Hunt Diary #3

August 27th

Another beautiful day.
We stalked a Bull Buffalo for quite some time. I got pretty close and threw my Samburu spear. He turned and caught the spear in his horn, snapping it in half!!
I think we caught that on camera. I hope so, because it looked awesome!

We moved on and stalked 2 mobs of pigs in a creek.
One young pig bolted and I threw my spear as he was running flat out. The Samburu punched clear through his lungs. He fell and died about 15 yards away.
We field dressed him and gave the meat to our friends.

Later in the day we came across a huge Bull Buffalo. Peter (my professional hunter) thought he would be well over 104” (which is a Safari Club Gold Medal). We stalked him for a while and I drew my 454 and shot him through the heart twice to drop him almost immediately.
Peter was really impressed with the stopping power of my Ruger Super Redhawk and the Hornady ammo. He said each shot looked like a hit from a 375 H&H rifle!
That huge buffalo weighed approximately 1900lbs!


August 28th

We set out at first light.
I stalked a young bull and got within 12 yards of him. I threw my spear but just missed him.
I then realized I still had my 454 in the holster and not in my left hand where I could get at it quick! I'm glad he chose not to charge!
I've been training intensively for the last 6 weeks for just this eventuality. Transitioning from a spear to a revolver and firing under pressure. I've also been doing intensive holster draw training for over a year. It's already paid off more than once on this trip but it's still an incredibly tense experience.
From now on (whenever possible) I'm going to try to have my revolver in my left hand when I throw the spear. It could buy me the extra fraction of a second that I need.

Later in the day I shot a wild dog at 49 yards. A great instantaneous kill, shooting offhand with iron sights. Those big XS sites are a huge help.

Tim Wells killed an enormous Buffalo with a Samburu Spear. He hit him behind the shoulder and got adequate penetration.
He said he should have thrown much harder (and ideally would have done so to guarantee puncturing through those tough ribs).
He got the throw on spear cam and it looks really cool!
Tim is a very brave, skilled and patient hunter and it's a pleasure to be hunting with him on this trip.

August 29th

Today we walked our butts off!!
We walked for 4 hours this morning under the hot sun and another 3 hours this afternoon. We trekked through those dusty and dry creek beds. It was tough.
I speared a big lizard at 6 yards with a Samburu at the request of some of the locals. They cooked and ate it right there.
We went back to camp and Tim cooked up a Buffalo pot roast with gravy. Tim is a surprisingly good cook

August 30th

We set off incredibly early. Crossed the lake in a boat and enjoyed the scenery before heading into a flood plain for the morning hunt.
We saw a mob of Buffalo under some trees.
I grabbed my Hyem 500 nitro and got all of them!
My furthest shot was on a bull running flat out at 110yards. I shot him in the side and clear out the chest.
All of them were very fast, clean kills (on camera).
We field dressed the youngest bull, taking the top straps, ribs and hams to eat that evening.

Later in the day we saw another cow buffalo. I felled her in one shot with the Hyem.
That makes 7 buffalo today.