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gwh
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Loc: Cairns Australia
Wildebeest thread
      #153152 - 08/02/10 08:36 PM

Thought a thread for Wildebeest might be appropriate - have to be a few photos and stories of encounters with the poor mans buffalo - Blue or Black

--------------------
Hunt hard, shoot straight

"I speak of Africa and golden joys; the joy of wandering through lonely lands; the joy of hunting the mighty and terrible lords of the wilderness, the cunning, the wary and the grim"

Theodore Roosevelt, Khartoum, 1910


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Mike_Bailey
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: gwh]
      #153155 - 08/02/10 08:55 PM

South Africa, October 2008, spotted on an opposite hill to the one we were on looking for the waterbuck we had seen earlier, about 150 yds, one shot with a .375 H&H custom bolt rifle I borrowed. The reaction to the shot was a bit comical, he jumped about 6 feet upwards and forward stright into a big tree ! Never got up, I think he knocked himself out ! best, Mike



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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:55 PM)


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gwh
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: Mike_Bailey]
      #153156 - 08/02/10 09:15 PM

nice Mike, they are an interesting looking animal

--------------------
Hunt hard, shoot straight

"I speak of Africa and golden joys; the joy of wandering through lonely lands; the joy of hunting the mighty and terrible lords of the wilderness, the cunning, the wary and the grim"

Theodore Roosevelt, Khartoum, 1910


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Ripp
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Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: gwh]
      #153173 - 09/02/10 01:34 AM

Shot this on my one and only hunt thus far to South Africa, ..used my HS Precision 300 Ultra-mag--180 A-frames--the black variety are running devils... --took us about 2 hours to finally get close enough for a shot..was a fun hunt..


Ripp






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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:43 PM)


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MKresinske
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: Ripp]
      #153175 - 09/02/10 02:58 AM

Ripp is right, those Black Wildebeest are running fools !

My Blue Wildebeest Limpopo RSA 2009



My friend Bryan's Black Wildebeest Free State RSA 2009




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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:44 PM)


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DoubleD
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: MKresinske]
      #153176 - 09/02/10 03:43 AM

My turn!



Shot this one with a .338-308 AI I built on a Ruger 77 using Nosler 200 grain ballistic tips during a screaming sleet storm. At the slower 2500 fps velocites the bullet performed superbly. Sure wouldn't use them at higher velocities.

I was hunting with Tollie African Safaris near Somerset East in SA.

We go this animal loaded as quick as we could and got out of the mountians fast. We were driving in snow by time we got back to the farm. The next morning we had 8 inches of snow on the ground. My PH said he had lived all his 35 years in the valley and this was the first time he had ever seen snow on the valley floor. This pictures is a scanned chemical froma point and shoot camera or you would be able to see the snow covered mountains in the background.

I was amazed at how totally prepared the PH always was. When it started sleeting then snowing was the only time he seemed out of his element. All he had for wet weather was a rubber rain coat. When I left I gave him some cash and my gortex rain suit for a gratuity. You know gratitude when you see it and he was deeply grateful.



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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:41 PM)


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Mike_Bailey
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: DoubleD]
      #153178 - 09/02/10 04:49 AM

Black Widebeest at Otterskloop, again with my PH and now friend, Ricus De Villiers. These things really are the clowns down there, one shot with a Ruger No.1 in .30-06 (Nosler 180 partition), longish for me, about 200 yds, best, Mike p.s note buggered nose, a .416 Rigby with the scope not where it should have been for me !





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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:41 PM)


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Schauckis
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: Mike_Bailey]
      #153183 - 09/02/10 05:54 AM

