I've been dutifully reading my book "The Perfect Shot" like a good little first time to Africa neophyte and noticed that on most of the plainsgame the shot placement is much farther forward than what I would have picked on say a whitetail deer. Here's my question, do you really have to place the shot that much farther forward? I'm used to kind of just tucking the shot behind the front leg on a deer and getting a pretty good heart/lung shot, it looks like if you took that shot on some of the plainsgame you would miss the heart/lung completely.
So after looking at some of the recommended "aimpoints" it would seem that with the correct shot angle you could just keep the vertical crosshair over the front leg and be far enough forward and then just hold about one-third up the body, does that sound right? I don't think I have ever shot a deer that far forward that's why I'm asking.
Now after having said all that do you suppose that there is a reason for the heart/lung on African animals being that far forward? I can't think of a good reason why Mother Nature would put the vitals that far forward. Anyhow I was just wondering if any of you have noticed this? Thanks in advance!
Joe

Joe.....my PH told me where to shoot on every animal.....and I tried to shoot as directed and three animals dropped to one single shot each. The Gemsbok was a great shot taking out the heart and lungs with a 200 grain Swift A-frame from a .300 H&H.....The Kudu however was not so good.....I wound up shooting it four times in good places before it went down.

You know what.....I was so excited that I don't remember where he told me to shoot anymore except it wasn't surprising....it was as I'd do if shooting a whitetail. Frankly I didn't need him to tell me where to shoot.....just which one!

I shot em like they was whitetails and it worked for me!!

Anatomically I don't think they are all that different but African game is under constant pressure from lots of predators so they are arguably harder to put down. Hence you shoot them to kill but not ruin the cape. Besides that, I like to eat heart and they don't taste as good when they are shot so back home a lung or neck shot does the trick.

Joe:

The pictures don't lie. The vitals are certainly more forward on virtually all African game, except cats, and a "tucked behind the front leg" shot, if at any kind of quartering forward angle, will result in a long track.

It is very difficult to reprogram your aim point after a lifetime of N.American game shooting, but move it forward, and the game will go down.

Good luck!

Sable, Wildebeest and cats are very simulair to our deer, elk and antelope...

The bottom line is any shot that will put down one of our animals will put down any African animal...Just shoot for the shoulder or close behind it and you will get the animal..That I guarentee...

It's all smoke and mirrors.

Just shoot them all the same way you do whitetails. Half way up, right behind the front leg on broadside shots. Dead.

I favor the top of the heart shot placement as it seems to put them down quicker. Since I have my rifles sighted in at around 2.5" high at 100 yards, and shots tend to take place inside 150 yards for the most part, on a broadside shot I hold the vertical wire on the elbow joint with the horizontal wire just above it. That will take out the top of the heart or the arteries coming into the heart, and the animal generally goes down within about 60 yards, and immediately in some cases.

Thanks for the tips everybody, I appreciate it. It looks like if you try to shoot through the shoulder that you might get some of the secondary pieces of bone fragments acting like shrapnel, I remember reading a post where they thought on Cape Buffalo that this was a good idea. Anybody have an opinion on whether this is necessary on plainsgame?
Vapodog, thanks for the input, my next question was going to be whether the PH would give an aimpoint or not.
Joe

Gentlemen,

This questions crops up in our workshop non-stop.

Of course all the answers posted so far are correct, but they all assume the animal is standing broadside.

This does no always happen when you hunt. In fact, you will find that on a lot of occassions, you will not get this sort of a shot in Africa at all.

Regardless of the angle, I always try to make sure the bullet ends up in the chest cavity, as close to being in the center between the front legs as possible.

To be able to do this, one has to use a bullet that will penetrate deep enough to reach there, from whatever angle you are shooting.

Years ago, I used to use a 270 Ackley for plains game. I had to pass on certain shots on the bigger animals. As teh angle was not good.

Since I have started using my 375/404 on everything, I have enjoyed the luxury of taking any shot that offered itself. In this I have only used two bullets. The Barnes X 300 grain bullet, and our own lathe turned, hollow point bullets. Also in 300 grains.

These bullets will penetrate even a cape buffalo from one end to the other.

Saeed,



This rather sounds like a "closet" .375 story.



