My cousin is going to Zambia this summer, for the second time, and hippo is on the menu. I talked to his PH in Reno, and he advised to bring a few solids for the hippo head shot.

My cousin claims to have difficulty finding some (I thing he's too cheap to just order a few boxes), and wonders if a sturdy "soft point" won't do the job just as well, he's talking about the Blaser CDP, of which he bought three boxes.

Any thought on this?

Frans

A fellow too cheap to purchase solids to dispatch an 8000 pound hippo may well be bitten in half by that hippo.

here's my Hippo, a Remington .416 with Federal soft tips did the trick.

I used a soft point, and had solids to back it up, soft point to the head is perfect!!

quote:

soft point to the head is perfect

Yeah, to the head!! But should you have to go through all that body, you'd better have really good solids because hippo aren't cute or lovable and they will bite you in half. Since the bastards are herbivorous, they won't even swallow, just spit the pieces out. Sort of adds insult to injury.

You can kill a Hippo with a 22 L.R. with a head shot to the brain, not much to penitrate, but if you miss you may well need the solids, particularly if your between him and the water...

I dislike shooting Hippo in the water, I like to catch them up in the hills or mountains or out in the tall grass, that adds spice to Hippo hunting and use ONLY solids and they soak them up like a sponge, the up side is when you hit a Hippo anywhere in the head with a big bore cartridge he will go down but only to get up again if you miss the brain but that gives you precious time for a follow up shot and a reload perhaps. At least most of the time this is true.

Confucius say:

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
A fellow too cheap to purchase solids to dispatch an 8000 pound hippo may well be bitten in half by that hippo.

551 B.C.- 478 B.C.

OK experts, just where do you aim to shoot a hippo, considering all the different angles that might be expected?

Same as on about anything else..vertical cross hair on the foreleg and a little less than half way up...try to break one or both the shoulders. Just like you would a buffalo..Or shoot them in the head

Well gentlemen, this is a place where I have some experience, and I will say right up front, the Hippo is one animal tha absolutely REQUIRES a good solid, and bullet placement! As Ray says, it you actually hit his brain, with a soft point, the the game is over! If this guy is going to be shooting hippo in the water, which is what I suspect, he needs to be aware the target is about the size of a small apple, and very close to the surface of the water. One needs to be able to hit a silver dollar target at 100 yds every shot off the sticks, or from field positions. Water causes optical illusions, and deflections, on occasion, and the proper angle to the brain is not always an easy target. The first shot, in the water, better be point on, or you are in for disappointment. About $1500 trophy fee paid for a hippo left for the crocs, because he may take ten days to die. With a solid the angle still needs to be correct, but it slides through much easier, without deflection.

If he will be hunting Hippo on dry land, again as Ray says,that is my choice, the action is liable to get hot, and heavy if he botches that brian shot! The head shot is a sure knock down, or turn shot, but if the brain is missed, even a little you have a problem! When he charges, or,as in most cases heads for the safety of water, you will have a high time dumping rounds into, and out of that rifle before you stop him, if you do. It is a long way from the skin surface of the on side, to the off side shoulder. and as the angle changes it gets farther. Addtionally, the skin is 5" thick, and the bones needed to hold an 8 thousand lb animal up, and allow him to run like a race horse, are tough as concrete, and the soft point has about the same chance as a snow ball in hell, of getting int the vitals, or breaking both shoulders. The heart is slightly behind the front leg but is fairly large, and a shot side to side, through the heart will also collect both lungs. The point of the sholder will the same angle as the heart shot will collect the spine, but is an iffy shot, that if missed only a little does absolutely nothing to stop him. If he is commong, your target is the head, and hit him as many times as you can. He runs toward you in a charge with his head up, and like the buffalo the perfect target is the tip of the nose, dead center, with as big solid as you can shoot!

If he is shooting handloads, then a box of Barnes super solids, or North Fork FPs in the proper caliber, would be a "REAL" bullets to use. A perfect load for Hippo with a 375 H&H is, a 300 gr Barnes Super Solid (a monolithic solid) in front of 77.0 grs of IMR 4831. That load will shoot through big bones, and penetrate like it was greased.

On a side-on head shot, place the bullet between the ear and the eye. Or, just behind the ear to sever the spine. A well constructed soft will do for either shot.

For a frontal head shot in the water and assuming you are not elevated above the hippo, wait until he raises his head perpindicular to the water's surface and aim for the forehead. Taking a frontal head shot while the hippo is at rest in the water is dicey because the skull is parallel to the surface and a bullet could glance off the hard bone. The skin between the eyes is paper thin, covering the tough skull. Solids are probably better for this shot.

In a charge situation just wait until he gets real close, then he will open his mouth fully to bite you into 3 pieces, then cooly place a solid in the roof of his mouth to the brain, even a soft will do....be a brave little buckaroo cause cousin it may be your last farewell!!

Frans,

What calibre is your cousin going to use?

Regards,

Pete

Frans,

I've shot 3 hippos for lion baits and because we wanted the baits up quickly we shot each one in the water on the Luangwa. I did a side brain shot on all 3. You just wait for the right one to turn broadside which he eventually will. I shot 2 with 300gr. SAF. they worked very well and only made one hole in the skull. I shot the last one for a collector friend with a solid thinking it would cause less damage to the skull. WRONG! It drilled a pretty good hole on both sides.

I will hunt one on land sometime. In that case I would be carrying the biggest rifle I owned loaded with solids.

Regards,

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:
What calibre is your cousin going to use?

9.3x62

Frans

quote:

be a brave little buckaroo cause cousin it may be your last farewell!!

In which case I hope I inherit his deluxe Sauer 202, which is much nicer than my workhorse Sauer 200. He can give his .300 UltraMag to charity, but I'll take his Zeiss scopes, and his Swarovski binoculars for my kid. He's not married, has no kids, so he might as well leave it all to me! And of course I'll grieve. ;-)

Frans

quote:

Originally posted by Frans Diepstraten:

In which case I hope I inherit his deluxe Sauer 202, which is much nicer than my workhorse Sauer 200. He can give his .300 UltraMag to charity, but I'll take his Zeiss scopes, and his Swarovski binoculars for my kid. He's not married, has no kids, so he might as well leave it all to me! And of course I'll grieve. ;-)

Frans

In that case you can trade both those Sauers for a DGR with CRF!

quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:
In that case you can trade both those Sauers for a DGR with CRF!

Or trade in one, and get a good scope to put on my CZ in .416 Rigby!