Land borne hippos

[Backyardsniper]

I have not seen a lot discussed on this topic. It is on the menu for my trip in June and I have been told that hunting them on land can be every bit as exciting as your buffalo or elephant, Maybe even more so.
So, I was just curious if any of you all who have hunted hippo on land would like to share some info on the subject. Preferred rifles, ammo, technique, shot placement, good hippo advice or stories. Whatever you got.

 

[thriller]

My father shot one on land in June of 21 it was a pretty interesting stalk on the shores of lake kariba. Wouldn’t say it was as challenging as the Buffalo we shot but he brained him at 40 yards and it was a very interesting hunt for sure. It was one of those stalks where everything went right the first time so it didn’t seem so difficult but I could easily see where it could be. (I was there as the camera man)

 

[Backyardsniper]

My father shot one on land in June of 21 it was a pretty interesting stalk on the shores of lake kariba. Wouldn’t say it was as challenging as the Buffalo we shot but he brained him at 40 yards and it was a very interesting hunt for sure. It was one of those stalks where everything went right the first time so it didn’t seem so difficult but I could easily see where it could be. (I was there as the camera man)

I will be hunting them right by kariba in the Omay North. Solids for hippo I'm guessing then and usually a brain shot? I know they always brain shoot them in the water but I wasn't sure about on land.

 

[Inline6]

This hunt is on my list of hunts I want to do too. Will be interested to hear what other says.

 

[thriller]

He used a swift 300 a frame from a 375 it was the ph’s call we had both. But it was a 40 yard brain shot target is about the size of a baseball, went down like a large sack of bricks.

 

[375Fox]

I will be hunting them right by kariba in the Omay North. Solids for hippo I'm guessing then and usually a brain shot? I know they always brain shoot them in the water but I wasn't sure about on land.

I don’t know for on land, but for brain shots in water you use a soft. Hippo skulls aren’t difficult to penetrate.

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

Tagging onto this one. I've a hippo allotted for May, should our elephant hunts be successful early, and I'd much prefer to hunt them on land vs thin the water.

 

[michael458]

I was in Tanzania in October 2005. We had seen a couple of bull Hippo on the river bank, and proceeded to follow up on the biggest bull. Seems these two bull hippos were in some sort of scrap, and the smaller of the two got his ass kicked by the bigger bull. He was not in a mood for intruders or anyone watching the affair, and was pissed off. He caught sight of us on the hill above him, it was too steep for a hippo to climb straight, so he took off on the path that lead around to myself and my PH. He kept coming, as he topped the hill we were on, there was a small tree in which he had to navigate around, turning broadside to me to do so, PH said "Shoot", I shot and that was the end of it. He went straight down at the shot and was 6 steps out.

I was using a big long 24 inch Winchester M70 458 Lott MUSKET at the time. It seemed very cumbersome for this sort of work, long, heavy....... I was thinking during this episode, "There has to be something better than this?".................. Something shorter, something lighter, something way more handy, but still maintain enough power and bullet to do the job. I can't complain about the power levels and the bullet, it was a 500 gr Barnes FN Solid and did a great job.

Later on my return, the entire Concept of the B&M rifles was born, and this bit of action had a little to do with that, along with many other things at the time................

 

[steve white]

In the long grass (that's all there is) of the Kilombero river area in Tanzania, I twice jumped hippo dozing in the shade of grass close to impossibly small pools. The first one I literally stepped on its backside and it was fortunately pointed away from me. Felt like a landslide out of nowhere, and topped out my heart rate in about half a second. Second one was identical to the first but I didn't quite touch it. They are dark slate grey out of the water. We were hunting buffalo, but it would have been thrilling to have been looking for such a situation on purpose. I might redefine thrilling if one was turned toward me, though.

 

[ActionBob]

I only had a couple hours to hunt them in Tanzania and never saw one. But plenty of sign. We were stalking through tunnels in the grass and brush along side a series of small deep pools. It was most intense as you just couldn't see ahead and had fresh spoor everywhere. I new if one came down one of those tunnels we were right in it's path. Much more intense that buffalo, almost on par with that big wild lion stepping out of the bush!

 

[Tanks]

A Tanzania hippo hunt on land is one of my hunts to do. A 570 grain CEB solid from my .500 NE should do the job.

 

[Backyardsniper]

A Tanzania hippo hunt on land is one of my hunts to do. A 570 grain CEB solid from my .500 NE should do the job.

I have become a big fan of the CEB. I've shot so many of them practicing and then placing back orders for more I think me and the customer service lady are on a first mane basis. I run them in my 470 and 416 and 500 Jeffrey. They are really easy tomake shoot well. I have tried a lot of different powders and charge weights in the 470 and all were acceptable and some are super accurate. The raptor and the solid are really easy to make shoot to the same POI, since they are essentially the same bullet as far as outside dimensions. I am looking forward to experimenting with thier terminal performance as well. Ha ha. I figure a white tail is probably gonna catch one of those pointy 460 grain Raptors this fall.

