Taking a buffalo in a group, pass-through

[Hunt anything]

This is actually the experience I really want for buffalo. I know I'll end up paying handsomely for it. RSA treated me very well but I would love to stalk out an old bull in the flood plains.

Back in 2014 I did a 10 day buffalo package in the delta for around $13,000, included day rates, hunting license, rifle import and buffalo trophy fee. Had a mandatory 4 plainsgame add on. I brought home buffalo, sable, nyala, warthog, bushbuck and shot Lichtenstein hartebeest and reedbuck on community quota. Also “tagged” along on a problem elephant. Added a charter to camp instead of driving and grand total of $21,000. Unfortunately the same hunt today would be around $30,000.

You can always do a 7 day pkg with only 3 mandatory added plainsgame to save some money but it was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip. It just created an addiction.
I did add some of the more expensive plainsgame as additional animals. The sable and nyala were somewhat expensive but at the time warthog and bushbuck were well under $1,000.

I also got to participate in pre baiting for leopard and that was an education in itself.

 

[Philip Glass]

I’d ask how many regions and how many buffalo hunters have taken for those saying they’ll never shoot if they can’t identify what’s behind. A small herd or group of dugga boys in relatively open terrain or late season is easy to wait. Hunt early season or huge herds like in Mozambique delta it’s easier said than done. Here’s my first early season bull. It was a lone bull but I shot it at 5 yards and could only see parts of buffalo. I had no idea what was behind it if anything. There was no opportunity for shots in open at any point on this hunt.
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Good point. After days of busted stalks and then finally getting there you may not have the time to worry about what's behind.

 

[Philip Glass]

Good reason to never use solids on buffalo. Just TSX.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I've spent a lot of time watching buffalo hunting videos as I'm looking at potentially going back with them as a primary target in 2027. One thing I've seen in a few videos is a hunter taking a specific animal in a group.

I know YouTube videos don't always show exactly what's going on. However, I've watched a few videos where the PH gives the go-ahead for the shot on a buff with a group standing behind it.

The question I've always had is: Are they not worried about pass-throughs? I understand it's a pretty dense, thick skinned, big animal. However, it's not uncommon to hear of even the minimum caliber 375HH, going right through. Am I missing something here?

Is it situation to situation based on firearm/how the animal is facing/etc?

Not criticizing or armchair-quarterbacking. I just always thought that even on bigger animals, pass-through and collateral damage was a risk.

Not sure what videos you’re watching and where they’re from but it sounds like you might be watching some Mozambique floodplain hunts in areas like Coutada 11, 12, and 14. I have a hunt planned to Coutada 11 in 2026 and in discussing buffalo Mark told me his preferred bullet is a Swift A-Frame and made a comment about IF it exits and hits another animal, he pays the trophy fee. I’ve also heard him say that on a podcast.

I’m going to shoot A-Frames out of my 470 and 375 for this hunt as Mark instructed, but to me this was interesting because I’ve personally experienced a .375 A-Frame exit on a Buffalo Bull in 2023 in Zimbabwe. Slight quartering away shot. Lined up for the offside leg and round entered about a 1/2” behind the front shoulder, and exited the offside shoulder. The bull went 20-30 yards and piled up without any death bellow. The other buffalo I’ve killed have all been with a 375 and Federal TBBC‘S and a Woodleigh Hydro (2nd shot). None of the TBBC’s have exited, but the Woodleigh Hydro went frontal chest and exited out the rear hip/ham on my first buffalo.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Good reason to never use solids on buffalo. Just TSX.

Exactly why I am not a fan of TSX on Buffalo. Too many pass throughs when we can't see what is behind.

 

[3chunter]

I was hunting kudu one time and a female stepped half way in front of the trophy kudu. They got spooked and on the side of a mountain. I had seconds to react and I shot right past the kudu females head/neck and got the trophy bull. I was fully prepared to pay if I had actually hit the female but I knew I was ok when I pulled the trigger. That was the only trophy bull I saw in 11 days. If I would have had to shoot through the female I would have so guess it depends on the circumstances and game because you wouldn’t want to do this with a buffalo or any bigger of an animal.
So that would be a no with buffalo.

