Giraffe caliber?

[WildWill]

So I recently bought a Ruger guide gun in 375 ruger for my eventual buffalo hunt I will go on one day. I love the gun and it shoots very well and I'm looking forward to using it in Africa. I will be headed back to Limpopo in June to hunt kudu and bushbuck. I had planned on bringing my custom 300 win mag for that. It is by far the most accurate gun I own. I've killed tons of deer, elk, pigs, and more and am extremely confident in my ability to put a 180gr Partition where I need out to 400 yards every time. After talking with my PH we've decided to try for a giraffe if we have time (10 day hunt). My PH wants me to shoot for the neck at the base of the skull. I really want to use my new 375 Ruger but with trying for such a precise shot I feel more confident with my 300 win mag. Although if the first shot isn't great the 375 would probably be more useful for follow up body shots. I wonder if the 375 would cause excess and unnecessary damage on a neck shot? I'd like to hear opinions and thoughts.

 

[SETH RINGER]

SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE A "SHOOTER". .300WM IS GREAT FOR THAT NECK SHOT, BUT IF YOU WANT TO BREAK IN THE .375 A SHOULDER/HEART/LUNG SHOT WILL HARVEST THAT TROPHY. SHOT MINE WITH A 375H&H, FIRST SHOT BROADSIDE RIGHT THROUGH THE HEART AND HE TOOK OFF LIKE I MISSED! TEXAS HEART SHOT STOPPED IN HIS HEART, STILL DIDN'T SLOW DOWN! TRACKED HIM DOWN AND HAD TO FINISH HIM. WAY TOUGHER THAN YOU WOULD THINK.

 

[375Fox]

A 375 with a tough bullet won’t cause any more damage than a 300. I shot my first giraffe with a 375 and 300 gr bullets at about 50 yards with a lung shot. I shot my second with a 300 win and 200 gr accubonds at maybe 80-120 yards on the follow up shots. It was supposed to be a neck shot but didn’t drop like supposed to. It was the lung shot that killed it. The penetration and damage from that bullet on the giraffe was very good. I wouldn’t hesitate to use either cartridge. PHs like the neck shot because they drop in a predictable location to retrieve with vehicle.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

.375 Holland & Holland Magnum with 300Gr Barnes TSX will do the trick.

 

[Ryan]

I used my Ruger M77 African in 375 Ruger with 270 grain Barnes TSX to drop mine. Base of the spine closer to the shoulders as suggested by my PH, instead of up top. One shot, dropped, very little noticable damage. Honestly with that shot, my 30-06 would have done the job. So, use the 375 Ruger with good faith.

 

[BeeMaa]

@Inline6 recently came back from Africa having taken a couple of giraffe, but I don't recall what was used.

My choice would be a 375H&H with 300 grain Barnes TSX and a high neck shot.

 

[randallhebert]

Shot mine head on in the dimple between his legs with 165 gr 3006. He went about 50 yds. Broad shoulder shot and he went down within 100 yds

 

[rookhawk]

So I recently bought a Ruger guide gun in 375 ruger for my eventual buffalo hunt I will go on one day. I love the gun and it shoots very well and I'm looking forward to using it in Africa. I will be headed back to Limpopo in June to hunt kudu and bushbuck. I had planned on bringing my custom 300 win mag for that. It is by far the most accurate gun I own. I've killed tons of deer, elk, pigs, and more and am extremely confident in my ability to put a 180gr Partition where I need out to 400 yards every time. After talking with my PH we've decided to try for a giraffe if we have time (10 day hunt). My PH wants me to shoot for the neck at the base of the skull. I really want to use my new 375 Ruger but with trying for such a precise shot I feel more confident with my 300 win mag. Although if the first shot isn't great the 375 would probably be more useful for follow up body shots. I wonder if the 375 would cause excess and unnecessary damage on a neck shot? I'd like to hear opinions and thoughts.

375 is just fine for Giraffe. The legal minimum in many countries is 300 H&H which I used and worked fine with a heavy bullet. I don't hunt with a 300HH anymore though, its not big enough to be a DG backup gun, and its needlessly big to do things a 7x57 can do.

I think you have the right gun for the job. Your shot at the base of the neck is a heart-lung shot and Giraffes are an inefficiently engineered creature that requires tremendous blood pressure to function as an animal with such a long/large neck. A well placed shot is a swift death from about any legal caliber.

 

[Inline6]

@Inline6 recently came back from Africa having taken a couple of giraffe, but I don't recall what was used.

My choice would be a 375H&H with 300 grain Barnes TSX and a high neck shot.

We took 3.

My wife used a 375H&H 300gr TSX 1 shot shoulder (bullet did not appear to open up). Shot at 120yards went 75yards.

