LMAO...Rex emptied the rig on a few occasions. What bad memories you had to stir up Rob! I guess that many miles on a dirt, washboard ridden, road makes an old guy's sphincter muscles weak. It's time for a new invention...the "Rextal Plug".
The following day was to be my day to kill. As we drove in past where Justin had scored his bull we spotted a couple of big brush bulls. They were on Will's menu but I wasn't all that interested in them. I was there to shoot a nice buffalo and that was what I was focused on. It wasn't long before we had a big bull spotted and started making the stalk on him. Click below to view video: This was not a bull to be trifled with. As we were stalking him, we noticed that he was stalking us! He'd move through the brush, I'd draw on him and when he stopped, he'd turn to face us and lower his head. He did this 4 times when I heard Ben rack a round into the .458 Lott and say "Oh ****! He's going to charge us." A couple of head bobs from him and he moved off about 20 yards. I asked Ben for the range and he said he couldn't give it to me because he was shaking too bad. I took the range finder and ranged him at 45 yards but there was no clear shot. I was ready to move forward on him when Scotty and Ben reeled me in and talked some sense into me. We needed to leave this bull for another day. He was just too ornery to be pushing about right now.
As luck would have it, the bull was within 200 yards of the same spot the next day. We had Rex and Will along this time so Will was our camera man. Ben had the .458 and Rex had a 7mm STW figuring it was better than nothing. As we started in on him, we noticed the same behavior. He had us spotted and wasn't giving up any ground. Click below to view video: Once we realized this we decided to split up. Rex and Will would head back to the truck while Ben and I circled around downwind of him as his attention was focused on our decoys (Rex and Will). Then the dance began! As we circled the bull, the bull circled the decoys... The bull was moving closer to me and didn't even know I was there. Given the behavior in these buffalo that Will had been seeing he thought the thing to do was act silly and start beating on some trees to scare the bull off toward me... This wasn't one of the buffalo that Will had been seeing. When he was 80 yards from me I started to move into his blind quarter to sneak an arrow in once I got within 50. The bull had other ideas. He had enough of Will's silliness and decided to have Will for lunch! The head went down, his heels kicked up and there was nothing there but dust where there had just been 1500 lbs of enraged water buffalo. The dumbfounded stare between Ben and I was broken by the high pitched squeal of Will's distressed voice somewhere in the swamp; "rex... Rex... REX!!!!!!! Boom!" Ben and I started running as I was saying; "Oh ****! that 7mm isn't going to do crap to that thing!... BOOM!" To my astonishment we run up on a buffalo laying on the ground kicking and everyone is yelling "Shoot it in the head, shoot it behind the ear! Boom!" It's done. Will is white as a sheet. We're all bug eyed and speechless. Then we start coming around in a string of disbelieving yet relieved profanity that morphs into coherent thought and finally into congratulations to Rex for saving the day and to Will for surviving the day! WOW!
After getting the head off Rex's bull we continued on in search of mine. It wasn't long down the road before we had him spotted. Will gave me the yardage, I put the pin on him and waited for the shot as he walked behind some palmettos. The shot presented itself at 40 yards and somehow I muffed it. Now I could come up with a hundred excuses for why it happened but in the end the result was the same, a group wide exclamation of; "****!" The shot was too far back. I'm still mystified by it. In any case he ran off about 40 yards and stood there wondering what these funny looking birds were doing in his woods and why he didn't feel so good. In the meantime this bird split off from the group and snuck in on him again. Will gave me the range again and this time the 40 yard shot was on the mark tucked in behind the muscle of the front shoulder, in the bottom of his lungs. Off he went about another 40 yards to stand there and think about what was going on as Will and I discovered that our rangefinders differed by about 4 yards at 40. I snuck in again and drilled him in the center of the chest from 30 yards and watched the fletchings disappear on that shot. He spun and half of my 29" FMJ Dangerous game 250 was hanging out the back side of him. I knew that one was going to anchor him. Yet, off he trotted 40 more yards to turn around and watch us as if he hadn't been touched. I couldn't believe it! I got the other guys to draw his attention and got to within 40 yards again and put another shot solidly in his chest. This time he swung around and walked off with a sleepy gait. He stood his ground but looked drowsy. I wasn't taking any chances. My fifth and final arrow found its mark alongside the other 3 in his chest and down he went. The poor brute had been turned into a pin cushion and I wasn't feeling real good about it as it took him another 3-5 minutes to finally expire. As Will often says; "Sometimes they just don't want to die." This one was certainly the most tenacious critter I've ever encountered. Here's what the 850 grain arrows from the 80 lb. Elite Z28 were able to achieve; The exit hole in the shoulder is the shot that got the most penetration with about 18" of shaft hanging out the far side. Scotty had yet to kill a good bull on any of his trips over from Zealand to Oz so he and Ben went out that evening and anchored a decent one. Scotty was thinking about taking his bow and we talked about it, until I realized his bow was drawing 60 lbs... that's when that conversation stopped and Scotty decided to stick with the CZ .458 Lott for this one. We had all taken our buffalo now and it was time to pack up camp and get this boy "to the church on time". The hunting wasn't finished yet though. Will still had one more species to round out and at least a couple arrows left in his quiver...
