The ideal number of cartridges to carry while hunting

[SStomcat]

We were stalking a Kudu this summer when the PH stopped us. Around 15 buffalo crossed our path. Three of them stopped and stared us down, while the others spread around us in a semi-circle.

I had 4 in the .300wm I was carrying and no spares. The PH was only carrying sticks. He looked at me and said, “You have one in there, right?”

Not sure it would have mattered with that many buffalo, but next time I’m bringing a whole bunch more ammo with me when I get off the truck.

In this situation, I’d squarely lay it at your PH’s feet — not knowing his own land, aware that DG was about, and still showing up armed with what sounds like “sticks.” Hopefully, one of them was a big stick, as old Teddy Roosevelt liked to say… because otherwise, it sounds more like a nature walk with bad odds than a guided hunt.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Curious, what DG rifle holds 7?

I was going to ask the same thing.

 

[SStomcat]

Sorry if I was confusing. I made a generalized statement that was describing two separate hunts, one in Tanzania and one in South Africa that ended up the same way....both far away from the truck with low ammo.

Now, buffalo is my favorite DG to hunt so recently I have been adding more buffalo and less plains game on my trips. Thus, I have hunted multiple buffalo in the same day and have harvested multiple buffalo on the same trip. In fact, I have a future trip planned in which I hunt nothing but buffalo for two weeks.

I envy you, Sir. You are a lucky man...what do you hunt them with?

 

[Tanks]

Why would you go after 2 buffalo on the same day? Not questioning but trying to understand the rationale. Was it one shot, and then it disappeared? After killing a trophy, one more appeared that you could not resist...or you had the deal to kill 2 and kill them on the last day of the hunt? I'm befuddled.

A friend of mine just recently shot 3 back to back in Tanzania. He goes there every year and has shot hundreds of buffalo in his lifetime. He will buy multiple licenses.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Some variants of the WIM M70 can hold 7 rounds using detachable magazines.

To all the respected AH members out there , how many rounds do you carry while hunting (DG or else) ? For me it would be about 40 rounds for non-dangerous game. For DG it would be 7 in the rifle , 6 in another magazine/ stripper clip and 15 on my ammo belt. Do you guys think that is enough? your opinion would be valued.

4 in the rifle. 2 in a front pocket. 8 in a belt holder. DG, PG, or deer hunting, 14 on my person has always been more than enough.

On my last safari I fired exactly one shot at a buffalo. He died. On my first safari the PH and I had a problem with convincing the buffalo to turn toes up. We fired a total of 7 rounds between us in a running battle. On any big game hunt 5 rounds has been the most I have ever fired in a day. I do keep a full box in the truck just in case.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Guilty. 210 rounds basic load feels REALLY light sometimes.

+1

 

[SStomcat]

A friend of mine just recently shot 3 back to back in Tanzania. He goes there every year and has shot hundreds of buffalo in his lifetime. He will buy multiple licenses.

Analogous to how I shoot feral pigs in TX

 

[DLSJR]

Good gawd, I'm going hunting, not to war. I carry a full rifle and maybe a bit more than that in my pocket or daypack. My Springfield holds six 30-06. A dozen rounds is more than enough for a day hunting. Really, if I can't kill an animal with five rounds, I need to give up and go home! Last year I shot at a buck four times before finally dropping him. Shooting through the grass was just stupid. I think that's the most shots I've put downrange at an animal in my life. Dumb and it won't phappen again. Anyway, anyone who thinks he needs to carry twenty rounds into the field hunting must not have much confidence in himself. I prefer to not be around guys like that. Spray and pray doesn't cut it with me. Or sniping at animals in the next zipcode.

It’s apparent that you’ve never been involved with dangerous game in a situation that went sideways. If you had, you might be of a different opinion.

There is another thread where the question was asked about being attacked by an animal. I related two times that it has happened to me and one of those times used up nearly every round of 470 I had on me, as well as a good number of my PH’s 460 Weatherby ammo.

We were hunting the Charara concession, near Kariba Town. We were following a very large herd of several hundred buffalo and they’d gone into a sea of very thick and tall grass with virtually no visibility, less than 10-15 yards. We were trying to spook them out of the grass and into more open country, so we kept pushing them hard. It was tense as we could have easily run into a grumpy buffalo at ‘too close’ close range. At one point we had moved them to a bit more open area that had trees and brush as well as quite a bit of tall grass. We were crossing a game trail and after Roy Vincent and the trackers had already crossed, we could see the legs of a buffalo circling back around behind us and close. I was in the trail, so I simply knelt down and pointed my 470 where the buffalo was about to cross in front of me. Roy was positioned where he wouldn’t be able to see it well so whispered that if I liked it to go ahead and shoot it. I was dressed in dark khaki shirt and shorts which may have contributed to what happened a moment later (we later speculated that the buffalo may have thought I was a lion since I was kneeling in deep shade, very close to her).