Well,
Before the trip, I had not booked wildebeest as I have never thought much of it as game animal.
Upon seeing the herd, I changed my mind immediatelly! As there was quota left, I decided to take one.
This proved to be one of the trip's more challenging endeavours, however! Being a herd animal, the wildebeest is very alert, indeed, and seems to be jumpier than ever the zebra. So if you have zebra and they run off; off go the wildebeest like the wind: far and fast.
We hunted the wildebeest like crazy, crawling, crouching, sneaking, running crouched in a riverbed and finally waiting behind an antheap for the better part of an hour before giving up - only to return to try a crawling approach: the PH just couldn't not try, as the herd was just lying down chewing the cud. Of course, they run off just before the bull was spotted.... So we walked back to the car in 45 degrees (celcius) for more than an hour, with no dead wildebeest.
But then, almost as the sun set, we got close to the herd again! Lying again behind an antheap, the PH was able to spot the bull, and he had me coming all silently around the heap, explaining carefully which one the bull was. Aroud I came, and the bull spotted me and got up - "that's it!" I thought. But he stopped stupidly, the PH yelling me to "Shoot, shoot!" and me replying "No shot!" as there was some shrub. But he kept telling me to shoot, and I remembered his advice that even if the shot is a tad poor and I need to shoot to far back, let drive: we'll find the animal and if it's well wounded, it won't go far. So just when the PH was about to give up, I let drive! Off the bull went like a bullet. I realoaded but got no follow-up shot as he was running too fast and too far. We immediatelly followed, and when we came out of the shrub to a small clearing, the PH chambered a round. "Uh-oh!", I thought; when the PH chambers a round, that's bad news.... And then he asked me where I hit the wildebeest. Well, the distance could not have been 15 meters, but I told him i hit a bit back as that's where I had shot. So we followed the spoor and sure enough, there he was lying under a tree, stone dead, having run but maybe 100 meters or so.
The shot was a bit quartering so it went through both lungs and the bullet exited leaving the entire offside of the wildebeest blood sprayed.
This was very lucky, as we really hunted him hard, and as you can see from the photo, we got him pretty much at last light.
I daresay that the wildebeest hunt was the most fun part of the safari; despite us getting much other game through hard work, too. The jumpiness of the game, the various approaching methods, the difficulty of spotting the bull - and finally, trying to place the shot extra carefully keeping in mind all the stories you've read about the toughness of the wildebeest. I was sure the .30-06 Winchester would be far too little gun despite the marvelous performance of the Speer Nitrex ammo and the Grand Slam bullets.
Oh, yeah; that's something I wish to experience again!

- Lars/Finland





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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:41 PM)


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SafariHunt
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: gwh]
      #153227 - 10/02/10 02:46 AM

This one almost got us its a PAC wildebeest cow we didnt know it was a cow and the farmer just wanted to get rid of it as it was chasing his workers on the fields. A suppose to be canned easy hunt turned to 2 hours and a charge where luckily my shooting sticks took the force and not us. Closest call I had with a wild animal charging. "Poor man's buffalo" yes I can relate





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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:44 PM)


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tophet1
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: SafariHunt]
      #153255 - 10/02/10 01:31 PM

I've shot two. A Black Wildebeast cow as a cull hunt:



and a cull Blue Wildebeast Bull



Both proved very tenacious of life. The Black was not found till the following day despite being transfixed by a .308 165 Woodleigh which took off the top of the L lung, penetrated the liver the paunch and was found in the meat of the groin.

Quote:

I also used some of my .308 165 PPSN handloads left over from last year. Here is the one recovered from the black wildebeast we temporarily lost.

Retained weight was 153.5 grains. Impact was just over 200 metres and it penetrated 42cm+ through lung, liver, all the gut and into the ham.



If there is a marriage made in heaven it is the .308W and the 165 Woodleigh PPSN. In fact with the shot placement I achieved with the 9.3x62, I beleive the above .308W combination would have done the same job, albeit with a smaller margin for error.




The Blue was a very interesting animal. Shot at less than 40 metres head on, I did not realise they have a chest shaped like the prow of the Titanic. The projectile traveled around the outside of the rib cage and was found under the shoulder blade. No vital organs were touched and no blood spilt on the ground. It was found dead 217 metres away (lasered). We assume impact from the projectile stopped the heart.

Don't shoot them low and front on unless you have a massive canon. If shooting them head on, aim for the base of the neck for a neck/central spine shot.



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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:45 PM)


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AspenHill
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: tophet1]
      #154861 - 26/02/10 01:50 PM

Here's mine, from KwaZulu-Natal, he lived on a mountain top and was the only mature bull in this particular herd. Pretty decent, his ears fit inside the horn spread. The PH didn't pay the landowner (turned out to be a crack head) so I never got this trophy.




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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:46 PM)


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shortie
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: AspenHill]
      #154929 - 27/02/10 08:14 AM

