.

I think I'm about ready. I'll be shooting more today and then headed out tomorrow morning for the nice 21 hour drive!!

quote:

Originally posted by desert dog:
I have hunted Aoudad in West Texas where long shots may be in order if you want a huge trophy ram. But there are also places where shots are usually close.

Some areas with rolling hills (or high-fenced ranches) will offer shots in the 75-200 yard range. If you are hunting free-range aoudad in the rugged West Texas mountains or along the Mexico border, be prepared to take long shots across canyons and ravines up to 400-500 yards out. Those free range mountain hunts are not easy.

I hunt them with my 300 H&H, and most guides recommend 300 Mag or 7mm mag for the free-range animals. Be well prepared to shoot between 100-400 yards.

Aoudad get bigger than most people realize and are a pretty tough animal in general. Also don't forget; you will be taking a SHOULDER SHOT on a big aoudad, as its vital placement is just like most other African animals. This means a tough bullet that holds together and penetrates well. I shoot the Barnes 175gr LRX in my 30 mags and it is a real performer. The Accubonds also have a solid reputation on Aoudad. Both guides I hunted with ask me not to bring VLDs, as they have seen too many instances where it couldn't bring down big rams with shoulder shots. Not gospel, just something to think about.

I was just going to say the same thing. Shoot for the middle of the shoulder. If you shoot an aoudad behind the line of the shoulder you have gut shot him. This where I suspect the legend of the toughness of the aoudad comes from. Lots of American style behind the shoulder shots result in lots of wounded and not recovered aoudad.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason P:
I'm getting good groups with 165 grain.

I'm 3" high at 100 yards and that should put me at zero at 200. I realize I'll have about two feet of drop at 400. However, the .300 at this range is not far off.

I think I'm about ready. I'll be shooting more today and then headed out tomorrow morning for the nice 21 hour drive!!

Just a head's up.
At 3" high at 100 yards you will probably still be 2" high at 200 yards, maybe higher. Your 400 yard drop may only be -16" to -22" depending on speed and BC of your bullet.

Thanks again for the advice. I just went out and shot again- longer range.

Here is what I am shooting- 165 grain Federal Fusion

I shot at a ranged 400 yard target (unless my range finder is off.

According to the Federal website the ballistics should be:

At 100 2.8

At 250- 0

At 300- -3.8

At 350- -9.2

At 400- -16.3

At 450- -25.2

At 500- -35.9

When I shot at 100 last week, I was about 3-4" high. Therefore, I would believe that would put me at about zero at 250.

I just shot 3 shots at 400 yards. 2 grouped well at about 10" low. The other was a few inches lower (operator error).
I reloaded shot three more. Same results. Therefore, I believe that I am consistently (for my shooting) about at a -10" drop.

So, that puts it at a " difference. I realize that there are variable. And, I also realize that I will not be shooting on the US Olympic team anytime soon. However, I am happy with the grouping of the gun.

Here is what I have concluded:

If I shoot at 300 yards, I will hold right on the shoulder. A few inches will not make a difference.
At 400, I will hold about 4" above its back.

That should put me in the kill zone. I hope I am right but feel confident.

Thanks again for the advice

I am glad that you have been able to shoot at 400 yards. That will be a big help both in estimation and confidence.

I would guesstimate that your 100-yard height is probably about 3.75" high. That would produce about a -12" drop at 400 if your velocity is the same as the factory claim. If your rifle is shooting a little slower, then your 100-yard height now is probably closer to 4", or a bit more.

Just one more head's up:

At 150 yards your bullet may be about 5" high over the line of sight. So be careful in that 100-200 yard range. Aim at the bottom-middle of the heart and not higher. The bullet will hit on top of the heart.

At 400 yards you might consider resting the horizontal bar on the backline above the shoulder muscle as the top point. A 10-12" drop will be perfect and aiming 'off-hair' is a recipe for shooting over an animal or superficially wounding one.

quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
I am glad that you have been able to shoot at 400 yards. That will be a big help both in estimation and confidence.

