Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa The Poormans Africa Cartridge

AU7MMO,

You handle that nifty little rifle very well in the video that you posted. No flinch and nice positive/fast bolt cycle.

I am crazy about full stocked, rifles.

When I first read your post I had Cape buffalo on my mind ( that's all I hunt in Africa these days ) and so buff is what I reffered to.
The 9.3 will be superb for any Plains Game in Africa, especially the big ones. DRT most of the time!

I will add that I like Cutting Edge Bullets and Swift A-frame bullets.

Happy hunting,
Brian

One of my brother's took his son and daughter in law to Africa on a photo safari. Not counting air fare to Africa it cost him $64,000 for three weeks. Poorman and Arica cartridge should not be in the same sentence! If you can afford to go to Africa hunting, cost of a rifle and ammo means nothing!

If your brother spent $64K on a photo safari then he is a friggin' idiot. You can do a 10 day plains game hunt including trophy fees and airfare for less than $15K and if you shop around you can probably find a hunt for less than $10K. It is cheaper to hunt Africa than it is to do a multiple animal hunt in Canada or Alaska.

and you can get a cow buffalo hunt for about 4000.00 if you check around

What can one expect to pay for a Cape buffalo bull?

Hunted a cz 550 fs 9.3x62 many years ago. It was scoped with a 1-4 30mm euro diamond in medium warne QR rings. The drop in the stock was awful, even with a scope in medium rings. I cant imagine you'd be doing anything but resting your cheekbone atop the comb, just to see through that foolish scope in high rings.

Something like a leupold 2.5x ultralight with the small ocular, you'll clear the bolt handle and get the scope lower.

Is JJHack still doing Africa hunts?

Some years back he offered a pretty good package deal.

Check posts by M3Tacoma he has lots of trips.

L also have had excellent experiences with Kowas in Namibia as well as Byseewah in Namibia and Hotfire in SA

It depends on your goals and the destination country.

In the wilder places Africa, such as the Caprivi of Namibia or the Save´ conservancy of Zimbabwe the trophy fee for a buffalo bull runs $5000 - $7000. Day rates for dangerous game hunts in wilderness areas are about $1000 -$1200, so a week of hunting including the trophy fee would run about $15,000. Airfare and extras like taxidermy not included. $25,000 is a reasonable rough estimate for the total cost.

It's easy to spend much more than $20,000 on a buffalo hunt. Tanzania is wonderful but very expensive. Same with Botswana. I can't afford to hunt there. I've done two buffalo bull hunts, one in the Caprivi and one in the Save´ and both for considerably less than $20,000. By choosing not to take a trophy home, and hunting management class bulls with less impressive headgear. I can look at photos instead of mounts. The hunting experience is the same, and the cost is relatively affordable. I can't hunt guided moose in my own country for the cost of a management bull buffalo hunt.

If you want a somewhat tamer experience, there are plenty of buffalo on fenced farms in south Africa, and some of those hunts seem to me reasonably fair chase, even though it's fairly rare to have a self-sustaining buffalo herd on a South African game farm. Prices in South Africa are usually less than wilder areas, so it is quite possible to take home a nice trophy to hang on your wall for less than $20,000.

I am one of those guys who can't afford to hunt cape buffalo at "shelf" prices and I love hunting cape buffalo, so I have had to find buffalo that fits my budget. I have done that and so can you if you work on it.

Here are some of my experience and unconventional opinions that I hope are helpful. I have killed 13 buffalo. 3 bulls and 10 cows.

I hunted my third and last Cape buffalo bull about 9 years ago on a 5,000 hector property in the beautiful Waterberg Mts. of Limpopo Province, South Africa.
I was 69 at the time. I paid $10,000 plus the day rate for a one week hunt.

We walked about 13 KM. that day, stalking and bumping a small herd of bulls and cows. I never saw a fence during that time. The bushveld was varied and beautiful. The two PH's and trackers were first class. when I finally held my 375HH on the sticks at a handsome bull 40 yds away I waited for a big old cow to move out of the way. The bull was facing me and I hit him perfectly, low in the centre of his chest with a quality bullet and he bucked and ran for about 40 yds. before he went down. The bullet went though the top of his heart. It was an exciting and suspenseful DG hunt, and I was learning some useful info about buffalo hunting.

It was the last bull I ever hunted. I knew then that I either had to find more money or cheaper buffalo hunts because I was really hooked on the experience. ( pun intended ) and that I would want to hunt buffalo the rest of my active life.

My eight unconventional, and sometimes unpopular opinions.

1. That old barren buffalo cow, (You know the one, she stands there in the way when you are trying to shoot a bull, chuckle.) makes great hunting. She is fast, tricky and smart. Seasoned dangerous game PH's will tell you they have had more trouble with the cows than the bulls. Old cows are considered a good/ethical animal to take out of a herd. ( When a cull is required for herd management, old cow are usually the first to go.)