 

[358 Norma]

Not sure what videos you’re watching and where they’re from but it sounds like you might be watching some Mozambique floodplain hunts in areas like Coutada 11, 12, and 14. I have a hunt planned to Coutada 11 in 2026 and in discussing buffalo Mark told me his preferred bullet is a Swift A-Frame and made a comment about IF it exits and hits another animal, he pays the trophy fee. I’ve also heard him say that on a podcast.

I’m going to shoot A-Frames out of my 470 and 375 for this hunt as Mark instructed, but to me this was interesting because I’ve personally experienced a .375 A-Frame exit on a Buffalo Bull in 2023 in Zimbabwe. Slight quartering away shot. Lined up for the offside leg and round entered about a 1/2” behind the front shoulder, and exited the offside shoulder. The bull went 20-30 yards and piled up without any death bellow. The other buffalo I’ve killed have all been with a 375 and Federal TBBC‘S and a Woodleigh Hydro (2nd shot). None of the TBBC’s have exited, but the Woodleigh Hydro went frontal chest and exited out the rear hip/ham on my first buffalo.

I had a .416 400grain A-Frame do the same thing on almost exact same shot placement, bullet exited and the bull was dead in less 30 seconds. No death bellow, the bull was shot through the heart and I believe the only bones the bullet hit were ribs!

 

[Art Lambart II]

No with Buff in Africa, yes with hogs in Texas.

 

[DLSJR]

Exactly why I am not a fan of TSX on Buffalo. Too many pass throughs when we can't see what is behind.

Marius, I almost always have a Bearclaw in the chamber with TSX’s in the magazine for follow-up shots. And your comment is why I do it that way.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Marius, I almost always have a Bearclaw in the chamber with TSX’s in the magazine for follow-up shots. And your comment is why I do it that way.

Generally, they stay inside of bulls, but they are the brand that stands above the rest when it comes to exiting. Some may want that, I certainly don't.
Those TBBC are excellent but have heard that they are difficult to come by in the USA. Have you had the same experience in acquiring them?

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Generally, they stay inside of bulls, but they are the brand that stands above the rest when it comes to exiting. Some may want that, I certainly don't.
Those TBBC are excellent but have heard that they are difficult to come by in the USA. Have you had the same experience in acquiring them?

For several years they were hard to get because Federal wasn’t loading a lot of their different offerings in common calibers let alone the African calibers. However Federal just did a run of 300gr TBBC’s. I’ve picked up several boxes and helped a few other members like @brummerb1 get some for his 375.

If you’ve got some US hunters coming soon, they should be able to find some and bring them for you if they’re taking a 375.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

For several years they were hard to get because Federal wasn’t loading a lot of their different offerings in common calibers let alone the African calibers. However Federal just did a run of 300gr TBBC’s. I’ve picked up several boxes and helped a few other members like @brummerb1 get some for his 375.

If you’ve got some US hunters coming soon, they should be able to find some and bring them for you if they’re taking a 375.

Don't need them personally, but would be happy for any of my hunters coming for Buffalo to bring them for themselves. They really do perform well, so was just wondering about the availability.

Currently, I am shooting the 340gr Rhino's out of the 375 if someone is renting my rifle. Also really impressed with the performance of those.

 

[Philip Glass]

Exactly why I am not a fan of TSX on Buffalo. Too many pass throughs when we can't see what is behind.

Hmmm, sounds like a rarity to me. Factory? They usually are on the opposite side but it's possible that some exit. Even a .470 didn't go through for me. The TSX/TTSX has given me perfect performance in 5 calibers hunting all over. From Tinies to deer to hippo. I love it!
We'll just have to disagree here. You can keep using "softs and solids" where you really don't know where those follow-ups are going to land if you want.
I hope your season is going well.

