Nyala hunt questions

[Adoons]

I have a Nyala hunt forthcoming in Natal Pongola area. Have never hunted them. Here in the North we only see "tame" and pellet fed or raised Nyala most of the time. Not my type of hunting in a 5 ha camp thank you. I hope to hunt them in the more natural habitat for the species.

One bull and one ewe is on the wishlist.

Rifle planned to use will be my 6,5 x 55 Swede with 140 gr Federal Fusion factory ammo. I have all the components and tools to load for the 6,5 except time, so factory ammo it will be. I would rather hunt with factory ammo that I am already confident in with regard to accuracy than now quickly try and make up my own. With Sellier and Bellot 140 gr SP and the Federal Fusions 140 gr I have experience of very good accuracy till date on a good lot of warthog and crop raiding baboons. The 6,5 was purchased for the longer shots sometimes needed together with 2 boxes of ammo. S&B Soft points in 140 and 156 grain. The 140 have been so sweet shooting that I have just kept on buying more instead of finding time to reload. I don't like the 156 gr. Accuracy at 100 m is more consistent than the 140 gr from my Howa, but bullet drop is notably more for my use of the rifle. So that is sorted I hope.

How hard is the shoulder bones of Nyala bulls? In the event of a shot going straight to the heavy shoulder bone (knoppe), will the Fusions break it and still penetrate? Even at lets say a 250 - 300 m shot down into a valley? From what I have seen on warthog the answer is a definate "yes", but rather ask before becoming a fool later on.

Can anyone report on Nyala meat for table fair? Any male animals I hunt is made into biltong and droewors, if the field will give me a Nyala bull that will be the end result of his carcass. Females sometimes get used on the table normally as roasts (Oven baked in casserole.) How eatable do you experience Nyala ewes?

[grasbuffel]

Don't know about Zululand nyala but up north our "pellet fed" ones tastes good

Good luck and enjoy. That exact hunt is on my bucket list!

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[Desperatezulu]

The 140gr will be fine - an nyala is a small 'medium' antelope.I hunted one this past weekend - I was going to use 156gr Norma Oryx in my 6.5x55 - but ended up using a smaller calibre because that's I had in my hands when the opportunity came.

[MyLani]

Nyala isn't a particularly tough animal. The 140gr is ample, even for a shoulder shot.
A friend's mom made a Nyala Bull shoulder in the Aga stove about 26 years ago. It fell off the bone and tasted like lamb. Pity she couldn't recall the recipe

[Logs]

I hunt the Pongola area annually, and have witnessed a number of Nyala Bull hunts. As much as long shots may present themselves, most shots that I've seen have been in the 60-80m region, in thick bush. We normally hunt in May, and the bush is still quite green at that time of the year. The majority of shots have been bonded bullets, either 'behind' or on the shoulder, resulting in the animal lying dead within 50m of shot impact. I'm a big fan of Fusions, and believe the ammo will serve the purpose.
For the table, we usually split the carcasses into a mix of biltong, droewors, mince, boerewors, hamburger patties, fillets, and potjie pieces. To date, Nyala has been some of our best eating animals from that region.

[Sean KZN]

As much as long shots may present themselves, most shots that I've seen have been in the 60-80m region, in thick bush.

I've never hunted them but have come across them fairly often when looking for Impala, the males especially are prone to very dense cover, the females in small groups seem more comfortable to venture out of the thick stuff more often.
That applies to Zululand bush, like Pongola, the males coats are often very long which seems to help them blend in to cover, on the plus side, they are pretty close when you actually see them.
Good luck.

[roryf]

I am busy hunting in Pongola at the moment.

There was 150mm of rain 3 weeks ago and the bush is seriously thick! We keep bumping animals.You get so close but there is just too much bush.
My one son got a big Nyala bull yesterday at about 40m and the other son got a wildebeest at 73m.

I doubt you will be taking long shots in Pongola.You may need a bayonet if the bush gets any thicker 😊

I will upload pics when I get more signal and work out how to upload.

Nyala is really good eating.

[Adoons]

Ai jai jai. Maybe take the 404 then...

Or 44 Mag lever Gun. That will be an experience to use it for my Nyala ewe

[Adie]

I have hunted Nyala in Pongola quite a fair bit. I was there 3 weeks ago during the heavy rains. It is thick! You may shoot close. You may shoot far. Something may hit a clearing at 250m. They are not tough animals when compared to a BWB etc. the bulls are dark and like the thick stuff. They don’t run like Kudu as they aren’t as skittish. Sometimes you may need to punch through a bit of bush. Your 6.5 will be more than adequate but if your 404 is scoped I wouldn’t drop that option for the thick stuff! A bit of fun no doubt.

the meat is great on both the bulls and ewes. I really enjoy it. I’d say similar ish to kudu but everyone has their own interpretation. Keep us updated please!

[Adie]

PS, if a big bull shows don’t hesitate. They grow big up there. My last one was a 31 3/8 of an inch.