Thread: 308 vs 30/06

@nor-west While l was guiding in the Top End of Oz we shot 100's of Camels ,we use to do 2 trips each year doing Camel/Jesus Taxi culls on the WA/NT border, on adjoining Cattle Stations with 870'000 acres of country they allowed us to hunt on while the cattle were spelled on the "Homestead Paddocks" where the water troughs were more plentiful .

We had a client who was a well known Surgeon who would do six hunts/fishing trips a year with us & he would shout us the trips ,flying us down in his own Cessna 310, that he used to fly around the NT to clinics. We would just have to supply all grog for the trip & he would like some expensive we drops in the Red & Whiskey line ,he was the one who got me onto Tasmanian Whiskey which l had never even heard of until then.

The Cattle Stations would allow us to have the run on,(Stations covered 1.2Million Acres plus),while the Cattle numbers were down after the majority shipped off for live export, they would keep them on ground close to the Station Homesteads (so you are looking at over 200'000acre homestead paddocks ) with just a Skeleton crew of Ringers during the summer months ,Sept/March when temps were hitting high 40's on the reg & Camels would walk through fences to get to water & then smash the water troughs & foul the Turkey Dams.At Aboriginal out stations in the area the Camels would attack the locals & rip any of the outside taps that were dripping off the walls of the buildings & kick the Dongers tin walls in trying to reach inside where they could smell water .

I saw them shot with a lot of calibers & personally used from 270 WSM,.308, .30-06,300WM,300 Wby Mag,325 WSM ,338mag,9.3x62,375 & my .458 Lott .

Apart from my Lott , the best medicine for them l used was the 325 WSM a seriously underrated Deer rifle IMO,I l used the 185gn Core-Lokt & 200gn Speer Hot Core bullet pushed along at just over 2900fps & the 200gn Barnes X doing just over 2800fps, it was a good consistent performer on these huge tanks of blood ,which see's them doing Zombie walks when heart shot with streams of blood on thru shots ,pumping out 3ft either side of them & a easy 4 to 8ft if only 1 hole poked in them ,they then usually slowly sink to the ground in their weird fashion & curl their necks up & around their bodies & make a final death groan .

With my 30-06 l found the tuff Nosler 168gn E-Tip pushed along at 2800fps was very good on them out to 200 & then l would use the 180's as listed above.I found the 30-06 a good compromise round for camels as with the high volume of shooting (we shot 428 between six of us ,in one day when they were in plague numbers in 1998) as it had enough grunt to anchor them & yet not Kick the living crap out of you with the high volume shooting day after day .

Make sure you take a big Chilly Bin & grab some back straps on your final days as the meat is really good when aged properly (can do at home in the fridge in Vak Paks ) ,particularly in Old School stews etc,the Ribs & neck chops are great cooked over a open fire back at camp .I recommend you all carry the big model Camel Back that also has a pack for gear incorporated (no pun intended ),l run mine in hot country all the time with a bladder set up for adding Staminade to keep the essential minerals and electrolytes lost through perspiration . I used the same system when we rode our Motorbikes across the Simpson Desert & on another trip to the Tip of Cape York, try to make sure you drink a Liter a hour while doing heavy excursion in the heat,with the heat in the Air ,Sun & burning heat off the ground even glassing takes it out of you .A bit of good old school heavy canvas is handing for glassing away from the vehicle (if they have been shot recently ,they run for miles from motor noise) & even laying prone to shoot as the ground is that hot it burns to touch in summer,(the best time to hunt them) .

Also a have good radio with you at all times ,not only handy setting up ambushes of large Mobs with other hunters ,but some of the scrubby desert mulga/spinifex country is a mass of ancient twisted scrub roots & sharp rocks & it only takes a twisted ankle to see you sitting at the base of a Sand Dune in 40plus heat waiting for the others to find you, for the same reason take a couple of extra spares for the truck, punctures were common ,the station vehicles we used all had their own tyre irons & repair kits in the trays .

Also try the weird experience of going back to a Camel carcass you shot a couple of days before & dropping a match on it & seeing it burn for hours from the oil they hold

The 30-06 will do the job fine ,l found with any good tuff 160 gn's bust them right behind the front shoulder & aiming for the off side ,if you clip a rib (which are huge)that will shred the heart /lungs with bone shrapnel & keep the Zombie walk to a min, with 180's hit them right on the point of the shoulder ,again aiming for off side & it has the same result ,but with both shoulders out of action ,keeping Zombie walk to a few feet .
If you have any questions or need any help just hit us up