If given the chance should I shoot a baboon? I never liked the way they look. That bald a$$ really creeps me out. How hard are they to kill?
Head shot or body shot....do they cry out or die quietly. They are considered vermin are they not?

urdu bob

Baboons are considered vermin in agricultural areas. I have a couple of friends who hunted them out of the family crops as kids and they tell me that an educated baboon is one of the toughest animals to hunt. They always give me fits, because the old males seem to have a sixth sense and move off before I can get a shot. I finally shot two big males out of a troop last year. I used a .375 H&H with 300 grain FailSafe bullets. They went quietly to body shots. I don't have a problem with hunting them, but I can understand why someone might. I can tell you, the tracker didn't care much for hunting them.

I think to me they will be just another target with an ugly bald a$$ and big sharp teeth.
urdubob

Our PH offered to put baboons on the quota for our hunt last year, but I really wasn't interested, I had bigger things in mind and shooting a baboon held no appeal.

That was in Las Vegas at SCI last year when we booked the hunt. Once we got to RSA and started hunting my view of baboons changed dramatically! We hunted 5 different areas during a 15 day hunt and the damn baboons were a pain in the ass in every camp.

They would sneak around camp looking for food and scare my wife and the camp staff. They sat up in the trees at a distance and hollered at each other for hours on end. They make quite an unpleasant racket.

Once, when everyone was out of camp, they managed to open the door to our PH's cabin and absolutely trashed the place! His clothes and personal effects were thrown all over the room. His books and magazines were torn up and tossed around. Adding insult to injury, they had pissed all over his bed and duffel bag. Apparently, just for the fun of it, they ripped down the curtains and pulled the light fixtures off the ceiling.

Then they got into the kitchen....it looked like the aftermath of a frat house food fight!!

So, on one of the last days of our hunt, on the way back to camp for lunch, there was this big old boar baboon shuffling across the road ahead of us. My PH looked at me and said, "let's whack him," and I didn't give it a second thought. As our evil simeon ancestor made his way through the brush and up the hill on the side of the road, I followed him in the scope of my .300 Jarrett. I asked my PH, "will he stop," my PH answered, "no," so I waited for the little bastard to slow down and look back at us, and put a 200 grain Nosler through his chest. He didn't make a sound, it was lights out!

One day soon his cleaned skull will be sitting on my desk as one more reminder of a great trip.

I say "shoot em all, let God sort em out" when it comes to baboons!

Mark, you are my hero !!!!!!!!! I hate the way those nasty things look.

You cannot shoot enough baboons. Nothing like catching a tribe out in the open. This is when an extra 20 rounds of ammo comes in quite handy. I have a collection of monkey skulls that would make Jeffery Dahmer blush.

On my last trip to Zim I had a chance to shoot quite a few free...several had caught and killed the camp manager's dog. He told me and my PH to go out and "sort the buggers out". I had taken a .350 RemMag along as my spare rifle and it was very effective. The PH was using a .308. There were several large troups in the area and our plan of attack was to cruise quietly around and when we spotted them the tracker would drive like the hammers of hell until we got fairly close and then the PH and I would jump out and start blasting...each stop was usually good for 2 or 3 each. I remember taking 3 boxes (60 rounds) of ammo for the .350 and I didn't bring any back...we put a real dent in the population. I had the biggest skull sent along with my other trophies....big teeth.

I relish hunting baboons

So much so, that someday, I am going to take a .257STW with just to pick them off at long distance!

Here's one dog baboon I shot out of a baobab:

** Deleted due to the possibility of its misuse by anti-hunters **

With habits like that, what other end could he have come to?

ZD is right. Those skulls are pretty impressive.

George

[ 06-17-2002, 17:40: Message edited by: GeorgeS ]

I love shooting baboons they are one of the toughest quarries you can hunt. We shoot them out of our Lucerne fields. And in the veldt when we get the chance. Some of the best shooting is found on the citrus farms. I probably occupied too much of my time shooting baboons.

George the acid flash-backs are not as bad as that picture. You rule.

urdu bob

I shot a couple in Zim and I was encouraged to shoot more. Kind of like our alligators, you've got to shoot some to keep them in line. Definitely don't shoot them in the head as the skull looks good on a plaque. I had one shoulder mounted on a short pyramid block and it gets more comments than anything else. By the way they were the only animal that the trackers washed their hands after handling. They definitely don't like them.

