Hunting buffalo in the thick jesse with a big bore double. Submitted for your enjoyment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...N5E&feature=youtu.be

If you have a fast enough connection, this video is loaded in 1080I. If not, just choose a lower quality version.

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Trophy fee + ammo = durn expensive bull.

Superb, thanks for posting.


You are fast with the second shot out of the 577.

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Wow- what a hunt! As I sit here on my sofa drinking a Bud and watching this, damn, but did that raise my blood pressure! Thanks for sharing you successful hunt!

-John

great video. 1 thing i didn't understand, though. at the beginning when the first shot is fired, Blake is using a scoped double. later during the follow up, he is using an open sighted bolt action. did he actually change rifles for the follow up? i thought nothing was better than a double for this sort of hunt.....

Great video Todd. Looked like some fast and accurate shooting.

Jerry,

Blake was carrying my scoped 9.3x74R in case we were not able to get close enough or have an unobstructed shot for the big gun with it's open sights. His tracker was carrying his CZ 458 Lott behind us. Really the same set up as having the big bore double in hand and scoped .375 carried by the tracker. Come to think of it, I'm not sure why Blake had it other than his possibly thinking it would be easier to just swap than to bring the tracker up as we were really stuck out in the open on this stalk.

This was a bit of an odd ball buff trophy hunt as we were really focused on taking a mature bull, but didn't want to play around for days getting it done as we needed bait for the lion. That's the reason for shooting the smaller of the two bulls in this clip. The larger one, and he was quite a bit larger, was still laying down and completely covered by brush when I fired the first round.

Nice one Todd... where did your first shot go exactly?

So you do use a sling? Does the VC come with the attachments and what sling are you using?

Good shooting and well filmed.

Hey Todd-

Well done and thanks for sharing your buff hunt with us. Glad to see you using a sling on that DR. From what you say on the film and by the looks of your ammo slides, that buff almost ran you out of cartridges! I always laugh my ass off at the guys with 5 rounds on their belt during a DG hunt (even seen a few without any visible spares and watched one idiot fishing through his pockets for his reloads). I have witnessed buff take an incredible number of big bore cartridges of various calibers before deciding they're dead. Which is exactly why I wear a 15 round cartridge belt when after buff or ele. And I re-fresh it every night - and sometimes on the truck - when needed.

Looks like I just may have booked a 2013 ele hunt for the 500 NE (with sling).

See you at the B&M booth in Dallas.

Dear Todd

Good shooting and PHing from Blake.

That 577 made a good thump.

Where did the shots land?

They can sure soak up some lead.

Keep the video's comming.

Regards Mark

Todd,

Questions:

How long did you wait after the initial shot before the pursuit?

It appears that the buff traveled a fair distance....how far do you think the bull traveled after the first shot? You mentioned it was tracked for about an hour and the bull made multiple circles....could you add to this.


Excellent hunt! congratulations!


dale

Thanks for all the comments guys. I appreciate them.

Slings, absolutely I use them. Especially when there is a long distance to be traveled or when heading back to the truck over dead ground after a stalk that didn't work out. I think I've stated that in discussions about whether or not to use them in the past. Recent comments were more about whether or not the African Carry is dangerous or even comfortable. I use them both and believe the A.C. is safe as long as you continuously pay attention to where the muzzles are. Andrew, the VC comes with the attachments if you order them that way. I don't think they are standard but your gun was ordered by Mr. Knowlton who also ordered mine (it was Aaron's previously). Looking at the pics of your gun, I think ours are identical except for the caliber so you should be good for a sling on that rifle!

Bullet placement. We were all surprised that there was no death bellow right away. That follow up took over 1 hour as he made continuously tightening circles. There wasn't a lot of time to study that first shot as he was about to bolt. With open sights and some brush, I misjudged the angle at which he was facing. I hit him a bit too far to the left and only took out one lung. Just a couple of inches more to the center of his chest would have made all the difference. Bullet went in just behind the point of the shoulder and was recovered under the skin next to the anus. A 700gr Non-Con. Here is a pic of the bullet:



Mike, yep, started with 10, fired 7! Problem was that he got his adrenaline up on that first shot. Sometimes they go right down and then sometimes they don't. He wasn't huge but he was scrappy!

Edit: Sorry Dale, you and I were typing at the same time. We waited about 15 minutes after the first shot to begin pursuit. I don't know how far exactly he traveled but it was a ways. He ran slowly into the wind going further into the jesse, then would turn and run quickly with the wind back to the edge of the jesse where we first shot him and just kept repeating. You can't tell from the camera's shutter but it was beginning to get dark and in fact, the entire sequence of loading him into the truck was filmed with the aid of a light. We realized he was running on adrenalin and took a short break of about 15 minutes. That calmed him down enough that he finally stood his ground and we were able to finish it. It was exciting to say the least but we ended up with two trackers out in front as the blood dried up and I started becoming a bit concerned for them. All ended well however, except for the buffalo!

Thanks again guys!

First blood on your new .577! Congratulations. Great video, nicely done.
I have yet to take anything with the CEB's but you can bet I will be using them. All of the non cons I have recovered from my range look exactly like that one, albeit much smaller.

Proper hunt that.

Excellent video Todd, thanks! I was "right there" with you!

