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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Is there ever too many buff!!!?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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One of Us |
Sounds like my Roan population. Can't offer you four though! ROYAL KAFUE LTD Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144 Instagram - kafueroyal | |||
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All I ask is one buffalo a day! Nothing more. I have had a chance of shooting up to 4 a day, on several occasions, but still cannot catch up with lost days! I will continue trying  | |||
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I think that if someone is going to hunt a lot of buffalo during their career, then 'take what's offered' makes a lot of sense. To Buzz's point, I feel that if someone is only likely to be able to afford 1-2 buffalo hunts: I'd strongly suggest getting the full experience of tracking. | |||
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I tend to disagree and rather see quite a bit of buff. The other hunt could end in failure. ROYAL KAFUE LTD Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144 Instagram - kafueroyal | |||
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There are many buff out there both in the form of herds and groups of bulls; the only problem being the big ones, the ones that almost everybody wants to have on their wall are beginning to run short as their horns don't go from 38 to 42" overnight. If statistics for the past 5 years were to be retrieved from the various outfitters, one will be able to conclude from the records that 42"+ are few and far between as a result of the hammering they have received. There may be a notable difference in size with animals that find solace and refuge in adjacent sanctuaries (National Parks) which venture out beyond the safety of its borders in search of fresh pastures and water and the annual migratory pattern observed in the north of Tanzania bears witness to this assumption. | |||
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I guest that ultimately depends on you definition of failure. I've gone home 3 times without a buff. But hunted from daylight to dark every day there, almost always having at least one good stalk each morning and one each evening. Never felt like any of those three were "failures". One of those in Dande, the other two on RSA ranch hunts for those who think those types of hunts are a walk in the park. Can be, but not always. Yeah, I do prefer to connect ... but it's not what I judge the hunt on to the exclusion of the experience involved. Again, YMMV ... and probably does. | |||
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I've never been in an area with too many buff. I have been in an area with too damn few buff though! | |||
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In an area like Andrew's, I'd change my statement to "A hunter doing only 1-2 should focus on doing a proper buff hunt." In other words, whether it's tracking, ambushing on the way to water, or whatever: I'd rather get a good old bull with a PROPER hunt than shoot a 50" from right next to the truck. Now, if you're doing a lot of buff hunting... You should probably hammer that 50" when/where you see him.  | |||
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My old adage: "Don't kick a gift horse in the mouth." Would I shoot a 50" bull from right next to the truck?! Hell yes. While hunting buffalo in Dande South a few years back, we came across a big wild sable antelope bull. We saw him with a herd of wild Sable antelope a number of times over the course of the hunt, and tried to get on him. We never could no matter what we did. One morning we were driving down a road and PH Lance Nesbitt slammed on the brakes, told me to get out with the 375 and shoot the sable standing 75 yards away on a hillside, all by himself. I did exactly as Lance said. It was the big boy we had chased for days. Biggest wild Sable out of Dande South that year at 44" on one horn and 43 1/2" on the other. One of my best plains game trophies. And, I'd do it all over again. When opportunity and the hunting gods knock-I believe in answering the door. | |||
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The biggest buffalo I have shot is 49 inches, with a broken horn! We were driving to a leopard blind in the afternoon in Chete. Saw two bulls running into the hills, jumped out of the truck, and 5 minutes later we had both down. Went to the leopard blind and sent Alan to take them back to camp. Both were shot at about 100 yards, and not given half a bloody chance of choosing how to die! The 49 incher was actually facing slightly away, looking back. A 300 grain Barnes X through his aorta put paid to him! | |||
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Funny isn't it? Imagine the intelligence of a man standing with a 600 Nitro Express double rifle in his hands, looking at a half dead buffalo, and actually TALKING to it and giving it a chance of how to die! A suckling warthog has more intelligence! Now don't let me start on those who worship such sorry excuse for a human being. I bet a mopane worm has more intelligence than those! | |||
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Todd, I was referring to a first-timer who could probably only hunt buff once. ROYAL KAFUE LTD Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144 Instagram - kafueroyal | |||
