xxx

There's various types of cull but as a rule of thumb, you can forget that calibre for eland and probably gemsbuck and unless it's a driven shoot, you can also forget about culling bushbuck
 
.375 .375 .375
3006 is big enough but why take the chance especaily with a good eland bull
 
Stone and Pete have both given good advice, but I'll add that all African game are considerably tougher than game from the western world, probably because of the high predator pressure and zebra and wildebeest are probably the two toughest game animals in Africa on a pound for pound basis. Shoot 'em even slightly wrong and you can walk after 'em for days..............

Regarding the bushbuck. They're solitary and secretive animals and in most places, don't have an overpopulation problem. With herd animals such as impala, you'll usually cull 'em on the lamp with head shots and shoot big numbers or in some places such as the cape, they'll drive 'em past the guns in a similar way to driven pigs in Europe.

Because bushbuck are solitary, you don't get to see many of them so you won't cull many and in most areas, they rarely need culling anyway.

Bushbuck incidentally are extremely habitat dependent. For example in areas such as the SA/Botswana border, the overpopulation of Elephants mean the Elephants come to the dense riverine habitat to feed on a regular basis and as they feed, they destroy that particular habitat, which means the bushbuck females are forced to move their young back further from the river into less dense bush, where the baboons can get to, and kill they young. - Hence over a period of time, too many Elephants, means less bushbuck and more baboons.

Going back to Pete and his 300 WM, he shoots the thing like a laser and if there's any one person I'd be happy to let shoot a big animal with a small calibre, it's him........ :eek: I'd probably want him to use his zimmer frame as a rest though! :D :D :D
 
Regarding the import permit, we recommend our clients to get it issued ahead of time so you don't have to wait in the queue behind a bunch of guys who don't know how to fill the forms in correctly............. I'd recommend asking your outfitter to put you in touch with whoever he uses.

As Pete metioned, if it's not a properly organised hunt, you won't get the rifle in and if that is the case, you might like to read this recent thread: http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2105

Hope that helps
 
The old adage "Always carry plenty of gun" is still very relevant when considering choice of calibre for Africa. It pays to think big, bearing in mind that for your hunting puposes the calibre required will need to be as effective on a 500KG cull Eland as it will be on a 60KG cull Blesbok. Shakari is spot on when he says everything is tough out there.Wildebeest in particular are tough to bring down and have earned the title "poor mans buffalo" through their capacity to absorb lead and carry on running without being aware that they are technically dead!!.
I have not culled from a truck with a lamp so I am not able to offer any advice on that front.
As a rule on stalked cull plains game I tend to use.375 but have also used .308 on plains game and it has been effective right up to Wildebeest so .300 should also be work well. As always 1 shot in the right place with a smaller calibre will be more effective than 5 shots in the wrong place with a big calibre and shot placement is the key. The book suggested earlier"The Perfect Shot" is a good starting point and you can get a pocket version from Amazon or failing that try www.safaripress.com
It also pays to take guidance and advice on shot placement from your PH.
A quick word on bullets. I notice that on the bullet front you mention Ballistic Tips. Unless you are shooting in clear open ground say in the cape or similar I would shy away from using them. I have always used softpoint and found them to be effectice in all terrain types including heavier bush. I have also started buying my ammo in the RSA and have been using PMP's which perform well and are great value. I bought a box of .375 recently for 400ZAR appx £28 and if you consider consider a box of Feds over here in the same calibre would set you back at least £75 if not more as I haven't bought over here for ages.Check their website www.pmp.co.za for the claibres they make ammo in as they don't cover a huge range of calibres.
On taking fireams into the RSA I would go with the others advice and suggest that you use a specialist handler and get it done in advance. To be honest you don't need to as the process it quite simple etc. but it makes it so much easier and the queues can be long.....you don't want to get stuck behind the eight person hunting party who have all filled the form in blue ink rather than black as required and have to fill them out again, but each of them always seem to have a 30 Minute row with the police before going off to do so!!
And last but not least have a great time and I look forward to seeing the pics.
 
I visited South Africa in July of 2007 and made use of the PHASA gun permit service. It caost about US$60 but it was well worth the trouble.

I was met at J-burg airport by a nice lady who took me to the Police Office helped me to sign off the paper work and sent me on my way.

Recommended.
 
The one all round weapon for everything in Africa is a 375 H&H, but I have taken Black Wildebeest with a 25.06 didnt go very far, perhaps 100yds, then fell over. Shot Blesbuck with a 303, dropped in one, Nyala with 270 dropped in two, although it was dead with the first shot but it was really thick cover so I made sure, two species of Bushbuck one Limpopo with a 243 the other a Cape with a 270. Mountain Reedbuck, common Reedbuck 270, Val Reebuck 25.06, Gemsbuck n/s Khalahari 270, Elephant and Buff with a 375.

Eland I would use a minimum of 30.06 its a big lump of meat, and when they start trotting thats it you could be following it all day, the stamina is mind blowing at times. But 375 is the way to go.

However the perfect combination IMHO for Africa for plains game is a 30.06, and dangerous game a 375 or 416.

But its where you put the bullet that counts, and all the game have the greatest of tenancity for life.
 
On my second trip to RSA I took a .300 Win.Mag. and 180gr Noslers, an excellent combination.
We had ONE serious problem though and that was caused by the Police at Manchester airport who persuaded some of our group to place their rifle bolts in their hand luggage unknown to the rest of us.
When we got to Charles De Gaulle airport these were found and then the fertiliser hit the fan.
We were detained and interrogated by some nasty Frogs, eventually we were allowed to get our flight and upon arrival at JoBerg found our rifles were missing.

One night was spent in local accommodation waiting for the next flight and our firearms from France.
The internal flight of the previous day was missed with no refund and one days hunting lost.

I WILL NEVER TRAVEL ANYWHERE BY AIR-FRANCE EVER AGAIN.

HWH.
 
I tend to find the Manchester - Paris - Jo'burg route quite good.

I catch the 1530 out of MAN and get to CDG at 1800. Pop into town for a nice dinner and plenty of time to get back for the 2315 flight. All this time ensures plenty of time for luggage and guns to make the transfer. Never had any issues.

Arrive in Jo'burg at 0940. Always handled my own firearms permit and no problems.

Coming back I catch the 2345 flight with a three hour layover in Paris. Anything less is foolish.

Off back down in August with my 6.5 x 55 and 9.3 x 62.

Stan
 
big game

hello smullery,
what species have you taken with the 6.5x55? iv e not shot anything larger than boar with mine but i know that they use it for elk and such in scandanavia,
 
Springbok out to 340 metres. Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Mountain Reedbuck, Gemsbok at 100 - 150 metres.

156gr Norma Oryx. Placement is all. Big round (for calibre), slow, minimal recoil = accuracy.

Used .270 and 30-06 before but always "rushed".

Will only switch to the 9.3 x 62 if specifically after something big. Looking for big Kudu this time but will move up only if I feel "the need".

Stan
 
I have seen Kudu taken with 270, 30.06, 300wm and 375H&H. They all did the job, even the 270 which some consider a bit light did it in one.

Gemsbuck I have taken both cow and bull in the North and South Kalahari. The cow with a 30.06, the bull with a 270, one shot each. As many have said before its where you place the bullet that counts, whether its Africa, UK or for that matter anywhere in the world, shot placement is the important thing to remember.
 
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