As the title says I'm looking to fill a gap in caliber. Having never skinned one or hunted a mountain goat or dall sheep I'm not up on how tough they are. Also I've read and heard its best to anchor them with a shoulder shot so they are less likely to roll down the mountain. Whereas a lung shot they run then fall over and down. Is a 25-06 to light when loaded with 117 ttsx? Is it worth it to step up to a 7mm or is there a better choice? I feel a 375hh is to much to haul around
whats the best sheep/goat caliber
- Thread starter brybenn
- Start date
Sask_Hunter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Saskatchewan
most of the sheep hunters that i wave guided or were in camp when i was there have been shooting 300's of one flavor or another. most were 300wsm's one 300 saum one 300wby and a few ultras, only had a few 7mms rem, wby and wsm and two 270 win's. on the big end a 338 win for the only goat i have guided and a 338 ultra was used on my biggest ram guide. have had a hand full of bow hunters with compounds and a recurve hunter as well.
i took a goat in 09 with a 257wby and a 115tsx.
make it light'ish and shoot it well out to 400yrds and you;ll be packing a trophy off the mountain.
i took a goat in 09 with a 257wby and a 115tsx.
make it light'ish and shoot it well out to 400yrds and you;ll be packing a trophy off the mountain.
Last edited:
- Location
- Eastern Edge of the Foothills
Jack Oconnor was well known for being a sheep hunter. He was also well known for liking the .270 win. Now I don't think that's a coincidence. Although, if he were still alive today, I bet he'd be all over the .270 WSM. Put that in a nice light rifle and then you'd have what I would call a perfect sheep gun.
Usually mountain rifles are ultra-light, which translates into more felt recoil. Combine that with an awkward shooting position and could be asking for a scope in the face. Wind can also be a factor up in the mountains. I would go heavier than 25-06, but thats just my opinion. 260, 270, 280, etc would all be good choices
LongBomber
CGN Regular
- Location
- Fernie, bc
A sheep is not known as a super tough animal, anything in a 25-06 and up with a decent bullet and you will be fine. A couple of the well know sheep hunters here use a 7mm-08, and consistently every year get great sheep (several book sheep between them).
A good goat could range up to 340-350 pounds and is a very stocky and thick animal. The issue with a goat is not killing it, but anchoring it where you want to. All a goat needs to do is move 2 feet and you may lose your trophy, and possibly the entire animal. When a goat falls they seem to break horns and do significant damage to the nose/eye area, which is only a concern if you are going for something your would like to have scored or mounted. Smaller cartridges, 243, 257 etc will kill either but would not be ideal, personally I think a good sheep/goat rifle starts at 270, but about the best all around would be a 300wsm.
A good goat could range up to 340-350 pounds and is a very stocky and thick animal. The issue with a goat is not killing it, but anchoring it where you want to. All a goat needs to do is move 2 feet and you may lose your trophy, and possibly the entire animal. When a goat falls they seem to break horns and do significant damage to the nose/eye area, which is only a concern if you are going for something your would like to have scored or mounted. Smaller cartridges, 243, 257 etc will kill either but would not be ideal, personally I think a good sheep/goat rifle starts at 270, but about the best all around would be a 300wsm.
These 2 know what they're talking about...
Someone from Tenn. had this to say about small-grain .300WSM rounds & coyotes...
Someone from Tenn. had this to say about small-grain .300WSM rounds & coyotes...
Riflesmith
CGN Regular
- Location
- On The Line
Well if you are a paying hunter and this may be a once in a lifetime hunt I think it would be hard to beat a fast, flat .30 cal. I love the .270 cal rounds but if I were paying 30,000.00 plus for a stone or desert bighorn I would want as much punch as possible.
I hunted goats this past fall in B.C. and was unsuccesfull. I was in on two stone sheep kills though. One hunter used a 7mm mag and the other a .300 win mag. THe guy shooting the 7mm mag new his gun very well and smashed his ram once. The dude with the custom .300 shot 6 times!!!! On each hunt I had my crosshairs levelled on each ram.
The lesson is simple what ever you choose know exactly what your gun is doing out to 400yards like SK hunter is saying. Myself at the time because I was hunting goats I was shooting a .300 wsm on a borden action with 150 gr ttsx's at 3100 fps I was certain I could get the job done out to 400 yards.
I feel if you are going to sweat you nuts off climbing to get a good animal you may as well carry a caliber strong enough to anchor the animal no matter what the animal or angle. Because if you don't you trophy may be lost or damaged. And if you are a paying hunter like me you don't want that.
I hunted goats this past fall in B.C. and was unsuccesfull. I was in on two stone sheep kills though. One hunter used a 7mm mag and the other a .300 win mag. THe guy shooting the 7mm mag new his gun very well and smashed his ram once. The dude with the custom .300 shot 6 times!!!! On each hunt I had my crosshairs levelled on each ram.
The lesson is simple what ever you choose know exactly what your gun is doing out to 400yards like SK hunter is saying. Myself at the time because I was hunting goats I was shooting a .300 wsm on a borden action with 150 gr ttsx's at 3100 fps I was certain I could get the job done out to 400 yards.
I feel if you are going to sweat you nuts off climbing to get a good animal you may as well carry a caliber strong enough to anchor the animal no matter what the animal or angle. Because if you don't you trophy may be lost or damaged. And if you are a paying hunter like me you don't want that.
xring_assassin
Regular
- Location
- Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
I'm really enjoying 260 rem ackley improved....short action, short barrel, light rifle, packs a nasty punch, and it's extremely accurate out to 600m (which is as far as I've been able to set a target out to so far).
Good grief, that's some big firepower for a sheep! I didn't know they were thick-skinned animals...
I've given the opportunity, I would be carrying my .260 Rem with 100gr TTSX
When hunters are actually writeing a cheque and showing up, you can almost bet that they will be carrying a .300 of one stripe or another. It doesn't seem to matter much where you go.
It isn't that smaller guns won't work, but what will they do better? It doesn't seem to matter where you go, better than half of client hunters use a .300. By B&C records the .300 tops the chart for just about every every NA species.
30-06 bullets at .270 velocity; what's not to like?
If I went on a sheep hunt today , out of what I currently own I'd keep it simple and grab my Brown Prec stocked 700 ADL/FS in 7 Rem Mag with 4.5-14X Leupold.....a 140 Accubond or TSX at 3250 in an 8lb package sounds about perfect,...not too light to shoot accurately and not too heavy to tote....and a very flat shooter.
I agree with the " take what you can shoot comfortably" in canada one caliber if it is a 7mm (what i shoot) or a 308, or a 3006, or a 270, or a 300, or a 338, make sure you can shoot it properly, and have had enough practise with it. I've heard of guys who hunted with one caliber all there life then when they go for sheep/goat they switch to a Bigger caliber and end up having problems when placed in a tough shot. don't think your going to shoot 700 yards, i know guys take sheep at 50 yards, so take somthing you can hit a 4inch target out to 400 yards all day long. and you should be good to go. personally it would be my 7mm rem mag, with 140 seirra spbt. 3100fps at muzzle. drops around less than 30 inchs at 400.