 

[steve white]

A Tanzania hippo hunt on land is one of my hunts to do. A 570 grain CEB solid from my .500 NE should do the job.

I have a video somewhere that depicts two such rounds fired at under 10 feet AND NEITHER OF THEM EXITED! (due to bullet yaw, perhaps?)

 

[Tra3]

I hunted hippo on land in the Caprivi last summer. We were in and out of water as we traversed areas where hippo would bed during the warmth of the day. Some of the areas were very thick with brush, we were essentially walking through brush tunnels, slowly, looking for skin, anything that looked like a hippo. Many places the distance you could see was only 10 yards or less. I doubted my decision to undertake such an affair, especially after our boat was charged multiple times by an ornery bull. The bull hit the boat one time as he porpoised out of the water. It was a true pucker moment.

I finally connected with a bull at just over 20 paces. We had seen him come out of the water and begin grazing. We got the wind and traversed multiple water areas, rifles held high over our heads. The final approach was an exercise in how close we could get. PH Louw Lotter continued moving forward, against all my sense of self preservation, I followed. I took a single side-brain shot and it was over. It was a moment of extremes: the size of the animal, the proximity, fear of consequences of a miss, and then the slow process of coming down from such high tension. Taking 10-15 min to go from “close”, up to “too close” and finally to so close that time slows down and you know you cannot make a mistake.

The truly wonderful experience wasn’t so much in the hunt, but in the process of moving the animal, towing him downstream, then being involved in the processing of tons of meat. We brought two truck loads of meat to the local community where over 70 people came in with all manner of receptacles to carry out huge 50 lbs bags of meat. It was a humbling experience. I enjoy sharing venison back home. To get to share that much meat in one effort was special, heartwarming and really gave me a more thorough understanding of conservation. People were polite, gracious and thankful in a way that made me realize that my adventure in a hippo hunt was a much bigger donation to the community that just money. I was not prepared for the thanks that I received.
My (vegetarian!) daughter was with me for the whole event, she was 50 yards behind during the hunt. She was involved in the animal processing. After seeing what happened with the meat, it changed her opinion of hunting. It has such a profound impact on her that she decided to start hunting and took 6 head of PG on that trip. She finally realized that we and the community are fed from the efforts of hunters.
If you are blessed with the chance to hunt a hippo, take the time to be involved in the processing and the meat distribution.

 

[Backyardsniper]

I hunted hippo on land in the Caprivi last summer. We were in and out of water as we traversed areas where hippo would bed during the warmth of the day. Some of the areas were very thick with brush, we were essentially walking through brush tunnels, slowly, looking for skin, anything that looked like a hippo. Many places the distance you could see was only 10 yards or less. I doubted my decision to undertake such an affair, especially after our boat was charged multiple times by an ornery bull. The bull hit the boat one time as he porpoised out of the water. It was a true pucker moment.

I finally connected with a bull at just over 20 paces. We had seen him come out of the water and begin grazing. We got the wind and traversed multiple water areas, rifles held high over our heads. The final approach was an exercise in how close we could get. PH Louw Lotter continued moving forward, against all my sense of self preservation, I followed. I took a single side-brain shot and it was over. It was a moment of extremes: the size of the animal, the proximity, fear of consequences of a miss, and then the slow process of coming down from such high tension. Taking 10-15 min to go from “close”, up to “too close” and finally to so close that time slows down and you know you cannot make a mistake.

The truly wonderful experience wasn’t so much in the hunt, but in the process of moving the animal, towing him downstream, then being involved in the processing of tons of meat. We brought two truck loads of meat to the local community where over 70 people came in with all manner of receptacles to carry out huge 50 lbs bags of meat. It was a humbling experience. I enjoy sharing venison back home. To get to share that much meat in one effort was special, heartwarming and really gave me a more thorough understanding of conservation. People were polite, gracious and thankful in a way that made me realize that my adventure in a hippo hunt was a much bigger donation to the community that just money. I was not prepared for the thanks that I received.
My (vegetarian!) daughter was with me for the whole event, she was 50 yards behind during the hunt. She was involved in the animal processing. After seeing what happened with the meat, it changed her opinion of hunting. It has such a profound impact on her that she decided to start hunting and took 6 head of PG on that trip. She finally realized that we and the community are fed from the efforts of hunters.
If you are blessed with the chance to hunt a hippo, take the time to be involved in the processing and the meat distribution.

That is really awesome. Thanks man, that is what I'm looking for.

