Well, I gave up on the great big stuff when I shot an elephant in 1998 in Botswana. I was using a Searcy Underlever in .577 Nitro and it doubled on me. Now I'm a little guy - almost 300 lbs - and that experience walked me back a few steps. The first shot was a head/brain shot and the bull went down like the wires were cut. The second shot may still be in the air for all I know!

Ps. I missed the brain by less than one inch. Don't ever, ever believe the old tales that a .577 in the head will stun a bull for up to 15 minutes. He stood back up in less than 20 seconds! Probably would have wandered off thinking; "Man, I gotta stop eating that Marula stuff. Must have been a hell of a party." 'Course my PH's .470 took instant care of that problem.

I'm going after Cape Buffalo in April 2008 and am going to take something much lighter.

Just purchased a Blaser S2 Double in .470 Nitro.

Lighter, right?

Remind me to tell you the story about the stink bull giraffe and my S & W 500 Magnum - great fun!