I had a great hunt with PVT the last 10 days in October. The meet and greet in Dar on arrival and departure made going and coming easy, and the camp and food were absolutely flawless. Everything from the equipment to the people was top notch.

On this report I want to talk about my second buffalo, in many ways it was the low point and high point of the hunt. I will start by saying that I bought a new rifle, a 416 Remington, and shortened stock. I like them that way, or so I thought. When sighting the rifle in at the camp, the scope whacked me pretty good twice mostly because of the short stock and the fact that the bench was a little lower than I was accustomed to. Pierre noticed I moved my head at the last second to stay out of the way of the scope. Even so, I shot well and I beamed as Pierre said I shot the best groups of the year. This pride in my shooting ability would be short-lived.

On day three, the sky was clear and the early morning cool. Right out of camp we crossed buffalo sign on the road. The trackers scurried around and chattered, after some discussion Pierre said let’s go buffalo hunting. As we walked through easy terrain, I got the same nervous anticipation I had with the first buffalo. We walked for nearly and hour and came to a dry creek bed. As we walked down the dry sand, the pace quickened. At one point we looked ahead spotting several buffalo, who were looking back at us. We quickly ducked back into the bushes and an upset Pierre said we’ve been seen. Pierre, the trackers and I walked forward slowly, hugging the bank. About 100 yards ahead, the buffalo began crossing, there were about 15 or 20 of them. Pierre said there is a good one in front; all I saw was a mass of black bodies. There is another good one in the middle. From my view through the scope over the sticks, I thought I saw the one he was talking about. Shoot, he will be gone! I fired and we saw the buffalo stumble as he went up the bank. Cheers and quick congratulations followed as we hurried through the deep sand toward the bank. At first we saw no blood, where did you hit him? The shoulder I said. As we go slowly into the brush, we find one small drop of blood. As we proceed Pierre says your job is to look around, not at the ground. Another drop of blood. Next we spot a buffalo bull in the brush ahead. I get ready to shoot and Pierre says hold on, it may not be the right bull. Pierre, myself, and the trackers intently look at it for about a minute but we can’t see the shoulder. The buffalo turns and bolts and we can see blood on the upper front leg as it disappears into the brush. Pierre looks worried and I feel about as low as one can feel. On we went, I am disgusted with myself and disappointed. I have practiced for this moment and it looks like I blew it. Blood is sparse and beginning to turn brown. At one point we could see three buffalo cross over the next ridge at a trot. He’s the second one, Pierre said. The range was about 220 yards and they were gone before I could get the gun up. Pierre and the trackers take off for the ridge, I struggle to keep up but fall behind (one tracker stayed with me). As I top the ridge and catch up, I am totally exhausted, sick, and mad with myself. We rest and Pierre asks what I want to do. Even if there is only a 20% chance, I want to keep going. There is less than that Pierre says. Well, let’s keep going as long as we find blood (later Pierre said he had to test me). We continue for hours. As we walk I change from a solid to a North Fork soft in the chamber. Pierre gives me a pay attention look. Blood becomes more frequent, the heat is unbearable, and on we walk. We hear a noise ahead and everyone gets alert. We walk parallel to a thick brushy area and I see Pierre set the sticks. Shoot that buffalo, pointing ahead. Is it the right one? Shoot! I took aim on a beautifully broadside shot at the buffalo standing at about 65 yards. I fire and he drops at the shot. He moves and Pierre says to shoot again. As I shoot, his head covers his chest and the North Fork solid goes through his horn, his ear, and completely penetrates the chest. I keep firing until the gun is empty.

The first shot had gone through the upper front leg, creased the chest, and out without doing much damage. I don’t know what went wrong. Pierre thinks I raised my head at the last second to miss the scope. Two inches higher and the buffalo would have been dead.


It is now well after noon. Unbelievably, they are able to work the truck to the buffalo and load it. Pierre checks the temperature and it is 105 F.







Bullet Performance

I recovered two bullets on the Safari, one was from my first buffalo and was a 400 grain Barnes XXX. It entered just behind the last rib, and crossed through both lungs and lodged in the off shoulder. It weighs 388.2 grains. Strangely, one petal folded inward across the hollow point, which stopped the expansion. Pierre thought it did a good job anyway, penetrating deep and straight. The bull ran about 150 yards.

