ARGENTINA: Epic Argentina Hunt

[Green Chile]

Out of curiosity, was the .375 sighted in after all?..... I know you hit it with the first shot, just wondering if it was true to point of aim and any idea what the ammo was?

Since I was only able to shoot one shell of .375 and at a distance of about 110 yards, I would say it hit within 2-3 inches of where I was aiming. Normally that would not be acceptable on paper but on the shoulder of a big buff, it was acceptable to me. Did I think about having some wild flyer that gut shoots the buff...well of course but I couldn't dwell on that. I did send a little prayer with the bullet of oh God, don't let me wound this animal...and thankfully it worked. Not what I would wish for anyone but it's what I had to work with.

No idea on the make or age of ammo and I was guessing it was 270 grain softs. It was not corroded and it did chamber ok in the Weatherby rifle. I did check the barrel to see if was a Weatherby chambering but it was for 375 H&H.

 

[Pablo]

Did they weigh your buff? He was huge in the pics.

 

[Green Chile]

I was very interested in the weight but they did not weigh any of the animals taken. I would suggest they do weigh them going forward for record keeping but I have no weight data.

Having said that, I do have some comparison photos and data on other weights and bovine species. At the top end of the scales, gaurs (which are wild oxen not buffalo) have exceeded 3000 lbs in some cases. That's the top end. Let's say this big boy is 3000+.

Water buffalo weights vary of course but I've seen 2200-2500 lbs as normal with some specimens weighing more. Mine probably was heavier according to the head guide with 40 years experience and his overall size, skull and hooves were definitely larger than average...plus he stood higher than the others with his shoulder being at their back/hump level.

Then we have Cape buffalo and Boddington said for years they don't hit 2000 lbs...until he was with me last year when I took this one that was taken out of the field whole and the professional butcher said it was 2400 lbs.

This one was under 2000 lbs but lifted up, they stretch out and look huge.

 

[375Fox]

Great report. Glad you had a great trip. I’m highly impressed with the animals taken during your week. Some of the issues with less experienced guides and rifles I think I’d find frustrating though.

 

[Green Chile]

Thanks...you know well what it's like to travel and engage with different cultures, etc.

I'm told that Google Translate doesn't need internet connectivity once the language has been downloaded. I didn't try to use it on this trip but I know others should have. Good to know.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I am so glad that you had a great trip. I too like to learn some of the languages of the countries I travel in and hunt. I speak enough Spanish to get by but would struggle in a hunting situation with a guide that was lacking at least some English speaking skills. But, I am too much of a rifle & marksmanship nerd to have any desire to hunt DG or very large game with a untested, untried, borrowed rifle that only had three rounds of unknown age, quality, weight and bullet type. I hunt with my rifles or I do not go. That is a hard stop for me. Hell, when I change ammo on a hunting rifle, it takes me weeks of testing and dope verification before I am comfortable taking live game with it. This is for me a large part of the fun associated with planning a hunt. 95+% of the time, I never need to take a shot out past the MPBR for that rifle & cartridge combo when hunting. But, my practice regimen pushes both me and the rifle to our limits so that if I need to take a shot that is a bit further then max point blank, I "Know" I can safely and accurately take the shot. I do not lose many game animals. For the record, only once and that was a deer shot with a 50cal flintlock rifle at 70y and the shot was too high and too far back. Likely fatal but we tracked it to the edge of our property and it traveled onto a farm that we did not have permission to set foot upon.

I am not being critical of Green Chile. To the contrary, I think it takes some Grande Cajones to walk out into thick bush and hunt for a huge beast like that Buff, knowing that it would be a close range shot if at all and especially after you got a close up good look at it. Without having enough ammo that I knew what it was and had test fired, I just do not think I would want to go there. Kudos to you Sir.

Let's face it, most (but certainly not all) DG encounters are not really that dangerous as long as you are well armed, well prepared both skills wise and emotionally and go in with the correct mindset. Things only go sideways only after a series of multiple failures or foul ups. i.e. Hunter shows up to hunt DG with a new rifle that he has not practiced with and is a little afraid of and makes a poor first shot on a DG animal that happens to be the one in 10 that wants to kill you first. Hunter then fails to quickly follow-up standing slack jawed as the wounded beast slips into the bush. PH has to remind him 2-3 times to reload and when he does, he fails to top off the mag when time allows. Then he admonishes the PH that he is intent on finishing the beast on his own causing the PH to hesitate to shoot when they are surprised by a close range charge. Hunter flinches and shoots high missing the vitals and gets mauled in the process. How many failures did you count?

Then you have those rare cases where you do everything right and it still goes sideways.