I would guesstimate that your 100-yard height is probably about 3.75" high. That would produce about a -12" drop at 400 if your velocity is the same as the factory claim. If your rifle is shooting a little slower, then your 100-yard height now is probably closer to 4", or a bit more.

Just one more head's up:

At 150 yards your bullet may be about 5" high over the line of sight. So be careful in that 100-200 yard range. Aim at the bottom-middle of the heart and not higher. The bullet will hit on top of the heart.

At 400 yards you might consider resting the horizontal bar on the backline above the shoulder muscle as the top point. A 10-12" drop will be perfect and aiming 'off-hair' is a recipe for shooting over an animal or superficially wounding one.

This is excellent advice and I agree. The 400 yard idea is better than what I had initially thought.
Just cleaned my gun, then head down for a little more practice.

Thanks!

Ive always shot 3" high at 100 with all my big game guns.

My 300 Wins and 300 H&Hs shot 3" high at 100, 4"high at 200, spot on at 275, and 300 for the most part and 13 to 14 inches low at 400, In high desert area which you will be hunting in.. Your figures don't match mine very well.

Bottom line is I hold on hair up to 400 then use the animals top line at 400 with just a tad of gap..Its worked for me for many years. Keep in mind the tendency is to shoot over animals, most misses Ive witnessed over the years by hunters is over shooting by a large proportion..

My position on the subject is sight in 3" high at 100 and hold on hair.

You will be fine. I have shot 2 out west with my boring 30-06 165gr regular old Speers. One was 187yds & other 483 yds. Aoudads are tough but shoulder shot will bring them down. My setup was NULA with leupold 3.5-10x40 scope with cds.

Well, I had an outstanding hunt!

I did miss- my fault!

However, the second day I got a great ram!

Well than how about some photos!

Yeah, what Cougarz said!

Good Luck on the Hunt. Out of those 4 choices for a 400 yard shot the 06 would be my last pick.

My last Aoudad, 330 yard shot down hill off of sticks with a 308 Win 165 gr Aframe. Straight through both shoulder and heart. Ran 30 yards. I'm 6'3" for scale.

Tikka T3, Weaver 2.5-10x38

Don't shoot behind the shoulder, shoot the shoulder.

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:
Well than how about some photos!

I have a lot of pics. I will be glad to email a few if someone would like to post them for me. my email is: huntapplication@gmail.com

Thanks

Ok. Here are photos of Jason's hunt. Now he needs to give us more details. Beautiful ram.

NICE!

Thanks Scott, I appreciate you posting the pic's.

Ok, here is the story:

Outfitter: Westtexashunt.com (MulieMike on AR)
Dates: Sept 5th-7th
Gun: Browning A-Bolt 30.06
Ammo: Federal Fusion 165 Grain

I guess it best to give you some of my background and reasons for booking this hunt. In 2011, I hunted in New Mexico for Aoudad. It was a self guided hunt and although I did see a few Aoudad (Including one giant) I was not successful. I had really wanted to get one and I will say that we gave about all we could hunting them. We walked for miles and miles trying to find them and I was a little depressed to head home without an Aoudad.

Fast forward a few years.... I kept seeing pic's of Aoudad posted on AR, by MulieMike. Every time he posted, I kept telling myself I really need to do this hunt. Finally, last year, I decided to book the hunt. After calling and discussing my options with Mike, we set a date and I sent him the deposit.

In January my Outfitter friend invited me back to Africa. I had not planned on going so soon but decided I could not pass up the opportunity. I left in July and returned the first part August. When I returned, I was behind on everything and really wished that I could postpone my Aoudad hunt. However, it was too late to do that and I decided that I better go (I am glad that I did).

With most everything in order, I was up late Saturday night packing (I have a habit of doing this). I was wound up and could not sleep anyway. We were up early (I was taking my dad as an observer) and left my house in Northern Utah at 4:30 AM. We realized that we had a long drive ahead of us. We took shifts driving and wanted to make it as far as possible, as we were to meet our guide the next afternoon (or so we thought).

