Maybe this has been discussed before, in which case let this thread die.....

What is the most shots you took (or witnessed) to down/kill your/a buff? and what calibers?

The most shots I took was 8 (.375 H&H).
The most I witnessed was 15 (mixed, .458, .375 and .38 revolver )

The most I've shot has been four shots! That was with a 500/450NE double. Three shots to put him down, and one insurance shot! The first shot was a soft, but placed in the neck below the chin in a frontal shot, the missed the spin, and went high above the heart, and got only one lung.

Another was four shots MY two,with a 500/450NE,double and the PH's two from a 375H&H Brno 602 within a 15 yd surprise charge, the only Buffalo charge I have been involved in. I know of one Buffalo that took nine, all in the boiler-room, with a 375 H&H with all solids, but I wasn't there! That has more to do with the use of all monolithic solids than the caliber, IMO. I believe if the first shot had been a quality controled expansion soft the Buffalo wouldn't have taken so long to succumb!

My highest total "so far" is 6 shots. All in the chest with a 458 Lott. First was a barnes soft then 5 solids. It took him 10 minutes to decide to die. He saw us before the first shot and I think that makes a big difference how they handle the shot. My buddy shot one unaware with a 375 Flanged and it just fell over. You never know with a buffalo!

One shot, then one 42" cape buffalo bull did the death bellow. GSC 380gr/.416cal FN solid at 2509 fps MV. Busted the shoulder and heart. Ruger Rigby. Range was about 50 yards, and that is about how far he ran too, away from me, before he died.

I haven't had the chance to screw up the first shot on a cape buffalo yet, but I will!

My record is 7 .458's (Lott) first up was a 500gr Woodleigh soft that I hit him to far forward with. The next 6 were 500gr woodleigh solids 4 of which went through the money zone.

I killed him 10 minutes later with a frontal brain shot. He was down but not dead.

I had a close second last summer with 6 .470NE's of which the first two bullets were through both lungs. That was just a weird deal. The buff went down within 50 yards and we could hear him wheezing and coughing, and breathing in a very loud labored maner. We gave him nearly 30 minutes and he'd stopped breathing we thought.

In any case when we went into the jesse to collect him he wasn't quite dead yet. When he stuck his head up at close range the PH fired a shot with his .470 which deflected in some brush and grazed the bull up the side of the neck. That was all it took to resuscitate MR bovinous attitudus and the fight was on!

This bull was one of those old pissed at the world Dagga boys, he was missing one eye and had all of the molar's on one side shot out. And had a chunk of what looked like iron bar stuck in his jaw bone that had healed over from long ago. Not a happy boy.

I have heard of 3 Spanish hunters, who fired a total of 27 shots - from 375 H&H and 458 Winchester magnum.

The PH who was with them told me the story.

First Buff 2 rounds + one insurance, second Buff two rounds insurance not necessary. Witnessed 11 rounds of which 5, .458 + 6 .460 on an Old blind bull! Who would have thought!

On Buffalo, my record is ONE... Took it with my .416 Remington, didn't even get a death bellow, went 40 yards and done!

Now if you want to talk Hippo, 15 shots with my .416. That's another story, and I have the whole thing on video!

Bwanamich,

My first buff took a 400 grain Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer through both shoulders from my .416 Rigby at about 80 yards, which left him down but not out. I shot his engine room to tatters with the next four rounds until he quit. So, was that one shot or five? Score it anyway you like...

My next buffalo took a 400 grain Swift A-Frame (.416 Rigby again) through the lungs at about 30 steps, then another 400 grain Sledgehammer amidships as he ran. He piled up inside of 75 yards. The A-frame gets the credit, I simply didn't get my second shot far enough forward...

Good hunting,

Mark

Bwanamich

Seven solids from a 416 Remington. Buffalo was completely unaware of us and the initial shot was very good at about 35 yards. The damn thing ran off like I had missed. We then had about five minutes of Run and Gun.

Regards,

Mark

I have a film of two of my clients that shot one buffalo 13 times and another 9 times with a 470 and a 500 NE double teaming both bulls...amazing..

To the best of my recollection the most I have shot one of my Buffalo was 3 times, most twice..

