You are on your (first safari to africa) a 7-day buffalo hunt.

After months or possibly years of planning, the big day has finally arrived.

You have settled into camp, had a nice braai then hit the sack early in anticipation of your first hunting day in Africa

The next morning up at first light, rusks and hot coffee then off you go into the bushveld with PH and tracker close by.

After maybe (two hours tracking) BINGO the BUFFALO of your dream presents itself, it looks like a 40+ at the very least.

The wind is in your favour, you have an excellant opportunity at a broadside clear shot.

WHAT do you DO ...

hold off as it is ONLY DAY-1 of your hunt, or do you go for the kill and execute immediately ??

Your thoughts

Cheers, Peter

...never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Smoke him..

And pray that you are hunting in Tanzania where you can then get super picky about number two. That's how I like to do it anyhow.

Ditto, a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush. How would you feel if you were looking back at that passed up buff last afternoon of the hunt. It is up to the individual. I am not in a position to keep going back for that massive trophy animal so I would shoot!!! and be happy

Kill him!

I have a nice one, the next time I might hold for a really big one. Nah! Kill him.

Rich
DRSS

Shoot him if it "feels" right...but prepare to spend the rest of the week, and maybe the rest of your life, wondering...

Gee, what a tough problem to have...

John

This happen to me in Zim. Hunting in the Umi river at Omey. Went out first day got onto a buff at 930am they ran off so we went to were we were going to fly camp,set up,had lunch,a sleep. Then at 4pm walked up the hill again and shot the bull 300m from were we bumped it in the morning.As they say" a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"

THat happened to Skip Nantz on our trip 2 weeks ago. I left camp to hang baits, and 10 minutes out of camp, we came across fresh buff tracks. We radioed Skip and his PH, and 20 minutes later, Skip shot a 40-incher! I told him he was robbed of hunting buff, but he ended up collecting a large bag, and he will hunt buff again...so, he did the right thing. He was able to add a hippo, and get a nice sable because he had extra time after his buff...good call Skip!

1st buff hunt comin up. So gunna find out very soon!!!

Great buf are hard to find. If one has shot many and wanted to pass on a 21 day safari I understand.
But on a 7 day hunt gotta do.
This story was told to me about 2 hunters who came into the Selous to hunt buf. First day out a
2 X 1 hunt. Got on to buf tracked up and got first hunter in shooting range of a great bull and put him down. While taking pics and handshakes and admiring the bull Ph hears some noise it is another group of buf just over a slight rise. Second hunter is told to grab his gun and in 5 minutes collects another very fine mature buf. Both hunters sat in camp enjoying a relaxing rest of there time and wanted to shoot nothing more.

Mike

That is one reason why one is better off booking a double buff hunt.

Shoot, take pix, make biltong, eat.

hahaha this did happen to me in April only the size was off a little. first day before lunch time two nice old bull within fifty yards of use both easy shoots, standing still, open area, I really wanted a scum cap so we took pictures and let them walk. six day laster my scum cap was in the truck Thanks to Steve Robinson and Philip A.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
That is one reason why one is better off booking a double buff hunt.

Or a dozen or two

Simple, if it looks 40+ then shoot. Where does it say you can't get the trophy you want on the first day? Didn't another poster talk about a guy that got a big leopard on first day of first safari? Getting big buff on first day doesn't mean your safari is over,(if on 7 day hunt)it means you have 6 more days to hunt other game and have a great time or if possible pursue a second buff.

Depends are what you are there for. If it is to get a nice buff then shoot, if it is to experience buffalo hunting and too learn how to hunt buff then pass.

465H&H

If this Buff was found so early and so easy on in the hunt, could it possibly be a "canned hunt"? Might make one wonder a bit huh? If it's a good one, if it's legal and you want to take him, do so. Your Buff, your hunt, your choice.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

like jim schokey says - if it looks good enough on the last day its good enough on the 1st

I've screwed myself a couple of times by letting a good trophy go on the first day and not found a better one later on. No more! If you see a nice whatever on day one shoot it. The scenario laid out in the initial post was for a 7 day buffalo hunt. On a hunt that short I feel you should shoot the first mature bull you can get a good shot at and spend the rest of the safari looking for plains game.

Mark

I'm with Butch and Shockey on this one... "never pass a bull on the first day you would shoot on the last"!

I am the poster child for this thread after last year. I killed my biggest bull elephant and my biggest buff to-date the day BEFORE my safari officially started!

Also, there are usually plenty of other animals on quota to hunt and some of them can be almost as much fun! Eland, kudu... hell even baboons can be a gas!

Shoot him and start negotiating the cost of a 2d bull.

Shoot, no question about it.

I had around 5-6 days left of my trip 08 and one buffalo left to hunt - first 10 minutes of the hunt we spotted a buffalo from the road we crawled into position and I had him in my scope but i passed he was in the 39-40" range with a great boss... I wanted more hunting, to kill a buff I spotted from the road after 10 minutes of hunting just didnt feel right - To make a long story short during the next 5 days we got into some very good/close stalks and I got the "experience" I wanted and took a nice 40" last day last minute. I wouldnt take that road buff today either.

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
Shoot him and start negotiating the cost of a 2d bull.

