Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Game hunting and large prey. Deer stalking, hunting with hounds. Boar, pigs etc., large prey, culling, hunting large feral animals.

Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by bigpete » 18 Nov 2017, 6:48 pm

Yep
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by bigpete » 18 Nov 2017, 7:20 pm

So its only free in a way lol.
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by bigpete » 18 Nov 2017, 7:42 pm

So its only free in a way lol.
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by hunter1941 » 04 Aug 2018, 12:04 am

Hello,
I would like to add something that may help Baz460 and Daddybang and for others who may be contemplating a buff hunt this year 2018 or in the future.
First off I would like to give some background into my hunting experience. Next birthday coming up.78. have hunted alot in Oz, Tasmania and also dabbled in NZ. ( I won't dabble into the dim past re UK, Asia and China. )
I was very fortunate to be working in the NT after cyclone Tracy in Darwin in 1974 for the next 15 years. I would spend 6 weeks in the NT and WA, I would do 2 peoples work in 3 days so I had 4 day weekends. for 6 weeks, Sept.-Oct or Oct.-Nov. . Jabiru did not exist, it was the site of the Ranger Uranium Project and there was only a dirt tract out there, eventually a gravel road , then a bitumen highway raised above the flood plains. I am basically a meat hunter and when given the opportunity do culling or pest control. I was also fortunate to make the acquaintance of DM , the chief flying instructor and also many members of the Darwin Aero Club e.g BB, NB, who had their own Cessnas and who willingly fly me around, and also the odd commercial Charter where I was fortunate to pay only a nominal fee. in those days there were only 2 Darwin Resident Safari operators, many others did it from interstate.. MD was the only one i used and trusted. I was lucky to have shot numerous times as far as Wyndham, Kunnunara, and Fitzroy Crossing, ( that was pre Argyle mine)
plenty of wild camels and donkeys. and also the Wagait Reserve, Wild Man area, Point Stuart, the Marraki Plains, West Arnhemland, the Coburg peninsula and other private properties. also in between I would do 1 week Safaris mid year. I would take anything from 3 to 6 rifles up. Double rifles I had 20 of them at the time from 7 x 65R, 450/400, 375, 450, 475, 485 , the more regulated ones were the H and H 375 and 450 and 475 Cogswell, I also had a Lang and Woodward in 375, these two were spot on, I also used the bolt action rifles, 6.5 x 55, 270 Win, 7 mm Rem, 300 Weatherby, 375 HH, 458 Win, (in those days with the powders available I could only get 1750 fps) funnily out of my two rifles in 45-70 I could get 2000 fps. also had a 505 Gibbs. the 6.5 x 55 and 7 mm and 270 Win. I would be more confident if I was up a tree./or tree platform.
I also had a custom 460 Weatherby weighed 12.5 lbs with recoil reducer and a a custom 500 Weatherby came in at 15 ibs, with recoil reducer, that was before muzzlebrakes. also have a Rigby 416, with 2 mercury reducers and a muzzlebreak. Loaded up i can get 416 Weatherby ballistics, but i load more conservative ballistics. also in the 70's was the start of the buffalo eradication programme which finished in 1997 which left many areas with zero buff. I am an experienced and fast shooter, having used all these calibres, on hundreds of buffaloes ( most during the culling time.) I usually take shoulder/Heart Lung shots. most of the shooting has been done with the 375 HH, however there have been 3 occasions even with heart shots where the buff ran for 80 yds. luckily not towards me, out in the open its OK, one buff took one 300 gn Nosler Partition in the shoulder turned around, and I gave it two more in the lungs and heart shot, and it still ran for 80 yds. another took a 416 Rem in the lungs and ran for 100 m.
but in thick country and close conditions, I prefer the 416 Rigby. the Doubles from 450 cal up and the 460 Weatherby and 500 did the job super adequately. but unnecessary. Bullet wise the Woodleighs for the lower velocities, or the Nosler partition and Barnes for higher velocities.. In the 70's herds would be a few hundred. running beside the track or flood plains.
Re wet/dry season also depending on the area, the lay of the land, and the seasonal wet, there is no rough rule of thumb. last year 2017 in the area I was shooting in June 90 % was still under water, an airboat would have been a help, that particular area didn't dry out till end of August. this season the Wet started last Dec. 2017 early and finished in end of April, wettest wet season for 35 years, so where I am going it wont be dry till Sept. 2018, if there are plenty of Billabongs and plenty of grass, the buff will be still in good condition regardless of time in the dry. Having spent this amount of time hunting in the territory, and experimented with many calibres and having shot large numbers of buff and pigs, I cam only give an opinion of what worked for me, only taking the 300 Weatherby and 416 Rigby, friend B. is taking the William Evans double nitro 470. ( which I once had the previledge of owning. beautiful best quality.)
re guides on paid buff. hunts , There are only two I know personally and can recommend.. my top person MD has passed on last year. having done some 40 plus hunts of 4 days or more, in the NT. I think that my experience has some meaningful points to pass on, only of what worked for me.
hunter1941
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by Daddybang » 04 Aug 2018, 7:38 am

