When Your PH Fires the Backup Shot, A Professional Hunter has several goals.

By Dave Fulson • Nov 11, 2025

The above is the last few words of a very long letter, preceded by several lengthy phone calls with a very upset safari client. Obviously, no names will be mentioned out of professional respect, as well as the fact that I really liked this guy. The client had long dreamed of hunting a Cape buffalo, and that dream eventually led him to book a safari with our outfit in the buffalo-rich Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe. His PH was an experienced veteran with years of buffalo hunting under his belt. So far, so good. Problems started during the very first conversation at the camp rifle range when he explained, in great detail, that under no circumstances should the PH fire his rifle unless a charge or life-threatening situation was at hand. This was not a “well, I hope you don’t have to fire, but I trust your judgment” discussion, but a command handed down from employer to the perceived employee. The seed of eventual disappointment was thus planted. The result in just a bit.

My own African hunting and filming travels have given me unique access to some of the top pros in the modern safari game, as well as some of the most noted PHs of the past, who are now enjoying retirement. The topic of PH backup shooting is something I always ask about, as it is a hot-button topic with many of my clients, as well as a much-discussed topic in camps all over Africa. And it is not a new topic. Hemingway continually had to be put in “safari time out” by none other than the Dean of professional hunting, Phillip Percival, when the famous writer and safari newcomer said, “I do my own shooting.”

The vast majority—about 98 percent—of the hunters I ask about this touchy subject say, in one way or another, that a client trying to handcuff their ability to make tough calls has instantly announced himself as a problem client. The good ones can discuss the situation with the ease of a seasoned salesman, gently leading the client back to the reality that the PH must make those decisions if they must be made—not the client. But some, especially “old school” hunters who have climbed this mountain for decades and have, let’s call it, a reduced capacity for nonsense, make their counterpoint with the delicate touch of a Tomahawk missile.

A professional hunter, especially one who specializes in dangerous game, has several goals. The most important ones are to show their clients an enjoyable, as successful as possible, and most importantly, safe safari experience. A mistake on his part can result in loss of license and livelihood at best, loss of life at worst. Dangerous game species are creatures of thick cover, where back-up shots are often impossible due to the thick bush that swallows the beast after the initial shot. Even in lighter cover, it is often impossible for the pro to see the point of impact, the best indicator of whether he gets involved. These decisions are split-second affairs and difficult in the extreme to make.

Yet there is a reason PHs carry those heavy, large-caliber rifles day in and day out through swamps and over hills. It is a life insurance policy wielded by skilled hands, and your PH alone should be the deciding factor as to when it enters the fray. Of course, you and I and all clients want to shoot well, with the result being quick and hopefully unaided kills. That’s as it should be, but it will never be the case every time.

Back to our unhappy buffalo hunter. Eventually, the trackers brought him up to a not just good, but an exceptional buffalo—far bigger than anything hanging on my wall. Up went the sticks, off went the safety, and boom-whuump went the shot. The sequence was filmed by my camera team, so I have reviewed it carefully and repeatedly. The shot looked good, but true to his clan,the buffalo took off into  cover. The bull was then found in that leg-locked stance with which experienced buffalo hunters are familiar. It is important to understand that, at the time of this hunt, the safari business had just been rocked by back-to-back deaths of two tremendously experienced hunters who were killed by wounded buffalo. One was our dear friend Owain Lewis, whose nephew is now the PH looking at his client’s wounded bull.

The client was, and you’ll just have to trust me on this, utterly devastated. He endured pictures in silence, giving the PH the clear indication there was a problem. Our PH rolled the buff onto the entry hole side and showed the client where his initial shot and the back-up shot had hit the bull. Both were winners, perfectly placed, but neither knocked the bull down. The bull that killed Owain was carrying, I believe, NINE bullets as it made its final and fatal charge. This was explained to the client, as well as the fact that he killed the damn buffalo, and the insurance shot by the PH was nothing more than that.

It mattered not. The hunt, as well as the trophy, was ruined in the client’s eyes. No going back. He did not hunt for the next two days, moped around camp, and eventually considered not even importing the trophy home. To top it off, he told me he was probably never going to mount it. He finished our chat by telling me he would never attend SCI, or any other safari convention, as he “would not be able to bear listening to other hunters who had not had their trophy stolen, and their safari ruined by their PH.”I tried to talk him off that emotional ledge, but failed miserably. I have not talked to him since—years now—but have no reason to believe his feelings have changed.

And what an utter shame. We all have egos, which is fine if they do not trump common sense. This article was never meant to offend those that surely will be offended at worst or//just disagree at best. It was to discuss the realities, as described to me by the countless PHs that have weighed in on this topic. Also, it is my hope to try to send new safari hunters into camp armed with a little “fly on the wall of the PH’s tent” intel as to how the “do not shoot my game” announcement will be received.

Hunt hard, shoot as straight as possible, and do your best in the bush—but do not handcuff your PH, and perhaps endanger your own life, with orders that fly in the face of ethical hunting and good judgment.