HUNTING Giraffe

[mikecatt13]

Mrs BeeMaa has just added Giraffe to her 2022 list.
Planning on a 375H&H with 300 grain Barnes TSX.
She is in favor of the high neck shot as long as it presents itself.
If it drops to the shot, great.
If not, I'll back her up with a 416RM to the lungs.

As soon as my wife learned about old giraffe bulls being aggressive and not allowing the young ones to breed etc. She got very excited about taking a giraffe in 2022 as well. She will either use her .416 or 300WM barrel on the R8 based on whether the PH prefers vitals or a head shot. A frames either way.

What are yalls plans for the big taxidermy bill? Lol

 

[rookhawk]

Mrs BeeMaa has just added Giraffe to her 2022 list.
Planning on a 375H&H with 300 grain Barnes TSX.
She is in favor of the high neck shot as long as it presents itself.
If it drops to the shot, great.
If not, I'll back her up with a 416RM to the lungs.

300HH with 200gr accubond to the lungs worked just fine. Thus, I would infer a 200gr or up .30-06 or better can get the job done. The .375 should be more than sufficient.

 

[BeeMaa]

What are yalls plans for the big taxidermy bill? Lol

Flatskin rug.

 

[Areaonereal]

Shot 2 giraffe just below head and neck juncture with a 30 06 220 gr. Nosler part. Dropped both on the spot. An older female at 80 yds thru the heart broadside, went about 40 yds down. Bullet recovered under off side under skin.

 

[Daga Boy]

Either will work for a head or neck shot. DGX is a much better option if you go for a body shot. A lighter monolithic is a good option , especially if you are going to be hunting in open country

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

View attachment 445950

@AfricaHunting.com
Jerome they sure have a strange looking skull. That's a trophy in its own right.
You could play guess the animal with that
Bob.

 

[USMA84DAB]

.375 Ruger shooting 270 grain Barnes TSX - 100 yards to the animal - 1st round just transited the heart, 2nd round did not make it through the shoulder. Ran 50 yards and somersaulted onto the bakkie trail. As someone mentioned above, this bull was culled due to walking through fences weekly to beat the tar out of the neighbors' bulls.

 

[leslie hetrick]

i could have shot one, but passed up on it. i don,t reget it.

 

[C.W. Richter]

'Got 2 nice, old bulls on diff safaris. 1 was a requested cull as they had overpoulated (and contributed to the deforestation of) one concession (PH suggested a .375. 'Took the heart/lung shot and it ran for a while (then the high shoulder/neck juncture shot to put it down for good.) On the 2nd one, used my 264 WSM and 160 Woodleighs (precision head shot-straight down!) I am reminded by this post of one giraffe head/neck skin and body cape experiencing "hair slippage" and then "being lost or disposed of" without the luxury of being notified by E. Coast Taxidermy & Tannery in PA (ECT?) DO NOT EVER USE THEM. Hard lesson learned. Use Slivko Tannery in NYS or Waldun down in SC!!! The tannery MUST have experience with properly handling the thickest African hides or they ruin it and then provide excuses. The other was "own-use" and had to be given to the tribal concession. I never even considered suing anyone, until the above happened (I did not, but probably should have due to the costs involved-esp. shipping in that case!) Buyer Beware-Do your Research! Giraffe, deer are NOT!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

'Got 2 nice, old bulls on diff safaris. 1 was a requested cull as they had overpoulated (and contributed to the deforestation of) one concession (PH suggested a .375. 'Took the heart/lung shot and it ran for a while (then the high shoulder/neck juncture shot to put it down for good.) On the 2nd one, used my 264 WSM and 160 Woodleighs (precision head shot-straight down!) I am reminded by this post of one giraffe head/neck skin and body cape experiencing "hair slippage" and then "being lost or disposed of" without the luxury of being notified by E. Coast Taxidermy & Tannery in PA (ECT?) DO NOT EVER USE THEM. Hard lesson learned. Use Slivko Tannery in NYS or Waldun down in SC!!! The tannery MUST have experience with properly handling the thickest African hides or they ruin it and then provide excuses. The other was "own-use" and had to be given to the tribal concession. I never even considered suing anyone, until the above happened (I did not, but probably should have due to the costs involved-esp. shipping in that case!) Buyer Beware-Do your Research! Giraffe, deer are NOT!

View attachment 458087

@C.W. Richter
Tell us more about that 264 WSM
Sounds interesting.
Bob

 

[John Telford]

Flatskin rug.

Used the neck skin only to make a rifle bag and took a skull mount and one shin to make knife handles.
This one needed A Lott of shots(4) in total with the 458. First one was good but old habits die hard so when he turned and galloped away I let fly. Swift a frame and 3 solids.

 

[Frederik]

Got two of my friends and connected them with Henry Griffith Safaris to go shoot two management bulls.