I just read my brother portions of this thread. We both believe that we must have "co-existed" with baboons a long time ago to engender so much dislike for another primate species. Unlike gorillas or some monkeys, baboons just p!ss you off.

On our first trip, our ph educated us to there status as ag pest, and pointed them out to us to shoot. My brother really hadn't gotten into baboon hunting, but I laid two out with two shots from a 270 with receiver sights. Our next trip, one of the young men in camp wanted one for a souvenir and asked me to take one. I obliged.

I brought back one of the skulls, "Yorick", who now resides on the bookcase in my trophy room.

We had a similar problem with the bo-bo's in the dining area in Zim, and on the last day we were there, as I was cleaning my weapons for the trip home, our ph started blasting them out of the trees over the bomba or lappa just outside our hut. Unfortunately, his first shot coincided with my pulling the trigger on my rifle after cleaning it. I nearly sh!t myself. The bo-bo's had their revenge in the end (no pun intended). Ku-dude

The baboon pedestal mount I think Ralph mentioned is a striking mount that will definitely get the attention. The form and jawset is sold by McKenzie Taxidermy Supply. so your taxidermist should have no difficulty in getting it.

Here's a photo from the McKenzie catalogue:


Only 10 more days!!!

JDS

Baboons offer some of the most thrilling and challenging hunting available - they are both smart and agile and to get one in the mountains around here you have to know your business because we don't get them at distances less than 200 metres, and usually its on the other side of a kloof or valley.

This is where a 270 or 7X64 with a light stock and a 12 power scope comes into its own.

Cheers

pete

There is a picture of my baboon on the second page: http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/JBrown . My PH was glad to get a baboon as they cause a good bit of trouble.

The camp staff seemed to feel baboons are near human. I won't go that far but I will say I have mixed feelings about having killed this old boar. I shot him from a fence post as he kept a lookout for the young ones as they crossed the trail.

Jason

[ 05-30-2002, 12:23: Message edited by: J Brown ]

Baboons – Africa most underrated trophy IMO. Can’t kill enough of them – they trash everything they get their hands on and are keen on killing domestic dogs which is an instant death sentence in my book.

I saw my friend shoot one last month and the little fella charged him. Took a couple of well placed shots (and a few more not so well placed shots) from the PH’s CZ75 to put him down.

In Kenya I shot one with a FN FAL (admittedly slightly low ) and he came at me with his teeth out before he was finished. I have not heard of anyone having a wrestling match with one but I am sure it must have happened.

I Love to shoot em.

If you ever get some time when going hunting and there is baboons around try and hunt them it is very exciting especially when you get close to a troop without them spotting you, you can choose a big male and after the first shot they will run but not far to have a look where you are then it will be your second chance to bag another.

Some of the big males has got longer cnaines than lions has you could clearly see from the photos. We use to add a dead baboon close to our greens and fruit trees that kept them away until the dead baboon was no more and then we had to get a new scarecrow. It worked by putting the baboon at the highest point from where you want to get them away so that they all can see.

Safari-Hunt

www.Safari-Hunt.com

J Brown said:
"The camp staff seemed to feel baboons are near human. I won't go that far but I will say I have mixed feelings about having killed this old boar"

I recall some mixed feelings too, Jason.
BTW, very nice job on your Hunting Pictures site.

Phillip Price, Swartkei Safaris, RSA, made the mistake of telling me I was the best shot he had ever had on Safari and I made a point of reminding him of that quite often, so he took me baboon hunting and humbled my smart a$$...

Since that time he takes every advantage to tell my storm and strife, "If he get out of control Beth, we will take him on a bloody baboon hunt and humble him down a bit"...It works, I bow to their threat.

Hunting baboons in the rocky open cliffs of RSA is the toughest shooting I have ever seen, they are wild, smart and although they are running stright away they look like they are running sideways to you, so you lead them, not good.

When I hunted RSA 2 years ago, I was taking a tour of the ranch with the owner looking for his white rhinos and came upon a troop of baboons running down the road in front of us. He stopped the truck and I leaned on the brush guard to get a good rest, as they were about 250 yards away. The big males were in the front of the troop, meaning I had to shoot through 3 or 4 of the smaller ones to hit them- I obliged.
After the shot, they instantly disappeared into the thick bush, making blood curdling sounds and screams for a few seconds, then utter silence.

