A Central Savanna buffalo in the CAR
and you continue to make sure it's on safe. You simply cannot
allow for these professionals to think you are not an old hand
at this. The PH calls you to the front. He's handed his rifle to
the lead tracker. You wonder why but spend precious little
time thinking about it.
The PH has his battered, ancient Zeiss 8 x 40 binoculars
resting upon the shooting sticks. He's looking the herd over
for the buffalo of your dreams. “Do you see that bull on the
far right side of the herd,” he asks? You now set your scopesighted rifle into the rubber inner tube covered bamboo
shooting sticks. “Yeah - I think so.” From behind, he sights
your aim and agrees. Now the most important shot of your
hunting pursuit arrives. Your jack hammering heart races.
Your clammy palms struggling to hold the rifle steady, a shot
of a mere sixty yards seems impossible but you squeeze the
trigger. As you try to re-acquire the buffalo in your scope after
the recoil, the PH slaps you on the back with a hearty “Well
done.” Why then is the buffalo running off into the bush? A
short recovery and you've claimed your prize.
I was fortunate enough to hunt in the Central African
Republic earlier this year. On my 21-day license, I was
awarded the opportunity to hunt two Central Savanna buffalo.
Hunting for buffalo in Central Africa is polar to most ways to
hunt Cape buffalo in southern or East Africa. Most mornings
are spent checking for fresh tracks at salines or natural salt
licks. These salt licks are the essence of all life here. We would
find a fresh set of tracks from the desired species for the day
and begin to track. This is where I felt the largest difference
between Cape buffalo and Central Savanna buffalo hunting to
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be; on track, closing the distance seems faster. Much faster.
I can't really understand it.
Perhaps it's the fact that the Cape buffalo seem to be
preyed upon more. Lion are in pursuit of both species, but
human predators are more ruthless in Cape buffalo areas
and the same herds are hunted by client, after client, after
client. The least little bit of errant wind and the process starts
over. These Central Savanna buffalo don't seem to be nearly
as skittish or go as far when bumped and a bit of bad wind
doesn't seem to equate to “game over.”
And then, when we'd get to them and maybe make a
small mistake or perhaps they just seemed uneasy, there is a
tactic used I've never observed anywhere else. They can be
called back. The technique is to pinch the nose closed with
The first Central Savanna buffalo in the CAR
both index fingers and “bwaaaaaa” with an open mouth while
cupping the remaining fingers around the chin and cheeks.
Both buffalo shot on that safari were called in from a distance
of between 75 to perhaps 100 yards. I wound up taking them
both with frontal shots at about 35 yards. Mike Fell, the PH,
said he has never observed that behaviour anywhere else in
Africa, and he has tried.
Pictured are both buffalo shot in the Central African
Republic. Neither one is the Dwarf Forest subspecies. I
believe the intent of two buffalo being on license is to shoot
one of both species, which seems to me rarely occurs. Note
the difference between the fresh burn being black and the
older burn having fresh green grass.
Size-wise the Central Savanna variety is approximately
two-thirds the size of a Cape buffalo. The horn configuration,
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