Western Savanna Buffalo & Others vs. Cape

[BCD]

Dear All

The awe inspiring, treacherous & dangerous Cape Buffalo that I have read much about in books, magazines & posts and seen(not hunted sadly yet) from the safety of a vehicle is very well described, but I see little description about it's smaller cousins Western Savanna , Nile & Forest Buffaloes to name a few.

Are theses others as dangerous and treacherous? maybe a little less do to smaller size and sturdinees? or do they have a different temperament all together?

Thanks for any info you might share!

 

[Hank2211]

Dear All

The awe inspiring, treacherous & dangerous Cape Buffalo that I have read much about in books, magazines & posts and seen(not hunted sadly yet) from the safety of a vehicle is very well described, but I see little description about it's smaller cousins Western Savanna , Nile & Forest Buffaloes to name a few.

Are theses others as dangerous and treacherous? maybe a little less do to smaller size and sturdinees? or do they have a different temperament all together?

Thanks for any info you might share!

Don't know anything about the Nile buffalo, but I do know a little about the others.

Of all the buffalo, I think the forest buffaloes the most dangerous to hunt. That may not be because it's inherently more dangerous that the others, but the jungles tend to be so dense that firstly, you can't shoot until you are very close (20 yards would be a long shot in the jungle), secondly, it's difficult to get a good shot off, thirdly, once you shoot there tend to be buffalo everywhere, and fourthly, if they see you or smell you, they are coming for you, with very little warning (due to the inability to see them until they are about on top of you). Lastly, follow-up is dangerous becaus,e again, you tend not to see a wounded buffalo until you are on top of it. The same can be said of hunting forest elephant by the way.

Western Savannah buffalo can be very exciting to hunt. They obviously aren't as large as Cape Buffalo, but they can be called in by a competent PH. I was hunting in Benin once with Christophe Morio, who is an expert at this. We were in a small clump of tree, and he began to call. They came in so quickly that we began to get worried when they are about 10 yards from us and showed no signs of stopping. It's the females which tend to come first, and if they have calves with them, as they often do, things can get intense once they realize you aren't a wounded buffalo and a calf has gotten on the other side. When wounded, I think they are the equal, at least, of the Cape buffalo.

 

[BCD]

Thanks ... this is a lot of good info ... I have been looking at Western Africa as a possible safari destination and this helps

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Here is an article which I think you will enjoy: https://www.africahunting.com/threads/different-kinds-of-central-african-savanna-buffalo.953/.

 

[Spear Safaris]

Here is a excellent Western Buffalo from Burkina faso