Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Plains Game rifle choice

I was in Namibia a decade ago and did fine on Gemsbok, Zebra and Kudu with a 30-06 pushing 180 Nosler Parts.
I dream about going back for Eland, and would take a 375HH for that, but might do just as well with the first platform. Enjoy!

When I was in Namibia, the PH kept asking me to range distances for him. I automatically did it for my hunting partner.

In Zambia, my PH had a rangefinder and we both ranged and confirmed distance when needed.

Out of those two trips, farthest shot was 235 yards, closest is 40.

I would really like to get back over there and chase a big ol' eland, and big kudu bulls. Can't get enough of those kudu bulls.

Re sighting in, for a few decades the 30-06's I've used have been sighted-in at 200 yards. Seems to have worked out just fine.

I figure I'll just keep it the same. Why mess with success?

I do like that idea of practicing with whatever shooting sticks are used. I've never used shooting sticks from standing, but it seems to be a regular practice in Africa. I like that! Anything to steady the shot.

Guy

Know where the bullet is relative to scope LOS. Helps to thread through small holes in brush.

Amen to hunting Kudu!

Some PH's may use a second shooting stick under your elbow (?) to steady your shot even more. I suggest you getting Craig Boddingtons book "SAFARI RIFLES II."

I agree. Here is my “grey ghost.” Not that I care that much but this guy was at 58”. Beautiful, elegant animals. This was the most open area in the Namib brush I was in.



Like was discussed, quite a fair number of cartridges will work. As I had read about the yuge 375 during my younger years, I chose it and hunted and shot it a lot incl on this trip. I love this old cartridge which is even more flexible today; ‘course same is true of the 30/06.

I went to Namibia two years ago. I hunted mostly in the Mountain's, very open country. I used a 7mm RM with 140 Barns TTSX sighted in for 300 yards. I shot 8 animals and the ranges were from 50 - 327 yards. I live out West and am used to shooting across canyons. There was NO WAY to get closer on my longest shot!!! They were headed out of the Concession.

Very nice "ghost". My son has one from our 2nd trip. Beautiful and elegant is right. His shoulder mount is something to see.

Awesome bull George. Love the pic. I've shot 4 I think, largest being 55" x 53". I'll never forget the spot, the stalk, or the shot.

I've been to RSA once, killed 3 animals with a Kimber Montana 7-08 and 120 grain Barnes TTSX (impala, warthog and bleskok) and a kudu and gemsbok with a Sako A7S in 270 Win shooting 156 grain Hammerheads. I did feel a little under gunned with the 7-08. I had elbow issues and couldn't take the recoil of my Rugers in 375 and 35 Whelen. All the other guys in camp were shooting 30-06's and 180's. Agree with the hundred yard zero, my longest shot was 156 yards. Nice Mountain Rifle.

The 30-06 will do all you need.
Always has, always will

It is a bad idea to zero your PG rifle for an excessive distance but I am convinced it is equally silly to zero for 100 yards.

Zero either at 200 or for a maximum mid-range of 2.5” which occurs at about 140 yards with something going 2700-2800. Either is good. Then you are good for holding on meat out to 250 or so. Don’t do something that requires re-thinking established habits.

Silly? 🤔

Zero at 200 yards makes perfect sense to e.....all my guns are so arranged.

Exactly!

Nearly every rifle I have has the same 2 inches high at 100 yards zero. From 223 to 416 Remington. The only ones with different zeros are 7STW and 300 Weatherby that get 1.5" @ 100 yards.

People overthink [bleep] and get themselves in trouble.

Go with what you know!

tend to agree with this line of thinking

Kuda and Impala for me are the best. Been over the pond twice last time was for a month. Started reading about Africa when I was 8 started saving when I was 18 went first time at 57 next time I went for a month. Shot everything with a 375HH which I had shot over 1500 times off sticks before I went. Only 1 animal was shot twice. Your 30-06 will be just fine. I took a 375HH because to me it was Africa and I needed it for Cape Buffalo. Best trophy of my life was a 19.5" Bushbuck. I have it full body mounted.
I didn't need the 375 for everything but I also took a 12ga. O?U for birds and I shot enough to be very comfortable with it.
Life long dream come true.

My most recent trip there was to Namibia for some hunting, fishing and touring last year. Many years ago I bought a pretty mint FN Supreme 30-06 for a song whilst living in Houston where few Mauser's sold IME and Weatherby's and Sako did... I mounted a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10X on it and loaded up some old Speer 180 gr bullets and took it to the range to learn it was an MOA rifle. I threw it in the safe and there it sat for 15 years until last year. I have never owned a 30-06 prior and last year I decided to take it to Namibia. Yes it was a bit heavier than what I normally hunt with but the 168 gr Barnes TSX just flat azz worked. Tough mountainous area that offered likely my most difficult hunt for mountain zebra well into the mountains. Zebra, kudu, gemsbuck, springbuck and cheetah dropped at the shot. It was sighted dead on at 200 yards. As stated above, it just works.

After a few previous safaris, in 2002 I finally took a .30-06 on a 2-week trip to RSA that included some extensive culling as well a trophies. Had seen plenty of other cartridges used on plains game before then, from the 7x57 to .375 H&H, along with the .30-06, but had never used the .30-06 myself, and many hunters believe that unless you personally pull the trigger, observational experience doesn't count.

Gun writers generally have some sort of agenda behind what rifles they use, whether field-testing something new, filling a gap in their experience, or "proving" a theory. In this instance it really wasn't revolutionary, but to demonstrate that most hunters really don't need some special rifle to hunt Africa. More hunters believed they did back then than now, but some still do. So I took a .30-06 that (as my friend Brian Pearce put it) as "plain vanilla as possible." It was a Remington 700 factory rifle with a 3-9x scope, and the handloads used 180-grain Nosler Partitions at around 2750 fps.

The hunting was spread out over several hundred miles in both the North Cape and Eastern Cape provinces, and the country varied from the wide-open plains of the Karoo to steep timbered hills to thick streamside bush. Among other animals I got a Rowland Ward springbok at 250 yards, a decent Cape bushbuck at 80 (about as far as could be seen where we hunted), and a very good Cape kudu at 360, standing straight above me on a very steep hilliside--all shot through the shoulders so they dropped right there. It also took a bunch of culls, mostly springbok but some other animals as well, and worked fine on them too, whether head-shooting springbok or, when that wasn't realistic, through the ribs well behind the shoulder--which dropped them quickly too, thanks to the "soft" front end of the Partition opening easily even on 80-pound animals. The vanilla rifle worked pretty well!