Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Nilgai, How much gun is enough?

I'd like to do a Nilgai next year and I've been reading up. Some guides are recommending 338 Win Mag or 375 for bulls. I know Nilgai have large bones and thick rubbery skin so there are no blood trails.

Some act like they are bullet proof while others that have hunted them had great success with much smaller calibers. It's difficult to sort through it all. I've heard a consensus that shots are usually not that long and usually 100-200 yards.

I'd like to use a 338 Federal with either 210 Partitions or 200 Trophy Tipped. Is that a prudent choice for Nilgai? Should I just step up and bring my 9.3x62 for this one?

I'd like to hear opinions from people that have hunted them. I've heard Nilgai are tougher than Elk so more gun is recommended. Not sure if that is true because I haven't hunted either.

Bring your 45-70 with hard cast flat nosed bullets weighing 480 grains. That will get the job done.

I just looked in my safe and I don't see a 45-70.

I used a 300 Win Mag with 165gr Hornady Interbonds when I shot my cow Nilgai.She was about 150yds,complete pass through high lung shot,dropped right there.I'd go for a quartering away shot,tight up against the shoulder on the on side,taking out the offside shoulder.This way all your wound channel and bullets energy is directed into it's vital organs.If broadside,take just a little bit of the shoulder on each side.They are grazer,browser feeders.The stomachs are quite large and the vitals are well forward and protected by the shoulders.Get a bullet into the vitals as opposed to the stomach and you should do just fine with any of the larger rifles.Just remember,shot placement is everything.

Any good bullet ought turn the heart and or lungs to soup. If penetration is a concern, the TTSX is the answer. A Barnes may not leave a great blood trail, but it sounds like most bullets do not due to their hide. The Barnes will penetrate though! A 160gr moving real fast if you want to turn the inside to soup, or a 185 if you want to trade a little damage (maybe) for more penetration. If your shots are not too far, the TTSX will open really wide and you'll be surprised at the internal damage. The only TTSX I've recovered was a 160gr that penetrated ribs on both sides of a waterbuck and was caught in the thick far side hide. Internals were a complete mess.

If it were me, I'd load 160s to 3050+ and go hunt with zero doubts the bullets is going to do its job.

Thats a problem.

Scott, I havent hunted them, but most places Ive checked into for a hunt recommend or insist on at least a .300 mag
Im hoping to hunt them one day but the biggest gun in the house is my wifes .30-06...which I would use without hesitation.
Texanss can be funny...most Ive run into recommend the .300 WSM for their whitetails.......

If you don't have a 45-70, you need to get one.

I've hunted them. The cow is a good bit smaller than the bull and doesn't have the very thick skin of the bull.

Don't look for a lot of blood, that skin closes the hole.

My guide liked .375 and .338. If and when I go back, I'm packing my .375 H&H pushing the 250 gr. TTSX.

DF

Seventy-nine Nilgai were collected for research on food habits and meat quality on the King Ranch during a study in 1969-1972. Rifles used were chambered in .243, .270, 7mm Magnum and .30-06, all with factory ammunition. All were one-shot kills, mostly with neck shots. Another 15 were collected during a disease study in the winter of 1972-1973 using a .30-06 with 165-grain Nosler hand loads.

I have seen no evidence that they have somehow become bullet-proof since then. Take whatever rifle you can shoot accurately with a bullet that will reliably penetrate and expand.

From what I've seen, they don't give it up easily, especially when pursued.

A culling operation may be a bit different than hunting.

DF

From a post by JB a while back:

"I have done some nilgai hunting, usually with large groups of other hunters, so have gotten some data on what works and what doesn't.

One group was about a dozen people who went to the King Ranch several years ago to test the then-new .270 WSM with 140-grain Fail Safe bullets. The guides were NOT enthusiastic about this, since Winchester had also taken some people there a couple of years before to test the .300 WSM (though not entirely with Fail Safe bullets) and the results had been erratic.

By the end of the .270 WSM hunt the guides all agreed opinion that it was one of the best nilgai cartridges ever.
This was based on 24 nilgai being taken, both bulls and cows.

From my experience (not just that hunt) the bullet makes a much bigger difference in nilgai hunting than the cartridge--just as it does when hunting any other fairly large non-dangerous game. The 140 Fail Safes penetrated plenty, so did the job when placed right.

One of the other conclusions the guides came to was that the batch of hunters on the .270 WSM hunt were better shots overall than the hunters on the .300 WSM hunt. That makes a difference too.

