Bullet for Cape Buffalo

[Jaws]

Which bullet did you choose for the 404? I am in the process of narrowing it down. Any info would be appreciated

I had great success with the 450 grain Woodleighs (Norma African PH ammo @ 2150fps) out of my .404 Jef.
took a bull at around 60M broad on, shot just above the heart, and the bullet was stuck under the skin of the opposite shoulder.

The bull didn't make 35M before going down for good.

Also took Hyena, Giraffe & Eland. Exceptional performance and all one shot kills.

 

[Philip Glass]

Quick question please...I am hunting a Cape Buffalo in April 2021. I have my 375 which I know is enough gun but my ammunition is Barnes Vortex in 375 H&H in 300 grain TSX FB. Will this be okay? I have heard I need solids for Buffalo. Appreciate the help!!!

Solids are old news now that we have Barnes TSX. You have a great setup for buffalo just practice and practice some more.
Dont listen to people who insist on using solids for buffalo its nonsense.
Philip

 

[fourfive8]

Well, if you're a hunter who is perfectly happy getting a shot into a buffalo (or any big tough DG) and then letting or expecting someone else to finish the job so be it- not my place to make that decision. Chances are very good the soft points won't get to the vitals as you fire away at the rear end of that departing buffalo after the first shot- a common scenario no matter if the first hit was good or not. Or your PH double taps your shot with a big stopper caliber which is not as rare as some would have you think for many DG hunts/participants in which case the type of bullet or caliber or your shot placement may not matter much at all.

Also, consider the possibility of the unexpected situation, while rare is nonetheless possible and does happen, where you, your PH, trackers and skinners are all tiptoeing here and there following a buffalo that made it to thick stuff after the first barrage of shots and a charge happens... if so armed you can fire away with softs at the front end of a buff coming at close range from any direction and tell me it is the best idea to not be shooting good penetrating solids... or you can climb a tree if there is time and one is handy... or get behind your PH so he can deal with it!

Bottom line- seems it'd be a good idea to get all these details sorted out and understood before any DG hunt even begins.

 

[IvW]

Well, if you're a hunter who is perfectly happy getting a shot into a buffalo (or any big tough DG) and then letting or expecting someone else to finish the job so be it- not my place to make that decision. Chances are very good the soft points won't get to the vitals as you fire away at the rear end of that departing buffalo after the first shot- a common scenario no matter if the first hit was good or not. Or your PH double taps your shot with a big stopper caliber which is not as rare as some would have you think for many DG hunts/participants in which case the type of bullet or caliber or your shot placement may not matter much at all.

Also, consider the possibility of the unexpected situation, while rare is nonetheless possible and does happen, where you, your PH, trackers and skinners are all tiptoeing here and there following a buffalo that made it to thick stuff after the first barrage of shots and a charge happens... if so armed you can fire away with softs at the front end of a buff coming at close range from any direction and tell me it is the best idea to not be shooting good penetrating solids... or you can climb a tree if there is time and one is handy... or get behind your PH so he can deal with it!

Bottom line- seems it'd be a good idea to get all these details sorted out and understood before any DG hunt even begins.

Wrong way to go about hunting Cape buffalo or dealing with the charge if it happens...

Banging away at the rear end of a departing buffalo with solids is often where more issues arise, in particular when a second buffalo gets wounded in the process. Been there seen that on more than one occasion. Rather use a premium grade expanding bullet and aim at what you can see, one of the hip bones or above the root of the tail for the spine, with an expanding bullet for maximum damage, it will anchor the buffalo right there, pull up the parking brake so to speak.

For a charging buffalo, depending on the distance and situation, a well placed shot below the nose, will take out the neck/spine as it dips very low down, if it is close, then frontal brain shot. In either case a premium grade expanding bullet is a much better option than a solid. The buff will drop instantly. People who believe you have to shoot through the boss to reach the brain have never dealt with buffalo in a frontal charge.

Only time you need to shoot through the boss is at the very last moment when the buff drops his head to hook you with his horns, then you shoot through the middle of the boss down into the brain, again premium grade expanding bullet smashes right through.

