Heading out to Wyoming on an antelope hunt this Sept /Oct. Looking for rifle advice. 243/9twist, 260/8 twist, 6.5-284/8 twist. Those are my 3 options sitting in my safe. I have both smaller and larger options but chose those being what I feel are best. The 95 bergers shoot best in the 243. The 260 and 6.5-284 like the 140 class bullets. Shots are expected from 200-1000. All 3 guns can achieve the range accurately given environmental conditions allow shots. Any help on best choice for bullet weight/ caliber / cartridge would be great. Thanks.
Hunting & Fishing Antelope rifle recommendation
- Thread starter ingraham
- Start date
Depends on how you antelope hunt. If you don't need to carry your rifle to far from the vehicle, weight won't matter. Otherwise, go light. Any of those calibers are more than capable.
I’ve been using .243 Win with 115 DTACs. Dropped one DRT at 437 yds. Last year had double tag and let them line up and got two in one shot at 375. I’d say shoot what your used to.
Back when I still actually hunted antelope, I used a .25-06 to great effect. While previous posts were correct that any of those will get the job done, I believe you should use the 6.5 provided it's not a 30 lb. benchrest rifle. It gets really windy in WY, gusty, swirly and unpredictable. You want as much wind bucking ability as you can. Also, you're going to find out that the longer range shots can get really iffy regardless of how your rifle shoots.
Have a great hunt regardless!!
Have a great hunt regardless!!
+1 on 130's I like the otm's, up to and including elk.260 with 130 VLD’s in Wyoming works great...
I've killed a truckload++ with my .243 shooting 95 grain ammo. No complaints from the antelope so far
Had a blast chasing speed goats in New Mexico last September. 6 hunters-calibers were-.257 Roberts, 6.5 Creed, 6.5 SAUM, 6.8 SPC, .270, .300 win mag-closest shot was 250 and furthest was 480ish. Everyone was bang flop except 6.8 SPC and that was due to poor shot placement
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