I've also decided that one of the reasons nilgai got the reputation of being so hard to kill is that so many are chased around in pickup trucks and shot at long range on the run. A lot of animals are tough to kill when they get shot in the guts and legs. And yes, I have been on one of those so-called nilgai hunts too, and the outfitter not only encouraged those kinds of shots but the way his guides hunted virtually guaranteed them.

In fact most of his guides didn't think it's possible to stalk or still-hunt nilgai--which is BS, because it's done a lot on the King Ranch. Both of the nilgai I took on that hunt (a bull and cow) were still-hunted, and shot at ranges of 75 and 200 yards.

Another reason nilgai often seem tough is the same reason elk seem tough: People have heard they're tough, so they bring big rifles, which often turn out to be rifles they don't shoot very well.

So I agree with Mark, even though he's never hunted nilgai. Take any decent medium-game round with GOOD bullets, and the job will be done neatly if the shooter does his job."
_________________________
John

Better check with your guide. Mine wouldn't have been happy with a smaller bore.

And, I agree with pursuit, it does make a difference.

On a hunt, you don't have the time and convenience of a culling operation. You're going after a target within a certain time frame.

I'd still take my .375 H&H, but I can shoot it about as well as my other rifles.

And the guide can't be squawking about my puny rifle when the bull runs, as many do no matter what they're hit with. Hit right, they don't generally go that far.

And, I agree with bullet selection. To me, the 250 TTSX is a good choice, plenty of penetration, pretty good at longer ranges and tough. It should get their attention, good "wallop factor"...

DF

I have a friend. He has hunted them twice and, each time he used a .308 Win. which worked just fine for him. One shot each.
They are some tasty animals. Well, what I eat of it was good.

I'm sure you can kill them just fine with larger calibers too.

Note: I have never hunted them. If I did, I think it would be with something larger than a .308 Win. Maybe my 338-06

Have a good day.

I hunted Nilgai a few years ago, using my .375 Ruger, and 270 gr. Barnes TSX bullets.

My shot on a very nice bull was just shy of 200 yards, behind the shoulder hit, and the bull dropped in his tracks.

The bullet was recovered from under the hide on the far side, showing the typical, perfect Barnes mushroom.

I have other calibers that would probably have worked just as well, but this was a warm-up for Africa, so I used the .375.

I have taken two Nilgai cows, one with a 7mm Rem Mag and the other with a 338 Win Mag. My son took two young bulls with his 7mm Rem Mag. We both shot the same RWS 177GR Torpedo High Shock factory loads in our 7 RMs. In my 338 I used a Nosler 210GR Partition in a Federal factory load. The cow I shot with my 7 mag, was hit behind the shoulder like I would shoot a deer. She had to be tracked with a dog to find her. After that hunt I got some advice and hit my second cow thru the shoulder with my 338, putting her down. The difference in results was not the guns or bullets but the placement. When my son shot his two bulls, our guide told us to shoot them in the neck. That is what Rick did. Both bulls went right down. Of course he was in a blind and both shots were only around 150 yards. I had to shoot using scrub bush for a rest and at over 250 yards. That guide told us to bring a 7mm or up magnum that we could keep our shots in a six inch group (neck shot) at 200 yards with a rest. He also said to pick a tough, heavy bullet.

Nilgai is great table fare, cooked right it's hard to beat.

And they're rather large animals, lots of meat. Be sure the guide has plenty of ice and gets them skinned out and on ice ASAP, as it tends to be hot where they grow...

I think the bottom line is what you're comfortable with and what your guide is comfortable with. I'm going to go with the flow and not go trying to prove a point. He likes big stuff, I'll shoot big stuff. Not a problem.

DF

A friend of mine killed a Nilgaii bull with one shot into the rib cage with a Contender in 30/30. Put the bullet where it goes and all is good.

i've used a 270 and a 300rum, both work. the bull i killed with the 270 using 130gr corelokts didn't take step was dead before he collapsed.

.257 Weatherby, according to Roy.

I'm with Roger and mudhen and JB on this. The one nilgai cow I've killed was double-lunged with a 140 gr AB out of a 270 WSM. She ran 120 yards and fell down and couldn't get up again. I had to give her a finishing shot, but if I'd just let her lie there for another 10 minutes I expect she'd have been dead. Her lungs were totally shredded.

Nilgai is not some magical mystery species that requires uber-powerful rifles. They fall to good shot placement with decent bullets from ant reasonable "elk caliber".

