I leaned very hard on the .338 for 30 years, took it from New Zealand to Africa, never saw anything that could stand up to it, and I can name at least four other hunters with similar credentials who had the same experience. Finn Aagaard wrote that it was the most useful cartridge developed since World War II. I’m speaking of the classic .338 loading, which is a strong 250-grain bullet at 2,500 to 2,600 feet per second. Deviate, and you’re on your own.
***
If you want to bash buffalo and can’t afford a .577 or a .505, the .458 Lott is the way to go.
Its effect on poor old Nyati is positively galvanic. On the negative side, its effect on you is pretty similar.
***
An accomplished marksman is a person who always makes the shots he (she, it, whatever) should, and almost always makes the “impossible” ones. The one thing all accomplished marksmen (markspersons?) have in common is reptilian self-control.
You can acquire a certain degree of lizard-like concentration through rigorous practice, but the real thing is a product of one’s total personality. Some people are born with the ability to piss ice water under pressure. Most people come unglued.
***
The one thing all successful hunters have in common is patience, which is rapidly becoming as extinct as the ability to read. Military snipers are not only taught marksmanship; they are also schooled in land navigation, stealth, and camouflage. Most of the washouts (usually more than 50 percent, for a class) flunk stealth. They try to cross open ground and get spotted. This is why long-range shooting is finding favor; it spares one the trouble and annoyance of stalking. You are no longer a hunter, but a shooter. This is legal, but it bears no relation to fair chase.
***
Nonetheless, there may come a time when you do have to take a shot at 500 yards or more, and the ability to do so should be in every hunter’s repertoire. I’ve taken, I think, five such shots in a half-century. That’s about right. But what you should remember is, spending money on a half-minute rifle and a $3,000 range-compensating scope will not make you a long-range shooter. Shooting at long range will. When you discover how difficult it is, you may want to re-think the whole thing and stick to 300 yards and under.
***
Many years ago, Dave Petzal heard the totality of big-game hunting wisdom summed up by a Montagnais Indian: “One shot, meat. Two shots, maybe. Three shots, heap s**t.” Since then, he has seen nothing to disprove it.
