Do I really need a .375 H&H ?

hamhock said:
Awesome trophy Doug.If you had to choose between hunting lion or leopard again which one would you pick?
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Been hunting that f**king leopard for 25 years, four different hunts for a total of something in excess of 50 nights in a leopard blind. I'm the most experienced leopard hunter in the world, for someone who doesn't do it for a living. I never want to spend another mosquito bitten, spider crawled on, scorpion harassed, smokeless, motionless night in a leopard blind as long as I live. On this hunt my PH commented that I was, without a doubt, the quietest leopard hunter he had ever sat a blind with. I ignored him!!!
I'd hunt lion again, but they are scary SOBs at night. They go from shy, skulking ghosts in the daylight to king of the bush at night. They will actually try to get in the blind with you...........had one sniffing my ass at about 6" while in my leopard blind in Zambia, made concentrating on a leopard very difficult, specially with my 375 pointed backwards at the snuffing going on there. I suspect a female as she snuffed a bit, probably got our scent and padded off quietly to attend to something elsewhere.......Thank you God. Things would have been tight and deadly had she decided to come through the thatch wall of the blind. Pretty much f**ked me for leopard hunting for the rest of the night, only I didn't want to leave the blind in the pitch ass black either. We waited 1/2 hour or so then beat it for the road and summoned the truck. Don't think I even had the safety on for that little walk...................
 
c-fbmi said:
Been hunting that f**king leopard for 25 years, four different hunts for a total of something in excess of 50 nights in a leopard blind. I'm the most experienced leopard hunter in the world, for someone who doesn't do it for a living. I never want to spend another mosquito bitten, spider crawled on, scorpion harassed, smokeless, motionless night in a leopard blind as long as I live. On this hunt my PH commented that I was, without a doubt, the quietest leopard hunter he had ever sat a blind with. I ignored him!!!
I'd hunt lion again, but they are scary SOBs at night. They go from shy, skulking ghosts in the daylight to king of the bush at night. They will actually try to get in the blind with you...........had one sniffing my ass at about 6" while in my leopard blind in Zambia, made concentrating on a leopard very difficult, specially with my 375 pointed backwards at the snuffing going on there. I suspect a female as she snuffed a bit, probably got our scent and padded off quietly to attend to something elsewhere.......Thank you God. Things would have been tight and deadly had she decided to come through the thatch wall of the blind. Pretty much f**ked me for leopard hunting for the rest of the night, only I didn't want to leave the blind in the pitch ass black either. We waited 1/2 hour or so then beat it for the road and summoned the truck. Don't think I even had the safety on for that little walk...................
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Great hunt narrative Douglas. Enjoyed that. PM coming.
 
Leakage is a little creek in back of us, poor positioning for photo unfortunately. Very uneventful kill actually, been in the blind about 15-20 min, cat jumped up to taste the bait.......still daylight......and I killed the sh!t out of her with the old 375, before the PH could say "DON'T SHOOT"..................C'est la vie.........Now I need a big Tom to go with her............SH!T.........more nights in the leopard blind. I think I'll go to Namibia where they track them or use dogs or anything besides sitting all night in leopard blinds with the bugs and the snakes and the lions, I REALLY am getting too old for that sh!t.
 
c-fbmi said:
Leakage is a little creek in back of us, poor positioning for photo unfortunately. Very uneventful kill actually, been in the blind about 15-20 min, cat jumped up to taste the bait.......still daylight......and I killed the sh!t out of her with the old 375, before the PH could say "DON'T SHOOT"..................C'est la vie.........Now I need a big Tom to go with her............SH!T.........more nights in the leopard blind. I think I'll go to Namibia where they track them or use dogs or anything besides sitting all night in leopard blinds with the bugs and the snakes and the lions, I REALLY am getting too old for that sh!t.
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Having spent half my life in one sort of blind or stand... I know exactly what you mean... I tend to be an optimistic sort, but at times the mind does wander and when there are insects, you can hear the second hand ticking away...
 
c-fbmi said:
Hey, found the leopard photo that belongs with the other 375 H&H kill, er I mean resume, photos..................

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Very nice! I think Namibia is where I would like to go, drink beer and chase them with dogs. Sounds ideal to me. Just have to save up enough to do that and buy the wife a boat at the same time.
 
MiG25 said:
Very nice! I think Namibia is where I would like to go, drink beer and chase them with dogs. Sounds ideal to me. Just have to save up enough to do that and buy the wife a boat at the same time.
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And some of the best beer in the world MiG...........Windhoek Beer........I don't even like beer and I'll drink Windhoek............
 
c-fbmi said:
And some of the best beer in the world MiG...........Windhoek Beer........I don't even like beer and I'll drink Windhoek............
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I think that beer must just taste better in Africa, as you know I'm not much of a drinker, but I'll drink beer in Africa; in Tanzania the brands were Tusker and Kilimanjaro.

Interesting commentary about lion hunting in a blind by the way. Sullivan has a story where he and a client were watching a lion bait from a blind when a couple of juveniles came in to feed. When the big male appeared, one scooted, but the other attempted to hold his ground, and got thrashed for his trouble. But that wasn't enough for junior, he returned and once again tried to feed. The male charged him, he took off, and yup, he crashed right in the blind with the PH and his client. I don't recall how it all ended, but Sullivan was able to tell the story.
 