hunter1941 wrote:Hello,
I would like to add something that may help Baz460 and Daddybang and for others who may be contemplating a buff hunt this year 2018 or in the future.
First off I would like to give some background into my hunting experience. Next birthday coming up.78. have hunted alot in Oz, Tasmania and also dabbled in NZ. ( I won't dabble into the dim past re UK, Asia and China. )
I was very fortunate to be working in the NT after cyclone Tracy in Darwin in 1974 for the next 15 years. I would spend 6 weeks in the NT and WA, I would do 2 peoples work in 3 days so I had 4 day weekends. for 6 weeks, Sept.-Oct or Oct.-Nov. . Jabiru did not exist, it was the site of the Ranger Uranium Project and there was only a dirt tract out there, eventually a gravel road , then a bitumen highway raised above the flood plains. I am basically a meat hunter and when given the opportunity do culling or pest control. I was also fortunate to make the acquaintance of DM , the chief flying instructor and also many members of the Darwin Aero Club e.g BB, NB, who had their own Cessnas and who willingly fly me around, and also the odd commercial Charter where I was fortunate to pay only a nominal fee. in those days there were only 2 Darwin Resident Safari operators, many others did it from interstate.. MD was the only one i used and trusted. I was lucky to have shot numerous times as far as Wyndham, Kunnunara, and Fitzroy Crossing, ( that was pre Argyle mine)
plenty of wild camels and donkeys. and also the Wagait Reserve, Wild Man area, Point Stuart, the Marraki Plains, West Arnhemland, the Coburg peninsula and other private properties. also in between I would do 1 week Safaris mid year. I would take anything from 3 to 6 rifles up. Double rifles I had 20 of them at the time from 7 x 65R, 450/400, 375, 450, 475, 485 , the more regulated ones were the H and H 375 and 450 and 475 Cogswell, I also had a Lang and Woodward in 375, these two were spot on, I also used the bolt action rifles, 6.5 x 55, 270 Win, 7 mm Rem, 300 Weatherby, 375 HH, 458 Win, (in those days with the powders available I could only get 1750 fps) funnily out of my two rifles in 45-70 I could get 2000 fps. also had a 505 Gibbs. the 6.5 x 55 and 7 mm and 270 Win. I would be more confident if I was up a tree./or tree platform.
I also had a custom 460 Weatherby weighed 12.5 lbs with recoil reducer and a a custom 500 Weatherby came in at 15 ibs, with recoil reducer, that was before muzzlebrakes. also have a Rigby 416, with 2 mercury reducers and a muzzlebreak. Loaded up i can get 416 Weatherby ballistics, but i load more conservative ballistics. also in the 70's was the start of the buffalo eradication programme which finished in 1997 which left many areas with zero buff. I am an experienced and fast shooter, having used all these calibres, on hundreds of buffaloes ( most during the culling time.) I usually take shoulder/Heart Lung shots. most of the shooting has been done with the 375 HH, however there have been 3 occasions even with heart shots where the buff ran for 80 yds. luckily not towards me, out in the open its OK, one buff took one 300 gn Nosler Partition in the shoulder turned around, and I gave it two more in the lungs and heart shot, and it still ran for 80 yds. another took a 416 Rem in the lungs and ran for 100 m.
but in thick country and close conditions, I prefer the 416 Rigby. the Doubles from 450 cal up and the 460 Weatherby and 500 did the job super adequately. but unnecessary. Bullet wise the Woodleighs for the lower velocities, or the Nosler partition and Barnes for higher velocities.. In the 70's herds would be a few hundred. running beside the track or flood plains.
Re wet/dry season also depending on the area, the lay of the land, and the seasonal wet, there is no rough rule of thumb. last year 2017 in the area I was shooting in June 90 % was still under water, an airboat would have been a help, that particular area didn't dry out till end of August. this season the Wet started last Dec. 2017 early and finished in end of April, wettest wet season for 35 years, so where I am going it wont be dry till Sept. 2018, if there are plenty of Billabongs and plenty of grass, the buff will be still in good condition regardless of time in the dry. Having spent this amount of time hunting in the territory, and experimented with many calibres and having shot large numbers of buff and pigs, I cam only give an opinion of what worked for me, only taking the 300 Weatherby and 416 Rigby, friend B. is taking the William Evans double nitro 470. ( which I once had the previledge of owning. beautiful best quality.)
re guides on paid buff. hunts , There are only two I know personally and can recommend.. my top person MD has passed on last year. having done some 40 plus hunts of 4 days or more, in the NT. I think that my experience has some meaningful points to pass on, only of what worked for me.


