bill,

nice Hippo! If I can get some of my photo's on this site I'll send you mine. I took one with a 416 in 2001, in Zimbabwe. the tusks were 27 inches. I'm doing a pedastal mount on the head/shoulders, tanned the balance in leather, and mounting the feet. And had Hippo dinner one night at camp!

Congrats on the nice river horse again! Did you get a lion? I'm goting next September for that.......

As always, Good Hunting!!!!

Widowmaker416 "Ron"

The primary reason for shooting a hippo was for lion bait. A hippo provides four nice baits, whereas the zebra I also shot, made only one. So at $1300, or $325/bait, hippo is by far the most economical. The thing was, that I had never shot a hippo, and was excited about this portion of the safari. Mostly because I was not sure what to expect. Peter Chipman (the PH) made it as exciting as he could, but the Luangwa River was low at this time of the year, so the hardest part was making the frontal brain shot.



I used a .500gr Woodleigh softpoint instead of a solid as the distance was close, and I wanted to see how it would later perform on the buffalo. Using the imaginary "x" drawn between the eyes and ears, my point of aim was slightly high, and I shot a few inches to the left. When in the water, the hippo's head is not at the same angle as on dry land, and I should have aimed a bit lower. It is like with elephant, once you do it and see the skull and location of the brain, the next time it's easier. But it was enough so that the bullet penetrated the skull, brain, rear of skull and stopped under the skin in the neck where the shoulder begins. The Woodleigh looked as if it was "melted", but it held together.



The hippo sank and we waited 1hr 10 minutes for him to bob to the surface. After an hour there was some doubt that I actually brained him, and although we saw blood and there was no current in the Luangwa, there was speculation that he might have had an escape hatch. So I was quite relieved when I saw the ripples in the water from the current going around the emerging brown object. The trackers waded in, floated him to the shore, attached ties and used the Cruiser to get him on the bank where we took photos and he was quartered for bait.



It would be fun to do a "dry land" hippo hunt, and I am envious of those who were able to catch one on land. My wife was relieved that I am bringing home only the tusks/teeth, which I forgot to measure. One can hunt hippo on a 7-day buffalo hunt, which is pretty neat, providing there is quota available. Peter has 10-on quota, and one and sometimes two are used by each of the 5-lion hunters.

Well Bill, I'm not sure if I should congratulate you, or cry. As you know, I lost mine, and it is the subject of many sweaty dreams...(the ONLY animal I have EVER, EVER lost by the way...)

Good job my friend. I'll go back and show you mine in 06...

sniff, sniff...

Bill,

Thanks for the pictures and story. Congratulations on your hippo.

Regards,

Terry