Four-Bore Bulls By Cal Pappas

By Cal Pappas

Basie and Angela Kuhn’s Haakdoorn Safaris has become for me the ideal place to hunt Cape buffalo. While the ranch abounds in plains game it is the buffalo that turns one’s head.

The author’s first buffalo in the day’s waning light. With a massive boss and a width of 42½ inches, the buffalo is nearly as big is the 4-bore Rodda.

Haakdoorn Safaris is a ranch about an hour’s drive north of Thabazimbi, South Africa. It is a huge property. The perimeter fence is 57 kilometers! A small portion of the ranch is set aside for breeding buffalo, and hunting is not allowed there. The vast majority of the ranch is not divided into paddocks, and herds of buffalo, impala, hartebeest, waterbuck, gemsbok, blue wildebeest, sable, roan, bushbuck, eland, nyala, giraffe, and kudu run free and are born, live, breed, and die on the property. Warthogs are everywhere. Bird-watching is second to none. Leopards live on the ranch but, of course, are illegal to hunt.

My first hunt was there in 2018 for my first hunt together with PH Mark Sullivan who I have known for 20 years. In 2019 I hunted with Johan Biewenga, the ranch manager and resident PH. The hunting world was paralyzed in 2020 by COVID but in 2021 I returned to hunt Haakdoorn with Basie guiding me for buffalo.

I took a wonderful 43” buffalo with average bosses. My first shots with my beloved John Wilkes .600 double were high as I took too much bead in the back sight’s V for a quick shot. Later in the day the bull dropped instantly when I took the time to aim properly. 2019 saw a 39” buffalo fall as well as an impala, two warthogs, bushbuck, and an immense 26”hartebeest. I used a .450-400 Harrison and Hussey boxlock ejector that belonged to the big game hunter and cricket champion Douglas Jardine; he owned the rifle from 1933 until his death in 1958. My buffalo was down with a quick left and right and all plains game here (and 11 more in Botswana the following week) fell to one shot. The hartebeest was killed at 219 yards which is my longest shot with a double.

COVID ended my hunting hopes for 2020 but all was open in 2021 for my twenty-second hunting trip to Africa. Double rifles are the love of my life, and I try to bring a different one on my hunting ventures, so this time I brought a 4-bore double rifle by RB Rodda. Made in 1885 and weighing 23 pounds (24 when loaded!) I felt it proper to return this monstrous antique to the hunting fields once again. Twenty rounds of ammunition balanced the scales at the airline limit of 11 pounds (5 kg).

My load for the Rodda was 120 grains of Blue Dot shotgun powder, a ⅛” over powder wad set to 100 pounds of pressure, several foam or felt spacer wads, topped with a 1400-grain round ball sized to .970” and held securely with a light crimp. Muzzle velocity averaged 1655 fps with a muzzle energy of 8516 ft.lbs. and John Taylor KO (knock out) value of 321.

I fired well over 100 shots on a rest at my front yard shooting range at 50 yards at my home in Alaska. Six shot strings averaged four inches and I was confident I could hit the kill zone on a buffalo at that distance.

After a quick and effortless pass through passport control my checked bag was first on the carousel. Johan Nel met me and we left for the 3½ hour drive to the ranch. The next day Basie greeted me and we spent the day driving the ranch looking at

Cal’s second buffalo taken with the Rodda 4. With Johan Nel, PH for Haakdoorn Safaris.

several varieties of game. Having had 21 hunting trips in Africa I was not looking for any more plains game and a 4-bore is not a plains game rifle. The center of Basie’s ranch is a huge flat plain of perhaps eight square miles of two-foot-high dead grass. We glassed but saw few buffalo just horn tips and bosses - they were lying down in the midday heat.

In the next morning’s coolness before the sun warmed the land, I was able to see several groups of buffalo in the vast plain and also in the bush and woods surrounding the plain. With the wind in our favor, Basie and I began several stalks that all ended in frustration. If the buffalo did not notice us, it was wildebeest, gemsbok, hartebeest that did, and when they ran they spooked the buffalo. But I did notice one bull with an absolutely huge boss, about 40 inches. We decided to try to spot him the next day.

The next day we glassed from several vantage points and in the afternoon finally spotted the bull in a different group with both bulls and cows. It would be impossible to stalk him in the open without any trees to hide our movements. The small herd was slowly moving in a consistent direction towards a waterhole in some trees. We left our vehicle and moved to the grass in the area we guessed they would eventually walk to.

Towards day’s end they were approaching shooting distance. We waited a few hours, watching and glassing. Hartebeest and gemsbok came into us from different directions, saw us, but thankfully walked away rather than break into a full run. Wildebeest that came our way did run but as they run at anything, anytime, it didn’t seem to matter.

