Amazing stop!

[oscarflytyer]

What an Idiot!
I guess he hasn't read up o, or had any experience, around buffalo's.
Why didn't he toss a dirt clod? It would have been as effective as that "Girly" toss of the spear.

+100. Feel sorry for the bull. Too derned bad the guy didn't end up in competition - or maybe WIN - the Darwin award!!!

[starmac]

I will give him one thing, he's got a set of big uns.

[KYCaster]

If you ain't walkin' on the edge yer takin' up too much room!!!!!

Way to go Lynn!

Jerry

[gunfan]

The Buffalo KNEW what it was doing! It blocked the spear! Lynn simply used the tool he had for backup, and it worked.

Enough said.

Scott

[Lonegun1894]

While I do have to give the guy credit for being willing to do this, I have to wonder how much hunting experience he has with non-firearms, such as archery for example. ANY archer knows that the bone structure of most animals starting from deer on up to include elk and even cattle-like game such as this buffalo make the frontal shot a horrible choice unless perfect shotplacement is used. This is due to the rib cage acting like he was attempting to pour something into the small end of a funnel instead of the large open end, and quite possibly deflecting an arrow, or in this case spear. I'm not saying it can't be done, just saying the hunter has to use his head and be very proficient. In this case, I think he would have taken the buffalo if he had snuck around to allow himself a broadside shot, or possibly one slightly quartering from the rear to access the heart/lungs while avoiding the ribs. Instead, I looks like he's standing in front of and just slightly to the side of the animal. All of us who hunt have had to at one time or another wait for a better angle, or even pass up a shot. This video makes it look like he is too impatient to do that, which, to me at least, means he has no business hunting anything with a spear, regardless of size. Dont get me wrong, I'm glad he lived through his blunder, but I also hope he learned from it and will never do that again without at least putting a lot more thought and practice into it beforehand.

[Whitworth]

While I do have to give the guy credit for being willing to do this, I have to wonder how much hunting experience he has with non-firearms, such as archery for example. ANY archer knows that the bone structure of most animals starting from deer on up to include elk and even cattle-like game such as this buffalo make the frontal shot a horrible choice unless perfect shotplacement is used. This is due to the rib cage acting like he was attempting to pour something into the small end of a funnel instead of the large open end, and quite possibly deflecting an arrow, or in this case spear. I'm not saying it can't be done, just saying the hunter has to use his head and be very proficient. In this case, I think he would have taken the buffalo if he had snuck around to allow himself a broadside shot, or possibly one slightly quartering from the rear to access the heart/lungs while avoiding the ribs. Instead, I looks like he's standing in front of and just slightly to the side of the animal. All of us who hunt have had to at one time or another wait for a better angle, or even pass up a shot. This video makes it look like he is too impatient to do that, which, to me at least, means he has no business hunting anything with a spear, regardless of size. Dont get me wrong, I'm glad he lived through his blunder, but I also hope he learned from it and will never do that again without at least putting a lot more thought and practice into it beforehand.

He has plenty of experience. He rushed the shot. But he did sort it out.

[429421Cowboy]

First of... Happy side: I use an atlatl myself, and have watched alot of Relentless Pursuit and totally understand the power of the spear in trained hands, it is an incredibly powerful weaponthat can cause tremendous damage. Lynn reacted perfectly under the situation and was lucky to have his own portable extraction tool to get himself out of the situation. My lifetime of working with cattle tells me that he likely had more time than he thought at the moment, and also could have likely gotten away if he didn't have his SRH, however he made the choice to carry a sidearm and also proved he could use it properly without endangering the lives of the rest of the crew, which wouldn't be the case more than we would like to think among those who carry a gun of any type for such purpose.
Second half... My personal opinion and evaluation: I saw this on the full episode of the show and it was pretty clear that these Asiatic buffalo were not very impressed by the RP crew or their spears. One bull speared in the neck with no effect after he deflected with his horn, and another able to "jump the string" so to speak at the throw. I've seen them use these same srears and tactics to great effect on big hogs, bison and other game, however the water buffalo seem to have their number. I understand they have to make a show, but it would seem pretty obvious to me that what they were doing wasn't working, and they were asking for trouble. This makes all of us that hunt with spears look pretty bad, not only to non-hunters but now apparently hardcore hunters, based on some opinions voiced here. Relentless Pursuit remains my favorite show but that episode didn't do us any good. Lynn, good shooting, your throw was far from girly, but i seriously doubt the effectivness of a forward quartering shot buffalo like that. No bow would be able to pull that off, only a very heavy rifle should have even attempted that stunt, you got lucky man.