Have a look at buffalo hunting videos or read hunting reports and see how many times the shoot buffalo with back up shots with no effect from the buffalo side. Why is that? Because they are using solids. Solid is only effective on a wounded DG animal when either the neck vertebrae, spine or brain is hit. This any premium grade expanding bullet in the right caliber can do, any other shots will cause much more damage when the same expander is used.

For me hunting Cape buffalo is a game of correct caliber and premium grade expanding bullets, standing, coming or going.....

 

[Red Leg]

Well, if you're a hunter who is perfectly happy getting a shot into a buffalo (or any big tough DG) and then letting or expecting someone else to finish the job so be it- not my place to make that decision. Chances are very good the soft points won't get to the vitals as you fire away at the rear end of that departing buffalo after the first shot- a common scenario no matter if the first hit was good or not. Or your PH double taps your shot with a big stopper caliber which is not as rare as some would have you think for many DG hunts/participants in which case the type of bullet or caliber or your shot placement may not matter much at all.

Also, consider the possibility of the unexpected situation, while rare is nonetheless possible and does happen, where you, your PH, trackers and skinners are all tiptoeing here and there following a buffalo that made it to thick stuff after the first barrage of shots and a charge happens... if so armed you can fire away with softs at the front end of a buff coming at close range from any direction and tell me it is the best idea to not be shooting good penetrating solids... or you can climb a tree if there is time and one is handy... or get behind your PH so he can deal with it!

Bottom line- seems it'd be a good idea to get all these details sorted out and understood before any DG hunt even begins.

You are darn right I would rather be firing a tough soft at an inbound bull than any solid. It has all the penetration needed, and it buys you just a few extra mm's in wound channel and fp's of energy - either can make all the difference in the world. Not that any have needed them, but all my PH's also have had tough SPs in the chamber as we have approached buffalo.

Nor do I count on my PH to sort out an issue.

I have never had a bull take off directly away after the first shot, but if he did, I would happily take that shot with an A-Frame with spine or hip as primary target. And I wouldn't have to worry about a pass-through. Any other angle and the A-Frame would be the ideal choice.

 

[Red Leg]

Wrong way to go about hunting Cape buffalo or dealing with the charge if it happens...

Banging away at the rear end of a departing buffalo with solids is often where more issues arise, in particular when a second buffalo gets wounded in the process. Been there seen that on more than one occasion. Rather use a premium grade expanding bullet and aim at what you can see, one of the hip bones or above the root of the tail for the spine, with an expanding bullet for maximum damage, it will anchor the buffalo right there, pull up the parking brake so to speak.

For a charging buffalo, depending on the distance and situation, a well placed shot below the nose, will take out the neck/spine as it dips very low down, if it is close, then frontal brain shot. In either case a premium grade expanding bullet is a much better option than a solid. The buff will drop instantly. People who believe you have to shoot through the boss to reach the brain have never dealt with buffalo in a frontal charge.

Only time you need to shoot through the boss is at the very last moment when the buff drops his head to hook you with his horns, then you shoot through the middle of the boss down into the brain, again premium grade expanding bullet smashes right through.

Have a look at buffalo hunting videos or read hunting reports and see how many times the shoot buffalo with back up shots with no effect from the buffalo side. Why is that? Because they are using solids. Solid is only effective on a wounded DG animal when either the neck vertebrae, spine or brain is hit. This any premium grade expanding bullet in the right caliber can do, any other shots will cause much more damage when the same expander is used.

For me hunting Cape buffalo is a game of correct caliber and premium grade expanding bullets, standing, coming or going.....

What he said.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Wrong way to go about hunting Cape buffalo or dealing with the charge if it happens...

Banging away at the rear end of a departing buffalo with solids is often where more issues arise, in particular when a second buffalo gets wounded in the process. Been there seen that on more than one occasion. Rather use a premium grade expanding bullet and aim at what you can see, one of the hip bones or above the root of the tail for the spine, with an expanding bullet for maximum damage, it will anchor the buffalo right there, pull up the parking brake so to speak.

For a charging buffalo, depending on the distance and situation, a well placed shot below the nose, will take out the neck/spine as it dips very low down, if it is close, then frontal brain shot. In either case a premium grade expanding bullet is a much better option than a solid. The buff will drop instantly. People who believe you have to shoot through the boss to reach the brain have never dealt with buffalo in a frontal charge.

