New Mexico Oryx Hunt


DocHunter

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I have drawn a tag for a New Mexico Oryx hunt on the White Sands Missille Range in February, 2012. I have a Remington 700 BDL .270 with which I am very comfortable. I intend to use 150 gr Swift A Frame bullets loaded to about 2700+ fps. My gun consistently shoots 1 in. hundred yard groups, and this load, sighted in 2 inches high at 100 yards shoots abut 4 inches low at 300 yards. Official information from the WSMR advises .30 caliber or larger. I know this load is quite adequate for elk, but they say the Oryx is tougher to bring down. Can anybody give me any truly sound reason why I should not use the .270 I am comfortable with for this hunt?



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We talked to our outfitter. He recommended nothing SMALLER then a 30.06. You will be hunting in Feb when these are wary animals after being shot at since early fall ... average shot maybe 400 yards. He has seen animals keep going after 4 rounds... they are very tough animals. We will be there the last week of Feb. Good luck.

good luck to all

the dog

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congrats, doc. very nice tag to draw. i use a 270 all the time for elk. put in a good slug like hornady or trophy bonded, and i see no problem. african animals are tough, so if you can use a bigger gun as well as the 270, go for the bigger. my 270 doesn't hold true enough with over a 170 grain slug. so that's a consideration. a 250 grain may be better. yet, i for one would not go out and buy a new gun just to increase slug size.

that said, if you need a good reason to go get a new gun, tell the wife you need a bigger slug and go for it... lol. someday, you may want a griz hunt, and i'll guarantee you a 270 isn't big enought for that. 338 minimum and 375 is closer.

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DocHunter---Welcome to the forum & Conglads on the tag. Which range did you draw? I hunted the Stallion Range a few years back. I used a 300 WinMag with a 180 grain bullet. IMO your 270 & the 150 grain bullet is fine. Make that 1st shot count. Follow the racing strip up their side & aim where it intersects with the front shoulder.

They are tough critters but they are killed every hunt on the WSMR with 243, 270, 25/06, 30/06 & then the magnums. NM residents hunt them with what they have.

I can type more of my hunt if you want. Bob

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congrats, doc. very nice tag to draw. i use a 270 all the time for elk. put in a good slug like hornady or trophy bonded, and i see no problem. african animals are tough, so if you can use a bigger gun as well as the 270, go for the bigger. my 270 doesn't hold true enough with over a 170 grain slug. so that's a consideration. a 250 grain may be better. yet, i for one would not go out and buy a new gun just to increase slug size.

that said, if you need a good reason to go get a new gun, tell the wife you need a bigger slug and go for it... lol. someday, you may want a griz hunt, and i'll guarantee you a 270 isn't big enought for that. 338 minimum and 375 is closer.

Thanks for the input. I am extremely comfortable with my .270, and am really inclined to use it. I know if I get something bigger, it would be more than a .30-06. Not a dime's worth of difference between that and what I have.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Your .270 Win will be fine for oryx. Use a good tough bullet > 130 grains and you will be fine. Do not shoot them behind the shoulder as that is a gut shot. Practice long range shooting, shots from 200-400 yards are not uncommon. I will be playing spotter for a friend the first week of October in Rhodes Canyon hunt. I will let you know how it goes.

They have hunted the heck out of oryx and the hunt is a lot harder than in the past. We had a very hard freeze 2 years ago where we were -16°F and many of the oryx have lost portions of their ears. If you get a chance at a big one it may have a funky face.

Here are a couple pics from my off range hunt to get you stoked for your hunt.

oryx3.jpg

oryx1.jpg

oryx2.jpg

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To AJ: Thanks for the information. I plan to use my Remington 700 .270 loaded with 150 gr. Swift A Frame bullets with a muzzle velocity of 2930 fps with a 250 yd. zero. That load is just over 2.5 in. above point of aim at 100 yds., and just under 4 in. below point of aim at 300 yards, and just under 16 in. below point of aim at 400 yards. While I am very comfortable with this gun, I certainly prefer not to have to shoot beyond 300 yards. In spite of all the hype about much longer shots, too many things can go wrong at greater distances. This bullet should be able to penetrate the shoulder which is what is advised on a broadside shot at oryx. At 400 yards, this load has 1588 ft.lb. of energy left.

