Caribou Gear

Africa trip this past spring

JJHACK

New member
Joined
Jun 21, 2001
Messages
302
Location
Rural Wa. State/ Ellisras South Africa
Well guys, I have returned from Africa again this year and saw quite a few client animals shot, and even a
few of my own. I will report
a few interesting details here and you can all make of it what you wish. I am just going to report it as I
saw it.

First I shot a Nyala bull about 350 pounds or less with my 30/06 at 150 yards. The shot was quartering
away perfectly placed in front
of the hindquarter going clean through the liver, lungs, and coming to rest in the skin of the neck. This
Nyala absorbed all the "energy"
of this load. 165 grain Swift A frame. While looking at this bull lying on the ground I mentioned the lump under the skin
from the bullet in the neck.About that time
His legs kicked a bit and I prepared to shoot him again but my friend Mark who is also the land owner said not to
for fear of ruining more
meat. At that instant the Nyala was up and gone.

I know most of you have not hunted in Zulu land so the habitat will not be well understood. It is like a
jungle with very tall grass in
many places. This by our mis-fortune was one of those places! We could follow the path of the departed
Nyala by looking at the grass
that was laying down. As is typical there was no blood trail from the single .308 dia. hole. After following
the trail about 100 yards my
friend Mark says there he is in front of us. Probably 100 yards away I have only a second or two to shoot. The grass is tall and covers everything
below his neck
At the crack of of the rifle
you can clearly hear the bullet impact flesh. Mark asks me where I hit him and I comment right between
the front legs.

Mark has my Leica bino's and I only have my rifle scope to look through. The shot was quick and the body
hidden in the long grass. Marks
reply to me was he was facing away from us! I said well then I guess I hit him in the tail. In any event the
bull has run off again. When
we arrive at the spot he was standing we have no trail remaining and no sign of the bull. How depressing.
We start to discuss where
the bullets hit, if there must be some problem with the bullets or ammo? we are all stunned at this turn of
events. While standing and
contemplatinmg the loss of this bull we hear some brush rustling and see the bull standing broadside with
his head down. I shoot him
square in the chest and he rears up and turns to run again but only goes 40 yards. He turns to face us and
lowers his head. At this
point he has three bullets in him all 100% perfect lethal hits. Do the math to figure out how much of that
all important energy has been
delivered! The liver and lungs gone on the first shot, second shot the bullet penetrated full length and
stopped inside the heart after significant damage to that vital organ! The
third shot was through both lungs and exited.

I told Mark and the black helper to stay put and I would sneak around him and bust his shoulders. About
that time the Nyala drops
his head and begins to charge at Mark and the tracker and I put one more in his shoulders and he goes
down. Not dead though, he
remains alive for about another minute! Four perfect lethal hits from a 30/06 three bullets recovered all
classic mushrooms and perfect
performance. This is the most punishment I have ever seen an animal this size take in my career.

When you guys make these "energy" claims as being critical to know how well a bullet or cartridge choice
will work remember this
story. When you guys say "shot placement" is all that matters and a well placed shot is all that matters not
bullet size or cartridge
capacity think again! Bullet diameter and exit wounds make a huge difference in the function of your
hunting rifle, bullet and load choice.

Most important shoot again when you see game move after you see it go down the first time. Better to
loose a small bit of meat with
a well placed second shot then several angled shots to secure your trophy. Lastly once adrenalin and all
the other high performance
additives enter the picture you will not carry a gun that is too big to sort out the problem. Pete Millan was
along but not with me on
this hunt. He was culling impala in another area of the ranch. He saw the aftermath and heard the same
story from Mark. We also
skinned and cut up all the game we shot ourselves so he was able to see the bullet performance from all
the rifles used. He will
certainly backup the information I have written here as fact. Is African game tougher then other game? Is there more needed then
perfect shot placement? You be the judge for yourself.
I know that when all goes well a 30/06 is a great
rifle but when things go wrong
you need as much power as you can manage.

I love the 30/06 for much of my hunting but when your having trouble it is out of it's league for solving
problems. I shot lots more game
and recovered several more 375HH and 30/06 bullets on this trip. I'll cover more details as I get the time.jj
 
Thanks JJ, this was very interesting to read. Nyala is on my list in August and I am debating using my 30.06 or my bow. I am taking both. I have 180 grain Nosler Partitions for the Mauser. Will these be adequate?

