Kopskoot
AH member
Country: Zimbabwe
Area: South Eastern lowveld (bordering Gonarezou)
Concession: Niavasha
Outfitter: Chipimbi safaris
Ph: Lloyd Yeatman
Rifle:375 H&H, Sako
ammo: 350 gr Barnes TSX , 300 gr Barnes TSX and 300 Barnes banded solids.
It was late October 2011,when at a big bore shooting day, a friend mentioned, an end of season buffalo hunt,that was available in Zim. Agitated by the fact,that he asked whether I would be interested(he knew very well I would),I immediately got the ball rolling, and by mid November,I was ready to go.
At the time, the only dangerous game cartridge I owned, was my trusty 375, which I bought from my father,after admiring it for many years,since primary school.Reloading myself,I experimented with the 350gr TSX's and after testing them on a two occasions ,on wildebeest,I was confident,that they would bring back the trophy!
27 November,I left Pretoria, full of excitement and pre conceived ideas,of what this adventure ( my greatest schoolboy dream) would deliver. After a full day of driving,combined with a testing border crossing, I drove into the Niavasha camp, where I was met by Lloyed Yeatman,owner of Chipimbi safaris.A 6 foot 5 grey haired Zimbabwean Gentleman,who have ever since,become a friend.
Hunting in these wilderness areas,pretty much consist of driving,from early morning,visiting waterholes, until fresh tracks are found, which are then assessed by the ph and incredible trackers,from where a decision is then made ,whether to pursue of continue searching.
Early morning on day 6, of my 10 day hunt, we came across a very promising set of tracks,and immediately started the hunt.The track was of a lone bull,and looked very promising. After a good 3 to 4 hours of tracking, I suddenly heard a loud thump, about 30m to my right the bull emerged from the almost waist high grass,where he was lying down,in the shade.
As I got the gun to my shoulder,the bull started turning ,with his chest exposed.In what seemed to be a fraction of a second,I placed the bullet into his chest,after which it ran off into the thicket.
Up to this point,most of my pre conceived ideas about buffalo hunting,proofed to be fairly spot on,but this is where they ended.
After a 20minute wait,which felt like a decade,we started following the blood track,in soft red sand,through terrifying thicket. After an hour of tracking,with my heart pounding,and the adrenalin flowing freely through my body, we got to the point where the bull crosse the boundary road,into the Gona re zou park, and we first had to drive to Mabalauta, to ask permission,to follow the bull into a national park. 2 hours later, with permission granted, we continued on the bloodspoor.
From the tracks,we learned that the bullet must have broken its front leg, since he was starting to drag it,and the other spoor was very deep into the red sand, pointing to all weight being concentrated on the fresh leg. Nevertheless,it had gone about a mile,before we found signs of him slowing down,and even lying down once or twice.
Ever alert,but with the dubious thought of losing my first buff,in the back of my head, we slowly moved through the thicket, spread out about 5 metres apart. Myself on the right flank,tracker with rifle in the middle, Lloyed on the left,another tracker short on our heals and a parks board scout,armed with an ak47, further back.
After about 45minutes, the tracker suddenly dropped to his knee, pointing at a green bush, about 10 metres ahead of us. I moved forward,but further to the right,when Lloyed fired a shot,at something out of my sight. I ran forward and as I stepped around the green bush, the bull struggled to feet about 6metres away, turning in my direction, when I instinctively aimed and fired for the brain and it dropped to the ground.
The first shot/wound,can be seen,just above the curl of the horn, and the final brainshot,is clear, on its nose
Not totally mature, but measured 45", nonetheless
I was ecstatic, to say the least!!
It was a fantastic trophy and a hunt, that despite my pre conceived ideas, I wouldn't have wanted any other way.
Upon examining the wound, and the "postmortem" I learned that my first shot,hit the heavy shoulder bone and deflected to end up under the skin,behind the shoulder. The penetration was poor from this 350 gr TSX, and after discussing the situation ,with a number of experts, the conclusion we got to,was that the bullet must have deflected and tumbled, causing the lack of penetration. A phenomenon (apparently) common to "heavy for calibre" bullets
Area: South Eastern lowveld (bordering Gonarezou)
Concession: Niavasha
Outfitter: Chipimbi safaris
Ph: Lloyd Yeatman
Rifle:375 H&H, Sako
ammo: 350 gr Barnes TSX , 300 gr Barnes TSX and 300 Barnes banded solids.