I have shot them two or three times on someone elses follow ups after they got full of adrenaline. Mostly with the 375, 416, and 404, but a few each with the 9.3s, 458, 458 Lott, 505, and 450-400s, all about the same as far as I could tell...Shot one each with the 06,308 and several with the 8x57 with about the same results, but it wasn't comfortable..

I like the way the 404 and 416s kill buffalo, they suit me fine..I consider the 9.3s and 375 capable, but much prefer the 40 calibers, and base that on how quickly the put a bull down..

The only "instant" one shot kill I ever got on a buffalo (excluding brain and spine shots)was with with a 416 Rem and 380 gr. Northfork soft at 2350 at 225 yds...At the shot he tipped forward until his nose touched the dirt, his knees buckled and he flopped over dead...AJ Van Heerden called him the Teapot bull, because thats what he looked like going down...broke both shoulders and tore his heart up..

I suspect he never felt any danger and I have a notion that game that never suspects danger and takes a hit dies much easier than those that are in a hunted stress mode????????

One buff., one shot, one death bellow. I did fire a 2nd shot as insurance on the PH''s request, but the bull was down & not going ANYWHERE. A .404j w/ 380grNF @ 2200fps from about 50yds. The shot center punched the heart from a frontal chest shot.

5 shots with 375 H&H factory trophy bonded Bearclaws. First broadside that hit high in the lungs, than two up the rear as he faced away from me, than two in the shoulder that put him down. 4 followups as he lay on the ground - I kept missing the spinal cord. He traveled no more than 10 yards before he went down.

I've only seen 3 buffalo shot.
One I shot twice with a .460 Wby. - Ran about 100 yard. No insurance shot.
My hunting partner shot one 3 times with a .416 Rigby. - Ran about 80 yards. No insurance shot.
I shot another 3 times with a .375 H&H. - Ran about 40 yards. One insurance shot.

Samples this small mean nothing, but the average was 3 shots.

I've had clients on wild pigs shoot 12+ times. The placement of the first shot and design of bullet probably determines how the rest will play out more than anything else.

Kyler

My Buff took one North Fork 370 grain soft at 2400 fps from my .416 Remington in the last rib at a quartering away angle. The bullet traversed through everyting the old boy had and lodged against the backbone where the first rib attachs. He went around a couple times, started to walk slowly away, I put a 370 grain North Fork flat pointed solid through a shoulder and offside lung when it exited, he went in a circle then feet up on his back for good. I was pleased with the rifle and bullet. The next will get the same medicine. Good shooting.

375 H&H. First shot 80yds quartering to, hit too high to take out the heart. Second shot, 40 yds broadside took out the near shoulder. Third and forth, he was lying down and tried to finish him but were deflected by branches Fifth shot, insurance. Will shoot better next time

12 rounds, .450 Dakota and .458 Lott.

First shot was a "good" shot. 35 yards, almost facing me, stuck it right in the chest. 500 grain Swift A-Frame out of the 450 Dakota.

Now, not all the follow up shots were good killing shots, there was one that did nothing but piss him off. But, the majority of the shots were good kill shots.

Later I would realize that this shot was a single lung shot, as he was not completely head on .. maybe a 5 degree angle. He would have died ... eventually, but it goes to prove what a few experienced guys will say. A single lung shot Buffalo can live a long time!

Long enough to kill you or get away to not be recovered. Either case is not a happy one.

I shot my first buffalo (which was also my first dangerous game animal) with eight (8) .475s - but not all of them were necessary. I had read too much Capstick and was totally aware of the dangers of a wounded buff and, as this was a 46" trophy, I didn't want to risk losing him - so I hammered him!!!!

The first shot, a woodleigh softpoint, was in through the heart and as he tried to run I gave him the second barrel (a solid). He made it about 25yards and was standing behind some light scrub when I gave him two more solids quartering forward into his chest. He collapsed and as I ran up he was still twitching so I kept reloading and shooting until the PH ran up and said "stop shooting - he's dead!".

During the stalk the trackers and game scout had fallen back and were not witnesses to the events but all of the shooting must have given them the impression that things had turned decidely nasty, and it was quite some time after the firing had ceased, before they gingerly approached us. When they saw that the two crazy white guys were still alive, and unhurt, they were suddenly all smiles and full of bluster.