Probably about half way into the trip, I thought I better check the dates again (for the hundredth) time. Yep, you guessed it, we were supposed to meet him on Tuesday! I called Mike, embarrassed and asked if there was anyway that we could meet a little early. He was able to have our guide meet us a few hours early, on Tuesday. I am sure Mike was wondering by now; what kind of hunter did he have coming to camp.

Sunday we made it to Amarillo, then, on Monday made it to Ozona Texas. When we arrived, everyone in the area was out of fuel! I am sure that this was due to panic and the hurricane on the other side of the state. Fortunately, I was able to find some diesel at a self serve station and was able to fill up.

We bought groceries the next morning, went to lunch and was finally headed to meet our guide Tyler. We arrived at our meeting place early. About 10 minutes before our meeting time, Tyler pulled in and we were off to our camp. Camp was only a few minutes away and we were soon unloading our gear. Our accommodations were nice and we had everything we needed. The best part was there was an air conditioner. Being as it was 100 degrees, I was grateful.

At about 4:00 PM on Tuesday, we were off to hunt. Being as it was so hot, I was a little surprised to see a sheep. Within about 1 hour we had already seen several smaller ones. Tyler told us that we were not going to shoot anything under 30". About two hours in, we saw another group of sheep. He said that there was a shooter in the group and was confident that it was over 30". I said that I was fine ending the hunt early and we were off, trying to get closer.

At about 410 yards, I had a shot. I had a bipod on my gun, took a rest, and shot. It was a miss. I shot a few inches in front of its chest. The height looked good, I just pulled the shot. I was able to take one more shot, another miss. I was sick, and not happy. It was my fault and had nobody else to blame. The guide did his job. Tyler was very good about it and we were soon back to hunting. We saw more sheep and were soon off to hike. I had checked the temp. on his truck a few times and saw it rise to 102! I was not use to this kind of heat. We soon got into a group of sheep and there was a giant in the group. We ranged it at 330. Ok, this should be an easy shot. I took a rest, I fired, another miss. The sheep bunched up and I did not want to rush a second shot. They were soon gone. By now I was embarrassed and should have been! To his credit, Tyler was good about it.

We returned to camp and got a good nights sleep. We were up the next morning and soon was into sheep (by the way, I could not believe how many sheep we saw on a free range hunt). We hunted all morning and did not see what we was looking for. About noon, I was ready to escape the heat and head to camp. Tyler wanted to check one more area. I did not have a lot of confidence and figured that everything would be bedded. It is a good thing that I had a guide with confidence.

We were at a high vantage point and looked across to a the other side of a hill and saw a bunch of ewes and lambs. After about 5 minutes, Tyler walked down a bit to look further down into the bottom of the draw. Immediately we saw a ram rolling in a bed "dusting" itself. He said that is a shooter! I found a better rest this time and decided to shoot standing. I was shooting at a steep angle, on top of the ram. Right when I was going to shoot, Tyler said wait here comes another one. He soon changed his mind and said shoot this new one coming in.
I fired and it immediately went down. It was still trying to get up so I put another insurance shot in t and just like that the hunt was over.

By now there were two more shooter rams, right next to the one I shot. They were trying to figure out what happened and the one was standing over the one I shot. The shot was 165 yards and yes, I will take what I can get!

Tyler aged the ram at bout 12 years old. I could not have been happier with it!

We arrived back to camp and I told Tyler that I was going to leave that evening as I wanted to get the ram on ice and back home as soon as possible.

We made it to Midland and stayed at a friends that night. The next morning, we were back on the road and drove 18 hours straight. My dad the ram at my taxidermists the xt day at 9:00 AM. I was glad the cape made it and look forward to a pedestal mount!

Final thoughts:

I could not have been happier with the hunt. Great communication by the Outfitter, hard working and patient guide, saw probably 100+ sheep in 24 hours. What more can you ask for.

I am looking forward to hunting with Mike again...... Thanks for all the advice and thanks to AR for helping me find this hunt!!

Jason

Good to hear. I have two hunts booked with Mike. I have a low fenced whitetail hunt in Sonora in November and a free range Sika hunt in 2018. It will be my first time hunting with his outfit but I've always heard good things. Thanks for detailing your hunt. I loved reading about it.