As the buffalo came onto the trail I could see it was a cow, close at about 12 yards from me. I turned to whisper that it was a cow and she let out a loud bellow, spun and came for me. Roy immediately yelled “shoot her” as soon as he heard that loud bellow. Thankfully I was only 27 years old, so very athletic. I jumped up and to the side at the same time Roy was stepping back into the trail. The buffalo passed by me close enough to touch with my double. I fired from the hip as she went past me, attempting to hook Roy with her horns. Roy shot her right in the face with his 460 Weatherby and as quick as she’d appeared she was swallowed up in the brush and grass…

Roy and I were asking each other if we were OK and both nearly got flattened as a yearling calf we didn’t know about came running right between us, following her wounded mother. After that scare we started following the blood and it didn’t take long to find the cow, at least a small visible piece of her. Every time one of us could see something black we shot it. The buffalo wanted to flee but was hurt badly, so we kept after her as fast as we could safely advance. The last few shots Roy and I were shooting shoulder to shoulder, which worked well since he shot left handed while I’m right handed. We shot a lot of bullets into that buffalo, more solids than softs, so there were lots of exit holes. There were 27 total holes in that buffalo by the time she died, probably 10-12 of which were exits by solids. By the time we were done, I only had a few rounds left and Roy didn’t have many either. From first shot to last was about 30 minutes or so.

@Ontario Hunter , that’s why you carry enough ammo when hunting dangerous game. You just might need all of it.

 

[Safari Dave]

I carry a round in every "loop" that I have on my clothing, plus one in my left shirt pocket.

My normal beltloop scabbard holds 6. My shirt holds 4 and my jacket holds 10.

If I'm using the DR, I carry the rifle with a expanding round in the right barrel and a solid in the left barrel. My "culling belt" holds 10 rounds. (with the "culling belt" I carry 4 expanding and 6 solids)


In NA, I carry 5 rounds in my rifle and another 5 in an ammo wallet.

IMO, better to have too many, than not have enough.

As long as cartridges are not rattling and making noise, then I usually don't mind carrying them.


My CZ in .375 H&H is an African "6-shooter." It will hold one in the chamber and 5 in the magazine.

 

[SStomcat]

I would say for any given hunt or choice of rifle, the consequences of running out far exceed the inconvenience of carrying "too much".

It’s a balancing act, really; the permutations and combinations possible with all the shifting variables could make a mathematician shiver. The only constant in the equation? The DG… and it’s not exactly known for grading on a curve.

 

[SStomcat]

A friend of mine just recently shot 3 back to back in Tanzania. He goes there every year and has shot hundreds of buffalo in his lifetime. He will buy multiple licenses.

Tell your friend to spare some for us..At this rate, the rest of us will be left hunting stories instead of game.

 

[SStomcat]

It’s apparent that you’ve never been involved with dangerous game in a situation that went sideways. If you had, you might be of a different opinion.

There is another thread where the question was asked about being attacked by an animal. I related two times that it has happened to me and one of those times used up nearly every round of 470 I had on me, as well as a good number of my PH’s 460 Weatherby ammo.

We were hunting the Charara concession, near Kariba Town. We were following a very large herd of several hundred buffalo and they’d gone into a sea of very thick and tall grass with virtually no visibility, less than 10-15 yards. We were trying to spook them out of the grass and into more open country, so we kept pushing them hard. It was tense as we could have easily run into a grumpy buffalo at ‘too close’ close range. At one point we had moved them to a bit more open area that had trees and brush as well as quite a bit of tall grass. We were crossing a game trail and after Roy Vincent and the trackers had already crossed, we could see the legs of a buffalo circling back around behind us and close. I was in the trail, so I simply knelt down and pointed my 470 where the buffalo was about to cross in front of me. Roy was positioned where he wouldn’t be able to see it well so whispered that if I liked it to go ahead and shoot it. I was dressed in dark khaki shirt and shorts which may have contributed to what happened a moment later (we later speculated that the buffalo may have thought I was a lion since I was kneeling in deep shade, very close to her).

As the buffalo came onto the trail I could see it was a cow, close at about 12 yards from me. I turned to whisper that it was a cow and she let out a loud bellow, spun and came for me. Roy immediately yelled “shoot her” as soon as he heard that loud bellow. Thankfully I was only 27 years old, so very athletic. I jumped up and to the side at the same time Roy was stepping back into the trail. The buffalo passed by me close enough to touch with my double. I fired from the hip as she went past me, attempting to hook Roy with her horns. Roy shot her right in the face with his 460 Weatherby and as quick as she’d appeared she was swallowed up in the brush and grass…

Roy and I were asking each other if we were OK and both nearly got flattened as a yearling calf we didn’t know about came running right between us, following her wounded mother. After that scare we started following the blood and it didn’t take long to find the cow, at least a small visible piece of her. Every time one of us could see something black we shot it. The buffalo wanted to flee but was hurt badly, so we kept after her as fast as we could safely advance. The last few shots Roy and I were shooting shoulder to shoulder, which worked well since he shot left handed while I’m right handed. We shot a lot of bullets into that buffalo, more solids than softs, so there were lots of exit holes. There were 27 total holes in that buffalo by the time she died, probably 10-12 of which were exits by solids. By the time we were done, I only had a few rounds left and Roy didn’t have many either. From first shot to last was about 30 minutes or so.

