How tough are Buffalo?

JJHACK

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Jun 21, 2001
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Rural Wa. State/ Ellisras South Africa
I have been away hunting locally for a few weeks. This morning I was catching up on some of the posts here and thought I would post about a Buffalo hunt I had in June.

My hunter was using my 375HH and my 300 grain Swift Aframe bullets. They are going 2600 plus fps. The buffalo was about 100 yards away. The shot was slightly down a hill.

At the shot a cloud of dust exploded of the hide and the bull ran as if un-hit down the little rise until out of site. The stressfull job of following this bruiser followed with a lot of tension as we walked with very little blood for most of the distance. In a couple locations in the bush I could see blood on both sides of the trail leading me to believe that the bullet exited.

We spooked a couple buffalo as we moved quietly throuugh the bush but they departed quickly and caused a bit of stress for us both as they exploded in the bush right in front of us. This is not something I ever look forward to. The drops of blood were getting thin and distant. Then we saw a lot of blood probably from where the bull stood for a little bit.

A short distance further the bull lay dead. I looked back up the hill and could see where we started from. I lazer ranged it at just over 200 yards. This bull would have travelled much further then that with his wandering around the bush for several minutes. I would guess he was alive as much as 3-4 minutes after this shot.

The hunter was surprised that the bull would go that far from what He thought was a great shot. I told him buffalo are very stubborn to die at times. The bullet was perfectly placed and it did exit without hitting a single bone. This is my main reason for wanting broken bones on Bigger animals. They tend to travel far less distance with a leg bone and heart/lung hit. They also charge far slower with one bad leg!

Tell me what you think about the toughness of a buffalo with this shot. A centered heart shot is certainly not a crumpling stopping shot!

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I can see why you like a bone breaking shot. I now think those are great, even if its not a buffaloe too. 3-4 minutes with a 375 hole in his heart is amazing.

I guess some blood kept pumping through there, while some leaked out. Then, finally enough leaked out for him to stop. Is that it?

How long does it usually take for one to die? Any other info. there?
 
On avearage they take 2-3 hits from any gun used. I would say they fall within a minute on average, maybe just a little less with broken leg bones. If they are not found within a couple minutes or 75 yards your view of recreational sport hunting changes real quick
 
I know a young man who got trained as an African PH. He had a real calm face when he told me about it. He said Africa hunting is a lot like hunting in Texas, except there, the animals hunt you too.

He was dead serious and calm. It was a good line that I won't forget.
 
That is unbelievable that he could run that far with a huge hole in his heart..
But I guess there is the adreniline theory.
That is a great looking buff!
a*r
 
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