Ramingining NT

Outfitter

Gun Smoke Safari

Barry Sea-brook


station manager/guide Tony

tracker/guide Johnnie

hunter Frank Stradling

area

Ramngining NT [280 miles east of Darwin NT

area hunted 9,000 sq km around and south of Ramingining settlement

Rifle 375 ruger

bullet 270 gn barns flat base X loaded to 2,500 fps


departed LAX Thursday at midnight 15 hr flight to Sydney au then on to Darwin arriving Saturday at 2 pm

Sunday morning at 5:15 departed Darwin

drove out to camp in cattle station for a 6-7 hr road trip
hunted Monday - Friday

flew back to Darwin Saturday arriving at noon
caught a flight out at midnight arriving in LAX
22 hrs later


clearing rifle in Sydney no problem you will need 3 hrs to get it all done with no rush however

traveled with 100 rounds of ruger 375

shot that up by mid day 3

used Tony s ruger .338 for another 80 rounds

shot a cz 375 h&h another 20 rounds

4-5 from Barry's 458 win mag

hard bullets worked soft cheep stuff did not

I purchased 2 boxes of .308 ammunition and Johnnie used it to finish of cull animals for the last 2 days that saved lots of $7-$8 per round ammunition for the .338 and the .375

we did shoot some soft point .458 and it was ok the bullets were 510 gn wt.

so

shot
20 day 1
07 day 2
15 day 3
13 day 4
29 day 5

goal was 15 per day total 75

result was 84 head or 9 head over goal for week

some of the bulls were sub trophy but big body
and took a lot of killing

the cow cull required 3 rounds to close out each animal so this is a 200-300 round hunt

the shot placement and fast shooting required is something one can not get in Africa on big body animals I learned much over the week

and the Friday head count metric reflects that

the cz rifle in 375 H&H with 6 in the magazine is the way to go

my ruger had 3 down

have the guys lay in a good supply of ammo or plan on loading in in camp

you will use 2-3 boxes a day using the .308 for final clean up will save a bunch of ammo and money as well as time

so that's an option

Berry has a press and dies for 470 ne 458 win mag so that is one way to go if you plan well

I did not

on that note you will need to get export permits for your fire arms and bullets and or components including spent brass to exit the country

that is best done while you are hunting I did it in Brisbane in 2 hrs on Sunday on the way out so a bit dicey and may not work so well next time

Bob and others are working on importing components to load in camp for the hard to get double rifles as well as the better bullets for the mid size repeaters in my opinion this is the way to go for ammunition as I spent $800 usd for the .338/.375/.308 rounds that I used beyond the 100 rounds I carried in

may be that I am tird of the African grab for cash or the shoot one a day or the all show pay me tip me shoot this one not that

but this was


the best hunting trip of my life

cattle station facility's not to fancy

concentration on hunting not the food and the campfire story's

good companions had Tony Barry Johnnie for 4 days then Tony Johnnie for final day

unspoiled country no fence dam few roads

lots of targets I shot some 200 plus rounds that week and Johnnie a couple of boxes of .308 as well


will I go back to Australia to do this again ?

---soon as I get enough money---

it will be a while before I can go back to Africa and put up with the one off wonders !

this is as close as one can get to Teddy's bag counts

Wow, Frank that's a lot of shooting. Any pictures!

That's a lot of dead buffalo!!!

Culling is good fun as you obviously found out.

And as you say, take plenty of ammo !

Nice tally's as well, Aus is a good place to get plenty of shooting on big bodied animals.

Sounds like a good time and very educational about how your gun shoots. I understand what you mean about Africa and the one off wonders. I will look at this type of hunt more closely.

"Australia, the new Africa"

stradling,

I put this on the other thread and thought it
worth putting here as well.

Nothing worse than not having enough ammo !!!

quote:

when you go take 250-300 rounds of ammo

Not always possible if you fly due to airline limit.

Worth buying some in Darwin if you can.

Frank I will send you some pictures if you will post them for the report

Dogleg

for me what you say is just about right

the new Africa


Matt the government killed 4,000 the week before I got there so my few did not make a spot in the overall program just a little dot

in fact my bag count after such a heavy government cull tells you how good the hunting ground really is how large the concession block is

505

having ammo purchased in Au and shipped to Barrie is the way to go if you have a standard cartridge

we are looking in to a usa exporter for a few 1,000 rounds

as ammo is so high priced in Au

that may not work but its one idea to work on

Stradling

Yes, ammo can be a bit pricey, especially for 375H&H.

