Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Buffalo kills and mauls

I think I have 8 segments of "Tracks Across Africa" recorded & in 2 of them they pay tribute to 2 African PH's who paid the ultimate price when following up dangerous game that had been wounded by clients. Both of these gentlemen were experienced, well respected PH's who had been in the business for a very long time, the odds just caught up with them after the clients had made less than fatal shots on Cape Buffalo.
One PH stepped right in front of his client & emptied his rifle trying to save him, which he did but gave up his own life in the process. Hunting the big Five..... or the big Six if you include Hippo comes with a cost that everyone must accept, not every client realizes that but every single PH does.
Myself, I think every animal over there is capable of taking you out if you get carless, just like Kamo gari mentions above, even a deer can do it. On every single one of my animals on both trips my PH had me put a "finisher" in each animal just to be sure. A shot through the spine just in case.
On my last safari a few months ago I had a young PH working on his second season & after shooting my Gemsbok with a high shoulder shot & dropping it I walked up and he said, put a "finisher" between the shoulder blades, down through the spine. I did & that closed the deal. He then said that just the year before his best friend, a fellow young PH had grabbed the horns on a "dead" Gemsbok for photo's & the dead bull thrust it's head back & pierced his friends heart with one of those horns, killing him right in front of all of them.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/PXYFir9h.jpg?1[/img]
Dick

Tragic ends to what I assume were good men. Some folks out there pay a steep, steep price to help make others' dreams come true. Thanks for posting and RIP to those who were lost.

If I may -

Always alot of talk about the PH responsibilities in such matters. What about the client's?

I don't know if it's enumerated or specifically understood but just me, and for me, I don't know that I could look at my PH and say "welp, that's messed up. Go in there and root him out. I'll wait here - good luck". I made the shot - as a hunter, I finish what I started. I'd feel like I was expected to take part in the follow up and hunt until the animal is dead. Now that might mean we come up with a plan and execute it together and likely the PH is going to know where to put me where I can do the least damage to someone else due to inexperience with the situation but damn it - I'd want to at the least, be involved.

More people are killed by Horses,than Buffalo. I enjoy that Mark Sullivan shoots 'em like fhuqking Prairie Dogs,to the chagrin of blue haired bitties the World over. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!.................

I've pondered the same before and there was little thought involved before concluding that I'd be going with the PH to do anything I could to try to help finish anything I started/botched. Then again, I imagine some pros would feel that a rookie DG hunter would be nothing but a hindrance on such a risky endeavor. Still, I'd have a serious problem letting another man risk his life for a game animal on my behalf. Anyway, Teal, I hear you and feel the same.

Interesting, but I don't recall ever reading of anyone in a situation where an immediate follow-up just seemed so dangerous and fraught with levels of peril just made a follow-up exercise plainly foolhardy, and it was decided that a trophy fee would be paid but that a follow-up would be put on hold. Maybe even on a permanent hold? Whether it be chasing after a wounded brown bear in a thick alder jungle or a shot up cape buffalo in the thick jesse, one might think that a fresh guide or PH following up the next day--or better yet a team of experienced guides/PHs (I know, not necessarily even an option in a remote bush camp) following up would in some cases be the prudent thing to do. Obviously, it does happen, as in situations where night is falling and the like. No one in their right mind is happily headed out in the dark to poke around looking for a wounded leopard, right?

There's no obligation to my mind that anyone taking a client on a DG hunt is obligated to go on a suicide mission for the client/hunter. But then there are those pesky ethics and maybe even pride things that come into play. An enraged and wounded animal may be prone to smashing or ripping up any human it came across, like a villager, or the guys the next mountain over doing some fishing or hunting of their own. Then there's the suffering of the animal. Tough choices, I figure, but one does indeed wonder about the risk vs. reward aspect.

As far as MS, if what many in the know have written and say is true, that MS's MO for the making of his 'Death in The XYZ' series of videos was to intentionally wound and provoke game into charges for the benefit of exciting footage to be sold, well, to me that's pure scumbaggery. Doesn't surprise me that you think that's a comical thing, though.

Hunting, being what it is, can be dangerous anywhere. A guy I booked an African hunt through shot his PH's arm to pieces from behind with a .458WM while following up on an already shot up buffalo. Hell, duck hunters die all the time. Naturally, not at the hands (er, wings) of the duck, but some folks just had to learn the hard way (my hand's up)...

So, Teal, you have any trophy buff pics to share?

By the way, luv2safari, Jayzus, man. What an ordeal. You're one of very few who understand exactly what it feels like to be the object of a dangerous animal's rage, and actually somehow survived it. Thank you very much for sharing that, and I really wish you the very best in dealing with your lingering health issues and pain. For the record, it seems you're well entitled to posting your buff pics on this thread. Maybe the only one!

Best regards, sir.

No sir - no buff pics.

I have a weird relationship with Africa. I like the lore, love the rifles and will spend time watching the hunts on youtube but I have no desire to actually go.

No desire to really shoot anything over there - my bloodlust for any critter has waned a lot lately. I'm not big on guided hunts and the like because just sluicing some thing and hanging a head - meh, just doesn't make my socks move. I'm big on any deer I shoot off our property or out of our UP deer camp and I always felt pride in ducks and geese I shot on the bay but to say, go to Kansas and shoot a large white tail - just not all that important to me. Non-trophy hunter, I'm comfortable with my penis size, don't need to BS people about "Got 3 150 class and a 170 class buck" WGAF that matters? So no - I've never shot a trophy anything. I'm ok with it. Oddly enough - it's usually other people that take issue. I have done "semi-guided" bear hunts in Canada as a youth which were a blast but BTDT so unlikely to repeat.

