Cape buffalo cow

Greener Jim

Well-Known Member
Are cows just as dangerous/challenging to hunt as the bulls? I appreciate that the method of hunting them is largely the same with the exception of stalking in to a herd rather than a solitary animal but are they as aggressive to intruders?
From what I hear, the chance of being charged by a bull is much overrated by various authors but is it just as likely with a cow as it is a bull?
 
Yes, Buffalo cows are just as challenging (sometimes even more than bulls) to hunt. Yes, Bulls do get overrated a bit by whom it gets hunted by...:D and it depend of the hunt day, I have killed bulls very easy and cow very difficult and visa versa...but it is the cow's that comes and seek you especially if there is young in the herd...they are very unpredictable...they even can absorb more shot than bulls, just as tuff...

Hunting a Buffalo cow in a package or as an add on will always be a pleasure to hunt.
 
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That's good to know. Blue wildebeest may be the poor mans buffalo with a buffalo cow being the middle management buffalo but I just wanted to make sure that if I was paying 3x the price for a cow that I was getting closer to the experience of hunting a bull, something that may never happen.
 
Buffalo cows, like most bovine females are very protective of their young, especially against any form of predator. Buffalo cows spend a lot of time guarding against lions etc, whilst big bulls in small groups don't have to worry about much. Buffalo cows will be difficult and will charge even if unwounded. I have been chased by buffalo - and I was in a land rover, I was a few hundred yards away, they did n't like me so chased after me and I had to drive pretty fast to get away.
 
That's good news Patrick thanks. Much more affordable for a normal military man such as I.

Heym, even better news. I want to build my double as a DG gun, for that I need justification and buff does that nicely. However I won't be able to afford a bull so didn't want to go to all eh expense and hassle of getting my double done and then be disappointed in the hunt.
The rifle is a long way off but no point in designing it to take a 500, 577, or 600 if the hunt doesn't live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong I'm not wanting a life or death charge or anything of the sort, but what's the point in dangerous game if it's no different to deer. Knowing that cows are just as dangerous as bulls reassures me.
 
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i have hunted buffalo cow with Patrick. not easy and took a number of good shots before it went down.

will go back for a bull one day:D
 
Nice animal. What sort of range and what did you use (looks like a Blaser so 375?)?

it was a 375 and the range was about 80 yards from memory. but after the first shot went in we were up and moving towards and around the animal to get some more lead in.
 
That's good news Patrick thanks. Much more affordable for a normal military man such as I.

Heym, even better news. I want to build my double as a DG gun, for that I need justification and buff does that nicely. However I won't be able to afford a bull so didn't want to go to all eh expense and hassle of getting my double done and then be disappointed in the hunt.
The rifle is a long way off but no point in designing it to take a 500, 577, or 600 if the hunt doesn't live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong I'm not wanting a life or death charge or anything of the sort, but what's the point in dangerous game if it's no different to deer. Knowing that cows are just as dangerous as bulls reassures me.

Build it for one of the 400's - nice and easy shooting and more than enough thump. 375 H&H or Flanged also very good. 470 Nitro a good stopper, but anything more probably too heavy, too much recoil etc. A 9.3x74r is widely used, I believe and like the 9.3x62 is marginal on Buffalo, but on the correct side of the margin. Most countries have a min of 375 H&H, but make an exeption for the 9.3s, since they work so well.
 
505 Gibbs (but .510" not .505"-bullet choice) has always been a favourite since I read "The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber". I read that story several times a year and hearing Wilson's rifle described as his "short, ugly, shockingly big-bored .505 Gibbs" catches me every time. For that reason it's always going to feature high on my list.
577 and 600 appeals but rifle weight, bullet availability and brass cost prevents them from making the cut.
 
That's good news Patrick thanks. Much more affordable for a normal military man such as I.

Heym, even better news. I want to build my double as a DG gun, for that I need justification and buff does that nicely. However I won't be able to afford a bull so didn't want to go to all eh expense and hassle of getting my double done and then be disappointed in the hunt.
The rifle is a long way off but no point in designing it to take a 500, 577, or 600 if the hunt doesn't live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong I'm not wanting a life or death charge or anything of the sort, but what's the point in dangerous game if it's no different to deer. Knowing that cows are just as dangerous as bulls reassures me.