What the Safari-Lawyer said!!!

If I was there to kill a buffalo, then why wouldn't I kill that one?

Tomorrow is promised to no man, and no buffalo, either.

On the first day of my 2008 buffalo hunt we basically got the lay of the landscape and approached a few herds and got up on the sticks once or twice...not heavy duty hunting and was more or less getting into the swing of things....on the morning of day two we got off the truck, walked about 100 yards on herd and found a huge bull...PH said he was a good one, I got on the sticks and shot and dropped a 44" spread, 16" boss old bull....and have not regreted on day of it...you will find things to do to fill the time.

Paul

I'm of the opinion that when goddess Diana and Mother Africa smile at you, you'd better not spit in their faces. Take the buff, and then move on to whatever other game is on liscence and quota.

This was my basic dilema back in July. I was in Zim for 15 days on a leopard and buff combo. I shot Mr. Spots on day three and went out to cut baits and kill time on the morning of day four.

Low and behold, we spotted three bulls from the road and followed them for two hours when a shot at a great bull presented. We had already talked about my buffalo hopes / wishes / expectations, and it was clear that this buffalo fit the bill. I shot him and killed him and I have no regrets whatsoever.

In fact, I made a deal to hunt a second buffalo and I looked for a bull that bettered the fourth day bull for ten straight days and I've still not found one. While I shot another great buff on day 14, I never had a realistic chance at a bull that was bigger or better than what I'd already shot.

So, I think you take what Diana offers when she offers it.

Shoot and savor the moment. I might be hijacking the thread. What would you do on afternoon 5 or 6 of a seven day buff hunt when you had hunted hard but no luck and you are presented with a 36 inch herd bull?

Im have always lived by the creed, don't pass the first day what you would shoot the last. It has served me well, of course there are always the "what if's", especially on day 6 you see a larger one,, but you never know. It is better to wonder than kick yourself in the butt for not shooting... Smoke him!

Go after some plains game or see if there is another buff on quota they would sell to you. Go fishing. I just booked my bull ele and buff so that I would have a chance at hippo and croc if the occasion presents itself. Little more money but I can't stand the thought of being in Africa without spending every day hunting or fishing.


Dutch

My Dad used to say - "A good hunt does not have to be a long hunt".

You know it's the right animal if the butterflies are bursting your belly. If they are, shoot with no regrets.

Just for the record ..

WE had a group of 3 clients some years ago that were ALL after buff.

I think on day 2 the clients had agreed whom would get the first shot then second etc, so when a nice buff presented itself client #1 decided to hold off and said client #2 could take it.

Well it turned out to be a 40" trophy for client #2. Days later client #1 got his buff about 35" )-:

Cheers, Peter

Just shoot him a little far back, then you can spend the rest of your trip tracking him ...

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
Smoke him..

And pray that you are hunting in Tanzania where you can then get super picky about number two. That's how I like to do it anyhow.

..............Or book two 7 day buffalo hunts back to back, and pop that first one whith out a second thought, then concentrate on collecting some good plains game while searching for the "GOLDEN ONE" for the rest of the safari.

Hopefully you were speaking specifically of me in this one. I leave on the first safari in 12 days and it includes a 7 day buff hunt in Zambia as well as plains game in Namibia.

I can tell you if I am put on the buff you describe it will be in the salt and I will then have 6 more days to hunt other critters.

Rusks, for breakfast....am I hunting buffalo in South Africa? Can I have some Jungle Oats instead?

Anyway, in your scenario the 1st time African hunter will almost certainly see it as wonderful fortune. Some hunters do not kill a buffalo on their hunt, after all. Unless they are hunting on a ranch, then they should pass.

At this stage, I would see it as a bit of a dilemma, but having a plan in place just in case this should occur, shoot the buffalo. There is so much to do in Africa, and once there, the trick is to keep moving.

Now, change this to "spotted from the truck outside of camp" instead of after "two hours of tracking" and it gets a bit more interesting…

What about pre-scouting? “They’ve been seeing some buffalo down by the river…lets go have a look” could mean “We have one all picked out for you, all you have to do is not flub-up the shot and then we can drink beer for 6 days”.

Sorry, I should stay on topic.

I would shoot first.

This actually happened to me in British Columbia on a black bear hunt in 2007 - my first proper outfitted hunt. It was the first evening in camp & we were driving along & the Outfitter asked me what I expected. I told him that I wanted a representative adult bear & that I wanted to do a bit of stalking & that I would be disappointed if the hunt was over in the first half hour. Just 15 minutes later we stopped the truck and spotted a big boar & I asked the guide if it was a shooter. He said that he would take it & so I took a shot at 190 yards with a borrowed rifle. I missed! After that we hunted hard for 6 days (I missed another shot at 235 yards on the 3rd day). Finally on the last evening right on dark as we were turning to get back to camp we spotted this big boar & I finally got him at 300 + yards. He turned out to be a nice brown colour phase animal...a real bonus on my first outfitted hunt.

My first buff hunt I was on the sticks before 8:00 the first morning on a 38" nice buff. Decided to pass and shot a 41" awesome buff on the 5th day.

I personally have never even come close to having that problem -- usually just the extreme opposite.