Nilgai with a 30-06?

new guy here, first post. wanting to go on a nilgai hunt and want to use my 30-06 with 180gr partitions. i've used this same combo for 12 or 13 elk, but have been reading about some places having a 300 win mag minimum for nilgai. i understand they are tough, have thick hide which stretches, tend to run off long distances, and that their kill zone is a bit forward than that of a whitetail and elk. so, my question is....does anyone know of an outfitter who will let me use my 06'? thanks.

You should be ok with good shot placement.

The 180 grain accubond is a bad bullet I use it in my .300 win and it crushes Nilgai sized game.

Also study shot placement their votes are lower and farther forward than a deer

Last year the place I went said .300 Win Mag was the minimum. The guys that went this year said it was changed to 338 as a minimum.

A lot of outfitters shoot them running out of a high rack. Thus the recommendation of a bigger caliber.

One outfitter I know has killed 100 with a .30-06.

They don’t stand still long, but if you can get one standing follow his front leg 1/3rd of the way up his body and put the bullet there and you have a dead nilgai.

Like with hogs, Americans have created this myth that Nilgai are nigh indestructible beasts that you need a howitzer to dispatch

I have zero doubts on its effectiveness at cleanly killing a nilgai. Being your comfortable with it, have experience with it and want to take it that would be my recommendation. I would coordinate with your guide just to make sure all parties are ok.

I have been fortunate to take more than a dozen and have never lost one. Most were on the run but with sensible shots. More than half were taken with a 270 shooting a 140 grain bullet.

With said, I have turned these duties over to 300 with 180 grain bullets.

A lot of these people think magnums make up for bad shooting. Most bad shooting is the result of shooting magnums you can't handle well.

My friends in Namibia have a 200K ranch, and due to the bad drought the last few years, they wanted to cull one thousand gemsbok and kudu in a six week period. Their choice of weapons was a 30-06 with 180 gr bullets.

.30-06 is extremely popular in Africa.

My PH told me after we hunted, that he cringes when a client shows up with a 7mm or .300 mag. Most guys just don’t know how to shoot them constantly accurate.

Imo a .30-06 is much more suitable as a elk or big antelope rifle than a deer rifle

You can definitely take one with an -06, but finding an outfitter that will let you is a different story.

Lots have been killed by 223's in the neck. 30-06 will do just fine. Last one killed on my lease was with a 308 with the low recoil ammo. Dead with one shot.

Shoot a good bullet & you will be fine with a 30-06.

With a partition he's got a good bullet covered!

And I think the OP's question was NOT whether an 06 would work, but "does anyone know of an outfitter who will let me use my 06'?".

Blank's 1st paragraph is absolutely spot on.

Talk to your guide / outfitter . The person I contracted for a Nilgai hunt with also said 338 minimum caliper but said if I was comfortable with my rifle (300 WSM) he was OK for me to use it .

I personally know of one Nilgai cow that was killed with a .300 Blackout. Wasn’t planned that way, but a target of opportunity. Did just fine with a good bullet placement.

30.06 is plenty!

Here’s one my son got with a .300BO.

Check with King Ranch. I talked to them DSC and they had no problem with me using a 300WSM and the guy I was talking to said he routinely takes them with a .270.

Dropped one in a single shot over 225 yards with a 30-06. Break em down.

thanks for the responses. i'll contact the king ranch. sounds like they might be one of a few who will consider allowing a client to use an 06. thanks again.

Congrats to your son (and you)...good looking animal

That's a great pic Judd. Congrats to you guys.

Agreed, great shot and kudos to the young hunter! I shot my first Nilgai bull earlier this year and used a friend's .375 H&H because it was handy and a smooth shooting rifle. I asked the outfitter if I could use my .270 and he puked all over it, but after killing and butchering the big bull I'm convinced my trusty .270 would have been just fine. By the way, that .375 took out the entire upper half of the heart and turned it into mincemeat.

Well I just came back from the same trip with Cody and Mondo. Mine dropped 10ft from where I shot him! With a 225 grain 33 nosler. In one shoulder through the top of the heart and out the other shoulder.

Unfortunately I watched and videoed my buddy shoot one with a 250 grain 338 win mag in a similar hit location. With a follow up hit from the guide (same size gun and .250 grain). We tracked and searched for 3ish hours......

Long story short hit them with everything you can. Keep shooting until they stop.

