Most Dangerous Game (unwounded)?

[Gert Odendaal]

Gert, there's always exceptions to the rules.. In this case, I have to agree with "the only good snake is a dead snake" scenario. Eeessshhhh

Bruce, it seems I am outnumbered... OK...I have to surrender, a Mamba is not considered as a dangerous animal when not wounded and you walk in the bush to hunt,,,...but why are hunters re-act to it as if it is a dangerous game animal when being surprise by one..they shoot to kill it , a lot of photos on our forum where dangerous game hunters posses with a foto where they had kill a Mamba ...real Dangerous Game hunters who hunt African Dangerous Game in Africa only pose /take photos of themselves when they shot /kill an Elephant, or lion or leopard or buffalo........and a Mamba..

 

[ndumo HUNTING SAFARIS]

K


Karl, great to hear from you I got to know about you as a great PH , not because you are a great PH, or great hunter who knows the behavior of game and dangerous game since your childhood , or through the glowing reports about you as a great PH from clients of you....no, no, I got to know about you because you view the venerable 8x68S designed by August Schuler as the greatest German Magnum ever designed .... Do you still use your 8 x 68S hunting rifle frequently in Namibia???

Gert thanks, yes I still love that caliber. I had another one made in the USA, waiting for the import papers... I want to keep one in my camp in Caprivi, and the other one in Southern Namibia, where it really shines!

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Karl, thank you for the reply, it always is a great privilege to hear from you professional hunters from the bush..I am currently building my 8x68S , will get focus on it to be completing the build before December 2020..I did do all the metal work , members of this great forum brought me a semi-chambered (not fully reamed)PAC-NOR 28" inch barrel with a Weaver scope... and a 8x68S reamer...I now need to cut Mauser thread to do the head spacing...Johan Greyling will assist me doing this procedures..the rifle stock will be the last component to complete..I really have a voice nagging in my head to do a full stock rifle design, I handled a .458 Mannlicher Shoenauer of a friend whom Johan Greyling build a traditional full stock on ...Karl it is just a gorgeous looking rifle...a beautiful piece of art...now this voice really keep on talking about a 8x68S Full stock rifle build... I already am third quarter completed my 6.5 x55 Swedish Mauser build...with a very light and slim straight back rifle stock design...these are the two medium to long range rifles I am building..the 8x68S being the primary rifle caliber for me..

South Namibia region, why is the 8x68S more suitable for that region Karl? I have never hunted Namibia so I do not know the region that well, only along the Angolan border ( Calueque dam region) where we did Infantry School Training in the 1989- era....and the Cuando river region where we were stationed ....

 

[RayAtkinson]

After 40 years in the in the hunting biz t one degree or another, I,m sure the mosquito kills more folks than any other creature, short of man himself...

As to game animals, it varies from year to year for a number of reasons such as hunting in certain locations by both man and Lion for example..Any DG when over hunted by man or predictor becomes aggressive..

I believe the elephant probably kills more tourists, the Hippo and croc more of the indigenous of Africa, the Cape buffalo probably more hunters and PHs but the buffalo and the Leopard as bad as they can be, mostly injure the hunter/PH as opposed to kill..

Personally I always feared the Lion the most, he makes more noise than a freight train and his focus is only on the one that hurt him and he can take a lot of lead when filled with adrenaline. Ive had 3.5 charges by buffalo, they are intent, but a shot to the right spot stops that nonsence..and a hunter and a PH can put out a lot of lead in a hurry..

As to numbers then the croc and Hippo probably kill more people but 99% are tribal members, mostly women gather food or water.

I did get a bit off the poster request, but what the hell! I just added a little trivia and forgot to mention the little bush buck is noted for killing hunters, his horns are sharp and he hides and sticks you I the crotch and you shortly bleed out..

 

[Gemsbok45]

Elephant during the rainy season,up close and personal.

 

[spike.t]

Unfounded....... The one you bump into at close quarters by chance and surprise it.....

 

[cal]

I have encountered all of the dangerous 7 on foot, some quite a few times. I would agree with previous guys that tuskless female elephant in breeding herds would be the most dangerous to get close to on foot unwounded. I have a walking guide mate in the Zambezi, camp staff at a hunting camp I worked at in Botswana and a few PH mates who would disagree and say buffalo and number 1. Buff can be grumpy bastards even when not wounded so for me they are number 2. Hippo out of the water would be number 3 only because they will charge but if they miss you will keep going to the water whereas a buffalo will normally turn. I've walked onto a female lion with cubs on a kill (the worst time to stumble onto lion) while hunting Bushbuck on the Luangwa river, we were pretty close when we saw her but managed to get away without a charge. I've walked with Leopard alone in the bush and felt completely safe, it was completely uninterested in me. Crocs, if you stay out the water or away from the edge you have nothing to worry about so they are last on the list for me.

