Has anybody done a hippo as a planned hunt rather than a chance encounter ?

Would you say the excitment factor can match that of a duggar boy in tall grass ?

I am not too worried about trophy size at all.

Thanks

I'd pay alot of money to get a shot at this one.

Most Hippo are taken in the water, where they spend the majority of daylight hours, that or basking on the banks. They exit the water after nightfall to feed, sometimes traveling a good distance from the water to find good grass. They return to the water shortly before or after first light. Consequently, most planned Hippo hunts take place when they are in the water. Be aware that you don't ever want to get between a Hippo on land and their water source. They will charge and they can move surprisingly fast.

I've taken a couple Hippo and viewed hundreds in many countries. I've only seen three out of the water inland and they were all at dusk or dawn.

Thank you

I would love to get in between a Hippo and their water source - that is the whole point I thought ? Right

I know dawn or late evening is best to catch them out or by chance encounter

Shooting hippo in water seems to be an non-event

quote:

Originally posted by aussie21:
I'd pay alot of money to get a shot at this one.

I am sorry I have lost you there ????

quote:

Originally posted by londonhunter:

quote:

Originally posted by aussie21:
I'd pay alot of money to get a shot at this one.

I am sorry I have lost you there ????

Do you know who Michael Moore is?

Sorry never had the pleasure of coming across this name

quote:

Originally posted by londonhunter:
Sorry never had the pleasure of coming across this name

trust me, its a pleasure for you that you havent.

I sense he is a politician then in the US ?

I googled it but quite a few Micahel Moore came up.

Enlighten us in Europe please ............

quote:

Originally posted by londonhunter:
I sense he is a politician then in the US ?

I googled it but quite a few Micahel Moore came up.

Enlighten us in Europe please ............

he wishes i'm sure but no he's not. He's an idiot activist. A real skunk of the first order.

quote:

Originally posted by londonhunter:

I would love to get in between a Hippo and their water source - that is the whole point I thought ? Right

I know dawn or late evening is best to catch them out or by chance encounter

Shooting hippo in water seems to be an non-event

I hear your sentiment frequently but respectfully disagree. I think it comes most often from those who haven't hunted Hippo and are simply guessing at how to go about it. It is most definitely not the point of Hippo hunting to provoke the animal to charge. The Hippo in water presents a relatively small target as the idea is to brain him in order to make a clean kill. They are constantly moving, diving and surfacing, usually in a pod with others acting the same. The plan is to identify the one with large tusks and then make the brain shot when he gives you the presentation. If you miss the brain you will have a true mess to sort out with blood in the water as the Hippo thrashes madly about, making accurate follow-up shots even more difficult. I've seen the brain missed and the ensuing result requires prompt sorting out.

Thank you for your most valuable opinion and insight into Hippo hunting

I am fully aware of the technical so call challenge of shooting such a small target area under stress

As per my original post I would like to hear from anybody who has a planned Hippo hunt on land that all.

Thank you

i shot one on land, no big deal, snuck up on it and still shot it in the brain. if its someones desire to get between an old bull and his river for excitement, i would suggest that he try standing out in the middle of the freeway

Most hippo on land are shot at night or at last/first light. I have culled a few in Mana pools NP and taken a few others as PAC. At night with a spotlight or light on your rifle, it is an exciting a hunt as you could ever want. May not be entirely sporting but it is sure as hell exciting and gets the adrenaline flowing. In most CAMPFIRE areas you can legally do this.

Most PH's prefer not to as when a shot goes off many things get confused and PH, Client and hippo running around in a field in the dark after the game scout has dropped the light etc... 'Great fun' (been there had that happen)

I have killed two hippo bulls on land in the Selous.

The first was just after first light, while it was still misty. He was a loner, off by himself, near a waterhole he liked. He seemed to have lost a fight or two, by the looks of him.

We stalked him to within 30 yards. It was sort of cat and mouse for a while. I am happy to say that I ended up as the cat.

