Biggest/Most Expensive mistake American hunters make on African PG is shot placement. Virtually every PG species have the broadside "vital triangle" that is forward of the front leg. African PG species front leg bone structure is just a bit different than WT and the heart is farther forward in the chest than American WT. Most American hunters that have shot a lot of deer "tend" to shoot "in the crease just behind the front leg" on full broadside shots. If you do that on African PG you are likely to hit nothing but lung/liver/guts and have a long and uncertain tracking job ahead. Can be very expensive if you don't recover it.
General "rule of thumb" on African PG on full broadside is straight up the front leg, 1/3 of the way up the body. If you're a little low, you hit the lower part of the heart. Dead on, you'll center the heart. A little high, you'll take out the arteries at the top of the heart. If you're a little higher still, you'll likely "spine" it. Just don't hit behind the line of the front leg. Of course you need to adjust for quartering shots and use the same "rule of thumb" but use the "off side" front leg.
16 trips, one down this year (Apr) and two more on the books (July and Sept) and PH school in KZN in 2011.
