Boddington idle curiosity questions

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

I have hunted over 100 buffalo. I even took a few of them. Hunting is a passion, killing not so much.

 

[Red Leg]

For virtually anyone who hunts a great deal, eventually very little outside of photographs comes home.

 

[BeeMaa]

On the red dot mount…my first thought was to get it as low as possible to the bore. I didn’t think about the co-witness iron sights until @rookhawk mentioned it, but it makes sense.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

I will add to my previous post. My most memorable hunts were the ones where the buffalo was hunting me or us.

There is nothing more on this earth than to be able (which I am not) to hunt one last buffalo, just not sure if I would pull the trigger. The buff would just call it a cull hunt.

Kevin Peacock is coming for the night if Caruthers is up to it.

 

[Green Chile]

I recently hunted buff with Boddington (hunt report is posted here). He does not take all of them home and in fact, enjoys shooting older buff that don't score well. He likes the age and character of them...also sound biology for doing so. On my hunt, he had one of his doubles with iron sights and took a nice older buff and I don't think it was being shipped to him. In fact, his buff from the year before there was sitting in the lodge as a euro mount. The trophy is the experience and he has no need for over 100 buff trophies at home.

 

[Laniarius]

To clarify, I'm not at all asking why one would want to hunt buffalo 100+ times. I totally get that.

Thanks for the clarifications about him leaving many behind. I was wondering if that might be the case.

 

[Green Chile]

I brought the last 3 buff out, which is more than I wanted. The next ones will be left behind for the outfitter to use, have extra capes, etc.

 

[Nyati]

I know a gentleman in Spain who has hunted much more than a hundred buffs, possibly close to the two hundred mark.

He mostly keeps euro-mounts.

That´s all he cares to hunt, and yes, he is very wealthy.

 

[Green Chile]

Guys that have a large number...100 plus...I wonder if they have done a lot of Tanzania, Uganda type hunts where there are a lot more buff on quota and you can do 2-3 per trip. Doing that many buff one at a time is probably not what happened.

 

[Rafiki]

I've been enjoying some episodes of Peterson's Hunting Adventures, of which Craig Boddington is one of hosts.

Something occurred to me out curiosity. What would someone like Craig do with over 100 buffaloes hunted? This isn't meant to be in an accusatory tone. I congratulate him and anyone who has gained that kind of experience. I'm just curious, does he actually keep all the trophies or would he donate them or auction them or something? Maybe this information is out there but searching something like "Craig Boddington buffalo trophies" is not going to narrow the results much.

As I was thinking about posting this, the following came up on screen. Another curiosity question: why mount a red dot far back on a cantilever like this? Unlike Buffalo hunting, I can at least claim to have mounted and used several different red dots on various firearms. I suppose there's personal preference about how much the optic fills one's view. I just have a hard time picturing the benefit of the setup Craig has here. But I know he's experienced and probably has a reason. And presumably with a double rifle for a Mozambique buffalo hunt, he wasn't constrained by using whatever he could afford for $30 from a local big box store.

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That is a weird looking setup but (shrug). I have an Aimpoint for my heavy rifle. I drag it along but have yet to use the thing. It's a great piece of equipment I just prefer iron sights.

Looks like he's shooting a Sabatti, always liked those but not many seem to have a favorable opinion.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Guys that have a large number...100 plus...I wonder if they have done a lot of Tanzania, Uganda type hunts where there are a lot more buff on quota and you can do 2-3 per trip. Doing that many buff one at a time is probably not what happened.

I wish I had your math skills.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I've been enjoying some episodes of Peterson's Hunting Adventures, of which Craig Boddington is one of hosts.

Something occurred to me out curiosity. What would someone like Craig do with over 100 buffaloes hunted? This isn't meant to be in an accusatory tone. I congratulate him and anyone who has gained that kind of experience. I'm just curious, does he actually keep all the trophies or would he donate them or auction them or something? Maybe this information is out there but searching something like "Craig Boddington buffalo trophies" is not going to narrow the results much.

As I was thinking about posting this, the following came up on screen. Another curiosity question: why mount a red dot far back on a cantilever like this? Unlike Buffalo hunting, I can at least claim to have mounted and used several different red dots on various firearms. I suppose there's personal preference about how much the optic fills one's view. I just have a hard time picturing the benefit of the setup Craig has here. But I know he's experienced and probably has a reason. And presumably with a double rifle for a Mozambique buffalo hunt, he wasn't constrained by using whatever he could afford for $30 from a local big box store.

View attachment 626505

I don't know about the red dot, but I have wondered the same thing about what he does with the buffalo he shoots. I have one mounted and on the wall and am having a hard time finding s place for the skull of the second one. Would I go back again for a third one and not bring anything back? Oh hell yeah! But I am curious about what other people do with their excess trophies. I also have a waterbuck still on the floor. I love my taxidermy, but I just don't have room for anything else!

Actually, after the bills for the taxidermy work and shipping from this last safari, I don't think I could afford it anyway.

 

[grand veneur]

I don't know about the red dot, but I have wondered the same thing about what he does with the buffalo he shoots. I have one mounted and on the wall and am having a hard time finding s place for the skull of the second one. Would I go back again for a third one and not bring anything back? Oh hell yeah! But I am curious about what other people do with their excess trophies. I also have a waterbuck still on the floor. I love my taxidermy, but I just don't have room for anything else!

Actually, after the bills for the taxidermy work and shipping from this last safari, I don't think I could afford it anyway.

If one collect trophies almost every year, one will eventually have problems with the number of them. That's why I told myself not to import any more, also because of the additional costs that are increasing more and more. I have an excess of trophies for years and also no place to hang them up, although they're just Europeans mounts. For this reason I regularly give away trophies, mostly to non-hunters. Buffaloes above all but also deers are very popular. People appreciate things like this as decorative elements for various interior and exterior designs. It surprised me too, but that's how it is.