@Ontario Hunter , that’s why you carry enough ammo when hunting dangerous game. You just might need all of it.

So with all due respect, I’m struggling to figure out whether it was the DG that truly demanded 27 rounds, the choice of solids that over-penetrated and may have caused unintended consequences, or—dare I say it—just plain poor shot placement by one (or both) of you.

 

[Safari Dave]

If you set out on a 20 mile walk in one day, there's no telling what you might encounter along the way.

(If your in "unfenced Africa," I would err on the side of "too many.")



20+ year's ago, two friends of a friend found themselves in an all-might battle with revolutionizes in Mozambique. They had a firefight that lasted all night long. One of the American's took an AK-47 round through his calf, but made out OK.


Mozambique is pretty safe now.

If I were hunting in the "Democratic Republic of the Congo," I would use a .223 Remington on every animal and carry 11 pounds of ammo.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Carrying my 458 Lott on DG I will now have 5 in gun and two 9rd belt slides. After my last Buffalo hunt when I had 5 in gun and a 5 rd belt slide and I admit a bad 1st shot (frontal) that was off 2 inches to the left, I only had 1 rd left after finding him again. That buff just kept soaking up Aframes from the Lott plus 4 solids from PHs 500.
I will carry more ammo on DG hunts.

 

[Safari Dave]

Always err on the side of "too many."

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

For me it depends on what I’m hunting and what gun I’m carrying.

Deer Hunting I used to often only take 3 rounds. After shooting 3 coyotes one sit and being out of ammo, I had to run to the store and grab more. Now I still carry 3 in the rifle, but throw 2 more in my pant’s pocket.

DG with my 375, I fill the rifle, have a belt with 8 Solids and a slide with 6 softs. Sometimes I flip this set-up and carry softs in the belt and solids in the belt slide. Just depends what the primary and secondary targets are.

DG with my Double Rifle will be 2 on the rifle, a belt with 8 solids or softs, a slide with 6 of the opposite and 2 more of whatever is in the rifle in my pocket. Never know if you’ll get a double or triple in a day or in a stalk and each animal adds more potential for something to go less than ideal.

 

[Surgeon1]

If you set out on a 20 mile walk in one day, there's no telling what you might encounter along the way.

(If your in "unfenced Africa," I would err on the side of "too many.")



20+ year's ago, two friends of a friend found themselves in an all-might battle with revolutionizes in Mozambique. They had a firefight that lasted all night long. One of the American's took an AK-47 round through his calf, but made out OK.


Mozambique is pretty safe now.

If I were hunting in the "Democratic Republic of the Congo," I would use a .223 Remington on every animal and carry 11 pounds of ammo.

If I hunt DRC, I would choose the beloved M60 MG with two 100 round belts Poncho Villa style and
two more 100rd belts linked together and loaded in the gun. I know that's more than 5kg of ammo but you said Safari Dave one can never have "too many" LOL

 

[matt85]

You guys carrying 20+ rounds on your person must use small caliber guns. Im trying to picture myself carrying 20 cartridges for my 8-bore.

On my buffalo hunt i used a 505 Gibbs and carried 3 in the gun and 6 on my belt. Carrying more than 10 of these cartridges on my belt would have got awkward pretty quick.

 

[mdwest]

If I hunt DRC, I would choose the beloved M60 MG with two 100 round belts Poncho Villa style and
two more 100rd belts linked together and loaded in the gun. I know that's more than 5kg of ammo but you said Safari Dave one can never have "too many" LOL

I have traveled to, and worked in some of the absolute worst places.. often at times when things are the worst…

The DRC and Chad were among the very few places that made me very uncomfortable immediately upon arrival…

The DRC in particular it was just me and 2 other “agents”, armed only with pistols, supported by a platoon of Congolese “commandos” that I trusted less than the supposed bad guys that were in the area…

 

[Safari Dave]

Red Wing Heritage Classic Moc boots are even better when you're sitting in a sailboat with the wood stove burning while drinking Glenlivet on a cold winter day...

Looking at this photo made me realize how much I like my Ibex merino wool 1/4 zip too.

View attachment 724938

If I hunt DRC, I would choose the beloved M60 MG with two 100 round belts Poncho Villa style and
two more 100rd belts linked together and loaded in the gun. I know that's more than 5kg of ammo but you said Safari Dave one can never have "too many" LOL

IMO, carry as much ammo as reasonably possible.

I would never hunt with an M60, but if that is your idea of African hunting, then blast away.