Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Buffalo kills and mauls

Post is made about a buffalo killing a man, and here comes a flurry of 'hey, check out the buff I killed!' pics.

The 'Fire never disappoints. Until it does.

RIP Mr. De Bruyn.

Bro- you might misunderstand.

Not sure if you are an old African hand or not, but in Africa, and this permeates all involved in bush life, there is a sense of fatalism, and a casual acceptance of danger and bad outcomes. Bush Africans have this “it’s bad ju ju, but won’t happen to me” attitude.

All who spend time in the bush see life and death the way nature does - a part of the cycle of life.

Of course, our hearts go out to the family and loved ones affected. The posting of photos is a reminder and a display of the raw power of the Buffalo and acknowledgement they are not domestic bovine, but truly dangerous game.

We honor the animals taken, and we honor our brothers that have fallen to the dangers of hunting them. It’s no sh\t real crawling through head high grass following a track after something that can cap your your ass in seconds. Nobody in this thread I see is dissing the fallen hunter, but rather reminding each other of the dangers and the thrill of confronting dangerous game.

It’s difficult to describe in a couple of paragraphs. Maybe some of the other African vets can help me out.

Kamo, you stated exactly what I was thinking.

THAT, I would not like to see!

I can't even imagine that Happening!

I'm no 'old African hand', but having spent time in 8 African countries so far, have probably seen as much of Africa as many here, and more than a few. I've witnessed raw animal power. I watched a rhinoceros take on a young bull elephant at a waterhole and saw him hook and ram and badly injure him. That was on the Serengeti. I've watched a pride of Tsavo lions take down and eat a still kicking zebra, starting with his stomach. I've hunted alongside San bushmen in the Kalahari in Botswana. I've seen the big five up close, in the wild. I loved taking in all of it. All of which of has nothing to do with posting buffalo hero shots after a man got killed on a buffalo hunt. I think doing so is in poor taste at the very best. A man is killed on a hunt and some respond by posting up hero shots and congratulating each other on their pics of buffalo they took in years past? Just doesn't seem at all appropriate.

I enjoy seeing pics and reading of folks hunting all manner of game, dangerous and otherwise, and learning about things. That's why I read here. Funny, but when there are posts about brown/grizzly bear maulings and killings, no one posts up, "hey, looky here at this bear I killed!', with others chiming in with comments like, "nice bear, dude!', 'I took mine with a .416!' and 'when are we heading back to the peninsula to chase another?' Why is that? Probably because doing such is uncouth and boorish in my opinion. Obviously, YMMV.

Take care.

Fair enough.

"Funny, but when there are posts about brown/grizzly bear maulings and killings, no one posts up, "hey, looky here at this bear I killed!'" dealing in absolutes now are we? Folks posted pictures just to relate they agree on the potential for buffalo (and other dangerous game, to injure or kill you) and I am sure most if not all the guys who posted pictures, including your truly, I don't think are trying to impress you or anybody else.

get off your high horse/

Doubling down, I see. Of course that's what you were doing. You're the one who posted your buffalo shots and wrote, 'up close and personal', with nary a word about the guy getting killed on his hunt. Readers are supposed to take what away from that, exactly?

It's safe to say I'm not alone in enjoying most any pics of people and game taken in Africa and anywhere else, and reading of their experiences, good, bad or indifferent. What I don't think is that folks were expecting a bunch of personal pics taken on their own safaris on a thread about a guy getting killed on a hunt.

The shots themselves of the buffalo taken were great, but IMNSHO belong in a thread celebrating the thrills and challenges of a DG hunt, not on one such as this, but as I wrote before, my opinion only and your mileage obviously varies greatly from mine.


Here's another article about the original topic. Feel free to post more of your pics.


https://za.opera.news/za/en/others/5aae4b1e8d103cd32c32379ef82b4acf

Buffalo Attacked & Killed A 50-Year-Old Benjamin De Bruyn
By Heist.money (self media writer) | 8 days ago


Buffalo Attack And Kills A 50-year-old Limpopo Man, this is definitely something that we did not expect as the ordinary members of the public. Especially in the wake of the fact that there are incidents that are happening, which implicate the president of this country who is also referred to as the buffalo but that is a story for another day.

The Police in Limpopo are investigating the strange incident that happened at Oxford Farm Steenbokpan at around 08:00 in the morning, it is clear that this old man was in no shape to the running away from a wild animal like that.

And that is why he could have lost his life even if you are quick on your feet oftentimes these animals can run faster than humans, the man was with the farm owner when the buffalo attacked.

Despite the fact that there were several shots which were fired towards the buffalo the attack from the animal was Swift and his death was instant, paramedics were contacted to come to his rescue but as soon as they came they assess the situation and discovered that there was nothing else that they could do for him.

The farm owner tried to rescue him by firing at the buffalo, this is when the buffalo turned around and started chasing him but fortunately for him he escaped by climbing onto a tree along with the photographer who was present on scene.

Benjamin De Bruyn is the 50 year old man who unfortunately lost his life due to an attack from a buffalo, attacks from animals are things that are real and they are often captured by the statistics that will tell you that a certain animal is responsible for the deaths of so many people per year we must pay Close attention to those things.

My thoughts also.

I posted pictures of three buffalo and what it took to kill two, then I posted one that got me, broke my back.