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DH,

I sent you a PM with some info you may find useful.

Yep, your setup will do the deed if you put the bullet in the shoulder. Oryx are very very tough critters. Here is a 180 gr Rem CoreLokt 180 shot in my 300 Weatherby into my oryx:

180coreloktoryx.jpg

180coreloktoryx1.jpg

180coreloktoryx2.jpg

There was a slight hole on the off shoulder but the bullet did not exit. Top of the heart was shredded.

This link has a pic that shows their body structure well. Gemsbok Shot Placement

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Hey Jeff,

Yep, my October is full. I get to play spotter for a friend's oryx hunt the first weekend. I drew a ML bull tag in 16E for middle of October. I have a ML muley bucks hunt last week of October. Woo hoo! Since I drew nothing last year, this is much better!

Did the hunting gods smile on you in the draw this year?

Edited by AJ
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Wow, you did good. I didn't have any luck in NM, but did get drawn for early rifle Muley in the 60 units in Nevada, along with about 2000 other lucky folks:surrender: They basically tripled the tags this year. It is the two weeks prior to the OTC elk hunt in Colorado. Haven't completely decided what to do with the Nevada hunt, as I can turn it back in and get my points back.

I have to go on a business trip next week to Bend, Oregon which is just a couple of hours from the hunt area, so I am planning on staying the weekend and do a little scouting and try and decide after that.

Good luck on your hunts and stop back by and show us the results. BTW nice Orxy, I want one of those bad, maybe next year.

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Doc, I'll just comment on the bullet. I too have been researching the ability of my Remington 700 BDL (in 300 ultra mag) to take down an interior Alaskan Grizzly. It's consider by some to be a bit light for big bears as your 270 appears to be for Oryx. I've decided to use it because I'm proficient with it. The swift A-Frame seems to be the way to go, but I'm going to practice with it before making the final decision. Currently I use the scirocco for black bear, but plan to try the swift A-Frame. If I can't hit where I need to I'll move to a Barnes TSX or perhaps the Nosler Partition.

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  • 2 months later...

We did our Rhodes Canyon hunt Oct 5-7. Wow it was a tough hunt. The numbers are down a lot. We finally shot a 36" bull at 5:00 pm on the last day. Truely a 11th hour kill. There were 69 hunters and 58 kills (84% success). Top cow was 36.5" and top bull was 37.25". The day started out in the low to mid 40°s and rose to mid 80°s.

We saw oryx Saturday morning but they were at 500 yards and it was a bit too far for my buddy. Could not close the distance on these.

Sunday we hunted all day and I spotted one about 500 yards from the road. We took off on foot and the oryx expanded the gap to over 1000 yards. We snuck in and tip toed through a thicket and he popped out at 93 yards. Bang flop.

KeithAJ.jpg

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We did our Rhodes Canyon hunt Oct 5-7. Wow it was a tough hunt. The numbers are down a lot. We finally shot a 36" bull at 5:00 pm on the last day. Truely a 11th hour kill. There were 69 hunters and 58 kills (84% success). Top cow was 36.5" and top bull was 37.25". The day started out in the low to mid 40°s and rose to mid 80°s.

We saw oryx Saturday morning but they were at 500 yards and it was a bit too far for my buddy. Could not close the distance on these.

Sunday we hunted all day and I spotted one about 500 yards from the road. We took off on foot and the oryx expanded the gap to over 1000 yards. We snuck in and tip toed through a thicket and he popped out at 93 yards. Bang flop.

KeithAJ.jpg

Thanks for the info. I will be hunting Rhodes Canyon also, but in February. I sure hope I can get within 300 yards, but sounds like they are spooky animals.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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