My father and I are going on a Antelope hunt in Montana where my sister and brother in law live. Then later a Mule deer hunt in Idaho. The rifles to be used are:

1. .25-06 Rem, Mauser Action with Heavy Premium barrel (Olympic Arms Barrel).

2. 6mm Rem, Mauser Action with Heavy Premium barrel (Douglas Premium Barrel).

I am figuring a 100gr bullet for the 6mm and a 117gr for the .25-06. Considering a Gameking or Hornady bullet using H1000 or H4831 powder.

Anyone have any suggestions? I really need to work this out and I have never reloaded these two calibers before.

Thanks for your input.

Sounds good to me I use the 117 gr serria in my 2506.

I loved the 115 nosler BT's in my 25-06. I also shot quite a few 100gr speer bullets through it with good results.

I shoot 120 Sierra HPBT's at whitetail deer here in PA. They are super accurate and give one shot stops on whitetail. However, this bullet might be a little fragile on the heavier mule deer. My experience is that the Sierra 120 HPBT doesn't exit the deer but explodes violently on the inside. This bullet would work on the antelope but I would be hesitant, for the above reason, to shoot a mule deer with one.

I have also loaded the Hornady 117 Interlock BTSP with great accuracy results but have not shot an animal with this particular bullet. In other calibers (30/06) the interlock has performed admirably for me with the bullet usually penetrating completely on deer but if recovered is well expanded and still staying together for the most part. You might try this bullet. Hornady also loads its own ammo with this bullet so you could buy it already loaded and ready to go.

You certainly can't go wrong with H4831, I use it exclusively with 25-06. It is the most accurate and highest velocity powder I've tried. H-1000 is good, but I couldn't get the velocity that H4831 gives and it was slightly less accurate than H4831.

100 gr ballistic tips loaded with either 56.0 grs of R22 or 53.0 grs of IMR4350

How much does a field dressed antelope weigh?

1894

Is that with a three piece suit or just jeans and a tee shirt?

Sorry, could not resist.

Jim

I live in Utah, and hunt here and also in Colorado and Wyoming, so I get have had the chance to hunt a fair number of antelope and mule deer. I have also loaned my .25-06 (a Rem. 700 Classic) to a few hunters while I have been guiding. My all-time favorite .25-06 load is the 115 gr. Nosler partition, Rem. brass, Fed. 215 primer, and 54.5 grs. of IMR-7828. Accuracy runs about 3/4" in my rifle, and the only bullet I recovered penetrated about 2 feet on an angling shot (point of shoulder to opposite hind quarter) on an antelope. Three other friends with .25-06s have also had good results with this load. I feel a premium bullet is more important in the .25-06 due to its smaller diameter and high velocity. The extra few cents for the Nosler partition is worth it to me when you compare it to all the other costs of a hunt.

120 gr. Nosler Partitions in the 25-06

100 gr. Nosler Partitions in the 6mm

100gr Hornady bt in 6mm, I use them in my .243 loaded to 3000fps, never recovered one on deer sized game, and all were instant one shot kills.

Hello 1894,

I didn't reply when I first saw your post, because I've never hunted them, and only seen a couple in the wild, so I am no expert. Here's a pretty fair description though:

http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/may/papr/pronghorn.html

I don't think it's the size of the animal so much, but the stamina and the speed that makes them tough. Their heart is about twice the size of a same body-sized whitetail deer.

Regards, Bill

I wouldn't worry about the antelope. Sometimes I wonder if a fast fly swatter won't do. They have huge lungs that seem hard to miss, and live in open country where they are easy to find if they do run a little.

It's stopping that 250 lb Idaho Mulie that's going off the side of the mountain into hernia gulch I'd worry about. JMO, Dutch.

1894, they are good sized, but they seem to be mostly lungs. Cut, wrapped and frozen, about three shoe boxes....... but REALLY yummie! FWIW, Dutch.

Difranco,
Short answer: 6mm-100 gr NPT bullet. 25-06--any decently constructed 115-120 gr bullet (including NBT, NPT, Sierra GK, Hornady, etc) that shoots well in your gun.
Longer answer: 6mm--Personally, I'd be leary hunting mule deer w/ a 6 mm, but if I were going to do so, I'd use the 100 gr NPT. I'd think any well constructed non-varmint bullet would do well from a 6 mm on antelope; again, I'd go w/ what shoots best from your gun. 25-06--If you like things complicated instead of simple, a 100 gr non-varmint bullet, like the 100 gr NBT, would also make a fine antelope round, w/ the advantage of a slightly flatter trajectory; I'd still use the heavier 25 caliber bullet for mule deer, though. Gary T.

I've shot lots of Mule deer in Montana with my 2506,used 100gr. Speers,100gr. Hornadys and my favorite is the 117gr.Hornady BTSP.100 gr bullets worked just fine on big deer in the 2506.

I have shot both Muleys and Antelope with a 243 using 100gr Nosler Partitions. My favorite Antelope rifle now is a 257 Wby using 115gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. A good 120gr bullet in the 25/06 will do the job on both animals. I don't know how well you'll like lugging a heavy bbl rifle around though.

I don't know if you understand what the hunting conditions are like in the west. The country is very open. Plan on long shots for Pronghorn.
Any good flat base 120 gr. bullet for the .25-06 will work. The best bullets for the 6 mm are the Nosler Partition, the Speer Grand Slam, and the barnes X (85 gr. XLC). Actually anybody's 120 gr. factory load for the .25-06, and anything loaded with the above in the premium ammo work quite well for the 6 mm. I suggest this if you don't find the time to load for your rifles.
As a marine, you probably learned how to use a shooting sling. Don't leave it home. It would be very useful out here. I refuse to hunt w/o one. E

I have taken many antelope in Wyoming and found standard bullets to work just fine. I liked the Sierra 85 grain BTHP, the 87 grain Hornady flat base soft point and any pointed version of 100 grains weight from Hornady. Make an effort to avoid shooting into the shoulder because it is so easy to cause a great deal of bloodshot meat on this animal. My 6mm has a 24 inch barrel and really shoots well with IMR 4831. Generally an antelope that weights more than 110 pounds is unusual (live weight).

Jim B,
hahahahahhahaaa. I liked it .
Dennis

To the point about what the lopes weigh I'd say it could range from 75-90 (dressed or undressed I guess you could say-grins).

They generally don't take a lot to put em down. My wife shot a very nice buck this last fall at just under 300 with her 223.

I've shot a lot witht the Swift and 22/250-so most any 6 or 25 bullet will do.

On the muley pretty much all of the heavier bullets (6=85-100 and 25=100-120) will work just fine. They do not need to be preme's in my opinion but they work fine as well.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog