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Tim Herald

Single Shot Cape Buff – A Matter of Trust

Mbogo, Nyati, Black Death…whatever you want to call him, the Cape buffalo is one bad customer and should never be taken lightly. That is why it is imperative that you trust your rifle and ammunition completely, as in with your life!

Last August I made the long journey to the Chirisa safari area in Zimbabwe for a buffalo and plains game hunt. After five flights, my luggage being lost and a long bumpy ride in the Land Rover, I finally got settled into camp.

I had chosen to hunt Cape Buffalo with my Encore Pro Hunter in .375 H&H and practiced quite a bit through the summer months with 300 grain Swift A-Frame ammo. Buffalo hunting is a close range affair, and I knew that shooting a single shot, I had to make that first one really count. After checking my gun at the camp range and seeing that it was still dead on, I was completely confident and ready to hunt.

We made a couple of good stalks one morning and actually passed up some impressive young bulls, but a hard bossed completely mature bull was our objective. About 10:00 AM, we decided to go ease along a spring seep where buffalo often water as it was nearly 90 degrees, and after about a mile, we spotted a small group.

We had to get the wind right to move in close, and the cover was quite thick in the area. After a half mile swing to put the breeze in our faces, we approached the water. The buffalo were gone, so we cut their fresh spoor and began tracking.

Moving through the dense cover was nerve racking, in many places I couldn’t see more than ten yards, we knew we would catch up with the herd at any moment. About 15 minutes into the stalk, I saw some black movement in an opening up ahead and grabbed my Pro Hunter. We began glassing and made out a small group near the seep line. They had moved up the small drainage and some were watering again.

I caught the glint of sunlight on the curl of onyx black horn and could see a big bull Nyati peering straight at me through a hole in the brush only 50 paces away. He had that classic buffalo stare that can make you question your sanity for just being there, and I told myself that this was the moment of truth.

I rested my Pro Hunter on the shooting sticks and centered the crosshairs on his chest. There was a cow below him in the creek and her back covered part of my target. The big bull was still staring me down, showing no fear at all. When the cow moved out of the way, I cocked the hammer and took a deep breath. At that moment, the bull turned his head and took a step, that opened up his shoulder to me.

I let the .375 roar, it knocked the big bull off his feet. He was back up in a cloud of dust, I had already reloaded and was ready to put another round in him when he staggered and fell for good. The death bellow told me all I needed to know, and I cautiously approached my fallen prize.

When you hunt any dangerous game, most definitely those with a reputation of charging and shredding hunters on a regular basis, you have to trust your equipment with your life. I do, and my most important lifeline on hunts such as this is my big bore TC Encore PH.