So chalk me up for eight (8) .475s!

2 shots on my first Buff. .458 Win. Mag 500 gn. soft, then a 500 gn. solid. One put him down, albeit 40-50 yds from where he was hit...then a second as we got up to him, and he seemed to want to get up and "visit" with us...

6 shots. First shot right in the boiler room where it was supposed to be. Next 2 shots in the chest as he turned to come for us. Shot 4 was the only bad shot of the bunch, a raking shot form back right to front left after he had turned from the chest shots. A little too far back but still a raking shot. 5th shot in the spine ended the argument. 6th shot in the spine as insurance as there was no death bellow.
376 Steyr with 270 grn hornady softpoints. Not the bullet to use for this sort of encounter.

Buff1: Buff saw us and was spooked. One shot into lungs with .585 nyati, breaking offside shoulder. Buff went 25 yards and flopped over doing the death bellow.

Buff2: Not spooked. Broadside at 20 yards through some brush. I hit a little too far back with the .500 NE, but still hit a wee bit of lung. Buff went 300 yards and hit in a bush. I couldn't see the darned thing, but the PH insisted the buff was in there so eventually the PH had me shoot the bush. Turned out that was a neck shot but did not get the spine. Buff turned to run and took one up the tailpipe. One more shot broadside and one more tailpipe shot took care of things, for a total of 6 shots.

My 8 shot buff was quite an interesting one.....I was hunting in Montane forest and we came up on this small group fo buffs. There was a lot of mist as we tried to follow them downhill - a glimpse of a horn or back or a moving bush was the only tell tale sign that they were in fornt of us - as they fed trying not to make too much noise. We finally came to a standstill on a very, very steep slope surrounded with vegetation. The fog was still thick and the wind steady towards us. When I glassed for the buffs I saw what had to be a 44+" buff. Through my scope I could not see him due to the fog. After what seemed like half an hour, I finally made out enough silhouette of the buffs shoulder/neck joint and fired! The buff went down as if hit by a bus and was struggling to get up. Menawhile, all sorts of other buffs came flushing out of the surrounding "jungle" and one particular one not 5 yards in front of us, luckily heading across and below our front to dissapear in the foliage a few yards later!

As I "searched" for the wounded buff thorugh my scope i finally found him and fired a "hail mary" shot. The buff eventually got up and disspeared inot a nasty patch of netles. We now waited for the bellow that never came.

As time passed, the fog finally cleared and we searched for any sign of the wounded buff from our elevated position. I wasn't going to go in there after him with a scoped .375 (that's a long story ) with 3 yards visibility

I finally made out what I thought was the head and fired again. A fourth "hail mary" shot as he thundered and thrashed surrounding bushes. The all was still again. No sign of him for the next 20 - 30 minutes and no death bellow. I knew right then this was going to be a long day!

As we circled the dense patch in search of Mr. Nyati we came across a "darker" patch again. 10 minutes of inspection through our binos yielded no lesser doubt. I decided to fire another "hail mary" shot. I was correct and as the buff re-positioned himself, i fired a 6th "hail mary". Let me state now that all tthese "hail mary's" were the only shot available and I figured I would take "any" shot that presented itself in this situation. Keep shooting and loading at every chance. Finally after more of the same, I was able to see a shoulder and took a 7th shot from a tree at about 8 yards which dropped him. The 8th shot was the insurance shot between the eyes.....

The euphoria was somehow diminished when my 44" turned out to be no more than 36.5 inches

Happy hunting!

8 shots. It was on the little DVD I sent around last year.

I was hunting with a .375 H&H with Barnes X's and Speer Tungsten Solids.

1. 40 yards through both lungs, the bull stumbled backwards;

2. Again in the chest, breaking far shoulder;

3. Bull began to run towards high grass, bad shot, too far back but angled forward through liver and far lung;

4. Behind right shoulder and exited front of heart... bull continued to stumble towards high grass;

5. 6" to the right of bung hole, breaking spine on sharpely quatering-away bull, dumping him;

6. Between shoulders at 40 yards as bull tried to get up when we approached;

7. In neck from ten yards;

8. In neck from two yards after "dead" bull tried to get up again when PH touched eye with rifle barrel.

I feel certain that if left alone after the first shot, the buffalo would have tried to follow the herd and died within a few hundred yards, but I'm from the "shoot until dead" frame of mind with DG.