Just out of interest, was it a shoot one or two out of a mob and finish them off and then carry o to another lot or did you try to drop multiple (as in 2+) at the one time ?

How many did you have on the ground at once ?

quote:

Originally posted by stradling:


Matt the government killed 4,000 the week before I got there so my few did not make a spot in the overall program just a little dot

in fact my bag count after such a heavy government cull tells you how good the hunting ground really is how large the concession block is

Yeah - I have been talking to Barry about it! We still (all) need to get rid of that taxpayer sponsored slaughter though!!

505 a few big bull solo shots say 1/3 of the count were single or double

big mob was 35 we got non of that one

hit a group of 18-20 took down 9 all over in 3 min-- that was my best

but I got a 7 and a 5 in the last day shooting so I was getting better at it through the week

hit a few 4 - 6 and got most on some half on all

this is a good hunt for 2-3 guys to join up and shoot together more rifles more down in the big mobs trick is to stick as many of them down as possible first then do a cleaning sweep

the point here is you need to run your rifle off hand

lose the shooting sticks Idea

you can kill some 10 a week using the sticks

in the big mobs they will all run off before you get the sticks up so no shot

on the up side every now and then you can suck up to a tree and sting one at 180 yds

Good stuff.

I tend to put them down for the count before moving on to the next one. More a rule than
anything just so we don't cop a charge plus
it's good practice.

I think the most two of us have had down
at once was 21 in just over 1 minute.

21 that's doing great for 2 rifles

exactly why I must go back

I was way to green to get that done first trip out

Stradling

The other thing you highlighted but not enough IMHO is the ability to shoot off hand, and accurately, both stationary animals and those "on the run" for the follow up shots.

It's hard to get practice, unless of course you have unlimited pigs.

that is exactly right

they are moving and you are moving

shoot move-- shoot move load -- shoot--and on and on -- the kill string may be 200-300 meters long with 2 s and 3s all along the way

so a hit on the apple size target at 50-120 yards off hand will stick them down

often you will be threading a moving shot in and out of the trees as you take them down

as you walk back down the line doing the terminal clean ups you will find that you just spent 15-20 rounds and seem to be in need of a smoke to calm things down

best shooting you can do any where on the planet

that's why 10 each shooter in 1-2 min is real shooting by experienced hunters


my record was a bit less impressive but got better as the week rolled by



my best off hand shot was 170-180 yds on a large standing bull

he dropped with one shot but got back up when we closed to 20 yards

and at that point he took a hell of a lot of killing to get back down


1 from the 375 ruger [me] 2 from the 375 H&H [tony]and 1-2 from the .458 [Barry]

exciting for sure that one

Good stuff, dead right on the description.

One of the reasons I like "top loading" Mauser type ejection ports instead of Magazines. You can load / reload on the run.

Re the 21, we had been doing it for a while
and just managed to catch the mob of 21 before
a flood plain and shot from the front to the rear. Like you, a string of 100 yards.

Anyway, looking forward to the photos.

pm me your email and I will send you the pdf

do not know how to post it on here its got most of the pic s

quote:

Wow, Frank that's a lot of shooting. Any pictures!


Frank

Fjold send me your email will forward the pdf of pic s

Were you shooting from the car and then chasing the herd and shooting more?

And the price of that cull trip? ExY or ok?

Thanks for the report Frank. Talk about getting to pull the trigger!!!!!!

reddy 375

need to be out of truck and off road to shoot

we did spot some driving then moved in to close range not as simple as it may sound

it was the end of the year and the sombitchis were some what switched on

one false move and they would all run off

to thick to pot at them at that point so lost

grypon1 at about $100 a head seemed fair to me

Frank asked me to post his pics for him, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did
Zephyr

Stradling

Great photos and some great horns on a few of them.

Question for you re the condition of some of them.

In the photo "4 of a group of 9" and the following photo "last 2 in a group of 9 taken", the animals look very skinny, back bone clearly visible, ribs clearly visible on one of them.

Yet all the others seem to be much fatter.

Any reason that you know of ?

buffalo down in the swamp areas were in poor condition

the animals on and adjacent to the table lands were still in good condition and were taking better feed [stronger grass]

thats my guess

thanks much to --- Bob for posting the photos

It was a tough season in that part of the world, not much water and not a lot of good grass as a result.

