Not that we all encounter charges or even realistically expect them - so let's consider this more of a hypothetical exercise... Hell, that's 90% of what we discuss here anyway.

What sort of moving target setup/device can we come up with for practice shots coming at you - something that simulates/resemble the gait and speed of bufflo?

I've always thought of a something on rails, but that seems to lack the bobbing up and down of a buff head.

Ideas...?

I think the chance of getting a charge from a buffalo is for most very remote. If practice was devoted to quickly shooting using sticks and quickly shooting a follow up shot without having to be propted by your PH, a charge will be avoided in the first place. I have never had a charge. I have had them turn, look at me with "that" look but a 458 Lott or 2 in the chest convinced them to run. Practicing to shoot quickly and accurately is the best solution.

Right... But that's not the question.

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Not that we all encounter charges or even realistically expect them - so let's consider this more of a hypothetical exercise ... Hell, that's 90% of what we discuss here anyway.

What sort of moving target setup/device can we come up with for practice shots coming at you - something that simulates/resemble the gait and speed of bufflo?

PS - Not concerned with past experience, moon phases, stars in alignment, or caliber choices... just wondering if anyone has any input on what type of "device" could be used for accurately simulating a charge. This is just for the fun of the conversation, so let's stay on topic.

A 14" wide truck tire with a rope tied to a tree as if one wanted to go swinging on the tire. You could put a plank in the hole of the tire. Attach the tire to the tree with a different rope which you can easily detach the tire from the tree. That rope can be 50 feet away and you can yank the rope thereby sending the tire your way.

I've never tried it and have always wanted to. This is just simply an idea in my head.

Good luck.

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I've never tried it and have always wanted to. This is just simply an idea in my head.

EXACTLY! That's what we're looking for... those "ideas in our heads." Keep 'em coming.

How about a 1966 Volkswagon Beetle driven by remote control?

Do you have to use a control round feed bolt gun or double rifle to stop a charging truck tire?

Try 4"-6" baloons on a string, tied to stakes @ 10yd intervals from 5-50yds. The wind moves them around & you try to hit them from back to front as fast as you can reload. Inexpensive & you can do it by yourself.

Unless cattle prices change soon I may volunteer some of my steers as target practice.The shooter could stand at one end of a chute and I could use a hot-shot to make the steer run at the shooter. I guarantee that if you miss they will slap run over you. If anyone's interested I'll work up a price.

Sorry about the tangent! How about pop up targets. You don't get the bobbing action but you are forced to shoot quickly and accurately. Does anyone know how they do the double rifle shoots at The Vintagers? They might do something that works.
Always shoot for the transmission on a VW. Stops them cold!!!

That's a good one - I think the "charging buffalo" at the vintagers is on tracks and it's pushed towards the shooter (seem to recall having seen that in a photo)...

That seems like a close way to replicate the shot, but I don't know how fast the "buff on tracks" travels...

what can a buff reach at top speed in a charge... 25mph, 30mph??? I don't know, but doubt that the vintagers target moves that fast.

Maybe the ideal situation is to stand in front of a soft-ball pitching machine - throwing 25mph grapefruits at your chest!

I have in the past refrained from mentioning what I do because if you're an idiot it could conceivably be dangerous and you need a rural setting like my back yard. You also need a big fast dog.
One of my pleasures in life besides hunting is running in field trials. I always have a couple of well trained, disciplined dogs around who are anxious to help with my quick draw.
I load my rifle with "dummy" rounds or (rounds with no primer or powder). I always have some made up to check various things from feeding to overall length for hand loading.
I set the dog out about 60yds give him a whisle and here he comes over the meadow and through the woods as fast as he can go to grandpa. Of course I work the action,etc, and it is the most realistic "charge" I've ever come up with.
Several times I knew that the "lion" got me but you'd be amazed at how effective it is. Not really shooting but the action is still there and as close as I can get to the real thing. LET ME AGAIN STRESS THAT ONLY DUMMY BULLETS SHOULB BE ON YOUR PERSON AND MAKE SURE YOUR WIFE (or husband) DOESN"T SEE YOU.

Try to set this up in a field large enough to safley shoot in. Get a wheeled platform like a baby buggy or wagon but with longer axles so it won't tip over. On the wheeled platform afix a target that won't come off with rough treatment. Place the sled at a distance you want to start the "charge" from. Next tie a rope to the "sled". The rope needs to be 10-20 yards longer than the distance from the shooter to the sled. Make sure that the rope is coiled so it will play out when pulled. Tie the other end of the rope to a 4-wheeler. The shooter stands in front of the coil of rope. The 4-wheeler driver hauls ass on the 4-wheeler away from the shooter. He has some slack rope that is coiled up behind the shooter. This allows the 4-wheeler to get up to speed before the sled starts to move. The sled then rolls toward the shooter at whatever speed the 4-wheeler is driven. The shooter then shoots the target until it passes.

I just watched Dangerous Game on OLN. It was a a cape buffalo hunt. One of the hunters warmed up by shooting a melon on a rope. The melon was swung away from him and then shot with his double rifle on the return. I would think a milk jug full of water would also work with less clean up. The comment was made that a buffalo can run 35 miles per hour.

My exercise was to stand approximately 50 yds from a standard 25 yd pistol target, and with my loaded 375HH, fire an initial round and then follow up as quickly as possible with another round. I figured that the first shot was the start of the drill, and tried to get the next shot in as fast as I could.

I got to the point where I could regularly achieve my objective of two shots in the target ASAP. The benefit of the drill is principably, reloading and reacquiring the target. The secondary benefit, is the ability of hitting a second time.

