The following information is intended as guidelines only for hunting in Mozambique. Unlike the South African hunting season that runs from March to October, hunting in Mozambique takes place from June to November. Medium calibres are used for plains game hunting while a minimum calibre of .375 will be needed if you plan to hunt buffalos or elephants. At least 50% of your heavy calibre ammunition should be soft point bullets. You should note that for hunting in Mozambique the regulations stipulate a maximum of 60 rounds for each rifle meaning that you should bring around 20 solids for the hunt. Remember to get all the required vaccinations before boarding the plane and keep gadgets to a minimum ensuring that the trip will be memorable and hunting in Mozambique will be done according to ethical practices.

Ethical bow hunting practices as followed by WTA include hunting of specific animals only -including steenbuck, duiker, impala, springbok, rhino, elephant, giraffe, and more with bows and arrows which meet specific standards. Should the animal be wounded, ethical bow hunting practice will mean that you will allow the outfitter or hunting expedition leader to shoot it and thus show mercy to the animal. Before taking a shot, you should enquire from the hunt expedition leader what the best kill shot will be and ensure that nothing obstructs the path of the arrow to ensure that the animal is killed with the first shot rather than having it suffer. Ethical bow hunting also extends to the photo taken afterwards. Never stand or sit on the animal and first clean the animal to ensure that blood is not visible on the photo. A person that follows ethical bow hunting principles will not participate in the sport of canned hunts and will preserve nature.

Don’t be fooled by the size and humorous look of the warthog. The animals are quick and some skill will be required to shoot them. We offer warthog hunting as part of our game hunt safaris in South Africa. Because you will see them almost anywhere in Southern Africa, you will not go on warthog hunting safaris, but rather shoot them as part of one of the other game hunt safaris that we offer. Any .22 calibre will suffice. They are normally to be found near waterholes, rivers and in woodlands. It is easy to spot the difference between the male and the female as the male has two warts on the face whilst the female only has one. Although not worth going on warthog hunting safaris, you will appreciate the opportunity to shoot one as part of the game hunt safaris offered by WTA.

The springbok is to be found throughout Southern Africa and is mainly a plains animal that can survive in drier areas. It is fast and you will thus need a long shot rifle and will require skill to shoot 300 yards or more. It is rather difficult to get close to the animals. As such you will enjoy the excitement that goes with springbok hunting. If all else fails, you can try to wait them in by lying low and surprising the animals. Their curiosity will count in your favour. Springbok hunting takes a lot of patience and you will require a bit of physical endurance to keep up with their movements. Any calibre in the range of .270 or 30.06 will do the trick. Since you will most probably have to aim from a distance, the best shot will be one aimed at the brown stripe that runs across the body.

I wondered long and hard whether I should attempt an article to debate the frequently asked question: What is the one all round rifle/caliber for hunting of all the African/South African game species?

I concluded that I would try my hand, so to speak, on such an article but with a slightly different slant. The reason being that I do not believe that there is one “perfect” rifle/caliber for hunting all of the game species found in Africa/South Africa. There is simply just to much variance between the size of game (Duiker compared to Elephant) and shooting distances (60m compared to 300m).

However, it is my opinion that there is a particular caliber that is “most suited” to hunt all the game species found in Africa/South Africa compared to the other available calibres.

Being a Human Resources Specialist of trade I approached the question as if I was to recruit and select the most appropriate candidate for a very specific job.

The candidates presenting the required skills on the face of it are: the 338 Win Mag, 9.3 X 62, 416 Riby and 375 H&H in no particular order.

The selection criteria for the job of “Most Suited Rifle/Caliber” for hunting all game species in Africa/South Africa are the following:

1. Ability to shoot heavier bullets (250grains +) ensuring a clean kill when hunting all sizes of African/South African game from the Common Grey Duiker to the Wildebeest and Eland to the big five.

2. Must be able to shoot these bullets at high velocities (2500 fps +) to ensure a flat trajectory with enough energy at long distances.

3. Must have the ability to shoot lighter loads for hunting of all African/South African game at slower velocities (2300 fps) in the bushveld at shorter distances.

Now before I continue I want to make it clear that I have stated the above criteria very simplicitly because this is not a technically loaded article but intends to subscribe to the KISS principle – Keep it short and simple.

