On the aftenoon of 27th July, Martin Nel was knocked down by a wounded buffalo in Kizigo hunting block. He was evacuated that evening to Nairobi and admitted to hospital where he is being treated for abdominal injuries.
He is currently in a stable condition but will have to remain in hospital for another 2 weeks. no one else was injured in the incident.

He was lucky!

It could have been much worse, I guess.

I wish Martin a speedy recovery.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
On the aftenoon of 27th July, Martin Nel was knocked down by a wounded buffalo in Kizigo hunting block. He was evacuated that evening to Nairobi and admitted to hospital where he is being treated for abdominal injuries.
He is currently in a stable condition but will have to remain in hospital for another 2 weeks. no one else was injured in the incident.

He was lucky!

.........

Hope he recovers well, and soon! Wendell is right, it could have been much worse.

................

Hope he gets over it quickly. He'll have one more story to tell around the evening sun downers. I met him at Charisa a few years ago. Seemed like a nice guy.

465H&H

Bwanamich,

I had dinner with Martin and his clients one night. Seemed like a heck of nice guy and excellent PH. I wish him a speedy recovery.

Mark

Hate to hear that, but once again the word Dangerous Game crops up, it happens every year without fail and sometimes several times each year, and sometimes ends in death of a hunter, photographer, or PH, but we still get comments on the internet wherein some idiot will pass off dangerous game as a joke and swear it doesn't happen...

My prayers for a speedy recovery are with Martin Nel and his family.

Glad he survived and will recover, and would love to hear the details of how this happened.

Just the theoretical concept of a wounded buffalo scares the hell right out of me.

Delighted to know that he survived, I wish him a speedy recovery. Will also be interested in the details.

Your good wishes have been passed on.

Client wounded a buff (2 shots) which then took off inot some very, very dense thickets (common in kizigo area). Martin and trackers went in after him on hands and knees. He came across an anthill and the second he cleared the anthill, the buff who was hiding behind the anthill charged him at point blank range. Martin did not even have a chance to let off a hip shot! He got buldozed up the anthill and into a small tree that was growing out of it. The client was able to get 2 more shots in the buff at close quarter which turned the bull away and he fled with the thickets swallowing him up in seconds.

At first he seemed ok although battered and bruised. One small clean hole in his forearm where a horn tip had hooked him. Within a few hours he was desperately sore (after swallowing two Coke's) which alerted everyone that something was not right inside.

Once in hospital it was detrmined he needed to be opened up - as all tests, ultrasound and MRI showed no internal damage - to check. Was found that he had a tear on his stomach/Abdomen lining and a ruptured intestine!

He will be fine but his season is done. He was lucky!

Sounds like he was very lucky indeed..... here's wishing him a fast and not too painful recovery.

Thank fully the client was along for the followup and not hanging back where it was safe.

Agree, any idea what caliber the client was using?

.375H&H

My best wishes to Martin Nel and a speedy recovery. I am glad that the injuries were not more serious.

A hug Martin,

Oscar.

As for the size, I consider ideal for large herbivores, but it seems to me low for buffaloes and other dangerous species, and may cause accidents as the use exposed here. At least 404 Jeffery caliber to meet the Big Five.

Oscar.

Hope his recovery goes well.
Every time a problem like this happens I can't help but think of the "doesn't matter what gun you use, the PH has a stopping rifle and will keep your butt safe" threads.

My best wishes to him as well.

Chuck

When I hunted in Moyowosi 3 years ago I met Martin after our hunt when he came to the airstrip at our concession to fly with us back to Arusha. He had been guiding a father/daughter hunt near where we were hunting and my PH, Robin Voight, had been talking to Martin on the radio off and on during our hunt as they compared notes about what they'd been seeing. He's a very nice guy and I wish him well in his recovery.


Martin Nel

This PH really earned his pay!

So, is there any SAFE way to crawl through brush on your hands and knees after a wounded buffalo?

I wonder if Martin and his tracker were crawling to conceal themselves or crawling because the brush was that thick?

Wouldn't a buffalo make a fairly large game trail going through the brush that the PH and tracker could follow?

How on earth can you have a rifle ready like this?

Andy

quote:

Originally posted by 86thecat:
Hope his recovery goes well.
Every time a problem like this happens I can't help but think of the "doesn't matter what gun you use, the PH has a stopping rifle and will keep your butt safe" threads.

Yeah, really. Anything can happen during a dangerous undertaking, regardless of type, and often does. Good luck to Martin.