RIFLE HUNTING
Recommended caliber for hunting in Africa
The best caliber for hunting big game in Africa, is like talking about religion, and can be debated forever. In the end, the decision on which hunting rifle and caliber to bring to South Africa, lies entirely with you. This decision will often be straight forward for most hunters, but for those who have never hunted in Africa before, it can become a major one to take.
In our opinion, the definition of the best caliber for hunting in Africa is rather simple: Bring the rifle caliber or calibers which you feel most confident shooting with, and from which you can handle the recoil. Please bear in mind though, that the law stipulates minimum bullet weights for the different species, which will in some cases, influence which calibers you should bring to meet these regulations. The regulations regarding minimum bullets weights can be studied HERE (please study these, before deciding which rifle(s) to bring).
The most popular calibers used in South Africa is the 270, 7 mm Rem Mag, 308 Winchester, 30-06, 300 Win Mag and .375 H/H. You are allowed to bring 2 different rifles. If we were to recommend two rifle calibers, we would say the .308 Winchester, 30-06 or 7mm Rem Mag (as the one rifle), and the a 375 H/H (as the second). With this combination, you will be able to hunt ANY of the species in South Africa, and these are well known calibers, for which its also easy to get ammunition for. If you are not hunting buffalo and bigger game, you will not need the 375 H/H, unless preferred. It all depends on which animals you want to hunt though (read more below).
Recommended caliber for hunting Plains Game
Steyn Africa Safaris consider the 30-06 as the best all-round caliber for hunting plains game in Africa. The 30-06 has a proven track record, ammunition is readily available in South Africa, and recoil is at a minimum (especially with a silencer, which we also recommend hunters to bring). This does not mean we only believe in the 30-06 – Other calibers like the 270, 308, 7 mm Rem Mag, 7 mm-08, 300 Win Mag is also excellent calibers, which fulfill the legal requirements for most game.
Recommended caliber for hunting Big & Dangerous Game
Only use premium grade ammunition on any dangerous game hunting for obvious reasons! The best caliber for hunting african dangerous game (elephant, cape buffalo, lion, leopard, rhino and hippo) would in addition to the legal requirements, be the largest caliber you feel comfortable shooting accurately with between 25 and 70 meters!
The best african safari hunting rifle calibers for hunting buffalo, elephant, rhino and hippo starts at .375 H/H. All though the 375 H/H is well suited for all dangerous game, it is considered as the minimum caliber (in some african countries also by law). Other big bore rifle which we would recommend and fulfills the legal requirements is:
375 Rooger/ HH
416 Rem Mag
416 Rigby
458 WM
458 Lott
470 NE
Any calibers in between these or larger if you can handle the recoil
Ammunition for african game
One aspect that we do have our own requirements for, is the ammunition you bring along. Please only use the best premium grade ammunition that your rifle shoots accurately with. We recommend the following bullets for most game: Nosler Partition, Barnes TTSX and TSX, Swift A-Frame and Woodleigh. There are of course many other premium bullets to select from, but these have proven them self to do the job with the outmost satisfaction to us and our clients through the years.
Ammunition for dangerous game
Hunting leopard we recommend using soft nose ammunition as Woodleigh, Norma Oryx or Nosler Partition.
Thick-skinned animals (categorized as: buffalo and hippo) is by South African law required to be hunted with Full Metal Jackets or Monolithic bullets. For buffalo, we recommend using Barnes TSX – This bullet is a premium monolithic and expanding bullet (highly recommended). For elephants, rhinos and hippos, we have seen very good results with Hornady and Barnes solids.
BOW HUNTING
Momentum is force in motion. It is directional. In other words, it is the ability of an object (an arrow in our case) to continue moving in a particular direction against resistance. The formula for momentum is p=mv; very similar to kinetic energy, but in this case, mass and velocity are equally weighted in the equation. Momentum is why even an old traditional bow shooting much slower than any modern compound bow can still manage to propel a heavy arrow completely through a big game animal. Let’s look at a couple of examples for reference.
* A 350 grain arrow (the minimum weight recommended for a 70lb compound bow) moving at 320 feet per second (fps) has a kinetic energy of 79.57 ft-lbs and a momentum of .497 slugs*.
* A 500 grain arrow moving at 260 fps has a kinetic energy of 75.04 ft-lbs and a momentum of .577 slugs*.
* A 700 grain arrow moving at 175 fps has a kinetic energy of 47.59 ft-lbs and a momentum of .544 slugs*
*The slug is a measurement of force defined as the mass that is accelerated by 1 ft/s2 when a net force of one pound (lbf) is exerted on it.
So, as you can see, while a lighter, faster arrow shot from a modern compound bow produces significantly higher kinetic energy than a traditional bow shooting a much heavier arrow, the heavier arrow is actually carrying more momentum and, with all else equal, would be more likely to pass through the animal.
Benefits of Heavy Arrows
Heavy arrows penetrate better in to big game and hunting in Africa this can provide a higher success level since a majority of Africa animals have thick skins and through the thick bush veld you might not always be less-than ideal and the arrow impacts bone like the shoulder blade. Yes even a light bow will likely pass through smaller antelopes but when hunting big African game we recommend heavy Arrows to avoid hurting the animal and likely never finding it again.