Now, lets begin with the selection process:

· The 338 Win Mag shoots heavier bullets, up to 300 grains, at the required trajectory and has proven to be the ideal candidate when hunting African/South African game at longer distances. 220 grain bullets can be loaded up to a velocities of 2900 fps. Larger bullets on the other hand can be loaded down to shoot at much slower velocities which also makes it an ideal caliber for hunting at short distances in the African/South African bush. It is very versatile but has one critical shortcoming – it does not qualify as “legal tender” for the hunting of dangerous or big five game in Africa/South Africa.

· The 9.3 X 62 again is excellent for hunting in the South African/African bushveld as it shoots heavier bullets at slower velocities. Its shorcomings is that it is not ideal for hunting at longer distances and is also not “legal tender” for hunting of the big five and dangerous game in Africa/South Africa.

· The 416 Rigby, as the 9.3 X 62 is ideal for bushveld hunting and does also not shoot flat trajectories to be useful for hunting at longer distances. It however has it in its favour that it may legally be used for the hunting of the big five and dangerous game in Africa/South Africa.

· The 375 H&H has the ability to shoot heavy bullets at fast velocities and flat trajectories which makes it a good rifle for hunting at longer distances. On the other hand it is also ideal for hunting of the African/South African game species in the bushveld at shorter distances. Then, different to the 338 Win Mag, it may be legally used for hunting of African/South African big game and dangerous game species. However it must still be kept in mind that it is still classified as a medium bore caliber and is not the ideal rifle to hunt dangerous/big five game – the 416 calibers and upwards are much more suited for the task.

Now lets draw the short list in order of most suited for the job to least suited:

In Summary:

All the above rifles calibres are good depending on what you intend to hunt and at which distances.

• If you want to bring one rifle to hunt all of the African/South African game at short distances in the African/South African bush or at longer distances on the plains the 375 H&H should be your choice, but remember it is not the best suited caliber for hunting of the big five or dangerous game.
• If you want to hunt the big five/dangerous game and other African/South African game in the bush at shorter distances the 416 Rigby and bigger bores should be your choice but remember these calibres are not suites for hunting at longer ranges.
• On the other hand if you are not interested in hunting of the African/Shouth African big five/dangerous game soecies but want to hunt plains game and other of the African/South African bushveld species at shorter distances you will be well suited with the 338 Win Mag.
• The 9.3 X 62 is best suited if you want to hunt the African/South African game species in the bush at shorter distances. It is however not ideal for long distance hunting.

Hope this information assists you if you are the hunter limited to one rifle.

Roy Coetser

Part 3: Rifle Calibers and their killing ability

Information obtained from the booklet “The Ability of Firearm Cartridges” compiled by Mr. Fanie Combrink from Magnum Arms South Africa.

Definition of the concept: Relative Killing Ability (RKA)

RKA is the comparing value of the specific bullet of the most popular calibres and is calculated in the following way:

• MUZZLE ENERGY (ME) x SECTIONAL DENSITY (SD) x the BULLET WEIHT (BW) retained after impact of the target, calculated according to the bullet retention scale used for popular standard bullet weights of all popular hunting calibers. We cannot say what the minimum RKA value is for every animal and distance at which we hunt because it can never be predicted before. We can say that the RKA values are a way of measuring the ability of different cartridges and bullet weights at the different distances of a well placed shot.

Now that the  concept of RKA has been explained it will be applied to popular hunting calibers below:

SMALL BORES

.22 RIMFIRE

The .22 rim fire cartridge is a wonderful calibre for target shooting, varmint and all small plague animals such as rats and many more.  It is also used for culling in boma’s with a silencer and sub sonic ammunition.  It is the caliber most people in Africa learn to shoot with because of the inexpensive ammunition, low sound noise and accuracy.

.22 WINCHESTER MAGNUM

The .22 Winchester Magnum rim fire round is bigger in diameter with a longer case than the .22 long rifles.  It can be used on birds, rabbits and culling at short distance shooting head shots.  It is not a hunting caliber and can only be used as a small varmint round and is useless for body shots even on small game when hunting in Africa..

.22 HORNET

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HUNTING RIFLES FOR HUNTING IN AFRICA