Gary Reeder
the Kudu is called the Gray Ghost. They stay in
Sunday, May 13, 2018, 11:55

pretty heavy brush. Your shots are not always long ones. I have taken 4 Kudu and the longest of the first 3 was maybe 80 yards. The last one was way out there but that was the exception to the rule. But you do need a heavy thumper for them. My first one was taken with the 450 GNR and a 500 grain soft point up the ass. He still ran maybe 200 yards and was hiding in a large briar thicket when I hit him again to put him down.That was in Mkuzi, which is Zululand, where Doug is going.

My second one was about 70 yards away and I shot him with the 378 GNR just behind the shoulder. There was no sign of a hit. The Kudu didn't move. The PH said hit him again. I did. Same thing. No sign of a hit. I started to hit him again and the PH said hold off, let's walk up to him. When we got there the Kudu was in heavy brush his head was covered by brush and he was standing up straight but was dead. The heavy brush held him up. The shots were an inch or so apart. In the pictures if you look close you will see the 2 holes just behind the shoulder.

My 3rd one was maybe 2 minutes out of camp and he was standing about 85 yards away in some brush. It was cold that morning, maybe 25 degrees and he was standing in the sun warming up. John told me to get out and bust him. I got out and hit him on the point of shoulder, again with the 378 GNR. It was a Cape Kudu, which is a smaller breed of Kudu although he went SCI #1 for a while.

My last one was another Cape Kudu and a monster cape Kudu at 55". Almost as big as my first Southern Greater Kudu back in 1992 which was 56". This one was my hardest shot. We had seen him on a ridge in the sun and tracked him for a couple of hours. We finally spotted him in some knee high briars. There was no cover between him and us. John said it was a bit over 200 yards and there was no way to put the shooting sticks up. He asked me if I could hit him standing off hand. I told him I would try. Most of my shot back then were offhand so I was used to that shot but at over 200 yards the Kudu was pretty small. John said the Kudu was a monster and was worth trying the shot. I had the 378 GNR with a 2 X 7 scope on it. I cranked it up to 7X, stood up and took the shot. Instead of the sharp crack I wanted to hear of the bullet hitting the shoulder, I heard a thump. I figured I had screwed up and gut shot him. John had been watching thru his binocs and said I hit a bit far back but it looked like a liver shot. If so, he said, the Kudu wouldn't go far. Sure enough the animal was about 40 yards away from where he was shot, stone dead. We were several miles from the truck so we did something none of us like to do and that is leave the animal in the field. We cut the head and cape off and 2 of the boys each carried a hind quarter and we walked the long walk back to the truck. This one beat my other Cape Kudu and was #1 for a long time. Not sure if it still is or not. In the pic there is only the head and cape.

So to answer the question, a good heavy medium range caliber is better than a light long range caliber.