Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Owain Lewis killed by buff.

Just copied this from another site. Really bad news. Never met Owain, but he had a tremendous reputation. I am sure some here knew or hunted with him. One of the real old hands in Zim.

Owain Lewis, long time PH with Chifuti Safaris, was killed by a wounded buffalo this morning. We have lost a great man and dear friend.
The account relayed to me was that Owain, an Appy, and the client were following up a wounded buffalo for the third day.
The buffalo charged out of nowhere, knocking the Appy into the client both went flying and both lost rifles in the melee. The buffalo then charged Owain, hooked him and tossed him, breaking his neck. The Appy and the client then shot the buffalo off of Owain, but it was too late. I was told all the PHs and trackers in the Zambezi Valley stopped hunting and travelled to the site in Cherwore North to stay with the body until it was removed to Harare a classy tribute from his colleagues for sure.

Just saw that over at AR. I didn't know the man personally, but he had a stellar reputation in the industry. Condolences go out to the family.


maddog

Prayers on the way.

WOW! Sad news. Ray Atkinson used to book for him. I met him for just a few minutes in 2000 while in Zim. He was a big man in all ways.

Condolences to his family and friends.

But this cannot be! Big Stick from here at the fire said that hunting Cape Buff was like going out and shooting a cow!

I am very sorry to hear of this. That he was still trying to chase down and finish the bull three days later speaks volumes and tells us much about the man and his character.

Yes it does!

Prayers and condolences to family and friends. God speed.

I hate hearing this. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family. I also feel for his client that wounded the Buffalo as I'm sure he will re-live the initial wounding shot and fatal charge the rest of his days.

Gentlemen, let this be a reminder that this passion of ours can turn ugly in a heartbeat. It is called dangerous game hunting for a very good reason. Take care and make those first shots count.

Mike

Sorry to hear the news.
A Klondike bar...?

Very well said. While we should always be sure of that first shot, let us not forget that any buff (or?) could be laying wait with a festering wound from a poacher or other injury. When in dangerous game country we must always be alert.

Prayers for Owain, his family, and all involved.

While this is truly tragic, It doesn't require a wounded buff to be a fatal encounter.

Several years ago, Bob Fontana, a renowned outfitter from SE British Columbia was on safari. The way I heard it, they were in the bush, not really doing anything, when a buff bull charged out and hammered Bob. The bull just kept running, but Bob was dead. Every account I heard described the incident as flukey, never heard of before.

You truly never know when you will take your last breath. Get your life right with God, love your family to death and enjoy life.

Amen. I remember reading about a client a couple of years ago that was celebrating a successful safari with his wife and PH with a dinner on top of a kopie so they could watch their last African sunset. Sadly, it was his as he went to take a leak, stepped off a ledge and fell thirty feet to his death.

Mike

Buffalo have this reputation for good reason. Don't be fooled by thinking that only the prefix of DG should cause concern. In my 18 year career in Africa I have seen many times more scary and near death experiences with The the prefix PG.

There have been point blank shots taken by me with clients landowners and especially my trackers many times. Especially with nyala bushbuck and gemsbok. But even wildebeest and hartebeest. I also had a PH in camp lose a finger being bitten by a zebra.

There are a lot if dangerous species to think about. Not only the big 5. It's a sad day to be sure when ever a classy professional losses his life. This should make every young less experienced PH take notice that this is a serious business. Equally it should remind every seasoned professional that becoming complacent and over confident or daydreaming for a moment can cost you your life.

It's impossible to be on your game 100% of the time everyday. What a horrible shame!

Oddly, I have long had the impression that if MEN such as Mr. Lewis had their say as to how to go, this would not be far from the top of the list. Beats the daylights out of laying in a bed at old age unable to move or maybe even not knowing who your loved ones are. Mr. Lewis, I will hoist one in Salute to you and the life you led.

Posted by Aaron Neilson on the AR forum:


SOME INFO FROM ZIM - I am currently in camp with Mr. Owain's clients, they arrived about 6 days ago or so. To say I know Mr. Owain well would be a gross over-statement, but over the past 6-7 days I did chat with him numerous times around the fire. He was a TRUE gentleman of the first order for sure!!!!!

Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm, Ian Gibson (My PH) ran to my room and yelled to me that he thought Owain had just been killed by the wounded buff, and we need to get there now. So, I grabbed the .600NE, my bullet belt, jacket and head-lamp, and was off like a shot.

Mr. Owain's clients were all first-time African hunters - a father and two sons. The father hunting buff, the sons - plains game. The father wounded the buff on day one, they all followed again on day 2, but on day 3 only one of the son's could continue, as the father was done for, and one of the son's got sick.

Ian and I arrived at the scene at 5:30pm, Mr. Owain lay only 8 feet from the buffalo bull. I can assure you, the wounds were severe and he did not suffer at all. As only the apprentice and young client were there, Ian wanted to get there asap. Problem was, we were now 2.5 miles from the closest road, dark was just minutes away, and I honestly have NEVER gone over and through such rough/rugged/nasty country to get to the scene. How this bull got there in the first place is beyond me?

So now, we had little choice but to build a fire, and spend the night right there. Leaving the body un-protected was not an option, and getting out of their in the dark, was gonna be impossible anyway. A cold night it was, as I gave the Apprentice my jacket, so Ian and I had just shorts and short sleeve shirts.

At 7:30am the following morning, PH's Pete Barnard & Rex Hoots, my cameraman - Renz, and a bunch of the road crew arrived. Since Renz and I had the most medical experience (I was certified EMT long ago) we fastened a pole carry, as getting a vehicle more than 100 meters off the road was impossible. Renz really took control of the scene, doing an EXCELLENT job! So, as the PH's found a better path to the road, and cut bush, Renz & I, along with various rotations of guys in the back, carried Mr. Owain's body the 2.5 kms to the closest place a road/vehicle could get.

Seeing the scene first-hand, I can assure you - Mr. Owain did his job correctly, and bravely! Owain and the Appie spotted the bull lying down just 20 yards in front of them, and started shooting! It got up, went 10 yards left into another small opening, and they shot some more. By then, they were out of ammo and the bull decided to come. The appie was bumped and rolled to the side, the client was getting out of the way, trip and fell, then ran about 15 yards away, as he was reloading his gun. It was obvious that Mr. Owain was out of ammo, as his gun was empty on the ground. But, like any good PH should do - he bravely stood his ground, tried quickly to reload, but could not in time. He kept the bull's attention, and the other's were able to get out of harm's way, he died saving their lives for sure. Finally the client, shot the bull 3 more times, and it died with Owain's arm lying underneath its head.

From what I was told, and the scene I could see - bad luck was obviously a culprit. The bush was thick, the bull did not come immediately while they were still loaded, and the volley of shots prior to, did not put him down.

A huge reminder of what a truly dangerous game we play, and the PH - what a dangerous life he leads!! As I write this, 2 other Chifuti PH's are following another wounded buff right now. And to Mr. Owain's family - my condolences, he was a very nice man.

Aaron Neilson
Global Hunting Resources
www.globalhuntingresources.com
globalhuntsaol.com
303-619-2872

Indeed a sad story and I truly feel for his comrades and family. Hopefully some lessons learned will come out of this particularly in lieu of these items:
" By then, they were out of ammo "

"It was obvious that Mr. Owain was out of ammo, as his gun was empty on the ground. But, like any good PH should do - he bravely stood his ground, tried quickly to reload"

Statements are contradictory; was he or was he not out of ammo? and if he was, well there's a lesson learned there for starters. The other issue is one of the TYPE of ammo used. Over on AR there is a post by an experienced hunter (Will) who mentions a rather {sic} heated argument he had with Mr Owain over the use of solids exclusively on buffalo (Mr Owain, like a lot of PHs in my view wrongly adhere to this option). If that was indeed the case, well there's more to be learned there. Lastly, I'd be interested in knowing the type of rifle used (I suspect a bolt). Sad, sad, day. jorge

read a story somewhere bout a guy that made his lifes passion hunting DG......critter that damn near did him in was a deer here in the states that in a fluke hit him just right and damn near severed his femoral artery.....

this situation absolutely sucks, cant imagine how bad the guy that wounded the buff feels.....

Prayers Sent.

"See the buff at 20 yards, start shooting, run out of ammo, get killed."

Marksmenship ? Rifles used ? Ammo selected ? There has to be more to the story.