Has anyone here hunted giraff with a bow? If so how did it go?

The chef

I suppose that you pose this question in relation with the proverbial very thick skin of the giraffe, or due to the non evident position of the organs in the Chest?

I didn't hunt giraffe, and don't wish to, maybe I am a sissy???

I shot two this last Sept in Zim. One I hit back a ways and had to shoot a second time. The other was a very good hit with complete pass through. He went down in about 50yards. I was using the same set up as I used for cape buff. That was an 850 grain arrow, 180 grain German Kinetis broadhead.

My buddy did and I was a tag along, he came up empty. He never got within range.

Giraffe is one of the hardest animals to get close enough for a bow kill.

The best would be to do a face on shot where you will have no rib bones.

I would use the same setup as for Cape Buff.

My Zim bow-killed giraffe is at YYC cargo terminal right now. Will clear it next week.
The old bull fell quickly with one arrow, just above the shoulder. He didn't go more than 50 yards and was as dead as could be. His attention was on the trackers, not me, allowing a 49 yard shot.
BTW, they seem to be spooked by pop-up groundblinds, probably because of the profile of the thing seen from 'up there'.
Are you in Calgary?

I have shot some with a rifle.

They are fun to hunt.

It would be quite a challange with a bow.

We each got a giraffe in August 08 in Namibia at Makalaan Farms with Antonie Louw. There were 4 of us in our group. With a well placed arrow they go go down in sight. I have a great video segment of "eyedoc" who posts here on AR. Mine went forever,, probably the worst shot I ever made with a bow and actually recovered the animal,, after followup shots. Make sure you look at the picture of the vitals that is on this post. The heart is way forward and high. You shoot it like you do a Kudu and you have a large gut shot animal to track. I do not have ceilings high enough for a neck mount so I went with a full body rug. He was an old black stink bull. Their smell is something you will never forget. Those that have been near an old bull will know what I am talking about...

How can you shoot such a beautiful animal?

quote:

Originally posted by ncboman:
How can you shoot such a beautiful animal?

Just the same way you should shoot any animal, right through the vitals!

Not to be a smart a$$, but what does the beauty of the animal have to do with whether you shoot it or not? Are we to only shoot ugly animals?

Gemsbok (to me at least) are some of the most beautiful animals to walk the Earth and I shot mine without a moment's hesitation! The same goes for wood ducks! They're absolutely stunning, yet they're a valued trophy.

Was wonderin how long it would take to get a rise.

drwes

I'd love to see Eyedoc's video. Can You post it on Youtube or Daily motion please??
Thanks
jb

I can try and email you the clip, i shot it on a high def camera and it sometimes overloads people capability to download it but if you PM me I will try and send you the file.

They are all beautiful animals or we would not hunt them at all. Have never hunted giraffe. Have taken some great pictures though. They are tough to get close to.

I have taken five with a bow. The first two were shot too far back and required follow-up. My PH and I did a necropsy on the second one and located the heart lung area very carefully and the last three I shot were one shot kills.

First four were shot with a hoyt Deviator at 83 Lbs. The last was shot with a 70 lb diamond Gladiator.

It is soooo cool to shoot one from a ground blind and get a pass through. It also gives me a boner watching those big rascals fall.

Poor man's elephant.

Eyedoc,

While I can appreciate the fact that you studied your game and did some excellent shooting with a bow on the return trip.

The boner is TMI!

quote:

Originally posted by eyedoc:
First four were shot with a hoyt Deviator at 83 Lbs.

Is that like a Matthews Pederast?

My brother took one last year near Hoedspruit, RSA. He used his Bowtec with German kinetics broadhead (150")

They are very challenging to hunt and once they are down the hard work starts :-)



Cheers
H

What was the poundage set at and his total arrow weight?

I had 90# draw and the arrows were about 800 gr.

It was set up for buff, but worked for elephant as well as giraffe.

I used a 72# bow with 450 gr arrows for plains game.

I'd like to put this back to the top. It seems I can't stop thinking about shooting a giraff!! It's the biggest thing I can afford to hunt, so I suppose it's become my poor mans buffalo. Can the successful hunters tell my how they managed to get close enough for the shot. Were they all on waterholes/bait or were any stalked/ambushed? I'm especially interested in hearing any stalking stories as that must be one hell of a tough thing to do.

thanks

Probably never hunt giraffe, but it would seem to me, at bow range, you'd have to make a high angle up hill shot, given the length of legs on those things.