Bruce, I wasn't aware of your dugga boy hunt gone sour. Any man who's survived an attack from a cape buffalo has my respect and I'm in awe of your surviving such an ordeal. I'd love to hear more, but understand if it's something you don't care to relate in detail. Needless to say, you're one who obviously understands the potential danger involved and exactly what it means to have put your life on the line for the opportunity to take on a buff literally and in person--even if it was your buddy's buff. When I originally read your words 'it got me', I obviously didn't understand your ordeal.

As an aside, I find myself wondering where the line is drawn between PH and client as far as perceived responsibility. At what point does the PH determine that it's 'every man for himself' versus, 'it's my obligation and responsibility to protect the client and as such shall put my life on the line if things on a DG hunt go south'?

In the article I posted, which was very poorly written, admittedly, I noted that the author wrote about the hunter being 'an old man' at age 52, and not fleet of foot. Not sure what that had to do with his ultimately being gored to death, but reading that the PH/landowner and the photographer managed to escape injury by climbing a tree had me shaking my head some, I confess.

Having never hunted DG before, I don't know what protocols are in place, but I know that if I were a client on such a hunt, I'd pretty much insist that my PH/host had enough ammo with him to lay down a field of fire at least enough to deter a charging buffalo that was intent on stomping the life out of me, or taking me apart by running me through with his horns.

Thank you for the follow up, sir. May your injuries not pain you too much.

Call it tripling down. "uo close and personal" BECAUSE the buffalo had his dander up and we were able to knock him over before things got out of hand (buff #2). Up close and personal happened to a very nice outfitter (bears coincidentally)) named Bob Fontana, where a buffalo came out of nowhere and killed him outright. Rules of engagement are well discussed ahead of time between client and PH and he bases his actions on his judgment of both the situation AND the client's ability, but as is the case (such as the one here and Fontana's), things can go south fast.
Your stereotyping of ALL who post here and ALL who supposedly never do this when hunting bear is about as wrong as your logic here. so like I said, get off your high horse.

I'll try to weigh in on this. Hopefully, I understand the original article accurately.

First, to the question of what obligation a PH has to protect his client. Answer to that is the PH is the body guard of his clients. That means he will stand between his client and potential harm. That's why they are licensed professionals. This goes back to the origins of the African Professional Hunter in British East Africa, specifically Kenya. Men like Phillip Percival, Bunny Allen, Andrew Holberg, Bror von Blixen, Stan Lawrence-Brown, JA Hunter, Donald Ker , etc., established these standard which was adopted throughout. The PH takes the charge from the elephant, goes into the long grass after the wounded buffalo, and all of that.

To this current story, the specifics are a bit vague, but the dearly departed seemed to be on private land, and it is not clear to me if he was hunting or videoing. Says "he was with the farm owner". I must surmise the "farm owner" was not a licensed PH. If hunting, he was out maybe guiding him, but this is a different scenario than hiring a true PH. This is hunting on your buddy's ranch with your friend, it would appear.

In this instant, the farm owner/buddy tried to intervene, but saved his own hide when things got hairy (no criticism intended).

That was my understanding. Seems only right. Similar to a ship's captain. Ultimately, the skipper is responsible for the well-being of all passengers aboard and it is his duty to do everything in his power to get everyone back to port safely.


To me it read that the farm owner-- in a professional capacity or not isn't clear--guiding Mr. De Bruyne. Another guy, a photographer, was along as well. Both the farm owner and the photographer got up in a tree after Mr. De Bruyne was killed, and after the farm owner had 'shot at' the buffalo during the fracas.



I'm thinking you're correct, but it's not clear from the article. I can only hope someone went back to finish the offending bull, which presumably was wounded. Sad deal all around. I hope what both articles were accurate as far as the man dying very quickly.

Thanks for your reply.

BS.

Edited to add: OK, so you don't like my bear analogy? Fine. You may recall a couple years back where a PH got ravaged by an elephant. That man eventually succumbed to his horrific injuries dealt him by the elephant. His name was Philip Smythe. Funny, but I don't recall seeing a *single* poster on the number of threads about the incident where other folks posted pics of their trophy elephant. Here's some help finding one with your search.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/in-memoriam-professional-hunter-phil-smythe-passes-away.60960/

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...558119/phillip-smythe-bashed-by-elephant

http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=348781&Main=348740

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1411043/m/2931025362


Likewise, I've read over the years a few cases where elk and even deer hunters were badly wounded and a couple even killed by their quarry (most as a result of walking up to an animal they thought was dead but was not and got speared by an antler). How many follow up pics on those threads had pics of other people's deer posted? You care to take a guess? I'll wait for you to try--and fail--to spin your way out of this. Again.

A good DG PH will put his life on the line to protect a client- PERIOD!

I do appreciate that, my friend. I have daily reminders of the dust up. ...sent you an account...

Many thanks, sir. I look forward to reading it, and again, I'm sorry for your discomfort. Some of us have suffered injuries doing things we love and/or are passionate about that can last a lifetime. For me it was a series of bad decisions I made one fine day many years ago on a motorcycle, one that cost me a lung and had me clinically dead for a time. I suppose at least in your case you can rest easy some as what happened, I'm guessing, was sh*t luck and not of your own doing. I don't have that little, uh, luxury...

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