Almost without exception on the DVD's I've seen hunters always seem to shoot for the body on Buff. I've seen Saeed shoot a couple through the head on his DVD's at very short range and it all looks very impressive.

Question is that with a scoped rifle of say 375 it can't be that difficult to neck shoot a buff at under 50yds. we're talking about rifles that group very well and are scoped with decent optics. I would have thought that necking a buff under the correct circumstances would be a better choice of shot than a frontal chest shot.

Am I being irresponsible in thinking this or is it a case of PH's playing the percentages on client shooting ability where DG is concerned?

Rgds,
FB

Most people don't know where the neck of a Buffalo is............ it ain't where you'd expect it.

Neck shots are always low percentage shots on almost every animal. Not much margin for error and very little vital tissue aside from the spinal cord. The geometry changes too readily on neck shots, and there are few fixed reference points.
Now head shots, on the other hand, are used on a variety of game, with generally much better results than neck shots. The "head gear" on a good buff makes head shots a bit more difficult, and why would I want a hole in those magnificent skulls?

I will take head shots with some regularity under the appropriate conditions, but generaly avoid neck shots. A chest shot on buffalo is reasonable, and in most cases provides the highest percentage shot. Clearly a good thing.

Bill

llamapacker:

I absolutely agree with you that a neck shot on practically any animal carrying flesh on him is not a good choice of target. It's astounding to this old guy how long the myth of a neck shot continues to persist. In my neck of the woods (no pun intended)which is NY, many beginning white tail hunters arrive in the woods with that belief -because "they heard" that it was so effective. Sure, it is! -now tell me exactly where the neck bones are. BTW,on the topic of a buff - On my one and only buff hunt, my PH remarked to me upon my arrival in camp and when I asked his thoughts - His reply was "Break bones". It happened that I had the opportunity to do just that at about 35 yards as I interrupted the buff who was swinging to face me. A 300 gr. Federal solid on the shoulder pretty much put an end to the festivities)

FB,

I think in the UK and Europe a neck shot is quite common to preserve as much edible meat as possible. With a buffalo it is a recipe for disaster. There is a heck of a lot of non vital tissue around the spine and if you do not hit the spine you may have a very unpleasant chase on your hands. The lung/heart area is a large target and ultimately fatal so it is the preferred shot.

Mark

Mark

With a high velocity, expanding bullet, I think you can shoot a whitetail or roebuck, particularly a small-bodied one, in the neck, miss the spine and still regularly cause a subluxation resulting in death.

On a 2000 pound buffalo, I don't think so. GMHO as to why neck shots are o.k. with deer-sized game and not nyati.

In addition to the danger involved in follow up a neck shot buffalo that is not spined and escapes it will probably cost you about 3 grand in trophy fees and your done hunting buffalo for that trip.

The heart and lungs are such a big target and the spine is a very small target and it's tough to find.
Spine shots just don't make sense to me on buffalo when the boiler room is so large.
I have killed one buff with a spine shot but it was at close range and it was the only shot I had at the time.

Saeed is an EXCELLENT shot with much experience. For most of us mortals I would go with the higher probability shot.

John

While I have made neck shots on some animals [never a cape buff] I do not recommend it. In fact I am against it for many of the reasons listed in previous posts.

For most animals the chest shot is the high percentage shot and is to be prefered.

A charge is a different situation, I prefer to wait and make a proper brain shot.

If you want 'instant' knockdown effect on buff, the high shoulder shot that Doctari favours has much to recomend itself for those with a bit of experience. With anything over .40 cal, any shot on the scapula takes the buff down- doesn't always keep it down... but you should never shoot a buff just once anyway. (bit like a bar fight, if he's worth hitting once, he is certainly worth hitting twice!)

I have never yet found it necessary to recomend that a client take a neck shot on a buff.

Gee, this will be a shocker ... a different opinion from me!

Braining a buff is a real option if they are close.

Shoot a buff through the lungs on a broadside shot. Invariably they take a couple steps and then fall down and die. Same on a frontal heart shot.

The shoulder shot is what Taylor suggested long, long, long ago. But then again it's another waste of ammunition shot!

The problem with hunting is there is a human behind the gun with emotions ,ego,hormones, adrenalin,babalaas,buckfeverand headaches so doesn't matter what group you shoot some guys stil miss a elephant.

shoot where it counts like your ph will tell you
its less spectacular but the margin for error is much smaller

I have shot many buffalo in the neck, where the neck and shoulder come together, if you miss the spine or backbone there are a number of short ribs that extend off the spinal colume making it a higher percentage shot than some believe it to be. If you hit one of those rib extensions the bull will hit the dirt and I have never seen one get back up. Then you can give him a couple of insurance shots which one should always do with buffalo anyway..I have never had a problem with this shot and its my preferred shot. Everyone should know the buffalo anotomy if they are going to hunt them.

I suppose the shoulder heart/lung shot is still the best shot for most folks and I have used it many times. At the very least one should keep both options on the table.

