I'm just returned from a hippo hunt in Southern Zimbabwe on the Tokwe river- dam with Boet Van Aarde.
The hunt was absolutely more interesting that I tought before to leave. Normally the people ( myself for the first) think is a very easy hunt, but not in this case. The water in the river was very high and we found many difficulties to locate the bull in the three different herds we spotted. Also the animals are ever in the deep water so the target was very small. Fortunately Boet Van Aarde have a great experience and after 3 days I have taken a very good bull.




We have some problems caused from the bullets. In fact I used my Brno cal. 375 H& H mag. The ammunition were reloaded from a friend with the Barnes x 300 grains. I think this bullet is absolutely not the best for this type of hunt, specially for the brain or however head shots.

At the third day we finally spotted a bull in the middle of the Tokwe river. Distance about 70 meters. The first shot was direct to the head. The bull dont die and become to turn around, up and down in the water. I shoot again, 3, 4, times. And Boet the same. Finally after 8 or 9 shots he die.






When we found the animal, and the head was partially skinned ( see the pictures), we understood why we had so many problems. The not solid bullets made a very bad job:
One, probably the first (A) have broken the big bone on the top of the head but wasent able to go inside of the brain. We recovered another bullet (B) perfectly expansed, in the bone of the mandible, but he wasent able of broken the bone!








Another ( C) is gone behind the eye on the right and probably is one of the most effective.But I'm not sure is a Barnes from my gun, maybe is a Partition from Boet. Another (D) is gone straigt on the nose and he stopped there.


So I was very lucky as, after the first shot, the bull was in big troubles, maybe for the shock, and we have the time of shoot again many times, otherwise the hippo can go lost.
Also the hunt was very emotional, but the conclusion is: the Barnes X seems absolutely not adeguate for a a very big animal with hard skin and bones, specially for head or brain shot. And, off course, they seems not adeguate for the elephant. This is my experience.



Probably one or two are gone on the body of the animal ( one on the shoulder) but they arent recovered.

Mario,
THanks for sharing. I appreciate the photos and your comments.

Congrats on the World Cup as well..

Mario,

I think this is a perfect example of why you should use nothing other than solids on a brain shot on heavy animals.

Thank you for the report.

Signore Mario ringraziare,

This is valuable information.

From reading I thought any bullet from any caliber would work for brain shooting hippo.

Based on your experience, I will be sure to use only solids for hippo.

Congratulations for the fine trophy!

thank guys.




this is the bullet recovered in the point B)

I had a similar experience with Barnes X and a Hippo but we never recovered the hole Hippo out of the Ruaha in the Selous last Year.It died in the middle of the River.

THATS WHY ONLY USE SOLIDS ON HIPPO !!!

Seloushunter

Mario,
Any idea of the load or velocity these bullets were shot at?

The photo of the recovered x bullet....was that recovered from the body or the head? Reason I ask...my experience with recovering x bullet is limited...I only have a few because most have passed through. X bullets that go through heavy bone typically shed their pedals. This bullet does not look like it hit bone to me.

Did you find any other bullets?

The bullet I recovered was in the point B) in the hole of the mandible ( see the picture).
I think was the hard skin and the hard muscle that expanded the bullet.
Tomorrow I will give you the details about teh load and the velocity

Thanks for the info....I would have thought that the X would have done penetrated better. I have never shot a hippo but plan on hunting them at some point in time....guess solids are the name of the game.

Mario,

I read your report twice. I'll draw no conclusion because I was not there when this happened. What I can say is that of the 3 hippos I shot 2 with 300 gr. Swift A-Frames and one with a 300 gr. solid all died instantly from the brain shot. The only difference in preformance was the the softs only made one hole and the solid made 2.

I shot these hippos in Zambia in the Luangwa river where you can shoot a hippo on a 7 day hunt so the PH's see lots of hippos shot each season. The PH actually recommend my 300 with a 180 SAF as he had seen many hippos brained with a 30-06.

I don't know what happened in your situation but it would seem that a heavy caliber solid is not necessary or even dsireable as it smashes up the skull more.

Mark

Roscoe, the bullet was so loaded:
Norma 202 68 grs - primes CCI l. mag.
The velocity about 770 m/s

Mark,
seems you have more experience of me on the hippo. Even my PH, Boet Van Aarde, with over 20 years of big game hunting, said you can hunt hippo whit the 30.06, but he said only with solid bullets.
For my experience the shot with the 30.06 can be more accurate of the 375, but my first shot was not so bad...

IMO if you miss the brain, the hippo is wounded. Last year a Spanish client shot a hippo (on land) with a .600NE double (Factory Wolfgang Romey round, 900gr Woodleigh solid) in the head. The shot was placed about 6 inches too right to hit the brain. (see photo) The hippo just "danced" open-mouthed, and another shot to the body (nearly hitting the spine, but still not a killing shot), dropped it. Another shot to the heart through the brisket, killed it. So, not even a solid (from a .600 NE nogal!)in the wrong place will kill it. Make sure of your shot, and a good quality soft like a Barnes or a A-Frame will get the job done on brainshots (hippo, not elphnat) (note- not headshots)- it is even better than a solid, as the resulting bone fragments might make up for a slightly misplaced shot.

Mario,

I shot a hippo with Boet two years ago in nearly the very same spot (from your discription.) I also used Barnes 300 gr. TSX. I actually got some from the first production batch and loaded them right before my hunt. I posted the results at the time, but will summarize again.
I had somewhat similar results, but drew a different conclusion. My first shot was slightly back, and hit the bony ridge protruding from the skull, shearing it off completely on that side. The bullet did not penetrate into the skull, but did proceed in a straight line, obliterating the bone in its path. My conclusion was that my shot was placed incorrectly (I hit the wrong spot!) The hippo reacted as you described, rolling and thraching, and even rising out of the water like a whale. I hit him twice more, once at the base of the skull, which fractured his neck and killed him cleanly. The other shot was back in the body (lower neck) and had little apparent effect.
I recovered two bullets, one the classic Barnes mushroom, and the second was missing one petal. I consider the barnes TSX to have performed adequately - in fact very well.. You can't expect the bullets to penetrate the skull if you don't direct them there in the first place! While your shots (and mine) were close, it doesn't appear that any directly impacted the skull in the area of the brain. I don't think a hippo (or elephant, for that matter) will completely succomb to a misplaced "brain" shot very quickly, if at all.
Both animals are big and tough, and bullet placement is truly critical. I did get penetration completely into the spinal column at the base of the skull, and considering the size of a hippo neck, wouldn't expect any more from a true solid.
If I ever shoot a hippo again, I wouldn't hesitate to use the Barnes TSX. (I would try to shoot better, however!).
Bill

Ilama,

even Boet sais: "with the hippo you must shoot properly"!

But about the barnes x, I'm disappointed for the result of the bullet I recovered in the point B) in the hole of the mandible ( see the picture). As you can see this bullet was enable to go in to the bone of the mandible. WAs opened in the classic mushroom only for the hard skin of the hippo.

I shot a hippo in 2003 in Tanzania. I shot him in the head right between the eye and ear. The shot was about 65 yards. I used a 500 grain
Barnes X in 458. win mag. The Hipo died instantly. The bullet did not exit.

I may of got away with something, I don't know. Knowing what I do now I probably would use a solid just to be sure.

Great pictures, Mario...I hunted with your friend Boet recently...he's a helluva good guy.

Dave