Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Buffalo kills and mauls

Shortly before this discussion degraded beyond my interest and tolerance, I had planned to make a constructive comment as follows:

Somewhere I had read that no 4 legged game can walk or run if either the shoulders or pelvis are shattered. The wounded animal may be able to crawl, but not run to either charge or escape. This has been repeated in many hunting stories. So, as part of my preparation for my first Cape Buffalo hunt, a part of my practice was locating these two bony structures and pulverizing them with a 400 grain Woodleigh solid BEFORE firing my first shot at the Buff target.

As it happened in RSA, my DG PH and trackers led us to the rear of a small group of buff and to within 25 yards of the last of the group. As the PH set up the sticks, I
saw that only the pelvis would be visible after my first shot as the buff was grazing almost directly away from me towards some thick cover. My shot placed a 400 grain Woodie just behind the rearmost left rib and the buff responded with a rearward kick of the left hind foot and began to slowly walk away. My next shot shattered the pelvis
and brought my buff down with a loud crash that shook the ground.
It turned out that my first shot had gone through the heart and though lethal, was not enough to drop the critter to the ground.

My practice and visualization of the pelvis shot made it automatic and easy.