SOUTH AFRICA: Buffalo With Craig Boddington

[Green Chile]

The distance is 80-90 yards and most of the buff are still under the tress but the wide one is grazing in little circles on the closest edge to us. I zoom in a bit to get some clarity as he is in the shadows...do they ever stand in the open and behave??? Not for me! I turn on the lighted reticle in the Swaro scope. Once again, I need the lighted reticle on these crazy buff.

The bull turns his head to the left and amazingly, I have no shot. He's too wide and the horn is covering his shoulder. Chico quietly says don't blow his horn off. I chuckle and take the safety off. The bull's head straightens out and the shot is away onto his left shoulder. He starts to run forward and I hit him again which turns him back into the trees. Now he is inside the cover with the other 5 bulls.

We run forward as I'm reloading and stop about 40 yards from the trees with nothing but grass between us. For a few seconds, nothing changes. Then the bulls come out to face us but the wounded bull is standing by himself inside the cover. I find an opening and send another shot. He stiffens visibly. I'm not watching the other bulls...Chico is in charge of that. I send another shot and the bull drops.

I reload and we watch the other buffs standing in front of us. There's a death rattle from under the trees...and the bulls are still facing us as the sun is setting. We wait 5 minutes and Chico calls the trackers from the truck. He says throw rocks at them and we will cover anything that comes forward. 3 guys start throwing rocks and yelling. One bulls turns...another follows...we move forward...more rocks and I hear 3 languages yelling at the bulls. We move forward again and the bulls turn and stand about 50 yards from us...watching.

 

[Sideshow]

Right I’m getting the credit card what’s size you want

 

[Green Chile]

We recover the bull while the others watch and the sky grows dark. This is definitely the widest buff I have taken. He is also very large in the body but not as heavy as the first bull. We borrow a trailer from the rancher and get him back to the skinning shed at the lodge. Later we put the tape on him and he is 47.5"

 

[Sideshow]

It’s not over till we see some pics

Edit saved lol and I had a nice banana coloured one picked out for you.

 

[Altitude sickness]

What the !!!

 

[buck wild]

Here's something interesting to consider...we ran into a large kudu two different times. He was not available on this ranch...he was off limits per the rancher for whatever reason. I'm curious what you think the size is. We didn't take him and didn't measure him of course but the PH and Craig had very strong ideas about his size. What say you?

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58'

Glad to hear that Boddington isn't some pompous ass. He has taken a beating on AH once or twice

 

[Sideshow]

Offff looks cold. Had some mates down south from you just now. -5 in the mornings. Here’s a pic of there morning coffee break

That’s a big buff nice one.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Great second Buff! Congrats on a successful hunt

 

[Ridge Runner]

WOW!! 2 Very Nice buff on your first safari. You must really be fully infected with the African addiction now. CONGRATS!!!

 

[Green Chile]

Thanks...not my first trip by a long shot but thanks!

 

[PARA45]

@Green Chile, you are going to need a huge trophy room for these two monster Buffalos. Well done sir, two dream buffalos. Congratulations, what a great way to end your safari!

 

[WAB]

That is a great buffalo, congratulations!

 

[Ridge Runner]

Thanks...not my first trip by a long shot but thanks!

Way too early in the morning to deal with a yackity cleaning lady and trying to keep up with 2 different very exciting buff AH hunting reports that are concluding at the same time.

Confused your report with @camlo. He's on his first safari with 3 friends. @camlo's first African animal was also a nice buff.

 

[Ridge Runner]

A morning comparative to Lloyd Bridges in Airplane. ....picked the wrong day to quit....
Coffee,
Smoking,
Valumes,
Sniffing glue,
Snorting coke,
Uppers,
Downers,

It's been such a looong while since I seen that movie to remember all of his one liners.

 

[steve white]

There are bulls, and then there are BULLS!!! Congrats on that 47.5" buff....and just as much so for that 48+" sable--wow

 

[steve white]

To begin with, heartfelt congratulations Green Chile! I am so happy for you, and I really mean it.

