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My son and I are planning a Texas Nilgai hunt with some friends for early 2026. This will be a new experience for all of us. I am in the process of choosing a rifle (or two) to take on the trip. I would appreciate inputs from all of you experienced hunters and especially those with past...

Recently Federal announced their new 7mm Back Country. It is a high speed 7mm that produces magnum performance from a std action sized rifle without the need for belted cartridges. In fact it uses a proprietary Peak Alloy steel casing to enable rifles to fire 7mm ammo at significantly higher...

Africa - It's siren call beacons, "Come, come and test yourself once more Old Man." It calls with the haunting echo of the Turtle Dove, the memories of the bright sunshine, the wild Bushveld and the amazing beasts roaming free. I just returned from my 2nd African Safari and over the course of...

Today was a good day. I recently traded for an old like new Ruger Compact Magnum in 338 RCM. Up until that time, I had never heard of this cartridge and when first told of this rifle, it was communicated to me that it was a Hawkeye in 338 Win Mag, a very well known cartridge. I was...

I have found this forum to be fill with very knowledgeable hunters and want to tap into some of that for a project I am working on. I recently traded for a rifle that is chambered in a nearly dead cartridge. Don't worry, I was not cheated (I think, lol). It is a Ruger M77 Hawkeye compact...

I got a bone to pick and would welcome comments from both hunters with Nilgai hunting experience as well as PH/Guides since you lads get to see and hunt hundreds of animals each year and learn more about bullet and rifle performance in a month than most hunters can amass over a lifetime. "What...

Jack O'Conner was famous for advocating small fast bullets for hunting like the 270 Winchester as was Roy Weatherby. For these men hydrostatic shock was thought to kill by knocking the animal out allowing time for it to expire. Elmer Keith on the other hand was known for advocating very large...

I know this topic has likely been hashed, re-hashed and then re-re-hashed in the past, but I missed the party. Some recent experiences have opened my eyes and I wanted to share them and ask your impressions. Below are a few of the rifles I either own or have shot: Caliber----------Recoil...

Who on our forum has used the 7mm/08 in Africa? or for large game (Elk, Deer, Moose) in North America? How did it perform? What bullets did you use? and would you recommend it for African plains game up to and including Kudu, Black WB or Zebra (I will have a 375 available for anything too...

On my first Safari to Africa, I took a matched pair of vintage FN Belgian Browning Hi-Power rifles in 308 and 375HH for my hunt. They both performed magnificently. But, following that hunt, I applied the lessons learned on my first Safari and determined that I would NOT take the same rifles...

I am looking for input from a broad spectrum of this forum since it contains experienced PH's and Hunters alike. I am booked to hunt Cape Buffalo next year in 2025 and have been testing loads and plan to settle on that this fall in time to allow more practice and tuning with my chosen loads. I...

Biltong Recipe - Traditional Recipe with a KY Flair One of the best things I got to try in Africa was their Biltong made from game meat. While I was there I asked about the process of making it and below is the result. This recipe was handed down to me by my PH while sitting at the bar in his...

I did my first safari in South Africa this year and took a pair of rifles with me for a plains game hunt. It was a pair of FN Browning Hi-Power rifles in 308 and 375HH. These were going to also accompany me in 2025 for a DG/PG hunt. The 1st trip was a practice run and a shake down of the...

"ENTER AFRICA" My first close encounter with Africa felt much like my first intimate encounter with a member of the opposite sex. Anticipation, excitement, a little bit of the fear of the unknown. It felt very good and following the event, I find myself dreaming of and wanting more. May sound...

I have been prepping for Africa for over one year now and will soon be off to the dark continent. Looking forward to the adventure. I was and am an experienced hunter and rifleman but was not accustomed to shooting from tri-pod sticks. I do often use a simple mono-pod for hunting squirrels...

As an ethical hunter, I try to learn from my own past experiences both successes and failures. But, this "School of Hard Knocks" is inefficient since it requires me to experience something before I can learn from it. As such another higher order form of learning is to review and absorb life...

I want to thank the young hunter I met at the SCI dinner gathering in Feb for recommending this book. Sour-dough and Swahili written by American PH Bud Branham chronicles his life an memories of guiding clients in both Alaska and Africa before and after WWII. He was a bush pilot and a...

Hello all. I began planning my first safari last June. While I have been a life long hunter our choices for big game in the woods of the Southeastern USA are limited to deer, wild boar, bear, bobcat and elk in some limited areas. Coyote while challenging, is more of a varmint than a big game...

I am planning a DG Safari and while preparing for this trip I have been absorbing and digesting information about rifle cartridges performance on dangerous game and to be specific for taking Cape Buffalo and certain larger plains animals such as Kudu, Wildebeest and Zebra. Ranges for buff would...

I am planning a Safari to SA for next year. My plains game rifle for that trip is an old FN Browning in 308 Win. It is an old 1960's era Mauser style rifle but is in great shape and was never shot much. It is a reasonably accurate rifle and can print 1" groups at 100y and about 2.5" groups at...

I have a question for the collective wisdom of the Forum members: The .400/360 Westley Richards cartridge is a old some might say obsolete round that fires a 300g, .358 in (9.1 mm) calibre, bullet at a velocity of 1,900-1950 ft/s with about 2,537 ft⋅lb of energy at the muzzle. This was...

I am currently planning my first African Safari. As such I have become a student on the methods and practices used by successful hunters and PH's in the region. I have been watching a number of video's published by safari hunters and PH's over a range of subjects. But something has been...

Hello - I am an experienced hunter, and shooting sports competitor located in the Bluegrass State in the USA. I am planning my first Safari to Africa and really appreciate AH as a resource. Irish