 

[John J]

When I specifically asked for hippo on land, noone came thru with a yes we can but outfitters who had a dam or pond on property's they hunted. I eventually decided to hunt with CMS in Zim, and was told hippo on land eeeh probably not but see what happens. We made our way over to a community Chitsungu (spelling?). We were given to go ahead to get after hippo but they really wanted crocs shot. We parked a little ways off the river and walked over. The hippos looked amazingly big to me. I saw a big one and was fixated on it, figured that was a bull. He wound up to be the one to take. I had a 375 H&H with a scope but really wanted to use my 500. The PH laid it out and left the choice up to me, he knew I wanted to use irons and he was comfortable with either choice. He said take your pick, and I said ok, lets get to that side of the river. Oddly he said shoot from here. Hm I guess I didn't think of that. Danger aspect kind of removed and not what I had in mind but made sence. I rested on a termite mound lined up the front bead to make a 73 yard shot across the river. At the shot they all ran into the water, stared at us for a few seconds and dropped below the surface. He took almost 3 hrs to float up. Used 500 MDM, 450 gr safari raptors at 2300 fps abouts. I had 500 gr solids and he said use the raptors. Wonderful experience, the whole town showed up after the shot for meat. It got heated at times, crazy at times but I'd do it again in a heart beat. Bullet did not exit but the crowd was getting unruly and wanted meat, was advised its not the best idea but if I really wanted it they would look. I decided against it so we left.

 

[michael458]

This was a running gun battle that started on the ground, like @John J hunt above. I hammered the bull with 4 rounds of 50 B&M Alaskan and 405 CEB Lever Solids at less than 15 yards. He did make it to the water however and was recovered in a couple of hours.

Hippos are "big fun" to be around, and I think you can very easily put them very high on the "Dangerous Game List".............

This one did not make it to the water, a neck shot with 458 B&M and 450 CEB #13 Solids put an end to the issue in short order........

 

[michael458]

My Son Mark David took his 475 B&M Super Short to Africa a few years ago. He was extremely successful with it shooting 350 gr .474 caliber CEB #13 Solids at 2200 fps in the little gun, now keep in mind, this gun is 36 inches Overall Length, and weighs in at 6 lbs total. Based on a Cut and trimmed WSM case to 1.640 inches. WSSM Winchester action, 16.25 inch barrel.

He was successful not only with hippo, but buffalo and elephant as well................

 

[TOBY458]

I just returned from the Omay a few days ago. We hunted Hippo on the banks of Lake Kariba. While we never saw a bull on land that I wanted to shoot, we saw hundreds of Hippo. The only really exciting action we had was getting charged by a Hippo cow. She had apparently been fighting and was badly cut up on most of her body. We found her laying in a very shallow finger of the lake, almost on the bank. We went down for a look to see if it was a bull or a cow, so we got pretty close. Maybe 30 yards. When she finally noticed our presence, she got up and came straight for us! I had my 416 Rem Mag in hand with 400gr CEB solids and my PH had his Searcy 500NE double. Just as we were flicking the safeties off on our rifles, she turned at about 10 yards and went back into the water. Big fun!
Other than that, hunting them on the banks of a large lake doesn't feel like much of a hunt. It's only a tiny bit more challenging than shooting one in the water. And that challenge mainly lies in simply finding a good bull to shoot, that will stay out of the water long enough to shoot him.
My intention, when planning a Hippo hunt on land, was to find a bull somewhere far away from the lake itself, and stalk up close to him for a shot. That seems like a much more exciting way of hunting them.
Good luck on your hunt!

 

[TOBY458]

When I specifically asked for hippo on land, noone came thru with a yes we can but outfitters who had a dam or pond on property's they hunted. I eventually decided to hunt with CMS in Zim, and was told hippo on land eeeh probably not but see what happens. We made our way over to a community Chitsungu (spelling?). We were given to go ahead to get after hippo but they really wanted crocs shot. We parked a little ways off the river and walked over. The hippos looked amazingly big to me. I saw a big one and was fixated on it, figured that was a bull. He wound up to be the one to take. I had a 375 H&H with a scope but really wanted to use my 500. The PH laid it out and left the choice up to me, he knew I wanted to use irons and he was comfortable with either choice. He said take your pick, and I said ok, lets get to that side of the river. Oddly he said shoot from here. Hm I guess I didn't think of that. Danger aspect kind of removed and not what I had in mind but made sence. I rested on a termite mound lined up the front bead to make a 73 yard shot across the river. At the shot they all ran into the water, stared at us for a few seconds and dropped below the surface. He took almost 3 hrs to float up. Used 500 MDM, 450 gr safari raptors at 2300 fps abouts. I had 500 gr solids and he said use the raptors. Wonderful experience, the whole town showed up after the shot for meat. It got heated at times, crazy at times but I'd do it again in a heart beat. Bullet did not exit but the crowd was getting unruly and wanted meat, was advised its not the best idea but if I really wanted it they would look. I decided against it so we left. View attachment 488463View attachment 488464View attachment 488465View attachment 488467View attachment 488468

One of the guys in our group killed a Buffalo one evening. The crowd of people that showed up for the meat got into such a frenzy that they were climbing all over the truck trying to get to the small amount of meat that the PH had set aside for his trackers and camp staff! They had to all get in the truck and take off to get away from them! I guess hunger will make people do crazy things...