Hunting Crocodile in Africa?

[CBH Australia]

Just asking about people’s experiences or dreams of hunting a Crocodile in Africa.

What is the minimum calibre or your minimum cartridge you consider or have used?
I believe it needs something you confidently shoot accurately for a head shot.

What distance is average or common when taking a Croc?

How many days would you allow?

What areas actually have huntable, exportable Crocs?

What is the attraction over another species?
I understand some collect trophies and work through a number of species but I could not afford to collect a ton of trophies or hunt the world over so I’m more interested in in the experience and opportunity. I would like to hunt dangerous game but for now my priorities lie elsewhere.

Is it an exciting hunt? Is it rewarding?
I think I would find room for a Croc trophy if I took one.

 

[KuduKiller]

I hunted mine 2 years ago in SA. He was 13’1” and took him with a spine shot at around 70 yards with my 375 Ruger. I was on a 10 day trip and shot him the 3rd day. I’m doing a 1/2 mount with a duiker in his jaws that I took a few days later. The hunt was very rewarding after my PH and I bear crawled about 100 yards to get to a spot that I could shoot from. I couldn’t tell you how many thorns I had embedded in my knees because I was hunting in shorts. All in all it was a very exciting hunt and I would do it again one day if possible.

 

[375Fox]

I’ve only taken one but you can hunt them in every huntable country in Southern Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa). It takes a long time to grow a big croc so some areas have them and some don’t and some use to but don’t anymore. I enjoyed my hunt. It was basically a 2 day add on to a PG hunt in Zambia. I took a nice 12’ 2” croc at 100 yards stalking the river banks. 100 yards will be a long shot on a croc. How many days really depends on the area and the croc you want. We could have taken a week trying to bait in a 13.5’ or 14’ croc from a blind. It is a rewarding hunt and fun being on river. However I’d say it also has the opportunity to be your most disappointing hunt if you wound your croc and he ends up in water. The chance of recovery in a river system is low. That’s part of reason I haven’t taken a 2nd one.

I’d be very careful with croc hunting in South Africa though. You’ll see a lot of croc hunting on small ponds on fenced ranches. They are all stocked. Many in South Africa will be but some will resemble wild conditions much more than others.

 

[Green Chile]

There are certainly stocked croc ponds in SA but there are also some great opportunities that are not stocked. Already some great answers here and lots of experience on the forum. I used to think that croc hunting was not very interesting. I wasn't into baiting for them, sitting around and waiting to see if the big boy hauls out to the bait. Nothing wrong with that but it's not my idea of a good time.

When I first hunted Leadwood with @MATTANJA HUNTING SAFARIS, I was amazed at the setup for croc. There is a river and series of dams running through the property and they are full of crocs. When I say "full of crocs", I mean many hundreds of crocs. It's impossible to get an accurate count but there are somewhere around 1000 crocs on this property. The preferred method of hunting them is spot and stalk along the water edge. We would stalk along the cut banks and of course, you can't see them all...some are under the cut bank you are standing on! We had many busted stalks as you would imagine and a lot of exciting times as we narrowed down the options. One of the hardest creatures in Africa to stalk is the croc. They have amazing senses of seeing motion, incredible sense of smell and somehow with their nervous system, they have an uncanny sense of feeling vibrations in the ground. Just when you think you have one in the right setup, he will open his eyes and launch into the water violently. Tons of fun!

I got my shot at about 40 yards, through the bushes into a neck shot with a 375 H&H and 300 TSX. I encourage neck shots where possible as the target is much larger than the brain and the trophy is not destroyed in the process. Mine was 13 feet and a few larger have been taken in this area. 12+ feet is the goal and will take 1-3 days generally.

Short version of all this is that I have been converted to seeing a really fun way of hunting them with hundreds of crocs in one area to play with. I have helped a number of hunters get into their first crocs with great reports coming from all who try it. If you have any questions or want to discuss further, hit me up.

 

[mdwest]

my wife took hers with a 35 whelen.. shot was at about 50 yards (initially set up at about 35 yards, but the croc moved and settled on the bank of a large pond at about 50 before she could get her shot)... I think hers ended up being just a little shy of 14'.. we had a "rug" made out of it (not exactly comfortable to walk on lol).. it sits under our pool table in the game room upstairs.. the table is 9'.. so the head and tail extend a little bit out on the ends, but the legs/feet and body are all underneath the table..

it was a fun hunt.. on the property we hunted there is a river that feeds a series of ponds ranging from maybe 1 acre to 5 acres in size.. we patroled along the river and then approached each pond from the side to get a view of what might, or might not be available to take a shot at.. the first couple of ponds produced nothing, then we found a couple of smaller crocs at a pond that we passed on.. and then we found the croc we wanted..

she was able to get slightly elevated above the croc, one of the banks of the pond sat maybe 3-4 feet higher than the far bank.. we circled around the pond until we were able to get to the elevated bank, which both obstructed the crocs view of our approach, and also provided her with a really good place to get into the prone position and take a precise shot...

It was a fun hunt.. Id definitely do it again..

 

[Green Chile]

 

[Green Chile]

Here's what happens when you throw a little meat into the water at Leadwood...