[Guymullins]

A good example of a heavy bullet performing beyond expectations. I spotted three very large warthog running towards a ravine about four hundred yards from where we were driving in the hunting Land Rover. I took the tracker and we headed them off as they entered the densely wooded area in the ravine. We were up-sun and also luckily downwind of them, so we could approach quickly and closely without alarming them. The wind was gusting about twenty knots but it was a warm berg wind, so the temperature in KwaZulu Natal was about 31C. WE had great difficulty in seeing the hogs as the bush was very dense, but we could hear them feeding and at times smell them as we got closer. After about an hour of steady walking up hill and down dale, the Tracker , who was to my right about five paces, halted and pointed dead in front of me. I couldn't see anything as a large dense bush was in front. The Tracker lay slowly down, indicating that the pig was right there, behind the bush. By slowly moving my head, I managed to glimpse an eye and an ear. By moving my head more, the picture of a grey body faintly showed through the bush. I knew that if I moved, the pig, which was no more that six yards away, would hear me and be off in a flash.I slowly inched the rifle up to my shoulder, stopping even now and then when I heard the pig stop eating. Finally, I got the rifle to my shoulder and estimating where the shoulder was took aim. Branches, both thick and thin were in view but I thought that at such short range, even if the shot was deflected 45 degrees, I would still nail the pig with the .375 Magnum 270gr bullet. I took the shot and suddenly the bush exploded with the screams of the pigs and a huge boar scrambled off to my right. I ejected the round and cocking a fresh one, drew a bead on the escaping boar, not knowing whether he was the animal I had shot or not. The tracker jumped up, shouting that the pig was down, so I held my shot at the boar and walked around the bush to see what I had hit.
A huge sow was laying on her side, stone dead. Her rib cage was torn open both sides and the entrails were shot out a couple of feet on the far side. By looking at the entry wound, it was apparent that the bullet must have expanded fully by hitting a branch, leaving a large entry wound. It was difficult to establish whether the shot had been deflected at all, because I was aiming almost blind, estimating where the shoulder would be. The bullet entered about four inches behind the shoulder, but this could have been because I didn't estimate well, rather than because of deflection. However, my love of the .375 H&H was only increased by this incident. A heavy, slow moving bullet can punch though a lot of brush and still do its job excellently, compared to the swift light bullets that are so popular today.
I shot three blesbuck and an Impala before calling it a day.