The Great Eland Debate

Oh, none taken.......

We are shooting off the two-legged version now and you need to hold them steady while you shoot so no, they don't fall over but I just ordered a set of the three legged ones so we can get some time on those as well. Lots to learn and lots to practice!

3 leggeds must be a PITA on non level ground...but I suppose you could just cant the rifle in the direction you want to level the crosshairs eh.
 
What ever happened too just practicing shooting enough where you just take the shot without all these modern day gimmiks?
 
What ever happened too just practicing shooting enough where you just take the shot without all these modern day gimmiks?

I'll take a rest every time....I've got no delusions about my shooting prowess. I shoot better off a rest so why not use it. Not sure I'd call something that aids you in more accurately placing a bullet a gimmick. Shots where we are going are typically standing and off-hand shots without a rest are never going to be as accurate as the same shot taken off shooting sticks....
 
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I'll take a rest ever time as well but I go out of my way to practice as often as I can so that I do not have to depend on accesaries to place my shots.

I guess this is one of my pet peeves with so many shooters/hunters they do not practice/shoot enough to become proficient in the use of their firearms.

If the aid takes the place of proficiency/lack of practice by all means use it.

:D
 
If the aid takes the place of proficiency/lack of practice by all means use it.

:D

Ya and if you cant take recoil of a sensible cartridge ditch it.Hey if your CNIB recognized blind, just get someone to tell you where to point the gun:D. How about the statement one gentleman made above"You can kill most anything with any gun, but when is it just NOT practical" I may not have him quoted exactly but I'd like his question answered. AndSHEEPHUNTER I'd like what I quoted from you from another thread in my sig line addressed. If as I've quoted you is how you think why the need to continually attempt the justification of just enough gun?I'd like to be able to get a handle on that:confused:
 
Ya and if you cant take recoil of a sensible cartridge ditch it.Hey if your CNIB recognized blind, just get someone to tell you where to point the gun:D. How about the statement one gentleman made above"You can kill most anything with any gun, but when is it just NOT practical" I may not have him quoted exactly but I'd like his question answered. AndSHEEPHUNTER I'd like what I quoted from you from another thread in my sig line addressed. If as I've quoted you is how you think why the need to continually attempt the justification of just enough gun?I'd like to be able to get a handle on that:confused:


SH see what I mean the ignore list just doesn't work because some one always quotes them then you get too read it anyway... :p

AS "WOW" I understand and totally agree with SH's comment in your sig line I don't need an explanation. :cool:
 
I'll take a rest ever time as well but I go out of my way to practice as often as I can so that I do not have to depend on accesaries to place my shots.

I guess this is one of my pet peeves with so many shooters/hunters they do not practice/shoot enough to become proficient in the use of their firearms.

If the aid takes the place of proficiency/lack of practice by all means use it.

I think you are reading a bit too much into things Camp...where did I ever say that I didn't practice without an aid or that it wasn't a good idea? We do it all the time. We are praticing off the sticks for Africa because our experience on them is limited and likely all of our shots will be taken from them over there so it would seem prudent to practice.......the aid isn't taking the place of anything...it's just a fact of life that we'll be using them over there and I want to be as good off them as possible.

Asusual As I am ignoring you, it means I can't see your posts nor your sig line nor do I really care what they say so despite the fact that you keep shouting at me, I can't hear you and for that, I'm thankkful....:D Did I mention that I love the ignore feature.... You kind of remind me of someone asuasal but I just can't put my finger on it right now.....somehow I think it might have been a neighbour of mine.
 
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SH slow down remember I'm bored and having a bit of fun... :D

Heading to the gun club in a bit going to work on sighting in 2 of my T/C Contender barrels/scopes in 45-70 & 308 Bellm and try some new loads that I worked up last night for my new Sako 22-250...

Decided to ship my Leupold VariX-111 2.5-8X to Kroth Ind to get a once over and a Boone & Crockett reticle installed so I'm leaving my 375RUM at home till the scope gets back.

