375 H&H vs Giraffe at 280 Yards

[sheephunterab]

375 H&H vs Giraffe at 280 Yards

 

[Ridgewalker]

On my bucket list!
Long shot off of sticks! Not one of my skills yet, but I'm working on it.
Great job sheephunterab!

 

[CAustin]

That is a nice giraffe!

 

[ArmyGrunt]

Well done. I'm not sure I'd have been confident that far on the sticks. I certainly wasn't on my very first black wildebeest opportunity, but the following summer I realized I was overly cautious: I was slamming 300m targets off hand, and many shorter than that. Kids in basic training were thoroughly impressed by their Drill Sergeant

 

[sheephunterab]

We practice a lot. I've shot wildebeest out to 350 yards but it sure does take practice.

 

[petrusg]

Good Shot!

 

[Pheroze]

Good Shot!

+1

What do you think the drop was at that distance?

 

[rookhawk]

At 315 yards with 100 yard zero it's around 16"-18".

Don't ask me how I know that....bushbuck nearly had me beat on last day of 14 day safari...only had a .375 left and my calculator said 16" high or something like that.

It worked.

Wouldn't think of doing it on a long neck. What's the residual energy at 280 yds is the real question?

 

[rookhawk]

Be advised, the video mentions prior missed shots on that giraffe from bad neck shots. It's a long shot, but they had been taking pokes at him they edited out of film.

 

[petrusg]

@Pheroze
If the rifle zero is set at 200
a 300gr bullet will drop 12" at 300
a 270 gr bullet will drop 9" at 300
a 250gr bullet will drop 7.5' at 300

It gets pretty interesting when you have a look at 200gr bullets, the 375H&H is then just a bit slower than a .338 lapua.....

 

[sheephunterab]

Be advised, the video mentions prior missed shots on that giraffe from bad neck shots. It's a long shot, but they had been taking pokes at him they edited out of film.

Nothing was edited out, I just grabbed this short clip to show the effectiveness of the 375 H&H and a proper bullet at that range....not what a great shot I was. In the full length version of the hunt I did indeed miss a shot at his neck at about 130 yards. Not sure I'd say I was taking pokes at him. I missed an easy shot at his neck for whatever reason. Hunt enough and it will happen to you. If you'd like to see the full length version it's here

 

[sheephunterab]

If I recall drop was about 7 inches and energy at impact would be close to 2,900lbs not that energy has ever killed an animal. More important is that impact velocity was near 2300 fps, plenty of speed for a mono metal to reliably expand and penetrate as is obvious by the results.

 

[billc]

That shot did the trick on that giraffe that is for sure.

Shooting off sticks just takes practice and a lot of it to get good at it. I have found shooting at live animals is easier then trying to hold on some small orange dot on a target. I have taken a few animals mainly springbucks at over 300yds of sticks. To me one of the most important things for making it easier is a good trigger. A trigger set at 2 1/2 or 3 pounds will make most guys a better shooter over time. Most overlooked part of shooting is a good trigger.

 

[sheephunterab]

I'd agree 100%. We spend a lot of time shooting at reactive targets like metal gongs. I think it's much more like shooting at a live animal rather than an orange dot as you say!

 

[rookhawk]

Nothing was edited out, I just grabbed this short clip to show the effectiveness of the 375 H&H and a proper bullet at that range....not what a great shot I was. In the full length version of the hunt I did indeed miss a shot at his neck at about 130 yards. Not sure I'd say I was taking pokes at him. I missed an easy shot at his neck for whatever reason. Hunt enough and it will happen to you. If you'd like to see the full length version it's here

@sheephunterab thanks for posting the full clip. I give you credit for providing context. No, not every shot goes perfect, for sure.

 

[rookhawk]

I did the back of napkin math again just to make sure. 280 yards from a typical rifle with 300gr load and 100 yard zero. 16" of drop. 3000ft lbs of energy remaining at impact. (more than enough to open up a Swift A-frame or other premium soft if that was desired) Bullet is still travelling at near optimal 2150fps at that distance.

The 375HH truly is a marvelous invention.

 

[sheephunterab]

I was shooting at 250-grain leaving the muzzle at 2800 so that's why the difference.

 

[Jfet]

Nothing was edited out, I just grabbed this short clip to show the effectiveness of the 375 H&H and a proper bullet at that range....not what a great shot I was. In the full length version of the hunt I did indeed miss a shot at his neck at about 130 yards. Not sure I'd say I was taking pokes at him. I missed an easy shot at his neck for whatever reason. Hunt enough and it will happen to you. If you'd like to see the full length version it's here

I remember being on sticks 70+yds from my springbok and as I tried to steady the crosshairs my brain keeping repeating "he's so small... he's so small..." I completely missed the shot. It made me so mad when I missed that shot, that when given the opportunity at 200+yds I made that shot.

If I could figure out how to make the human body perform the same way every time, the Texas A&M football team would be winning national championships every year.

Nice hunt!

 

[sheephunterab]

Haha...so true! Every once in a while I get too cocky about a shot and end up yanking the trigger. No imagination required to know what happens then. I think the long ones make a person concentrate a bit harder,,,,combined with the shame of missing an easy one of course!

 

[Rick Cox]

I remember being on sticks 70+yds from my springbok and as I tried to steady the crosshairs my brain keeping repeating "he's so small... he's so small..." I completely missed the shot. It made me so mad when I missed that shot, that when given the opportunity at 200+yds I made that shot.

If I could figure out how to make the human body perform the same way every time, the Texas A&M football team would be winning national championships every year.

Nice hunt!

Thanks for sharing the video!