Looks like the CMS shirts are all the rage

[Michael70]

I think a great number of people forget or never knew that more dangerous game has probably been killed with a 375 H&H than any other cartridge in history. Many people don’t know that the 375 H&H first came to market in 1912 and was the most common dangerous game cartridge in use for many years, well before many commonly used DG cartridges of today had even been invented. Most game departments issued 375’s for decades as they were common and relatively inexpensive. And they worked just fine.

And thousands of Water Buffalo were culled with 308 semi-automatics as issued by the Department of Conservation Commission in the NT. I don't believe that this is justification that this tool is adequate for a foot safari in thick scrub. Just because some Government department chose an economical solution doesn't mean that there is nothing better.
Personal experience with big bulls, 375H&H and 350gr Woodleigh's led me to believe that there is a better solution for the thick stuff. You can use whatever you like, but if I was advising someone personally what to use to swing the odds in their favour, the 375H&H would not be my answer.
Shooting from a chopper, car, buggy or with a backup gun........the world is your oyster.

 

[HookMeUpII]

That looked real bad. Obviously, could have been much worse. The PH (I think) mentioned femoral artery right off the bat. The only thing I can criticize is seeing how bad his pants were torn, and the location of the wound, they should have been a little quicker with the triage. For femoral bleeds, getting a tourniquet on it ASAP is essential. They should have pumped as many rounds as needed into that thing on the ground, to assure it's dead, then get right over to that guy and start assessing. That's maybe the only thing I can say.

Sounded like they were trying to blame the trackers for spooking the buffalo out while it was hiding in the thicket, wounded. Whether that's the case or not is hard to say.

I find the blame game dangerous with these things. Older hunter and a bad shot... PH making the incorrect call... Tracker spooking it out... Assistant PH being a little to eager for a follow up shot... I guess you could maybe even make an argument for all of the above. Bottom line is: That's buffalo hunting. There is a chance someone is going to the hospital, or worse.

 

[roklok]

I don't think the client did a bad job in most aspects. A lot of folks weighing in critiquing this or that. Sure, he wasn't quick on the trigger and missed some shot opportunities. Better that than making a bunch of poor shots or misses. His age was also showing walking in the uneven ground, but ultimately he was able to hunt successfully. He was able to make a decent shot on a buff (looked like a lung hit, PH said lung blood) at a bit of distance. Shot could have been placed better most likely, but not horrible. It seemed like the charge and attack happened shortly after the initial shot, a buff could still pull that off even if double-lunged.

He also seemed to keep his head and deliver a second shot on the buff when it was on top of the apprentice, stopping the attack and allowing the PH to retrieve the rifle. He picked the shot and did not hit the guy on the ground. He deserves kudos for that in my opinion. I don't agree with all of his verbal assessment of the situation caught in the heat of the moment on camera, but can give the guy a bit of leeway on that.

As far as the .375 not being adequate on buffalo ? I think that is a farcical argument, .375 has been a standard on buffalo for a century and is widely accepted as a perfectly adequate cartridge for hunting buff in all conditions. Maybe not a great stopping cartridge, but to berate a client for using a .375 or to infer that one has no business hunting buffalo if they cant handle a bigger gun is nonsense.

 

[Christian Davis]

Lots to dissect but I doubt the hunt would have gone any smoother if the client's rifle had been a .416. In all likelihood a .30-06 would have been better for him than a .416, but I don't think the caliber of the client's rifle has much to do with it one way or another. Just my 2c.

 

[Hunt anything]

I finally got around to watching the video from start to finish last night. By the end I was starting to feel sympathy for all involved. Especially the trackers, getting the client into shooting position on giant eland and buffalo with the client unable to get a shot off in a timely manner on several occasions. You could start to hear some frustration coming out in the PHs voice towards the end and I was curious where the head PH was with his backup rifle was.
The blame game was really classless IMO.
One thing about the client he really stuck it out dealing with heat and walking on those dried out earthworm mounds .

 

[HookMeUpII]

The blame game was really classless IMO.

Are you referring to the part with the client blaming the trackers for spooking out the buffalo? If so, I agree.

In general, in terms of a specific person, the blame game is just classless.

I think there's fault on everyone in the situation. There really is no one party to blame. The client maybe could have shot better. The trackers maybe should have been a little more cautious. The assistant/back up PH maybe shouldn't have run in. And in the end...maybe the PH should have QB'd the situation better.

I used a lot of "maybes" in there for a reason.

It really was just a comedy (not really funny though) of errors from start to finish.

 

[Hunt anything]

That along with earlier on a blown stalk he mentioned that “ for some reason everyone decided to go on the stalk” , I believe it was their jobs to go along.

In the end it’s the clients responsibility to only take shots they are confident in. Maybe he was but in this situation it didn’t work out.

 

[Tanks]

I was wearing my CMS shirt in Zambia when I shot this. Charlton saw the pic and remarked on it.

 

[Hunt anything]

Nothing quite like those Zambian sable!

 

[Kharn]

What can I say but...

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I don't think the client did a bad job in most aspects. A lot of folks weighing in critiquing this or that. Sure, he wasn't quick on the trigger and missed some shot opportunities. Better that than making a bunch of poor shots or misses. His age was also showing walking in the uneven ground, but ultimately he was able to hunt successfully. He was able to make a decent shot on a buff (looked like a lung hit, PH said lung blood) at a bit of distance. Shot could have been placed better most likely, but not horrible. It seemed like the charge and attack happened shortly after the initial shot, a buff could still pull that off even if double-lunged.

He also seemed to keep his head and deliver a second shot on the buff when it was on top of the apprentice, stopping the attack and allowing the PH to retrieve the rifle. He picked the shot and did not hit the guy on the ground. He deserves kudos for that in my opinion. I don't agree with all of his verbal assessment of the situation caught in the heat of the moment on camera, but can give the guy a bit of leeway on that.

As far as the .375 not being adequate on buffalo ? I think that is a farcical argument, .375 has been a standard on buffalo for a century and is widely accepted as a perfectly adequate cartridge for hunting buff in all conditions. Maybe not a great stopping cartridge, but to berate a client for using a .375 or to infer that one has no business hunting buffalo if they cant handle a bigger gun is nonsense.

I think that's a very fair assessment given the little info we all have and not seeing ecerything else that happened of screen.

I saw someone posted this in a Facebook group. The forum moderator (who made the post) pulled it down to speak with Ben and said he's going to repost once he gets the full story because there were a bunch of factor's at play and off camera that aren't seen.