Here's the sig line that you can't see... :D

Quote:
Originally Posted by sheephunter

You can't really have too much gun for any animal........you can't kill it too dead

Oh the hypocrisy of it all
 
Thanks for that...

I think I'll let old asusual use his imagination what I meant by that.......seems easier than trying to talk sense with him..:D
 
Gotta love all the drama!

With the debate here you'd think you were travelling back in time to kill a Wolly Mamoth with a spear! I am not aware of any critters that can survive a broadside shot in the boilermaker with a 30-06!

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

PS. If the gal has to put more than one round into the beast be sure to take the pictures on the clean side. It will save the "I told you so" posts that are bound to pop up.
 
Gotta love all the drama!

With the debate here you'd think you were travelling back in time to kill a Wolly Mamoth with a spear! I am not aware of any critters that can survive a broadside shot in the boilermaker with a 30-06!

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

PS. If the gal has to put more than one round into the beast be sure to take the pictures on the clean side. It will save the "I told you so" posts that are bound to pop up.

I think I'll save the pics for personal enjoyment.....if it takes more than one shot, as you pointed out, the chorus will begin to sing and if she flattens it with one shot you can bet that the chorus will chime in about how lucky she got shooting such a huge beast with such a minimal cartridge and how unethical her choice was and how if she'd of been a real man she'd have sucked up the recoil for the sake of the animal and bla, bla, bla.

She's totally pumped about going and has been practicing shooting lots and learning everything she can about shot placement and such on African animals and she really doesn't need to take any more abuse here at the hands of some of these he men who I am sure feel a woman has no place in Africa anyhow. I'll pm you a couple when we get back.
 
I'd be in heaven if my wife would even go hunting with me but she's a vegetarian and doesn't want to even see an animal shot let alone shoot one... :redface:
 
I'd be in heaven if my wife would even go hunting with me but she's a vegetarian and doesn't want to even see an animal shot let alone shoot one... :redface:

Careful what you wish for.....I'm constantly explaining why Vanessa always shoots bigger animals than me and why she can shoot better than me and why she can pack more weight than me. It's hard on the male ego! :D I just tell people she had a good teacher...:D She figures the best way to get her vegetables is to eat things that eat vegetables.....
 
Drama? it's more like a weird ADD conversation, the sort of confusion that arises from someone insisting that an apple is an orange because they're both fruit. The strangest part is that the naysayers have one thing in common, namely, they haven't actually shot an eland. Of course, everyone's entitled to an opinion...

The forum members on this thread who are saying "bring enough gun" have actually had the experience of shooting one and are trying to share their own experience shooting eland. The "surprise" for those hunters came when they executed a shot with the eland facing them head-on.

The observation was "insufficient penetration" on the facing shot. This is not to say that a broadside shot with a .30 cal 180 grain bullet won't kill an eland, it clearly will (look at Neo's eland carcass on the last thread on this subject).

However, during your eland hunt you may find that the eland doesn't want to cooperate and may, in fact, insist on facing you head-on, offering you a whole pile of meat to shoot through before you put that pill into the boiler room. The question then is: can that front part of an eland stop a conventional 180 grain .30 cal bullet from reaching the chest cavity? I'm satisfied that it can.

If you want to use a lesser caliber on your eland, have at 'er. Stick to broadside chest shots though, or it may turn into an expensive learning experience.

P.S. great idea to get familiarized with shooting off sticks and, if I can offer a suggestion, try slinging up if you have the time (it makes shooting off sticks a lot more stable).
P.P.S. - In all fairness, if a guy shoots an eland four times in the chest with 180 grain 30-06 rounds, on a facing head-on shot (as Neo did during our hunt in 2007), you might conclude that the hunter was a poor shot and missed the target. However, if the eland carcass has four wounds none of which reached the chest cavity and only one hole from a broadside shot reaching his vitals, the objective observation is that the first four bullets actually ran out of steam and stopped short of the chest cavity. That isn't poor shooting, it's a demonstration of insufficient power/penetration for what we would normally consider a killing shot on the game we are used to hunting. It isn't opinion, it's an observation of fact.
 
