I bought a Ruger M77 in .458 lott with the intentions of hunting dangerous game. I had to do quite a bit of shooting and reloading to develope an acceptable level of accuracy. Once I had accomplished this I had no doubt I had made a wise decision. A decision that would pay off in Zimbabwe hunting a big bull hippo on an island in the Zambezi. We had leopard crawled through a stand of reeds to within 15 yards of this hippo. My PH, a shona fellow named Magara who spoke very little english communicated that I should stand up and shoot. When I stood up the bull was immediately in the crosshairs of my low powered scope. The instant he saw me he lowered his head and began to move towards us. Having misjudged the moment of the head drop, I fired and shot above the brain, but sent the 500 grain solid down forty inches of the hippo's spine. He dropped to the mud and never moved. An insurance shot was delivered to the side brain. Blood gushed from his nostrils for several minutes. Professional Hunter Gary Fraser and Magara both agreed the using enough gun had likey prevented a nasty situation. I believe using heavy calibers with the proper bullet is essential. It's important to remember that alot of peoples safety depends on the clients ability to stop dangerous game. I think most anybody can learn to shoot big guns well if they commit to it. I did some physical conditioning and lots of shooting. I also bought a Boyt Safari vest with a little padding in the recoil area that helped. Good luck and good hunting.
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