Ep 179: Hippopotamus Hunting 101 With Kevin Robertson

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Kevin Robertson is back again to talk about hippopotamus hunting. As always, he has some great hippo stories from his many years in Africa. We also really get into the nuts and bolts of hippo hunting: where to go, how to evaluate a big hippo, what their anatomy is like, where to shoot them, and how things can go wrong on a hippo hunt. We talk a lot about cartridge and bullet selection as well as terminal ballistics as they relate to hippopotamus hunting.

Follow me on Instagram at @thebiggamehunter to see the photos Kevin referenced in this episode.

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Show sponsor: I highly recommend purchasing a copy of It Shouldn’t Happen and The Perfect Shot II. If you have an upcoming hunt or if you just want to learn more about game in Africa and want a great “all in one” reference, you will not be disappointed with either book. Go to thebiggamehuntingblog.com/kevin to get copies of each one.

What We Covered

1) Story of a few of Kevin’s more interesting encounters with hippo over the years.

2) How big hippopotamus get, what they eat, how old they live, and what their lifecycle is like.

3) Discussion on the wounds hippo inflict on each other when fighting and how they affect hippo behavior.

4) How to hunt hippopotamus and special considerations to keep in mind when pursuing them.

5) Recommended shot placement on hippopotamus and how this varies depending on whether the animal is in the water or on land.

6) What Kevin considers the ideal cartridges and bullets for hippo hunting.

7) Where you should go hippo hunting.

Sponsor

I highly recommend purchasing a copy of Kevin Robertson’s books It Shouldn’t Happen and The Perfect Shot II if you think you might want to hunt in Africa one day for almost any species of game, to include leopard. This was a revolutionary book when Kevin first published it back in the late 1990s. It’s still an incredibly useful resource, especially the updated edition that’s currently in print.

If you have an upcoming hunt in Africa or if you’re just dreaming about hunting in Africa one day, then you NEED to buy this book and carefully study what he has to say. The information inside it is invaluable and reflects Kevin’s decades of hard earned experience as a professional hunter in Africa. If you pay attention to what he has to say and use the book as a guide to prepare for your hunt, you will increase your odds of success, reduce the chances of something going wrong, and have more fun over there.

The same goes for It Shouldn’t Happen. That book is a very entertaining collection of stories Kevin has amassed over the years. He’s told some of them here on the podcast, but fleshes them out in more detail in the book, but others will be completely new to you. I laughed out loud while reading most of them. I’m sure you will as well. 

Go to thebiggamehuntingblog.com/kevin to buy your copies and help support The Big Game Hunting Podcast in the process.