I'm told he shoots them with .22's. It can actually be seen in some of the clips I've watched. When the sound shuts off, you can see the dust fly on their hide.
The doubters can take my word for it, Sullivan is an ethical PH, and there are few in the business who can match his knowledge or work ethic. I didn't see any unethical behavior while I was there, and neither does any of his other clients. There's been a lot of bull written about this guy on the internet which simply has no basis in fact.
As for shooting dangerous game with a rimfire, I never even saw one in camp. You saw dust fly off the side of a buffalo and assumed it was the shot with a .22?? I suppose the amount of dust that flies from a .375 strike looks pretty insignificant compared to strikes by .500's, .577's or .600's. I've shot my share of small to medium sized game with a .22 and I can't recall ever seeing a bullet strike on game, except when feathers are knocked off birds. Its pretty easy to mismatch the film and the sound when editing, which is what likely happened.
Sullivan says, many of his clients shoot poorly enough to provide plenty of opportunities to face charges from wounded buffalo. He doesn't intentionally wound anything. Hippos on the other hand don't need a great deal of encouragement, and they will often enthusiastically charge unwounded when on dry ground.
Sullivan's been in the business and making videos since 1989. The Tanzanian hunting season runs from July to October. If on average his clients hunt 10 days. That works out to 123 hunting days per year, and roughly 12 clients per year who are allowed 2 buffalo each which is a total of 24 buffalo. Over 20 years this totals 480 buffalo, to say nothing of elephants, hippos, and big cats. He claims his clients have taken over 500 buffalo and I have no reason to doubt him. Out of 500 buffalo taken during 20 years of professional hunting, it does not seem unreasonable to catch a couple dozen charges on camera, as each safari is videoed, just as it doesn't seem unreasonable that over a 20 year period there are a few buffalo captured on camera that exceeded 48".
