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Joined: Feb 2005
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I agree with the practice suggestions. Did a ton of shooting both with my hunting rifle as well as with my bolt action .22 from all types of positions. Prone, sitting, sticks, improvised rest, off-hand. It all helps give confidence

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+1 for the 308! My PH’s over there have all told me they despise rifles with loud brakes on them and a 308 with a good bullet will do anything short of dangerous game with ease. I’ve also asked them their preferred calibers for clients to show up with and the 308 is the overwhelming answer.

FWIW on long/difficult shots I’ve often had my PH lean on me as I’m on the sticks. It settles my body’s movements quite a bit and I believe helped me on a few longer shots. But as MD showed a second set of sticks under the armpit would surely aid that greatly.

GOOD LUCK!!!

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Originally Posted by McCray
Take the 308 and leave the 30 Nos and it's muzzle brake at home.

You have plenty of time to practice, the magnum won't kill anything any "deader" and the brake is just plain inconsiderate to the PH and trackers.


+1

If you need the recoil reduction get a suppressor. If that won't work for you; bring ear plugs for everybody, trackers, drivers and guides. You want them looking trough their binos not plugging their ears.



Last edited by 19Scott63; 07/19/20.
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When I’ve hunted in Namibia the last 3 times, I’ve used my PH’s camp rifles, a suppressed .308 and a Mauser 8 X 68 mm for larger game like Eland or Waterbuck. The suppressed .308 greatly reduces recoil, so much that I can easily see the bullet impact the Springbok or Warthog I’ve shot. It’s loud, but manageable.


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I went to Namibia in 2007 and relied on Ingwe and John Barseness (both here) for info and references. I had a very good hunt and I don’t believe I took a shot without the sticks. it’s largely thorny brush country that you can’t or even want to use for a rest. Real trees are rare, or were where I hunted that was the case.

I practiced with .22 here at home to get used to where to put my hands and practice on consistency and control; this helped tremendously. I used a 375 there (not that it was needed but because I wanted too) and by the time I went, using the sticks came naturally. Shots came from about fifty to 200 yards.

I don’t think without practice with the sticks over about four months before the hunt I would have done nearly as well.

I really agree about not using the 30 Nosler when you have a 308. I cant see where you’d ever need it and what it offers in that kind of country. Forget muzzle breaks. We were often sneaking around and amid herds in the brush sometimes within 30-40 yards.

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When I was preparing to go in 2008 I at first bought a bipod and realized that I needed something more stable. Since then I have used a few different brands of tripods. The last couple times I was in Africa I used the Bog Pod (HD3 I think). The last time I was in Africa (2016) the outfitter had bought one to lend to people that had less sturdy tripods, or had mono or bipods.


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it dosent help in africa only,it also help on a normal hunting day


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Funny thing ,,MY wife and I both use a break and have never had a word said about them in Namibia....Just compliments on our shooting....After all you are paying for it..They always plug their ears anyway...A-Frame works great..3 trips so far..

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Your the paying customer. The PH usually won’t say a thing but don’t think for a minute they don’t hate muzzle breaks. And it’s hard to plug your ears and look through binos to see where you hit an animal.......

Last edited by jdollar; 11/06/20.
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I brought trigger sticks with me to the Eastern Cape and I'm glad I did. I was not a big fan of the PH's shooting sticks. The benefit of the trigger sticks is the ability to collapse them to shorten the height as needed. I used them from a seated position to make a pretty decent shot at distance. I left the trigger sticks with the PH, but I'll bring another set when I return in April...hopefully.


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Sticks are but one arrow in your quiver, I brought my own, a nice set of Hickory sticks from African Sporting Creations, practice and perfect all shooting positions.

Wife and i just got in from Tanzania, I took 7 animals as follows:

Gold medal Waterbuck, 218 yards off sticks, 400 H&H, 400gr A Frames, 1 shot.

Warthog, 161 yards off sticks, 400 H&H, 400gr A Frames, 1 shot.

