Hello Rhino83,
Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris of Namibia, welcomes you to the greatest forum on earth.
Advise ?
Where do we begin ? LoL
From my personal observations and mistakes I’ve made, I will begin with the shooting part.
1.
Get or make a set of shooting sticks that mimic whatever type your PH will be setting up for you each time.
Doesn’t matter if they are 2 legged or 3 legged or even a complicated contraption that secures the forend as well as the butt stock of your rifle, as long as you practice with same at home.
I dislike the latter, complicated ones but I understand that a few PH’s do use them.
Fortunately it’s only a very few, as these are slower to deploy.
2.
Then standing, and your rifle supported by your sticks, practice, practice, practice and then, practice some more.
Once you get comfortable with your sticks, work on firing an accurate shot very quickly after settling onto your sticks.
I have seen more than once or twice, a client taking too many precious seconds aiming and aiming and aiming, as if preparing to shoot at a tiny insect, a mile away.
This usually resulted their antelope, warthog, etc., running away before any shot is fired.
In the past, I have been guilty of this as well.
3.
Practice also recharging your chamber, immediately after the shot, every shot.
Even if your critter drops to the shot, quickly re-charge your chamber anyway.
Then as soon as common sense indicates otherwise, you can unload your rifle.
Us once-a-year hunters, tend to “shoot and stare”, instead of “shoot and reload”.
4.
Make triple sure that whatever hunting shoes you bring are thoroughly broken-in and comfortable to spend all day hiking in.
5.
Avoid light bullets and their typical ultra high velocity.
Those are perfect for shooting ground squirrels at several hundred yards but, can cause bullet violent over-expansion and even bullet fracture, which equates to failures to penetrate adequately in large, thick boned animals.
Simple formula for Africa = use a heavy for caliber bullet, at slow to moderate velocity, for almost all African hunting conditions.
For one example, I would not use less than a 180 grain bullet in any of the .30 calibers.
Of the .30’s, I like among others, the .30-06 for typical Africa hunting conditions (scattered thorn forest and occasional thick riverine bush).
Furthermore, I prefer the 220 grain round nose bullet @ 2400 feet per second, when using a .30-06 in Africa.
For more open conditions, I like the .300 H&H cartridge, with 180 grain spitzer, loaded to about 2800-2850 fps.
I have used both the above in Africa and Alaska alike, with perfect success.
That said, my favorite hunting cartridge of all is the .375 H&H.
Admittedly though, it is not everyone’s cup of tea for non-dangerous game.
If it weren’t for eland, my favorite hunting cartridge would probably be the .300 H&H, the 8x57S Mauser or the .30-06, not in any particular order.
(In case you know anyone who might give a ratsass what some out of style, old rifle grump favors).
6.
Sighting arrangements, I prefer a simple 4x scope and iron sights on my rifle, in case my scope decides to fail.
Or, like the clumsy oaf that I am, I decide to fall down and bash my scope to pieces.
Anyway, avoid the pitfall of having too much scope on your Africa rifle.
Most of your shots, in most Africa conditions will be under 100 yards / meters.
That said, I think it is wise to practice from the sticks, out to 4 or 500 meters, if possible where you shoot.
Again there are exceptions to the closer shooting that’s so common throughout most of Africa but generally speaking, a huge and extra powerful rifle scope is more of a hindrance than a help.
I’ll shut my sandwich grinder now and get back out to working on my honey-do list around here.
NNTR
Best Regards,
Velo Dog.