"It is not shot placement but rather that the .375 will quite successfully take any size animal, at any angle, on any planet, at any time of the year, using any bullet, ....."



Sounds more like a 416 story to me.



And I have never shot any game that wasn't broadside, well at least in the photos afterwards.

For any four legged game animal at any angle, put the vertical crosshair between the front legs where they meet the body (ignoring wind considerations), and the horizontal crosshair one third up the body (ignoring trajectory considerations).

Shooting at some degree of vertical angle, you have to adjust so the bullet path is one third up the body at the point where the front legs meet the body, but that is a fairly unusual shot for most of us.

The axiom that African game is harder to put down than our stuff over here is pure myth. They are the same and are not endowed with any extra adrenalin or "will to live." The reason why the shot appears to be further forward to you is that a lot of people are told that the heart lung shot is more effective. It isn't.

This bad habit is often seen on hunting shows on TV. Yesterday for example, I was watching a show where the hunter had a PERFECT frontal shot on a deer. The "host" made him wait for a full 8 minutes for the deer to turn broadside to shoot. In those 8 minutes, ANYTHING could have spooked that deer. Anyhow, he finally turns, whereupon the hunter shoots him in the lungs, the deer runs off and they find him some 200 yards into the woods in the dark.

Why not just shoot him in the chest and be done with it? A well-placed shoulder shot takes out the same organs and has the added advantage of anchoring the animal quicker. It does tend to ruin a bit more meat and therein lies the problem. In my view, I'd much rather have an animal drop right there than have to go look for him in the dark though some thickets. jorge

Jorge,
I have to agree with your opinion on anchoring game. I have had to help pack deer and elk out of nasty canyons that flat wore me out. If they would of put the shot through the shoulders and kept them from making it the last few yards that put them over the edge of the canyon. It ssems that when that happens they always make it clear to the bottom surrounded by snags and deadfalls that you cant get a horse within 300 yards with to haul them out.

The only way you are going to guarantee anchoring anything is to spine it or brain it. Most African large antelope (and deer, moose, elk, etc.) will go down instantly with a chest shot, a good expanding bullet (NP), and most any gun.

But not everytime. Wildebeest CAN BE extremely tough, a lot tougher than any deer, moose, etc. per pound that walks the earth. And buffalo? Tough, tough.

My grandpa told me to aim for the off side shoulder. Except for head on shots this still seems like good advice to me (forty five years later)

Mikelravy: That's sound advice. Whereabouts do you live in PA? We have a place near Huntingdon inside Rothrock state forest. jorge

IMHO, I really can't subscribe to the notion that Plainsgame are not tougher then N/A game. I can think of quite a few shots that I have take that would have dropped a whitetail at the shot, where in Africa you have anywhere from 50-100yds of tracking.

Botched a Blesbok shot once and neck shot it at about 200yds. I guarentee that shot would have dropped a whitetail in it's tracks, but the Blesbok ran off like nothing happened and rejoined the herd from which I dropped it at 300yds with a shoulder shot.

Shot a Zebra once at about 150yds with a dead center chest shot(seriously, the entrance was where the stripes met). It ran about 150yds.

Kudu with a heart shot from a .416 which ran about 100yds.

etc... etc...

It has always seemed to me that with N/A game, you have more margin for error then you do with African.

The PH's that I've dealt with for plains game would rather you just put a bullet into the leg bone about 6-12" up from the bottom of the chest. At least that way if there is not much blood they are running on 3 legs with is more then enough for a tracker to follow.

In my experience, African game is NO tougher than N. American game of the same approximate size. A good elk rifle makes a dandy plainsgame rifle, and any general-use rifle that I'd take on a mixed-bag hunt in Alaska is a rifle I'd feel perfectly comfortable with in Africa. Exact cartridge can vary, but premium bullets are a must!

As far as shot placement goes, I prefer to aim for the shoulder or the spine. If you break the framework down, you break them down, pure and simple, plus you'll take out vital organs as well. Lung shots are OK, and sometimes the best option, but if I can, I'll shoot for the shoulder every time.

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Jorge
I live in Nortwest PA, in the Allegheney National Forest. More woods, streams and lakes than I can explore in a lifetime. If you are ever in the area send me a message.

Allen
Spine and shoulder shots are the way to go, unless you are really worried about wasting meat.