Only time you need to shoot through the boss is at the very last moment when the buff drops his head to hook you with his horns, then you shoot through the middle of the boss down into the brain, again premium grade expanding bullet smashes right through.

Have a look at buffalo hunting videos or read hunting reports and see how many times the shoot buffalo with back up shots with no effect from the buffalo side. Why is that? Because they are using solids. Solid is only effective on a wounded DG animal when either the neck vertebrae, spine or brain is hit. This any premium grade expanding bullet in the right caliber can do, any other shots will cause much more damage when the same expander is used.

For me hunting Cape buffalo is a game of correct caliber and premium grade expanding bullets, standing, coming or going.....

Agree 100%

 

[Nyati]

I shot the buff on my avatar with a .375 Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, neck shot, died on the spot.

I am also a big fan of the Swift AFrame, which I use in my .338WM.

 

[IvW]

Cape Buffalo solids or premium expanding...let me give a few example's where I was present or involved.

Client is using a 375 H&H we are hunting Cape buffalo the older the better and the client is no way concerned with spread only old age. We have the discussion and he fills up with 300 gr TBBC softs. Shot placement and different scenarios are discussed. We eventually find his buffalo, we come out a bit too close, 20 yards, it is an ancient bull, fresh scars on his rump from recently surviving a lion attack. Camera man makes a noise buffalo spins away(luckily) up the other side of the stream, faces us at about 30 yards. Head up looking straight down at us. I whisper shoot nothing....the bull lifts his head and snorts...Shoot more urgently now...He is going to charge....which he does with head held high....I wait not wanting to shoot a buffalo I am not paying for...mentally I draw the line at about 20 yards where the stream begins, just as the bull reaches this point the client fires and so do I. His shot is perfectly placed and enters below the nose and shatters the neck vertabrae as his head drops my 570gr Rhino bullet hits the neck vertebrae over the boss and where it joins the shoulders. Dead before he hit the stream. We had a hell of a time setting him up for pictures with the neck destroyed.

Client(not the one I am guiding) is using a 375 H&H also TBBC however he insists on using Solids for back up, same hunt by the way. This guy ended up being a real know it all smart ass. First shot placed a bit high but still good taking out both lungs, he continues shooting with solids and running after the departing herd, wounding a cow in the process. She ducks right back into the shrub Mopani, he runs right past her, she comes crashing out charging at PH in front of me. One takes a shot with his 470 loaded with solids this has no effect on her, the other PH gets out of Dodge. I am on her and aim for the low dip of the neck as it enters the shoulders, at the shot she drops like a sack of potatoes at 7 yards, neck shattered again by 570 Gr Rhino expanding bullet. Meantime smart ass is shouting for more bullets and although he has emptied all the solids he had with him into the bull it is down but not dead. I kill it with another shot again 570gr Rhino.

Client is using my 375 H&H loaded with 380 gr Rhino expanding bullet. First shot is frontal but to the left, exits, cuts the neck and re enters high behind the gut.(Adequate bullet but off to the left-shot placement or deflected) We wait appropriate time and start on the track. Not looking good. Outfitter is using 500 NE with Woodleigh solids. We go about 400 yards and a buffalo crashes away both client and Outfitter blasts away at the crashing noises heading away. I am stunned...what the hell are you shooting at??? Yes it is probably the bull but how do you bang away without even seeing it?

They decide to abandon the track and head off to the right as they presume that is the way he is going off they go with the outfitters tracker. I refuse and my tracker and I stay on the track. They are being noisy on the right hand side. We proceed slowly and quietly on the track...suddenly my tracker stops, I am scanning hard forward but do not see anything, he indicates he can smell the buff...More noise from the right and the buff explodes out of the thick stuff headed directly towards the noise to our right...I follow the movement through the bush over my rifle sights and catch a glimpse of an opening I again aim for the neck junction where the neck dips and the rises to meat the shoulder blades I lead the bull and pull the trigger.....the bulls legs stop working as if hit by an invisible cable and he skids for eight meters before stopping....he is dead before he hits the ground, no kick no flinch no nothing just dead.....

Outfitter shouts back wait let the client shoot it, I think to myself...bit late for that......