Man, that did get hairy! Things could have got bad quick, but I bet it will be hard to beat the rush you guys got from it!
Congrats on the buffs guys. Great stories. I love reading about your adventures. Always entertaining.
Yep. That's the 315 grain Ashby Nanook from AK Bowhunting Supply. Be sure to check back. Will's still got the story and pics from his brush bull to enter.
Would you shoot it again? With the experience you had this time? Just curious. Looking forward to the rest of the story!
Awesome hunt and story guys thats a once in a lifetime trip and sounds like the greatest bachelor party ever not quite any of the ones I've attended.
I would but only because I already own them and I can get dealer pricing on them. I certainly wouldn't spend the money on them at full retail ($110 / 3!!) Will and Justin had equal success with much less expensive heads. If I were doing it again I might consider the 220 grain Outback Supreme that Will used and add a 100 grain insert to it to get the weight up where I wanted it.
Holy bejeezus....$110/3! LOL! The reason I was asking was because of how many shots it took to take yours down and if you felt it had anything to do with the single bevel.
Not at all. The three of us all got about equal amounts of penetration on our primary rigs (80 lbs and 750-860 grain arrows). You can see in one photo the size of the exit holes the Nanook heads left and there was definitely a good solid blood trail. The single bevel is a proven and effective killer. It's just that this critter did NOT want to go down easy. I could have left him after the second shot and he would have expired. However, my philosophy is that if they're still standing and I've still got arrows in my quiver, I'm going to keep shooting. Will's dropped in about 20 steps from his single bevel Outback Supreme.
Not answering for Rob here but single bevels cut more then you think. They twist when cutting causing a S cut that's caused by the single bevel. The cut from the BH Is bigger then the diameter of the BH because of the S cut being the arrow continues to rotate even when penetrating. The slice In the heart on my bear was about 1 1/4 Inches. My single bevel 220 grain Outback Supreme Is hardly any bigger then 1 Inch In diameter. Get what I'm saying?
Dan, Rob caught a little flax for using so many arrows to kill his buff. Both Justin and I killed our bulls with a single arrow (I shot mine from 30 yards. It walked 12 steps and did a major chin plant into the ground. It was dead within 15 seconds). Naturally, the topic of PSE verses Elite came up in jest. In Rob's defense. I watched his arrow placement. There wasn't anything any one of us could have done better! I truly believe Rob's bull had more to do with its life and merely refused to give up the swamp. I shook my head in total disbelief. One thing none of us bother to calculate is the fact the prey we hunt spend their entire lives instinctively trying to survive. A few holes (or five) through their body doesn't change that instinct. Those of us present to watch Rob and his bull in battle will never forget the day. It was a testament to two warriors unwilling to give up. It's situations like these that have taught me to expect the unexpected....I never knew I could run 30 yards so fast screaming like a school girl (Rex and I distracted the buff a little more than we should have). Water buffalo have earned my respect. After seeing Rob's and my broadhead(s) in action, I have decided to design a broadhead of my own, one that will incorporate the best of both designs. I purchased the tooling I'll need for the project today. I'm heading to Africa next July to take on a cape buff. I want to be completely ready for that endeavor, with new broadhead in hand. Give me the evening to compile the scrub bull encounter...
