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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting For those that have hunted buffalo in Zim ......Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I'm in the early stages of planning a buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe, & need your input. Here are my questions: (1) What's the legal minimum caliber for Zim ? (2) What rifle did you use to kill your buffalo - be specific, bolt gun, SXS, scoped, & caliber ? and (3) Approx. how far was your first shot ? Thanks for your input; I'll rely on your answers to decide which rifle that I'll prepare to use. ____________________________ .470 & 9.3X74R Chapuis' Tikka O/U 9.3X74R Searcy Classics 450/.400 3" & .577 C&H .375 2 1/2" Krieghoff .500 NE Member Dallas Safari Club | ||
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9.3x62 = legal minimum. I've shot four buff, all with a 458wm double rifle, open sighted. Ranges = 20yds, 75yds, 23yds, 35yds or so. I'm willing to pass on longer shots, even if a real monster buff is involved and passed up. My advice, unless you are an open sighted double rifle fan, like me, is that you will be best served by a scoped 375H&H bolt rifle with a 1x scope of some sort, like a 1.5x5x20 Leupold or a 1x4x24 S&B, with the scope in good QD mounts. With the rifles you list under your signiture, I'd go with the 450/400 and never look back. If its scoped, great, but if it is not, have fun and get closer! JPK  Free 500grains | |||
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Like JPK, I also have used my open sighted double in .458 on buffalo. First buff at 130 meters and second at 15 meters. Since you have a Searcy, you must be able to shoot it. A .450/.400 would be a wonderful rifle to use. Wish I had one. Get close and shoot as many animals with it as you are able. I have also used mine on elephant, blesbok, and waterbuck, and a couple of deer in the USA. Heck, it is my rifle of choice. Practice, and your Searcy may become your rifle of choice. | |||
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Killed a few with the 9.3x62 (scoped) and a couple with an open sighted 470NE. IMO, most Zim Buff are shot at a distance of 20 to 90 meters. I consider a scope an important part of a Buff rig, but hunting with a big open sighted rifle is so enjoyable. Just pe prepared to miss out on opportunity's. | |||
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Since you already have an answer for #1 2. 404 Jeff with a Leupold 1.5-5 3. About 150 yds (about 100 yds more than I wanted, but what the situation required) Caleb | |||
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Rifles and calibers. 416 Weatherby, Weatherby Mk V, 400 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claws, a few buffalo, from about 10-100 yards. 416 Rigby Improved, custom rifle we built ourselves, on a Dakota 76 action Same bullet as above, a few buffalo, from about 20-100 yards. Both the above rifles had a 1.5-5x Leupold scopes. No open sights. 375 H&H, Remington 700 Safari, same ascope as above. 300 grain Winchestet FMJ. 2 buffalo, about 30 and 50 yards. 375/404, custom on Dakota 76, 2.5-8 Leupold, no open sights, 300 grain Barnes X and 300 grians Walterhog bullets, about 200 buffalo, from about 15 - 340 yards. | |||
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 That's obscene! I love it! Brett DRSS Life Member SCI Life Member NRA Life Member WSF Rhyme of the Sheep Hunter May fordings never be too deep, And alders not too thick; May rock slides never be too steep And ridges not too slick. And may your bullets shoot as swell As Fred Bear's arrow's flew; And may your nose work just as well As Jack O'Connor's too. May winds be never at your tail When stalking down the steep; May bears be never on your trail When packing out your sheep. May the hundred pounds upon you Not make you break or trip; And may the plane in which you flew Await you at the strip. -Seth Peterson | |||
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Not as lucky as Saeed and maybe a bit jealous but i have only managed to hunt cape buf twice. First/custom .500 jeffery M98 action,535grn woodleigh protected points,open sights,20 paces second/first shot in thick brush with sauer takedown 9.3x62 with scop ,woodleigh 286grn protected point followed by the .500 jeffery again twenty paces. I like to get in close  on old dugga boy's just wish i could save quicker so i can get back to zim and do it again  | |||
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You are joking, right?  How is that possible? | |||
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Since you ask and since I have so much experience (1) 375 with a 1X4 Luepold on a "cheap" Savage, in a good tough area Omay. Just thought I would add my 2 cents worth, for what it is worth. Inside reply. | |||
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You have not been here long, have you? No, he is not joking. I hunt, not to kill, but in order not to have played golf.... DRSS | |||
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You're right. i read in this forum only once in a while. I think it is very unusual nowadays to shoot more than 200buffalo. | |||
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Ruger Mod 77, 416 Rigby, 400 gr TBBC, Leupold 1.5x5. "Hathcocked" (1 shot - 1 kill) him at 30 yds vic Hwange. Pancho LTC, USA, RET "Participating in a gun buy-back program because you think that criminals have too many guns is like having yourself castrated because you think your neighbors have too many kids." Clint Eastwood Give me Liberty or give me Corona. | |||
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Winchetser Mod 70 375hh, bbl shortened to 20 inches,leupy 1.5x5, Barnes 300 grn x handload, 79.5 grns of H4350 (IIRC) 40 yards Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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In Zim - Sako .375 H & H with 300gr Nosler Partitions. Buff was taken with one shot, off sticks, at 100 yards, traveled 50 yards and was down for good. No follow up shots were necessary. Rifle scoped with a (no longer available) Redfield Widefield 1.5 X 5 , Dangerous Game model. Taken with Russ Broom Safaris in the North of Zim, near Kariba. Larry Sellers SCI Life Member | |||
