Gary Reeder
Butch, thanks for the note. Alcorn got his scores today but
Tuesday, May 08, 2018, 14:24

I won't get mine for another couple of weeks. John Abraham is the scorer but he was my guide so he can't score my buffalo. I will have to wait a couple of weeks for Vlam, the other PH and scorer to get back in from Mozambique to score my buffalo.

By the preliminary score my Buffalo would normally be the new #1, and the largest Cape Buffalo ever shot with a handgun, but there is a snag. There is a fellow that shot a Cape Buffalo in a 2 acre fenced in breeding pen. John said they had been feeding him steroids and such to boost him up for breeding. A fellow from the states paid big bucks to shoot him in that pen. He scored 2" longer in the horn than mine so in theory he will be the new #1 and mine #2. But the PHs are raising hell that the Buffalo was not a "free range" buffalo. So I don't know how that is going to pan out. But no big deal. If my bull ends up in the top 10 I will be tickled shitless. That would be better than I deserve. Hell, any Cape Buffalo with a handgun is a great buffalo and one to be proud of.

Before the hunt Steve Hornady sent me some of his new DGX (Dangerous Game Expanding) 500 grain soft point bullets in .458. He also sent me some of his 500 grain DGS, the Dangerous Game Solids. Both to be loaded in my 450 GNR Encore. I had both loaded up balls to the wall or at least as much as I could handle without crying like a little girl.

The buffalo was hiding in a big brush pile about 85 yards off the dirt road. John spotted him and pulled the Land Cruiser over. John told me to make sure the 450 was loaded with a soft point, which sort of surprised me as I figured the 500 grain solid would be the bullet of choice. John told me to stand still, that the buffalo would come at us slowly, checking us out, which he did. He came at a slow trot with his nose in the air. John said he would stop and challenge us and when he did he would probably turn to one side or the other and for me to hit him point of shoulder. The bull did exactly what John said he would. He stopped at about 60 yards and turned his head to his right, which exposed the point of shoulder that I wanted. In the picture you can tell that the bullet hit him at an angle with the front of his shoulder still facing me although he had turned his head to my left. At the shot the bull dropped. John told me to reload. I did as the bull staggered to his feet. John said for me to hit him again. This time the opposite shoulder was exposed so I put another 500 grain soft point in it. At that he was down for the count. Both shots were standing offhand which on a big target like a Cape Buffalo was no big deal. We waited a minute or so to make sure he was down and then walked up to him. He was dead when we got to him. I give all the credit for this great bull to John as we passed up 4 or 5 bulls that I thought were monsters but each time he said they were "little guys". A good PH knows the animals, their habits and in most cases, what they are going to do when they see us. And John Abraham is the best I have ever seen. In fact all his PHs are very good at what they do.

If you are thinking of joining us on this next hunt, by all means, if you can, do it. You will never regret it.