Hunter-Habib
AH legend
I previously shared the incident on another thread. Let me look for it and send you a link.And ???
I previously shared the incident on another thread. Let me look for it and send you a link.And ???
Do you remember what firearms the local hunters/your guides were using ?I shot in the nineties three water buffalos near the Taman Negara NP in the district Pahang/Malaysia.
For all three I used the cartridge 9,3x74R and an 293gr FMJ bullet. It went more or less without problems because the shooting distances in the jungle or in the palm oil plantations on the border were very short. Nevertheless, due to the size of the game I would have wished a bigger and stronger cartridge.
That's cool, how many Cape Buffalo have you hunted & shot ?I'm going to go against the grain here and say this: I live in Darwin and have shot 20 odd Buffalo. Though bigger than Cape Buffalo they are much less cantankerous. I have only been charged once and that was by a half grown Bull that I had unfortunately wounded with my .416 Ruger.
I regularly use my 30/06 with Barnes TSX 180gn bullets and have no problem dropping large Bulls with it. Locals in Darwin often just use .308's and similar.
My favourite for them is the afore mentioned 30/06 because its perfectly adequate for Buffalo and we also often run into Large Boars.
30-06 "perfectly adequate" for Water Buffalo ...maybe for someone with your level of experience, but for a traveling hunter there are several better options. IMO - Starting with .375 caliber/9.3mm and going up from there.I'm going to go against the grain here and say this: I live in Darwin and have shot 20 odd Buffalo. Though bigger than Cape Buffalo they are much less cantankerous. I have only been charged once and that was by a half grown Bull that I had unfortunately wounded with my .416 Ruger.
I regularly use my 30/06 with Barnes TSX 180gn bullets and have no problem dropping large Bulls with it. Locals in Darwin often just use .308's and similar.
My favourite for them is the afore mentioned 30/06 because its perfectly adequate for Buffalo and we also often run into Large Boars.
That's cool, how many Cape Buffalo have you hunted & shot ?
I used to shoot for a Buffalo abattoir on the Marraki Plains, started with the 338Win but as we had to Brain shoot our Buffalo went to 30/06 solids & when those ran out we went to 308Win with the shitty 144gr solids.
If you shot enough of them you will find the 30/06 lacking, we shot 40-60 Bulls a day !
Feedback from old ex-Territorians was our "first peoples"/ aboriginies would shoot buff front knees out, then deliver a coup-de grace behind the ear, using a 22 Hornet with 40 grain solids; their way of getting meat...@Dr Ray Banteng are the most likely to charge in my experience, Red Bulls of old & Scrub Bulls are close but just a lot more of them so more to behave badly by numbers, same as bad out comes from Cape Buffalo a lot more of them are hunted & close to people .
I haven't hunted the Forest Buff, Dwarf Buff or Red Buff (next year I hope) but I'm told even more dangerous but again I think could be these are encountered at close range with poor visibility ?
On the Hornet & Scrub Bull, no not that smart but I doubt it bounced of per say but it would of fragmented & not penetrated, being a 40gr varmint bullet if is was of US make the Euro stuff can be a lot harder as I think they shoot Roe Deer with them or as least the Deer I have shot the RWS & Norma killed them with body shots & Winchester/Rem had to be in the brain !
I have never hunted Cape Buffalo, it's a hunt that is not my cup of tea. However I have had close encounters with them on the property where i have done Plains Game hunting. My preference is to hunt Duiker and Bush Buck and that kind of thing.
The point i'm trying to make is that if someone is visiting the NT for Buffalo hunt and they already have a 30/06 that they can shoot well, then there is no need to buy a heavier caliber just for one hunt, the 30/06 will get the job done with the right projectiles. A travelling hunter is not looking to shoot 40, just one.
The Water Buffalo doesn't deserve the reputation people give it. If you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. Like virtually all land game animals, if they smell humans, they are off. After all humans are the most dangerous animal on the planet and they know that.
In SE Asia like Thailand and Vietnam they domesticate Water Buffalo and even have them as pets.
Certainly if you corner them or wound them, they are dangerous but otherwise, generally not.
Just my view..
Do you think a .35Whelen would suffice?30-06 "perfectly adequate" for Water Buffalo ...maybe for someone with your level of experience, but for a traveling hunter there are several better options. IMO - Starting with .375 caliber/9.3mm and going up from there.
Hell of a lot better than a 30-06.Do you think a .35Whelen would suffice?