It was a mad rush to finish the semester and depart Katherine for a station quite a drive away. We arrived there late at night, talked to the manager, and then drove to a swamp to make camp. The next morning, we discovered that there is still lots of water around, and the pigs were not to be found anywhere. We shifted to another spot, and pulled-up for a bite of lunch and watched salties sunning themselves. Those nearest us were only small, but across the lagoon we could see some that were larger. I had seen only one salty outside of tours before, so this was a real treat. We saw many, many salties, and stayed well back from the water's edge as we strolled along searching for camped-up pigs to no avail. We found some fresh buffalo dung and many scrape marks in the dirt where a lone bull was venting his anger with the world. Suddenly my friend stopped, having seen an egret fly off from a low-laying boulder. I though it was just a weird termite mound, but an ear twitched, and it was the cranky bull, snoozing on his side in some grass and scrub. We stalked-in to about fifty metres, and my friend put a 400 grain Hydro into him that really woke him up, shooting my Ruger No.1 in .450/400 3" NE. The bull trotted-off into the thick stuff, and we ducked-around to intercept. He slowed after going about twenty metres, and my friend put another Hydro through him. The bull slowly walked quartering toward us, and I had him covered with the Merkel double rifle in .500NE as my mate reloaded to put another two into him, upon which the bull collapsed, perished. The bull's boss was all scabby and riddled with thick, oozing pus. We capped the head, and departed for another swamp. Sorry, I don't have permission to post my mate's photos. By late afternoon, we pulled-up near the intended swamp and began hiking. We again found that we were on fresh tracks, and after a couple of kilometres I spied a movement through some scrub ahead, and the stalk was on for another lone bull buffalo. Keeping a shrub between us, I closed the distance. He had his back to me as I stepped-out, and I made use of very quiet stalking conditions to rapidly close to about forty metres, knowing he'd soon sense something and give me a chance. And that is what happened. He whirled around, giving me a broadside shot. My right barrel hit him through the lungs, and as he took-off, my left barrel hit him further back and destroyed the renal artery or kidneys. He galloped seventy metres into the scrub and crashed. I had used Woodleigh 570 grain solids. Both exited. It was a marvellous stalk, and my first bull buffalo with the double. My mate later shot a boar with the .450/400 3" NE, and a wild dog and a smaller boar with his 6.5x55mm. We even found a freshly-killed pig that a mob of dogs had taken down. Sometimes you have a win, eh. We'd not seen any buffalo at this place last year. Another real treat was to experience the unpleasantness of carrying a rifle with cold barrels early in the morning... Brrrrrr! This was one of our very few, and greatly-appreciated, cold weather hunts.

Congrats. Sounds like a great time. Gotta love the .500NE. Also, more folks ought to include beer pictures in their trophy pictures. Well done!

Ben,

That was one of the better hunt reports that I've read on this site. Mainly due to the fact that you and your mate did it self guided and on a lean budget. My kind of hunt! Congrats on your rifle and your buffalo.

BTW.

I really like the look of that gear belt you are wearing. Could you kindly provide some information on it?

Thanks.

How cool is that!

One more good reason to visit the land down under.

Thanks for the post!

Thanks, fellows.

G'day Surestrike, the pouches are from Texas Hunt Co in your good country, just carried on a regular leather belt. One is an ammo pouch that carries ten rounds in loops plus a few extra / other stuff in a zippered pocket; another is a pouch that is good for keys, wallet, a few odds and ends, and perhaps a few more rounds, especially a few easily accessible in a mesh pocket; and then a double pocket knife / sharpener pouch. Very high quality stuff, from that mob!

Cheers,

Ben

Great report. thanks for sharing. Texas Hunt Co. is owned by a fellow AR member Jeff Wemmer!

Hi Ben:

Thank you for sharing your experience, certainly you can say you had a successful hunt, I bet you had a great time chasing them buffalos.

Would love to do the same thing some time in not the too distant future.

Best regards

Malek
Good hunting/shooting and God's best

Ben
Well done, sounds like you had a great hunt.
Thanks for sharing.
Nitro

Great job, sounds like it was a blast!

Thanks for a great report on what was obviously a great time. Very nice rifle and a super bull--that is a lot of candy for a dime.

Looks like you had a lot of fun! Too bad you couldn't have popped one of those big salties!

Ben, thanks for sharing your hunt. Photos are lovely. I still can't believe all the salties are protected ...
How was your mate's bullet placement with the .450/400 and the Hydros? I have the same Ruger and was thinking it would have plenty of poop for this work. Also wondering if you recovered any of the Hydros and what they looked like.
Your .500 was obviously a bit more "persuasive," eh?

G'day Bill,

The first shot my mate took was quartering-away, and I reckon he hit a bit far back. He has practiced with my rifle, but this was his first good chance at game with it. I reckon it would've gone through liver and one lung. The bull only ran twenty metres, though, before pausing and then slowly walking past us after we'd run around to intercept him. That bull was already stirred-up for some reason, perhaps a fight with another bull, and had a headache (pus was seeping out of his boss), so he was pretty pumped-up to begin with (we could read how stirred-up he was as we back-tracked him after he was killed - kicking dust as he walked along). That little rifle has now accounted for seven buffalo - six of those were taken with Hydros. Unfortunately, I haven't recovered any Hydros, as they all blast through. I am very impressed with them. In general, they seem to kill quicker than solids - not sure about a well-placed soft comparison yet. These little Ruger Number Ones in .450/400 3" NE are certainly a force to be reckoned with, and are so neat and handy and affordable. There are at least two other blokes in Australia who also have the same rifle and have been quite successful on buffalo with them.

Cheers,

Ben