Oryx questions (off range)

[Austink47]

I would avoid hunting them in the warmer months, that is a lot of meat to deal with and they are very well put together. It takes some time to take them apart. I have seen them shot with a 30-06 and a 6.5. Both went straight down, and then took two follow up shots to finish up. With the 6.5 my buddy was using federal fusion, not recommending, but they did their job. One passed through and the other two were against the opposite hide. The picture is what was left of the 6.5s.

 

[chiquitogringito]

When is your hunt?

Edit: I just saw your thoughts about dealing with recoil. I take back my comment about grabbing the biggest thing you can. Shooting a bigger caliber that you're not comfortable with could be worse than a 6.5 that you love. You should go with wildwilderness and Seamaster's advice and use a good bullet and make an educated shot. Keep it simple.

No set date for the hunt. We can choose any month we want, other than April and May. I want to try bigger calibers but I don't know without buying one. Not a lot of my friends own guns or hunt, I worry about spending a lot on a rifle that I don't enjoy shooting. Also worry about developing that dread flinch, currently I am super comfy with my 6.5 and can shoot it all day without getting tired/sore. I am getting pretty comfy out to 250/300 yards. Like you said, I am leaning towards sticking with the 6.5, finding a good bullet to use, and trying to place the perfect shot.

 

[chiquitogringito]

View attachment 383323I would avoid hunting them in the warmer months, that is a lot of meat to deal with and they are very well put together. It takes some time to take them apart. I have seen them shot with a 30-06 and a 6.5. Both went straight down, and then took two follow up shots to finish up. With the 6.5 my buddy was using federal fusion, not recommending, but they did their job. One passed through and the other two were against the opposite hide. The picture is what was left of the 6.5s.

Good point about the warmer weather complicating things. I better either do it now in March or wait till the end of the year. How far were those shots? Thanks!!!

 

[Austink47]

Good point about the warmer weather complicating things. I better either do it now in March or wait till the end of the year. How far were those shots? Thanks!!!

167. No heavy bones impacted.

 

[Honyock]

A limb saver pad and a properly fitting stock will go a long way in making heavier calibers more shootable.

 

[gtriple]

I've taken 2 Oryx. 1 in Texas with a 308 in the winter and 1 in South Africa with a 6.5 Wby Rpm last July. Neither moved with a vital shot.

It is IMO the best game meat I've ever had. Make sure you cape it out well because the shoulder mount is beautiful.

Best time to find them is in hotter weather near water, but get it open and cooling quick.

The last thing I'd recommend... do not get close to them until they are very dead. They have a nasty habit of goring their attackers. They are often found dead with a big cat skewered on top of them.

 

[WoodBow]

I killed one in july off range a couple years ago. We kept a pop up canopy in the truck for when I got one down. Just packed it to the carcass and cleaned it in the shade. 6.5 prc 143 eldx frontal. Went down in 5 yards. Zero meat waste.

 

[Tobey]

6.5 creed, 127 barnes lrx, 220 yards. Bullet went through both shoulders recovered against the hide. Went 60 yards and down. We've used 7-08s, 270, 308, 338-06, 338-378wby. All of them killed oryx. Good shooting and sturdy bullets are the key. Don't attempt sketchy shot angles on these guys, plenty of good info out there on where to shoot an oryx, shoot them exactly there and you're good to go. I'd be leery of hunting them in new mexico in the spring, it's bullshit windy here in the spring EVERY FRIKKEN DAY, I've been on 11 successful oryx hunts at various times of the year and bullshit kiss my ass i'm going to the bar wind is the only weather I've seen shut them down as far as movement.

 

[Tobey]

127 grain LRX from kayla's oryx, I'd suggest looking for some of these if you stick with the creed

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

OP,

I was in a similar conundrum when I drew my OIL tag last year. My only rifle was a 6.5 CM that I shoot well. I have some buddies who are Afghanistan war vets, they get opportunities to hunt oryx often through vet programs and have taken 10+, all with a 6.5 shooting 143gr ELDX at varying distances up to 475 yards. They all told me I’d be fine, so I started working up loads for my rifle. But eventually I decided a OIL tag was a good excuse to buy another rifle and coupled with the fear of making a bad shot and wishing I had more gun/energy behind my bullet. I bought a 300Win and worked up loads shooting 180gr. TTSX bullets.

Fast forward to last month and I shot a cow at 125 yards with the .300 Win. My shot was little behind, clipping both lungs and missing the heart and shoulders. The cow dropped with yards of where I shot her. At 125 yards my bullet traveled at 2858fps and delivered 3265 ft-lbs of energy. That had to make a difference.

Later that day when I dropped the skull at my taxidermist he was surprised at how my shot went down. He had been on a hunt where his buddy made a perfectly placed shot at 300 yards with a .300 win, and they had to chase that oryx down and shoot 6 more times before it died.

Moral of the story? If you can swing it, buy a bigger caliber. If not you’ll likely be fine with the 6.5 but focus on that shot placement and don’t be tempted to make a rushed shot.

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

You can see the exit wound here. Not the ideal placement and I got lucky. No doubt the extra energy behind the .300 Win helped