CONGO: Successful Self-guided Forest Buffalo, & A Surprise!

[adzhoo]

I am resident both in Panama and the Congo [emoji1077] where I grew up. My mom is still living in Pointe-Noire so I visit her every year, and go hunting, car and rifles are here, and she and some friends take care of the license renewal in due time..
I know the hunting territory, the people, the roads… that’s how it is possible to do it by myself.
We found a herd of 4 early morning last week in the plains, near a lake.

I always try and take pictures before shooting.. I found it helps me be much more calm and “clinical” in my shot decision thereafter..
Long story short, I confirm with the tracker which one is the big male, and take it.
The first bullet will take the heart and lungs. I immediately follow up with another bullet in the same area.. they bolt, and charge in our direction. The shots were taken at around 120m. There was no way to cross the dried lake and get closer.
3rd shot… aiming at the head of the charging wounded one. Not always easy to know which is which in such mayhem but this time, yes.. the .375 cracks and soon enough, I can see the buffalo reacting as if it had hit a wall.. the 3 others turned away and disappeared. I remember taking a 4th shot on the buffalo, still standing but not moving. Game over

The bump under the skin was a local “brenneke” that hadn’t penetrated..

 

[Andrew62]

Pretty red buffalo, thank you so much for sharing this story!!!

 

[adzhoo]

When inspecting the buffalo, I found that the first 2 bullets had gone done a perfect job, one going through.

But I couldn’t understand the ear shot!

Because it looked to me like an exit wound but i couldn’t see any entry. And given the reaction of the buffalo on that bullet, as if it had crashed on a wall, it was puzzling.
But i could not understand so I concluded falsely that the bullet had entered here and out. Until today when I inspected the skull I was boiling..

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I am resident both in Panama and the Congo [emoji1077] where I grew up. My mom is still living in Pointe-Noire so I visit her every year, and go hunting, car and rifles are here, and she and some friends take care of the license renewal in due time..
I know the hunting territory, the people, the roads… that’s how it is possible to do it by myself.
We found a herd of 4 early morning last week in the plains, near a lake.
View attachment 547933
I always try and take pictures before shooting.. I found it helps me be much more calm and “clinical” in my shot decision thereafter..
Long story short, I confirm with the tracker which one is the big male, and take it.
The first bullet will take the heart and lungs. I immediately follow up with another bullet in the same area.. they bolt, and charge in our direction. The shots were taken at around 120m. There was no way to cross the dried lake and get closer.
3rd shot… aiming at the head of the charging wounded one. Not always easy to know which is which in such mayhem but this time, yes.. the .375 cracks and soon enough, I can see the buffalo reacting as if it had hit a wall.. the 3 others turned away and disappeared. I remember taking a 4th shot on the buffalo, still standing but not moving. Game over

View attachment 547935
The bump under the skin was a local “brenneke” that hadn’t penetrated..

Thanks for sharing. Self guided in a wild area. I’m not ashamed to say I’m jealous of that experience.

 

[adzhoo]

I couldn’t believe it, but it suddenly made more sense.
So i looked closer at some pictures I took and…

Crazy enough I finally found a bullet entry on the other side of the head..

I hadn’t noticed it!! Even when skinning the head.

 

[adzhoo]

Mystery solved! It explained the shock, the frozen buffalo after that shot and what I had lived and observed.. but till you have proof, you doubt!

Now it makes all the sense of the world, and being my birthday today, finding out this made it special!!!

Thanks for reading

 

[IronRanger]

Cool story

 

[adzhoo]

I posted somewhere else a video of a final approach on tall grass of a mortally wounded buffalo, filmed by drone… worth watching [emoji3526]

 

[Nyati]

Nice buff and great story, thanks for sharing !

 

[Hunt anything]

That’s a great story!

 

[Justhunt]

What an experience. Thanks for sharing! and Happy B-Day

 

[npm352]

This is amazing

 

[Suera]

Congrats for this buffalo and amazing story

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Congrats! Thank you for sharing your adventure.

 

[PerH]

Exellent story and fascinating region, not heard much about in hunting

 

[chino_cba]

que municion? Felicidades!

 

[adzhoo]

que municion? Felicidades!

Yo tengo una .375HH acá

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[Andrew Short]

Congratulations!

 

[R.M.C.]

Very cool, thanks for sharing with us!! I've had similar experiences trying to figure out where bullets went in and out, sometimes it takes some investigation. Glad you got to the bottom of it.