Learn from my mistakes - Buffalo

BryceM said:

Great post. As has been said commonly, making the first shot count is crucially important, but I think making a good second shot is incredibly hard. The situation is often rushed, fluid, and maybe even a bit “panicked“ as you said. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Great buffalo!

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There have already been quite a few discussions about this on various hunting Forums. In our countries, follow-up shots are not recommended, unless one can be absolutely certain of a perfect second shot placement. Taking such a shot can have a negative impact on how the situation unfolds, just as immediately following a wounded animal can. It is possible that you drives a wounded animal ahead of you, an animal that might otherwise have stopped somewhere to gradually weaken, making it easier to locate later. That is the theory; in practice, things can look different, but it remains a controversial topic.

Congrats for your trophie.

grand veneur said:

There have already been quite a few discussions about this on various hunting Forums. In our countries, follow-up shots are not recommended, unless one can be absolutely certain of a perfect second shot placement. Taking such a shot can have a negative impact on how the situation unfolds, just as immediately following a wounded animal can. It is possible that you drives a wounded animal ahead of you, an animal that might otherwise have stopped somewhere to gradually weaken, making it easier to locate later. That is the theory; in practice, things can look different, but it remains a controversial topic.

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Are you serious? Always keep shooting, no matter the angle. Fill them full of holes like Swiss cheese is our motto. In addition, do we really always know where our first shots hit? Keep shooting.

Scott CWO said:

Are you serious? Always keep shooting, no matter the angle. Fill them full of holes like Swiss cheese is our motto. In addition, do we really always know where our first shots hit? Keep shooting.

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I am!

I suspect that quite a few things were misunderstood again.

However, I am aware that we are not on the same hunting tradition. Go ahead and keep making your Swiss cheese in Africa.

My grandfather would say there are two kinds of hunters. Those that have made bad shots and those that will. I've also heard that there are those that have made bad shot and those that lie they haven't.

Admitting it (publicly) and allowing others to learn from your experience takes courage. I'm glad you had a positive outcome with a buffalo down and no one hurt or injured. My hat is off to you sir.

I'm not a proud person looking for a "one-shot" harvest. If the game I'm after is still running, I'm reloading and shooting until it isn't.

one thing i will add here for potential and passed experienced clients to learn from
clients almost always assume the animal is sid eon/broadside, or front on...but this almost never the case. be aware of the animals stance, where is his far shoulder/front leg

animals are almost never broadside there is always some kind of angle, your PH should pick this up and if he whispers to shoot on front of shoulder, or on the shoulder, or just below the curl of the horn etc etc, make sure you understand where this spot is

this buff may have been slightly quartering on and thus u hit only one lung and a buff can go all day, or more, on one lung

well done on putting in a 2nd shot, this 2nd shot slowed him down and allowed you to get more shots in and finish him off, overall well done and nice buff

communication is key!!!

Thanks for the report. Bull on the ground, no one hurt = great job. I remember a grizzled old hunter once telling me discussing hunting DG, if they have sun under their belly, keep shooting.
Congratulations on a nice bull.

grand veneur said:

There have already been quite a few discussions about this on various hunting Forums. In our countries, follow-up shots are not recommended, unless one can be absolutely certain of a perfect second shot placement. Taking such a shot can have a negative impact on how the situation unfolds, just as immediately following a wounded animal can. It is possible that you drives a wounded animal ahead of you, an animal that might otherwise have stopped somewhere to gradually weaken, making it easier to locate later. That is the theory; in practice, things can look different, but it remains a controversial topic.

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There is a lot of hunting experience on this forum including many outfitters who do it for a living every day. I'm curious who might be in agreement with your argument not to make a second shot unless you know it will be perfect. How can you be sure of perfect shot placement on the second shot when you can't be 100% sure of your first shot.

Every PH I have ever hunted with or talked with says you should always put more shots into the animal if you can safely do so. That means not taking unnecessary risks of shooting other animals and of course watching your surroundings with other people such as trackers and your PH.

grand veneur said:

I am!

I suspect that quite a few things were misunderstood again.

However, I am aware that we are not on the same hunting tradition. Go ahead and keep making your Swiss cheese in Africa.

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Perhaps this way of thinking is due to your hunting of small properties where it gets dicey when a wounded animal crosses a boundary onto a neighbor with possible legal complications for retrieval? In that case, you are worried about doing what is best for YOU, not the animal. We owe every animal a hasty death. Keep shooting.

Mark458 said:

There is a lot of hunting experience on this forum including many outfitters who do it for a living every day. I'm curious who might be in agreement with your argument not to make a second shot unless you know it will be perfect. How can you be sure of perfect shot placement on the second shot when you can't be 100% sure of your first shot.

Every PH I have ever hunted with or talked with says you should always put more shots into the animal if you can safely do so. That means not taking unnecessary risks of shooting other animals and of course watching your surroundings with other people such as trackers and your PH.

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With dangerous game such as Cape Buffalo we focus first on making a good first shot. That is the most important step. However, when you are stalking a few buffalo and they have already become aware of your presence, they rarely give you much time to aim and fire. I understand the desire to make a one shot kill. I love to do that. But with Buffalo, it is like a self defense shooting situation. Once hurt and pissed off, they can become extremely dangerous, even when the first shot was a mortal wound. Buffalo have this annoying habit of not accepting that they have been killed right away. You keep shooting as long as it is on its feet and then shoot some more until it is dead dead. Failure to do so can be tragic.

