quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
It's sooooo much more fun shooting them many times. One shot kills on buff are a complete downer........

+1!
The old "Buffalo Run and Gun" is my favorite.

quote:

Originally posted by Nganga:
Guy's

Interesting thread, I feel there are two distinctive types of buffalo hunting. Offensive and defensive. Mojo and Saeed are defensive hunters. They are truly remarkable marksman and tend to shoot scoped rifles at a distance.

I and a bunch of others on these boards are Offensive buffalo hunters, getting close by choice and getting inside their personal space.
We choose heavier slower bullets, usually iron sights.

I have shot buffalo with my .500NE six times on one shoulder, all killing shots while he just stood there like I was hitting him with a .17 Remington fireball..

Logically, a buffalo shot with an acceptable firearm at say 100 yards with a scope hit proper, will probably lay down and die as or before you get to him.

Two styles, both fine just different.

Dang opinions, everyone's got one.

Steve

I agree with the above post completely!

One reason the buffalo shot at a distance is more easily killed with the same bullet placement is, because you are usually shooting a buffalo that is not much bothered by your presence, nothing more.

All wild animals have two rings around them at all times. Outside those two rings, if they care about you at all it is mostly curiosity. To him you are not a threat and he is completely a ease with his position in relation to you, so his adrenalin is not flowing. In that state he is not terribly bothered by you. You are outside his fight or flight, the first of his defensive rings. A shot here he may or may not attribute to you at all, and will sometimes stand there and just bleed.

This ring Flight or fight ring, will hold his attention on you, to see if you are getting closer. Inside this ring, the closer you get the more his adrenalin will start to flow, but here he may choose flight and run for the nearest cover, or he may stand to see what you will do. Here a shot to the brain or spins will kill just as dead as if you were shooting him in a box. However a shot to the vitals will usually make him run the direction he is pointed when the shot was fired, but if he is pointed toward you he may and usually will veer off. Here the insurance shots are flung at him as he leaves.

The fight ring is where you need to make very sure you poke him in the right place with the first shot, and here again the best outcome will be the brain or spine shot, because it will end the thing immediately. A heart shot here is when the buffalo will seem bullet proof, taking a lot of hits with seemingly no effect. His adrenalin is at full flow when you come into this ring, and even here he may run, but he may not, but decides for fight, and here you need to shot him as many times as you can. Once wounded in his fight ring and a follow-up is needed, the fight ring gets wider and pressed into a charge, a bunch of bullets, regardless of size, may not stop him in time, UNLESS one of those bullets hits the CNS hard enough to yank the world from beneath his hooves!

The buffalo is no tougher than a mean domestic bull on our ranch, but once his adrenalin is up is where the BLACK DEATH comes out in full steam ahead mode.

Make no mistake, if you push a Cape buffalo hard enough he will certainly push back, and the closer you get to him the nearer you are to getting into trouble if you don’t do your job properly! Take him too lightly and sooner or later you will pay the price!

The above being said about getting inside his fight range, then would it not follow that you should use SMALLER calibers because that would make the charge more certain and exciting?

SSR

quote:

Originally posted by Cross L:
The above being said about getting inside his fight range, then would it not follow that you should use SMALLER calibers because that would make the charge more certain and exciting?

SSR

If a charge happens, and everything turns out OK, then you have something to remember! If, however, if you get a charge and everything goes wrong, then WE have something to talk about on AR. Either way we will not loose skin, but you might!

One way to assure a charge is to get into a wounded buffalo’s fight zone, and shoot him with an inadequate rifle, and miss the CNS! Anyone who thinks this is a prudent activity is welcome to my part in the process!

It is true that a cape buffalo shot at 100 yards or more is simply not dangerous game! The likelihood of him becoming dangerous game in that situation is a poorly placed shot with ANY caliber rifle, and letting him get into the weeds, where you have to go in after him.

I don’t think I’d choose a smaller chambering for the follow-up than what I normally use to hunt him in the first place. I have killed buffalo with a 375H&H, result DRT but if he got into the cover where I had to go in after him, I don’t think I’d be prone to use something smaller instead for the follow-up hoping for a charge.

Gentlemen, I’ll leave the induced charges to you, and I’ll simply try my best to make the first shot the one that kills him!

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