LGF

Yes I for one have been in on a lion charge and buffalo, not something I wish to experience again, hit only in the rear end, by a .375 I recall, (not by me I hasten to add) the lion hit top gear in only 3 good legs in milli seconds and came steaming towards us, prpbably near to 30 mph by the time he fell with just 7 feet to go. Only as the lion closed to 10 yards did it raise its head, until that point it kept a low down and streamlined profile, hence a chest shot would have been near impossible.

The hit towards the rear haunch had no effect on him save only to piss him off big time, that is why I use the generic term well placed shot, of course you have no time to pick a clear spot nor do you have the luxury of time on your side, especially from under 30 yards, to do so will probably see you end up as lion shit over the course ofthe following days.

But then again to brown off at any part of the lion may well do you no good either, this lion had been hit too far back by the client and the shot did nothing to visibly slow him down.

Shots into the boiler works, brain or frontal chest cavity are needed here, however a lion with its hackles up and adrenalin pumping is a totally different proposition from an unwounded or otehrwise unalert lion, in the case of the latter a shot to the vital area with sufficient calibre, and in this intent I refer to .375 and bigger USUALLY works fairly quickly, I say usually as there will always be an exception, which with lions is what always makes the process a risky one, unless the shot is taken from high in the comparative safety of a machan, otherwise there is no normal for lions.

I think were the situation to arise again and I was to be faced with a charging lion a good reliable double in 450/400, pushing a woodleigh soft would be my choice, much larger a calibre may have the detrimental effect of too long a recovery time for the second barrel.