Beaufort West Hunt

[noost]

Good morning all.

I was invited to a hunting opportunity near Beaufort.

Was hoping to get some advice as I haven't been on a hunt for about 10 years and this is a first for me in the Karoo, always used to hunt in the Brits area.

The hunting ground is about 40km's south of Beaufort between the R306 and N12.

Will be going after a Kudu with a 30-06 being on the fence between 168gr and 180gr. Worried that the 180gr might be too heavy if I need to push out to 200m+.

I do have 150gr but it might be too light as I am not going for headshots (and it hurts like hell to fire).

Can anyone tell me what to expect?

[Desperatezulu]

I don't know the specific area but chances are it will be fairly open and longer shots, as you've indicated. I would prepare accordingly.
The longer the shot, the greater the premium on accuracy. I'd focus on the most accurate load and learn your trajectory to maybe 300m. Kudu aren't too tough and anything from 150-180gr placed appropriately in the engine room is going to do the job without issues.

Will be going after a Kudu with a 30-06 being on the fence between 168gr and 180gr. Worried that the 180gr might be too heavy if I need to push out to 200m+.

Either will be good, choose the more accurate one. If you know the bullet drop for the 180gr then it will be fine.

[Adoons]

I have not checked now, but the "point blank range" between 168 and 180 gr for kudu boiler room shot placement would not be a practical difference for out to 300 m shots. Use what you are familiar with, know the trajectory off and that are consistent.

For those of us, like myself, that normally hunt in the bush, guestimating the shooting distance and hold over for our guesstimate is playing a much bigger role in hunting success than 168 gr vs 180 gr from a 30-06 for kudu size.

You don't like the 150 gr, leave them at home.

[Andrew Leigh]

Warm clothes, beanie, gloves is about the best advice I can give.

Shoot the bullet weight you have the most comfort in, hunting is very often a confidence thing.

[ady]

Warm clothes, beanie, gloves is about the best advice I can give.

Shoot the bullet weight you have the most comfort in, hunting is very often a confidence thing.

and a bullet placement thing.

The karoo gets cold, especially at night. Good advice from Andrew.

[driepootx]

We hunted near Three Sisters back in the 90's. Kudus would be found in the dry river beds that have thorn trees around them. If the area is more mountainous then they will be in the kloofs.

[Bonedoc]

Helps to have a good range finder. Open Karoo plains can make judging distance quite a challenge.

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[tcbc]

Try and find out what type of hunt it will be.

Karoo farms used to do lots of “voorsit” hunting, where you get into a good prone position and get animals driven to shooting positions. So practice shooting prone off a backpack or folded jacket.

But if it’s sight hunting, you may be shooting off sticks. So practice with that, it’s not something you want to experiment with while in the aim.


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[kayaker]

What bullets are you shooting?

180gr is not a barrier at 200m, but that said, there is not a kudu that walks that wouldnt happily take on with a 150 or 165gr bullet in a .30-06 (or a 130gr copper bullet), unless that bullet was particularly fragile. I have used 165gr partitons in a 20" barreled .308 (MV unknown) and they exited I assume with ease (larger exit wounds). With a tougher bullet (e.g. bonded) the 150's should work just fine. A regular old swaged lead core 'soft point' in 165gr should have no issues on most reasonably angled shots. Many kudu have been cleanly killed for decades with low cost, basic 130gr-180gr cup and core, PMP, Speer, Hornady Interlock, Prvi, Rem Corelokt, Federal 'powershok', etc. bullets in .270's, .308's, .303's and .30-06's et al.