Antelope Gun choice....???
#11
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Southeastern Montana
Posts: 27
Go with the 25-06, more range and energy. You will definetly need something capable of a 400 yd shot. Not that you will necessarily make one that far, but you want the capablity to do so. Personally I would go with that cal and a 117gr BTSP bullet....a deadly combo on goats!
#12
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: WY
Posts: 2,056
Go with the 25-06, more range and energy. You will definetly need something capable of a 400 yd shot. Not that you will necessarily make one that far, but you want the capablity to do so. Personally I would go with that cal and a 117gr BTSP bullet....a deadly combo on goats!
1. Make sure there's not a fence or unfenced property boundary somewhere between you and the animal.
2. Since seasons are earlier and warmer, you're going to experience distortional visual effects (mirage). Depending on the time of day, they can be so severe that you won't be able to develop a proper sight picture. Early morning is best.
3. Absolutely have a spotter with a spotting scope to identify bullet splash and watch where the animal goes in the event it doesn't drop immediately.
I can't count the number of times I've driven up within 400 yards of a herd of goats. I know lots of meat hunters who're done hunting within the first hour of the season who simply drive up, open the door, and shoot. If I were relying on goats for the freezer that's one thing, but if that's all the challenge I found in antelope hunting otherwise, I'd quit. Rather than shooting long, the challenge for me becomes seeing just how close I can get using terrain and concealment, and predicting which way they're going to be moving while I'm obscured and low-crawling through the prickly pear and sage. I've never shot an antelope at more than 200 yards, two have been less than 75, and one of those with a .44 handgun. Zero cripples.
#13
Spike
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 80
I have hunted goats 3 time all with a 300win and rum ,love the wind bucking of the heavy 180gr. ball.I would say any flat shooting cal. would be fine.I would use the money to buy glass ,as in spotting scope,better bi nocks and or a range finder.You will be using those much more then the gun.Where we hunt in NE.wyoming 95 out of 100 kill the other 5 most likely ran out of shells.
#14
I see nothing wrong with the .300 for both hunts.....out in the sage U might need to make a long shot on the mulie, and the .243 will be lacking.......If U just want to shoot a animal and aren't a meat hunter I'd say go with a .257 weatherby, any shot closer than about 400 yds ya gonna ruin alot of meat......... but beyond that it would be great, good caliber for just about anything, has killed elephant and cape buff!
If ya really good with yer .300 why go with anything else!!??!!
If ya really good with yer .300 why go with anything else!!??!!
#15
Anything from 243win to 270wsm is ideal, some may say the .243 is small for mule deer.
so anything in the .25 to .27 calibers would be ideal IMO.
If I wanted an antelope specific cartridge it would be the .243win.
but for a antelope/mule deer I think I'd get a .270win or .270wsm, or maybe a .257wby if I had the itch...
so anything in the .25 to .27 calibers would be ideal IMO.
If I wanted an antelope specific cartridge it would be the .243win.
but for a antelope/mule deer I think I'd get a .270win or .270wsm, or maybe a .257wby if I had the itch...
#16
.243 is an excellent rnd for mulies at maybe 300yds or closer, but bullet drop at longer yardages make it a guessing game on where to aim, and some times mulies don't give ya a long time to sit around and figger it out........folks need to realize huntin mulies in the sage brush ain't like shooting a whitetail out of a foodplot or from around a feeder no offense ment just my two cents
#17
I LOVE my .264 Win mag! I would take it in a HEARTBEAT on a goat hunt!! So far, everything I've pointed it at has fallen with devistating results!
There's a reason they called a model 70 chambered in this round "The Westerner"
There's a reason they called a model 70 chambered in this round "The Westerner"