The second recovered bullet, a 200grain North Fork from a 300 Win magnum, was from a zebra. It weighs 196 grains and has a cross sectional diameter of 0.696 inches. The 300 Win magnum with North Forks was deadly.

I will post pictures of these bullets, but so far can’t get a good close up picture with my camera.

Llano Jim
Thanks for the report and pictures. Congratulations on your hunt.

I cannot imagine how uncomfortable it must be to hunt in those temperatures. Even taking a nap must be difficult let alone chasing buff.

Great pictures and report.

Thanks,

Great hunt and report, Llano!

By the way, I took a friend up to Llano last weekend to see the little wildlife museum and it was shuttered. Too bad as they have a really nice collection of trophies and worthwhile display. I suppose it just wasn't bringing in enough money to justify keeping someone there to run it?

Llano Jim,

Congrats on a great safari and hope to meet you in Dallas in January...


Mike

Stonecreek: I hate to see the museum close also. I would like to think it's just closed for repairs, but I bet you are right - just not enough support. Hope at least you got some good BBQ while in Llano.

Retreever: Look forward to going to Dallas and meeting the AR group this year. See you there.


Llano Jim

Nice report and pics.

Well done Jim. Great Buff hunt story! Thanks for sharing!

John

Jim,

Thanks for the report and pictures. I drove through Llano on the way to San Saba to deer hunt a few weeks ago.

I wanted to follow up on the scope/eye relief issue. You mentioned cutting the stock down and considered that the culprit. Was that a last minute modification? I would have assumed that the eye relief problem would have been identified in your pre-safari shooting practice. Could the scope have slid back perhaps? Just seems odd to happen all of a sudden. Congrats on the recovery though...I would have no doubt been flinching!!

Jim,

Shit happens to the best of us and if you have not had an agonizing follow up like yours you either have hunted little or you will have one. Congrats on staying with it and sorting out your buff in tough conditions.

Mark

Bwanahile, good questions on the short stock. Originally, when I bought the rifle I had them cut the stock to match the LOP of a favorite model 70 375. For some reason the new rifle, a Blaser, had different geometry and seemed much shorter than the Winchester. However when shooting it with the scope on 4 power (a 1.75 - 6 Leupold) it worked ok and I decided not to send it back for a longer recoil pad, as the hunt was coming up and I wanted to practice - bad mistake.

When I got to Africa and was sighting in, I put the scope on 6 power to see the target better. Another problem was that lions had shreaded Pierre's sand bags and I was shooting over a blanket for a rest which was low. All this combined to cause the scope to hit me twice. I still shot fine, at least at the range but Pierre noticed I moved my head back just before the shots and we speculate this is what caused me to shoot low. Mark describes it well by saying shit happens. After the second buffalo, I put the 300 bbl on the Blaser and had no further problems.

I chose to tell about this part of the hunt because of the intense emotions it caused. I think this is really part of why we hunt. By the way, the Blaser did fine through the hunt and I will use it again, just not without LOP modifications.

Jim

Congrats on a great hunt and a great report Llano Jim.
Any chance you have any more pics of the elephant show in your report? Looks like quite a big one.

Canuck 32

I see by the picture of the wildebeest that you are not shooting them in the right place.That's why the buff did 150yds. You got to get a better shot on dangerous game.

shootaway,
That may be the exit hole, not the entrance. He likely hit the wildebeast on the shoulder and the animal was not prefectly broadside, hence the exit hole that appears "back".

Jim:
Boy, can I ever relate to your story. That "how could I flub that shot as much as I practiced" feeling. But buffalo are "shock absorbers for lead" and refuse to go down like "normal" animals. I, too, shortened the stock on my M70, but it WAS the right thing for me. On my second buff I kept up with the running gun battle for the first 2 hours of what turned into almost 4 hours, but when the buff circled back within 50 yards of the truck I had to pack it in. It was the right choice because the PH and trackers moved twice as fast without me. And the HEAT - 100 degrees and 98% humidity!
Congratulations on a beautiful bull and the others, too!
Dave