HUNTING Lion

[G Skinner]

My only input is " who the hell judges lion ....just shoot ! '' LOL !
Glen

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

A few days ago I had the opportunity to accompany my wife a newly qualified Zimbabwe PH on a National Parks Lion hunt. It was essential that the lion
be a old lion and the skull undamaged. I will skip the details of the hunt and get to the point. At first light he selected male noticed something not right about the blind, ( during the night some branches covering the shooting port had dropped) I believe he saw her white face, my port was will covered with branches he paid no attention to me. At about 10 paces he kicked up his investigative speed with head held low at about 8 paces he shot just below the jaw. The result was the bullet (swift A frame) barely took the bottom of the heart at the shot the lion turned to her left she immediately did a follow up shot hitting the spine and dropping the lion.

The point is when a lion is doing a direct approach with head low it is next to impossible under certain circumstances to make a successful heart shot without doing skull damage. If the lion would have been allowed to come closer a heart shot would have been out of the question.

The outcome was the lion went in the salt and the skull was undamaged, songs were sung and beers drank all to celebrate this old warrior life.

 

[CBH Australia]

Pick me, I’m keen on a Lion.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Pick me, I’m keen on a Lion.

Hey, we have one permit, unfortunately this virus has had a devastating effect. If things open anytime this year I will include the lion on the leopard hunt if interested send me a PM, not sure if our leopard is sold or not, the leopard should be a slam dunk, should?

 

[BRICKBURN]

A few days ago I had the opportunity to accompany my wife a newly qualified Zimbabwe PH on a National Parks Lion hunt. It was essential that the lion
be a old lion and the skull undamaged. I will skip the details of the hunt and get to the point. At first light he selected male noticed something not right about the blind, ( during the night some branches covering the shooting port had dropped) I believe he saw her white face, my port was will covered with branches he paid no attention to me. At about 10 paces he kicked up his investigative speed with head held low at about 8 paces he shot just below the jaw. The result was the bullet (swift A frame) barely took the bottom of the heart at the shot the lion turned to her left she immediately did a follow up shot hitting the spine and dropping the lion.

The point is when a lion is doing a direct approach with head low it is next to impossible under certain circumstances to make a successful heart shot without doing skull damage. If the lion would have been allowed to come closer a heart shot would have been out of the question.

The outcome was the lion went in the salt and the skull was undamaged, songs were sung and beers drank all to celebrate this old warrior life.

Congratulations on a job well done.
Great composure to get it done properly.

 

[G Skinner]

Wish my Wife would hunt lion .... then I would not have to work so hard ?
Glen

 

[Daniel Cary]

Proper 1st Shot Placement: Pivotal.
Has anyone used anything in the .500's?

Thank you.

 

[IvW]

500 Jeff....devastating....

 

[AES]

Proper 1st Shot Placement: Pivotal.
Has anyone used anything in the .500's?

Thank you.

Have killed them with 1 shot across 500NE, 416R and 300PRC. They are not hard-skinned - just be precise.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I‘ve repeatedly hunted 4 of Africa’s Big Five (rhinoceros being the only one that eludes me till now, unfortunately) and lion is my most favorite dangerous game species to go after. I’ve shot 7 over the years (with Tanzania being my favorite lion hunting grounds since the lions there are truly wild) and most were shot with the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum (although I also shot 2 with the .458 Winchester Magnum).

Bullets I’ve successfully used for lion hunting over the years are:
- 300Gr RWS Kegelspitze KS Cone Point (Now discontinued)
- 300Gr Nosler Partition (Now practically never available)
- 300Gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw (Now practically never available)
- 500Gr Winchester Super Speed Soft Nose (Now discontinued)
- 500Gr Barnes Original (Now discontinued)

I’ve also unsuccessfully shot 1 lion with the 300Gr Winchester Silver Tip (a Winchester Super X factory load) which needed to be followed up and dispatched by my white hunter. This was coincidentally the first time in my life that I had ever gone after a lion (more on this below).

