BUFFALO HUNTERS, Part 2; Hunting the Asian Water Buffalo
DVD, running time 1 hour, 11 minutes. Item #007853
Rainer Josch is both a talented PH and a talented film producer. He likes to make graphically appealing films that focus not just on the kill. This is hard to do because most hunters are interested in seeing the result of a hunt, and lots of kills in a film are sometimes used in the outdoor movie industry to mask a lack of skill on the part of the producers. And yet Josch manages to draw you into his movies with great skill by presenting a great narrative with great footage without a kill every five minutes.
From Darwin, Northern Territories, Australia, the hunters reach the remote Arnhem Land concession where hunters stay in an Africa-like tent camp. OK, let's be honest: Asian water buffalo, some of whom hardly ever see a human, are not quite as wary as hard-hunted Cape buffaloes. But they are no pushovers, either, and all three rifle hunters shoot with open sites to make the hunt more challenging. And if you pass up a bull or mess up a stalk, you are not likely to ever see that animal because of the vastness of the terrain and the density of the vegetation. Several times the stalks do not work out, and we see the bull hot-hoofing it out of there . . . never to be seen again.
Aided by an Aborigine hunter, the two PHs take one hunter at a time on their hunts. We see the entire hunts from A-Z. As the finale, Rainer Josch himself tries to kill a bull with a traditional long bow. He makes some excruciating close stalks on a few very large bulls and fails again and again. This continues till he is forced to make a decision: use a rifle or fail with a bow? You have to see the movie to see how that ends.
This is part two of a DVD series on hunting the wild bovines of the world that Josch hopes to complete over the next few years. Good footage, sound, script, and editing in this excellent movie.
Price: $29.95