Crocodile Hunting
These large predatory reptiles are found in almost all of the large rivers of Africa and can be extremely dangerous to those who venture near the riverbanks
Most hunters who plan to hunt crocodile in Africa plan on hunting the Nile crocodile. You can hunt a Nile crocodile in Africa in numerous countries. Almost all the large rivers in Africa have a good population of these professional-grade assassins. An awful lot of African people were killed by the big Nile crocodile while having a bath in the river. The crocodile is an opportunity eater, consuming just about anything he can get into his mouth. He’ll also digest anything he gets down his gullet. If you go African crocodile hunting, you want to remember that given a chance, you could easily become his next snack.
Nile crocodile have been found to have everything in their stomach from warthogs to rocks. Their stomach acids are strong enough to dissolve bone, and your shoes, should you happen to walk too close to a hungry croc. And don’t think a reptile that is that large is slow. Crocodiles have been known to come out of the muddy water and catch an impala thirty feet from the bank before the impala could get away.
Crocodile hunting can be very challenging and hunting a big old crocodile can be as challenging as leopard hunting. Crocodiles can smell very good and apart from good eyesight they can sense vibrations and detect danger from the bird calls. Once a crocodile is spooked it will disappear into the water and might only come back to the spot in a couple of days. Crocodiles are normally shot on a sandbank while sunning themselves. During this stage their senses are on high alert and they are difficult to approach. I recommend using a large calibre with soft nose ammunition. The general shooting range will be between 50 and 100 yards.
A typical Crocodile hunt would start by scouting the sandbanks and shore for large Crocodile sunning themselves or for signs of where crocodiles likes to sunbath. When such a spot/s has been located one would build a blind or approach the spot early morning and wait for the Crocodile to get out and sun himself. Depending on the angle a head or neck shot would be recommended over a dead rest since shot placement on these animals is crucial. The neck shot is normally the easier of the two and also the least risky since the animal would not be able the flick itself back into the water with its tail as it often happens with Crocodiles, even after a perfect brain shot. Large Crocodiles can easily be over a 100 years old and a very large specimen can weigh up to a ton.