Amazing Buffalo and Sable indeed. All I can add is that I wish, without jealousy, that they were mine...

A quick reaction to the following two posts:




There is no question whatsoever that the .416 Rem will be a near-perfect killer on Buffalo and Elephant.

But, for what it is worth, my own path has been to skip the .416 Rem and go for the .458 Lott. Why?

KO factor

I subscribe to the commonly held thought that the role of a client and the role of a PH are not to be confused, hence the need for a stopping caliber may not be as relevant for a client. However, every year it seems we hear a handful of documented reports when the client had to shoot in self defense, and even occasionally when the client had to shoot to save the PH, or in the worst cases, after the PH was killed or badly mauled. It is rare indeed, but it does happen. This is factual.

From this perspective, there is no arguing that the .458 Lott is a better choice than the .416 Rem.

I am not aware of too many modern folks having more experience than John Howard "Pondoro" Taylor and I see little rationale for questioning his conclusions, shared, it must be noted, by a comfortable majority of "White Hunters" of lore. In John Taylor's parlance's the baseline for stopping power is around ~70 KO. The .458 Lott / 500 gr meets the requirement. The .416 Rem / 400 gr does not (~55 KO).

Pressure

While still not meeting the required KO, the .416 Rem meets the .416 Rigby power in a much smaller case, but only at the price of a much higher pressure.

It is rumored that most ammunition manufacturers have quietly reduced their initial .416 Rem loads after repeated issues of over-pressure events and stuck actions in Africa. Whether this is true or not I cannot say, but it would make sense for them to have done so, as it is factual that the .416 Rem has been (and can still be?) sticky in Africa, even in factory loads.


To each our own, and I do not have advices to give to either of you but there you have it, the two rational reasons why I chose the .458 Lott over the .416 Rem. We will likely never need to shoot to stop, and we may never experience a stuck case on the Elephant of Buffalo spoor, but if we do............


By the way, as you already know, I cannot be more supportive of the "small" Pelican 1700 for a 3 calibers, airlines compliant <62" and <50 lbs., Blaser solution.

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As to which stock to bring, steel insert or alloy insert, or both, I have come to only bring one stock, the steel insert one. It soaks up recoil on the .458 Lott, and it does not bother me to have an additional Lb. on my shoulder with the other calibers. Besides, it makes the .257 Wby virtually recoil free, hence a surgical-precision tool, and whether the third caliber is .375 H&H (cats / eland) or .300 Wby (larger PG), it makes them both a joy to shoot.


You guys enjoy your hunts, I wish I could go this year, but it is not in the cards

My PH in Tanzania (Kilombero south) used a 416 Rem. to back me up. I overheard him saying to his boss, Michel Mantheakis, that he thought it was OK, and he had had no problems using it. BUT...he was answering the question, "Are you still using that?" as if Mantheakis thought it was a bit iffy for his role as PH...so....

 

[Green Chile]

Steve that's interesting...Mantheakis is a super legit PH. He must have seen something he didn't like. I know there's a huge difference between being the hunter and being the PH...but I like to carry my weight in the field. I'm not going to be a burden to anyone including the PH and especially on DG. That's serious stuff and I come in as prepared as I can be.

 

[steve white]

Steve that's interesting...Mantheakis is a super legit PH. He must have seen something he didn't like. I know there's a huge difference between being the hunter and being the PH...but I like to carry my weight in the field. I'm not going to be a burden to anyone including the PH and especially on DG. That's serious stuff and I come in as prepared as I can be.

The only other observation I had about his 416 was that is was iron sights only, and the rear sight was filed in a shallow V but with each side of the V filed at an opposite angle to the other. No matter which way the light was shining, one side of the V was always bright while the other was shaded silhouette.

 

[Green Chile]

Irons are normal but I've never seen one filed like that. Maybe Mantheakis was working with a young PH that he wanted to coach up a bit.

 

[MontanaPat]

Wow you took some super animals this trip. Love both the buffs and that sable is awesome. Sounds like you went from one adrenaline rush to the next each day. Glad you had a good trip