One bullet through the heart and several others through the neck and shoulders as he ran for the water dropped him at the river's edge.

The second was shot out of a big herd of 50-100 or so, and in the middle of a very hot day. We tracked them through a korongo, and up overland to a deep and wide mudhole in another korongo where they had gone to wallow.

It was fun tracking them through the tall grass. A little nerve-wracking, too, since we could only see their backs and then only some of the time.

We threaded in and out and around them, crossing and re-crossing the korongo, looking for a big bull. We were nearly charged by a cow. We were at 10 yards with safeties off, but she thought better of it.

Finally, we found a big bull and stalked to within 35 yards of him. He was in a group of about 10-20 other hippos, on the other side of the dry river bed.

I put him down with a frontal brain shot and finished him with a quick follow up through the top of his head.

Lots of fun. I would not hunt them in water, after having had as much fun as we did chasing them on land.

Getting between a hippo and water - or shooting them at night with a light is testy stuff !!
Most clients think this sounds like "fun" - beleive me it's not something we PH's like to do on a regular basis - especially when someone messes up on the shot - and then we have to sort things out before the excretement hits the rotating oscillator !!
Hell man - we hunt enough stuff during our lifetime that want have a piece of us - that we don't relish the idea of adding a few more gray hairs to the already thinning cranium !!

Hi londonhunter

We have tons of hippo and the chance of taking one on land in the Omay is very high, especially later on in the year when the food is scarce and they tend to spend a lot of time feeding during the day.

Mart

mrlexma,

sounds like just a wee bit more excitement than one would have thought. I hear those fat boys can run like a deer, and aren't much on going around things. I'd have been high enough on Adrenaline that they'd have had to tether me.

Neat

Rich

Had the privilege to find myself looking for hippos in the middle of the night, and lucky enough to find them in the wrong spot, i.e. in some forest undergrowth while we were standing in a very dark and bushy clearing.

Two invisible hippos crashing through the bush under full steam and in your general direction make an awful racket.

The term "non-event" is not what flashes through your mind in the circumstance...

I was personally thankful that the two express trains' wake turbulence merely knocked us out of our socks as they passed us aiming for the faraway water, because I was still trying to figure out what exactly I was supposed to aim for on a dark mass speeding in the night.

I confess that the mental bet I placed then was not on me hanging a hippo on my wall in the near future...

OK

So its challenging, don't try it unless you can handle the situaion, handle the pressure and place the shot where it counts

It's adrenaline packed at least for one person who has done it this way

Not all guides will agree to this type of hunting

it is not always succesful and more of a chance encounter

One has got to be nuts to even consider this type of hunt

I get the full picture

EXACTLY the kind of hunt I am looking for

Thank you

londonhunter,

For the record.....I would also like to do exactly what you are talking about someday. Sniping a hippo from the bank of a river does not interest me in the least bit. I would love to stalk a big old bull on dry land.

Londonhunter,

Get your hands on Mark Sullivan's excellent video "Death Rush". It contains some great footage of hunting hippo on land. There are places it can be done and there are some, like Sullivan, who have figured out how to do it. Ignore what the forum regulars have to say about him, watch the video and judge for yourself, he's a helluva hunter.

aussie21;

No shooting of girlie hippos is allowed.

I have done one of those dry land hunts in Zim. We didn't have a boat available, so we were looking for hippoes when they would come rest on the banks, or in a shallow pan.

Was probably one of the most exciting hunts I've ever had. I've also come to realize that taking one in the water still requires a skillful stalk in addition to precision shooting.

I have always wanted a hippo on land. This interests me more then buff for some reason. Plus the rates are usually quite affordable.

Chobe Bushbuck is Mark Sullivan's username.

Yep,

that Great Hunter MS reference pegged the bullshit/troll meter.

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Yep,

that Great Hunter MS reference pegged the bullshit/troll meter.

Rich

Bullshit is certainly something that you know a thing or two about.