I've shot other buffalo (one on the same DVD) with the same Barnes X in the same spot and they ran 40 yards and died... go figure???

192, including misses
Chewore South
1995
Me: .470 NE, 2 rounds loaded, a 30 round cartridge belt and two 20 round bandoliers.
PH: .470 NE, 2 rounds loaded, a 30 round cartridge belt and two 20 round bandoliers.
Appy: .458 Lott, 4 loaded and 20 round cartridge belt.
Tarcker: .375 H&H, 4 loaded and 20 round cartridge belt.

Buff surprised in mopane bush. I hit it with first shot and then everyone else opened up. By dusk after firing on the run after chasing the buff for about fifteen miles, we were out of ammo (192 rounds).

Drove to Harare overnight to buy more ammo, but found the buff dead in the morning. Actually only four hooves with a lot of hyena tracks.

I refused to pay the trophy fee because the four hooves could not be identified positively as being from my buff and we had no DNA test kit. In addition to the trophy fee, the outfitter demanded I pay an ammo surcharge.

I think I have heard of that hunt......you've become a legend

3 shots 400gr swifties, .416 Taylor.
1. Mostly broadside about 15 yards, broke near side shoulder & 1 lung.
He swapped ends & came back across.
2. Broke the other near side shoulder & the other lung lobe.
He turned our way & was coming towards us.
3. Spine shot that dumped him.
He wasn't really "charging" us, just coming in the direction we were at. But it is my story & in the bar after a couple rounds, it may get embellished a little, but it is based on an actual event!

Mike

2 shots, .375 H&H. 300 grain woodleigh soft RN and FMJ.

First one on an undisturbed bull, broadside through both lungs, perhaps behind the shoulders a little.

Second shot a short while later, the bull had run on a little and stopped, looked sick but started to look better so an FMJ through the shoulders maybe 40% up from the leg line. Also broadside.

The bull run maybe 50 yards angling across our front and the then stopped, shook, spun around abit and eventually died.

Will,

I do believe you are an ASSHOLE and that you'll take that moniker as a compliment.

Regards,

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Will,

I do believe you are an ASSHOLE and that you'll take that moniker as a compliment.

Regards,

Mark

Well,
I got a chuckle out of that one. Surely Will did too. However, I really laughed my ass off at Will's 192 shot post above.

Well Yes... I suspect that Will's post contained as much truth as the vows of fidelity in a French wedding service

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Buff1: Buff saw us and was spooked. One shot into lungs with .585 nyati, breaking offside shoulder. Buff went 25 yards and flopped over doing the death bellow.

Buff2: Not spooked. Broadside at 20 yards through some brush. I hit a little too far back with the .500 NE, but still hit a wee bit of lung. Buff went 300 yards and hit in a bush. I couldn't see the darned thing, but the PH insisted the buff was in there so eventually the PH had me shoot the bush. Turned out that was a neck shot but did not get the spine. Buff turned to run and took one up the tailpipe. One more shot broadside and one more tailpipe shot took care of things, for a total of 6 shots.

It does not suprise me that the buff did not want to fight with you after being hit by the 585 cannon. A good shot with a big caliber is better than a good shot with a small one, but the reverse is also true that a good shot with a small one is better than a bad one with a cannon. The 585 is a very interesting caliber, one day when the South African gun laws change I would like to get myself one.

Wimpie

What does it mean when you think your own stuff is hysterically amusing?

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
What does it mean when you think your own stuff is hysterically amusing?

A. That you're hopelessly biased and therefore unqualified as a critic.

B. That in this case you happen to be right nonetheless!

Ganyana, Speaking of qualifications, can we assume you've known some French wives?

One of ze perks of ze profession Actually the current flavor amonst clients seems to be dial a russian delivery. Bumped into two with their russian girls who don't speak english/german and the client didn't speak russian already this season!

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
What does it mean when you think your own stuff is hysterically amusing?

Just hysterical?