One day i would like to hunt these.
The rifle i will use is one i made up for elk hunting,the 3 5 Whelen,shooting the first Barnes x-bullet 200 grains at 2800 fps.

It should do the trick out to 300 yards if i do my job right.
The back up will be my 7x57 with a 160 grain round nose to the same yardage.
I have shot both a lot so i feel good about my limits.
it should be fun.

I would respectfully point out that you have your facts completely backward on this point. Scientific collecting, or culling, usually has to be completed in a short time, often in only day or two. This means that many animals must be killed cleanly and necropsied in a short time. That's why most of the culling that I saw in Namibia was done with either AR-15s or bolt rifles with ten-shot magazines chambered in .308 Winchester.

On the King Ranch, we usually had parts of two days to collect anywhere from a dozen to as many as 20 nilgai, while being selective about sampling different age groups in both sexes. Whitetail culling operations are usually even more hectic. One that I remember in south Texas involved taking and posting over 300 animals in five days.

It took me a lot of the same exact as above to kill one, 13 rounds I think, but he had been hit and wounded prior to me taking him on...

They are not small, so think about that. But I routinely kill 200 -300 pound pigs with subsonic 22 to the head.

Since its not a leisure hunt usually, I'd think more along the lines of elk rounds. Whatever floats your boat. THey have a tougher hide by far than elk, so a top line bullet IMHO.

I'd not hesitate with a 243, but have to pick my shots.

Flip side is I know some folks that swear the big guns are flat hammers on them. 458 and 460s.

I did shoot one once per the guide, pelvic joint with a 300 mag, 180 partition( that I only recently found out was not nearly as toughly built as the 200 partitions) and it did not make it past the end of the girdle. ANd the lung shot following, seemed to mostly start running out of steam as it exited...

I still say to this day, pick your shot, and if you'd be comfortable shooting a 500 pound whatever with your round, would be more than good enough for me.

I"ve seen a couple flop wiht 308s in the neck...

rost495, no arguement, here with anything you posted. Big guns and tough Bullets give more margin of error in my experience

Though I've never hunter them, I've talked to many people who have and, like many have said, usually a big gun is recommended. I once ran into a gunsmith at a local range who was test firing .338 Utra Mags he had built for nilgai-hunting customers. And I've heard of guides who won't allow anything less than a 300 mag.

I suspect if shots were taken thru the shoulder instead of behind it, the gun recommendations wouldn't be so large. However, remember that the people making these recommendations have seen more nilgai shot than most people have seen nilgai.
My advice would be to trust those who have BTDT.

Thanks for that correction. I've been on the King and neighboring ranches, never was involved with a culling operation.

I appreciate the experience of posters; dead critters are good evidence something is working right.

My info and opinions are based on ideas and advice from guides. One guide's favorite Nilgai guns are .340 Wby and .375 H&H. So, I went with the flow. My hunting bud took his .338 Win Mag. Those do work...

DF

Well, since I live here and have shot a bunch, I guess I can weigh in. I have killed big bulls with a 7x57 using 160 A-frames and 140 Trophy Bonded bullets from a .280. We generally recommend a 30-06 and ALWAYS recommend premium bullets like Partitions, A-frames, or Trophy Bonded no matter what cartridge.

A friend of mine lives in Brooks county. I killed two Nilgai on his land back in the early 90's with 130 grain Corelokts out of a .270. Both were male. I was satisfied with the cartridge performance. Back then I didn't have the world wild web to tell me what I did was bad juju.

Exactly. I've shot kudu, Zebra and Eland with the 270 Winchester and 140gr TBBCs.

Anyone who tells you that they are almost bullet-proof or that you must use a 338 Win Mag or 375 H&H to hunt with them either has no practical experience and/or is a poor marksman. Sure, bigger is better (to a point) if you can shoot it, but I'd not ever hesitate to hunt anything up to Eland with a quality bullet out of a 270 Winchester on up.

It's all about shot placement and quality bullets.

I loaded some Barnes 120gr X boattails for a friend's 270 years ago and he found them to be great for this purpose.

I wouldn't say no practical experience or poor marksmanship, rather I'd state it as a difference of opinion. The guys mentioned that liked the big guns were very experienced and I wouldn't call them poor shots, at least not to their faces...

Point taken, otherwise. There seems to be a fairly good consensus on premium bullets.

I would have taken my .300 Win Mag with 200 gr. NPT's and felt well equipped. When I hire a guide, I go with his suggestions. Barnes or Swift bullets in the Win Mag would have done the job. I'm sure premium bullets in my 7RM would have killed those animals. When in Rome...

