BIG GAME HUNTING
There is no clear definition of Big Game, but most of us understand it to encompass all antlered and horned wildlife plus large and dangerous predators such as bears, wolves and large cats. Throw in elephants, rhinos and hippos, heck, even crocodiles. And, since Africa big game hunting is so steeped in its own history and traditions, we will treat it within its own subcategory here. In addition to hunting tactics and adventures, this section will detail some natural history of these animals.
Big Game | Small Game | Upland Birds | Waterfowl | Predators | Varmints
The new Winchester 400 Legend straight wall cartridge matches 30-30 Winchester performance but is legal in straight wall cartridge states.
Stalking cape buffalo on the naked plains of Mozambique’s Zambezi Delta leads to food for local villagers and more wildlife across the hunting block.
Being as stealthy as possible while moving through hunting grounds is essential. If you're still trying to hunt through potential bedding areas, closing in on game you spotted from afar, trying to sneak to your tree stand for a sit, or you're tracking bucks as they do in New England, every noise you make is too much.
They start from the base, rising with bumps, bruises, and little rings. At last, they turn back, bending to form a bow. With their thick bases, a pair of them sits atop a white face with dark, lengthwise stripes. Every European mountain hunter dreams of this trophy -- the horns of a chamois.
If the average American hunter heads out for a big game hunt, chances are he’s relying on the .30-06 Springfield to get some meat on the ground. Why? Well, because the ought-six has proven time and time again that it gets the job done -- reliably and repeatedly.
If his European counterpart picks his do-it-all rifle, he’ll choose the 8mm Mauser rifle every time.
Since its introduction in 1912, the venerable .375 Holland & Holland has been the benchmark for all medium-bore cartridges. Its caliber is the minimum for dangerous game hunting in many African jurisdictions, and with adequate bullets, it’s a sensible choice even for elephant hunting.
Zeroing a traditional 30-30 load at 160-yards maximizes point blank range, but a 50-yard zero might be more effective in tight cover where shots are no farther than 120 yards. Sight-in high at 100 yards for most versatility.
Tract Toric Ultra HD 2.5-15x44 FFP MOA scope earns 5 Stars. Sharp, bright, high contrast, precise, repeatable.
“Find me a good flapping scalp story,” I’d say to the Outdoor Life editors at many of our staff meetings. I meant, of course, a good bear tale where a grizzly or Alaska brown bear got the upper hand and chewed off the hunter’s scalp. During my tenure at Outdoor Life, I learned very quickly that our readers had a true love affair with bears, especially rogue grizzlies.
Baffin Island in the Northwest Territories can be downright mean to hunters. It’s cold, windy, and wet. Campfires are a luxury on Baffin. There are no trees, and the only vegetation is lichen and moss. The shoreline is a maze of ankle-twisting rocks. But the caribou hunting more than made up for the aches and pains in my body when I hunted there years ago.
Unfortunately, the recent black bear attack in northern New Jersey and the first fatal bear attack in about 150 years is an example of what happens when people panic and run scared. Perhaps this deadly attack might not have happened if the young hiker had been more knowledgeable about the dangers of encountering a wild animal.
“This was not the way it was supposed to happen. I hit the Cape buffalo squarely in the chest with a .375 Holland & Holland, a cartridge the size of a banana. Nyati was supposed to go down. He didn’t even flinch! In fact, the bull trotted off with his buddies.
Hunting with your spouse is like day-to-day living as a married couple with the added challenge of surviving unpredictable Nature as well as one another — while trying to NOT screw up each other’s hunt.