The shot placement between the African animals and North American animals is quite different. To ensure that your next African hunting experience is successful, we know that you have taken a lot of time preparing, researching and communicating with a highly regarded outfitter, for your next trip.
All of that hard work and preparation boils down to one moment: taking the shot on the animal and trophy of your dreams. The best quality rifle, or bow as well as the best bullets or broad head will not help you much if your shot placement is wrong. Bad shot placement on African game animals often makes for a very long day.
Where to aim on African animals
To ensure an ethical and effective kill, it is best to aim for the heart and lung area of the animal. This gives a larger area for the hunter to aim at when the animal is standing still. The adequate bullet, arrow and broad head will bring the animal down quite quickly and effectively without a lot of tracking involved.
The vital organs are situated just above the front leg, so follow just behind the front leg, up a third into the body. This might seem very forward for some American hunters, but please don’t go further back, because then it will result in a gut shot, which makes it harder to track and recover the wounded animal.
The other fact that makes it challenging is that the African animals look different and may be significantly larger or smaller. This can make the shot placement more challenging as the “indicator” for shot placement and sense of scale that hunters are used to using while hunting is off. This can be seen when the hunter is very excited, or in a hurry to take the shot.
To help the hunter make the best shot possible we encourage them to visualise where the heart and lungs are situated, regardless of the circumstances around them. The Professional Hunter is there to guide the hunter when it is necessary for them to take the shot.
