Judging Hippopotamus

[CAustin]

What make a good Hippo Trophy?
I thought I would ask the question......What makes a good Hippo Trophy? I have not hunted one myself but I continue to turn the possibility over in my mind. No doubt there are folks on here who have done a Hippo hunt that may wish to chime in and the professionals could define good better best in terms of trophy quality.
Additional questions would follow as to where the best Hippo hunting is to be found and how is the hunt accomplished? Would appreciate member comments and suggestions.

 

[peras]

In my opinion a mature bull makes a good trophy. Although they have a Rowland measurement on tusks, you do not really have opportunities to try and judge this. The way of hunting them differs, in rivers you will try and find a pod, in lakes it is usually easier to spot them. The hippo can be hunted in the water by brainshooting him. He will go down and start floating after a while. Hippos must leave the water to graze, this usually happens late afternoon or just after dark. This way they can be hunted on land. Damage causing hippo are usually hunted at night in crops with artificial light, now this can get exciting.

 

[TokkieM]

Like Pieter said a mature bull is a mature bull. Not going to be easy to see what the size of the teeth are, but the size and shape of the head can be a good indicator of the bull's size. If you have the oppertunity to see them out of the water I would probably look for the bull with the most battle scars and chunks of flesh missing, he would either be the dominant bull or was the dominant bull at some stage.Have not hunted them myself, but have been around a few, hopefully next year I can get one on dry land

 

[CAustin]

Pieter in South Africa are Hippos raised on concessions in lakes?

 

[peras]

Pieter in South Africa are Hippos raised on concessions in lakes?

Yes Charlie there are farms that keep them in dams and lakes.

 

[Royal27]

So I'll add on here from a hunter's perspective. I say definitely add it to your list! The question is, where on your list will it land???

My hunt was on the Zambezi river, so spot and stalk so to speak. My PH knew where certain pods frequented and we found others. Ironically, the bull I shot was part of a group of three that I actually spotted. I think it was the only thing I spotted first in the 12 day trip!!! On the river it was a lot of spot from the boat, tie up a bit away, sneak up, and then make sure you got a good look at all of the hippos. We did this for two days before finding the bull and I didn't shoot him until the next day actually.

As all you can see is the head there was a lot of looking for lumps caused by the lower tusks, meaning they were longer, hopefully. After that though, there was some luck I think. My bull was very average compared to what you see posted here, and much smaller tusks than the pictures I saw of the hunter who came as I was leaving. I promise you though, I didn't care. I was very happy with what I got!!!

The shot itself was the brain shot that Pieter mentioned. It was actually the easiest shot of the trip. I'm very glad I did it, but hippo is definitely a once in a lifetime animal for me. I think that a hippo on land would be much more exciting potentially, but I'd do a tuskless over that in a heartbeat if the price was anywhere close to the same.

Hippo is really like whitetail deer hunting, IMO. Shooting one isn't very hard to do. Finding and shooting the RIGHT one is much tougher.

 

[Hank2211]

A good hippo trophy is a mature male. As has been said, very difficult to judge the teeth in advance, so go for old, aggressive, and scarred.

More important than the teeth is the hunt. Finding a pod in the water, picking the biggest, shooting it in the brain (which takes marksmanship, no doubt), and then waiting until it floats is fine, but not as difficult as trying to hunt one on land. That's where the excitement comes in, and that's what makes the hunt, and the memories, in my (humble?) view.

 

[Royal27]

Finding a pod in the water, picking the biggest, shooting it in the brain (which takes marksmanship, no doubt), and then waiting until it floats is fine, but not as difficult as trying to hunt one on land.

Completely agree that on land would be more difficult and more exciting. A crop raider at night has GOT to be intense!

 

[Velo Dog]

+1 with Paw Print, Hunthardsafaris and others, on an old/battle scarred bull being the one to try for.
Likewise, one more vote for hunting them on land.
I too am in the market for a hippo on land hunt, for 2016.

Originally I wanted to try for a tusk less or other management elephant but the prices seem to be consistently higher than hippo and for me, I just want to go hunting, more than I want to go collecting specific species.
The rifle I wish to use is a large caliber double and so, I will not try to brain one as he peers back at us from his watery sanctuary.
If I cannot find the right deal for a land encounter, I will leave the hippos to their own devices and figure out a "Plan-C" of some sort.

My friend, Cal Pappas here has hunted in Africa many times compared to my very few and told me that he'd rather hunt hippo than buffalo.
Another friend here, Bob Barnes (no relation to the bullet company) shot a large bull at night, on a problem animal permit of some sort.
He used his Model 70, in .416 Remington caliber, with 400 gr monolithic solids.
First shot was approximately broadside through the shoulders and it still required a very scary follow-up in the reeds, by means of "battery torch light" and after the last shot had been fired and the mud had quit flying, I guess the PH looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

+1 with Paw Print, Hunthardsafaris and others, on an old/battle scarred bull being the one to try for.
Likewise, one more vote for hunting them on land.
I too am in the market for a hippo on land hunt, for 2016.

