BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[Don Fischer]

Coke would be fine,,,,make it a double. Hey, my old dog, Otis, an English Pointer, is 14yrs old and got attacked by a Rottweiller last week. I got him out of there and the silly bastard wanted to get back in the fight. Bring on those cheerleaders..........................one at a time! :yes: :thumbsup1: I don't want to wear them all out at once. ::-k

[Hammer1]

Hell with the girls, you had to mention dog. Last week I had to put my german shepherd down(hips totally went) but he was a little over 14 years old. Today I was interviewed, yes interviewed, for a new shepherd.
I'll see if I can put a pic on here.

[Hammer1]

Here you go, Don. You start here, I'll meet you at the other end. :D :D :D

[ChesterGolf]

Sorry to hear about your friend Hammer1. I had to put my 3 yr old lab down about 2 mths ago becasue he was suffering bad from wide spread cancer so I know where you are coming from. :cry:

[redrider]

If those cheerleaders don't do it for ya let me know, I'm always willing to help :lol: You wouldn't happen to have any Jack or Crown would ya? :o

[Don Fischer]

Sorry to hear about your dog Hammer. I fear my turn is next. "Otis" turned 14 this past spring. Needs help getting into the trk now but gets out on his own. Also gets on the couch and the bed alone. Sorry to hear of it.

Hey Redrider, they're all yours. At my age I find dogs better company and maybe I better not leave now. Otherwise, you know I would! :thumbsup1:

[hunter777]

Sorry about your dog Hammer1. We had to put our shepherd down at 13. Bad hips too but he went into convulsions and didn't come out for 3-4 hours. Wasn't pretty, we had to do it.
It was 0400 on 9-11-01......

[DUGABOY1]

RifleandReel wrote: This buffalo went down immediately after one shot from 80 yds with my client's Dakota Arms .375 H&H using 300gr Federal Bearclaw ammo:

[
The bullet shattered the buff's heart and he had no chance. I believe that the primary reasons for the buff going down as easily as it did were (1) shot placement and (2) because he was totally unaware of us and therefore didn't have adrenaline flowing as happens when they are spooked.
Something similar happened to this Eland - also using a .375 - this time a Sako. The Eland was much bigger than the buff body-wise and it only ran for about 30 yards before expiring.


In both instances the animals were stone cold dead by the time we got to them.

The .375H&H may not be the ideal charge-stopper but it is more than enough gun for clean kills with accurate shot placement.
Happy hunting!

Rifleand Real, I agree, the difference is lack of adrenalin, is the key. I've seen many Buffalo culled with a 243Win when done from a distance, and by shooting in the head, or neck, so the animal seemed to have simply laid down, not spooking the rest of the herd. Anything that can penetrate far enough to get to the brain, spine or heart/lung will kill buffalo. Buffalo are simply not dagerous at 100 yds, and so the 375 H&H is a fine buffalo cartridge, even in a close charge. I say that because, in a close charge nothing short of a CNS shot will stop him in time! The 375 H&H is as good as anything for that purpose. In many cases a small rifle like the 9.3X74R in a double, or a 9.3X62 in a good CRF bolt rifle, is far easier to place a bullet where you want it, or to recover from the recoil of the first shot, if you don't, to get off the second shot! A very large cartridge may take too long to recover from, if the first shot isn't good, in a close in combat!

I believe the first poster here, asked how tough the Cape buffalo is! The answer to that is it depends on many things, in most cases. One is the Buffalo's state of mind when the first shot is fired, as mentioned by RifleandReel, if he is at rest, he may go down quite easily, especially if shot from some distance. IMO, the worse thing a hunter can do, when dealng with DG is to fire one shot, and then admire his shooting, instead of fireing follow-up rounds! Thos extra bullets may not let him go into hideing! As I said Cape Buffalo are only dangerous game if they are close! So you don't want him to get into the thorn, if you can help it. If he gets in cover, he will be close work, thereafter. When you get in close, and take him on, you may find he is about built of iron, at times.

The key to staying out of trouble is placeing that first shot in the right place the first shot, and follow up with as many as you can get into him before he gets into the weeds where someone has to go in and sort him out. The previous paragraph is where the cartridges like the 375H&H are nice. NOW! lets say he gets into the weeds, with a shot that looked good, but missed the heart, and only got part of one lung, the follow-up shots may make the difference here! Now when you go into the bush after him, is the time when he becomes a dangerous game animal, and when you get to him, he will be close, and if on his feet, it will get closer. Here is when one needs a REAL rifle, and here my choice is a double rifle of 450/400NE 3", or larger, because it has an almost guranteed second shot, where a bolt man will be lucky if he gets a second shot. I use a 470NE double for this, but I'd rather have the 450/400NE, because of the short recovery time. I don't feel over gunned, I assure you, even with the 470NE, and have used a 500NE on several occasions, in tight cover!

For the client hunter, I 'd rather see him unpack a nice CRF bolt rifle chambered for 375H&H, fitted with a low powered scope, and back-up iron sights, than a 460WBY MAG anyday! Those "LOOK AT ME RIFLES" make me nervious till I know the owner can shoot them well, which isn't often the case, with the 460 ! :o [/b]

[Don Fischer]

Well Dugaboy that is the best answer I've read. I suspected something like that but you hear so much bad information that it's hard to tell sometimes. The video I saw at Nosler surely misrepersented it. The first shots, which could be seen puffing dust where they hit, were clearly bad shots. Then passing on a sure killing shot while the Buffalo was down in favor of filming a charge again gives a wrong impression. I have always been one to believe that the best shot you'll get is the first shot.