I agree with Don Heath’s assessments that higher velocity calibers are a better choice for lions than lower velocity calibers. Calibers like the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, .416 Rigby/Remington Magnum, .450 Rigby, .458 Lott, .500 Jeffery and .505 Gibbs are far more suitable for lion hunting than calibers like .375 Flanged Magnum, .450/400 Nitro Express, .458 Winchester Magnum, .470 Nitro Express or even .500 Nitro Express. I’ve dropped lion faster with a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum than I have with a .458 Winchester Magnum (on both occasions, frontal heart shots were taken).

I strongly disagree with Don Heath about using Barnes X bullets for hunting lions. These monometal bullets need to be pushed to rather high speeds in order to expand rapidly/reliably and they will frequently fail to expand properly on lions (especially one that is shot over bait).

My preference is for old fashioned lead cored bullets with a copper/gilding metal jacket which will expand quickly on lions. But the bullets must still be well constructed (with bonded cores being even better), because the bullet must still be able to hold together so that it can penetrate well. The chest muscles of a charging African lion are comparable to tyre rubber. As a matter of fact, the lion which I had unsuccessfully tried to hunt with a Winchester Silver Tip bullet… actually had the fragile bullet completely disintegrate on his hardened chest muscles (during a frontal chest shot) without penetrating even 4 inches (this should also tell you just as much about the reliability of Winchester Silver Tips, as it should about lion chest muscles).

Out of all the bullets which I’ve used for lion hunting over the years, the Nosler Partition is hands down my personal favorite. Since it’s become too difficult to source now, my preferred bullet in a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum would have to be be Federal’s Power-Shok 300Gr soft nose bullet (as found in factory loaded form).

If I were to name my preferred magazine rifle of choice for lion hunting, then it would have to be a Magnum Mauser 98 Diplomat in .450 Rigby. Loaded with 500Gr Hornady DGX Bonded soft points at 2350 fps.

If I were to name my preferred double rifle of choice for lion hunting, then it would have to be a .500/416 Nitro Express sidelock ejector made by Holland & Holland with 24” barrels and a non-automatic safety. Regulated for Hornady DGX Bonded 400Gr soft points at 2330 fps.

 

[Daniel Cary]

Absolutely Stunning @Hunter-Habib
Thank you as well @IvW and to all .. an excellent read & resource.

Would anyone have a suggested projectile for use in a .500 Jeffery?

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Absolutely Stunning @Hunter-Habib
Thank you as well @IvW and to all .. an excellent read & resource.

Would anyone have a suggested projectile for use in a .500 Jeffery?

I am sure that IvW is the .500 Jeffery expert and will offer much better advice than myself, but I would have to say 570Gr Hornady DGX Bonded.

 

[PerH]

Sad Winchester is not making .458 Win ammo, they invented it . Its like R&R would stop making their cars . In similarity .

 

[Daniel Cary]

I am sure that IvW is the .500 Jeffery expert and will offer much better advice than myself, but I would have to say 570Gr Hornady DGX Bonded.

Thank you .. Spent the am. researching the "DGX Bonded", it was a good article period.

 

[CBH Australia]

Hey, we have one permit, unfortunately this virus has had a devastating effect. If things open anytime this year I will include the lion on the leopard hunt if interested send me a PM, not sure if our leopard is sold or not, the leopard should be a slam dunk, should?

Revisiting an old thread and noticed your reply to me.
I was fortunate to have hunted Africa in early 2020.
As for the Lion I don't think I can import one and I'm not likely to to spend that sort of money on a hunt. It's not impossible but it's not likely to happen in the near future.
It's funny because some hunters would say why would you shoot a Lion? As keen as they are the cats don't interest them but they collect various other trophies
I can't explain it but I think a Lion, a Lion hunt would be my top pick if I were willing to part with the money and I could bring the skin and skull home.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

UPDATE: If you ever manage to snag a box of these at a gun show or an online sale, then you're pretty much set for lion.