Is Giraffe hunting for me?

[rookhawk]

I wanted to know more about giraffe hunting to decide if it's something I wish to pursue.

Is it a challenging hunt?

Is wounding and long trailing of injured animals common?

Is neck shooting the ethical / safest approach?

Do they eat well back at camp or donated to villagers or is this not a viable part of the resource?

There are lots of amazing animals in Africa so no worries if this isn't an animal on my list, I just don't know much about them.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I wanted to know more about giraffe hunting to decide if it's something I wish to pursue.
Is it a challenging hunt?

When you see them from a truck they look like they will be simple to hunt.
You can drive right up to them, just like any game drive.

Get out of the truck and try and stalk in close. Now you will see just what that long neck is good for, besides assisting access to food at the top of a tree.
It is simple to see their heads and necks. Try and see the vital zone.
They can keep it safe in the bush quite easily.
Screw up a stalk and you will be walking a good long time.

Is wounding and long trailing of injured animals common?

Wounding, no more than any other animal. It will be a long track if you do wound it. They are big and a misplaced shot will have you searching and using up time.
My PH was so concerned he did not want me to stop shooting until it was on the ground. I obliged with three in the boiler room. All were fatal shots.
That lead me to believe he had done a rather long tracking job on a Giraffe in the past.

Is neck shooting the ethical / safest approach?

I hate neck shot (personal preference) on anything. Top of the heart/lung shot is the highest percentage effective shot.
Look at the shot placement diagram and memorize it.

Do they eat well back at camp or donated to villagers or is this not a viable part of the resource?

Sold, eaten, donated or used somehow. Depends on the outfit.

 

[lcq]

I saw plenty of them there was no problem walking to within 30yds out in an open field.

One thing about Africa, absolutely nothing is wasted.

 

[billc]

It is not the hardest hunt or the easiest. Seeing them is pretty easy but getting close enough for the good shot is the hard part. I have taken one and now plan on my son taking one so I would say I enjoyed the hunt.

I took mine with a neck shot but hit to far down and he got up to run. Pieter just kept yelling shoot and keep shooting. I hit him to 2 more times with a lung shot bringing him down in 75 yds of the first shot. It depends on the PH but neck shots done right are what seems best.

I have not seen a wounded one tracked but Pieter said they are bad if they get going again and can take all day to get. He was saying they can go right through a fence and get on someone else place which could be a problem.

The bull I took was so old we did not even try to eat him. He was known to be on the land for over 20 years and was one of the biggest giraffe I have looked at in well over 100 giraffe. Two guys I trust a lot that seen him said it was the biggest body bull they knew of. The meat did not waste though an was sold to make biltong I believe.

I really want mine to have a shoulder mount of and to use the back skin to make a chair for my room. He coloring made my mind up and I am very happy I took him in the end.

 

[Royal27]

Pieter just kept yelling shoot and keep shooting. I hit him to more times with a lung shot bringing him down in 75 yds of the first shot. It depends on the PH but neck shots done right are what seems best.

I thought he was yelling at you to turn around and quit running away from the giraffe and towards the truck? That's what it looked like in the video at least....

 

[billc]

I thought he was yelling at you to turn around and quit running away from the giraffe and towards the truck? That's what it looked like in the video at least....

Ok you just keep quiet about that. It was Pieter fault that I did not have enough ammo with me. LOL How was I suppose to know giraffe did not charge hunters. The way Pieter was saying shoot shoot I realize how bad he did not want that think to start running away.

If you look at the video again you will see the perfect second shoot take him in the lungs. So really I did not need more ammo was running back to the truck to get my camera. For the record perfect and lucky mean the same to me when shooting.

 

[jeffpg]

Brickburn said it better than I coulda.

I've taken 3, with a 30.06 headshot, a 416 Rigby behind the shoulder and dead in the shoulder broadside with a crossbow.

The crossbow was extremely satisfying with about a 40 yard run before the big bull crashed!

To me, they are the best bang for the buck in hunting anywhere.

 

[adgunner]

Wayne, what were you using for a rifle?

 

[jeffpg]

They tend to be a relatively cheap hunt, until they hit the ground. Then your taxidermy bill can grow if you let it.

I had all 3 of mine processed for head/neck mounts and flat skins. I also kept the feet & leg skin for table legs and also kept the leg bones. And of course I had the ball sack tanned!

My next one will be very old and dark like the first one I took with Bossie.

It will be a custom turn like my pal did with his. He's a taxidermist and modified his form as shown in the pic.

He says it took hours or hard work & he'll never do another but it was worth it as it's always like a magnet to first time visitors to his home.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

They tend to be a relatively cheap hunt, until they hit the ground. Then your taxidermy bill can grow if you let it.

I had all 3 of mine processed for head/neck mounts and flat skins. I also kept the feet & leg skin for table legs and also kept the leg bones. And of course I had the ball sack tanned!

My next one will be very old and dark like the first one I took with Bossie.
View attachment 38619
It will be a custom turn like my pal did with his. He's a taxidermist and modified his form as shown in the pic.
View attachment 38620
He says it took hours or hard work & he'll never do another but it was worth it as it's always like a magnet to first time visitors to his home.
View attachment 38621

Those giraffe over on the right next to the television........... "Dad?"