I believe the neck shot is the most risky shot one can take on any animal, unless very close, and then only if you know exactly where the spine is on that particualr animal. Most simply do not know where the spine is on a Cape Buffalo. there is a very low dip in the spine in the neck, and most will shoot too high.

On a cape buffalo it is, IMO, irresponcable if any better shot is offered. A bull standing still, and dirrectly faceing you the shot is either just under the chin, or where the bottom of the neck meets the chest. With the under chin shot, if you shoot a little high, you will collect the brain, or spine just nehind the head, if you are dead on you will collect the spine, and if you are a little low, you will collect the top of the heart, and spine, if lower, you will nail the heart.

On a broadside shot your best shot is 10"(about 1/3 the way up) above the elbow on the shoulder! that shot will get the heart, and the bronki and maybe break the on side upper leg, or both. if a little back it will also collect the back of the heart, and lungs.

In any event all shots are to be followed up with as many shots as you can before he goes out of sight, or gets back up!

Surestrike's sig line says it best! "a sure sign of a trophy fee gone bad is preceded by the phrase: DON'T SHOOT AGAIN, YOUR FIRST SHOT WAS GOOD" That is especially true with cape buffalo.

I reserve spine shots for follow-up shots. It seldom works though!

465H&H

In the UK,neck shots are undertaken, but usually towards the head where the neck narrows right down, the reason being that the game dealers often give you a very poor rate if chest shot and in the case of small deer like roe often when the undergrowth is quite high in the spring and summer. Chest shots though are the norm and recommended. When I was nineteen I worked for a couple of years as a gamekeeper on a pheasant shoot in County Wicklow in Southern Ireland, the only rifle I had was a .22 hornet and I had to shoot all the sika and red stags in the neck, the secret was to get in close. Whether or not I could accurately shoot the spine in a thick neck of a buff is a different matter.

I have only done one head shot on a buff, but it was fun.

It seems to me that the neck shot would be relatively easy if the buff were standing facing you with his head relatively high. It would be a lot harder if hte buff's body were perpendicular to you.

I've only killed one buff and this choice did not arise.

I have killed hundreds of american bison w neck (spine ) shots, but the spine as many here have told you, is not always where you think it is.

You just have to butcher a few to get a handle on where the spine is.

Shooting a buff in the head w a 3 x 9 scope is kind of a rich mans varmit hunt.

Others here will prefer to shoot them through their up turned nose at much closer range!

Andy

quote:

Originally posted by Indy:
It seems to me that the neck shot would be relatively easy if the buff were standing facing you with his head relatively high. It would be a lot harder if hte buff's body were perpendicular to you.

I've only killed one buff and this choice did not arise.

This is actually a point I should have made clearer. Here in the UK, on a broadside presentation I always aske people to shoot for the body and do so myself almost exclusively. The only time I shoot for the neck is at short range where the animal is facing directly towards me.

I've never hunted buff myself, (YET!!), but I thought that under the correct circumstances it would be a shot that is worth considering.

Rgds,
FB

It's a very difficult shot as the (side) neck isn't where most people expect it to be so it's easily and often missed and depending where the bullet goes, you can end up with either a Buff that's gonna run forever and you lose it or you get a very active and angry animal. Consequently it's not usually recommended as a good choice of shot.......... but hey, it's your safari and your money, if you want to try it and are willing to pay the concequences, then tell your PH you might want to give it a try if the opportunity arises.

If it's a frontal neck shot, it's obviously easier but when that shot is presented, the frontal chest shot is usually (unless there's something like a rock in the way) also presented and has a bigger target area.

I don't know it is just me, but to deliver a well placed shot into boiler room and observe as a beast absorbs the impact and crush like a tank through the bush has a primeval flavour somewhere in my believing – also going after buff once it has been shot and hit good – that warm feeling of well placed shot with constant dislodging of uncertainty and danger, founding the beast dead at the end… may just be one of the heights of the very hunt.

Head, neck shots done the right way are more humane no question about it, however they deprive you from that above and they look sort of (they are not – they just look like - to me that is) almost humiliating…"de grace" perhaps?

quote:

Originally posted by 375 fanatic:
.... adrenalin,babalaas,buckfever

You sense of humor always cracks me up

Seems to me we're talking about two different neck shots..

My favored neck shot connects where the shoulder and neck join and that is not a high risk shot and the target is quite large if you count the off shoot short ribs that are conneted to the spine and if you hit one the bull will go down paralized it seems....He may not be dead but he can't get up and he will be bellowing or moaning, but you have plenty of time to finish the job. If left alone I don't know if he will eventually be able to get up or not, perhaps Ganyana or Shakari could answer that question. I am pretty quick to run up and finish them pronto..

A neck shot in the center of the neck is a high risk shot I suppose but one behind the ear is not high risk and so I am thinking a neck shot at either extreme works and has always worked for me 100% of the time so far and on a lot of buffalo..