As the sun was rapidly approaching the horizon the buffalo were there and I could plainly see the targeted bull - he was close. The only problem was waiting for him to present a shot. I wanted a sideon shot and didn’t want another buffalo directly behind my bull in case of a passthrough shot. (Eleven years prior I shot two bison in South Dakota with a Robert Hughes 4-bore and the spherical balls passed through both bulls). At 60 yards the Rodda was on sticks as I waited for the best time to shoot. Then, when I was ready to shoot, we were noticed! Time stood still as first one, then another, then all stopped grazing to stare at us.

After what seemed like an eternity, some cows and young ones broke and ran to our left. The bulls followed suit and I

thought, “Damn, will I ever get this close again?” But as the bulls slowed, my bull turned and was quartering on to me at 50+ yards. I aimed at the bull’s shoulder and I shot high and to the right. At the shot, all the buffalo ran as did my bull. But, he was hit and hit hard as he did not run with the others. We could plainly see a lump protruding from the bull’s back right side as he turned to run. The ball had hit just behind the left shoulder and passed through several feet of soft tissue and came to a stop just ahead of the rear right leg.

He was on the run now and so were we. When he stopped we were able to get a second shot at 80 yards hit him in the same place and we found out later a second ball was near the first one on his back right side. He was moving but slowing down and two more shots were “Hail Mary” shots that hit him but not fatally. We approached, Basie with his stunning Westley Richards .577 at the ready as was my 4-bore, and I put the last shot between his shoulders through his spine.

At close examination Basie was as amazed as I was. Final measurement was a width of 42½” and his bosses measured 17” on the right and 18” on the left. Not the widest horn spread I have shot but the best overall and by far the largest boss! We returned to camp after last light, a hot shower and dinner, then early to bed. Hunting was done, or so I thought.

What to do the next day? Well, as I had my buffalo down (and what a buffalo it was!) Basie offered me an impala or warthog at no charge. Great! I could not see me walking with the 4-bore all day in the bush and I doubt I could make a quick snap shot with a 24-pound rifle. The range limitations were also a factor. We decided on a quick blind under a tree with a few branches in place to conceal our presence as well as provide a rifle rest. As the bush was open I could view a couple of hundred yards to spot game. The hours passed easily in the shade of the tree, sitting on folding chairs with a cooler box close by.

Two trophy impala in the 26 to 28-inch range were seen as were several warthogs coming to a nearby pan to drink, as well as kudu and a waterbuck, all of which were out of range. Giraffe wandered close by within shooting distance of the big rifle but not on the docket for this hunt. After several hours and realizing the odds were not in my favor, Basie called for the Land Cruiser to come to pick us up. We loaded the cooler box, the chairs and my rifle in and climbed aboard. Sitting there discussing the futility of the day, Basie’s PH, Johan Nel, quietly said, “Shhhhhh” and pointed. A roan bull was making his way through the bush, angling in our direction. Basie looked at me and whispered he was an excellent bull and to take him if I was confident of the shot but that he was not a free one as was the impala or warthog offer.

We three were all very still as I slowly moved the 4-bore into position. The roan changed direction a bit as he noticed us but did not quickly run off. We were all in the vehicle but the vehicle was not moving and was also behind the blind and the tree. Now the bull was walking to our left and moving away. He was still in motion when I touched off the left barrel. Again I hit to the right behind the shoulder (perhaps because he was moving to my left) and a bit high. The bull jumped and kicked, ran a very short distance and collapsed from massive blood loss from the entrance and exit holes and out of his nose and mouth. As with the buffalo, there was little meat damage as would have occurred from a high velocity expanding bullet. Rather, just a one-inch hole from a heavy spherical ball at moderate velocity.

The range was 55 meters or about 60 yards. Better than we thought at first, the roan was an excellent trophy at 28¼” with a base circumference of 9¼ inches. Shot from a vehicle, yes, but not spotted from a vehicle and also the vehicle was not moving. It’s your judgement call. While the recoil from the 4-bore is significant I can tolerate it well and not flinch. But when Basie told me the trophy fee on the roan bull I was set back more than from the recoil of the 4-bore!

A day of reminiscing about the hunt and talking of further hunts followed, game viewing at hides at waterholes, and at lunch Basie said casually, “Cal, you have ammunition remaining and some time on the ranch, let’s have a go at another buffalo.” Still shell-shocked from the roan’s trophy fee and perhaps not thinking clearly from the recoil of the Rodda 4 slamming my brain within my skull cavity, I agreed. (I could also sell my insulin to help cover the trophy fee).

We spotted buffalo, but the day was getting on so we returned the next day— my last on the ranch this year. Having a bull of a lifetime already down the pressure was off. We spotted a pair of bulls perhaps two kilometers away lying in the open, their horns just above the level of the grass. If I shot another bull that would be wonderful and if I didn’t I would have some money to come home with. We began to stalk with the wind in our favor to get a closer look at the headgear. Closing the distance to less than half of when we first spotted them,

The huge buffalo’s skull on Johan Nel’s vehicle showing the boss and the thickness of the horns.