I will be hunting near Mkuzi.
 
Aspen HILLS FARMS... Welcome To Moosies.... Nyala is My Dogs NAme... I have that High on my list to go Kill when I go To Africa Soon... I am waiting daily to hear more stories and SEE some pictures.... OHH BOY Ohhh BOY.. LIke a kid in a toy store :D :D

Welcome aboard A.H.F. and I'm not very observant, but did you sign "ANN"?~? If so, I would like to welcome the 20th or so Female to Moosies :D I joke around much but most can take it... If I step over the line, Just Cyber WACK me. *SMILE*

Also is Aspen Hills a game ranch or just a name, Ifit's a ranch, Tell us about it in the Big game section..

WELCOME to MOOSIES !!!!!!!
 
AHF; Thanks for the reply, I recognise your name from another site I think?

The 180 partition in a 30/06 is wonderful for all plains game with good shooting. I have used it to take all the plains game including eland. It does not have the margin for error that the 338, 375, and bigger do but it is one of my favorites and one of the two rifles I own. Although I am having a third done as I type this. The third is more of a work tool then a hunting rifle.

I hope you will visit here often I always enjoyed your posts on the other site.jj
 
Hi Moosie,

Thank you kindly for the warm welcome. I like your handle, moose is a someday hunt for me. I am kind of pre-occupied with Africa right now. I think it is a terminal illness though. :D I am female, I guess one of the few that do hunt. I cruise all the hunting websites, I find lots of quality hunting information on them. I must say, your site looks very promising.

JJ,

Yes, you have seen me on HA, and Saeed's. I like both. Mostly because of the African forums. I do cruise the bear and big game sites too. I mostly lurk and just absorb info when I can. I did find the discussion on this thread intersting. I will have a .375 H&H, but I don't think it will be ready before I leave for Africa on August first. So all I have are my bow and the .06, I am taking both to Africa. I am very fond of my Mauser, it got me two fine caribou stags last fall. It's first hunting trip. Needless to say the .375 H&H will be a Mauser action, it is being built now.

Soon I will need to learn reloading as the .375 will be too expensive to feed off the shelf. I am sure to find lots of help off the hunting forums.

JJ, I'd also like to mention to you I have looked at your website. I am a skull person. Got a few in a bucket right now (no beetles, just water). I have a friend in Durban who found a hippo skull for me. He sent me a picture of it today. What an awesome piece of artwork! Geez they got the teeth. I don't think it will fit in my suitcase for the ride home though. :(

Anyway, I will probably do several skulls from my hunt in Africa. I picture a red hartebeest to be a good skull mount. If I take an eland it will be too.

Thanks for the welcome, guys.
 
I forgot.......Moosie, my handle is my farm name. I have a few acres of my own, nothing big, with some horses and every now and then a deer comes through during deer season and into my freezer. I also could have named it Bunny Hill Farm, they are overwhelming this year.

Happy Hunting.
 
Welcome Ann,I too have seen you on some other forum and I remember some of your hunts.
Nice to see other women that are so into the hunting.
I have to say you are alot braver then I am as I think I remember that you have done some of your hunts alone? Or were the only woman on some of your hunts?
Another passionate woman hunter here--but I have always gone with my husband.Way to go Ann you make it that much easer for other women to enjoy the sport.
Good luck on all your hunts,and please put up some of your storys.
 
Just some worthless information pertaining to the Nyala. In South Africa, we catagorize, mainly the plains game species, when refering to the sex of the animal, as either a ram or bull, and female species are refered to as either an ewe or cow.

When refering to the smaller species we speak of ewes and rams, and when refering to larger species we speak of cows and bulls. Kudu, Gemsbuck or Eland would be refered to as cows and bulls, and Bushbuck, Duiker etc. would be refered to as ewes and rams. The difference between cow/ewe and bull/ram is determined by the size of the particular species, but when it comes to the Nyala, a female Nyala is refered to as an ewe, while the male Nyala is refered to as a bull. This is the only species (Nyala) were we speak of a ewe and bull when refering to the same species of African plains game. Any species smaller than the Nyala Bull fall in the category ewe/ram, and any species larger is called cow/bull.
 
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