First Cape Buffalo

[Hornedfrogbbq]

43 7/8-44....somewhere in there.

Goodness...HOSS.

 

[dhoover]

I have had the privilege to hunt with Limcroma four times thus far. This past trip, which I got back from this past Sunday, I hunted my first buffalo. Hunting buff is absolutely addicting. I don't think I will ever go and hunt Africa again without having buff on the agenda. Just wanted to share a couple pics of my buff. Ready to get him home and in the trophy room!View attachment 768509
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When a man is posing with a big buck and you put your hands on the antlers it makes them looks smaller. You hand on that buffalo makes it look huge...because it is.

 

[Clark8907]

When a man is posing with a big buck and you put your hands on the antlers it makes them looks smaller. You hand on that buffalo makes it look huge...because it is.

Thanks for the kind words! He was definitely a hoss and one I know I may never top. Although I will always try!

 

[Hedge774]

Well done! Excellent bull. Now, we need the tale!!!

 

[Shaw]

Congrats! Very nice Buffalo!

 

[Tucketed]

Congratulations great buffalo!

 

[TarletonJake]

Good folks over there at Limcroma! Who was your PH?

Jake

 

[Clark8907]

Good folks over there at Limcroma! Who was your PH?

Jake

Janlou has been my PH every trip. Plan to hunt with him on every trip!

 

[RR 314]

43 7/8-44....somewhere in there.

Man, that is a huge range. Could you be more precise, please? .

Seriously, awesome buffalo! Well done!

 

[Clark8907]

Man, that is a huge range. Could you be more precise, please? .

Seriously, awesome buffalo! Well done!

Ok...he was 43 15/16 lol. Realistically he was all over 44 and could be called that. I rather undershoot than overshoot though.

 

[meigsbucks]

Heck of a first buff. It’s going to be tough topping that one, but fun trying!
Congratulations

 

[Clark8907]

Heck of a first buff. It’s going to be tough topping that one, but fun trying!
Congratulations

I got a feeling I may not top it and I am ok with that. They are juat fun as heck to hunt. Idc if the next one is only 34inches lol.

 

[Clark8907]

Well done! Excellent bull. Now, we need the tale!!!

I wished there was some super awesome tale of how he charged me and we hunted him for 14 days etc, but honestly, I had a lot of luck on my side with this fellar. On the first afternoon while we were dragging roads, we saw some young bulls near a water hole. We hopped off the truck in hopes this guy was around, but he proved not to be. We jumped back on and kept dragging roads to try and get a good plan and starting pont for the next morning.

My PH had seen this bull a couple times and said he was normally with a young bull, so the next morning we would be looking for tracks with two buff bulls. He also informed me that this bull was super aggressive. He has charged the truck a coupel times as well as workers fixing the fence. He said he has shot upwards of 50 bulls, but this bull was the only one he has ever been afraid of. He said he has respected all of them, but this guy here....he actually feared him. It just so happened that right before dark and I mean right before dark, we drove past a watering hole and this buff was on the opposite side. Myself and the PH jumped off the truck after the tracker drove us down the road a good way. We ever so slowly worked our way through the super thick brush. It was stupidly thick and green this year in the Bushveld. We finally got to about 100 yards and was able to catch glimpses of the buff. We worked around into about 80 yards. I got up on the sticks and by this time it was pretty dark. The PH asked if I could see everything. I could see decently, but not great, which is another reason on this new Rigby I bought I want a larger objective lens with QD mounts. I settled the crosshairs and fired a shot into the chest of the buff. Buff mule kicked and the PH said the shot looked great. We gave it sometime and never heard a death bellow. So, I knew it was going to be a long a long night. We did drive to where the buff was and there was pretty good blood there.

Fast forward to the next morning....was definitely a sleepless night where I played the shot over and over again in my head....and we were back there the next morning to get on the track. We followed the blood until it comes to just specks. Then the tracker relies more on tracks. Problem was this buff joined back up with the group and then apparently broke off at some point, which we didn't know until later. To make a long story short, we never got back on this buff that day, but did figure out he did not go with the herd and had an idea what block he was in.

Fast forward to the next day. We got to the property after sunrise. Double checked and the buff hadn't left the block we thought he was in. The PH flew a drone and spotted the buff bedded down. We put some bay dogs out as the area he was in was super thick. The fact it was so thick and dealing with a now wounded buff that was known to have an attitude problem seemed to be the smartest course of action. To our dismay the buff ran the dogs off and then ran to an even thicker block.

The PH put the drone back up and was able to spot the buff laying down under some trees. The wind was in our favor and he thought we could get in without being detected. However, he did call in another gun just in case. We eased in and was able to get a visual on the buff.

However, my shot was never perfectly clear. I felt I had enough clearing to at least get another bullet in him though. I took a shot that center punched his shoulder. He then broke out in a run and myself and PH shot. Then he stopped and we maneuvered for a better shot angle and I sent one into his opposite shoulder and he dropped. We eased closer and as we got about 20 yards out the bull attempted to get up again, but I was ready and hammered him between the shoulder blades to break his back. The ol boy never charged even though we both expected that to happen. He was a mean joker that’s for sure. Now the PH can hunt plainsgame on this particular property without having to worry about what area he is in.

In regard to my first shot, I have killed over 20 animals in Africa. Most have been DRT or died within sight. Not a single bad shot etc. However, the shot on this buff was higher than anticipated. Seems to have only clipped the top of one lung. I am not making excuses, but I do believe if I had a scope that was better in low light than the 1-6x24 this would have been a different outcome. I was more laser focused on this shot than any other animal I can remember. Everything else was like it stopped and was in slow-mo. No nerves just focus. It is a very weird feeling that I have never felt with any other animal. However, after the shot, I went to shit in a hand basket lol. Was overtaken by nerves and emotion. I knew I had to make this shot count and somehow did not do my part 100%. Dark and a black animal don’t go together. I plan to mitigate this problem from every happening again by putting a 2-10x42 scope on the 416 Rigby I recently purchased. At the end of the day, I got a hell of a buff. One I know I may never top. However, I hate to have any animal suffer and looking back on it, should have told the ph I can’t see him as good as I would like. I was just so caught up in the moment and in the zone. I made a bad call, hit the buff higher than needed, and had to follow up to finish him. Putting myself and other members at risk. Something I completely wanted to avoid.

It is hunting and I know it happens, but not something I wanted to happen to me or the animal. I plan to avenge this next trip and hunt another buff when I return. I know the chances of him being this big are slim, but I love the experience of chasing these buffs. Every step of the way you could get charged, he could be right there, or you could be miles behind him. There is nothing I have hunted near as fun as hunting a buff. Plan to do it every tip moving forward. I just think the good lord above he allowed me to get another chance at this guy and ultimately put him in the salt and end his suffering.

 

[etsonaut]

Congratulations!

 

[Steve-O]

Wow! Nice Buffalo! Congrats!