2. You can hunt cows for a fraction of the cost of bulls. ( I am booked for 6 buffalo cows in 2025 on a vast and beautiful property. I can't tell how little I'm paying I am sworn to secrecy.)

3. I am not really a card carrying Trophy Hunter. I just look for the oldest cow in the herd. I have two Cape buffalo bull head mounts on the walls and I feel that I should have used the taxidermy money on cow hunting instead.

4. There is always an outfitter/PH somewhere in South Africa that is happy to do business with me on cows at a price that can afford. I am not afraid to tell them that I am good for a one shot DRT kill with my big bore out to 60 yds. ( Less trouble for them.)

5. There are lots of vast and beautiful properties to hunt buffalo on in RSA. You just have to ask the right questions when you are shopping for a buffalo hunt.

6. Farm hunts for buffalo in RSA are not necessarily tamer or for sissies. Savvy PH's will tell you that generally South African farm buffalo are more challenging to sneak up on than a wild, free ranging buffalo that has seldom seen a human.

7. I also realized that the good old 375HH and cape buffalo are a risky mix, and that it works well when everything goes well, but eventually I would have a long and time consuming follow up on a wounded buff and I might get a close range, fast and furious charge out of it as well. Since then I have always used a low dollar single shot break open .577 NE or a .500. with high dollar bullets. All one shot DRT kills. The 375 has a great and glorious history for Africa hunting, partly because it was always affordable and easy to shoot, but my unconventional opinion is that it that Cape buffalo hunting rifles start at .416 calliber.

8. Never use cheap bullets on cape buffalo! Never.


My apologies for the long post. Sometimes I kinda have a runaway when I talk cape buffalo hunting!

Brian

^^^^^^ agree with Brian except the 375 H&H is just fine.

And if the 375 is fine a great many with more experience than anyone here lump in the 9.3x62 with that assessment.

I agree with Brian9 - "Never use cheap bullets on cape buffalo! Never."
And disagree with Brian9 - a 9.3x62 properly loaded with good bullets IS adequate for hunting Cape Buffalo. At least I would feel comfortable using mine. I'd certainly prefer four shots of 9.3mm available rather than hunt with a bigger .50 caliber single shot.
But personal choice and opinions are more interesting to discuss since none of them are absolute.

Yes, Most people disagree with my views on the 375. That's OK. That's why we have horse races, differences of opinions. chuckle.

Remember that cape buffalo often run at least 30 yds after taking a good hit with a good bullet from a 375. That's is not a good thing to start in motion by pulling the trigger on a buffalo at close range.

This just my cautionary note that may save some one from getting charged by a cape buffalo. Thousands of cape buffalo have been killed with 9.3 x62. It was traditionally the farmers "go to" gun in Africa for all game. The 375hh is reportedly the most popular rifle for cape buffalo. (Remember, "The 30-30 has killed thousands of deer...")

However there is a reason these two cartridges are rated as "minimum" for cape buffalo. I have seen, many times, first hand, on the bushveld, how the 375 works on Cape buffalo. When it is a matter of safety, I choose maximum not minimum. chuckle.

I own a 375 hh and a 375 Ruger. and I love to shoot them. I just don't trust them anymore for cape buffalo.

Please consider using something like a 416 Remington, at least. "Mo' power, arr, arr, arr !"

Happy hunting,
Brian

People who have hunted a lot of buffalo often feel differently about the 375 than people who have not.
Here is a video for your viewing pleasure. enjoy.

/Users/user1/Desktop/Think Twice Before Hunting the Cape Buffalo - YouTube.webloc

I think it was Peter Capstick who wrote of taking spinal shots on buffalo when possible by aiming in line with the foreleg about 1/3 of the way down from the back line. In this regard he also wrote of using solids.

Outfitter I was with this past spring stated people easily pay 2-3x the going rate for a phot safari when it would be cheaper to just book a hunt and bring their camera instead.

Spending 60k+ is the old saying "A fool and his money are soon parted".

Keep in mind when Capstick was hunting Africa they didn't have the bullets we have now. The quality of bullets today is a lot better than back then.

Brian
I still have more to learn having only gotten 17 with the 375 H&H.

You mentioned wanting something that drops them so they don’t or can’t run 30 yards. That is pretty difficult to accomplish 100% of the time.

You also mentioned that you use a break open single shot. Personally I prefer a bolt magazine rifle.
Best to you,
R

Thinking that would make a dandy rifle for here. I have a friend who hunts deer with a 375 H&H and it really doesn’t beat them up at all. In fact less meat damage than a 270. That would make a good medium range do it all rifle.