Bullet choice

[lynard]

Hi new to forum live in england and noticed this forum i wonder if you guys can help me please. have had a .2506 for many years and have always killed all the deer fox and rabbits i have shot with 75 -87 -100 -grain bullets. i have killed red deer and sikka with the sieera 87 grain varminter bullets no problems, now i am moving to New zealand next fall, and i will be able to shoot tahr (a big hairy goat for those who dont know). Now tahr live in open mountain regions and are often shot at longish range and they have a thick hide and hair that aparently makes them tough to kill???. now i have no experience of the 100 grain to 120 grain area of bullets in the .2506, i have considered the 115 gr barnes triple shock or the trophy bonded bear claw for this job do you think these will do the job or do you have any other sujestions, am i being a bit media steered and worrying about nothing and should i just use what i do for deer or do i need a tougher bullet for a tougher animal.?

[Quarterbore]

I did not know what these critters are so I did a google search and found this:

http://www.redstag-hunting.com/tahr_hunting.htm

From that article they say:

A mature Bull can weigh up to 300lbs and can be tough to put down, so we recommend a heavier caliber rifle like the 7mm mags, 300win mags through to the .338 as being ideal.

Now, that is only one reference but a 25-06 with the best bullet will never have the knockdown of a 7mm Rem Mag much less a 300 or 338 Win Mag. Accordingly, I would suggest looking around more as it sounds like the 25-06 may be less gun then you want.

Now, with that said, I do like the trophy bonded bear claw bullets and I used them in my own 300 Win Mag and they shot quite well. I never got to harvest anything with then (I used the 300 Win Mag to hunt Black Bear here in Pennsylvania).

Good Luck, but it sounds like a bigger gun might be in order.

Here are some more links....

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/featu...05/index2.html

http://www.adventuresinhunting.com/h...cNWZealand.php

[lynard]

I am buying another 7mm rem mag in Browning stainles stalker in l/h, i should not have sold my old Remington BDL 7mm mag last year but there you go thanks i think i need more gun and i am planning on taking up the tahr hunting big style when i get over there. thanks .

[Quarterbore]

I would hate you to make such a decision based on just my single observation. Perhaps you can e-mail a guide that provides hunts for these and ask them their oppinion.

I would be curious why the recommend the bigger gun. If it is because these critters tend to be able to go a long way after hit or a nature to go into places that are really hard to pack the animal out would be good reason for me to want a big enough gun to put the animal down ASAP.

Good Luck and it is hard for someone like me that only hunts a few states here on the East Coast of the USA to give you informed advise...

[Wrangler]

Maybe it is to defend yourself from the other critters you might encounter? There are places where you go prepared for the threat protection not just the game you seek. I would harte to encounter some of the Artic bears with a 22.

[lynard]

The mountaind and valey sides where they tend to live over there are steep and high and the shots can be up to 450 yards i supose but when i asked the kiwis on another site i get conflicting response and i need logic and i know the .2506 and its capabilities very well but only on the things i hunt here in uk and france. Red deer and sika deer drop like they are poll axed with the .2506. i have killed a red stag at 200 yards he was 17 stone (240 lbs ) I hit him in the sholder with a sieera wait for it ...varminter 87 grain 55 grain vit 160 powder, he went down on the spot. But thats a deer they talk about these tahr like they are real tough and have thick hair and hides i just am not sure. Part of me wants to use the .2506 becouse i love the calibre but i want to be humane too, one other down side to this high ground hunting is that it could be rough on dogs so i wont have my GSP to catch them if they run still it is open ground so i should be able to find them you whould think.

[Wrangler]

When you are in front of a charging elephant there is no such thing as too much gun or too little if it is what you have in your hands the time. A sharp eye and a steady finger can make up for a lot. Even when one shot kills are desired a multishot kill is still a kill. I knw how it is to follow blood trails and I am sure you have too. BY the way my favorite is a 3006 Remington 700 with 180 grain Federals in it. Always works.

[SirEglamore]

Lynard
That you S/G
Ern

[lynard]

Originally Posted by SirEglamore

Lynard
That you S/G
Ern

Sure is ern. you cant beat the .2506

[HRstretch]

I think the 115 to 120 grn bullets would be fine out to 300 yards. After that you may have issues with retained energy. If you are comfortable with your 25-06 then know the limits of the bullet and load and wait on the appropriate shot. If you have to consistently take shots over 300 yards I would think a bigger caliber(7mm, 30 caliber something) would be more in line.

I have taken wild boar (feral pigs) here in Texas out to 250 yards with a 257 Roberts, 100 grn Sierra Gameking BT and dropped them in their tracks. Some say that wild pigs can be hard to kill, but they dropped right there.