DF

Some of the tough to kill issues are brought forward often by this damned, to me anyway, desire for bang flops being a must...

Large never hurts. The smaller you go the more picky you have to be about shot selection/placement....

Of course in the end no matter what you shoot, like any animal, you better be good at it. And premium bullets with any big animal never hurts.

Of course my noted pistol kill was 30-30 and 170 corelokts... although the things were coming apart and often only making it to one lung or barely to the other. Never found an exit wound. Nilgai was very dead. LIkely would have been after the first shots too had we just left him alone.... not something the guide wanted...

Good points.

I guess I'm not a minimalist, seeing what's the least powerful round I can use for a task. I'm more on the other end of the spectrum, but still somewhere South of Elmer Keith...

Next Nilgai hunt, I may consider my .300 Win Mag/200 gr. NPT. I still like my .375 H&H/250 TTSX load.

Boom/plop is nice, but a big gun won't guarantee such. I've seen'em run, well hit by a big bullet.

DF

Pretty ridiculous.

Come to think of it, those guides were Texicans...

DF

LOL DF, to the OP, I'd happily use my 9.3-62 on that Nilgai hunt, a 286 gr Partition would do it all, although I use 320 gr Woodleighs in mine.

Good luck on your hunt, I gotta slate one of those too someday soon.

Thanks for the replies. I understand that Nilgai are tough but have a hard time believing there is much difference between them and the larger African antelope which are killed all the time by lesser cartridges than a 338 or 375 Mag. Some guides would have you believe Nilgai are Cape buffalo.

I would think a premium 200/210 grain .338 bullet at 2600 fps would be up to the task with proper bullet placement but I'm not going to argue with the guide. I have a 350 Rem Mag and 9.3x62 I can bring. Surely I won't be told that a 250 grain bullet at 2500-2600 fps isn't not enough.

I"d have no issues at all with a 338 federal.

Just might limit distance a bit and probably no severely angled shots, but thats no big deal really.

Might even extend the hunt more.

I just can't picture you down there with light ordinance...

You're for sure not a minimalist...

DF

Still say we should round up a few 24HCF guys and make a hunt out of it. Gunner's big enough he can be our pack mule....

Johnny, we should do that. I happen to know a guy (STXHunter) who has some great nilgai hunting grounds. Last time we went we had to hump nilgai quarters half a mile through knee-deep muddy tidal flats, so a bull mule like gunner500 would definitely come in handy!

You bet we should Doc, maybe next Feb or so? You're not small yourself, and you have relatively new knees, so you'd be great to have around too!

Dirtfarmer has some awesome guns he could bring......so does Geedub.

Count me in if you get a group together. Would love the company.

JG... I did that "march of death" nilgai-toting thing with Rog and kamo_gari and a very fit young retired SF guy 2 years ago, and I don't care to repeat it, new knees or not! I'm nominating YOU to be the head porter on this deal.

I like a set up where one can do a stalk hunt, but have a truck for extraction. That's the way my bud and I hunt them. Those bulls can get pretty big, packing them out isn't my cup of tea.

Us ole farts just don't need all that...

And it do get pretty warm down in that part of the country, real warm and very humid.

DF

I don't mind being the point man/info gatherer. It's been on my bucket list for a while now anyway. I'll probably wait until Fall to start if you guys don't mind me rounding up some information.

DF, 10/4 on the truck extraction!

If I could carry enough gas to get the airboat down to rogers area, and it was mud and not sand... drive right up to em...

Another thought on packing them out. In hot weather, the meat needs to be on ice, ASAP. Packing out game in CO or AK is one thing, packing out meat in S. TX is another matter, bad for the meat, terrible for the packers.

Us Cajuns do like to take care of the meat. With Nilgai, that's a big deal.

DF

I shot a pig on top of the hill once with my bow. Walked over to make sure I could find her and then gutted her real quick. About 730 AM in the summer, walked right down, and drove the power wagon back up fairly quickly.

I think... that it didn't take an hour for all this to happen..

Next day in a cooler full of ice, she was sour and we tossed her.

You are dead on about the heat.

But then we only hunted nilgai ever in Feb, before the Juisache would green out preferably. As soon as deer season was over and they'd let us hunt.

Feb sounds better than a hot weather hunt.

DF

Anything less powerful than a .308 caliber magnum only spooks our deer. I'm thinking about ditching my Swede and .270 because they are having the same effect as below on deer.

????????????




Now I remember.......