Now that looks like fun,i must get back to the N.T

Frank:
Great to read the story behind the pics. Many thanks for sharing both here and direct. This is the hunt I am looking to do with a buddy in 2015. Am working hard to get my health back so can make this trip.
Good to know about the ammo part. That would shock a person.

Matt, Frank, 505 etc: Is it possible to just take brass and maybe bullets to save on the 11# wt limit? Along with your own dies and load 'em up each night with local powder and primers?

Thanks again,
George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
Matt, Frank, 505 etc: Is it possible to just take brass and maybe bullets to save on the 11# wt limit? Along with your own dies and load 'em up each night with local powder and primers?
George

Yes.

Just remember, you will need the outfitter to organise the Powder and primers well in advance.

AND a reloading press that can handle whatever you are loading.

Remember, not everyone has a press that can do 470 Nitro etc.

I have flown Melbourne to Darwin with 5kgs of Ammo and about 10 kgs + of Woodleigh Bullets
specifically to do some reloading when up there.
(Not all bullets were for me but the concept is good).


Suggest you send the Outfitter who posted this thread a PM asking him.

I believe that all brass and bullets have to listed on the B709 along with your ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by Zephyr:
I believe that all brass and bullets have to listed on the B709 along with your ammo.

Kerrr-ect!! For those who may not know the B709 is the import permit that comes with your local temporary firearms (use) permit. Recently ammunition components were defined as ammunition, so must be listed... for reasons that onlyy a Federal government could concoct!!

That looks like a lot of fun. Certainly appears to be a much more affordable way to get some buffalo hunting experience as well.

Great stuff!!

quote:

Originally posted by stradling:


shot
20 day 1
07 day 2
15 day 3
13 day 4
29 day 5

goal was 15 per day total 75

result was 84 head or 9 head over goal for week

some of the bulls were sub trophy but big body
and took a lot of killing

the cow cull required 3 rounds to close out each animal so this is a 200-300 round hunt

Stradling,

If you don't mind my asking,
...how many genuine or realistically threatening 'buff charges' did you experience across your 84 kills?

By the sounds of it, you at times had several downed/wounded buffalo on the ground at the same time,
while you continued to kill buff over 200-300m string, before coming back to finish animals off.
You did mention that some were difficult to kill, but made no mention of any buff charging you.
That does not mean to say that some of the 84 buff did not charge at you, over the week.

Now now Trax are you suggesting that our water buff aren't as hard core as cape buff?

Bakes
Come on, you know that we tether them up to the trees at regular intervals


Trax
Get a cow with a young un and then watch how aggressive some of them can get.
Especially if you have snotted her calf from a year or two or three ago.
Not just Bulls charge.

quote:

Originally posted by Trax:


Stradling,

If you don't mind my asking,
...how many genuine or realistically threatening 'buff charges' did you experience across your 84 kills?

By the sounds of it, you at times had several downed/wounded buffalo on the ground at the same time,
while you continued to kill buff over 200-300m string, before coming back to finish animals off.
You did mention that some were difficult to kill, but made no mention of any buff charging you.
That does not mean to say that some of the 84 buff did not charge at you, over the week.

He was obviously killing them quite efficiently. Dead buffalo dont charge...

Trax just one started a charge

most of the bulls shot had a broken front leg/shoulder

some a hip down as well and to make the finishing shot I would be 40 to 50 yds out

the bull that started a charged had been shot center mass in the chest

one thing I found out it is hard to make a one shot kill to the head

dont think I would plan on them not charging

one got on top of Tony last year and dam near killed him it had been shot by a 300 win mag

and was just laying there like dead he walked up and it jumped to its feet

got on top of him in a second

we had one do just that

but there were 3 of us shooting at him when he stood up like he was not even hit a wake up call when they do that a real wake up

when they have structural damage [hips and shoulders ] they are not quite as moble


the big body bulls shot were in ones or twos so not in a big group so much

in a mob of 15-20 the cows and calf's heeled up-- and the bulls ran off fast and first-- so not many big bulls in the large groups culled

Matt I may want to go on that 204 head cull hunt you took our Canadian friend on this year

send me a pm if I add that to Barry's cull hunt next year I will have a hell of a good time