Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best cartridge for Sambar, Nilgi, Aoudad etc 270 or 6.5x55 or 7x57?

Hoping to draw a Sambar tag in next years TPW Hunts. Currently own a couple 270's which are what I am most familiar with, a nearly new Tikka 6.5x55 Swede and a '70's era 1st run M70 Fwt 7x57. Am thinking the 270's in 150 gr'ers will get the job done, but could also take the 7x57 as a backup, shooting either 154gr Hndy IB's or Nosler 150 gr AB's. Would use the same setup on Aoudad or possibly Red Deer if Fate smiles on my auction tags, and mebbe a Nilgi if I can find a hunt that I can afford. Or do I need to go into a bigger caliber, as I've got 300+pc's of leftover 7Rmg brass, but DA me sold the nearly new & unfired 7mg rifle, that the Hndy & Nosler AB's & 154gr IB's were bought for.
Any comments appreciated.
Ron

All will work just fine.

I'm voting for the 7x57....

Ain't a hill of beans difference between them . . .

No doubt any of these would work. Make sure you have the best bullets for the task.

I’ve killed a couple Aoudads with a bow. As always, shot placement is what counts. Any of those cartridges will work fine.

I killed an Aoudad in my pajama`s.How he got them on I will never know.

All three cartridges are pretty much slightly different sizes of peas from the same pod. Have killed plenty of big game with all three, and have yet to be able to tell any difference in "killing power."

But the longer I hunt, the less difference in field results there appears to be in a much wider range of cartridges.

MD has it right. Take your pick all three are “ Old School Cool”. Best of luck with the hunts.

Those are all fine choices for aoudad and probably sambar. I've killed aoudad with .22's before with head shots. You may run into some issues with nilgai depending on the outfitter. Seems like most of them want a .30 cal minimum. I've even talked to one that wanted nothing smaller then a .338.

Shortfinger, That's what I keep remembering from years ago when Nilgai 1st gathered a lot of publicity from Ray Sasser, the Dallas Morning News Outdoors guy, & his Houston Post buddy ?Shannon Tompkins I think it was. I was in Joe McBrides in Austin one day when a couple guys walked in talking about going Nilgai hunting and the outfitter sez no deer rifles ...like you wuz in Africa ...and walked out couple $K lighter toting "Grey Ghost" guns. There's been some chatter online lately about Powderhorn & Sambar success stories, and seems like there used to be Nilgai hunts fairly common in the Valley too, but I am not hearing anything about hunting anything in the Valley anymore now that I've been out of the Rep bidnizz for over 25 years At my age of 77 Powderhorn has more than just Sambar catching my eye. I did score a tag at SLRSP for later this winter...only took 21 points and 25 years to score a tag again. I'd also like to try and get an Aoudad on the wall too from west of Ft Hood. Great looking trophy's...Sambar ?? mebbe... mebbe Not
Ron

Yep. They’d all work just fine. But the 7x57 would be my choice. As it’s one of my personal favorites

I’ve killed a bunch of nilgai bulls and cows with a 7x57. No problems, just put the bullet in the right place.

Amazing, ain't it? A LOT of Texas guides and outfitters still recommend far more cartridge than necessary. Have no idea why.

A few years ago a fellow gunwriter was going to hunt aoudad on a free-range hunt. The guide recommended a .375 H&H, but my friend had a custom .250 Savage that shot 100-grain Nosler Ballistic Tips into tiny groups, and asked me if it would work. I said based on my experience with 100 Ballistic Tips, the .250 Savage and Texas exaggeration it would. So he took his 250, and shot a big ram at around 250 yards in the right place. It ran at most 50 yards before dropping dead.

I think they recommend a bigger gun, MD, because alot of their hunters can't shoot like your friend! ha I sure made my guide friend nervous when I went after that Oryx with that little 6x47mm, ha

Over here, most hunters prefer something a bit bigger for sambar deer. They have a bit of a reputation for being a bit tough. The smaller cartridges will kill them but the problem is how far they will run before going down. Farm fringe sambar may run 50 to 100 metres over a paddock which is fine, but in the mountains, a sambar that runs 200 metres straight downhill in thick scrub and dogwood can be a real bugger to locate and literally take hours to find, if you are lucky.

Bigger cartridges with a little more power are generally used like 300 magnums, 325 WSM, 338 magnums and the big old slow thumpers like 35 Whelen and 9.3x62. The idea in the thick stuff is to anchor them on the spot. A deer that runs only 50 metres can still take a while to find. The .35 Whelen with 225gn Accubonds will anchor them on the spot........if hit through the chest. The same combo if hit six to eight inches too far back will see a sambar run 100 metres. You gotta put a hole through the vitals. The issue with the smaller calibres is that even if hit right, the sambar can make a death run.

On a side note, I never knew there were sambar in the States. I know Texas has some exotics but I've never heard of sambar.

There are some Nilgai draw hunts on some federal properdy down in the valley still, but it seems like that have cut those back a good bit. I've always heard that is a hard hunt, especially since you can't use a truck to collect the animal, you had to pack it or use a cart. Seems silly for such a big animal.

Good luck in SLRSP! That can be a great hunt. My son and I got that one a few years ago. We saw a bunch of game and came back with 4 axis does. We got lucky this year and drew Honey Creek SNA.That's supposed to another good one for exotics including Aoudad. I'm taking my 7x57 for at least one session.

Shortfinger...Haven't hunted Honey Creek but have been on the other one, Guad Rvr, next door couple times & used to be some tripod stands almost right up to the HC fence on it's west side. I understand at HC you'll need a game cart to get your critter out by yourself, and since I usually hunt solo at my age @ 77, that's can be a problem if you get into a "shooting war. One year we saw a guy take 6 yearling WT does out of the N/W Tent Camp area....over a 1 1/2 day hunt. The west fence line of Guad Rvr used to have a game farm across from it that would have
WT's hang out in the Tent Area back when campers could put out corn in the camping area. Not s'psed to be kosher now days last I heard Google an aerial map to see the topography ....and hopefully you can draw the N'west corner on the ridge across from the Park Mgr's house to the north or a little bit to the south across from the Water & Sewage Plant or just uphill from the Children's Garden on the west side of the HC fence real close to river...Hog's Luv that place. BTDT on the west side of HC's fence and scored good couple times still in smelling distance south of the Utilities.

IMO The one to draw is the one across the river for EXO's and it's almost as hard to draw as SLRSP, Kerrville & Mason Mtn and I keep trying too for good reason.... several EXO game ranch's up river and when the river floods the Exo critters swim down river and stay there on the NORTH side of the river to avoid the crowds on the south side at Guad Rvr SP.

Almost forgot, it's worth your time to go down a day or 2 early and hike the big place, find the horse watering station and go east to N/S fence line, then go north on the foot trail all the way to the river .
FWIW Guadalupe River SP is/was the #1 destination for Day Use entry's out of all the TP&W System SP's...and sometimes can look like a convention hall giving way $$'s had come to town...great campground facility's help too.
Ron

Thanks for that intel! I'll remember that about the North section, We did take a day trip out there a couple of weeks ago, even did the guided hike in HC. We saw a bunch of Axis and a few pigs and deer. I'd say I'm pretty optimistic about the hunt.

A 7x57 is the classic Safari cartridge , no matter where the Safari is....