Dang, when you describe how one normally has to hunt them, a bigger cartridge certainly sounds comforting, ha. At lease its a good excuse to buy/trade for a 9.3x62, 35 whelen, 338/06 or even the 338WM! All would be a bigger hammer! Its "almost like" trying to fill a "Spike Elk Only" Tag out here, The bigger bulls keep them run out of the herd, so they "satellite" the group in hopes of finding a lone cow or move in when the Big Boy is fighting another. They are skittish, on edge, hyper alert and remind me of hunting quail! Its hard to see horns in the black timber too. IF one finally gets a shot, it almost always is fast and furious! I've never seen a Sambar but many speak of them being "spike elk sized". Thats alot of thick hide, heavy muscle and bigger bones. I like the Barnes TSX and TTSX for this kind of shooting. I hunted in '96; '98; and 2002 in South Africa and Namibia with friends. We shot similar sized animals with the 300WM/180 XBT; 35 Whelen Ackley/250X & 200X; 338WM/200X; 340 Wby/210xbt; .375 H&H/270 Fail Safes; 300WM and the 165X. They all penetrated like crazy! (the 338WM with the 200x and the 300WM/165X was my SA friend experimenting.)

Last edited by Jim_Knight; 11/23/21.