577 on buffalo Hot damn , Todd they looked like squib loads. No recoil at all. Or you held on that damn rifle with a sure death grip. Anyway fine shooting. Videography was outstanding.

Mike

Todd,

Excellent! You can handle that double witnessed by your follow up shots and quick reloading. obviously you have practiced. Too often that is not the case.

Congrats!

Mark

Great video!

You handle and shoot that DR very well, mighty impressive!

I love the audio. Anyone who has ever tried to close those last few meters---agonizing at all the racket you are making while crunching every dried leaf and twig---knows this feeling.

Thanks for sharing.

Great job todd, hunting in the jesse is an experience unlike anything else.

Nice one - and thanks for sharing the video

When I grow up I SO want to own a .577 double, LOL!

How many bullets did you send into the vital area?

Execellent video!!! Way better than most of the hunting shows!!

I also noticed you were carrying your binoculars under your arm and they were pulled around to your back when you were closing on that buff. 
You were pretty adamant about your binocular harness before, I figured you would come around. 

quote:

Originally posted by Dog Man:
I also noticed you were carrying your binoculars under your arm and they were pulled around to your back when you were closing on that buff. 
You were pretty adamant about your binocular harness before, I figured you would come around. 

Sorry Dog but I found the bino's slung under the arm to be a royal P.I.T.A! Damn things kept sliding down and I had to continually pull them up on my back and out of the way. I gave it a try but I still prefer the harness!

Todd

That was good shooting with your double rifle. Your film man did a good job for you in recording your hunt.

Plus we know that you shot this cape buffalo for lion bait.

But we just cannot keep taking the young soft boss ones, if we are to have hard boss trophy down the road.

Did you get your Lion?

Todd, the binos have to have a long harness.

Long Grass bino harness.

Great stuff Todd
Would enjoy seeing more of your hunt, your camera man did an EXCELLENT job in filming your hunt!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Late-Bloomer:
Great stuff Todd
Would enjoy seeing more of your hunt, your camera man did an EXCELLENT job in filming your hunt!!!

+1

That was some of the best footage I have seen. I really enjoyed how the camera man took a moment during the action to focus on the rifles(this seems to be lacking in most videos).

Well done!

Yes your cameraman whoever he is, should be complimented. Your editor is a fine artisan as well. The natural sounds of leaves crunching, cartridges loading etc were all easily audible. I liked the buildup to the hunt, and the time taken after the original shot to show all of the followup.

And your shooting Todd also was well done. You were never in jeopardy of losing that buffalo. Your first shot was fatal. You handle that double with the ease of a 20 gauge. Nice work all around.

Great video. Really captured the atmosphere well.

Todd, 7 rounds of .577 to kill a buff is a lot. We all know they are tough, but surely something went wrong somewhere?

Maximus


Todd said re the first shot "I hit him a bit too far to the left and only took out one lung. Just a couple of inches more to the center of his chest would have made all the difference."

and then
"Problem was that he got his adrenaline up on that first shot."


I thought it kind of explains it well.

quote:

Originally posted by 505G:
only took out one lung. Just a couple of inches more to the center of his chest would have made all the difference."

and then
"Problem was that he got his adrenaline up on that first shot."


I thought it kind of explains it well.

That will do it.

quote:

Originally posted by Maximus Brutus:
Great video. Really captured the atmosphere well.

Todd, 7 rounds of .577 to kill a buff is a lot. We all know they are tough, but surely something went wrong somewhere?

+1 also,the bullet shows no expansion just break-up.I think it would have caused more damage if it were a big Woodleigh RN soft.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
I think it would have caused more damage if it were a big Woodleigh RN soft.

Boyo that would hurt..

Guys, thank you very much for the nice comments. I really do appreciate them.

The cameraman on this hunt was Raymond Buchanon. He is very active with the camera, always running to get a special or unique shot and I think he does an outstanding job.

The editor is me. I've been working at learning to edit for a couple of years now and really enjoy it.

7 shots does seem like a lot. However, if that first one is off a bit and they get that adrenaline going, all bets are off. I think Boddington said it doesn't matter if you hit them with a field artillery gun at that point. However, what isn't really clear in the video is that he was down after the fourth shot, that being the 3rd that hit him. The second was a miss from the open salvo. But he kept trying to regain his feet. I don't think he could have gotten back up but after a bit more than a hour in that thick stuff, and with darkness starting to become an issue if it went much further, I wasn't about to let him up. It took those last 3 to convince me he was down for good.

To the young bull comment, this bull was an old dugga boy. His left horn is about 40% remaining from wear. Just an example of one that never quite grows together and isn't going to be a great trophy from the book standards. I'm an advocate of shooting old mature animals so I agree with you. Bwana338, yes we did get the lion. Link to the hunt report and video found here:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...151069181#7151069181

Does this buff look young to you?







Thanks again everyone!

Todd, that really was a fine clip. What a tough old bull and such magnificent bosses! And praise be, I didn't see any sweeps.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Todd, that really was a fine clip. What a tough old bull and such magnificent bosses! And praise be, I didn't see any sweeps.

Not shooting your buff right especially from a close distance,can be worst than a sweep with the safety off.

Close ?

I wouldn't call that first shot that close !


Todd
It's amazing how that 1 or two inches can make
all the difference. Have seen it a few times on big Water Buffalo where they just don't want to go down.

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