The closest I come to a real desire but not enough to spend the money would be an Alaskan hunt of some sort - mostly just to experience the country/landscape.


I'm happy doing what I do now - deer hunt the UP, hope to find a duck hunting opportunity here and there and do some grouse hunting now and continue to support various conservation groups. My son is 22 - grandchildren are likely in the next couple years, I just want to spend time outside with all involved, bloody hands don't matter to me - want others successful.

I've said it often - I don't care if I never shoot another deer in my life but I better be able to go deer hunting every year.

there may another reason why some of these buffalo hunters get hurt or killed ? some of these wealthier hunters sometimes just might not have as much experience at hunting as many of us do, its just a thought ? i have seen this even when deer hunting ,my son when he was in college he was almost a GOD for what he knew hunting and fishing world ,if they wounded an animal he had to go find it,showed them how to gut ,skin , process animals and fish, even cook wild game and fish for them. seems many families don`t know much of the old ways,many of these college kids had never shot an animal even or knew how to use a gun. i being a FFL dealer had to show a guy how to use a 375 H&H i sold him because his boss was taking him to Africa to hunt and he never had been ever hunting any place. many of us on this forum may never go to Africa we are just blue collar family people but we do know how to hunt with a gun.

You made a great point, pete.

I have always been a blue collar paper pusher and small farm farmer, and I was raised hunting...shot quail on the wing starting at 7. I was determined to hunt Africa all my life and just went and did it on a brand new credit card back in 2000. Like almost everyone who had gone there, I was planning my next safari as I got on the plane home.

Through guile and some good friends I made in Africa and at shows, I booked a few hunts for PHs and got back that way. I saw exactly what you surmised. Thanks to excellent PHs these new hunters had life changing experiences and remained safe.

Pete, the PH I did my first buffalo hunt with made an excellent point during the hunt. A LOT of buffalo clients are older because they can't afford to go until then. They may have hunted some, but rarely with a rifle that kicks as much as even a minimum buffalo chambering, such as the .375 H&H--and due to hearing so many tales of "unkillable" buffalo they may bring a rifle that kicks a LOT harder. So they don't practice much before they head over.

They're often in not great hiking shape, and all the time they're tracking buffalo over hill and dale, they're thinking about the stories they've heard. As my PH said, "By the time they actually get a shot, they're equally scared of the buffalo and their rifle! It's no wonder quite a few botch the shot."

another well traveled friend said this about these hunts some guys get too excited so yes the animal gets killed even if the guide shoots it for them.

Had another sad conversation recently with my brother who thinks he wants to hunt buff with me.

Told him he's not willing to get in shape so he can actually enjoy the hunt rather than have the hunt exhaust him.

Told him as well that until he pulls himself away from the bench and put's in realistic practice of more than 10 rounds a year then he's just too damn dangerous to be around taking pokes at buff.

For my one and only buffalo hunt ( at age 48) I started months ahead walking up to 7 miles at a whack, and shot over 600 rounds-ALL offhand-through my .375 H&H. It paid off in spades during 14 days of buffalo hunting and a long awaited opportunity in the last 20 minutes of light on day 14.

Oh, and during a few close encounters with buffalo, I never felt scared of them. Like snakes, I respect them, but fear...no.

Horrible incident, condolences to all involved.

My one only buffalo hunt preparation was very similar to ingwe's. Lots of hiking, lots of shooting with my 375 and 404. Somewhere around the 500-600 round count mark. Off hand and sticks practice only, once initial load development and sight in was done. 15-200 yards shooting distances.

Went in not expecting the PH to have to shoot, or finish any mess I may have created alone.

It only took me nine days of hunting though. Got into a couple of pucker situations, but was never scared. A couple more instances where discretion won out and we backed away. Always focused on the moment/task at hand. Wife standing behind just me added to the heightened situational awareness.

PH was there to protect us, I can guarandamntee you that I was going to protect my wife, or die trying.

The actual hunt and shooting the buffalo was pretty pedestrian. I am OK with that. Back to camp by eleven, buffalo in the salt. Celebratories ensued and hunting was scratched for the day. Will never forget that hunt, or day for that matter. I want to go back, fully realizing the seriousness of buffalo hunting.

Buffalo are just a wild cow- until you wound one and have to wade into the thick stuff to sort him out…….

This is actually 100% true.

It is not 100% true. First of all deaths in rural Africa are not always recorded, so there is no accurate data on deaths and causes.

Second, there are far more horses in the world than Buffalo. Human interaction with horses occurs millions times more daily than with Buffalo. Horse deaths tend to be purely accidental.

I have no reservations walking up to a horse. Cape buffalo, not so much.

Not going to touch the Sullivan thing. Pages and pages on multiple forums about this subject.

The decedent appears to have been the client Hunter. Looking him up on Facebook he was a black African and a doctor. Sad situation and condolences to his family.

Me too.

Ya really gotta watch those wounded horses, they’re really known to backtrack, stomp ya into the ground and hook ya with their horns!!! It happens daily you ignorant fuuck!!! Haha