One was shot with a 500 NE Verney Carron Double and 570gr Barnes the other with 458 win mag and 480gr DGX unbonded. as you will see in the videos.
Was heaps of fun and a neccesitty so good all around for conservation, economics and just a plain good fun day out with good friends who shot well.

The dark bull was not to be shot only the younger lighter coloured bulls.

Recovered bullet 570gr Barnes out of the 500 NE

 

[BeeMaa]

@Frederik - Your friends did a good job of anchoring these Giraffe. The Giraffe barley seemed spooked by the rifle shots. In the second video none of them ran until the one that was shot fell over.

 

[Frederik]

@Frederik - Your friends did a good job of anchoring these Giraffe. The Giraffe barley seemed spooked by the rifle shots. In the second video none of them ran until the one that was shot fell over.

They don't hunt on that specific farm so the giraffe had no clue what was going on. Management for numbers.
This also just shows you can go into a complete wild area and I have seen it that animals are not scared of humans as they do not know humans who hunt.

 

[BeeMaa]

Mrs BeeMaa has just added Giraffe to her 2022 list.
Planning on a 375H&H with 300 grain Barnes TSX.
She is in favor of the high neck shot as long as it presents itself.
If it drops to the shot, great.
If not, I'll back her up with a 416RM to the lungs.

The above was my post from Jan 2021 when planning our 2022 safari. That safari was postponed...then canceled. Life gets in the way sometimes.

It's now 2024 and I've finalized a buffalo safari with JKO Safaris planned for 2025. So why am I posting it here? Apparently my wife hasn't forgotten the dream of hunting giraffe, but our arsenal has been rearranged significantly. Her 375H&H barrel has been sold along with my 416RM...so that plan is out the window.

She has a 300WM shooting Barnes 165 grain TTSX while I have a 375H&H with Barnes 300 grain TSX. That's all we would take on this trip. Although I might add in a few 300 grain Woodliegh Hydros for good measure.

After the buffalo hunt is done we will shift our focus to giraffe. I'm not positive about this but we may pull an audible just because we can. We have Blaser R8's and have the option to put my 375H&H on her stock. I'll be left without a rifle (because her barrel is too thick for my stock), but I'm not too concerned about that. I'd rather make sure she was comfortable with a proper fitting rifle to do the job.

I'd like to know what other think about this possible option or if she should stay with the 300WM. Of course she would practice with the 375H&H, so that won't be an issue. Other than me being left without a rifle, I don't see much of a downside. Opinions?

 

[Hank2211]

The above was my post from Jan 2021 when planning our 2022 safari. That safari was postponed...then canceled. Life gets in the way sometimes.

It's now 2024 and I've finalized a buffalo safari with JKO Safaris planned for 2025. So why am I posting it here? Apparently my wife hasn't forgotten the dream of hunting giraffe, but our arsenal has been rearranged significantly. Her 375H&H barrel has been sold along with my 416RM...so that plan is out the window.

She has a 300WM shooting Barnes 165 grain TTSX while I have a 375H&H with Barnes 300 grain TSX. That's all we would take on this trip. Although I might add in a few 300 grain Woodliegh Hydros for good measure.

After the buffalo hunt is done we will shift our focus to giraffe. I'm not positive about this but we may pull an audible just because we can. We have Blaser R8's and have the option to put my 375H&H on her stock. I'll be left without a rifle (because her barrel is too thick for my stock), but I'm not too concerned about that. I'd rather make sure she was comfortable with a proper fitting rifle to do the job.

I'd like to know what other think about this possible option or if she should stay with the 300WM. Of course she would practice with the 375H&H, so that won't be an issue. Other than me being left without a rifle, I don't see much of a downside. Opinions?

I’ve used a .300 Win Mag on the high neck shot with quite satisfactory results (“timberrrr . . .”). If the shot hits the neck bones, it’s dead on the spot. If you were using the .375 as backup, so much the better.

i wouldn’t worry too much about it. And I look forward to the report.

 

[Rule 303]

If going for a side on chest shot make sure to use a stout bullet. The Giraffe has a good tuff chest fighting pads for want of a better description and their bones are, I am told, the strongest/hardest bones in the animal kingdom.

Enjoy the hunt.

 

[Fatback]

@BeeMaa,

If your wife was comfortable making a high neck/head shot then a 300 win mag is just fine. That’s what I used when I shot my giraffe in 2022. If going for a shoulder type of shot I’d recommend the 375 H&H with a top quality bullet. The hide on a giraffe is amazingly thick and the muscle and bone is also very stout. This was really surprising to me when we were butchering my giraffe. Either way, they can be a challenging hunt.

 

[Andrew62]

I've taken 5 giraffe, all with my .375H&H, 300 grain bullet, 2 with Swift Aframes, 2 with Barnes TSX, 1 with Hornady DGX. Take that high shoulder shot, they'll walk a few steps and fall over dead.