We went to look and found lots of blood, hair, and other parts but no baboon. We followed blood trail into the bush a little ways, then the baboons would sound off ahead of us. We would follow the track a little farther, then the baboons would sound off a little bit ahead again. This went on for about 300 yards or so, in bush so thick you could hardly see more than 20 feet in any direction, sometimes less than half that. After several stops, the sounds of baboons were all around us and we lost the blood trail. Man, what an eerie feeling that was. We decided the best path was to get back to the truck as the ranch owner wasn't carrying a rifle that day. Felt pretty good to get back to the bakkie that afternoon but I sure wanted that skull to mount.- Sheister

I LOVE hunting Baboons. They are tough to hunt, as they are very intelligent and never seem to quit moving. If you're shooting really well on a safari, they can humble you really quick. I've never felt bad about shooting one.

I hate the murderous bastards. I remember in SA in 1993 we set big cage traps for them. We only ever caught 2, the first one should have put me off but...here's the story; As I walked toward the cage to have a look at him(unarmed) the bloody thing went nuts- shaking at the bars, barking and charging bearing his teeth. When I strode the 15 paces back to the jeep th get the .22 he instantly shut up and huddled into the corner. That made me feel a little bad, so I turned around for a second and the mongrel started raving on once again. It was irritating enough to convince me to turn around, again, - he suddenly shut up again and I shot him.(brain)
Aside from that that I spent a lot of time shooting them in fruit plantations and around camp. Their popularity, after haveing killed a numbers dogs, ripped up the thatch rooves and generaly trashed the place, that they were the only animal that was allowed to be shot from the camp itself.

I shot a big male Baboon who had lagged behind the rest of the troupe and was just looking at me over a moderate sized piece of brush. I aimed just below his neck and fired my .416 through his cover. When my PH, friend and I walked over to the animal it was, to say the least, messy (in more ways than one). It turns out the reason he was lagging behind the troupe and stopped behind the brush was that he was "pleasuring himself". I felt kinda bad for interrupting what was likely to be the highlight of his day but then considered what an interesting mount that might make. I thought better of the masturbation mount and his skull is on its way from Zim. This situation did make for some interesting trophy photos I'll tell you that! They are not unlike those posted by George, but with different things in his hands

I, unfortunately, wounded another and he had actually doubled back behind us and was huddled up hiding in some rocks when we found him. I was a little creeped out that he was that rational but hell, I'll keep shooting them anyway. On an even creepier note, I do know of a PH in Zimbabwe who wounded one and found it at the base of a tree deliberately trying to pack mud into its wound with a tear on its cheek. He told me that he was unable to shoot a Baboon for quite while after that.

Regards,

John

I hate those damn things! I always take some paper patched pure lead bullets for my 470 NE and wack as many of these vermin as I can. Those pure lead softs blow some great big gaping holes in em! In Botswanna, one time we shot about 10 of them when the troop moved into the trees at our campsite. The camp staff didn't even want to touch the bodies they stink so bad! -Rob

I enjoy reading through these forum pages and will not allow this disturbing incident to dissuade me from doing that. However, I feel compelled to express my dissapointment with our forum members for not responding to George S. about the inappropriate nature of the picture presented. The disrespect for a living thing as depicted in this picture is what gives hunters a bad name.
I hope this picture is just a mistake and not a true indication of how George S. feels about the animals we are so privileged to hunt.
Jim

[ 05-31-2002, 08:55: Message edited by: jhaney ]

[ 05-31-2002, 16:06: Message edited by: jhaney ]

J Haney :IT'S JUST A BABOON!
A NASTY , STINKING, FILTHY, DIRTY, DOG KILLING BABOON. THAT IS AN ANIMAL... ITS NOT A PERSON.
URDU BOB

jHANEY:

I THINK IF GIVEN THE CHANCE I'D LIKE TO HUNT BABOONS THE WITH A FLAME THROWER AND HAND GRENADES.

JDS,
That is the exact mount that I have. Had to keep it in my office for a while as it used to scare the wife if she got up at night. My taxidermist said they are very difficult to do as the skin is very thin in spots which equates to a lot of labor to get them to come out good. A fellow I knew (now deceased) had one mounted standing erect dressed in womens formal wear complete with purse and hat.