Cal’s missing skulls from his 2019 hunt at Haakdoorn and Jaco Viser’s NKWE Safaris in Botswana. With Cliff Williamson, owner of Savuti.

we could see their horns clearly though our binoculars. Both bulls were in the trophy class with the wider one being soft in the boss. The other was an old bull, narrower but with a solid boss. Nothing, however, to compare with my first bull.

Basie, Johan, and I moved in, all in a line one behind the other to keep the buffalo from seeing too much of us. We walked up to the last half kilometer in the general direction of the pair but moving a line behind a small bushy tree to conceal our movement. As we approached the tree we stopped and glassed. The older bull on the right swung his head in our direction as his companion got up. Johan set up the shooting sticks ahead of the bush and as I leveled my rifle’s sights on the old bull, he stood. As they could run at any moment I put the fine bead in the rear sight’s shallow V on bull’s chest and pressed the rear trigger. A solid hit it was, and the bull jumped and staggered backward. A second shot dropped him instantly. The first shot was ranged at 85 yards and the second at 95. Not a great bull but 37 inches wide with a nice solid boss.

The day was done as was the hunting. The sun was going down as rapidly as my bank account when we stopped at the camp’s rifle range and all present had a go with the Rodda. They burned up what remained of my ammunition, giving them the experience of shooting a rare and massive vintage double rifle in the largest of the shoulder-held sporting rifle calibers. It was sad to say goodbye to Basie and his family as they have become good friends and it would be another year until I saw them again. It is planned for Basie and his family to visit me in Alaska in 2023.

The next morning Johan drove me two hours south to Langkloof Game Farm toI spend four days with friends there who managed the property. Johan and Joey Biewenga are also good friends and I had saved a few rounds from the Rodda so Johan could have a go at his target range. Johan and I spent my final day in Pretoria at Safari and Outdoor, showing the Rodda to interested employees and

They always bring home something from Africa to decorate his Alaska log home. This year the Selous model from Courtney and a rifle rack from Uvami Gun Accessories are safely in place.

customers, and buying a pair of my favorite footwear: Courteney Boots’ Selous model. I also ordered a magnificent rifle rack from Uvami Gun Accessories. I saw Johan’s rack three years ago at Basie’s ranch and wanted one ever since. Now, that I was about out of money I was able to spend my last dollars on a 5-gun rack made from African teak wood. The craftsmanship is 100% and it was made to my desires. The owners or Uvami are superb craftsman in wood and leather. I would encourage fellow hunters to order one when on safari and collect it on the way to Tambo airport as the shop is only 15 minutes away. Even with the extra bag fee the total cost is well under half of what similar racks sell for when imported to the states. Look at the photo and judge for yourself. My rack will be used several times a week in Alaska when mates come to my home range to shoot double rifles as well as clays with shotguns. Plus, like my Courtneys, it is yet another piece of Africa I can bring home. (My visit to Zimbabwe was cancelled because of COVID.)

AHG1515

Mahango National Park Namibia, Okavango River Exclusive Hunting & Photographic Safaris “It’s all about the experience”

I would like to give a positive thumbs-up to Cliff Williamson of Savuti Taxidermy in Johannesburg. I visited Savuti on my departure from SA as Cliff had completed my 16 trophies from my 2019 hunts in SA and Botswana. It was difficult and time consuming to get the skulls from Botswana. Cluster you-know-what is more like it. The agent for my hunter in Botswana, kept the trophies for over a year and said nothing. When they were finally delivered he did not bring my best eland skull. A year later the missing eland was delivered but all of my flat skins were not. While I would hunt in Botswana in a minute with Jaco Viser of NKWE Safaris, I will never do business with his agent in the south of that country. And, to add insult to injury, the agent still has Cliff’s Botswana trophies and Cliff hunted with Jaco one week after I did. Within a couple of months as I write this my three skulls from this hunt will be added to the completed batch and I should have them to decorate my Alaska log home.

The Africa experience gets better with each passing year!

Cal’s Opinion:

A common criticism of South Africa is, “It’s not fair chase.” There are many small farms in South Africa that are “put and take” hunting. I have seen lions in small paddocks separated by mane size and mane color; 60-inch kudu bulls purchased and released the day before the hunter arrives; rhino and other animals darted and measured then sold by the inch, etc. But this is not the entire scope of hunting in South Africa. And, “fair chase” hunting countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, and Tanzania are not always so. In Zimbabwe a hunter and PH relayed to me their strategy for a big kudu bull was to drive at night in the hope a big bull would be frozen by the headlights and then be shot from the back of the Land Cruiser. In the Tsholotsho area, a water hole sits 100 feet from Hwange Park’s southern border. Hunters there wait at night with a spotlight in the hope of shooting a 60+ pound elephant bull as he comes to drink. Are baited lions and leopards fair chase? Or the same cats shot at night with a spotlight? We will never know how many plains and dangerous game are shot from the vehicle when encountered on a drive. Is bowhunting fair chase or waiting in a hide or tree stand for the quarry to come to bait or water? “Fair chase” may have many different definitions.