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In case you book any Convention hunts

Just in case you book any hunts at the Convention, you might wonder what to do next, and where to start. Most African and New Zealand hunts will be taken this coming summer and the North American hunts in the fall.

If you are taking an African hunt this year, you are sure to go in the next 6 or 7 months, but if you booked for next year, then you have much more time to think all these things through.

First of all, what are you going to hunt? Maybe a Cape Buffalo or any of the Big "5"? These hunts are often taken with Kudu, Gemsbok, Wart Hogs, Wildebeest, or Plains Game as they are called.

Maybe you bought a North American or New Zealand hunt. Are you hunting Deer or Antelope size species or Elk, Moose or Stags, which are much bigger.

Do you need to run right out and buy a new rifle and scope? Not likely. Let us just take a look at what you REALLY need.

Lets get the Big Stuff out of the way first. If you are fortunate enough to get to hunt Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, or Lion, you certainly need a large rifle of the legal minimum of 375 H&H in most countries, but preferably a 416 Remington or Rigby. Even the 458 Win or Lott is certainly applicable.

Speaking of the 458 Winchester, Hornady’s new Factory Heavy Magnum 500 gr. Solid ammo is said to go 2,260 fps. Whoa, that is moving.

Federal Cartridge has a fine choice of everything from Trophy Bonded Bear Claws and Nosler Partitions to Sledge Hammer Solids, in both the 458 Win and the 375 H&H.

Most folks don’t have a 458 Win or 416 Rem in their closet, for a, "just in case hunt", so you really might need to go and buy one. Which one? Ah, I’m not touching that one. There are out of the box rifles that will do just fine, on up to custom guns costing many thousands of dollars. It’s up to you and your budget. There are sure to be exhibitors at the show that will be happy to show you what they have to offer.

You do not need a "Large" rifle for Leopard. What you need for Leopard is a rifle that you can shoot very well out a blind, and hit a patch of Leopard the size of a tennis ball every time. A great many Leopards have been taken with the 270 and 30-06 class rifles.

The same thing goes for every other animal you will hunt, be it in Africa or anywhere else in the world. NOTHING BEATS FIRST SHOT BULLET PLACEMENT.

So now on to that new rifle you think you need. Unless you are going to need to acquire a 458 or 416, odds are that you have a 30-06, 7mm Mag, 300 Mag or even a 338 Mag in the gun cabinet somewhere. So pick the one you like and take it.

Be it you are hunting African Plains Game, any one of the North American Elk, Moose or Caribou calibers will work just fine. There is no reason that they will not work for the New Zealand Stags too.

It does not matter if you buy factory ammo or reload you own, choose the heavier weights of bullets available for any given caliber.

An example would be in the 30-06 or 300 Magnums, to use at least a 180 gr. or 200 gr. bullets rather than the 150 gr. loads that you have been shooting Deer with.

In the 7mm Magnums, use only 160 gr. or 175 gr. bullets, and relegate the 140 gr. or 150 gr. for Deer & Antelope.

As you can see, I am really trying to give this the K. I. S. S. treatment.

Now go out and practice, practice, and practice some more. This does not mean shoot off the bench either. Use you 22 cal for a while and get used to shooting offhand, leaning against a tree, or sitting and kneeling.

When you decide on what gun and ammo you are taking, take the time to RUN EVERY ROUND THROUGH YOUR GUN.

Don’t take it for granted that even your nice new factory ammo will function in your gun. What if you have that one odd shell?

Just recently, I had a 375 H&H that had a buggered rim and would not go under the extractor. Had I not taken time to run it through my gun, guess when it would have shown up? Oh well, I’m worth more dead than alive anyway.

If you would like some more reading, I have a couple of "booklets" that I will be glad to e-mail out if you will send me your address.

One is called the Profile of the First Time African Hunter and the next is the Profile of the Second Time African Hunter. It is amazing how smart the first timer has gotten, and how he will do it the next time around.

If you want a really in-depth article on going to Africa for the first time, I have a 33-page booklet I would be happy to e-mail to anyone.

So enjoy the process of getting ready to go, it is at least half the fun, and most of the work.

Terry’s e-mail address is tblauwkamp@superior-sales.com feel free to contact him anytime.

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Last modified: 01/05/09