Outfitter is using a 505 Gibbs Woodleigh solids as loaded by Superior Ammunition, client is using a 375 H&H outfitter insist he uses a solid for the first shot I disagree but do not push the point. Outfitter had the bad habit of loading a round in the chamber and then pulling the trigger as he closes the bolt...dangerous stuff...

We find 3 dagga boys in an open area, stalk in, client takes the shot and the buffalo drops on the spot...Outfitter sais good shot, opens the bolt on his 505 and lights a cigarette...I comment client should take another shot...he comments what the F...you know about hunting buffalo, client seems confused at this point....he finishes his smoke and heads off to the buffalo, client follows nervously...both trackers caution and say this side boss shoot again...Fu,,,off the buff is dead....they hang back...as the outfitter kicks the buff it jumps up as if spring loaded...somehow the outfitter gets his 505 off his shoulder and takes a shot which has no effect....I am staring at this over the sights of my rifle but cannot shoot as he is in the way the buffalo hooks him and his rifle goes one way and he goes up landing on the buff, he screams like a stuck pig, client departs and his tracker runs in again preventing a shot and grabs the 505 and reloads, again the buffalo tosses him and we get a chance to fire, the buff drops, another couple of shots and it is over. Outfitter is badly injured but very lucky to be alive.

Another hunt, client is using a high speed caliber which I will not name, too soft of a bullet for it. Outfitter is using a 9.3x62 with Barnes. First shot shatters on the shoulder....they take off there are two bulls. We follow until it is too dark to safely continue. Next morning we take up the tracks again, we eventually get to a hill, here the buffalo split up, bigger track heads up hill the other stay's low. We take the low track...one of the trackers keeps going forward and too fast he get's reprimanded a few times...

We get to a patch of very thick bush....my tracker indicates the bull is in here....the over eager tracker decides to go around the thick bush and check the other side.....the next moment we hear a scream and run that side as the buffalo emerges with the tracker impaled on one of it's horns and hanging to the one side, the buff is at full steam and we cannot take a shot we follow at great speed, some how the tracker gets dislodged and the first shot from the 9.3 has seemingly no effect, the 570 gr Rhino although placed far back and at an acute angle stuns the bull, next two shots one 9.3 and one 500 Jeff drops the bull. Trackers guts are put back in place, gets taken to hospital and miraculously survives this ordeal..

I have total confidence in the 570gr Expanding bullets I use, they have never ever let me down, yes shot placement still needs to be there but for buffalo I only use and recommend expanding bullets...

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Cape Buffalo solids or premium expanding...let me give a few example's where I was present or involved.

Client is using a 375 H&H we are hunting Cape buffalo the older the better and the client is no way concerned with spread only old age. We have the discussion and he fills up with 300 gr TBBC softs. Shot placement and different scenarios are discussed. We eventually find his buffalo, we come out a bit too close, 20 yards, it is an ancient bull, fresh scars on his rump from recently surviving a lion attack. Camera man makes a noise buffalo spins away(luckily) up the other side of the stream, faces us at about 30 yards. Head up looking straight down at us. I whisper shoot nothing....the bull lifts his head and snorts...Shoot more urgently now...He is going to charge....which he does with head held high....I wait not wanting to shoot a buffalo I am not paying for...mentally I draw the line at about 20 yards where the stream begins, just as the bull reaches this point the client fires and so do I. His shot is perfectly placed and enters below the nose and shatters the neck vertabrae as his head drops my 570gr Rhino bullet hits the neck vertebrae over the boss and where it joins the shoulders. Dead before he hit the stream. We had a hell of a time setting him up for pictures with the neck destroyed.

Client(not the one I am guiding) is using a 375 H&H also TBBC however he insists on using Solids for back up, same hunt by the way. This guy ended up being a real know it all smart ass. First shot placed a bit high but still good taking out both lungs, he continues shooting with solids and running after the departing herd, wounding a cow in the process. She ducks right back into the shrub Mopani, he runs right past her, she comes crashing out charging at PH in front of me. One takes a shot with his 470 loaded with solids this has no effect on her, the other PH gets out of Dodge. I am on her and aim for the low dip of the neck as it enters the shoulders, at the shot she drops like a sack of potatoes at 7 yards, neck shattered again by 570 Gr Rhino expanding bullet. Meantime smart ass is shouting for more bullets and although he has emptied all the solids he had with him into the bull it is down but not dead. I kill it with another shot again 570gr Rhino.

