Hi I have a question for you wise people, as going to Africa to hunt is on my wish list.

Is there a minimun caliber for the varius animals such as Buffalo and so on?

What kind of animal can you shoot with a .30-06 for example or a 9.3x62?

I now this maybe a stupid question but you got to start somewere.

As nobody else has answered yet I'll speak up. The dangerous stuff - buff, leopard, lion,etc. need a big caliber, .375 and up. Most plains game except eland can be hunted with smaller calibers. My wife uses a .308Win. with 150gr.bullets - nosler partitions. I'm told the 30-06 is the most popular caliber of S.African hunters. I would strongly advise you use premium bullets whatever caliber you choose. The small difference in price is well worth the superior results of good bullets.

Plains game can be shot with many different calibers..But you are paying a trophy fee draw blood and no recovery can get expensive...
Dangerous game in many countries 375 is minimum and go up from there...But being able to shoot effectively is more important then carrying a 600nitro...
I carried a 375 for plains game and 458 Lott for DG..

Mike

There is some variance from country to country and when you decide to book that hunt you should get specific advice from your outfitter or PH as to the recommended and minimum calibers for that country.

Until them, if you're looking to purchase a rifle or two, a 30-06 fits the African adjenda quite nicely and a .375 H&H will also fill a combo DG/PG role.

That said, a lot of folks use the .375 H&H on everything.

Hunters like to banter a lot over cartridges and no matter what you use someone will think it's not sufficient or overkill. However these two cartridges have been here for nearly 100 years each and still have the respect of all worldwide.

Here are Zimbabwe's rules:


A calibre of no less than 9.2mm in diameter with muzzle energy of 5.3 kilojoules is required for Elephant, Buffalo and Hippo.

A calibre of no less than 7mm in diameter with a muzzle energy of no less than 4.3 kilojoules is required for Lion, Giraffe and Eland.

A calibre of no less than 7mm in diameter with a muzzle energy of no less than 3 kilojoules is required for Crocodile, Hyena, Kudu, Leopard, Nyla, Sable, Waterbuck, Wildebeeste, Zebra etc.

A calibre of no less than 5.6mm in diameter with muzzle energy of no less than 850 joules is required for Bushbuck, Bushpig, Impala, Reedbuck and Warthog.

Regards,

Terry

vapodog, those are the only two hunting cartrigdes I own! The down side is that they cover the spectrum so well that it's difficult for me to justify a new gun now.

I own and use a 458Lott but I don't hunt with it. It's just for my work. I could hunt with it, but I prefer the surgical precision of the scoped 375HH, over the peep-sighted 458. Depending upon the species I would certainly consider it for hunting.

Craig Boddington, a veteran of close to sixty safaris, is often-times chided for erring on the bigger side of calibers. As one salient example he offers the anectdote of his missed chance at what would have been the kudu of a lifetime, in his words it was surely close to 60" or over
(yes I know they are hard to judge but that is irrelevant to the story).

They had been hunting this wily specimen all day and at last light all he offered was a fleeting quartering away tail end shot. Craig elected not to shoot. The reason according to him?

He was armed only with a 3006 and rightly so, reticent to take the shot. He goes on to comment that had he been carrying his 375, he would not have given it another thought.

The 3006 is the 95% solution I suppose. For me, the 300s are a bit better,but after seeing my friend take a "last chance" kudu at a measured 352 yards with this 375, I have to say THAT is about as good as it gets. Well, I prefer the 375 Weatherby, but then other factors come into play like ammo availability, etc.

I wouldn't lose too much sleep with an 06/ 375 combo, I'm just offering a "what if" scenario. In my business, we plan for the worst and hope for the best. Plan and mitigate your chances accordingly. jorge

Other than DG where there are minimum caliber requirements, my 300 Win Mag worked very well on everything from eland on down to duiker.

I have compiled a table of min caliber reqt's by country and species, see http://bigfivehq.com/bullets.htm
The table is not complete and there may be some errors in it, so I welcome any additions or corrections.

Thank a lot.