I had a old friend in 2023 who shot a buffalo twice and it was down - dead. Two other young bulls began goring the old bull in the groin. The PH was unable to shoo them away by shouting so, he radioed the driver to bring up the land cruiser so they could approach and chase away the two young bulls. Having done that, the PH and client approached to give the old bull a coup da gras. Upon firing that 3rd shot with a 375HH from about 10y away, the old bull jumped to his feet and turned to see the hunters and charged! They ran behind the truck and the old bull began attacking the truck repeatedly. In the end it required 8 total shots to put him down. This is why you always approach a dead buffalo from behind and always shoot him one more time after he is dead.

My buffalo required five total shots to kill despite the first shot being fairly well placed from a broadside position. I fired three more as fast as I could rack the bolt and all connected and only one was misplaced. The 5th shot was after he was down and in retrospect was not needed but I do not regret firing it as insurance. Keep shooting until he is dead and then keep shooting until he accepts his change in status as it can sometimes take much more than we would expect to convince a dominant old herd bull.

JG26Irish_2 said:

With dangerous game such as Cape Buffalo we focus first on making a good first shot. That is the most important step. However, when you are stalking a few buffalo and they have already become aware of your presence, they rarely give you much time to aim and fire. I understand the desire to make a one shot kill. I love to do that. But with Buffalo, it is like a self defense shooting situation. Once hurt and pissed off, they can become extremely dangerous, even when the first shot was a mortal wound. Buffalo have this annoying habit of not accepting that they have been killed right away. You keep shooting as long as it is on its feet and then shoot some more until it is dead dead. Failure to do so can be tragic.

I had a old friend in 2023 who shot a buffalo twice and it was down - dead. Two other young bulls began goring the old bull in the groin. The PH was unable to shoo them away by shouting so, he radioed the driver to bring up the land cruiser so they could approach and chase away the two young bulls. Having done that, the PH and client approached to give the old bull a coup da gras. Upon firing that 3rd shot with a 375HH from about 10y away, the old bull jumped to his feet and turned to see the hunters and charged! They ran behind the truck and the old bull began attacking the truck repeatedly. In the end it required 8 total shots to put him down. This is why you always approach a dead buffalo from behind and always shoot him one more time after he is dead.

My buffalo required five total shots to kill despite the first shot being fairly well placed from a broadside position. I fired three more as fast as I could rack the bolt and all connected and only one was misplaced. The 5th shot was after he was down and in retrospect was not needed but I do not regret firing it as insurance. Keep shooting until he is dead and then keep shooting until he accepts his change in status as it can sometimes take much more than we would expect to convince a dominant old herd bull.

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I agree completely. I like the old saying "buffalo are easy to kill, the difficult part is convincing them that they are dead"

Mekaniks said:

Thats hunting sometimes.....Thanks for sharing. Great old bull. Congratulations.

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The first shot looks great to me. He should die quickly from rhis wound

Mark458 said:

I agree completely. I like the old saying "buffalo are easy to kill, the difficult part is convincing them that they are dead"

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So true!!!

JG26Irish_2 said:

So true!!!

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Nice buffalo by the way!!

I have been remiss with my report but I also made a poor first shot a couple weeks ago in a APNR of Kruger. Not really sure how I picked the wrong spot. He was at less than 20 yards, It was thick and they were bedded. After an hour and five minutes they got up and I was given the ok. I was on my butt on sticks. Grass was tall so legs of bull were not visible. My shot was back. Blood trail showed bits of liver unfortunately. After a short stalk he came charging out and the two PHs finished the job at 5 yards, No excuses here, I screwed up my only job and the most important job of a hunt, the first shot! My second buffalo was different and a solid shoulder shot at 15 yards was perfect.

It's buffalo hunting. Hunt enough of them and it's going to happen. Buffalo down and nobody got hurt.

I’ve always been told it’s better to be looking at the buffalo than for it!

Great bull and great lesson! Thank you for sharing and congrats on your hunt!

Congratulations and thank you for your honesty. Dead buffalo; everyone went home safe; a successful hunt to me. Well done!

I believe the only time we shouldn't send lead down range to the running Buffalo, is if there are other Buffalos around and there is a possibility of wounding another. But, if the PH tells me to keep shooting, I'm shooting until I'm out or can no longer see the Buffalo/threat.

I’m with everyone, keep shooting if it’s still on its feet.

This year on my second gemsbok in Namibia, I hit him a touch farther back than I wanted on a quartering shot. It was still a good, mortal hit, but the .308 I was using may not have penetrated the way a larger magnum would have. We worked our way around to where we thought he went into the brush and found him on the ground, but he tried to stand when we got close. The only shot I had was from the rear quarter toward the hip, so I immediately put another round into him and dropped him for good.

My PH told me afterward it was absolutely the right thing to do, even if it meant tearing up a little extra meat.

I had a similar situation on my last elk hunt. Hard quartering shot, and the first round hit right on the point of the shoulder. He spun and looked hit hard, but he was still on his feet, so I shot again and dropped him. The second shot was a little high on a hard quartering away angle and damaged some meat on the opposite shoulder, but it put him down.

Everyone wants a one shot kill, but if it didn’t drop with the first shot, don’t stand there waiting to see how good the hit was. If the animal is still on its feet and you have another shot, keep shooting.