Hi guys planning a buffalo next season.

For all the buff experts out there

Which way in your opinion is the most exiting ?

I would love it to be up close and personal with my double.

Any pitfalls to look out for or request when I negoatiate with my PH?

Londonhunter

If you want to get up close and personal with your double i think hunting for Dugga boys is for you. There are less eyes looking out for you so you can get a lot closer than if you were hunting a heard bull.

If you not looking for a record book Buff then hunting for Dugga boys is very exiting. In my opinion hunting for Dugga boys is more challenging than the heards purely for the fact that there are a lot less tracks to follow and they are older and wiser than the heard bulls.

Hope this helps you a little

Mike

Hunting with a big bore be it double or bolt is by far the best fun you can have standing up.I have only been lucky enough to hunt cape buf twice so far both times in Zim with my .500 jeffery. My only request was the we hunt for only hard bossed dugga boys,if they weren't 40inches plus.....SO WHAT!!! I didn't want to chase herds etc.First hunt was over in a day the other in seven days with a lot of walking resulting in two great trophies and I dream about doing it again and again every single day if i could just work out the right lotto numbers i would

londonhunter,

You were given good advice by miketaylor and zhaba. Hunting for duggaboys is the way to get up close and personal!

If you really what the ultimate high in buffalo [or IMHO any and all] hunting, see if you can get a solitary duggaboy to track down. The reason for some fanatics like me for preferring not to hunt one duggaboy from a group [or small herd] is that buffalo by nature is a herdherd animal! If you properly shoot one from the breeding or batchelor or daggaboy herd with any shot that is not a DRT, the mortally wounded buffalo will follow the herd as long as he can. It is only when he starts running out of the proverbial steam that he may turn around to go for his tormentor! My limited experience with shooting the biggest and meanest looking bull from a group, or rather here call it a small herd, of duggaboys, is that he runs off with the herd. If your shot was good, he is invariably found dead not far off, but with traks showing that he was charging in your direction before he finally expired.

OTOH, a lone and single duggaboy, if given any shot that is not immediately fatal or incapicitating [DRT = Down Right There] has no other buddies to follow when they run away: There are none to run away! He may have been quite alone for months and used to fend entirely for himself, without any consideration for the rest of the herd. He, in all likelihood, will immediately start looking for you! Many will tell you that a buffalo with a passthrough double lung shot from a big calibre has plenty steam left to do great bodily harm to the guy who came 'up close and personal' to him to give the shot! He does not, like the bull from a herd that initially followed the herd, and then turned around for his charge, have far to charge before getting to you. Remember you came up close and personal! It is for precisely this type of situation that the double was invented!

Enjoy your hunt, as I'm sure you will!

Andrew McLaren

The best thing you can take with you is an Open Mind and a Positive Attitude. Don't have pre-concieved ideas on what should be. Tell your PH what you would like before you Book and he will try to accommodate you. But, be advised that Buffalo are where you find them and you may be presented with a standing broadside shot instead of a frontal up close shot. Then it is your decision to either take the shot or pass it up. If you pass it up, you may or may not get another chance on that trip.

Practice shooting a lot. Get in shape. And carry your own water. Have fun.

I think the Country/area/time of year is important to consider also.

Everybody has each given good advice on aspects of hunting old nyati. To it, I would only add the advice that my PH gave me in pre-hunt discussion. "Break bones!". It worked for me in putting a 300 gr. solid ((375) on the point of his shoulder as he turned towards me. "soft tissue" wounds don't seem to even slow down nyati and I hasten to add that's only the opinion of a one time buff hunter and is based on what I have read and gotten from stories told to me by a PH. However, I'll repeat (because it worked for me):"Break bones!".

There is only one way to hunt buffalo - on foot , tracking in a wilderness area - no fences !
Hunt the dagga boys - more challenging and exciting - you may see more bulls in a herd but Murphys Law always comes into play here - inevetably the trophy you want will be somewhere in the middle of the herd, where its impossible to get a shot on him.
Go with an open mind - dont put uneccessary pressure and expectations on yourself - and enjoy the experience.
I have hunted buff in 7 different African countries and in a variety of habitats - and enjoyed every single hunt - be it for dagga boys or bulls in the herd - as someone said - some of the best fun (after elephant hunting) you can have standing up - especially with a double !
If you havent booked a hunt yet or want more info or advice - feel free to PM for more info.

Andrew described my last hunt to a "T". Lone duggaboy, no herds anywhere, solitary bull, one through the heart from 20 yards with the .375 and he turned to charge. Franco Loubser, the PH, stuck him with his .458 Win in the spine and he went feet up. Forty minute stalk in thick thorn. Old, bent-horned solitary bull. Ugly as hell with bosses that looked like the surface of the moon. It does not get any better than that.

Good hunting!

jetdrvr,

Brother, I'm so glad there is at leat one, but there must be more, who really understands what I mean! You have HUNTED buffalo!

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

Hi Londonhunter, buffalo are probably the most sort after game by most serious DG hunters. For me they would be be my primary choice if I had the opportunity to hunt them. I myself would opt for a dagga boy just for the fact that they are usually non-breeding animals, and have been around the block a few times and fear very little. Tracking them will probably be more fun as you can focus on one or a few animals usually at most and as the spoor gets fresher your heart will probably also start to pump faster as well with the anticipation of what will follow. If you have an interest in tracking and enjoyment of the hunt, working with the trackers and savouring each moment, then I would say hunting and singling out a dagga boy would be a fine hunt. A trophy is great but the stalk and enjoyment of reading the signs and absorbing and enjoying everything is what makes makes the hunt, not the size of the horns, although if the animal has a good spread and boss then bonus, but that should always be incidental to everything else about the hunt.

Goosh

I purposely sat on the side line. Reading posting on the thread almost make my blood boiling. I think I can sense the excitement that you folks are experienceing or have experienced in previous hunts.

Thanks for all the advice. Dugga boy it shall be

One last question

What country which month ?

My PH would like to take me to ZIM...

quote:

What country which month ?

My choice would be Tanzania/Maasailand in July or early August.

Hunt of a lifetime.

I just went to the video section and I presume all the hunt featured there are made by Saeed and his friends

Out of all the buff videos posted the closest is 60 yards average distance I would say in the region of 100 yards

Surely without being disrepectful Saeed would prefer to shoot a dugga boy the way it was described in this thread 20 - 30 yards ?

Not criticising just curious thats all.

As some of you said dont go with expectation

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew McLaren:
jetdrvr,

Brother, I'm so glad there is at leat one, but there must be more, who really understands what I mean! You have HUNTED buffalo!

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

Thanks, Andrew. I wouldn't trade that hunt for anything. Probably my last hunt, and definitely the best.