Cape Buffalo Packing Some Lead

[Ferrulewax]

Man, I hate to say it but not really.

African safaris are such a joke and what a bunch of losers. That was 100% shooting a pissed off piece of livestock.

Don’t go to Africa and pretend like you are anything but somebody paying to play some game.

Truly no offense to guys that do it. I think it could be a lot of fun, but don’t you dare pretend that you are a hunter of any sort of grade. You are, at best, a rifleman.

What exactly in the clip you just saw made you think that wasn’t real hunting? When the two thousand pound animal tried to gore the hunters? Or when they killed it within feet of themselves with large bore rifles?

Seems like shooting unsuspecting whitetail on corn feeders or ambushing them when they are looking to procreate is just as “unsporting”. Or maybe killing pronghorn from 800 yards where they don’t even know you exist.

Just because it may not be your cup of tea doesn’t make it any less sporting or hunting. Lets not disparage other hunters, the hunting community has enough problems as is.

Lions kill 200 people a year
Cape buffalo kill 200 a year
Elephants 500 a year
Hippos 500 a year
Leopard 50 a year

Grizzly kills, maybe 15 per year
Elk kills (no MVA) probably 0

Which one seems higher stakes to you? I know this isn’t all apples to apples but something to consider. If someone will foot the bill I’m down to hunt just about anything.

 

[TSAMP]

He said he knew it was going to be a gun fight.

 

[spike camp]

Yall do know people die every year from cape buffalo right?
They are dangerous in a neutral mood.
They dont call them black death for kicks.
That PH was fixing to get real hurt. He was extremely lucky.
You don't even have to be hunting them to get charged by them. You could be tracking something unrelated.

The hippo is considered to be one of the most dangerous animals in the world.
Not nearly as impressive as ‘black death’

 

[kkp005]

Sheeeesh. It’s easy to armchair quarterback and say what to do . I know how much a 120lb wounded hog comming at you can rattle you, so I can’t imagine how anyone would react under that much pressure.

honest question….. in a situation like that what’s the best gun to have?? It looks like the guy with the bolt gun probably didn’t bring the bolt back far enough to properly chamber a round and the PH needed more than 2 barrels. How would an AR or AK be in that predicament? The biggest con I could see would be someone under immense pressure rattling of to many rounds and shooting someone

 

[mt100gr.]

Those animals are no joke.
View attachment 671791

That's some wild-ass lead slinging! Waited til his mate was airborne via horn up the ass and dropped the hammer!! Crazy!

 

[Jmort1754]

Holy shit. The second vid is even more wild. That PH hammered him while the guy was trying his best Lane Frost impression.

 

[Touchdown88]

honest question….. in a situation like that what’s the best gun to have?? It looks like the guy with the bolt gun probably didn’t bring the bolt back far enough to properly chamber a round and the PH needed more than 2 barrels. How would an AR or AK be in that predicament?

Using a double rifle is a lot quicker on a follow up shot but slower when you need to fire 3 rounds. If you need to shoot 4 rounds the double is faster than a bolt rifle. With a double, you don't have to worry about a short stroke.

The PH messed up by not being fully ready for his 3rd and 4th shot. In the second video psoted on page #1, you can see how quick the guy is when he reloaded, even with a break in the filming this guy is faster to reload than the PH in the first video.

As far as an AR or AK, they don't have enough penetration to stop a charging animal. If a buffalo is charging, killing it is usually the only way to end the charge. That could take some time with a smaller caliber.

 

[gearguywb]

Man, I hate to say it but not really.

African safaris are such a joke and what a bunch of losers. That was 100% shooting a pissed off piece of livestock.

Don’t go to Africa and pretend like you are anything but somebody paying to play some game.

Truly no offense to guys that do it. I think it could be a lot of fun, but don’t you dare pretend that you are a hunter of any sort of grade. You are, at best, a rifleman.

Please enlighten us as to your experience that leads you to this type of statement.

"no offense, and what a bunch of losers". A bit of an oxymoron.

What do you consider a "hunter"?

Might just be me, but walking your rear end off, tracking something that is perpetually pissed off and would like to grind you into the dirt, through terrain that visibility is generally 75 yards or less, does in fact sound like hunting to me.

I don't know, and not that there is anything wrong with it, but makes sitting in a tree stand somewhere rather pale by comparison.