Middle son used a 375Ruger he used 4-rounds 300gr DGX shoulder. Shot at 80 yards went 120yards.

My youngest son (11) used a 6.5CM 1 shot shoulder 129SST. Of the 3 his was on the ground the quickest. Shot at 127 yards went 30 yards.

 

[BryceM]

I used a .375 with a swift A-Frame through the heart. The bullet was recovered on the far chest wall. It went 30 yards maybe. The neck shot should be very effective with anything .300 and up. If it doesn’t go well, and body shots are required, I’d rather be holding something in the .375 neighborhood.

If you try a body shot, study up on their anatomy. Their heart and lungs are almost forward of the shoulder. Very unusual. Behind the shoulder is already the paunch area.

 

[Doubleplay]

Caliber has nothing to do with the damage the bullet will make.
It's type and speed of the bullet.
Take your 375 and get use to it, most shots in Africa are under 150 yards..

 

[375Fox]

Caliber has nothing to do with the damage the bullet will make.
It's type and speed of the bullet.
Take your 375 and get use to it, most shots in Africa are under 150 yards..

Let’s be careful with that statement! The 223 for everything advocates are going to come forward. Caliber and bullet weight have a lot to do with the internal damage done to kill an animal. Rapidly expanding bullets pushed fast have a lot of opportunity to damage the hide for taxidermy work.

 

[intj]

Ryan Avery, the owner of **NOT**PERMITTED**, took a giraffe earlier this month with a 6 UM. It shoots a 115 grain ring nosed DTAC bullet at 3250ish from a 20" suppressed barrel. The shot was perfectly placed, top of the heart. The giraffe didn't react much at the shot but was dead in about 60 seconds. The big bull started walking, stumbled, and fell down. The PH said it a very clean kill, better than most.

Now I personally am not a small caliber guy, but you can't argue with their results with this cartridge. They are 18 of 20 one shot kills out to 800 yds on elk with the 6 UM. In Africa he and his wife shot a waterbuck, a warthog, a sable, two impalas, and the giraffes. All were clean kills.

The magic is in the 115 grain ring nosed DTAC bullet. It has a heavier jacket and is small, so it penetrates very well. It has enough momentum and toughness to get through the hide and ribs, then the bullet deforms at the ring, upsets, and tumbles.

This is an entirely different mechanism than how something like the 400 grain SAF works when shot from my 416. I gleefully pointed out that my 416 with the 400 grain SAFs hammered everything I shot: a buffalo, an eland, impala x3, and a blesbok. Everything but the buffalo went down immediately or only took a couple steps.

Their argument to me, which I can't counter, is that most people cannot shoot a heavy recoiling rifle well, and of course they expect a good bullet from a larger bore rifle to hammer animals.

The point of all this is that BOTH approaches work with well placed shots. They seem to think they are on to something new, but this "argument" as to which is better has been going on since Elmer Keith and Jack O'Connor if not even before that.

I am going to pick larger cartridges every time and learn how to shoot them well. (BTW, that makes me a "fudd" to the snowflakes.) But I have no quarrel with the small caliber guys who work just as hard as me to place their shots well.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

.375 Holland & Holland Magnum with 300Gr Barnes TSX will do the trick.

Shot my Giraffe in the neck with a .375H&H. 350 Grain TSX. Dropped like a ton of bricks. 2 follow up shots in Vitals.

 

[Doubleplay]

Let’s be careful with that statement! The 223 for everything advocates are going to come forward. Caliber and bullet weight have a lot to do with the internal damage done to kill an animal. Rapidly expanding bullets pushed fast have a lot of opportunity to damage the hide for taxidermy work.

I hear you, I should have said caliber has nothing to do with damage to the pelt and that’s what I meant.
375 solid we'll do less damage than a 30-06 with an expanding bullet.

 

[mark-hunter]

Hunting giraffe with your 375 would be nice prelude to your forthcoming buffalo hunt.

 

[Uncharted_NT]

Smacked one last month with a 9.3x62, base of the neck and was perfect. Use your 375, it will be fine.

 

[FlyGuy]

You have almost a year to practice.
If you hand load, even better.
Limpopo bushbuck are often taken at very short distances and more often than not, they’re not out in the open, but in thickets.
375 is the better choice.

 

[Rule 303]

I shit my Giraffe from 30 mt with a 225grain bullet out of a 358/338RUM. Angling up and slightly forward. Heart and lungs hit, bullet stopped on far side scapular. It ran about 50 mts walked about 30 staggered about 20 and fell over with a resounding thump when it hit the ground. I was going to put a follow up shot in but the guide said no, it is hard hit.

I know most won't agree with me and this is just my take. I avoid neck shots like the plague same with head shots on most animals. Simply because their heads are just about always turning and if still will start moving very shortly. This is just me and unfortunately for me, my experience.