Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game AUODAD HUNT this Oct..... 257 or 300 wthby???

OK.... first a few things. I have read quite a bit on this subject adn I even read a thread on here about a yr ago. Just thought I would get some "expert" opinions on what to you.

OBVIOUSLY, i love the .257 and use it on all medium and smaller game. My .257s only shoot 2 kinds of bullets.... the 115 gr NBT on the thin skinned game and the 115 gr X bullet on on teh tougher critters. So that said...i have been shooting that load quite a bit and it hold MOA adn then some!!! I would be using the X for Auodad. I will be in RUGGED azz country and my .257s are both light weight rigs, CDS scoped-loaded and ready to shoot in the 7 - 7.5lb range.

As for my customized .300 wthby...it shoots the 180gr TSX MOA as well. Last fall it got rescoped with the CDS for this yrs elk hunt and its been doing it job very very very well on paper as i have shot it out to 500 yds. Gun ready to hunt.... 8 lbs 1 oz

I give teh above info to help get better opinions or advice from you expert Auodad hunter/guides. I shoot both of these calibers very well and have all the confidence in both of them. So... if it was you and you have had the Auodad experience and know the country in FAR SW Texas....what would you be carrying???

PS...of course the lil .223 is going along to for predators! I really hope to finally get my bobcat this fall!!!!!!

They can take some killing. But mostly put a bullet in the right place and it takes time.... I did watch a big one get shot once, took 5 rounds from a 338 win mag and you could cover them with a gallon coffee can so not a bad group. A hair further back than should be, IE was shot as if it was a deer and the vitals are a bit further foward... but all shots hit lungs..... Fell over after the 5th shot...

I"d lean towards the 300 personally hands down. And I have a 300 and 257 both also...

.300.

The .257 will take any goat that ever lived. Because it is more likely than not that you will be shooting prone ot laying over a chunk of uncomfortable landscape, I would go with the .257. Either bullet will do.

.257

Both will work if the bullet is put in the right place. Although I have not killed a Auodad I hear they are very very tough. Id opt for the 300. Good luck.

There tough animals, shot one this summer with my .270 and lunged it, had to leave it overnight as it was still on it's feet after 500 yards. I would take the 300 and shoot more forward as to hit the heart and break him down. Good luck!

Thx fellas.

THe most important thing i have read/had mentioned here i think is where the vitals are. Sounds like they are a lil more like africian animals as shooting fwd is a good thing for a quicker kill/downing animal. Sounds like a shoulder shot is the place to put the "X" on Auodad.

I'm never hunted Barbary sheep but have taken several elk, one moose, and 3 caribou with my .308 rifle. My point is that I have experience taking game larger than deer. My suggestion is to shoot twice into the chest organs for a speedy kill. Two quick shots gets the job done FAST.

Whichever rifle you can shoot, cycle the action, and shoot again quickly & accurately is the choice for this hunt.

I tend to think of the 257 MAG as a 25-06 with an extra 100 yards of reach. Its a KEEPER!

Sherwood

300 for sure!
W.

Slammo dunko for me it'd be the 257 Wby!

Dober

257 if you like tracking.
300 if you aren't perfect with every shot.

If you aren't perfect with every shot, I'd take the 257 in a heartbeat... caliber doesn't make up for placement, but caliber can allow more selections of angled placement/bone breakage....

I've killed 4 Bighorn rams, a Dall ram, a bull Mountain Caribou, and a 6 pt bull Elk with my .257 AI shooting 117 gr Serria GamdKing bullets. All were one shot kills, and all died within 30 yds of where they were when I shot them.

Last year I shot a West Texas Aoudad ram with my .300 Weatherby. One 168 gr TSX bullet through his shoulders put him down within 20 yds of where he was when I shot him.

I used the .300 Weatherby because I had just built it and hadn't shot anything with it yet.

My guide kept telling me to shoot the Aoudad through the hams to break the rear legs or pelvis because they were so hard to put down. When he saw that I shot him through the shoulders he said "You don't listen to your guide very well, do you?"

I grinned and replied "Nope."

Put you bullet in the right place, and either your .257 or .300 Weatherby will work just fine.

Yes they're tough, no they are not bulletproof. Last year we had hunters using the 6.5x84, 270win, 7saum, 300wsm, two 7mmRem mags 300ultra, 308 norma, a 338ultra, even had to finish one with a 223! The big cases didn't kill any quicker. The 300 ultra hit a 28" ram tight behind the shoulder he ran like he wasn't hit and jumped a fence. Another round through the shoulder knocked him down. The 308Norma hit a 26" ram behind high in the shoulder and knocked him down, next one went throgh the paunch. Getting up to him, he jumped up and was leaving the country! Texas heart shot ended the deal. 338 ultra creased the nose of a 30" ram, which we killed the next week with a 270! All that powder and big bullet didn't matter!!!My advice is to take both rifles and carry one, one day, the other, the next! Like everything else shot placement trumps headstamp!!!!

About what do they weigh?

Thx
Dober

Mark, to be honest I've never weighed one...they usually come out in little pieces! I would say a big mature ram is every bit of 250 lbs probly closer to 300.

Thats about what I thought, yepper 257 for me.

Dober

I'd choose the .257 with the X bullet. Like any sheep or goat hunt, long shots are the norm along with lots of walking and climbing. Aoudad are perhaps a bit tougher than native NA sheep, but then, so is most any other big game animal save caribou, IMO. Of course, the cliche always applies: an animal shot through the boiler with a .243 is quickly brought to bag, but one gut-shot with a .375 will turn your hunt real western in a hurry.

Here's a pic of a barbary ram taken with my ULA .284 Win with a 140 gr Nosler Balistic tip. Double-lunged at 285 yards, he took about 3 steps and fell on his nose. Had I hit him in the leg or belly, I would have found the NBT lacking....

Most sensable advice so far.