Hey guys,

I've been offered the opportunity next year to hunt a 7500 square km pastoral station in Western Australia, with an old school mate and they have feral camels,donkeys, wild bulls and wild dogs.

I'm thinking of a .338 Win Mag or .375 H&H. I am currently having a 7mm WSM being built, but because of the opportunity to shoot Wild Bulls, I'd want the bigger calibre.

What loads in .338 or .375 would be the go to cover the above?

Cheers,

Michael.

I'd take some 235gn loads and some 300 grain loads
- like Woodleighs - or, just load up 235gn Hydro's, they will handle anything.

What about possible long range stuff ?
I gather some of those camels can get pretty far out.

Yes, I'd thought about the possibility of long range shots.

What about the .338 with 225 grn loads and heavier for Buff, or stick with .375?

I do not like the 338 for Buff and some PH's don't like it either.

I have not had good results when I have had to use it.

Now, that is not to say it can't kill them, it does but if I hit it with a 375, they tend to drop, including up the arse / hip as a follow up shot. I have had Buff run off after a good hit in the chest AND a bullet to the rear. I can't remember this occurring when doing so with a 375 or 9.3.

So I would stick with the 375H&H.

A 235gn Hydro dos the same as a 270 or 300 grain RN SN, that is from personal experience. However I don't know how they go longer range,
aerodynamically.

I reckon they would be fine as they are moving out of a 375H&H.

I am sure others will put up their opinions.

Other option is to take my 7mm WSM for the smaller stuff and then the .375 for anything else

That is an option. 7mm WSM will handle it
and ? the long range ?

I don't know how you are hunting, walking
or in a 4WD ?

ie can you have access to both guns most of the time ?

Those are details to be sorted out, but I'm guessing it would be in 4wd due to the distances to cover.

Yes, I would think so.

But people i know who have hunted Camel can cover some distance if they exit the vehicle.


Also, I believe donkeys are not that easy to put down. not sure on camels but they are big and have seen people use bigger calibres.

Even though I really do prefer the bigger calibres, a good hunter can make the smaller calibres work. For Kimberley hunting, I would happily use any of those calibres, but lean toward the .375H&H for more safety and less chance of wounding.

Mate a .338 with good bullets will handle all the animals you have listed. If your hunting in an area that has camel and donkeys I don't think your going to find a lot of buff.

quote:

Originally posted by kiwiwildcat:
Other option is to take my 7mm WSM for the smaller stuff and then the .375 for anything else

More than likely be shooting from or close to a vehicle anyway. Something like a TTSX from the 7mm would do the job on the whole lot.
I've shot donkeys with a 7mm WSM and .270 WSM. IMO a fast opening pill works best. 140gn accubonds do very well. Better than the TTSX for quick kills but best to keep it simple and stick with one pill.
If you want a new rifle for this trip I'd take the .338. There will be no buffalo where you are going so don't need to cater for them.

I'm not sure that the caliber is the important issue here - more important to me would be that you are familiar with the rifle and ammo at all ranges , and that the rifle fits you like a glove.
An unfamiliar firearm in any caliber makes for a difficult hunt where ever you are.

Hi Kiwiwildcat,
A couple of thoughts for you to ponder.

The shortest shot was about 30-40 yds, on a running camel, hit in the head (Not as difficult as it might appear, the head is huge)
Longest shot 540yds (Lasered)I would not recommend doing this, while I was successful it was risky, we are culling these animals not hunting, and they can outwalk anyone, so it's a case of shoot or let them go.
Average shot is between 100-300 yds. These are very common shooting distances were I go.
If your only going to shot at 1 undisturbed animal, most quality projectiles placed in the chest area will do, the chest which is huge by the way, so the placement needs to be in the forward section and not more than halfway up from the bottom.
If you look closely at the armpit of the camel as it steps forward you will see a triangle of different coloured fur, the top of the triangle just behind the leg is a good place the hit.

Camels and donkey's are tough and can absorb huge impacts, even with well placed shots.
Especially after they realise you have just shot one of them.

I been on 7 camel and donkey shoots in the last 5 years.

Started out using a 308 Winchester, a 45/70 Marlin and a 270WSM as these were the rifles I already owned.

The 308 has been used with 180gn Hornady Interbonds, 150, 165 & 180 Woodleighs, 180 Sierra RN, 150 Sierra SP.
The most useful projectiles were the 180 Interbonds as they gave good trajectory and retained energy.
The most emphatic killing came from the 180 Woodleighs and Sierra RN, though range was much closer.

The 45/70 was used with 350 Hornady FP, 325 Hornady Leverlution, 300 Seirra HP and 425 Home cast GC.
The longest shot taken with this rifle was 85yds. All the 45/70's were at donkey's
The 350 were doing 1950fps
The 325 were doing 2120fps
The 300 were doing 2370fps
The 425 were doing 1875fps
The Hornadys and Sierra even though well placed in the central chest failed to penetrate deep enough, many animals would collapse at the shot only to get up again and walk off.
Once we switched to the cast 425's we started to see one shot kills with complete penetration and very large exit wounds.

The 270WSM was loaded with Barnes 140 and 150 TSX's, after my experiences with the 308 and 45/70, decided not to use the 270WSM. And take it as a backup in case of rifle failure.

All of the above has led me to buy a 375 H&H Mag.
I've now tried the following projectiles and will give you my experiences with them.
Hornady 300 SPBT, is way too soft even for donkey's.
Hornady 300 RN, does work better than the SPBT but I consider it a poor choice.
Speer 235 while high velocity's are achievable these projectiles are too soft and don't penetrate deep enough.
Sierra 300 SPBT, are a little better than the Hornady's and are cheap to buy, but I wont use them anymore, as I feel they are too soft.
The 260 and 300 Accubonds do a good job, they shoot flat and group well, they are a good choice.
For me by far the pick of the bunch is the Barnes 300 TSX, these can be relied on to penetrate very deeply, leave large exit wounds and with placement that takes them through the chest cavity from almost any angle results in a swift death.
I have used my own cast 270 and 325 gn GC on donkey's and so far they have given penetration to the opposite side of the chest, these are hard cast and travelling at 2350fps, I use them for short range (150yds) and finishers, they work very well.

There are probably other cartridges that will do the job, but I like my 375.

The one factor that stands out in the 70 odd camels and 120 donkey's I've shot is penetration, complete penetration if possible.

Good luck with your shoot

Because the scrub bulls are there go with the 250's in 338 and the 300's in the 375.

G'Day Fella's,

Kiwiwildcat, I'm not sure what advice the others have replied to you with but this is what I would take;
A .308Win bolt action and several hundred (or thousand?) rounds of 150grn soft point ammo.
A .375 H&H Mag, and 100+ rounds of 300grn soft point ammo.

A mate of mine (DH) has guided clients on Bob Penfold, "Accurate Shooting Classes", to shoot thousands of Donkeys etc! Most of these Donkeys were head shot at varying distances with the .308Win rifles. Use the .375 for the Big critters.

Hope that helps

Doh!
Homer

with the West Australian gun laws being very draconian I would check to see what you can bring into WA first before making a decision, even for WA residents it's hard to get 357's etc, we shoot camels etc with 6.5x55's up to 300win mags with do problems, "shot placement"