Rowland Ward Hippo, on dry land, face in grass, 7 yards offhand, 577 Nitro, 750gr TSX, 1 shot, PH advised another, 750gr Barnes solid.

Leopard, 70 yards, seated, right elbow buried in grass wall of blind, 400 H&H, 400gr homemade hollow point A Frame, 1 shot.

Zebra, 277 yards, prone, elbows in dirt, 400 H&H, 400gr A Frame, 1 shot.

Cape Buffalo, 16 yards, offhand through the waving river reeds, 577 Nitro, 750gr TSX, 1 shot, PH advised another, 750gr Barnes solid.

Hartebeest, broadside bedded, 228 yards, prone, elbows in dirt, 400 H&H, 400gr A Frame, 1 shot.

With the time, trouble and money spent for Safari, we need to do all we can to place accurate shots from ANY scenario that should arise, we own it to the animals, PH and Trackers, and to ourselves. smile

Have a GREAT trip.


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Wow. Sounds like a great trip!. Hope to see some pics.


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Originally Posted by NDHuntr
Wow. Sounds like a great trip!. Hope to see some pics.


Thanks NDHuntr, it was a hell of a trip, alas, I have bothered the hell out of folk on this site posting pics for me, i'll learn someday, I hope.


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FWIW-

I have made several hunts to Africa, to Namibia and S. Africa. Used the PH's sticks on all hunts. Rifles used were a .375 Ruger, a .30-06, a .300 Wby, and a 7x57.
I practice shooting with Primos Trigger Stix tripods, usually at gongs out to 300 yards, but I do not run hundreds of rounds thru my hunting rifles. Most of my practice is with my M4 .223, and relatively cheap .223 ammo. This kind of practice, for me anyway, eliminates any chance of developing a flinch from, say, a hundred or more rounds thru my .375 Ruger.
Then, before departing on the hunt, I will go to the range, fire one fouler round thru a clean barrel, go to the bench and confirm my rifle's zero, and I am ready for the hunt.


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Before my (so far) only hunt in South Africa I shot at least a brick of .22 off hand through a Kimber Classic 22. I shot from 20 to about 50 yards at a 4" by 7" tin can hanging from a tree limb at about deer vitals height. That made hits and misses easy to see, though when the can got too perforated sometimes I knew I hit it, but it the can didn't move. Time for a new can.

I wasn't able to bring my own rifle due to traveling to other countries both before and after the hunt, so used the outfitter's 30-06 and 375 Mauser's. I shot them both well from their 100 meter bench. On my first shot at an Impala I asked my young PH what the yardage was and he replied 100 yards. Off sticks from a sitting position I held halfway up the buck's chest and took the shot. The bullet hit the ground underneath him. After that I trusted my own range estimations. I only hunted five of the seven days we were in camp, but had a great time and took a nice Impala, a really nice Kudu, and a Zebra all with the 06.


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The PH I’ve hunted with in Namibia is an awesome PH who is really good at sizing up trophies and is very conservative in his assessment of trophy size. If he says it’s a 40” Gemsbok, it’s probably 42”+. His only minor weakness is range estimation. The first Gemsbok Bull I shot was a 40” who appeared the first morning of my hunt. When I asked him the range he said “160 yards.” Well, I play a lot of golf, and if I hit a good drive, it flies 200-210 yards. I knew this Gemsbok was beyond my best drive range. Luckily I had my Bushnell Range Finder, and it was 224 yards. I had a Leupold Vari-X II in 3.5X10X40 with a custom elevation knob. I cranked it to 225 and dropped the Bull with a single shot. I’ve kidded him in each of my 5 hunts about his range estimation skills. He finally broke down and bought his own Laser Range Finder.


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Thanks everyone. We are practicing. A new .22 bolt rifle should arrive before March for more practice. I’m looking hard at that .308 Winchester again, I don’t know if I’ll have enough time to deal with a new rifle. My 30 Nosler with the brake still seems to have less recoil than the 308, even though the 308 is heavier. I shot a pig with the braked 30 Nosler earlier this season without earplugs and my ears were ringing for some time afterwords. I won’t do that again...

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