Grizz

I took a frontal shot. They are very hard to sneak up on. I also had the PH shoot him as soon as he could as I only pull 60 pounds.

Ann, did you sneak up on it? If so did you use any specific techniques to get cloes. I read on one of the former answers that someone got one of the trackers to distract it? I'm thinking about putting someone upwind of it a good ways 100 yards or more and keep its attention while I sneak in. Does anyone have opinions regarding this?

Also what was your arrow weight, where did you shoot it and what was your penetration?

thanks a bunch!

I shot one in early august with my bow. Heavy arrow and it didn't go far. Let me find some pics or look in my hunt report here under "spiral horn hunt report".

I had my best friends son with me late July2011,, one of the wish list animals he wanted was a giraffe. First day in the blind he shot 2 really nice wart hogs,, a good way to warm up,, then we watched a group of giraffe for almost an hour and a half,, finally the old bull came in and at less than 20 yards,, I have it on video,,, i was showing him on the camera where to place the arrow,,, dead centered the spot and he fell within sight,, what a crash it was as well! He was shooting the new Matthews Z "whatever" at 70 lbs carbon express 350, 125 gn 3 blade Muzzy. Everything that bow shot he put in the boilermaker and they fell within sight. eyedoc on here started calling him "CBK",,, cold bloody killer. It was a great hunt again at Makalaan farms,,

I videoed a friend of mine make several stalks on a giant bull. He finally had the only shot the PH would allow, a frontal, just off center and higher than center.
He was shooting 85 pounds, grizzly stick with a 220 grain silver flame. With the shot the animal had a solid ribbon of blood for 4 or 500 yards when he hit him with another shot from the side. The bull ran right into a tree and fell.
They sold the carcass to a lion breeder and he said it was by far the largest he had seen.

I have taken two bulls with archery gear. Both were taken broadside as I was a little skeptical of the frontal shot, although others seem to have been successful with it. After some good advice from Eyedoc, I used a Bowtech Tribute at 83lbs with an 800gr Easton full metal jacket arrow including a 150gr German Kinetic. Both were one shot kills and penetrated the chest cavity fully although didn't exit (hit ribs). Nothing wrong with the leathality of the arrows but I was not 100% happy with the way they flew. Next time I will be using my elephant rig! total weight 1100gr Easton dangerous game arrow with 100gr brass insert + custom s/steel insert, 5 inch feathers and a 315 Ashby 2 blade broadhead. These arrows are seriously weight forward and fly like lazer guided missles from the old Tribute which has now got 90lbs limbs and is cranked up to the max.I think of giraffe as a poor man's elephant as I don't think anything other than hippo or rhino weighs more! I agree with the posters who said it was a difficult hunt. To get into a shooting position for a broadside shot was really difficult. One was shot from 33 meters and one from 35. This was the closest I could get and seemed to be the limit of their "comfort zone". I would put up some pics if there is someone I can mail the jpegs to who knows how AR's system works.
JCHB

JCHB that's great info and just the kind of stuff I'm looking for. This frontal shot thing is hard for me to understand. I could see it if the shooter is in an elevated position but from the ground it seems to me to be shooting upward too much. Am I missing something with this shot?

Also can anyone tell me how thick giraff ribs are?

The frontal shot definitely works but the margin for error is small. The ribs are around 4cm thick.
JCHB

We tried one this season but they are extremely allert. We have taken a few with a rifle.
Shot placement is vital. Frontal or above the shoulderblade. Don't hit the shoulder blade, the chance of the arrow not penetrating it is good!
We have taken Kudu, Oryx, Duiker, Burchell Zebra with a bow. 90% of the hunts were walk and stalk.

Here is a clip on Youtube, Giraffe was shot from the blind: http://youtu.be/KUJ0CTaSfdk

Most of the guys use 80+ pound bows, arrows in excess of 700gr with a good fixed 2 blade broadhead. Giraffe skin is extremely thick.

Frontal shots is possible but it is a very small target area so the Giraffe has to be perfectly head-on.

Stalking you have to be fit and patient and also what works for us is stalking them in a area where the bush / trees are just above human height allowing you to see them but giving you enough cover to move. They have extremely good eyesight and they are almost always in a herd so more eyes!!

Great fun to hunt them with the bow.