Good info and observations John & buckhunter, I agree. I had more Taxidermy clients crying over lost game due to buying a big bore rifle for Elk thinking it would be a no brainer. Only to not develop the shooting skills with a larger bore that has some kick to it. Shot placement. We all know the drill there. Next year I'm planning on taking my .300RUM. It does kick like a mule, but I deal with it. I priced the new Federal 300RUM in Barnes TripleX (I believe it's called) 180 grains at $56.99 per box. Time I pay shipping they're $3.25 per round. Geezus! Right now I have plenty of 180gr Swift Scirocco's. May stick with them on Zebra, Blue Wildebeast, Kudu etc. I only have firm plans on the Zebra and Wildebeast. All other larger Antelope will only be if they better what I took in July. In S. Africa that may be a challenge, but that's hunting. I saw no less than 3 Cape Kudu (Greater Kudu's slightly smaller Cuz) that would go 50" or better. One probably would touch 55 inches. At 1008 yards (rangefinder) using my Steiner 8 powers, I could see he had about 3 inches of ivory on both tips. This would have been the Cape Kudu of a lifetime for most of us, but once we worked into close range the terrain had changed completely. Glassing at that range the Acacia's, Bloemspeck and other brush looks 3 feet tall. By the time you get there, it's way over your head. That bull could have been within 20 yards and I'd never seen him. That's OK, I know where he resides
Good hunting, grayghost