The recent death of Bob Fontana and several others, and the discussions that these events have engendered made me think of how dismissive we often are about hunting dangerous game. We entertain questions about dangerous game calibers; debate push feed v. control feed; post ad nauseum about 45-70 as a dangerous game cartridge; and then, once and a great while, we have a series of events like we've had recently that bring home graphically and emphatically why it is called "dangerous game hunting."

I mean no any disrespect to those that have been killed or injured in this spate of events. My sincerely condolences go out to the families, loved ones, and friends of those who were killed and injured. Like so many of you, having watched my Dad wither away at Hospice, a short bout with a buffalo is not all that daunting. However, as others have pointed out, our names and our ends are written in the Book of Life, and we know not when, where or how we will be called; although called we all will be.

I have a dangerous game hunt scheduled next year, the hunt of a lifetime. It will be my second such hunt. The first was for buffalo in 1998. I remember that the entire mood of that hunt was different from our first plains game hunt. It was more serious. It was always serious. Only after we had taken the buffalo was there any real levity on the part of our ph.

These events brought home my recollections of that hunt. First, how my .375HH that seemed so big at home looked so damned small when we closed within 20 yards or less of the several herds of buffalo we got into before taking one. Little did I know then what I know now, that sh!t happens and your ph cannot always sort it out.

An event towards the end of that hunt indelibly imprinted upon me the need to always have a rifle with you capable of dealing whatever might come your way. We had packed our gear for transport to the airport and gone out for an afternoon hunt before leaving for Vic Falls the next day. We came upon some elephant sign, and the ph got out to check it all out. He left his .416 in the cab of the truck and my brother and I were on the back, with a loaner 300WM.

The elephants that had made the sign appeared to our front, on a bank of the dry riverbed we were sitting in. Fortunately, the head elephant never determined where we were or decided it was necessary to investigate further because neither our ph nor we could have reached his rifle in time, and the 150 gr bullets in my loaner would have only irritated him.

As I prepared for next year's hunt, I had pretty much made up my mind to take by 9.3X62 and my .375HH. Both rifles are very accurate, and my 9.3 with 250BT's will reach right on out there, leaving my .375 for bigger things at closer ranges. After these events, I must reconsider whether I have a light weight bullet loading for the 375HH that would let me take smaller animals at longer ranges, and still give me a comfortable edge in dealing with situations.

Whether I take the 9.3 & 375 or the 375 & 425, you can bet that the first round (maybe two) will be heavy solids. You can also believe I'll say my prayers every night, and there will be no complacency about what we are doing and where we are doing it until we are on the big bird homeward bound.

Dangerous game hunting is just that-dangerous. It is not that "other kind of safari," or a hunt for more expensive animals. I am frequently lulled into thinking that it is a mismatch when I show up with a magnum rifle against an animal. It just depends on what you run up on and where. Sh!t can happen in an awful hurry in country where the buffalo, lions and leopard roam. Ku-dude

Kudo's to Ku-Dude

Safe Hunting

Clint

Well said ku-dude. I am headed to Moz. for my 1st buffalo hunt. I am not regretting taking my .404 jeffery as my only rifle. I have a great rifle, great loads & am practicing, off the bench now, so I feel I will be ready.
It makes you think though. Take nothing for granted, pay extra close attention & enjoy the experience. If something happens, everyone in my family will know I was doing what I have always wanted to do. There are worse things.

As I read the original posts that described the event as a buffalo they weren't aware of charging them while they were hunting kudu my first reaction was it was the same as driving your car down the road and having a semi jump the rail and broadside you....one of those things that happens and isn't really related to what you were doing at the time.

I'm not trying to diminish his death as any accidental death is a tradegy but there was probably more chance of him getting hit by a car in Jo-Burg that getting killed by a buffalo while hunting kudu.

Ku-dude,



Excellent...I am leaving in 19 days for buf and ele...my wife reading about the accidents and worrying how safe we will be...This will be my second safari and believe me this more then refreshes in my mind why I carry my rifle All the time...I never let the boys carry it...I pass it to them as I climb from the truck but I carry it always...

Primary 458 Lott Bridger solids and backup 375 with Bridger solids



Mike

Interesting series of posts. Last weekend I sighted in my 416 Rigby at 200 yards instead of the usual 100 yards. My thinking is that even if I am after non DG, but in DG country, it should do OK. I am probably limited to the 200 or maybe 225, but that is about the longest shot I will probably get in that kind of country anyway! I don't know how it compares with the 404, but probably similar thinking. I will also chamber a round when not in the truck, just in case.
Peter.

YES!! The .404 will be in my hands the whole time I'm in Mozambique, starting August 1st. Only when we head south into Kwa-Zulu Natal will I turn it over to the head tracker and carry the .318. "Whatever species you may be hunting, when in elephant country, carry an elephant rifle." Terry Wieland.

Good luck, hope you have a great hunt.
I think that, like most dangerous things, you don't expect it will actually kill you and these recent reports have brought home the fact that YES, no matter how good guns/ammo get, there are some variables we cannot control. I hope the recent deaths make us all more careful hunters.

Some very well-reasoned reflections here, it certainly made me re-evaluate my decision about my 416Rigby/300 H&H combo for next year's hunt in favor of a 416/375 option. However, I think I'll stick to my original plan.

Once I'm done with the buffalo, the 300 H&H will be the weapon of choice. I don't think bullet caliber was the deciding factor in any of the tragedies discussed here recently. I think carrying a 416 for bushbuck, crosses that thin line between the sublime and the ridiculous. jorge

Excellent insights......

Dangerous game hunting is EXACTLY what the name on the marquee says -- DANGEROUS. It needs to be treated as such; as a potentially life-threatening enterprise.

I don't think that a lot of guys give DG hunting the respect that it deserves. One PH told me about a couple of hunters he had in camp one season that expected him to sit around the fire, listen to their bullshit, and watch them drink until 2:AM nearly every night for the duration of the safari. Then everyone was supposed to get up at 5:AM and hunt, and yes, buffalo hunting was the central part of the program. The PH told me that this was one of the most dreary, long, and stressful weeks he'd ever put in with clients.

I hate to be too critical, but I just can't figure some hunters out. They want to invest in a DG hunt, but some of them don't really want to pay the full price. They want to go with a DG cartridge, of course, but they don't seem to want to invest in a real dangerous game RIFLE. Instead of spending more on a really well-made, reliable, and durable rifle, they'd rather trim that part of the budget, compromise, and go with something stock right off the shelf, hoping that everything works out. They never quite seem to figure out that any number of cartridges will work well for DG hunting, but not all DG rifles are created equal, not even close. Yet that rifle is the delivery system that has to work every time, and without fail -- not dump cartridges on the ground at High Noon; not jam; not slam-fire, not develop a split magazine that screws-up feeding, etc., etc. And the ironic part is the failures usually happen under pressure situations in the bush, not at the range back home. But reverse-economy seems to rule the decision making process all too often, even though it may turn out to be, as I've said many times, a matter -- truly -- of your money or your life. You can't count on the PH to pull your fat out of the fire, and I never do, no more than I count on the local police to protect my family at home.

Nor do some guys seem to want to pay the price by staying in reasonable physical condition throughout the year, watch the diet, laying off the booze, get a good night's sleep throughout the safari, and really keeping a clear and focused perspective on the task at hand. Personally, I treat hunting just like I do business, and I won't give it anything less.

Risk and reward always go hand-in-hand, and in direct proportion to one another. I prefer to treat the risk portion of DG hunting as carefully planned-for, calculated risk, not some sort of casual romp. Luck is infatuated with the well-prepared.........

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