Originally I wanted to try for a tusk less or other management elephant but the prices seem to be consistently higher than hippo and for me, I just want to go hunting, more than I want to go collecting specific species.
The rifle I wish to use is a large caliber double and so, I will not try to brain one as he peers back at us from his watery sanctuary.
If I cannot find the right deal for a land encounter, I will leave the hippos to their own devices and figure out a "Plan-C" of some sort.

My friend, Cal Pappas here has hunted in Africa many times compared to my very few and told me that he'd rather hunt hippo than buffalo.
Another friend here, Bob Barnes (no relation to the bullet company) shot a large bull at night, on a problem animal permit of some sort.
He used his Model 70, in .416 Remington caliber, with 400 gr monolithic solids.
First shot was approximately broadside through the shoulders and it still required a very scary follow-up in the reeds, by means of "battery torch light" and after the last shot had been fired and the mud had quit flying, I guess the PH looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

The friend of mine who came up with the B&M calibers hunts with Baobab Safaris which has hippo on land hunting. No affiliation with them, just have heard good things from Michael.

http://baobabhunting.co.za/

 

[billc]

I know some how a hippo has mad my kids list.I do believe I can thank royal for that because it happened right he sent the picture of his hippo to loodt and he shared it with my son.

The more we have talked about it the more we hope to do the hunt on land for his hippo.Maybe even have him try it with his muzzlerloader.

 

[Royal27]

I know some how a hippo has mad my kids list.I do believe I can thank royal for that because it happened right he sent the picture of his hippo to loodt and he shared it with my son.

The more we have talked about it the more we hope to do the hunt on land for his hippo.Maybe even have him try it with his muzzlerloader.

Bill,

We've been over this. No muzzy! A hippo is too good of an excuse to buy a .416!

 

[billc]

Bill,

We've been over this. No muzzy! A hippo is too good of an excuse to buy a .416!

I know but that muzzy is my kids favorite gun.Plus not to many have taken a hippo with a muzzy.I still might break down and get a 416 but not sure yet

 

[CAustin]

Royal127 what kind of taxidermy work did you have done? If you don't mind me asking where did you fly into to do your Hippo hunt?

 

[Royal27]

Royal127 what kind of taxidermy work did you have done? If you don't mind me asking where did you fly into to do your Hippo hunt?

I'm going to do a mouth open skull mount. I'm also getting the leather tanned, but not sure what I will do with it yet.

This was part of my buffalo safari with Chifuti, hunted in there Chewore Noth concession.

 

[CAustin]

Royal127 you should get enough leather to do an entire sofa! I'm going to cover a wing back chair with the back skin of my buff.

 

[Royal27]

Wouldn't that be cool????

I figure I can do whatever I want with it over time. Too nice of leather not to keep! I actually didn't keep any of the buff except for the scrotum. Good excuse for another buff.

 

[CAustin]

There you go......you need to do another buff hunt !

 

[Velo Dog]

The friend of mine who came up with the B&M calibers hunts with Baobab Safaris which has hippo on land hunting. No affiliation with them, just have heard good things from Michael.

http://baobabhunting.co.za/

Thanks Phil,

I will add them to my list of possibles.

Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe seems to be the likely place but, I am still in the tire kicking stage.

Thanks again,
Velo Dog.

 

[ChrisT]

We get permits to hunt crop raiding hippos next to Kruger National Park every year and this is a very exciting hunt.

The hippos come out into the sugar cane fields at night and that's when and where we hunt them. Contrary to what some may think this isn't a "blind them with a spotlight and shoot them" kinda deal...

We stalk them on foot to as close as we can get - 30-50 yards without use of a spotlight. For the approach night vision equipment is used by at least one member of the hunting party - and this is usually not the shooter...

It's quite a thrill to walk up to a beast that weighs a few tons and is known as the DG animal responsible for the most deaths in Africa... All you're seeing is the outline of the hippo, at some point you're likely to find yourself between the hippo and water and you know that he sees much better than what you do...

When we're close enough the lamp is switched on and shooting starts... I say it "starts" because under these conditions a brain shot is not advisable so we go for the heart or lungs. Important is that the hippo must die on land and not make it to the water because - if it does - it can come back up to float anywhere - include inside the Park... So the shooter continues to shoot until the hippo is down.

Very exhilarating and in my opinion more fun than shooting them in the water.