i wrote a story about my buff hunting guys, i hope you enjoy. mods, please move if this isn't the right place. thanks.
Solo Water Buffalo
By Clinton Miller
Since the time I started hunting as a young boy I have yearned to hunt the formidable water buffalo. Perhaps it was their sheer size, their renowned unpredictable temperament or the wild and remote country in which they live. After having fulfilled that dream, I realise that all three of those attributes are what make buffalo hunting as thrilling and demanding as it is.
A work opportunity arose for me in the Northern Territory and I made the move knowing that I would be in the land of the buffalo. I had begun to prepare for the possibility of hunting some buffalo almost two years prior to this however, starting with the purchase of my first ever bow. After my fathers’ recurve blew up on me so I was in the market for a bow. I bought a Bob Lee Signature takedown recurve. It’s length is 58” and I got two sets of limbs, 54# for most of my hunting and 69# knowing that one day I would hunt buffalo with them.
I then spent the next 18 months building up strength and confidence to be able to hunt with the heavier limbs. Then the task of building an arrow suitable for hunting these tanks dawned on me. Coming up with an arrow of the required mass and spine proved to be a learning experience too. With much research, tuning and a little time in front of a chronograph I settled for an arrow that weighs 890gr that was travelling at 160fps. After some extended reading of the Doc Ashby files I was confident that I had the bow and arrow combination that would do the job. All that was left was to prove it!
After consulting the modern hunters best friend, google earth, I had a likely area picked out for a hunt. With gear prepared and having the enthusiasm that comes with hunting a ‘new to you’ game species, I set off to see if I could fulfil the boyhood dream.
Having arrived at the point where wheels could go no further, I shouldered my daypack and strung my bow while pondering what the day might bring. 4 kilometres of dry savannah country lay between me and the swamp systems surrounding a remote NT river. A little while and some sweat later I could see the bush changing from savannah to dry paperbark swamp, signalling the start of what I hoped would be the swampy country holding the buffalo.
Not knowing the country exactly, I was sort of walking blind hoping to come across some wet, marshy paperbark swamp in the hope of catching out a buff feeding or escaping the heat and mosquitoes in a wallow. It didn’t take long to stumble across a good wet area and while slowly wading through I heard the almighty crashing of something running through it. Downwind, in a deeper and darker part of the swamp a buffalo had smelt me and made his noisy departure. A quick scan through the binos revealed it was a young bull. “I hope they’re not all in that deep water, I’ll never get a shot”, I thought to myself. Deep swamp water and human’s don’t mix! Here in the NT, you don’t get in your bathtub without first checking if there’s a crocodile in it! However it let me know that there was buffalo in the area.
I continued on at slower pace while scanning more with the binos. For an animal as big as a buffalo they sure can take some finding in the deep shadows of the swamps.
A little further on I spied what looked to be a great swamp upwind of me. It beckoned me to come. After the first step out of a thick clump of young paperbarks into this swamp I immediately saw a bull chewing his cud in a wallow. He was facing away from me and was directly upwind. It seemed to be the perfect opportunity for a stalk. Having closed the distance to about 60metres I had another look right around me for more buffalo. Now was not the time for another buff to see me and depart with all the noise of the last one. While looking I did see another bull and although he was bigger than the bull I was stalking I had a feeling that things just weren’t going to work out if I went for him. It was one of those ‘trust your instincts’ moments. Luckily where the bigger bull was, he wasn’t going to jeopardise my stalk on the original bull. Not having to worry about any other animals blowing my stalk I worked at getting into shooting range.
After about 20 minutes of shuffling silently through the mud and water, which was at times knee deep, I was 10m from the bull. I could have got closer still but I thought that my arrow had a better chance of flying perfectly at 10 metres than at 6 metres. As much as I love to get as close as possible, that close might be too close, considering I was solo bowhunting the unpredictable water buffalo!
I got myself set for the shot. I had all the time in the world, even the rare luxury of a draw and let down to focus the mind and train the muscles. All my hard work and preparation led me to this moment. It was quite bizarre to be this close to an animal long enough to contemplate all the things that had bought me this close to realising a near lifelong dream.