In my experience:
1. Elephant
2. Buffalo
3. Hippo
4. Lion
5. Leopard
6. Crocodile

Quite keen on a tuskless hunt now that I've thought about this

 

[IvW]

Unwounded....elephant cows....the tuskless narrow faced bitches of the bush being the worst....

 

[Rick HOlbert]

I am talking about Big Game (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, croc and hippo) - Dangerous 7. Which one do you think is the most dangerous to hunt if the animal has not been wounded and why? I'm be particularly interested in the opinions of the PHs on here and the true safari veteran hunters.

Don't know about the big 7 but,.... the most dangerous animal I've seen is my PH's weiner dog! Anything that can run through the thorns with iit's wedding tackel that low to the ground is one bad ass animal!!

 

[freefall]

Red headed women.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Croc. It just wants to kill you and eat you and given half a chance it will do so. Yes it is in the water, but just as we only need worry about buff or ele if we enter their domain, we enter the croc's domain every time we go fishing and he is waiting, stalking, intent upon killing you.

 

[IvW]

Big crocs scare me....especially when you know they are there but you cannot see them.....
I remember in my earlier years 5 of us having been dropped of by boat on bolt island(in front of and to the left of Willie duims camp in Chirundu).

Our pickup had seemingly abandond us as we had now finished the last of the beers in the crate....we could see camp from the island....as well as the paraffin deep freeze that held a full load of ice cold beers....eventually we had to concede and carrying our fishing rods and empty crate of beers(had to keep that for the deposit on the empties at the Chirundu hotel) we proceded to wade back single file close together to the main land and those ice cold lion and zambezis in the old paraffin deep freeze.....we made it and after some ice cold ones and we noticed our pickup boat arriving from their outing upstream we snuck away with our empty crate of beers on foot to the Chirundu hotel....
After about 2 hrs. The rest of the party arrived at the Chirundu hotel in a frantic desperate attempt to get help as 5 of there mates had been eaten by crocs as they where nowhere to be found on the island or in camp..

The receptionist pointed them to the bar and the barman pointed them to the pool....where we sat....cooling of sipping ice cold beers.....

Would I do it again all of it yes except wading back to main land through the Zambezi....the good old days...

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Red headed women.

Especially on a full moon....

 

[freefall]

Especially on a full moon....

Especially after 3-4 shots of Old Loudmouth.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Most dangerous unwounded game in Africa would have to be tuskless cow elephant, followed by hippo, followed by crocodile.

In Asia, most dangerous unwounded dangerous game would have to be Asian black bear, followed by crocodile, followed by Gaur.

I won't talk about man eating or wounded leopards, lions or Royal Bengal tigers. That's another topic altogether.

 

[Ragman]

Unwounded....elephant cows....the tuskless narrow faced bitches of the bush being the worst....

Narrow faced bitches of the bush!!! That is GOLD!!! Thank you for my laugh of the day.

 

[Ragman]

Red headed women.

Hey my Mom and sister are redheads! But on second thought...you may be right

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Unwounded....elephant cows....the tuskless narrow faced bitches of the bush being the worst....

I think you might be right. I don't know if she was tuskless, hut a cow caught and killed a PH that I knew in the '80s, Allan Lowe. An unwounded bull charged my good friend Clive Lennox a few years ago. The bull kicked him, breaking his pelvis. Clive was still holding his rifle as the bull spun around, and as he put it, "I could just lay there and Audie Murphy a shot into his head." The shot didn't kill the bull but it must have been close. The bull stood there for a few seconds, then turned around and walked off into the bush. The carcass was never found and apparently survived and recovered. As big as they are, I am always amazed at how an elephant can just appear out of the bush.

Personally, I'm afraid of crocs, but figure I can usually stay away from open water unless I'm stepping from a dock into a big boat. Although there was one time I killed a bushbuck that rolled down a bank into a lake. We did wade in and retrieve the bushbuck. but it made me a little nervous.

 

[Rule 303]

Red headed women.

Without doubt.....................dangerous to life and limb..........and wallet.