Jerry

Not trying to make sense but to have fun.

That's better.


Jerry

Ima humane hunter DF, and not a good enough shot to be a stunt shooter like you know who.........SHHHHHHHH..............

LOL, that dude left port moons ago JG, all that's left is a worn out old dog.

Bull Mule?............very funny Doc, bet we can conspire to get it all done though.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

And y'all don't forget to bounce a rock off my doghouse if you start to put something together.

Yes, you should most certainly be part of the crew Scott, hell, you started the thread. ;]

Who might that be?

OH CHIIIITTTTTTTTTTT, thought you'd be napping in the palace this time of day.

Not quite nap time............

5...4....3....2.... Ingwe is napping now.

Lol, you up for nilgai iffin JG, Doc and DF put one together?

BWAAHAHAHAHAHA

Check your PMs.....

Got it, Thanks Poobs.

What does one have to do to get in on this nilgai hunt? I have wanted to hunt one for years and now that my Africa itch has been temporarily satisfied, I would love a spot and stalk nilgai hunt. Does anyone think my 8mm mag is too light assuming proper bullet placement. Also I am a Texan. Porsche73

8 mag is far from light....

Probably on the light side for a Texican...

More than enough for just an average hunter...

Proper bullet, as with any round.

DF

Way to light for this here New Mexican.

We use .460 Wby's for jackrabbits.

Works great. Minimal blood shot meat and good penetration. How could a guy go wrong there?... . Should work on a Nilgai too...

It should...

DF

I hunt with less powerful cartridges than most Texans. I use special bullets though that I get from my friend Ernest Lee Sincear. He gets them from a curandera in Mexico.

We use .460 Wby's for jackrabbits.

[/quote]

Yep, and they are always caught in the offside Hide, so one can check for expansion.

Yep, dem wabbits do got a real tough hide...

DF

Need to use solids only.

Wabbits are in big trouble...

Fixt it for you.

Yeah, that's better...

Ole Elmer would probably mess his pants if he came face to face with a blue bull...

DF

The trick is getting someone to ramrod this expedition. I nominate Roger (stxhunter). He knows the inshore islands really well, and is more than passing conversant with the King Ranch as well. If we're gonna do an inland exotic hunt (which may make a lot more sense if we've got a crew of more than 4) there are a lot of ranches we can book with. The big advantage of a ranch hunt is that there's usually young "guides" who can do the heavy lifting.

Well, after my last nilgai hunt I'm buyin' a .505 Gibbs...

Good ideas!

Ordinance of that magnitude, gunner's your man...

His .505 Gibbs, IIRC, is a rebored .416R. He actually shot out the Rigby barrel, killing rocks and 'dillers on his OK ranch...

How many do you know who can say they shot out a DG, heavy rifle...

Yeah, Doc, you sure thinking like a Texican...

DF

A .505 Gibbs!

Ive gotta get you guys into stunt shooting. I already know a .223AI is all thats needed for Scimitar Oryx, so Im thinking a .243 oughta be top end for Nilgai....

I've been planning a return bout with nilgai ever since I failed to bring home meat from a 1998 hunt on the King Ranch.

The trophy pinned to my wall is a live-oak leaf wrapped around some nilgai lung tissue. We picked it up off the ground about 150 yards from where I shot the bull.

If any plans for a multi-person hunt congeal, I'd like to be considered as a participant.

Thanks.
--Bob

Yeah, Poobs, IIRC the .243 is your "big" gun...

DF

It is...and if they'd let me, Id use the 'heavy' 100 grain bullet in it!


Actually what Im interested in is a meat cow, and Ive killed critters bigger than those with a 100 grain .243...

223 not even AI will work wiht proper bullet and shot placement... IMHO.

Its not what I'd choose to start with if after a good bull. If only after a cow I wouldn't have any issues using it at all.

Kinda what I thought Jeff...

But the Texans think Nilgai are bulletproof and usually require you to use .300 mags on up.


WTF?

If your Texican guide insists, .300 Mag or more, you gonna be a real party pooper showing up with your .243, even with those heavy, premium 100 gr. bullets...

He may not know you're a stunt shooter...

DF

I have a .30-06 I can use.....( borrow it from Ingewife) if they want bigger than that I guess I wont be hunting with them.

I guess you'd need to use gunner approved, genuine 200 gr. Partitions...

I think you could convince even those Texicans guides that a stunt shooter like yourself, armed with an '06, is one dangerous dude...

DF

It won't take much convincing when he shows up in his leopard skin thong... Just sayin..