Hippo hunting what is ethical consensus?

[Big5]

. . . I say like Simon use a accurate shooting and scoped 375 H&H, even if I personally think that to shoot a hippo in water is not that exiting at all... why not make the hunting for a hippo a bit more memorable, a dream hippo hunt would be to stalk after Luangwa River an early morning when they grassing on land, in that case I would strongly suggest as minimum 375 or 416 calibre. View attachment 149884

Michael, I agree. Although I see nothing wrong with taking a hippo in the water with a well placed shot I never chose to do so because I did not think it would be a very exciting hunt. Like you I hunted hippo on dry land and took a nice bull at close range with a .458 WinMag.

Rookhawk, all my best to you for a successful hunt no matter what caliber or hunt method you choose.

 

[CAustin]

Michael, I agree. Although I see nothing wrong with taking a hippo in the water with a well placed shot I never chose to do so because I did not think it would be a very exciting hunt. Like you I hunted hippo on dry land and took a nice bull at close range with a .458 WinMag.

Rookhawk, all my best to you for a successful hunt no matter what caliber or hunt method you choose.

Bet that 458 did the trick nicely!!! Was it a one shot stop Big5?

 

[edward]

Always stick to the law. No trophy is worth spending time in a jail for. Be it in Africa or as a result in your home country.
As far as ethics are concerned : There is nothing unethical about wanting to cleanly kill an animal with a well executed brain shot in the water. If this bothers a hunter , well then he should be using a spear. Is it more interesting on land - absolutely .

as far as lumbering,my money is on the hippo in a foot race.

 

[CAustin]

Edward did you get a hippo with your pistol or the side by side?

 

[CAustin]

By the way I'm not going to try and out run any of the African animals!

 

[edward]

Edward did you get a hippo with your pistol or the side by side?

was going with the handgun but the airlines that we had to use to get where we were going refused to take my handgun,so had to use the double.it worked out ok.

 

[CAustin]

That's what I thought. Your 470 Sabatti.

 

[edward]

That's what I thought. Your 470 Sabatti.

9.3x74r sabatti.

 

[Big5]

Bet that 458 did the trick nicely!!! Was it a one shot stop Big5?

CAustin, although I'd like to say it was 'one shot and down' I must admit that it didn't turn out that way.

After what I felt was a well placed close range broadside shoulder shot (maybe 30 yards) he quickly spun toward us and came on with mouth agape before I'd jacked in the second round and slammed the bolt closed. Just as I'm readying to squeeze off a second round with him coming directly on he apparently thought better of it and quickly spun back away. I got a raking shot in as he was spinning away and a third shot in as a hip breaking attempt. So, three to put him down.

Having previously put an elephant bull straight down with a single shot from my .375 and having also dropped a bull rhino in his tracks with a single shot from my .416 I have no explanation for why that hippo was so tough to put down with a .458. It was just one of those less than ideal and inexplicable situations. Speculation and debate about the various reasons he didn't drop to the first shot would be endless. However, the bottom line is that it was an exciting hunt and he did go down. He also fed many people . . . and I'm glad I snagged a tenderloin for our camp and had some thick steaks cut and cooked rare over an open fire. Excellent with a good scotch whisky.

 

[caddman]

No worries. Hippo's are a slow lumbering beast.

Lol - Like a Trident Submarine!

 

[CAustin]

Very exciting story. Thanks for sharing it Big5

 

[Lee M]

Lol - Like a Trident Submarine!

Yes indeed! That would certainly get my attention.

 

[siml]

I have guided and hunted many hippo on the Zambezi,(close to where Dr Livingstone's wife is died). Parts of the Zambezi are up to 2 kilometers wide and the hippo like to pick sand banks to rest up on, far from the main banks. The only way we could get close enough to the hippo was by using a macurro ( dug out wooden tree truck), we would slowly drift down the river and when close enough the polers would jam theirs poles into the bottom and stabilize the macurro for the shot(Zambezi is very shallow in most places), once the shot taken the rest of the hippo would scatter, this is one of the most nerve wrecking times, hippo all around you in the water, you can even hear the hippo running on the bottom below you. But sure makes for a exciting hunt. I have never had a body shot on hippo, always done head shots, and found we had better results with softs than solids.

 

[siml]

This hippo I had to shoot for the government, I just couldn't get close enough to him to use 458wm with open sights and had to shoot the hippo that day, I selected to use 300wm with a soft, I put the shot in the back of the head, he didn't move an inch. One incredible thing to watch is when the locals begin to cut up a hippo, their eyes get a glazed look and how they don't chop each others hands or arms off is surprising.

 

[PaulT]

I don't believe ethics need to be dictated to hunters, to other hunters.
Most know deep down what they are comfortable with, and what constitutes a "hunt" for them.

One can always fool a stranger that knows no different, but deep down there is no fooling one's self.

If it is legal where-ever the hunt takes place then I say an individual should hunt in a manner that appeases their own personal hunting ethics standards and no-ne else's.

In saying all of that, my personal preference would be to "hunt" a bull Hippo on land.
To me, and to me ONLY, to shoot a hippo in the water would amount to nothing more than a good shot on a target, but that is ONLY MY personal ethics and should have no reflection or direction on what someone else chooses to do.

 

[siml]

@PaulT , great answer, but I can promise you to shoot a hippo in the water, takes a lot more than just a good shot. I am not referring to a hippo in a dam or small river.

 

[ActionBob]

By the way I'm not going to try and out run any of the African animals!

Charlie I outran a porcupine Actually overtook him but he was on 3 legs

 

[ActionBob]

I have no explanation for why that hippo was so tough to put down with a .458. It was just one of those less than ideal and inexplicable situations. Speculation and debate about the various reasons he didn't drop to the first shot would be endless.

See there, proof that a hippo has bad ethics

 

[CAustin]

Bob don't know that I could out run even that pointed quill rat!

 

[Big5]

. . . nerve wrecking times, hippo all around you in the water, you can even hear the hippo running on the bottom below you. View attachment 149931

Your Zambezi hippo hunting sounds great. I've not hunted hippo on the Zambezi but I have done some tiger fishing on it over the years.

The first time I fished the Zambezi was years ago with a PH after a successful buff and leopard hunt. On the first morning we were to go fishing I asked the PH why he was taking his .458 WinMag along. His answer was somewhat along the lines of; "we just might need for the hippos you dumb shit".

I can attest to what you say about hippos surrounding a small boat being nerve wracking. You can definitely feel vulnerable while bobbing around among them. It's the only place I've ever gone fishing where a heavy caliber rifle was always taken along.