Any double worth it's salt is going to cost between five and ten thousand pounds in 375/400 cal.
A 500/577/600 you can double that, ( no pun intended ) why not just buy a s/h brno in 416 or 404 instead and spend the rest of the money hunting?
 
I completely agree. If I was buying then a factory bolt gun would be the most cost effective choice. However I'm not buying, i'm building. If the build wasn't to go ahead then I would likely just buy a rifle as suggested but, even if very long term, I thoroughly intend on building my double myself.
 
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I beg to disagree.

Yes, cows are cranky and can charge... But they are herd animals. You find them in heaps, with so many tracks leading to them that you could almost follow them with a white cane. You do have to hide yourself to approach, because they are always peeping and minding someone else's business, but that's about it.

If you want to hunt buffalo, as opposed to shoot buffalo, then the only thing that will do is the dagga boy, the old male that stays on his own or with a few like-minded grumpy gentlemen.

Here you'll have to track, sometimes for hours, and read the ground and the weather and the time and the moon, here you'll have to know the area, and the grass, and the water, and the quirks of the local buffs. Here you'll have to outwit an old bugger who is still alive because he's been through countless fights, with other buffs, with lions, with poachers. He's smart, not really worried but very quick to react if he picks your wind, and he's spent years peddling his testosterone to whoever came in the way, guarding his herd, cows and calves, when it was his time to be the boss.

An old bull has character. He'll challenge you, and make you day interesting...

Save some more money, wait a year or two, and look for a buffalo hunt in a wild area. The taste won't be the same.
 
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I beg to disagree.

Yes, cows are cranky and can charge... But they are herd animals. You find them in heaps, with so many tracks leading to them that you could almost follow them with a white cane. You do have to hide yourself to approach, because they are always peeping and minding someone else's business, but that's about it.

If you want to hunt buffalo, as opposed to shoot buffalo, then the only thing that will do is the dagga boy, the old male that stays on his own or with a few like-minded grumpy gentlemen.

Here you'll have to track, sometimes for hours, and read the ground and the weather and the time and the moon, here you'll have to know the area, and the grass, and the water, and the quirks of the local buffs. Here you'll have to outwit an old bugger who is still alive because he's been through countless fights, with other buffs, with lions, with poachers. He's smart, not really worried but very quick to react if he picks your wind, and he's spent years peddling his testosterone to whoever came in the way, guarding his herd, cows and calves, when it was his time to be the boss.

An old bull has character. He'll challenge you, and make you day interesting...

Save some more money, wait a year or two, and look for a buffalo hunt in a wild area. The taste won't be the same.
Well written I am totally hooked now, only the gods will know if I will ever be able to afford it.
Tusker
 
I beg to disagree.

Yes, cows are cranky and can charge... But they are herd animals. You find them in heaps, with so many tracks leading to them that you could almost follow them with a white cane. You do have to hide yourself to approach, because they are always peeping and minding someone else's business, but that's about it.

If you want to hunt buffalo, as opposed to shoot buffalo, then the only thing that will do is the dagga boy, the old male that stays on his own or with a few like-minded grumpy gentlemen.

Here you'll have to track, sometimes for hours, and read the ground and the weather and the time and the moon, here you'll have to know the area, and the grass, and the water, and the quirks of the local buffs. Here you'll have to outwit an old bugger who is still alive because he's been through countless fights, with other buffs, with lions, with poachers. He's smart, not really worried but very quick to react if he picks your wind, and he's spent years peddling his testosterone to whoever came in the way, guarding his herd, cows and calves, when it was his time to be the boss.

An old bull has character. He'll challenge you, and make you day interesting...

Save some more money, wait a year or two, and look for a buffalo hunt in a wild area. The taste won't be the same.


kano383,

I think it is a matter of opinion...

not all hunting safaris ends up with lone dagga bulls, but with herd animals as explained by you...in these herds are fortunately buffalo cows that can be harvested along side the same bulls that gets hunted by others in open areas in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, RSA and Mozambique...so by tracking a herd of buffalo, you exactly getting the same safari feeling if like hunting for bulls...

If I may ask? How many buffalo did you hunt in your life time?

I have hunted dagga boys / lone bulls as explain by you in Zimbabwe, Namibia, RSA and Mozambique just laying there in the water / riverside...not much to it...EVERY safari is different and with their own challenges...it might just be the buffalo cow that kills you!!

all in good hunting :D
 
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