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I am scratching my head trying to figure out how you reconcile these two quotes from two separate posts on this thread...



I couldn't disagree more. In my experience, some white-tailed deer can be ridiculously easy to hunt and kill, some are middling-tough, and some are the greatest hunting challenge ever. I think the degree of difficulty comes down to a matter of the nature of individual animals. All deer do not behave the same, nor do all buffalo

But the key difference between hunting white-tailed deer and Cape buffalo is that deer do not have the established credible reputation of being man-killers when wounded, or even when just seriously pissed-off. I frankly can't imagine ever getting bored of the pursuit of either species, but the thrill of a "hiking for several hours in the hot sun" while trailing buffalo and stalking in close enough to smell them before deciding to take a shot is, to my mind, as challenging and exciting as any other hunting I've done or plan to do.

We don't all find the same kinds of hunts interesting or challenging, and that's no doubt partly due to individual differences in our makeup, and as the Frogs say, vive la difference. But I also suspect it's partly due to the nature of one's experience hunting buffalo, the nature of the bulls you're pursuing, the skill with which one's PH teaches you about the nuances of the hunt, and other factors.

Getting busted by a lion (as you experienced) or a charging black rhino (as happened on one of my buffalo stalks) does tend to stand out in one's mind, though, regardless of how interested you are or aren't in the buff!

I would be extremely reluctant to hunt any DG species but ESPECIALLY cow elephant with a single-shot rifle, even if one's PH is armed with a double or a magazine rifle.

I have met, dined, and drank with mad dog.

He has cajones made of bronze....

This, I do not doubt.

Guy

Yee Haw!

In Namibia, I had to go after a wounded Leopard in the dark once. I was not prepared to wait to take photos of a "morning" cat. I was offered a scoped .270Win, with a tracker by my side, holding a 2 AA cell battery mag light. Wouldn't say it was the highlight of my career.

KMG...I know the feeling. Went after one in the dark in Zim with my .375 and somebody else carrying the light...

Ah hell, ya can hunt anything on this planet, with a single shot rifle, longas ya got a bubba buddy to go with it.....just sayin'....



maddog

Yeah, Mike is the only one I don't jibe about his Bubba Buddy


But all kidding aside, I have heard from reliable sources that the tusk less cows, especially close to the Moz border are dangerous as hell because of the poaching.

They apparently get tracked down and turned down for having no ivory by the bad guys...makes them ouch to have folks sneaking up on them all the time....

Wow, From what I've read of leopard hunting, that escapade is almost suicidal! I understand many PHs prefer shotguns loaded with buckshot if they have to go after a wounded leopard.

So I have to ask, how did it turn out? Was the leopard already dead or did you have to snap shoot it with a .270>


BH63

Well, at least in South Africa, I have the .500N.E for backup, but you have to make use to what is given to you in another country. Regarding backing up on Leopard, the .270Win is certainly not the choice of many I can laugh about it now.
The feeling when every ounce of your body tells you to turn back, and you know that there is a job that needs to be done, is a very real feeling, and one difficult to explain.

The Leopard was stone dead when I found in a crevice of a rock.
I must admit that I cheated a little bit. I had two Jack Russels by my side. You could see on the dogs' behavior, they knew something was about to go down.

I've heard tuskless cows referred to as "b*tches of the bush". That might have been in Robertson's Perfect Shot, IIRC?

And there are usually some pretty good deals offered by the guys in Zim to go shoot two or three late in September-November.

Well, to each his own.

But I have seen a PH completely miss a bull elephant with two shots. I will stick with repeating rifles.

You can always shoot a Model 70 just once. But you can't shoot a single shot twice, at least not very quickly. Yeah I know about holding a spare round in your fingers. But have you ever dropped a round while reloading in the presence of DG? I have.