Cape Buffalo and double rifles

This is an excerpt from the journal of Professional Hunter, Stuart Anderson Wheeler, of Imperial Safari Service, of his experience in an East African riverine Forest, hunting Cape Buffalo with his father Bruce Anderson Wheeler. On the back of the performance of the “Anderson Wheeler Box Lock Express” used on this hunt,

                               

“We walked out into the Acacia Forest that flanked a large stream, with the aim of reaching an area that was usually frequented by solitary bull buffalo. Animal tracks traced through the dewy grass, hoof and paw prints were clearly imprinted in the soft moist earth and mineral salt licks were evident in glades nearby the stream. After about one and a half hours of walking we stumbled across a pair of male Waterbuck grazing in a glade on the edge of the forest. Not wanting to spook the pair and alert other animals to our presence, we backtracked and kept the ever so slight breeze in our favour, allowing us to slip pass without alerting them and having the beasts crashing off through the undergrowth spooking everything.

Passing around this glade, we came across a well worn game trail, no doubt the main route leading into the forest from the open grazing lands. Imprinted in the soil was a fresh print of a large male Leopard who had passed along this way not moments before we had come to find his track.  He must have heard us coming and moved ahead along the track silently to stay out of our way. Due to the spread of his toe marks we were able to assess that this was quite a large forest leopard.

Thinking about every footstep, avoiding sticks and leaf litter that would crack under our feet, and pausing every couple of yards to view our surroundings, we started getting into area which consisted of thick forest spotted with open grassy glades. Any second I thought we were going to spook a bushbuck or a bush pig.

 Our first lead came with a strong smell of bovine dung that hung crisp and clear on the cold damp air. We followed it to a clearing in the forest, where, about 100 yards away was a large brigadier buffalo grazing alone. We crept up using trees to hide behind and taking advantage of the wet grass to mask the sound of our approach.

Communication was limited to a few hand signals, as any fast movement or uttered sound would give our position away. Settling in behind the tree to assess our position, we found we were only 30 yards from the Buffalo, and he was facing us quarter on, with his left chest and shoulder exposed.

Gently bringing the rifle up to his shoulder and placing a bead on the front of his left shoulder, Bruce took aim and fired the first barrel and as the buffalo turned and staggered to the left he exposed his right hand side, to which the shot was mirrored with the second barrel causing the old bull to drop after running 10 paces.”

The first bullet was a trophy bonded bear claw in a 500 grain projectile. This bear claw bullet is machined from gilding metal with a lead front core and bonded to the jacket at a high temperature which creates a true bonded core. Because of the controlled expansion, this helps the bullet to stay on path. in this case the target being the heart, the organ is set well beneath, the initial surface aiming point and therefore it is essential that the expanding projectile remains on course post initial impact.  In regard to soft point bullet if the expansion is not controlled and the weight is not retained the bullet veers off course missing the designated target. With all expanding projectiles the severity of the wound is increased from a bullet’s expansion and enhances the shock transmission creating larger wound channels to the vital organs hence increasing the chances of a swifter and more humane kill.

The second barrel, however, was loaded with a 500 grain A-Square monolithic solid. Its strength is derived from the homogeneity which basically means it has a consistent composition of a single property allowing for greater penetration.

The advantage of the solid is that it will penetrate the skull of a charging buffalo, whilst the soft point is more effective on the fleshy parts of the animal. Using the double rifle loaded with a soft and a solid gives one the medicine to cater for multiple situations in the field.

Cape Buffalo are incredibly powerful creatures, which, despite being shot through the heart, have the capacity to keep going and cause enormous damage before they finally collapse. Their sheer weight will carry them forward in a charge, yards beyond where they were originally hit, and it takes a reliable rifle with some accurate shot placement to bring them down

The Anderson Wheeler Box Lock Express double rifle used on this hunt is a handmade, well balanced box-lock ejector which is perfect for dealing with dangerous game. This specific rifle calibred in a .458 Winchester and was flawless with its performance in the situation.

Unlike other double rifles, the Anderson Wheeler is balanced at the centre of the weapon, making it very easy to handle and manoeuvre at speed when necessary. Its automatic ejectors work efficiently, allowing for a fast manual reload, which is essential when hunting dangerous game at close quarters. The rifles centralised weighting where 50% of its weight is in the middle with 25% weighed to the front, and 25% to the back, the rifle’s balance compensates to make the recoil acceptable for such a high calibre rifle, aiding accuracy on the second shot. Another innovative AW detail is the hinged front trigger, so designed as to preclude injury to the finger from recoil on the second barrel.

When father fired his rifle, the sound of the shots ricocheted off the trees and it was impossible for the Buffalo to ascertain where they originated. As a result the buffalo ran in our direction of where we crouched behind the tree.

Father was able to reload quite quickly due to having ejectors rapidly looked down to eject the used cartridges and reload with a pair of solids. In the time it took for him to reload and look up again with the rifle at his shoulder the buffalo had advanced only 10 yards, and dropping to the ground 20 yards from where we were positioned.

Time plays games with one on a hunt. The whole hunt was over in a matter of moments but so much happened in that short space of time and it was so intense it felt like it went in by slow motion especially when you are observing.  Backing away from the tree and remaining out of sight of the buffalo, we circled in a horseshoe movement to approach him from behind in order to make sure he was properly dead. On examining the body we could see it was the first shot that had been so powerful and accurate it had done the job, whilst the second had been a good racking insurance shot.

The use of a double rifle is an art in itself and must be practiced and the hunting of dangerous game such as Cape buffalo in thick undergrowth is up close and personal experience, leaving little room for error and one’s adrenalin is often amplified by dense undergrowth where distances are extremely short and visibility limited. This is where familiarity of your rifle and confidence in your shooting ability and shot placement are so important all coming down to practice and experience. This however is one game where learning the hard way may just come at too great an expense.