It was late October 2011,when at a big bore shooting day, a friend mentioned, an end of season buffalo hunt,that was available in Zim. Agitated by the fact,that he asked whether I would be interested(he knew very well I would),I immediately got the ball rolling, and by mid November,I was ready to go.
At the time, the only dangerous game cartridge I owned, was my trusty 375, which I bought from my father,after admiring it for many years,since primary school.Reloading myself,I experimented with the 350gr TSX's and after testing them on a two occasions ,on wildebeest,I was confident,that they would bring back the trophy!
27 November,I left Pretoria, full of excitement and pre conceived ideas,of what this adventure ( my greatest schoolboy dream) would deliver. After a full day of driving,combined with a testing border crossing, I drove into the Niavasha camp, where I was met by Lloyed Yeatman,owner of Chipimbi safaris.A 6 foot 5 grey haired Zimbabwean Gentleman,who have ever since,become a friend.
Hunting in these wilderness areas,pretty much consist of driving,from early morning,visiting waterholes, until fresh tracks are found, which are then assessed by the ph and incredible trackers,from where a decision is then made ,whether to pursue of continue searching.
Early morning on day 6, of my 10 day hunt, we came across a very promising set of tracks,and immediately started the hunt.The track was of a lone bull,and looked very promising. After a good 3 to 4 hours of tracking, I suddenly heard a loud thump, about 30m to my right the bull emerged from the almost waist high grass,where he was lying down,in the shade.
As I got the gun to my shoulder,the bull started turning ,with his chest exposed.In what seemed to be a fraction of a second,I placed the bullet into his chest,after which it ran off into the thicket.
Up to this point,most of my pre conceived ideas about buffalo hunting,proofed to be fairly spot on,but this is where they ended.
After a 20minute wait,which felt like a decade,we started following the blood track,in soft red sand,through terrifying thicket. After an hour of tracking,with my heart pounding,and the adrenalin flowing freely through my body, we got to the point where the bull crosse the boundary road,into the Gona re zou park, and we first had to drive to Mabalauta, to ask permission,to follow the bull into a national park. 2 hours later, with permission granted, we continued on the bloodspoor.
From the tracks,we learned that the bullet must have broken its front leg, since he was starting to drag it,and the other spoor was very deep into the red sand, pointing to all weight being concentrated on the fresh leg. Nevertheless,it had gone about a mile,before we found signs of him slowing down,and even lying down once or twice.
Ever alert,but with the dubious thought of losing my first buff,in the back of my head, we slowly moved through the thicket, spread out about 5 metres apart. Myself on the right flank,tracker with rifle in the middle, Lloyed on the left,another tracker short on our heals and a parks board scout,armed with an ak47, further back.
After about 45minutes, the tracker suddenly dropped to his knee, pointing at a green bush, about 10 metres ahead of us. I moved forward,but further to the right,when Lloyed fired a shot,at something out of my sight. I ran forward and as I stepped around the green bush, the bull struggled to feet about 6metres away, turning in my direction, when I instinctively aimed and fired for the brain and it dropped to the ground.
The first shot/wound,can be seen,just above the curl of the horn, and the final brainshot,is clear, on its nose
Not totally mature, but measured 45", nonetheless
I was ecstatic, to say the least!!
It was a fantastic trophy and a hunt, that despite my pre conceived ideas, I wouldn't have wanted any other way.
Upon examining the wound, and the "postmortem" I learned that my first shot,hit the heavy shoulder bone and deflected to end up under the skin,behind the shoulder. The penetration was poor from this 350 gr TSX, and after discussing the situation ,with a number of experts, the conclusion we got to,was that the bullet must have deflected and tumbled, causing the lack of penetration. A phenomenon (apparently) common to "heavy for calibre" bullets
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