On a safari that I went on last year, the PH and I came across a pride of sleeping lions consisting of a large old lioness, two younger lionesses and a juvenile male just starting to get his mane. Four in total. We did not see them until very close (failure #1). We were not armed with DG rifles since we were seeking plains game (failure #2). The remains of a zebra kill was nearby and fortunately for us, the lions were sleeping off their feast from the night before and were not all that interested in two little hunters. I whispered to the PH that "We are too close to these lions" and he agreed. We began our slow retreat but the dry winter conditions were crispy and the PH stepped on a dry stick cause a loud "Snap" (failure #3). We froze. That big old lioness woke, raised her head, opened only one eye and that Golden orb was trained on me and seemed to burn a hole into my soul. I held my breath as she snarled silently baring only one very large, very long fang. Then she flopped her head back down in the long grass and went back to sleep. We retreated quietly without further incident or further critical failures. You can play what if games til the cows come home but in our case, we managed to emerge from the encounter unscathed.

A teachable moment is presented - If you are hunting in terrain that contains DG in close proximity, it pays to have at least one DG capable rifle on hand with the team. If you are hunting PG and might encounter Lion, Elephant, Buffalo, etc, consider bringing your big rifle along. I know that a 30-06 might kill a lion but might take too long. I see many PH's who leave the Land Cruiser to stalk a Kudu or Eland armed with only a 9mm pistol. Makes me go, hmmmm. Where we were hunting there were no Elephant, Hippos, Crocs and we did not expect to see Lions either. There were known to be Cape Buffalo and Leopard. We encountered buffalo on one day only but were not hunting them and never left the truck. I guess the lesson is be like the Boy Scout and be prepared.

 

[hornhunter!]

Green Chile, Thanks for the excellent write up on your hunt. I spoke with Los Molles at SCI this year and I'm now considering a hunt with them in the near future.
Congrats on a couple of great animals!

 

[Green Chile]

Green Chile, Thanks for the excellent write up on your hunt. I spoke with Los Molles at SCI this year and I'm now considering a hunt with them in the near future.
Congrats on a couple of great animals!

I would recommend one of their hunt packages where you can get a stag of no limit on scoring. You don't want to worry about a sliding price scale. It was very reasonable.

 

[Wheels]

Congratulations on a couple of great animals. Enjoyed your report and glad you had a good hunt.

 

[BGGMKLR]

1st evening continued….

So we have passed a few stags including one that would be a shooter in many places. Keep in mind, this is low fence hunting. There is a high fence portion of the 38k acre ranch where there are stags of 500+ inches. We are on the low side…all of the hunters in camp with me are hunting low fence only. That is one of the biggest takeaways from this week; the quality of the low fence side was unbeatable. I stand by that and will offer proof and additional info as we go.

Nestor and I continue stalking and moving on to other fields and transition zones…typical of most deer hunting strategies. One thing I’m picking up on quickly is that the stags seem less tuned in but the blackbuck…geez! Those suckers are wired and on caffeine, Red Bull and crack! You could be 100 feet back from a field edge and in heavy cover in the woods, wearing camo and face mask, moving slowly and playing the wind smartly…but the friggin blackbuck (especially the females) would often see you first from the farthest edge of the field and well back into the cover. Probably 2 out of 3 times, consistently, when I would glass them from way back in the cover, they were already watching me. Amazing animals and on that point, all 11 hunters agreed. The blackbuck are wired tightly and put up with no nonsense! It reminded me a bit of how monkeys and giraffe are so aware in Africa and the other animals use them as sentries.

The sun is setting and we come into another area and see 2 stags that look to be trophy quality. The problem is they are mixed in with numerous hinds (female stags) and worse than that, they seem to be using a small group of blackbuck as their sentries. We tried to sneak in with face masks using all available cover and the blackbuck picked us up quickly. The stags bumped a little bit and went back to feeding. This happened several times and I really didn’t think it was going to work out. Hey, it’s the first night and we are just seeing what’s out here. However, Nestor was so turned onto one particular stag that I took that seriously. Any time a guide really likes an animal, the client should pay attention to that.

I got on the sticks once…then they bumped and we setup again. The larger of the 2 stags goes from feeding to laying down and then is back on his feet again at about 120 yards. The light is fading fast and the sun is down. The larger stag separates somewhat and I send a shot…impact. Quick reload but the animals are all too close together now almost as if they didn’t know where the sound came from. No running yet…I watch and the stag has locked his legs and then takes a little wobble step. I send another round…impact is heard. At this point it’s really too dark to see distinguishing features but he slowly walks to the edge of timber with his head down.

I reload and we walk forward in the dark. I know he’s hit twice. The first hit should be on the shoulder…the 2nd hit about the same but on the opposite side. We get close to where he entered the trees and we hear him on the ground. We turn on a light and I shoot once more out of respect to finish this strong stag. It’s done. As always, it’s a very sobering thing and I stand quietly thinking about him before going forward to get a closer look. Awesome animals. Awesome first hunt with my new friend Nestor.

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Congrats. Very nice Red Deer.