Having made only one trip so far, with Tollie's African Safaris in May of 09, I knew the Blue Wildebeeste had to be on my list, though it was a few days into my trip though before my PH decided to work with me on this. It all started out rather poorly when I pulled my first shot in Africa at about 10AM on the first day of hunting, blowing a shot on a nice Blesbuck and starting what wound up being a very long day of tracking a wounded animal. I started the second day telling him I wanted a Blue Wildebeeste, after witnessing much gibberish(to me anyhow)between the PH and tracker we went to an area where they "sometimes" see wildebeest. After spending several hours walking in the bush we stumbled on very nice Springbuck at about 250 yards, which I managed to take with one very clean shot DRT. After pictures and loading up the Springbuck we began to make our way out when we spotted a herd of Impala moving fast through the brush, my PH and I exited the bakkie and moved a few hundred yards off into the bush to a spot we espected to be in their path, of course they didn't come our way, but still a nice ram moved out into the open on a run and I managed to drop him with one shot. After we loaded the ram up I observed quite a bit of gibberish again at which point I asked my PH what was being discussed and he explained, "James(the tracker)says if you can shoot like that, you can hunt blue wildebeeste". So on my 3rd day in Africa I managed to hunt one of my most desired animals for this safari, and I must say I was a bit nervous, Tollie had explained to me the previous night that the Blue is born sick and that he gets better the more lead you give him, and honestly not being that confident in my shooting has always been an issue for me. So we started out looking the next morning driving and glssing hillsides in a very rocky, almost lunar looking, landscape when a solitary bull stepped our of the bush behind us, downhill a bit and accross a ravine, probably 200 yrds. I moved off to get a better line of sight on him and got into position, all the while my PH keeps telling me emphatically that I must "hit him good", as if I intended to hit him poorly. The first shot was a bit high, went through both lungs but only bruised the heart at this he took off and I put two more into his shoulder, he managed to get to the ridge of the hill and at about 250 yrds I put a final parting Texas heart shot on him which he responded to by kicking in the air and running off. As I watched him run off I felt like I had hit him good and hard, but deflated that he had not fallen, thankfully we found him about 75 yrds down the hill from where I had put the final shot on him, 4 180 gr TTSX's had done their work, to my dissappointment none were recovered. He was a amazing old bruiser, not the widest, but thick and full of character with a broken tip and a heavily scarred body, wouldn't have traded him for anything.




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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:48 PM)


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BigUglyMan
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: shortie]
      #157182 - 23/03/10 07:42 AM

Here's my first African animal. It will always hold a special place in my heart. Photo is myself and PH Leslie Carbutt, formerly of Constantia Safaris, now running his own outfit, Sable Thorn Safaris.




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--------------------
An elephant is an awesome amount of death.

The Most Northern Member - Double Rifle Shooters Society

Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:54 PM)


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Maddog
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: BigUglyMan]
      #158180 - 04/04/10 02:31 AM

here is our group's blue wildebeasts, taken in the Limpopo, July 2008.



mine taken with a Marlin 45-70 guide gun.



My son. Taken with NEF Handi Rifle, 30-06.



My buddy Doc. Taken with a Marlin XLR, 308MX.



His son, taken with a .338 WM.

Mad Dog


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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:54 PM)


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SafariHunt
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: gwh]
      #158639 - 10/04/10 03:17 AM

Here's a pic of a very recent one shot by myself on Wednesday, I dont get a lot of chance/time to hunt for myself but if I have an opportunity like this one I take it.



This very very old bull caused a lot of pain on one of the fences of a property we hunt on and I had the go ahead of the owner to sort out the problem. Even if he was very territorial and was difficult to find for others I had some good luck on my side and on my first try climbing some mountain to get above him I managed to find him unaware of myself.

One shot with my 375 H&H loaded with impala mono solids sent him on is way to better pastures.


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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:53 PM)


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AspenHill
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: SafariHunt]
      #158643 - 10/04/10 04:56 AM

Scrubby ole thang!

--------------------
~Ann

Everyday spent outdoors is the best day of my life.

Aspen Hill Adventures


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DaktariT
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: AspenHill]
      #162578 - 23/06/10 01:40 AM




Selous. Marlin 45-70, open sights.


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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:52 PM)


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crkennedy1
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: DaktariT]
      #162582 - 23/06/10 06:16 AM

I never realized how different these animals are from one another!

--------------------
DOUBLE or NOTHING


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Blank
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: crkennedy1]
      #162677 - 24/06/10 03:34 PM

Eenie - meenie - minee - mo.




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Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 08:57 PM)


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Ben
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: Blank]
      #162692 - 24/06/10 05:56 PM

Well-done, all. Thanks for sharing those.

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pinotguy
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: Ben]
      #162874 - 27/06/10 12:31 PM

Anyone here ever taken a Cookson's Wildebeest? If so, would love to see a pic or two. My understanding is that these can only be hunted in a specific part of Zambia and have to be the most expensive Wildebeest available. (The Trophy Fee is north of $2K, IIRC.)

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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: pinotguy]
      #170959 - 05/11/10 03:47 PM

Competition entries for the Save raffle ticket totalled and now closed for this thread.

Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for joining in.

However please post more photos if you wish.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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HogPilot
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: NitroX]
      #190982 - 29/09/11 01:06 PM





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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: HogPilot]
      #191070 - 30/09/11 07:23 PM

More great trophies, HP!

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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messmate
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Re: Wildebeest thread [Re: NitroX]
      #191075 - 30/09/11 08:00 PM

Great Mowhawk on that black Wildie.

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