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Buzz, I ve just returned from a Colorado elk and mule deer hunt and my traveling book was your Tall Tales. Great reading, thank you! Like Saeed pointed out, buffalo hunting for some of us is like an addiction, maybe like a gambling addiction, in that you never know how it’s going to go! I ve hunted buffalo in Namibia, SA, and Zimbabwe, and every one shot is indelibly imprinted in my mind. I think you have to have reasonable chance to get one. Before I shot a 47”, yes size mattered, but the last three in Zim and SA it was about age and smooth boss and experience. For experience, I d say, not shot on the first day, if you only have one. You need to spend some time working on it. Then: 1. How you plan, find or track it down. 2. The approach or stalk. 3. The shooting and what unpredictably happens 4. What you learnt and how you felt about the experience. There is always a sense of achievement and relief I find. It’s probably part of many us hunters Neolithic DNA but increasingly disappearing although in many board rooms the basics of the hunt are still played out. | |||
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My first buf came in the Selous and in the long grass hearing horns clicking smelling the shit and hearing the moans bellows. PVT said once you hunt buffalo you will be back for more... An ultimate addiction. Mike | |||
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I prefer to hunt buffalo over any other game. I don't care to see 1000 buffalo a day or even 100, as one can get run over in the long grass or can't get to the herd bull, rather track dagga boys in their small groups, but I will always remember overlooking a large grassy plain (Vuga) with a thousand or more black dots that turned out to be buffalo, after two or three days of no buffalo in the timber..I remember a large herd pushing me and the PH around phyically but we couldn't see one of them but they were within 8 to 10 inches from us, as we eased out of there oh so slowly...The high grass is a special place for the hunter, its filled with grand experiences.. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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I remember Buzz's ad or it might have been some one else's. "14 day Cape buffalo hunt. $1000USD/day + $10000 trophy fee + $1500 liquor charge + $2000 skinning and salting + $2000 road transfer from Harare + Incidentals. There is only one Cape buffalo bull in my concession. The rest have been poached. We should cut spoor in 4 or 5 days. Will track the buff for the remainder of the paid days. We'll be sleeping on the tracks, until the bull is taken, or not. If no buff is taken, you will be asked to recommend this hunt to other hunters. This will be a "real" buffalo hunt.* *All fees will be required to be paid 12 months before the hunt commences. Plus another $2000 for road transfer back to Harare. This transfer is optional." That is what I call a man's man, super butch, I'm tougher than you are, real buff hunt. ------------------------------- Will / Once you've been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun. --------------------------------------- and, God Bless John Wayne. NRA Benefactor, GOA, NAGR _________________________ "Elephant and Elephant Guns" $99 shipped. “Hunting Africa's Dangerous Game" $20 shipped. red.dirt.elephant@gmail.com _________________________ If anything be of note, let it be he was once an elephant hunter, hoping to wind up where elephant hunters go. | |||
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Damn straight, Will. I would book that hunt right now. Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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Although I professed to the preference of hunting dagga boys in small groups, I have to say there is no shame in hunting the big herds, and it can be as exciting and productive as any hunt and have as much or more risks than dagga boys...Getting a shot at the herd bull requires some fancy tactics in a crowd of bad mamas. Also some great dagga boys off by them selves will often be found by herd hunting and good tracking skills, those bulls leave the herd early morning in many cases...Its all just hunting and you get what you put into it..herd or dagga.. Im of the opinion that in some cases,may be caused by over hunting, but I've seen it in buffalo as well as most other game, and that is if the herds get to big, and your seeing all females, its probably time to go to another loacation where the female populations are smaller??? just a personal therory that Ive seen in all herd animals and some species like Mule deer and elk...I realize that some of this may have to do with the time of year, the rut, weather, etc. but I think hunting pressure is a factor??? Not scientific just based on years of hunting, and ranching. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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What is so interesting to me about buffalo are the variables. Place (the incredible variety -- miombo, jesse, or mountains), terrain, time of year, etc. I love tracking and will track small groups of bulls or herds, depending on time of year. Even that can be unexpected. I was asked by game department to shoot a ration bull for troops working on an anti-poaching team. Herds were full of new calves at that time of year and shouldn't be any big bulls there. Followed a herd for a ration bull anyway. Shot one of my best bulls out of that herd. He was blind in one eye and apparently decided to hang out with the ladies in the safety of the herd. Anti-poaching folks would have preferred a younger bull. I chose to take him on my license to bring the horns back. The last one I shot was over 200 yards at a sharp downward angle. It seemed more like an elk hunt than a buffalo hunt. Guess that's what keeps it interesting. I'll take too many over too few, but it's all good. My advice for what it's worth is to take what Artemis (or Diana) offers and be grateful. | |||