Drama? it's more like a weird ADD conversation, the sort of confusion that arises from someone insisting that an apple is an orange because they're both fruit. The strangest part is that the naysayers have one thing in common, namely, they haven't actually shot an eland. Of course, everyone's entitled to an opinion...

The forum members on this thread who are saying "bring enough gun" have actually had the experience of shooting one and are trying to share their own experience shooting eland. The "surprise" for those hunters came when they executed a shot with the eland facing them head-on.

The observation was "insufficient penetration" on the facing shot. This is not to say that a broadside shot with a .30 cal 180 grain bullet won't kill an eland, it clearly will (look at Neo's eland carcass on the last thread on this subject).

However, during your eland hunt you may find that the eland doesn't want to cooperate and may, in fact, insist on facing you head-on, offering you a whole pile of meat to shoot through before you put that pill into the boiler room. The question then is: can that front part of an eland stop a conventional 180 grain .30 cal bullet from reaching the chest cavity? I'm satisfied that it can.

If you want to use a lesser caliber on your eland, have at 'er. Stick to broadside chest shots though, or it may turn into an expensive learning experience.

P.S. great idea to get familiarized with shooting off sticks and, if I can offer a suggestion, try slinging up if you have the time (it makes shooting off sticks a lot more stable).
P.P.S. - In all fairness, if a guy shoots an eland four times in the chest with 180 grain 30-06 rounds, on a facing head-on shot (as Neo did during our hunt in 2007), you might conclude that the hunter was a poor shot and missed the target. However, if the eland carcass has four wounds none of which reached the chest cavity and only one hole from a broadside shot reaching his vitals, the objective observation is that the first four bullets actually ran out of steam and stopped short of the chest cavity. That isn't poor shooting, it's a demonstration of insufficient power/penetration for what we would normally consider a killing shot on the game we are used to hunting. It isn't opinion, it's an observation of fact.

And I've spent hours talking with people that have shot numerous eland and I've spent hours talking with people that have guided hunters to hundreds of eland and not one has said that a .30-06 was not sufficient for an eland. This thread has become so long and convoluted that I think some important points are being missed here.

1) It's Vanessa that is taking the .30-06 and not me. She shoots the cartridge far better than most shooters I've seen and has numerous kills to her credit with it. She isn't as comfortable shooting a bigger magnum as she is the .30-06 and as a result, she doesn't shoot it as well....just as many shooters don't with higher recoil guns.

2) She has been warned by several far more experienced eland hunters than anyone on here is that the frontal shot on an eland is a low percentage shot at best and that she should wait for a broadside shot of which she is fine doing. She isn't too concerned about proving anything to anyone on here. Is it possible a broadside shot may not present itself...of course...but is it not also possible that with a little patience and lack of bravado that the eland will indeed offer the broadside shot....of course. She has no intention of taking a frontal or Texas heart shot. Bow hunters wait for this shot all the time and seem to be quite successful. More rifle hunters likely should too...regardless of calibre.

3) She is shooting what is likely the best penetrating bullet that is legal for use in Namibia for her .30-06 and that bullet will print a sub MOA group all day long off the bench.

4) She lacks the testosterone and bravado that some guys on here seem so full of and she is quite happy to accept the fact that she may need to be a bit more patient in waiting for a shot to present itself at a reasonable range for her choice of gun.

Now tell me how this is a bad idea again???????
 
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2) She has been warned by several far more experienced eland hunters than anyone on here is that the frontal shot on an eland is a low percentage shot at best and that she should wait for a broadside shot of which she is fine doing. She isn't too concerned about proving anything to anyone on here.

I see we're once again talking about a sheelah who's not here. Well Ok. Heres the prob with that. Trophy elands got that way the same way other trophies got that way, not by being stupid. Heres where I'm going with this. From what I've seen they'll surround themselves with other eland flesh you cant shoot through looking straight at you. They'll rotate to go exposing only anus to you, and the amount of time the side was broad will really have you wishing you wouldnt have had to have been so picky. If you would have had something more up to the game you just could have trained it on that frontal mass and let sliver. Most times its only guys at firing squad that will pose for you to shoot em
 
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