Hunting The Cape Buffalo with a Bowtech Virtue 80lbs (Video)
Setting the Stage:
Although the story starts a bit back with the need for big game bows for South Africa, we can start this story on Saturday in South Africa. Redge left the shop and competed in a competition with his son Lian and wife Luzanne, at the well known Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, South Africa. From there it was a straight shot (via various airports) to the Bowtech Head Offices on Eugene, Oregon, where he met up with the Bowtech marketing team, and getting a sneak peak and first look at their latest gear. Part of the excitement is the New Bowtech Virtue 80lbs Hunting bow for 2026.
Redge returned a day later and left for the bush with the team from African Barefoot Safaris and the new Bowtech Virtue 80lbs (under wraps) to get some African dust on the cams and give feedback to the development team! A tough hunt, multiple stalks on foot, and an angry and aggresive Buffalo as prey that needed to be culled, made for a challenging day… However, the day ended with success!
An Ethical Hunt with quality equipment made for a hunt to remember!
Why an 80lbs bow?
If your hunt includes big or dangerous game, you need to be sure that your equipment can penetrate their defenses adequately. A Trophy sized animal weighing around 800kg (or 1,800lbs) has developed a bone structure to keep it fighting fit… It’s tough animal!
You can easily double that weight for an average giraffe, so consider how strong it’s skeletal structure must be just to keep it upright!
Granted, a newer technology 70lbs bow could technically be used to hunt and reach the legal minimum requirements, it would mean that the margin for error is razor thin! If anything goes wrong, it will go very wrong!
Having an 80lbs bow as the starting point, just makes sense for safe and ethical hunting of big and dangerous game.
Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), often called “Black Death” in Africa, earned that name because of their reputation as one of the continent’s most dangerous animals. Here’s why:
- Unpredictable aggression: Unlike many animals that flee when threatened, Cape buffalo are known to charge without warning, especially if they are wounded or cornered.
- High lethality: They have killed many hunters and people living in rural Africa. In fact, they are sometimes said to kill more people each year than lions or other large predators. It is not uncommon for wounded buffaloes to “ambush” hunters by hiding behind brush and charging hunters that are tracking them.
- Massive strength: Adult bulls can weigh over 700 kg (1,500+ lbs) and can run up to 55 km/h (34 mph), using their horns as lethal weapons.
- Protective behavior: When one is attacked, others may circle back to defend it, making them extremely dangerous in groups.
- History with hunters: Early big-game hunters gave them the “Black Death” nickname because they were considered the most difficult and dangerous of the “Big Five” to hunt on foot.