 

[Ferrulewax]

Sheeeesh. It’s easy to armchair quarterback and say what to do . I know how much a 120lb wounded hog comming at you can rattle you, so I can’t imagine how anyone would react under that much pressure.

honest question….. in a situation like that what’s the best gun to have?? It looks like the guy with the bolt gun probably didn’t bring the bolt back far enough to properly chamber a round and the PH needed more than 2 barrels. How would an AR or AK be in that predicament? The biggest con I could see would be someone under immense pressure rattling of to many rounds and shooting someone

Also most african countries don’t allow AR/AK rifles even of you wanted one. Many also make it illegal to own camouflage hence the hunting solids that pretty much all African hunters wear.

 

[LookinforDirt]

As we can see from the videos, gun, caliber, and bullet choice are just a wee bit more critical to a dangerous game PH than elk and deer hunting. I’m pretty certain over the long history of African dangerous game hunting they’ve decided on solid choices of gun style, caliber, bullet, and hunting technique. Second guessing and criticizing them, especially if you’ve never done it or have never listened to them explain there practices, takes some hubris. Often things are not as pretty and choreographed in practice as they are in our heads and opinions.

 

[gman82001]

Should of had a 77tmk in a tikka

 

[Tmac]

I gather the Buffalo was wounded (hunter apologized to ph "sorry i put you in that position", possibly a poor first shot). The two follow up shots by the hunter emptied his rifle.

Yep, first shot looked high and a little far back. Odds are he got lungs only, which on an animal that large can take quite a while to end things. Almost looked like the first shot may have hit the second buff too. Hopefully he was not using solids, or there is a second wounded buff now. They were lucky.

 

[rayporter]

i gotta say that shooting from the hip was pretty good.

 

[JohnJohnson]

Amateur hour. Surprised one of the blokes didn't take a round with all the great marksmanship going on. Ugly on a lot of fronts.

That PH got his first shot off at it when it was 10 feet away from him charging full speed right at him. And he didn't flinch while he did it, the shot was what caused it to deviate from hitting him.

 

[Beendare]

“Bessie” that was funny.

I’ve bowhunted free range Waterbuff in Australia and those critters are no joke. 2,000# and thick as heck….the hide and gristle alone is 2” thick.

We had one charge and plow our assistant guide in thick brush and it was like he was stuck on the front of a skid steer turning donuts. Then it turned and charged my buddy Robert and I. I sometimes forget to plan for my anniversary but decades later I can still feel the ground shaking as that buff charged by me at 4 feet ( I had moved 6’ to behind a tree)

Our guide was lucky, the buff was plowing him into what was essentially thick resilient brush ( picture 1” stalks of bamboo) so he lived and escaped with multiple broken bones.

The tame comment is laughable…Cape buff are a little smaller than Water buff but their temperament is the same- Ornery and their defense mechanism is to stomp a mudhole in any threat.

Pic is my buff- our guide said that was one of the quickest he has seen one go down…one arrow at 15y, then another when he stopped to look around ( like WTF was that) Down in about 15 seconds.

 

[MattB]

At the WSF convention in Reno I caught up with my old buddy Ken Moody who has been in on around 400 caps buffalo kills in his 30 years of outfitting in Africa. He spent ~30 minutes telling me stories of memorable buffalo hunts. I don’t think there is a more adventurous hunt on earth, and am really not sure how some here have formed their opinions on the matter.

 

[Touchdown88]

Here's a little cartridge comparison. 470 NItro, 375 H&H (225 grain bullet), and a 5.56. The 375 is the legal minimum for buffalo in a lot of countries.



African game animals are physiologically different than American game animals. The hearts are situated directly under the front leg, not behind it, requiring the hunter to break the front shoulder.

Also, due to the meat getting donated to the local population, PHs go after a wounded animal instead of letting it die overnight and getting eaten by scavengers.

 

[sneaky]

Man, I hate to say it but not really.

African safaris are such a joke and what a bunch of losers. That was 100% shooting a pissed off piece of livestock.

Don’t go to Africa and pretend like you are anything but somebody paying to play some game.

Truly no offense to guys that do it. I think it could be a lot of fun, but don’t you dare pretend that you are a hunter of any sort of grade. You are, at best, a rifleman.

Well, that buff had already been shot with an arrow. This was the result of following up the track. So... don't blame the riflemen when an archer got this ball rolling.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[Beendare]

Amateur hour. Surprised one of the blokes didn't take a round with all the great marksmanship going on. Ugly on a lot of fronts.

Yeah no kidding. Did that one shot after the bull charged past go way wide by 4 feet from 15 feet away?

 

[Rich M]

Just like being in a fight, keep moving.

That was nuts.