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Interesting post Buzzer! Of course the most memorable hunts are sometimes the ones you’ve had to work the hardest for. However I don’t think you can have too much game or in your thread Buffalo. If you want to walk a lot then walk from camp don’t drive. You’ll find that even in the areas with loads of buff you will end up walking a lot before you get the one you want! If miles on foot before getting a trophy is what you consider a rewarding hunt. An area with loads of game caters better for the elder, less fit clients too. Not just the guys who are fit etc. An area with lots of game gives you more options. | |||
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Its one thing tracking a single or group of bulls if it or they have been sighted and the confirmation of a worthy trophy has been established. We have often tried potluck at tracking on the evidence of a set of large, worn hooves only to find a load of junk at the other end; by junk I am referring to 36-38" or scrum cap material (a scrum cap in my eyes is hardly a trophy but more as Lion or Croc bait) - I appreciate however that some hunters want a scrum cap on the wall but most would rather adorn their walls with numerous wide, hard-bossed skulls instead. Invariably, I have learnt that some clients who had been gung-ho at the idea of tracking their quarry for endless hours soon changed their minds after several such adventures under the blistering sun, and the long walk back empty-handed. | |||
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Fulvio- 36-38"= Junk??? That would mean 90% of buffalo shot in Zim anyway! | |||
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Buzz - I guess we are spoilt in TZ as most of us will scoff at anything under 38" unless it has an exceptional horn qualities or a worn-out dagga boy that the client craves for, otherwise it will either be shot for bait or left alone; to be borne in mind that we also have a minimum of 2 on license though some unscrupulous outfitters will peddle single buff hunts an limited days hunting and cannot afford to be too choosy. Coincidentally, nearly all clients seem to set their standards pretty high when they hunt Tanzania, i.e. "I want nothing under 40" and understandable if they hunt Masailand & Western TZ where 40+ is the order of the day. We do NOT normally target scrum caps unless the client has a bee in his bonnet about wanting one, otherwise it too will likely end up as bait. Should we venture further south from Zim there are game farms with exceptionally high minimums as well, paid for by the inch.  | |||
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Very interesting Fulvio- I have not hunted Tanzania unfortunately so I am unable to comment. I do find it interesting though how countries/ companies can attract such different clientele with different expectations and wishes. Our clientele expectations have changed markedly over the last 10 years and I can honestly say the vast majority of clients , be they from States or Europe want an old buffalo and inches are often not even mentioned now. For me this is a welcome change. | |||
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Zimbabwe had the best quota rules. As I remember, one gets a hunting license, shoots whatever the outfitter will let him shoot. No limit as long as the animals are on his quota. Fantastic system, instead of the convoluted system in other countries. I used to hunt late in the season, and get the chance of shooting whatever is left on quota for that year. Worked great for me, especially in Chete. It is a relatively tough area to hunt, and there were always many buffalo left on quota for me! Same goes for other animals too. And they allowed females to be shot too. We used to see dozen or more old duggaboys together in Zimbabwe. Only saw this once in Tanzania in all the years we hunted there. In fact, most of the bulls we shot in Zimbabwe were not in herds. Most of our hunting in Tanzania is bulls from herds. Both countries offer fantastic hunts. Bottom line is who you hunt with. | |||
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Saeed, Agree. I've taken the last safari of the season twice and wound up hunting a lion that I didn't pay for. Didn't take one but hunted them. I've only hunted buffalo in Tanzania and while I've hunted herds, I've only shot two bulls out of a herd. One was actually the best bull I've shot, but he shouldn't have been there that time of year. He was blind in one eye and hanging out with the ladies. He was supposed to be a ration bull for the game department. The other was in the mountains in Masailand. It was a long shot and he had a poison arrowhead in his shoulder. Not the greatest bull but was the first out of that concession in three years and not bad. Memorable for a few reasons. The rest were in small groups or alone. Also agree it's who you hunt with. But while it's all different, I love hunting buffalo. | |||
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Getting into a bunch of old bulls, after several hours of tracking, and dropping 4 in a few minutes within a few yards of each other, including a wounded one who does a search and kill run in the grass, finally dropped with a head shot running towards you, makes a great morning hunting buffalo! This was quite a hunt. We have not shot a buffalo for a few days, and the boys in the butchery were laughing at us, as all we bring back are smaller animals. We loaded one in the truck, and went back to camp. Driving to the butchery, passing through camp, we shouted at the butchery staff to hurry up, as we had a buffalo! They looked so happy, screaming "BUFFALO!" We shouted back "TWO BUFFALO!" They got even more excited. We shouted again "THREE BUFFALO!" Then they thought we were joking. Some excited conversations followed. Then we shouted "FOUR BUFFALO!" Now they really did not believe it! They were working in the butchery until the small hours of the next morning! | |||
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