@Velo Dog We have all made good and bad shots on different sized animals so ... with all due respect (and never having been to Africa) I would classify that issue with the zebra as a classic example of a bad shot which required multiple shots to counter the effect of adrenaline release within the animal. I still like reading your posts (and the
@Red Leg contributions).
Keep well, both of you.
Hi ZG47,
Thanks, likewise I enjoy your writing as well.
Always a good read for sure.
Yes, I totally agree with you that, first and foremost the bad placement of his first shot was definitely the main culprit in causing a merry chase and a staccato of more shots fired.
In my opinion, it’s however worth repeating that, as the gut shot animal then spun and galloped away, now quartering slightly to the left, a second hit from the little .270 had no visual affect.
I submit that a gut shot from a larger caliber likely would have produced the same resultant galloping off at high speed.
However ... with all due respect back to you, my entire point was that, something along the lines of a 9.3 with 286 grain or .375 with 300 grain, IMO would very likely have dropped this animal with that 2nd quartering away / badly angled shot.
Heavy animals at close range and bad angles, are where these small caliber / unnecessarily high velocity cartridges let us down.
If elephants always stood perfectly broadside, with their close on foreleg held slightly forward, so as to present all hunters with a perfectly exposed heart shot, cartridges like the various .458’s through .577 NE, would likely never have been thought of.
There are many chaps here who’ve seen a lot more zebra taken than I have.
But, I indeed have seen a fair sprinkling of them being struck with various calibers and brands of bullets, some from my rifles and some from other clients.
I’ve also participated in culling them and also in hanging zebra meat for an incoming leopard hunter.
From the above experiences and observations, not to mention the following story told to me by a PH (Hannes Swanepoel), I believe zebras might possibly be the most impact resistant of all African non-dangerous game animals.
Mr. Swanepoel encountered a badly wounded zebra, still very much alive and trying to graze, with its innards dragging the ground, evidently after a lion attack.
For all the above reasons, my opinion remains that our .270 is far from the best cartridge for hunting these incredibly tough 600 pound animals.
It would be however quite excellent for things like springbok, Vaal rehbok, Mt. reedbuck, long shots at impala and similar, just as it is here in N. America for long shots at deer, pronghorn and wild sheep.
That said, when I am to pay my carefully saved up retirement income on a safari once every few years, I will always use enough gun.
In that regard, the .30-06 with 180 grain bonded core bullets, such as the excellent Swift A-Frame, would by my personal bare minimum for zebra, underline “minimum”.
Putting my money where my mouth is, the last zebra I took was with a .375 H&H and a 300 grain PMP brand round nose.
I promise you that a heavy, blunt shaped .37 caliber bullet, leaving the muzzle at about 2500 fps will break the thick shoulder bone of a huge Hartmann’s zebra stallion, (eland as well) when the animal fails to stand perfectly broadside.
I do not know if any brand of .27 caliber bullet will do that every time.
Since the manufacturers still make larger calibers these days, neither do I care to experiment with the .270 in order to find out.
Our own Doctari (Dr. Kevin Robertson) wrote in one of his excellent books of a fellow who shot a zebra with the 7x57 and 175 grain bullet.
It ran.
After a lengthy track (Doc, please correct me if my distance is off) of I think 3 miles ?
Anyway, some blood, sweat and tears later, the animal was finally recovered.
The perfectly mushroomed bullet was found inside a chamber of the heart !
Incidentally, my friend with the .270, who had to shoot his first zebra 4 times, back in 2002 or 2003, then bought a .35 Whelen, installed a 4x Leupold on it, in low rings and returned to Africa with me a few years later.
I watched him drop a huge eland bull in thick, riverine bush (Limpopo District of RSA) with one shot at very close range.
It was walking away, from right to left, almost but not quite broadside.
He shot it “in the armpit” and his boring old fashioned 250 grain Remington “Core-Lokt” (dreaded cup & core) bullet crossed the animal and broke the far shoulder.
I do believe his .270 / 140 grain A-Frame likely would’ve also been fatal to the eland at that near perfect angle however, I bet it would not have broken that far shoulder and therefore would’ve risked either a tracking job/foot pursuit and/or more shots to put this animal on the ground quickly.
Anyway, I’m all over the track with my rambling here so, I’ll clam up now.
Kind Regards,
Paul.