We only came home with one animal. Huge highs and the lowest of lows.

Most places have good loner guns so you may ask about that.

All have is the one experience with these critters so there’s that too.

Sweet kill by the boy with the .300!!!

I've killed 3 nilgai. 2 with a Marlin 45-70/Remington 405 handload and 1 with .30-'06/150 corelokts.
I see no reason to have more gun.

Papalote

"keep Shooting Until They Stop"

Thats great advice, we all seem conditioned to admire out shot when we should be racking the bolt and sending a "quality assurance" shot. I have started doing the same on larger hogs with good effect.

I bought a 3006 this past year and am shooting a 180grn NP thru it as well. I have not shot any nialgi but i've shot a ton of deer, several large hogs and some aoudad sheep with a 270 and 150grn NP. With good shot placement i can't imagine much of anything would run away from a 180grn 3006 np. the 3006 took down 3 south texas deer this year, was overkill most likely but its not bad on recoil and those big NP bullets do a great job on game. They always pass thru and make for plenty of blood without overly damaging the meat.

if the animal is still up after taking a hit, a hunter needs to continue to keep putting bullets in the animal until it falls. No telling how many animals hunters shoot and, content that the bullet was placed well, watch as the animal walks or trots out of sight never to be found.

Bullets are cheap and shooting is fun.....keep shooting until the animal drops.

I know a guy that killed a nilgai years ago with a .243, before the caliber restrictions. It’s all about shot placement.

Yeah and I know an electrician who always claimed he shot a 700 lb nilgai calf with a 22 mag. Of course he also maintained helicopters could get you there quicker than an airplane (NB to West TX) and white wings do not eat corn. He always put sage in his sausage (puke).

Dang I like sage in my sausage!

Me too

a little sage goes a long way in sausage for me

I have killed 3 of them all with my 300 mag shooting 180 grain Nosler Partitions. There is no doubt in my mind that they would have died just as quick with a 30-06 using the Nosler Partition. I hunted the King Ranch for them. The guide said whatever rifle your most comfortable with, but preferred something 30 cal or larger with a heavy bullet.

I agree. I went on a cow elk hunt two years ago and took a Winchester 94 .44 mag shooting a 310 grain WFNGC bullet that I cast. I shot her 3 times, two of which went through the heart and one went just above it. Two of the bullets completely passed through.

Truth be told, the first shot probably would have been enough, but extra lead is cheap insurance.

Matter of fact, I guided a guy on a cow hunt last year that insisted on using a 475 linebaugh revolver. He made a good broadside shot, and she didn’t go 10 yards. Double lung with a 400 grain bullet, iirc, at 55 yards.


Heart from my cow, for the doubters.

i shot one in the neck with a 30-06 and he didn't get back up, spine shot another with 300 win mag, tried to get back up but couldn't.

At the refuges and private ranches, I've seen them killed with a 30-30 Win. Dead as a hammer. The problem with most outfitters is that they want to truck hunt and have hunted the places hard. Most outfitters, down want to put the time in to hunt them close.

I also know a helicopter pilot, flies, and shoots. I asked him how many nilgais he had killed, I think in 2000 or 2001, and he had killed 1,800. All with the 7.62x39. That's different than hunting, but he is killing them with a body shot. He doesn't use a shooter, not for at least 30 years, too many problems.

Of course, the hunt is always an excuse to buy a big gun!

You are dead on with the guides wanting to hunt with the trucks and frankly, I get it. I always wanted to hunt one with an open sight 45-70. Never bought one so never did. Most of mine were shot out of a truck or at least while hunting with a vehicle and with the animals running. Most w were taken with a 270 and then later on began to rely and love the 300 WM. Never lost one that I am aware of. From memory, I have spotted and stalked two and concealed myself at a tank where I took a cow when she came into water. These three were all shot dead as can be with a 270.

Finding myself needing to comment on tactical Cowboy's story and photo - both awesome. I had broken down a very large bull with a heart shot while it was running directly away. Needless to say, it couldn't go anywhere. Wanting to cape it out, we put a 45 to its heart. Left to go pick up another hunter we had abandoned previously. Came back in 45 minutes and the durn thing was still alive. Put another shot into its heart and came away with something akin to your picture. These beasts are worthy extremely hardy.