Gday hunter :welcome:
Thanks for taking the time to share ya experience. Lots of good info.
Brings back lots of memories of running around in the territory learning to hunt before they put the blacktop every where. :thumbsup: :drinks:
This hard living ain't as easy as it used to be!!!
Daddybang
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by hunter1941 » 22 Nov 2018, 6:10 pm

Hello Baz460,
How was your Sept. 2018 buff hunt.? hope that it was successful and enjoyable.. Due to personal commitments, I was away most of Aug and Sept. In Oct. I was in Perth assisting at the Shot Show. then we ( and 2 best mates) went up for 2 weeks to Darwin and surrounds for crabbing and fishing, and in Buff land. it was very hot and dry, but had a few short drizzles every afternoon. and still plenty of grass in the Billabongs and gully runoffs. managed to get within 85 yds before the two big bulls got up and took off, one to the right and one to the left, running around us, BH was in the front, with the old trusty 1922, double 470 Nitro, took the one on the right with the right barrel, the one on the left with the left barrel, both shoulder shots, he immediately reloaded and gave the left bull another two shots. FI following behind with my 416 Rigby , at this stage the right hand side bull stood up, FI gave him a 410 grani Woodleigh frontal shot through the chest and lungs. the left bull was the was the biggest shot on the property in 40 years, body size. 2 people were recently gored again, using totally inadequate calibres on foot. . one was a PH using a 300 Win. mag. 3 shots at the charging buff, but before it died of lead poisoning, it gored the PH in the side and he may be losing an arm. When I was in Perth for the shot show, alot of budding buff hunters intend going to the NT with a 308 Win. on foot. definitely too light. min cal. is 375 HH, however as I sad before in the previous post some need three killing vital shots , and they still ran before stopping. From a car, shooting for meat its different, a mate uses a 243 Win with FMJ and another one uses a 303 and 308 with FMC but shooting from inside the car at a young meat bull.. ones life is too precious, living on the edge is fine. using a light cal. on buff too is fine as long as you are backed up by a trust worthy mate with a 416 Rigby or larger. I only have a handfull of old mates I trust thoroughly. that I go hunting with. BH and FI are both 60. , and I am 78, so I hope to have at least another decade yet of buff hunting. BH is going to Africa , next year for a Cape Buff, but I won't go as its not worth the money and I don't mount trophies.. This is what has worked for me, and these ramblings are only a guide to the younger shooters.
hunter1941
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by bigpete » 22 Nov 2018, 6:59 pm

Oh,but hang on,didn't someone say 7mm rm is perfectly adequate.....?
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by Baz460 » 22 Nov 2018, 7:32 pm

Hunter 1941.
Mate I did go over to the Territory in September and hunted with Aaron Corbet's, Australian Outback Buffalo Safaris, and had a great time. My mate came out from the States and he shot 3 great bulls with his 500 MDM, and I shot two Buff and a massive old scrub bull with my 500 double.
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by Baz460 » 22 Nov 2018, 7:51 pm

One of my Buff.
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6DEC13D7-165D-4073-9E55-89BA0CD20B0C.jpeg
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by hunter1941 » 24 Nov 2018, 9:52 pm

Good on you Baz460,
Glad you got value for your hunt, and got some good trophies. Like your 500 Double, at least its not likely to run far, Adequate Calibre is what drops them 99.9% of the time. and not have them charge. I have used a 7mm Rem. Mag ( had three of them) and have shot buffs with this cal. but if my life depended on it , its one cal. I wouldn't use. I smoked a Cuban Cigar 3 nights ago with a best mate in memoriam of MD , my good friend , the longest full time guide in the NT. met him in the early 1970's.
MD passed away last year at the age of 77. (medical reason.) He loved Cuban cigars with a good scotch. I hunted with him a number of times , many many hunts.
I am already planning another buff hunt in 2019, with some geese shooting, and the usual barra and crabbing. This time June/July. mush cooler.
I shall be in my 79th year.
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The Big Big Bull by BH
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Re: Australia Buffalo Hunt.

Post by hunter1941 » 25 Nov 2018, 10:20 am

THIS WAS THE BIG BIG BULL.
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