Boomer said:
I think that beer must just taste better in Africa, as you know I'm not much of a drinker, but I'll drink beer in Africa; in Tanzania the brands were Tusker and Kilimanjaro.

Interesting commentary about lion hunting in a blind by the way. Sullivan has a story where he and a client were watching a lion bait from a blind when a couple of juveniles came in to feed. When the big male appeared, one scooted, but the other attempted to hold his ground, and got thrashed for his trouble. But that wasn't enough for junior, he returned and once again tried to feed. The male charged him, he took off, and yup, he crashed right in the blind with the PH and his client. I don't recall how it all ended, but Sullivan was able to tell the story.
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I've cut back on it in recent years but on last falls visit to England, in addition to trying my hand at sporting clays,



I did indulge' in my fair share of Guinness.

 
Funny, both Namibia and Tanzania were German colonies, one of the first things to do was set up a brewery. During WWI, it was noted in Namibia that wherever a German patrol stopped there were always empty beer bottles, the South Africans found this insulting because all they had was a small amount of brakish water to drink.
 
From AfricaHunting.com ;) RJ

its been almost a month since someone's posted on this thread but I was in a similar situation to the OP so I figured id chime in. recently I was trying to choose between the 375 H&H and the 375 Ruger. I hate to say it but in the end it was a pretty easy choice, the .375 H&H won out as it has for the last 102 years. here are the basic reasons why:

- History: the .375 H&H has a solid reputation as a successful African game cartridge and is mentioned favorably by nearly every great hunter since its creation.

- power/ballistics: the .375 Ruger and the .375 H&H are nearly twins in this department with a slight edge going to the Ruger.

- price: the .375 H&H is much more affordable and available in many more loads then the .375 Ruger.

-reloading: now I keep hearing the .375 Ruger is better for reloaders but as an avid reloader I would disagree. the .375 Ruger is still a proprietary cartridge which means there is only one source of brass and they are free to dictate the price and availability. so the .375 Ruger brass can be reloaded more times then the H&H brass? if you've priced .375 Ruger brass lately you will quickly find that H&H brass is both more available and MUCH cheaper. heck, ive found once fired and even new .375 H&H brass for as little as $0.50 a piece! (gotta keep yer eye out for deals)

:rockOn: 375 H&H owners ! :D RJ
 
remington jim said:
From AfricaHunting.com ;) RJ

its been almost a month since someone's posted on this thread but I was in a similar situation to the OP so I figured id chime in. recently I was trying to choose between the 375 H&H and the 375 Ruger. I hate to say it but in the end it was a pretty easy choice, the .375 H&H won out as it has for the last 102 years. here are the basic reasons why:

- History: the .375 H&H has a solid reputation as a successful African game cartridge and is mentioned favorably by nearly every great hunter since its creation.

- power/ballistics: the .375 Ruger and the .375 H&H are nearly twins in this department with a slight edge going to the Ruger.

- price: the .375 H&H is much more affordable and available in many more loads then the .375 Ruger.

-reloading: now I keep hearing the .375 Ruger is better for reloaders but as an avid reloader I would disagree. the .375 Ruger is still a proprietary cartridge which means there is only one source of brass and they are free to dictate the price and availability. so the .375 Ruger brass can be reloaded more times then the H&H brass? if you've priced .375 Ruger brass lately you will quickly find that H&H brass is both more available and MUCH cheaper. heck, ive found once fired and even new .375 H&H brass for as little as $0.50 a piece! (gotta keep yer eye out for deals)

:rockOn: 375 H&H owners ! :D RJ
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How sad it must be to have to choose an inferior cartridge, just to save a few bucks.
 
remington jim said:
From AfricaHunting.com ;) RJ

its been almost a month since someone's posted on this thread but I was in a similar situation to the OP so I figured id chime in. recently I was trying to choose between the 375 H&H and the 375 Ruger. I hate to say it but in the end it was a pretty easy choice, the .375 H&H won out as it has for the last 102 years. here are the basic reasons why:

- History: the .375 H&H has a solid reputation as a successful African game cartridge and is mentioned favorably by nearly every great hunter since its creation.

- power/ballistics: the .375 Ruger and the .375 H&H are nearly twins in this department with a slight edge going to the Ruger.

- price: the .375 H&H is much more affordable and available in many more loads then the .375 Ruger.

-reloading: now I keep hearing the .375 Ruger is better for reloaders but as an avid reloader I would disagree. the .375 Ruger is still a proprietary cartridge which means there is only one source of brass and they are free to dictate the price and availability. so the .375 Ruger brass can be reloaded more times then the H&H brass? if you've priced .375 Ruger brass lately you will quickly find that H&H brass is both more available and MUCH cheaper. heck, ive found once fired and even new .375 H&H brass for as little as $0.50 a piece! (gotta keep yer eye out for deals)

:rockOn: 375 H&H owners ! :D RJ
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:)PM sent.
 
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