Client is using my 375 H&H loaded with 380 gr Rhino expanding bullet. First shot is frontal but to the left, exits, cuts the neck and re enters high behind the gut.(Adequate bullet but off to the left-shot placement or deflected) We wait appropriate time and start on the track. Not looking good. Outfitter is using 500 NE with Woodleigh solids. We go about 400 yards and a buffalo crashes away both client and Outfitter blasts away at the crashing noises heading away. I am stunned...what the hell are you shooting at??? Yes it is probably the bull but how do you bang away without even seeing it?

They decide to abandon the track and head off to the right as they presume that is the way he is going off they go with the outfitters tracker. I refuse and my tracker and I stay on the track. They are being noisy on the right hand side. We proceed slowly and quietly on the track...suddenly my tracker stops, I am scanning hard forward but do not see anything, he indicates he can smell the buff...More noise from the right and the buff explodes out of the thick stuff headed directly towards the noise to our right...I follow the movement through the bush over my rifle sights and catch a glimpse of an opening I again aim for the neck junction where the neck dips and the rises to meat the shoulder blades I lead the bull and pull the trigger.....the bulls legs stop working as if hit by an invisible cable and he skids for eight meters before stopping....he is dead before he hits the ground, no kick no flinch no nothing just dead.....

Outfitter shouts back wait let the client shoot it, I think to myself...bit late for that......

Outfitter is using a 505 Gibbs Woodleigh solids as loaded by Superior Ammunition, client is using a 375 H&H outfitter insist he uses a solid for the first shot I disagree but do not push the point. Outfitter had the bad habit of loading a round in the chamber and then pulling the trigger as he closes the bolt...dangerous stuff...

We find 3 dagga boys in an open area, stalk in, client takes the shot and the buffalo drops on the spot...Outfitter sais good shot, opens the bolt on his 505 and lights a cigarette...I comment client should take another shot...he comments what the F...you know about hunting buffalo, client seems confused at this point....he finishes his smoke and heads off to the buffalo, client follows nervously...both trackers caution and say this side boss shoot again...Fu,,,off the buff is dead....they hang back...as the outfitter kicks the buff it jumps up as if spring loaded...somehow the outfitter gets his 505 off his shoulder and takes a shot which has no effect....I am staring at this over the sights of my rifle but cannot shoot as he is in the way the buffalo hooks him and his rifle goes one way and he goes up landing on the buff, he screams like a stuck pig, client departs and his tracker runs in again preventing a shot and grabs the 505 and reloads, again the buffalo tosses him and we get a chance to fire, the buff drops, another couple of shots and it is over. Outfitter is badly injured but very lucky to be alive.

Another hunt, client is using a high speed caliber which I will not name, too soft of a bullet for it. Outfitter is using a 9.3x62 with Barnes. First shot shatters on the shoulder....they take off there are two bulls. We follow until it is too dark to safely continue. Next morning we take up the tracks again, we eventually get to a hill, here the buffalo split up, bigger track heads up hill the other stay's low. We take the low track...one of the trackers keeps going forward and too fast he get's reprimanded a few times...

We get to a patch of very thick bush....my tracker indicates the bull is in here....the over eager tracker decides to go around the thick bush and check the other side.....the next moment we hear a scream and run that side as the buffalo emerges with the tracker impaled on one of it's horns and hanging to the one side, the buff is at full steam and we cannot take a shot we follow at great speed, some how the tracker gets dislodged and the first shot from the 9.3 has seemingly no effect, the 570 gr Rhino although placed far back and at an acute angle stuns the bull, next two shots one 9.3 and one 500 Jeff drops the bull. Trackers guts are put back in place, gets taken to hospital and miraculously survives this ordeal..

I have total confidence in the 570gr Expanding bullets I use, they have never ever let me down, yes shot placement still needs to be there but for buffalo I only use and recommend expanding bullets...

Hit the nail on the head. I can't understand why someone wants a solid when facing a charge. A premium soft goes through a hard boss like a hot knife through butter.

 

[IvW]

Yip solids are for Elephant and Rhino