Olivier, H.D., 1901. On rhinoceros shooting. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 13 (3): 538-539
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| Location: |
Africa - Eastern Africa - Somalia |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Hunting |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
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Perhaps I may be excused if I give a few instances of my small experience with the Rhinos. The first one I ever fired at I had followed for several hours, and it was standing, facing away from me, with its head turned half round towards me, at about 70 yards; I may remark that I was extremely badly equipped for this style of shikar, as I had only a double-barrel 12-bore rifle. I thought to myself this is a fine opportunity for the head shot, and let drive behind the ear. The Rhinoceros fell on to its knees and stumbled forward for about ten yards, when it got up, and out of a cloud of dust charged straight down on me like an avalanche. I had just time to dodge it, and it passed on, and I never saw it again; probably it had a headache, but nothing worse. The next chance we had, my friend was with me (he had a double-barrel .500 express, magnum charge, and bullets with a steel core,) two Rhinos, which we had been following for some time, charged at our wind and passed within about five yards. I was behind a bush and could not see them. He dropped the first one stone-dead in its tracks with a shot behind the shoulder. It was a nearly full-grown calf, and he gave the other one the second barrel, in the same place. I ran after it as it went off. The going was very bad, I lost my hat, a large portion of my nose. and I nearly broke my leg, but I presently came up to it, with the blood pouring from its mouth, it having been bit through the lungs. I killed it with my 12-bore with a shot in the neck. Some days afterwards we saw a couple of large Rhinos going up a hill, and following them up came up to them in some thick scrub-jungle. They were feeding, and the first thing I saw was the horn of the big male coming bobbing along straight towards me about forty yards off. Having, after my first experience, no faith in head shots, I was rather in a dilemma, but taking advantage of a slight change of direction, when I saw a piece of his neck and shoulder, I let fly, and as he wheeled round and bolted gave him the other barrel, which so damaged his hind leg that we came up to him about half a-mile further on. My friend put in a couple of bullets from his .500, and as he charged I broke his shoulder with the 12-bore. We had a lively five minutes or so with him in the bushes, and then I got close up and finished him off with a shot in the neck. As we did not want to kill an unnecessary number of these fine beasts we only went after one more. We stalked him together in some grass jungle, and fired together at him at eighty yards. The .500 express took him in the neck, the 12-bore just behind the shoulder, and he sank down on his knees as dead as a stone. It would appear from the above that though the head shot, except with very heavy artillery, is not of much use, a shot behind the shoulder, as was proved in three of the cases mentioned, is pretty fatal, and that it is quite possible to give a good account of Rhino without hitting below the belt.
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On rhinoceros shooting
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