I regret starting this thread now.

My intention was good and wanted specific information from experience hunters and now all I have is a troll.

I am out of here boys NO TIME for this. Sorry

quote:

Originally posted by Chobe Bushbuck:

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Yep,

that Great Hunter MS reference pegged the bullshit/troll meter.

Rich

Bullshit is certainly something that you know a thing or two about.

Chobe Bushbuk, I think you would get a better rep here if you took some of the things folks are telling you to heart! I know that it is hard to take the criticism that has been thrown your way without responding with sarchasm to defend an idefensable position.

However, when it is evident that the majority are of the same opinion,it should be a wake up call to most thinking people to the fact that you are doing something that doesn't quite track!

I have no idea if you are here to simply cause trouble, or if you are simply misunderstood. My opinion means nothing to anyone but me, so it is not something that, alone, you should consider, but I think you are simply young, and enamoured with Africa, but have little knowledge about the place. There is nothing wrong with that, nobody is born knowing, but most are at lest willing to learn.

My father used to say, "If a person can't get along with anyone, the place to put the blame is in the mirror! Other people rarely have the same opinion of us that we have of ourself!"

If this is a place where you want to stay, my advice is to real in that ego a bit, and leave the anger, and sascasm at home, and put on a different face around here! Trolls are not suffered well here!

..................

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quote:

Originally posted by londonhunter:
OK

So its challenging, don't try it unless you can handle the situaion, handle the pressure and place the shot where it counts

It's adrenaline packed at least for one person who has done it this way

Not all guides will agree to this type of hunting

it is not always succesful and more of a chance encounter

One has got to be nuts to even consider this type of hunt

I get the full picture

EXACTLY the kind of hunt I am looking for

Thank you

contact Mark Sullivan. he should be able to set up just what you are looking for- provided he doesn't shot the animal first. for sure he will let the hippo "decide how it wants to die".

Thank you

I have a PH already and we have discussed what I want.

I just wanted to get feedbacks from hunters who has done it in a similar way that's all.

Lots of Hippo are taken on land -- usually in near dark conditions -- but I've not tried it that way because it's so much harder to judge trophy quality. In the water, you generally have lots of time to evaluate quality and set up your shot -- on land, not nearly so much so.

Of course, the water shot can be a LOT harder and that's the tradeoff.

London, I'm going to give it a try in May with Karl Stumpfe in Namibia. Apparently they can be found going from puddle to puddle in amongst the reeds. As someone said earlier, I'm more excited about this hunt that whacking another Buffalo.

London, i have always wanted to do it also. Capstick said that its possible to make a bull hippo charge by standing in the shallows close to his herd and making a noise. True, anyone?

I am really looking forward to a hippo on land.

There is another curernt post about Cape charges - indeed it is a rare occurance.

Hippo charges are more likely and CHEAPER.

Do you folks remember the cost of shooting a buffalo shall we say 25 years ago as compared to other big five then ?

Please don't get me wrong dugger boys are exciting but the "charge" is a bit of a myth.

Of course an injured Buffalo in tall grass is a different ball game - but that applies to injured game in most species right ?

Shall we mark in our calender to revive this thread a years time when we all have done this hunt ?

Londonhunter,

if you like affordable charges, try bushpigs...

No jokes, they've got a temperament, and you can easily get ten or twenty for the price of one buff.

quote:

Originally posted by martin pieters:
Hi londonhunter

We have tons of hippo and the chance of taking one on land in the Omay is very high, especially later on in the year when the food is scarce and they tend to spend a lot of time feeding during the day.

Mart

Have hunted this area a couple times and heading there next month. I have seen a few Hippos on land in this area and one particular animal in the Tiger bay Jesse bush that I should have killed.
A great option, Londonhunter.

How close did you (could you have) manage to get to a shootable position ?

Was it a chance encounter or was it stalked on purpose ?

Did you find the encounter more intense as compared to that of similar encounter with a dugger boy ?