[2muchstuf]

Not to take anything away from the size of his kahonas.
But in the last replay the first shot was clearly fired while the sidearm was still in the holster.
Am I the only one that caught that?
2

[gandydancer]

that's not the 1st foolish stunt lynn thompson has pulled and it will not be his last

[429421Cowboy]

2, i put it in full screen and watched it a couple times and he had already cleared leather (nylon wth? i would be wearing a serious holster) by the time the bull had made it level with the termite mound and was still a half second from turning on him. I do cast some doubt on the whole shaky camera deal... although a don't see what there would be to hide and couldn't care less if the bull was covered with a rifle we couldn't see. The buffalo clearly won that game and it shouldn't have taken this little poodlescoot to figure that out.

[Crash_Corrigan]

There is something seriously wrong with this guy. I watched his Cold Steel video and I was really less than impressed. He is a legend in his own mind.

[Longwood]

I downloaded it with real player then watched it frame by frame with the VLC player and it it clear that the buffalo simply began a normal charge when he saw the sudden movement.
The deflection with the horn was dumb animal luck.
The first shot was fired from a different gun of a much smaller caliber or one that was quite a ways from the camera.
Or,,, If he fired the first shot, the gun was stll in the holster with his hand on it. The audio may have been enhanced later in the clip to sound like he did not fire it.
If he touched one off with the gun in the holster I would think we could see the muzzle blast and possibly pieces of holster departing.
Too many weeds in the way to really be 100 percent.
I will say one positive thing though. For a fat out of shape dude. He can move pretty fast when he is terrified.

[Baja_Traveler]

I think if I was going to impersonate Shaka Zulu I'd pick a less onery target...

[35remington]

It's polarizing because the spear he was using and the angle of throw he was attempting was inadequate for the job, horn hit or not.

A serious lack of heft is evident to the spear, and as was said before, a frontal toss of a spear at an animal facing the "hunter" has a poor likelihood of actually penetrating anything vital with enough wherewithal to prevent the animal from becoming seriously annoyed and trying to run over the spear tosser. For that matter, approaching a buff at such close range before "shooting" with an implement that has a high likelihood of failure is not something a wise fella does.

As he found out, firsthand. Better to forget the spear at that angle of approach and simply shoot it with something that had a better chance of working, rather than a desperation shot with a pistol that became necessary to retrieve a situation from a serious lack of judgement.

Smart? Absolutely not. That much speaks for itself. To film the whole scene and then expect approving huzzahs about his judgement in the situation is asking for too much.

[bbq223]

just crazy!

[Whitworth]

It's polarizing because the spear he was using and the angle of throw he was attempting was inadequate for the job, horn hit or not.

A serious lack of heft is evident to the spear, and as was said before, a frontal toss of a spear at an animal facing the "hunter" has a poor likelihood of actually penetrating anything vital with enough wherewithal to prevent the animal from becoming seriously annoyed and trying to run over the spear tosser. For that matter, approaching a buff at such close range before "shooting" with an implement that has a high likelihood of failure is not something a wise fella does.

As he found out, firsthand. Better to forget the spear at that angle of approach and simply shoot it with something that had a better chance of working, rather than a desperation shot with a pistol that became necessary to retrieve a situation from a serious lack of judgement.

