Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

Looking for some help in determining what firearm I should take with me on a Wyoming Analope hunt next season. Below is a list of firearms that I have, and I want to use one of them. Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions.

338 Win Mag Ruger M77
300 WSM Benelli R1
308 Win. Tikka T3
7mm-08 Thomson Center Prohunter
7mm-08 Browning BLR
243 WSSM Winchester M70 Black Shadow
243 Win Tikka T3

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

Your .243 will kill an antelope.

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

.243 or7mm-08. I hope the 338 and 300 are a joke, we're talking <100lbs here :D

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

Your .243 Win, .243 WSSM, or 7mm-08 TC Pro Hunter are probably your best choices. Take whichever you prefer of those three (probably the one that has the best optics). A 300 and 338 will do the job, but they're definately overkill. Even my 7mm Rem Mag is a little overkill, so I started using my .243 that I bought for varmint hunting this summer. It piled up a nice buck at 75 yards, and my brother put another buck down at 200 yards. Both nice, clean kills without the gaping hole my 7mm Rem Mag used to leave.

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

Use the one that you are most comfortable with and that you shoot the best.;)

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

I have killed them with 270 WBY, 25-06(IMO the perfect goat gun), 45 Inline.

Have seen them killed with 243, 308, 30-06, 30-378WBY, 35 whelen, 50 cal inline, 280, 7x57, hmmmm.....all your guns will work. I would take the one you have the most confidence in. MOst are killed closer that you'd think! 150-200 yards seems to be the norm.

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

Whatever you shoot best from .308 and smaller calibers. It should be something you don't mind hiking a bit with and possibly crawling some to get a better shot. I use my 270 and it works fine. Have fun.

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

Unless you're shooting is clearly better with the .338 or the .300, I'd leave them at home. They've already been mentioned as overkill.

I've used a .243 on all but one antelope I've taken and it worked perfectly. So, I'm pretty certain your.243 will do just as well, the.243 WSSM, 7mm-08s, or your .308 would do as well or better. I'd simply pick the one you shoot best.

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

.243 WSSM. Good luck.

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

You have gotten some very good advice.
My personal choice would be a .243 with a 100gr bullet This will do the job quite nicely.

Goodluck with your choice

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

If possible, take two rifles: one as your primary and one as your back-up. If your primary rifle gets screwed up -- you drop it out of the case on the concrete outside your hotel -- you have the secondary to use instead. I suggest your .243 Winchester Tikka as your primary. A .243 is plenty of cartridge for pronghorn. Asa back-up, I suggest one of your 7mm-08.

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

I agree with everyone who says "the one you shoot best". I will add though, you have a lot of time to practice.

Ilike 308 if you like it and shoot it well. You can buy a lot of ammo and practice several times a week before your trip inexpensively. I like a little more weight in my bullets and that is just my personal preference.

You want to shoot a mag, go for it. He can't be too dead and it sure makes makes up for poor shot placement. I know you might waste some meat, but I doubt you will eat much of it any way after your first bite.:D

RE: Help from experienced Analope hunters
 

Goats aren't all that big, so yes, the 243 is enough to bring one down. My concern, though, would be the wind and distance factor. I'd expect the shots to be longer rather than shorter, and in the open plains, the wind can be tough to deal with. A bigger bullet should have fewer problems with wind drift, so I'd go with one of your bigger rounds. There's no such thing as overkill, IMO. If you hit them in the meat, you're going to have meat loss regardless, so I don't even look at that as a factor.

I don't think you'd be 'overgunned' with the 300 wsm. Of the 3 I shot last year, I used a 7 wsm, a 7mm rem mag, and a 30-30.

<------------ The one in my avatar was taken with a 25-06.

As for the meat itself, some will tell you it's not as good as venison, but I don't really feel that way. Just make sure it gets cut up and on ice right away. IMO, a lot of the guys who don't like speed goat have eaten them after they've sat too long in warmer-than-typical-deer-season temps. Plus their hides stink, too. Get those nasty sage&musk-smelling hides off asap.