Made it back from Zim last night. It was VERY thick and hard hunting, due to all the growth this year. As such we weren’t able to glass very many bulls. It was so thick that several times we’d sneak in to about 20 yards and not be able to see an entire herd. But we were into buff several times each day.

Finally connected on the last hour of the last day. He was fairly soft but as a last minute bull, who’s complaining.

It was quite exiting for a few seconds. At about 5:00 PM on Sunday, Rory, a tracker, and I had snuck in amongst some rocks. There was about 5 buff in the herd. A cow came out from some brush into a clearing. She was a bit cautious knew something was up. Second out was the bull. They kept next to each other and didn’t offer a shot for a minute or two (probably less than a minute, but it seemed like forever). Finally they turned around and headed back into the brush. Right before the bull disappeared he offered me a shot. I was using my 375 HH as I had issues with my Ruger 458 Lott. I put one into his shoulder. Then all hell broke loose.

We were about 25 meters away when I took my first shot. After they entered the bush they turned right and came out about 10 yards from us. I could see that his right shoulder was broken. I Rory and I fired. Then bull then tried to jump a rock that was about 3-4 ft tall. Rory saw him look at us, but I think that I was pulling the trigger at that moment, as I didn’t see him notice us. Rory shouted to get behind a rock if he came at us. As he tried to clear the rock a cow, tried to jump over him and the rock. Later we noticed that he’d broken his right rear ankle when she jumped on him. Luckily he then turned left, away from us. After the cows cleared him he unloaded again. In all we ended up shooting him about 10 times, three with the Rory’s 458 Win and me about 7 times (two Swift A-Frames and ~7 Hornady solids). He collapse about 20 yards from us. I looked at my watch and it said 5:05 PM.

As we were hunting hard every day, leaving camp as early as 3:30 AM and not getting back sometimes until 8:30 PM, I wasn’t able to keep a journal as I would have liked. I will try and assemble a hunt report in the next couple of days.

My buddy Mike got to see a bunch more as he shot his buff the first day. He also took an impala and baboon. It was his first trip to Africa and I glad that I worked out this way for him.



-Steve

Steve,

Well done, sounds like you had real experience. Can't wait for your full report.

Regards,

Terry

STeve,

Welcome back and a good hard hunt is always rewarding with lifetime memories...

Mike

Welcome back Steve. Looking forward to your hunt report. Can you also elaborate on your issues WRT your 458 Lott Ruger? thanks, jorge

Yes, let us know what the issues were with your .458 Lott.

Glad to hear you had a successful trip. Also good to hear Rory finally sorted out his licencing problems with his .458!

Count me in as wanting a report on the .458 Ruger. I, too, am fighting some of those myself. What are of Zim were you hunting? I'm leaving in about 3 weeks and was hoping that the growth had started to die off some.

Looks like a intresting report is on its way.

Welcome back -- I look forward to your report.

I have killed Buffalo with one shot, I have also killed them with 11 shots. I bet you have a new opinion of the tenacity of the Buffalo.

It is an eye opening experience when one soaks up this much lead.

I have never shot one with a 375, if I can help it, I will try not to.

I wonder how different it would have been had you been able to use the 458?

Steve.

Where in Zim did you hunt and what kind of weather did you have?

Antonio

Hunting early can be tough. Congrats.

Thanks all,

The problem with the Ruger Lott was loose screws. When I opened the gun case in Zim I noticed that the rear scope mount screw had fallen out. I put it back together and sighted it back in. When we went out for a half-day, after sighting in, a tracker found the fore-end screw on the ground next to the truck. So I decided to just put it away as I'd brought the other rifle as a backup. I'm not too shy about tightening things, but obviously I wasn't doing something right. I've shot the hell out of the gun and not had a problem until this.

I was hunting in the Binga district with Rory Muil of Russ Broom, just east of Chete. We were based out of the Sango camp near Chunga.

Weather was very nice, but a bit warm for this Oregon boy. Ended up hunting in shorts every day and still sweated like a pig. I started coming down with a cold the day we arrived in camp and fought it the whole time. It didn't help things.

There was a noticeable change foliage in the 8 days that we were in the area. Next time I'll be going later in the year to avoid the growth.

Well back to fighting the jet lag...

-Steve