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Nilgai...I thought this was The African Forum.

That was mentioned in the second post, but everybody forged ahead anyway....

yea, sorry about that, I thought they were in Africa and that's where the most of them would be hunted and thus experience and info about them.
Little did I know they are mostly in TX.

Hey, speak for your own self! I have decided to not only not have any more birthdays, but I’m going to begin unwinding my age by uncelebrating one birthday every year. I can feel myself getting younger right now.

...or, it may just be the Scotch...

I don't drink much Scotch anymore, but have encountered the same effect from Irish whiskey! (And having visited Ireland, apparently it works the same way with the Irish!)

I did a lot of business in the early 90’s with a guy from Falfurrias. He owns several thousand acres in Brooks county that’s been in his family for generations, and has Nilgai. I killed a couple back then using the same cartridge and bullet combo as stxhunter. It worked fine. At the time a 270 was the only rifle I had. I’ve read about Nilgai hunting on a number of websites and as a rule Nilgai are represented as bulletproof and .300 WinMag is the absolute bare minimum that should be used. It’s nice to see more reasonable suggestions here on the fire.

A friend killed a bull with 1 shot from a 30-30 contender pistol

Yep, hit 'em in the right place and they die relatively easily.

But if you don't hit 'em in the right place they can be pretty tough. Have mentioned this before, but am convinced the reason nilgai got a reputation for being bullet proof was the typical "hunting" method used when they started to become more popular big game animals 20 or so years ago. This was to chase them in pickups and shoot them on the run--sometimes even from the moving vehicle--which doesn't enhance good shot placement.

What MD said +1.

Went nilgai hunting with a good bud a few years ago. I had just had shoulder surgery, so watched him kill one with a 338 Win.

Guide carried a 340 Wby, liked big guns for nilgai, thus the .338.

From what I’ve read, a 200 NPT out of an ‘06 penetrates as well as as some of the bigger rounds.

So even those who think a nilgai blue bull is armor plated, the above combo should penetrate as well as a .375 or similar. Of course most deer rifles with a good bullet will kill one dead.

DF

Nice DF, going to finish a nilgai deal Ingwe and i started in a few, will be using a 44-77 Shiloh Sharps with 477gr paper patch bullet, or if raining/at night, a 7mm Mashburn Super kicking a 160gr NAB out at 3220 fps, both should seal the deal Muy Pronto.

That’ll work.

Pictures, of course.

DF

.30-06 shooting a Barnes TSX 168 grain @ 2900 FPS.

I do not recommend this, but the old game warden (whom used to be employed at the same shop as I in Austin back in the day) in the Riveria/Sarita area, his all time favorite nilgai rifle was his Ruger #1 in 220 Swift.

He is gone now. And he was a great guy.

Just thought I’d throw it out

Kaywoodie, Never shot a Nilgai, with a 220 swift, i have killed a cow and a bull with a .243, i was not hunting Nilgai, either time just bumped into them, i think the bullet you use is more important than the chamber size.. Rio7

I’ve seen you shoot that .243. I believe you are correct!

had a buddy who killed one while shooting out the passenger window of the truck while they were chasing a bull, killed it one shot, 220 swift, probably a lot of luck on that shot.

G500 please get us a photo. And don't try to sell us any track soup! Be well, RZ.

I’ve killed several of both cows and bulls. Biggest cartridge was a .280 Rem, but mostly my 7x57 but both using either Partitions or Trophy Bonded bullets. I did kill a cow with a 170 grain Sierra round nose and it worked just fine - glad I have a bunch of those still.

On the subject of shooting nilgai, we’d be remiss if Kaywoodies offhand shot to the noggin with an antique Winchester wasn’t mentioned. https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...300084/1895-src-nilgai-bull#Post14300084