Smart? Absolutely not. That much speaks for itself. To film the whole scene and then expect approving huzzahs about his judgement in the situation is asking for too much.

Are you a spear hunter if I may ask? That same type of spear was used on that same trip to dispatch a couple of water buffalo prior to this incident, and they worked as designed.

[jwp475]

It's polarizing because the spear he was using and the angle of throw he was attempting was inadequate for the job, horn hit or not.

A serious lack of heft is evident to the spear, and as was said before, a frontal toss of a spear at an animal facing the "hunter" has a poor likelihood of actually penetrating anything vital with enough wherewithal to prevent the animal from becoming seriously annoyed and trying to run over the spear tosser. For that matter, approaching a buff at such close range before "shooting" with an implement that has a high likelihood of failure is not something a wise fella does.

As he found out, firsthand. Better to forget the spear at that angle of approach and simply shoot it with something that had a better chance of working, rather than a desperation shot with a pistol that became necessary to retrieve a situation from a serious lack of judgement.

Smart? Absolutely not. That much speaks for itself. To film the whole scene and then expect approving huzzahs about his judgement in the situation is asking for too much.

Are you a spear hunter if I may ask? That same type of spear was used on that same trip to dispatch a couple of water buffalo prior to this incident, and they worked as designed.

That spear would have landed in a perfect location had the buff not moved his head thus causing the spear to hit the horn.

I was amazed that the spear actually stuck in the horn, horn on buff are very hard and dense

If someone wants to go back in time and hunt buff with a spear as our ancesters did, no problem IMHO

[35remington]

Whitworth, you're saying a frontal toss was good judgement?

It was not.

Putting the whole thing on film underlined that most emphatically.

"Dispatch" a couple of buffalo?

Speared, dropped, no incidental gunfire and a quick kill? Show me. No anecdotal evidence, please.

After that video I'm not willing to take his word for it.

There is a reason only starving humans attempt this sort of thing, and for a fat middle aged guy to try it, well, if it's that viable an idea, maybe he should leave the pistol at home and go native.

Contact him and see if he's willing to give that a go. Or is the pistol and human backup there because a high likelihood of failure is possible? I'd say that's the case.

If an action has a high likelihood of failure, it should not be attempted. Simple common sense.

[Whitworth]

Whitworth, you're saying a frontal toss was good judgement?

It was not.

Putting the whole thing on film underlined that most emphatically.

"Dispatch" a couple of buffalo?

Speared, dropped, no incidental gunfire and a quick kill? Show me. No anecdotal evidence, please.

After that video I'm not willing to take his word for it.

There is a reason only starving humans attempt this sort of thing, and for a fat middle aged guy to try it, well, if it's that viable an idea, maybe he should leave the pistol at home and go native.

Contact him and see if he's willing to give that a go. Or is the pistol and human backup there because a high likelihood of failure is possible? I'd say that's the case.

If an action has a high likelihood of failure, it should not be attempted. Simple common sense.

Maybe I need to rephrase. There were two hunters on that trip. The other gentleman KILLED two buffalo with that same type of spear a day or two before this particular incident. Lynn told me that he rushed the throw and should have been more patient, and he has never given me reason to doubt him. I agree, but I also give him credit for sorting it out.

He backed himself up. If you ever hunt with a guide or a PH in Africa, you will always have someone backing you up and usually with a large rifle -- despite the caliber of weapon you may be using. I think this is just a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking.

[Longwood]

Watch anyone 'Seriously' throw anyting that know what they are doing, (except for darts), and it will look nothing like his attempt at delivering a killing blow with the spear.
Spear, tomahawk, knife, rock, anything.
I would have been very impressed if he had stood his ground and snuffed the buff with a well placed shot instead of stumbling around and finally gettiing off enough lucky shots.
One little trip over some of that brush, and he would have had a horn in a very uncomfortable place.