444 Marlin, 265-grain home cast bullet, 2400 FPS, at 125-yards.



Private ranch, spot and stalk on bedded bull. Laid in grass for near an hour until he stood up.

I’ve never understood how a 180gr 06 isn’t big enough but a 180gr 300 is.

It is a matter of effective range; both external and terminal ballistics.

Last weekend I shot two nilgai (bull and cow) with a 300 RUM shooting a 220-grain Sierra MatchKing with the tip drilled out a bit so it'd open up like a hunting bullet, MV = 3000 fps. Broadside shot on the bull at 230 yards in the center of one front shoulder, out the other, breaking both. Dead right there. Exit wound was about 3" diameter, so the bullet expanded some. The shot on the cow didn't go so well, hit a rear hip joint and exploded. DRT again, but I lost some meat. My hunting partners each two a bull and a cow with a 7 mm mag shooting a lead-tipped 175-grain Sierra GameKing. One shot both of his nilgai like I shot my bull, with exactly the same results (DRT). The other shot a bull like I shot my cow, with the same results (DRT, with meat loss), and his cow through the lungs missing bone (ran 100 yards, no expansion). In my opinion the magnums are more than enough gun for Nilgai, their reputation for toughness notwithstanding. A well-made bullet at 3,000 fps will penetrate and break the front shoulders of a nilgai, even if the bullet weighs a lot less than my 220-grain SMK. If I did it again, I'd take my 280 AI.

Did the OP find an outfitter to let him use his ‘06? I believe you could use one at the OX Ranch.

Is a 35 Whelen pushing 200 grain bonded bullet at 2850 FPS good to go?

From the King Ranch website: Rifle (30 caliber or larger preferred)
https://kingranchhunting.com/what-to-bring/


I would highly recommend using a solid copper bullet. I shot my nilgai with a .300 Win Mag using the Federal Premium Barnes/TSX 180 grain bullet. Everything that I've shot while using solid copper bullets has had an entry & an exit hole. I've read that nilgai come in 2nd place as far as being the toughest animal to put down (Cape buffalo was rated as the #1 toughest).

Take a look at this: Federal 30-06 Springfield 180 gr Barnes TSX.
This is the description from Federal. The Barnes TSX is a proven all-copper hollow point that groups tightly at long range and delivers consistent, large-diameter expansion. The monolithic design retains nearly 100 percent of its weight on impact to penetrate deep, and its grooved shank minimizes barrel fouling and improves accuracy.

I don't feel that you can go wrong that ammo. Good luck!

My son is a ranch manager and guides nilgai hunts on the ranch he works at. He recommends 300 WM or bigger... reason being, you are paying whether you find the animal or not and that is a lot of money to go home with an empty cooler. They have lost several bulls shot with the 300 WM (maybe because of bullet type). He always offers his rifle to all the clients, a 338-378 Weatherby Magnum and most take it.

If you are on a lease or hunting your own land you should be ok with whatever caliber you like, but on a high-priced guided hunt, go big.

That’s the type ammo I used on my Nilgai hunt, but in .338 Win Mag (210 grain TSX). Was a complete pass through that did good internal damage. However, the bull still ran 50-60 yards. That’s a long way in south Texas brush country. Almost no blood trail. If I do another hunt, I think I will go with a bonded or Partition style bullet. If there will not be a good blood trail, I’d rather the bullet dump 100% of the energy inside the animal instead of passing through. Brother used a bonded bullet in his .375 H&H, and his bull piled up very close after thrashing around a bit. We recovered the bullet under the skin on off side. I’m not an expert by any means, this is just my experience from two hunts.

All about shot placement - regardless of the caliber.

Guides prefer big guns because many clients aren't proficient shooters.

Pick a gun you're precise with at the expected range and I'd bet the guide will allow.

This am, 508 yards, 153 A-tip in 6.5. Just fell over. 249 lbs dressed.

How in the world did they kill these mythical beasts back in the days they used them for meat on the king ranch?

I'd guess a 30-30. But who knows, maybe those folks were toting 375 h&h safari guns lol.

I’m still trying to figure out how a headless person made a 500 yard shot.

Headless people do more than shoot. Some get elected.

But re the 500 yard issue, come out to the next match at Senior's and see how ya can do!

Probably not good. I’m a volume shooter. I just keep sending lead til I hit something.

Volume is relative. Pretty sure I saw you shoot at Frisco. You're a ringer. Come.on out! Always a great time!