Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles what calibeR should you use for kudu?

Nephew going to Africa and wants to know smallest caliber for kudu. Please tell your choice and why.

This one:


Did not care for the 300wsm that I was packing with the 168 TTSX.

Me, I'm not much of a 'smallest caliber' kind of guy. But, I would use my .257 wby with 100ttsx with out hesitation.

No matter what I say, someone is going to talk against it as being too weak or too powerful, but I'll be using my .300 Win. Mag. next time.

300 H&H my first choice, 30-06 second.

.300 Something (because longer shots are normal). If his PH says 100 yards is common, a 7mm Something (elk-sized animal).

We have used the 9.3x62, 7x57, 358 Win and 8x57 without issue.

Killed these 2 with a .30-06 using a 180 Nosler Partition handloads.

this one took a .375 270gr tsx in the chest, but I think an '06 with 180's would be more than plenty....take what you shoot well and have practiced with....practice shooting off sticks too....have a great time and don't forget to post pics!

Any rifle you would feel comfortable hunting Elk with. Kudu are like big deer and sometimes won't come out of the brush, shots can be near or far, depends on terrain. They are about the size of a cow elk so it usually depends on what else you might be hunting as far as rifle choice.

Go with what your PH recommends is always a good plan. Also check the regs. as some have minimum power in joules for different game.

As far as minimum caliber is concerned, a 260 with a 120 Speer and a muzzle velocity of 2750 worked for me on this one at about 400 yards. The same combo also worked very well on a black wildebeest at just under 300 yards.

Man, I love this thread. There are some really great looking Kudu pics posted here. If I could find my pics I would post them, but I think I lost them 2 computer crashes ago.

Bob

I've never seen one and or shot one but it sounds like they're about the size of a cow elk. That said, I'd be more than comfy lighting the torch on one with a 243 and a 85 TSX and or a 25/06 with a 115 Noz.

The 260 with a 120 NBT or 130 or 140 should do well also.

Place the bullet behind the front, wreck the lungs and they're not long for the world...

Dober

I'm with you Dober. I just talked to my buddy here who went over there for the third time. His wife whacked kudu, oryx, wildebeast, and hartebeast with a 7mm08 and 140 Swift A-Frames. He killed 13 animals up to eland size with a 7mag and 175 partitions. As you said...bullet placement !

Pretty tough for them to anywhere with the engine room taken out...grin

Personally, I'd love to whack and stack some critters over there via flight 53 TSX out of my 22/250.

Dober

I have a good friend in South Africa that invited me over to cull impala and blesbok. Turned me loose on 2 kudu bulls too. I shot them both with 120 Nosler BT's that I had been head shooting the cull animals with.

That wouldn't be my first choice of bullet in the 260 but is was very effective on those 2.

The advise to shoot the rifle you are comfortable with, use a good quality bullet, hit them right and you will be paying a trophy fee, dipping and shipping on a kudu.

I'm a believer in that caliber like boobs, the bigger the better. For kudu, the 7mm would be the minimum, but I prefer a 300 "prefer" being the operative word...

The most popular with the cullers in S & SW is probably the .243 win. and second is the .308. They take mostly head and neck shots as the meat and hides are sold.

I would pick something in the .270 class or larger for sport hunting.

I shot this 56" kudu on the second to last day of 12 day hunt hunt. We waited him out for about an hour. He finally came out of the thick stuff and started walking away from us at 150 yards. I shot him walking away with a 300 gr. Barnes out of my 375 H&H. The bullet went in throught the backs of the guts and through the front shoulder. I had the 375 because we were hunting buffalo too. My point is I would not spend $10,000 plus on an African trip which may be a once in a lifetime trip and carry a small caliber rifle. You may not get that perfect shot, especially from a spooky kudu. My minimum would be a 30-06.

As Dober said, Id feel fine with a .243 and a premium bullet....That said Ive never used a rifle that small on them, but have killed them with a 7x57, an 8x57, a .30-06,.300 Win mag, and a .375 H&H

Here is one that ate some dirt due to a 165 TSX from a 308 Win.