How many client hunters have been charged, and how many have been hurt or wounded while on Safari?

[Sheldor]

I was several years ago in SC. I had shot a nice boar at 35 yards. I aimed for the head behind the ear, the hog moved his head just as I pulled the trigger but he went down like he was pole axed. AS is my practice I give them 10 minutes after they stop kicking before I get out of the stand and go to the hog to take photos. I took my gear and , back pack and rifle and walked to the hog, sat down the pack and slung my rifle, the hogs eyes were open and he looked dead. I took one picture from the side and walked around the front to get a good picture of his head and cutters. When my camera flashed the hog blinked. Before I could say ah crap, he was coming at me growling like I have never heard a hog do. I was wearing my Kahr MK .40 on my hip and I drew and fired in one motion and killed him at my feet with a shot to the head. To say my heart gas pounding like a jackhammer is an under statement. The adrenaline took about a half hour to wear off. If I would not have my handgun on me I would have been torn up without a doubt. All the years of having to qualify and practice drawing and firing for a close quarters fire fight sure paid off. This is the hog, 162 lbs.

 

[Sideshow]

I was several years ago in SC. I had shot a nice boar at 35 yards. I aimed for the head behind the ear, the hog moved his head just as I pulled the trigger but he went down like he was pole axed. AS is my practice I give them 10 minutes after they stop kicking before I get out of the stand and go to the hog to take photos. I took my gear and , back pack and rifle and walked to the hog, sat down the pack and slung my rifle, the hogs eyes were open and he looked dead. I took one picture from the side and walked around the front to get a good picture of his head and cutters. When my camera flashed the hog blinked. Before I could say ah crap, he was coming at me growling like I have never heard a hog do. I was wearing my Kahr MK .40 on my hip and I drew and fired in one motion and killed him at my feet with a shot to the head. To say my heart gas pounding like a jackhammer is an under statement. The adrenaline took about a half hour to wear off. If I would not have my handgun on me I would have been torn up without a doubt. All the years of having to qualify and practice drawing and firing for a close quarters fire fight sure paid off. This is the hog, 162 lbs.

@Sheldor you would love pig hunting in NZ……we only use dogs and knives. Dogs to hold em and you sneak in grab a back leg and stick em……lots of fun and loads of adrenaline…….gets interesting when you run into the 100lbs and up…..a gun the would be ummm handy

 

[Sika98k]

Charged by a lion, my friend who was the hunter shot him through the left eye at no more than 10 meters

View attachment 628988

A few years later, I fell in the back of the bakkie and broke two ribs, but nothing serious

Delayed shock ?

 

[Sarg]

As a guide & PH in many countries I have lots of charge tales but this may be of interest ?

I was sitting for some problem Hyena & had trail cameras on a few water points, a few nights went by & I knew a couple of big Dogs were coming to this water point, I just had to be patient & not fall asleep before they came in, well in one comes I quickly turn the Night Vision scope on & shoot fast with the 30/06 Hyena drops dead, I think great, give it a few minutes, no movement, go down the ladder Browning Hi Power in my hand, walk over & just as I touched the eye with the pistol barrel he jumps up & came straight at me, leaping backwards in the air I shot him & another when I came down.

Amazingly the trail camera took a few snaps of this, not National Geo quality but still cool for me to have of the encounter.

 

[Philip Glass]

This is perhaps a touchy subject, but this forum impresses me as a place filled with members who are not afraid to discuss difficult things. I'm curious to know how many here have either personally been hurt or wounded on Safari, or have knowledge or stories of hunters being injured or killed. Just kind of curious to know how often it happens.

The inquiry would include of course injuries related to adverse encounters with game animals, and would also include falls while hunting/hiking, vehicular incidents, drowning, snakebite, etc. This would not be meant to include things like having a heart attack or other medical event while on Safari. As a side note I'm curious how many have experienced a charge from a wounded animal, and also any who have experienced an "unprovoked" (non-wounded) animal.

I noted a recent comment about how sad it was to mark the passing of several PH's over the years (including one lost recently in a buffalo attack), and it made me wonder how often it happens with the hunters.

I had the well known leopard charge on my hound hunt where my PH was bitten. This was an unwounded cat. A very scary scenario.
While in camp last month in Zimbabwe I was told first hand and second hand of recent charges and attacks. For some reason most everyone (it seems) wounds their leopard! First of all Dalton, just prior to our hunt, was charged by a wounded lion. He shot it near point blank in the chest and stopped the charge. York was charged by a wounded leopard just down the way while we slept. His client made a bad shot. York dispatched the cat at close range.
Then in the middle of our hunt, on the same day, two Zim PH's we're very badly mauled by wounded leopards.
Everyone who plans a leopard hunt should do their due diligence in preparing for that hunt. I recommend going to a shooting school like SAAM where they actually simulate a leopard blind hunt as well as charging buffalo. Your life and that of others may depend on you being ready.

 

[steve white]

Well, someone mentioned hippo, so I will too. In Kilombero TZ our swamp buggy broke down fifteen miles from camp as the crow flies, at about 4:00 in the afternoon. We talked local guys into giving us a ride to camp in their dugout canoe. All we did was run over pods of hippo, at the height of breeding season! (price for the ride--$20 and a toothbrush) Many times the honcho bull would submerge last and then there would come those rippling waves coming in our direction. They usually turned off to the side as they neared us, but sometimes would just go still somewhere beneath us. That was when all paddling ceased and we drifted to safer water. After it got dark, we would often hear them honking and bellowing behind us, as we had passed through them unawares before the moon got up. When we heard the generator at camp and finally landed, the PH said: 'Now pastor, we didn't want to offend you, but the reason these boys were willing to give us a ride was that the witch doctor had sacrificed a chicken right in their boat, and told them "now the hippos will flee from you and not attack you."

Same hunt I literally stepped on the backside of a hippo asleep in heavy grass. I thought an avalanche had fallen out from under my foot until I saw his slate blue hide. Fortunately he was pointed away from me and took off like a 5,000 lb rabbit.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Check out Pain and Redemption in Niassa. I was nailed by a buffalo. I was lucky to have survived, if not for some great shooting by the PH and his tracker. I had cracked ribs and a broken toe as my only injuries. It is rare, but it does happen. I can attest to that.

I would like to read that story, but I don't know how to look it up. How do you do that?

 

[mark-hunter]

Activate search option, top right corner, , type pain and redemption in nyassa.

 

[franzfmdavis]

My brother-in-law and I hunted elk on public land in the extreme winter zone in northwestern Colorado in 2023. We saw only one spike bull over 4 days, and were hunting about 600 yards apart on the 5th night. Shortly before dusk, I spotted a mature bull feeding at the edge of a flat top. He was slightly less than 200 yards out when he turned broadside and I shot. I saw all four legs go up in the tall grass when he got hit (in the vitals). As I approached, he popped his head up, and then stood up and ran into the nearby tree line. I chased in after him at a determined pace but unknowingly passed by him. Hearing a galloping sound from behind, I started to turn back and saw him charging toward me. He veered left about 15 feet before reaching me. As he ran past me, I shot again hitting him in the right hip, which brought him down. I was pretty shaken afterward, and didn't get to fully calm down either, because while we were quartering him a mountain lion began circling us chirping from various directions.