Then I had to think about where I wanted to hit him, as he was slightly quartering away and laying in the water. I picked a spot I thought was good and focused on putting the arrow there. With limbs loaded at full draw the string slipped my fingers and the arrow went about an inch from the spot. I was horrified though when he got up as there was more of him underwater than I had thought. I had hit him quite high. He made for the edge of the swamp but not before stopping broadside in front of me at 10 metres, still wondering what had happened. I had nocked another arrow by now and I seized the chance of another shot. This time it was right on the money and the arrow went in to within about 4 inches of the feathers, enough to get an exit hole. Still not knowing what was going on he crashed through the remains of the swamp and through some small paperbarks and then stood still again. I saw him stumble and then go down all within 50 metres of where I shot him. There was no need to give him time so I just walked over to him and it started to sink in that I had finally done it.
approaching the downed bull
the bull
I was very keen to do an autopsy to see what I had hit and to learn about their vital anatomy. It turned out that my first shot hit the scapula and continued on and got one lung and the second shot squarely hit the centre of the heart and got both lungs too.
the bull's heart
I was pleased to say the least with how my bow and arrow combination had performed. Then came the work. I cut the whole skull off to display as a European mount as there was no way I could have skinned it for a shoulder mount as I couldn’t roll him over where he was and I wouldn’t have been able to carry the skull and cape all the way back to the ute. So with the head and some meat I started the trek back to the ute.
I was almost exhausted when I got back but that’s how the best hunts finish. Knowing that you’ve earned it!
A month later I went back to the same swamps to try again. I was walking the edge of the swamp when I saw a huge bull. Unfortunately we saw each other at the same time. Once they are on to you, you have no hope. They’re curious to the point that they will sometimes approach you to try and work out what you are, at least that’s what your hoping when a bull buffalo is walking towards you while looking down along his nose like a mafia godfather to whom you owe money.
I have been in such a standoff three times and once I had to back out as there was just no telling what he was thinking. That’s part of the thrill!
you feelin' lucky.....punk! (not the same bull as in the story, he was bigger! this is to give you the idea of the standoff situation.)
Anyway after he fled I moved on and saw a mob of cows and weaner calves. They were on the trail that I was on and moving in my direction. I nocked an arrow in case I got the chance of a shot. The lead cow stopped, wondering what I was and took a few sideways steps while the cow behind her kept coming. She then stopped at 20 metres broadside as she noticed the lead cow looking my way. I picked a spot and shot through a hole in the small bush that was between us. It was one of those shots that goes in slow motion. One of the joys of traditional archery is watching your arrow fly to its mark and that it did. Instantly she had a huge amount of blood pouring from her nose and mouth indicating a good double lung hit. She just stood there for a few seconds while the others took off. The old cow followed for a little way before succumbing. She too went down within sight. The thing that surprised me most however was that the arrow passed through her completely and was laying some 10 metres behind where she was at the time of the shot. Outstanding performance!
the cow.
Although not as thick skinned or as heavily built as a bull, a buffalo cow is still a serious lump of a beast. That signalled the end of the days hunting and the start of another packout job. Getting back to the ute was a relief as I had run out of water just before the 4 kilometre walk back. Not a nice feeling in the stifling heat of the tropics in November. After a cool drink from the camp fridge I was feeling much better. Then came the 3 hour drive by dirt road back home.
The end of another successful hunt down in the swamp and the beginning of dreaming about the next......
My buffalo tackle-
As mentioned before the bow used is a Bob Lee signature takedown recurve being 58” and 69#@ 28”
The string is an endless loop string I made myself. It is 12 strand D97 with the loops padded to 12 strands with Dacron, (that’s 6 strands of Dacron in each loop). I found in testing that I picked up around 5-7fps over the 16 strand Dacron string I used to shoot.
The shafts are Gold Tip 75/95 expedition hunters. My broadhead of choice is the blackstump solid bushmasters which after sharpening weigh in at 125gr. I use 125gr steel broadhead adapters which brings the total point mass to 250gr.
The remainder of the componentry consists of, a 100gr brass insert, a 90mm long section of the 3Rivers white 8gr/inch weight tube inside of which is glued a 90mm long piece of 4mm diameter steel rod (4mm welding rod, with the flux removed fits perfectly inside the white weight tube). This custom weight sits inside behind the insert and is held in place by filling the remainder of the shaft with the black 3gr/ inch weight tube.
Using the little custom weight helped boost the total mass to 890gr as well as the arrows FOC to 25%.
The feathers are 4 inch shield cut, with 4 of them at 90 degrees.
On the outside I have a small footing of 2219 aluminium shaft. This is mainly to prevent the insert being pushed back into the shaft.
lunch time down at the swamp
some buff wallows
Topic: solo water buffalo- my story. (Read 1131 times)
