Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Back with plenty of stories and photos!

This year may have been the best single season for client selection. Of all the hunters and photo tourists I did not have a single one that was a whiner or just miserable to be around. As many of you know and read last year I had the worst folks of my 15 year career in that group of guys that was very unethical about their hunting and none could shoot even remotely good. This season made up for that by a huge margin! These folks were without question the most well prepared and confident hunters as a whole I have ever had. We did not lose a single animal and only had a few short and a couple "exciting" tracking jobs.

My 30/06 "loaner" with the 165 grain interbonds was used for 9 animals for a couple visiting lady hunters and for 4 animals of my own. I was only able to recover a single 165 grain interbond. The others were all exits, This bullet continues to impress me with it's non-magnum velocity performance on all the game that has been shot. It's expansion and penetration seems perfectly matched to sub 3000 fps cartridges.

I also recovered plenty of 270 grain Aframes from 375HH which always seem to provide the typical perfect mushroom so common with them. I much prefer the A frame for game over 750 pounds **or** when shot faster then 3000 fps. The Aframe is a tougher bullet to handle those big bone conditions, at least from my experience.

It's hard to find fault with that old, boring, pathetic slow 30/06 when it continues to get the job done. The lady hunters using it made great shots and the game was never further then expected when following them up. I'm a strong beliver in this simple lightweight 30/06 for plains game.







There was also a single X bullet recovered from a 375HH that was shot into a Black Wildebeast quartering towards us at 150-175 yards. This is the first bullet in the photo. It was under the skin on the entry side near the hind quarter. I still see enough of this with the X bullet to spook me away from them. I just don't get that 100% performance that the bonded core bullets provide me. I love them and use them in my 458 Lott 100% now. However the smaller the caliber and higher the velocity the X bullet the more wierd performance they seem to have.

At the first shot the wildebeast bucked like a horse so we knew it was hit. The second shot into that Wildebeast was a centered chest shot and exited with a bore diameter hole as well. The third was the finisher put into him at at least 350 yards. Since when do you need 3-375HH bullets for a 450-500 pound animal? A single GS custom bullet was recovered as well. The waterbuck it came from was a near loss of the trophy due to the wierd bent and deforemed bullet. It did not open and just had the tip bent over. The follow up shots exited with bore diameter holes. They have massive penetration but seem to have the same issues as X bullets were consistancy is concerned. If this happened on the only one recovered then what did the others look like that blew right through? I'll never know but seeing one like this was enough to spook me! It was involved in the only animal that required tracking and follow up by that hunter who is among the best shooters I have ever met. The loss of that animal would have been heartbreaking and expensive. It would have also been hard to sleep at night knowing "he screwed up the shot" when it was not the shot at all but rather the bullet!

I also shot a personal trophy this year at a camp I will be using next season. It's Nyala heaven and this photo should prove that! It's a remote bush camp no electricity, only tents, cook your own meals. It's a bit rough but very comfortable. plenty of other activities besides hunting in the area too.

This Nyala was just over 30" on one horn and just under on the other horn. I was not even hunting Nyala but rather scouting the property for next years hunts. However there was no way I could let this huge bugger walk! I would have been telling people what I saw with raised eyebrows in disbelief. This settles it as I have the Proof!





I'm not sure where to begin with the photo's I have of my other hunters so I'll just trickle them in as I get the time to post the text properly. There were some really great tropheis taken along with exciting events and some great friendships made on this trip.

Those of you that hunted with me this year I want you to all know that you made my job easy and it was never at anypoint like a "job" thanks for reviving my frustrating 2004 season!

Hi Jim,

Thats a splendid Nyala - congrats!

Pity I did not know you were in my neck of the woods - could have had a quiet beer or two to celebrate your trip.

Regards

Jim,

Glad you made it back ok and I'm pleased to hear the rest of your stay went well.

I am not sure if you saw that Barnes X I recovered from my last headshot Warthog but it looks pretty similar to the one in your pictures although it retained one petal.. It kind of unsettles me a bit especially considering that it was not shot from a magnum, but at rather sedate 2350ish FPS from my 9.3x62mm...

Regards,

Pete

PS when you get a chance to plough through your bag log of emails, you should have one from me with that snake bite info..
If its not there, let me know and I will resend it....

Thanks for the report and photos as usual, JJHack. Do you happen to have any pictures of the GS Custom?

Hi JJ,
Good to have you back. Of late I was wondering when you would emerge from the jungle with new stories of adventure.

OK I read that in a book some place, but glad you had a good season
How are the bookings looking for 2006?

lewis

Wow, Wow, WOW! That Nyala is spectacular. Thanks for posting.

Its sure always funny to me that if you stick a bullet where it goes and it attains basically complete penetration, then unless its wide open and the animal drops, its failure. Its kinda like the other side of the argument, if you pulled the bullet from a dead animal, how much did the bullet fail?

I"ve shot enough animals with the X in which the wound channel is not like a ballistic tip, yet the animal never goes far. Seems like there are 2 sides to an X. Either hate it or love it. My last use of the X was a 225 in 338 Win mag and a caribou at a ranged 802 yards. Sure the entry and exit were not huge, and the animal didn't drop at the shot, but you can be he didn't go far before expiring. VS same bullet that was shot into the shoulders of one(to high yet where lots of folks attempt to shoot) at about 200 yards. Took 2 rounds of the 338 and considerable damage but over the spine. Took a 44 mag round to finish. Yet had the X been placed where I coached the shooter to stick it all would have been well.

I'm still totally the opposite. I"m much more scared of loosing penetration if I accidentally do something like shoot through too much bone.

Though the bonded core bullets sure do look better and better all the time.

I do believe I'd have taken the Nyala also, good choice!!

Jeff

You can't mean 802 yards:



Conrad

802, witnessed,not a typo. But it was a really easy shot. I shot 2 times. Second shot not needed but if they are on their feet I shoot again. When you can't get closer you have to make do.

Its that long range of a shot that makes one wonder if the bullet will open up.

I always defer to those with more experience, but I 've seen failures in a number of bullets, IMHO, yet still not in any X. Including stuff I loaded for a number of safaris for clients.

Jeff

Welcome back Jim. How about them pictures you mentioned... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks alot for sharing JJ, keep the pics and stories coming! What load are you using with that 165gr Interbond if you dont mind sharing?

Without going to look in my shop I believe it's IMR4831 59 grains. I have more pictures but my travel schedule has been hard lately to spend the time needed to update my trip.

JJ, I'm keen to know more about the GS custom bullet- what calibre and type was it? What was the distance the waterbuck was shot at?
They have 3 types of bullets, namely HP , HV and FP, the HP being an earlier design and problems with expansion at lower velocities having been adressed with the newer HV design.

JJ,

Man, that just ain't fair...

Working (harder now) on the $$$$$ for that Africa trip; and on the second Africa rifle.

Thanks, as always for the pics and details, but my bank account is finding you decidely unhelpful at the moment...