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460 Weatherby..Leopold 1.75 x 6... Dande north. factory 450 grain barnes X...50 yards. One shot. | |||
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Larry were you in Binga and the Sengwe Camp? | |||
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Chirisa Safari Area in Zim.. Rem in .375 H&H with a 1.5X4. | |||
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Indeed! Brett DRSS Life Member SCI Life Member NRA Life Member WSF Rhyme of the Sheep Hunter May fordings never be too deep, And alders not too thick; May rock slides never be too steep And ridges not too slick. And may your bullets shoot as swell As Fred Bear's arrow's flew; And may your nose work just as well As Jack O'Connor's too. May winds be never at your tail When stalking down the steep; May bears be never on your trail When packing out your sheep. May the hundred pounds upon you Not make you break or trip; And may the plane in which you flew Await you at the strip. -Seth Peterson | |||
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DOJ - Yes!! Larry Sellers SCI Life Member
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Have just shot 6 buffaloes 5 taken with 416 Wby / Custom rifle build on CZ550 Mag action 1 taken with 577 Tyrannosaur | |||
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Frank, I would decide early on if you want to hunt buffalo at spit wad distance or snipe them w head shots at 100 plus yards. Makes a big diff to you and your PH. He can set you up with a shot either way. Best DG scope is a swarovski 1.0 x 6 30 mm tube. 130 feet field of view at 100 yards. Good for elephant or close range buff. At 6 X good for 375 x 404 improved ctg in the head or spine. Andy | |||
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Less than Saeed. More than 2 each in Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. Most with a .416Rem out of a Winchester Custom Shop Special Build Mdl. 70 or a Remington Custom Shop Mdl 700. One with a S&W 500 revolver. 15 yards to 65 yards. Mike ______________ DSC DRSS (again) SCI Life NRA Life Sables Life Mzuri IPHA "To be a Marine is enough." | |||
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My son shot his buff last year in Zim at 60yds with a Ruger 375 and 300grain Swift aframe backed up by two Hornady solids as the buff tried to get going (with broken front leg/ heart shot with first shot) and collapsed in about 80yds. My son and I enjoy open sites on big game as JPK does. Go for it up close. "An individual with experience is never at the mercies of an individual with an argument" | |||
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Frank, just fess up, what new rifle do you want to buy for this venture, you know you don't need us to suport that descision Joyce will be fine with it. | |||
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Larry, Russ lost that camp at the end of 08. I was one of the last to hunt there with his operation. I took a management bull and a Hippo in the Sangwe, and the next day had to sort out a PAC Hippo. It was a nice camp and I understand they are going to turn it into a "photo" camp. | |||
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My two were with .375 H&H- single shot with 3x9 scope. 40 and 50 yards, both one shot kills. The single shot really made me wait and pick my shots. Good Hunting, Tim Herald Worldwide Trophy Adventures tim@trophyadventures.com | |||
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Frank: R u already booked? Do you plan to go after one or two buffs? Why not bring a big bore double and a bolt action. That's what I did in '05 on my Zim safari; shot an old crusty one with my .470 and then drilled one from 115 with my .375. Swift A-Frame. I got what I wanted from the experience and the PH was able to make the call regarding which gun to use, based on where we spotted the tracks and the original herd. The Zim PH's are all knowledgeable of their concessions, i.e. terrain, jesse, mopane woodlands and such that they can advise you which gun to carry along on stalk, if both of them are in the cruiser. Of course one of trackers will act as a gun bearer too. I'm guessing you're trying to decide between one gun or the other. If so just for versatility sake, bring the bolt action. JPK makes a notable point though. He's very passionate about his double guns, and if you are too, bring the double and leave the bolt action home. Your PH will tailor the hunt so you can get close to whack one with the open sighted double. It's his job to structure the hunt based on your desires. Don't feel like you have to conform to a certain set of country-wide standards. Strive to reach the goal of what you want to get out of the hunt individualistically. If I wasn't such a spread and big boss freak. I'd shoot all my buffs with my .470, but I always seem to see the magnificent 45" buffs in large herds from 100-plus yards, but don't feel accurately gunned holding my double. Then I cave in and the tracker hands me by .375 and I take the shot. That's just me, and in the end that's what it comes down to, right? | |||
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Thanks for the update, didn't know they lost that camp? Really enjoyed the area up there. Is everything in Africa going to be turned into a "photo camp"? Larry Sellers SCI Life Member
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Boy, Ed, you win the prize ...... you were the first to figure out my motive. ____________________________ .470 & 9.3X74R Chapuis' Tikka O/U 9.3X74R Searcy Classics 450/.400 3" & .577 C&H .375 2 1/2" Krieghoff .500 NE Member Dallas Safari Club | |||
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Frank, Have shot buf with 458 lott Ruger, 450#2 Famars, & 375H&H win Africa express... Used X bullets and Woodleighs. If you can shoot out to 75 yds good and you can use your any of doubles... Mike | |||
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Larry, I jast was talking with Mark about next years hunt with Frank (reason for rifle question) and he said we would probably be back in Binga at the Sangewe Camp on the Lake and I ask him about Russ losing the consession and he told me it was just a Zim official try to pull some Sh*t and Russ still has the area. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting For those that have hunted buffalo in Zim ......
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