 

[DLSJR]

Generally, they stay inside of bulls, but they are the brand that stands above the rest when it comes to exiting. Some may want that, I certainly don't.
Those TBBC are excellent but have heard that they are difficult to come by in the USA. Have you had the same experience in acquiring them?

Marius, as Mtn_Infantry mentioned Federal does have 375 H&H factory ammo in stock with 300 grain Bearclaws. Unfortunately, they are not offering them as component bullets for reloading.

I’ve got a good amount of this ammunition on hand, thanks to a fellow AH member who was selling 5 boxes and I bought all of it. I’ve also got quite a bit of loaded ammo with TSX’s, A-Frames and solids. My rifle groups them all pretty close to each other. The last time I shot a 5-shot group with 5 different bullets they grouped at about 1.5” as I recall. Between my 375 & 416 I’ve probably got more loaded ammunition than I’ll ever need.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Back in 2014 I did a 10 day buffalo package in the delta for around $13,000, included day rates, hunting license, rifle import and buffalo trophy fee. Had a mandatory 4 plainsgame add on. I brought home buffalo, sable, nyala, warthog, bushbuck and shot Lichtenstein hartebeest and reedbuck on community quota. Also “tagged” along on a problem elephant. Added a charter to camp instead of driving and grand total of $21,000. Unfortunately the same hunt today would be around $30,000.

You can always do a 7 day pkg with only 3 mandatory added plainsgame to save some money but it was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip. It just created an addiction.
I did add some of the more expensive plainsgame as additional animals. The sable and nyala were somewhat expensive but at the time warthog and bushbuck were well under $1,000.

I also got to participate in pre baiting for leopard and that was an education in itself.

I'm still working through my list of PG before hitting sable, nyala, etc. so I could save a bit there. I have my sights set on zebra and I think if I was hunting flood plains, I would really not want to miss the opportunity to take a nice lechwe.

I'm keeping my eyes open. Seems like every now and then, short notice deals pop up.

 

[Hunt anything]

I'm still working through my list of PG before hitting sable, nyala, etc. so I could save a bit there. I have my sights set on zebra and I think if I was hunting flood plains, I would really not want to miss the opportunity to take a nice lechwe.

I'm keeping my eyes open. Seems like every now and then, short notice deals pop up.

If you want wild lechwe that rules out Mozambique but brings the Caprivi in Namibia, Okavango in Botswana and Zambia into the mix.

 

[HookMeUpII]

If you want wild lechwe that rules out Mozambique but brings the Caprivi in Namibia, Okavango in Botswana and Zambia into the mix.

I wouldn't hesitate to go back to RSA as well, but would like free-range. Just saw an offer on here for an open area near what is probably greater Kruger area.

 

[375Fox]

I wouldn't hesitate to go back to RSA as well, but would like free-range. Just saw an offer on here for an open area near what is probably greater Kruger area.

That offer is an incredible value. You’ll see a ton of buffalo in that area only negative is little to no PG is on quota. You hunt your buffalo then transfer to ranches for PG, so a little is lost on the experience to me depending what you are looking for. If you could handle leaving your buffalo behind an own-use buffalo in Caprivi is probably best value around for hunting buffalo today.

 

[HookMeUpII]

That offer is an incredible value. You’ll see a ton of buffalo in that area only negative is little to no PG is on quota. You hunt your buffalo then transfer to ranches for PG, so a little is lost on the experience to me depending what you are looking for. If you could handle leaving your buffalo behind an own-use buffalo in Caprivi is probably best value around for hunting buffalo today.

That definitely did strike me as a very, very good value. There was a size restriction as well. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have an issue at this point in my life putting in 10-15 days hard work, just looking for a good buffalo. I think I've gotten my head around that.

I've read for Zim, especially, that could be your experience. Lots of work to get on a decent one free-range, from what I read.