How much gun is too much?

I’ve shot antelope with a .338-06. Like Brockel said the bullet construction is more important than the caliber b
 
Agree with all above but regarding wasted meat it's more about where you hit them that what you hit them with. I've never wasted meat with a double lung shot and my trusty old .30-06 always dropped them fast and hard. More than "enough gun" for sure, with 150, 165, or 180 grain Nosler Partitions. This year I'll be hunting buck pronghorn with a 7mm-08 and 120 gr. Barnes Vor-Tex TTSX, for the first time. The combination quickly dropped a fine Shiras bull moose last fall and I'm confident it will work well on pronghorn.

Use your .308 with the most accurate cartridge. Make a double lung shot and you'll waste no meat. (No need to buy a new rifle like I did). 😋





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To clarify, I'm running the Barnes Vortex with a 168gr TTSX polymer-tipped expanding all-copper. It groups well, and my scope is dialed to an mbpr of ~285yds (turret zero is 100yds, though). I practice with cheaper rounds that fly within 1/4" at 300yds. Aka- a lot better than I can shoot. But the TTSX seems like it excels at weight retention and punching holes, instead of fragmenting and causing damage. I'm here to fill the freezer, so meat is the real trophy. (That being said, I'll take the biggest buck that gives me an opportunity.)

I've seen what soft points and other soft-lead bullets do to whitetail- waste meat. The worst was Remington's Cor-Lokt slugs for a 12-ga- they were more fragmentary than expanding. I prefer to go for a double-lung, since I'm one of those crazies that enjoys heart fajitas and neck roast.

But it sounds like I'm gonna be taking my shooting sticks to the range, instead of looking for a "better" bullet.
 
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Ya - there's not a lot of meat on a pronghorn anyway - but oh my goodness it can be excellent meat! :)

I've shot pronghorns with a 165 Nosler Ballistic Tip from my 30-06, and it worked great. Ya, may have messed up a little meat, but overall, not bad. And dropped 'em on the spot.

Actually know guys who switched to heavier, slower expanding bullets for pronghorn, to limit the meat destruction. One went to 180's from his 300 WSM. Worked real well.

Best of luck on your hunt. I only go for pronghorn every other year or so. Wish I was going this year, but nope. Not this year.

Regards, Guy
 
I wouldn't think twice about it. I have about a dozen antelope under a .300WM and 165g GMX (a similar expanding mono-metal to what you are using). Much less meat damage than the previous 150g SSTs, or a variety of loads in a .270 before that. Hunt with the combo you are familiar with, and use that familiarity to put the bullet exactly where you want it to minimize meat damage.
 
I shot a doe with my 338 edge, and a 300 grain bullet, as long as you aren't hitting a major bone like the leg you will be fine with the vary large calibers, .308 no problems at all.
 
Agree with all above but regarding wasted meat it's more about where you hit them that what you hit them with. I've never wasted meat with a double lung shot and my trusty old .30-06 always dropped them fast and hard. More than "enough gun" for sure, with 150, 165, or 180 grain Nosler Partitions. This year I'll be hunting buck pronghorn with a 7mm-08 and 120 gr. Barnes Vor-Tex TTSX, for the first time. The combination quickly dropped a fine Shiras bull moose last fall and I'm confident it will work well on pronghorn.

Use your .308 with the most accurate cartridge. Make a double lung shot and you'll waste no meat. (No need to buy a new rifle like I did). 😋





View attachment 112718

That photo is quite a study in contrasts. Both are pretty sweet rifles!
 
I don't have a lot of experience with antelope having only shot three. But the one I shot with a 30-06 loaded with 165 gr. Ballistic Tips, and the one my wife shot with the same gun/load, both died reliably right then and there with very little meat loss. Both were broadside shots though.

I shot my last one with a 243 loaded with a 100 gr Spire Point and it didn't die as reliably. I'm taking my -06 again this year with 165 BT's and hope to fill two doe tags.

Come to think of it, the deer I've shot with the -06 165 BT load have died like they had a safe dropped on their head.
 
I have one rifle- a Ruger American in .308. Barrel is 1:10 twist rate, and the 168gr copper solids group really well.

I tried some 150gr, but they didn't group nearly as well, and I'm pretty leery of trying lighter rounds because of it.

So- I have two tags to fill. Will the round I have be overkill, and waste too much meat? Or should I not worry about it, and just go hunt?

Two things to consider

Shot Placement - In the lungs, then it doesn't really matter what caliber. In the shoulder, then caliber matters a bit more.

Bullet Type - A copper (monolithic) bullet is the best bullet as far as preserving meat goes. A rapidly expanding bullet (Hand grenage bullet)- Berger VLD, Sierra Match King, or ELD-X can create a lot of damage with a poor placed shot. Bergers and ELD X tend to turn the insides to soup and are very effective in lung shots. If you are a heart and liver eater, then do not go with the rapid expanding bullets. The 50/50 bullets type of bullets (My definition) Partition, A frame, trophy bonded are inbetween. They can do a lot damage if shot placement is off and can do minimal damage if shot placement is in the lungs.
 
I'd more worried about having a sharp knife and some ice in the cooler...........
^^^^^This is VERY important. Getting those jokers on ice ASAP. I have taken 3 pronghorn, all with my '06 shooting 180gr TBTs. That is what I have the rifle zero'd with and that is the remedy every animal gets.
 
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^^^^^This is VERY important. Getting those jokers on ice ASAP. I have taken 3 pronghorn, all with my '06 shooting 180gr TBTs. That is what I have the rifle zero'd with and that is the remedy every animal gets.

I like to think I keep my knives sharp. And how big of a cooler do I need for antelope?
 
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