Even today, I shuck another one in ASAP. It is automatic. And a good practice because you may not need it, but you'll have it. Kudude

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What sort of moving target setup/device can we come up with for practice shots coming at you - something that simulates/resemble the gait and speed of bufflo?

Nothing!

JUst make suire you can snap shoot well enough to brain him. Because that is the only wa you are going to stop him

(1) Go to Radio Shack and buy two of the largest remote controlled toy trucks they have.

(2) Fabricate a target holder that will hold two balllons that fits on top of the toy truck. Baloon #1 on the bottom should be the right size to approximate the size of the heart while #2 should be the size of the brain.

(3) Have a friend operate the remote while driving the truck with target toward you as fast as he can. If you do it over bumpy ground the target will bounce around enough to make it interesting. It will also add to the realism if there are some bushes to weave the target in andout of.

(4) Why buy two toy trucks you ask? "Cuz it won't be long before someone shoots the 1st one by accident." And if you set up the exercise with both trucks (2 buff) the two fellows operating it can make it interesting.

Its simple.

Put a large very tall post in the ground up higher a hill than the shooting stand.

Another post below you.

You could use existing trees.

Take some high tensile fencing or straining wire and string it between the two posts with a slope to the wire. The wire does not have to be super tight.

Construct a runner for a suspended target holder that will run on the wire. The target should have a pull rope attached to it and may need some weight to the bottom of the holder.

A person gives the rope a pull and if it is jerked it will bob a bit or a lot. Then goes behind good cover, preferably can release the target from behind cover the whole time. If not a second person controls the shooter and maybe has them facing a different direction until the releaser is safe and the target has passed a certain point.

Then blast away.

Snap shooting can be simulated by having the shooter face away from the approaching target until it is say within 15 metres then turn and have to fire quickly.

If the target hits you without any holes in its brain I guess you are dead.

The target is then dragged back up.

Problems
1. This works for targets crossing the path at a right angle. Wind resistance might cause a problem if the target is directly facing the shooter. Using two wires might help the target maintain more stability.

2. Safety is also the other big problem. A remote release would be better.

Being one of those people who's been involved in close range charge the one thing that most people miss out on is that a buffalo does not always come with his head in a stationary, flat position.

On my deal he was bobing his head up and down and side to side at very fast and uneven rate. The target would need to be jumping up and down. I'd think if you could roll a tire down a bumpy or rocky hill making it jump and wobble that would be about perfect. You'd have to rig some sort of release mechanism so as not to have to have your buddy running for his life after the tire is released.

PS

Saeed spineing them works rather well too.

The brain ain't always an option.

Try to visit an IPSC range when there is an event, I am sure you will find something of use in your specific case, something that has been done with few things,that works great, runners, bobbers, falling plates etc...
I personaly have a preference for a bobber that falls and unmasks the second target behing, first shot being when the timer beeps.

It's no more shooting again 'ASAP', there's a clear evidence of the doubling being fast or not and the way it improves with training.

adapt what you see to your specific location and needs.

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On my deal he was bobing his head up and down and side to side at very fast and uneven rate.

Agreed, quite a bit different than shooting a stationary or straight-line moving object.

You will be much better off to spend your time, practicing to climb trees! I've never been involved with a cape buff charge, but I have been there for several water buffalo charges. I know for a fact buffalo can hit 35 miles an hour and if someone told me they had another faster speed after that I wouldn't be surprised. I think you are wasting your time trying for a brain shot on a charging buff, its a tiny heavily armored target that as someone said is bouncing and moving all over. Any bullet that I have ever seen simply skips off the skull. A solid bullet is going to be your only chance for penetrating the brain, I have seen lots of good soft points from .375's and .416's shot into the heads of buff at bayonet range and none did more damage than a shaving cut!

With a target on a high tensile wire you will no problem at all making it bob as much as you want.

***

loboga

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Any bullet that I have ever seen simply skips off the skull.

Very true. I have had a .450 480 gr Woodleigh FMJ ricochet off the buffs skull and it wasn't on the "boss" or horns area at all.

We have an instructor who works with the CO,s and forest workers. To practice for bear attacks he maks a trough out of 2x10s 12 feet long l_l and puts it on the backstop of our handgun range. Put a tire in the trough and hold it in place with a short peice of 2x4 run a rope from the 2x4 to the shooter. Pull the rope and the tire attacks. We use 12g slugs

When I was a cop I drew my service pistol for serious social purposes infrequently -- but it was nearly always for dogs rather than for humans. To prepare for these unpleasant eventualities another cop and I practiced with a system almost exactly as described by 8MAG, and it worked perfectly. A steep backstop, a tire, and a release mechanism operated by your partner (for surprise) would work very well for buffalo hunters as well. Turn your back, close your eyes, and be alerted by your partner as he pulls the release. Turn, acquire the target, aim, and fire. Good!

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Originally posted by 8MAG:
Pull the rope and the tire attacks. We use 12g slugs

A question. Do you get ricochets from shooting a rubber tyre?

I was thinking that I could buy some goats and have someone drive them in my direction. I figured we could get the speed we need with strong pellet gun or mayby some 8 shoot. After practice we could just have a little Cabrito.

If this idea is a little to costly or you don't care for cabrito, just check the want add for free dog to a good home.

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A question. Do you get ricochets from shooting a rubber tyre?

Or more worring still, what if I "freeze up" and
get wacked by a charging large truck tyre, bouncing down a hill?
John L.