I want to get a pair male and female. Pose them side by each and have sign in hand "Hi I'm Bill " the female "Hi I'm Hillary".

jhaney - I am very sensitive to ethical hunting practices (as all of us are), however, I gotta agree with urdubob on this. Baboons are not the cute, near-human animals that the Discovery Channel would have you believe. Of all the huntable animals on the planet, baboons are at the bottom of my respect list. I have far greater respect for prairie dogs and tree squirrels than I do for baboons. They destroy the countryside, they stink like a cesspool, they kill any bird life and small animal life in the area, and breed like rats. They do more to destroy wildlife than poachers. And as poachers, they deserve to die a poacher�s death. They are ants which you step on and forget.

What did it for me was my first hunt in Africa. We came upon a tribe of baboons. I noticed one had something in its fist like a child�s doll. My PH glassed the bobo and announced that it was a dead rabbit. With that, we all disembarked and lead flew. The proud owner of the rabbit toy was pronounced dead on the scene with multiple gunshot wounds that would make any wannabe drive-by gangster proud. Upon inspection, it was apparent that the rabbit had been dead for some time and that the now deceased owner was simply playing with it. The bobo�s carcass was used for leopard bait.

Since this time, I have gone out of my way to thin the bobo tribes in Africa. I have lost count on the number of rounds expended on them, but I can tell you I have enjoyed every shot. As Ray and others stated, they are very challenging to hunt plus you don�t need to bother picking up what�s left (what a bonus). I carry a scoped .44 mag when hunting in RSA specifically for bobos. A 240gr XTP at 1400fps opens them up like a tin can. I have found that the big calibers punch right through them sometimes with little effect. I have been literally amazed at the amount of punishment these varmints can take. As Rob stated, a nice soft lead slug is the perfect stopper for bobos. Maybe some nice ballistic tips at hyper-velocity could be interesting....

Nope, I have no respect for these animals. Even accounts from the golden age of ivory hunting spoke of the hate everyone had for these vermin. Baboons have probably been despised since the day man first encountered them. I have yet to meet a hunter who has been exposed to baboons that did not feel the same way.

So in closing, I really have no problems with George�s post. If you have not seen them in action, I can understand your concerns, however, they are pests and should be treated as such - step on them as if they were ants. No harm, no foul.

[ 05-31-2002, 19:05: Message edited by: Zero Drift ]

Old Hunter,
I understand that baboons are very low on the "respect ladder", but even I have to take up for them on this note!

Hillary and Bill??? C'mon! Even baboons don't deserve THAT!!

A little over a week left before I leave on my first safari!!!!! How do you handle the wait???

JDS

jds, this year I have just finished Boddingtons Search for the Sprial Horn, which I enjoyed very much. I will be looking for a good Kudu in Namibia this fall. I just took delivery on a new Savage 116SE in 375 and will spend part of the summer adding a MPI composite thumb hole stock and getting the scope tuned (not taking it this fall no DGR on the bill) and will run a few hundred rounds thru the 338. Also doing a bit of ground hog shooting and counting the days, eh.

I think it is peculiar that so many of you use our human perspective to determine the " value" of other living things. I was pleased, though, to see your explaination, George S.
Jim

JHnaney

Respectfully, the reason I "use our human perspective to descibe an animals value".......... is because I am a human.

I have no other perspective. You may count your self in the realm of some other beings.

I also wish to state that the earth is not my mother and baboons are not my brother.

My ancestors fought long and hard to make it to the top of the food chain.

With rank come its priviledges.

urdubob

I wish I'd said that....

Ditto, Urdubob.

Rick.

Several years ago, my wife and I were waiting at a water hole in Namibia hoping a big warthog we had seen earlier would come in. (he didnt). A fairly large troop of Babboons did and we enjoyed watching them.I hadnt really thought of shooting one.The wind changed and they started to leave in a hurry.One baby was still drinking after all had left. What I believe to be the lead male ran back a few seconds later and picked up the baby under its arm and took off. After seeing that, I knew I could never shoot one. TO CLOSE TO HOME! I do agree that they are obnoxious,loud and irratating.They probably would make for a good hunt.Ifrequent this forum but dont often post but I was a little surprised at the "Lets KILL UM attitude posted by many .Killing them just for the hell of it isnt for me

Chuck

I agree with your post. We suprised a troop of baboons as they crossed a trail. The troop scattered with some diving into the brush on each side of the trail. The baboon I shot had jumped onto a fence post to act as a lookout as the troop regrouped. I will always feel a bit of regret about taking that shoot.

Jason