This blog was written by 15-year-old hunter and conservationist Slade van Wyk. Slade and his family are keen game hunting enthusiasts and when not needed in South Africa’s Gauteng province, make their way to their game farm in the country’s famous Limpopo region.

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Key Takeaways

• Shot placement on a game hunting safari is extremely important.
• Correct shot placement will result in the quick, ethical, and humane hunting of the animal, whereas poor shot placement will result in an injured target that needs to be tracked or even one that got away completely unscathed.
• Study your prey to ensure that you know their anatomy to ensure an ethical and humane hunting safari with a quick kill.
• The vital organs are usually targeted, namely the heart and lungs.

What is Shot Placement in Terms of a Game Hunting Safari?

Shot placement is a very important factor when it comes to game hunting in Africa. When people think of shot placement, they think that the best place is to shoot an animal where there is the least amount of chance of the animal running away. In a nutshell, shot placement refers to the exact position where the hunter chooses to shoot the animal, to ensure a quick and humane kill. It is important as proper shot placement ensures a quick and humane death for the animal, as well as an ethical hunt.

There are two types of people, those who study their animal’s shot placement before their hunt and those who don’t bother even looking at a diagram or a picture. The most important part of the hunt is shot placement, nothing is more important as the challenge arises when shot placement is incorrect and causes complications on the trip.

If you aren’t aware that incorrect shot placement can mess up your whole trip, let me confirm that this, in fact, is very true. I know a couple of people that I have hunted with, and they have messed up on an animal early in the trip, and then had to spend the whole rest of their trip searching for the wounded animal!

If they had just looked at shot placement they may have not been in that situation, and I’m not saying that it’s because they didn’t look at shot placement as a lot of people (including myself) get buck fever, and then correct shot placement is also challenging.  If you are unaware of what buck fever is, essentially it is when you are looking at an animal or a target and you start to shake just a bit, which in turn affects accurate shot placement.

At the end of the day, even if you struggle with buck fever an easy way to overcome it is to take deep breaths in and out to calm you down. But an easy solution to feel comfortable while on a game hunting safari is to look at shot placement on the animal that you have in mind, so you are fully confident when the time comes.

Shot Placement when Kudu Hunting in Africa

A standard rule that most hunters follow that of aiming a third of the way up on the animal, just behind the shoulder as this is where you’ll find the heart if the animal is standing broadside. Thankfully, on big animals, the heart is bigger, and it may appear as an easier target. When it comes to a kudu bull, these animals are very strong, and even with the correct shot placement on a kudu, they are not easy to hunt. You can shoot them twice in the heart and they could still run for quite a bit before dropping to the floor.

When I shot my kudu bull which was my first one ever, we were driving in the bakkie and I was on the back, we spotted a herd of 3 young kudu bulls, and as I was going for a “biltong bull” which is then shot essentially for his meat. I wanted to shoot him where there would be as little meat damage as possible. I lined up my sights just in line with his lungs and took the shot, I hit him perfectly in the double lungs and he slowly started walking around as if he was going to die soon, I then took a shot at his head to make sure he died as quickly as possible. I pulled the trigger and he dropped to the ground. My shots weren’t the best example of shot placement on a kudu bull as the better idea would be to aim for the heart so there is very little chance of the animal running away and causing him to die as quickly as possible. But if you are more confident with taking a double lung shot as it is bigger, the animal will die if shot correctly.

Shot Placement on Gemsbok Hunting Safari

One of the largest African plains game species around, a gemsbok is one of the most difficult animals to hunt, as they have a small hump that is towards their upper back but just in line with the shoulder which tends to mess around with the rule of a third of the way up. Many people when they look at shot placement on a gemsbok, think that the heart sits a lot higher than it does, so when they go and try to shoot a gemsbok, they shoot just above the heart and miss the main vitals, of course, this is if the Gemsbok is a broadside. If you are shooting a frontal shot or even if you shoot above the heart, many vitals sit further back into his body. But that’s why studying shot placement on a Gemsbok, and any animal that you plan on targeting on a game hunting safari is very important.

On my gemsbok hunt, we were on the back of the bakkie, and I was resting my rifle on the shooting rack, we stopped them about 400 yards away, and trust me when I say, it was extremely far! We struggled to see them, so we decided to creep closer nice and slowly until we were about 300 yards away. We weren’t looking to hunt the biggest bull, I saw a nice young bull standing about 270 yards away but he was walking away. After he had walked about 10 yards away and turned broadside I knew this was my chance. Keep in mind that the bakkie was full of people and was a bit shaky, the nerves were high and I was quite stressed as he was about 280 yards away. While I know some of you who do long-distance shooting may be thinking that this isn’t that far, it was a very far shot for me.

