HUNTING Hippopotamus

Not sure if it's me or the Swift a frames. Would like to see tighter groups. But surely acceptable for body shots

Wow...I got the completely wrong mental image when I read "body shots" Hahaha! Where are the ladies at?

Well, unfortunately for me, the legal system has stopped my hippo hunt. They will not allow archery equipment to be used on hippos in South Africa. I will have to wait until I can hunt in another country where they do not prohibit bowhunting on dangerous game. (They also denied my bow permits in RSA and Zim on elephant, rhino, croc and even hippo and buffalo in Zim). It is feeling like the only place I can shoot some of these guys with a bow is at a Rinehart 3D target tournament.

mrpoindexter said:

Well, unfortunately for me, the legal system has stopped my hippo hunt. They will not allow archery equipment to be used on hippos in South Africa. I will have to wait until I can hunt in another country where they do not prohibit bowhunting on dangerous game. (They also denied my bow permits in RSA and Zim on elephant, rhino, croc and even hippo and buffalo in Zim). It is feeling like the only place I can shoot some of these guys with a bow is at a Rinehart 3D target tournament.

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Croc is allowed in SA mrpoindexter

HeinrichH said:

Croc is allowed in SA mrpoindexter

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It may well be, but it apparently isn't available on my safari. From an email recently sent by my outfitter/guide:

Eland Safaris said:

Mike
Hope all is well?
Cant get you a permit to hunt a Croc or a Hippo with a Bow in South Africa!!
Sorry we cant help on this, but yes nature conservation been very strict this year!!
Please let me know what other animals that are different you may be interested,
We have Sable, Roan in the area as well, Springbuck too
Looking forward to hear back from you

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Correction.....I'm using Northfork solids not Barnes.

Looking forward to hearing about all your hunts, I have hippo on my list for may 2018

One shot placement not show that worked just fine!

Mine stepped forward just as I pulled the trigger. I was trying to shoot him in the ear.

Are solids still the go to for hippo even with a side shot?

No...

revturbo9967 said:

Are solids still the go to for hippo even with a side shot?

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Exact question I have been mulling over the last few days. Seems some use solids and others softs.

lvW,

Could you elaborate on your experiences with solids vs softs with on land hippo and heart/lung shots. For those of us that have hippo hunts planned or thinking about them I’m sure your experiences would be helpful for us. Many thanks

Ill bring this one back up. I'm going to bring A frames and Barnes x for my 375 in September. My PH wants me to use the Barnes for croc and A frames for everything else, he will give me a few solids if I need them. On a body shot, do either of these matter on a Hippo?

Hi, @Fatback & @revturbo9967

Bit late to the party, but I personally consider hunting hippopotamus on land to be the second most exciting form of dangerous game hunting that all of Africa has to offer (first being hunting truly wild lion). A hippopotamus is most dangerous when you’re standing between him and the water.

I have shot 9 of them over the years (till now). Mostly with a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, except one with a .404 Jeffery and one with a .600 Nitro Express.

Bullets which I have used for hunting hippopotamus (till now), were:
-RWS 300Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid factory loads
- Remington 300Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ factory loads (which employed Hornady bullets)
-Norma 300Gr monolithic solid factory loads
-Cutting Edge Bullets 300Gr monolithic Safari Solid (hand load)
-Barnes 300Gr TSX factory loads
- RWS 400Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid factory loads
- Labor Fur Ballistik 900Gr flat nosed tombac jacketed FMJ factory loads

I will answer the “Solids vs Expanding Bullets For Hippopotamus“ question for you:
For hippopotamus shot in the water, an expanding bullet is better. You only get the brain shot. The skin over the top of the head is relatively thin & so is the skull. An expanding bullet works best because not a lot of penetration is required and shock is far more important.
For hippopotamus shot on land, you’re essentially looking at both a brain shot or a body shot. The hippopotamus body skin is very thick (more than 2“) and a good deal of penetration is required in order to reach the internal vital organs. So solid bullets here really come on their own.

Back when I first started going on hunting safaris in Africa in 1974, the universal rule was to always use nothing but the most strongly constructed solids for hunting hippopotamus. And indeed, I have successfully shot most of my hippopotamuses over the years with solid bullets. The only cartridges which ever gave me a difficult time, were the RWS 400Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids for the .404 Jeffery. They used extremely thin jackets, which were also quite brittle. Penetration, thus was severely impacted.

Last year, I shot an extremely large bull hippopotamus on land with a 300Gr Barnes TSX all copper monolithic hollow point. The results were most startlingly satisfactory and It was the first time in my life that I had ever used an expanding bullet on this type of game. I think that for future hunts, a magazine full of Barnes TSX cartridges is the right answer. For hunting hippopotamus on land, they are the only expanding bullets which I can safely recommend.