 

[bluey]

my son took one in 2010
wish l had of been there for that , but I was bowhunting and he was riffle hunting , dropped in its tracks with a 180 grain corelokt from my 30.06 where the skull joins the neck .
all the meat was minced and made into sausages, didn't tatse that great and was pretty chewie
he was a big old black bull , and is now a floor rug , a big bloody floor rug at that....
2014
was with my wife when she was walked into a lighter and we are guessing younger bull , into around 90 metres and she shot him at the base of the neck , with a 180 ttsx out of my 300rum .
wasn't a hard hunt but watching my take this giraffe was way, way cool . she wanted to hunt one ,right after our son took his .
this time he will be a floor pedastel and his back skin will be stored for use some where , sometime , his shin bones will be used aswell , sometime
one front and one back hoof are being made into bookend , annnd the skull will sit on the coffee table ,
we didn't eat any of this animal but helped butcher and cape him , he was getting sold as jerky

 

[CAustin]

Royal you just like breaking it off in Bill don't you! Ha!
Bill where is the video? I want to see it.
By the way his color is so dark he had to be over 20 years old.
He is a good looking bull.

 

[Wheels]

Those giraffe over on the right next to the television........... "Dad?"

I needed a laugh.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Wayne, what were you using for a rifle?

I used my 300 WM with a 180 grain TTSX. Never recovered all the bullets.

 

[billc]

Royal you just like breaking it off in Bill don't you! Ha!
Bill where is the video? I want to see it.
By the way his color is so dark he had to be over 20 years old.
He is a good looking bull.

That video thank god has not been seen by many. LOL Pieter has a copy and each one of the guys in my group does also. I tried to post it but could not get it to work. Yes royal likes to get on me but I give him a had time when ever I can.

Lets just say it is funny because it looks like I am running away after shooting the giraffe and jan has it all on video. It happen so fast I got off truck with just the gun and the rounds in it. We stalked the giraffe twice as he was just moving away but ever one else stayed on the truck. So when I come running back yelling for Dakota to get my pack jan has the video on me the whole time.

Giraffe was not even high on my list but Pieter gave me one hell of deal and he is the kind of bull that I did want when I was gong to take one.

I use my 300 win mag and a 200 grain a frame

 

[Royal27]

If you look at the video again you will see the perfect second shoot take him in the lungs. So really I did not need more ammo was running back to the truck to get my camera. For the record perfect and lucky mean the same to me when shooting.

Man I really was all confused....

I thought the "perfect" shot was when you were trying to hit it in the ass on the third shot and hit it in the back of the head instead...

Although honestly, I do agree with you. Any shot that puts them down more quickly is the perfect shot. I promise you I wasn't aiming for the spine on my second running shot on my buff!!!!

 

[kal]

Great looking animals everyone, I have been considering adding giraffe to my hit list on my next trip to Africa. I will be hunting buffalo and will already have my heavy bow with so would make sence to do it on one trip. Although I am not sure I want to know what the shipping cost would be with a buffalo and giraffe skin weighing it down lol

 

[Wheels]

When you see them from a truck they look like they will be simple to hunt.
You can drive right up to them, just like any game drive.

Get out of the truck and try and stalk in close. Now you will see just what that long neck is good for, besides assisting access to food at the top of a tree.
It is simple to see their heads and necks. Try and see the vital zone.
They can keep it safe in the bush quite easily.
Screw up a stalk and you will be walking a good long time.



Wounding, no more than any other animal. It will be a long track if you do wound it. They are big and a misplaced shot will have you searching and using up time.
My PH was so concerned he did not want me to stop shooting until it was on the ground. I obliged with three in the boiler room. All were fatal shots.
That lead me to believe he had done a rather long tracking job on a Giraffe in the past.



I hate neck shot (personal preference) on anything. Top of the heart/lung shot is the highest percentage effective shot.
Look at the shot placement diagram and memorize it.



Sold, eaten, donated or used somehow. Depends on the outfit.

Have you done the giraffe wrap on a room yet?

I am waiting to see what it looks like. If it won't pass the wife test I may pass unless there is a cull hunt.

 

[Hank2211]

Some people have a hard time hunting them - for some reason, they think of them as more of a pet (especially wives). But an old male - dark and smelly - is a worthy adversary. Yes, you can at times get up close, but as Brickburn noted, that neck is used for something - they see you coming from some distance, and if they decide to run, you will have a long and potentially fruitless stalk ahead of you. Equally, a bad shot will translate into a long follow up and potentially a lost trophy.

That's the main reason to avoid the high neck shot. It's quite spectacular when it works - the giraffe drops as if hit by lightening - but when it doesn't work, you may have wounded an animal (but likely not so badly that it won't survive) that you will never see again.

The high heart-lung shot is the best, in my view - and nature gave you the target - follow the hump caused by the front legs, at the top, go in about two and-widths, and there's the target. Like the triangle on a zebra. Heart and lungs are of a good size, so the shot is reasonably forgiving.

I got two last summer, and one is being used for gun bags and other assorted items. A very nice hide.

This is also a big animal, and while a .300 will certainly do the job if the shot is well placed, it's also a great opportunity to use the bigger stuff. I used a .404 Jeffery on one last summer and a .375H&H on the other. Didn't feel over-gunned at all!

 

[BMD]

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