But I took the chance, and I lined him up and took the shot, it was an amazing shot, a perfect heart shot from 280 yards away off the back of the bakkie! He ran about 20 yards before someone spotted that he had fallen to the floor, and without the animal suffering at all, this was far by my best shot on the whole trip to the Northern Cape. He measured 31” and was very big body-wise. 

Shot Placement when Springbok Hunting in Africa

When it comes to Springbok hunting safaris, most people have the mindset that they can just take a shot anywhere and get away with it. Wrong.  The challenge is that if you perhaps shoot it a bit too far back and hit the intestines, the injured animal will take off.

When springbok hunting in Africa and the animal has been shot in the intestines or elsewhere in that area, there will be less chance of finding it, unless the conditions are in your favor. For example, if the springbok has open, flat ground ahead of him, he will sprint away as quickly as possible, but because of the open ground, you can see him more easily. If you see him drop, well then at least there is a better chance of locating him, in hopes that he doesn’t stand up and try to run off even further which, if that is the case, expect a long day ahead of you!

 With shot placement on this African plains game species, all angles may be presented, for example, if he is running away, the heart will appear more forward of the animal, but you want to use the same principle, a third of the way up and more back of the animal’s body.

Try to take a picture in your head that as the animal walks away, you have to shoot it further back, keeping in mind that it may have to pass through a few more organs and muscle groups to reach the heart. You want to try and shoot the animal in a good place no matter the way he is facing, just make sure you hit him hard and try to aim for a vital organ such as the heart or lungs.

On my springbok hunting safari, my brother Logan and I were both on the back of the bakkie with two rifles. I had a .300-win mag and my brother with a smaller caliber. He took the first shot but it hit the ram a bit low, so he didn’t drop, he proceeded to run and stumble along the dry land of the Northern Cape. Eventually, he stopped behind a bush and my brother tried to shoot him in the head as that was all we could see of him. I put a bullet into the chamber and pulled the trigger and he dropped. Fortunately, it was a head shot so he dropped on the spot.

Shot Placement for Black Wildebeest Hunting in Africa

The Black Wildebeest is a unique animal and the target for many African plains game hunting safaris. The wildebeest is a very strong animal and is also known as a “poor man’s buffalo,” as it is one of the strongest and toughest animals in the whole of South Africa. The same rule applies when black wildebeest hunting in Africa: Aim a third of the way up and just behind the shoulder, thankfully if you don’t hit the heart directly, wildebeest have a very big pair of lungs which will be the target.

 On this specific hunt, I was on the back of the bakkie, and after driving for quite a while, we spotted a herd of wildebeest. There is always only one big problem with a wildebeest game hunting safari in these conditions: They love to run…and trust me, they don’t stop until they are out of danger!

One of the herds we found was thankfully not as skittish as the other herds and I spotted a bull roaming around towards the edge of the herd. I lined up the .300-win mag and pulled the trigger, I hit the animal on the back of the bull and thankfully it got the lungs. He ran about 50 yards before dropping. This was honestly one of the occasions where I was most worried about shot placement because if I had not hit the lungs, the bull would have run even further than he did, and make the hunt even more challenging for me to track and find him. Thankfully, I hit the lungs!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is shot placement?

Shot placement refers to the location of the bullet or bow when it hits the target. When on a game hunting safari, it refers to the place on the animal’s body which is best to aim for, to ensure a quick, ethical, and humane death for the animal.

Why is shot placement important when on a game hunting safari?

Excellent or accurate shot placement allows the hunter to quickly and humanely target and kill the animal without having the animal suffer.

Where is the best shot placement?

Shot placement on the animal is usually aimed at the vital organs of the heart and lungs. Alternatively, should the hunter be able to make the shot accurately and humanely, a headshot is another option. The challenge with a headshot is that the trophy will more than likely be ruined.

Conclusion

Shot placement remains a paramount part of the equation when game hunting in Africa. Ensure that you adequately prepare yourself by researching the species you wish to hunt and become familiar with their anatomy and the best options for shot placement.

Not only will this assist you while hunting with accurate shot placement but will allow for a quick and humane death of the animal concerned.

Author: Slade van Wyk