A FEW HINTS ON CROCODILE SHOOTING. 79 
rest, as you have really a very small target to aim at. It is quite easy to hit 
your animal, but unless you hit him in the right place, he will merely slip into 
the water and be lost, wounded. 
An animal of 7 to 8 feet in length may be knocked out by a heavy bullet through 
the body, but above that length, unless you smash the spine, which is not usual, 
it is quite useless to take a body shot and expect to stop the animal. You must 
get him on the neck, between the jaw and shoulder. Even this target is limited. 
Divide this part horizontally, into four equal divisions. You must get your bullet 
into the middle two divisions if you want to stop your animal till you can har- 
poon him. You may manage to harpoon him if he is hit above or below this, 
but it is doubtful. There is one other spot to hit him. If you know your rifle 
and can hit the mark, the upper quarter of the head, horizontally, is a very 
deadly shot, as you usually blow out the animals brains, but it is also a very 
difficult shot. I have seen an animal go away with two bullets in his head. 
One got him behind the eye in the upper jaw, but below the brain line, 
and remained inside, and the other took a piece of the top of his head off, 
without smashing his brain. These were *405 bore Winchester bullets, and 
anybody who knows that make of rifle, will have some idea of what a big 
crocodile can stand. 
Before starting to stalk your animal, place your harpooner. He should be as 
close to the animal as he can approach without fear of disturbing it. On a still 
day he ought to be about 40 or 50 yards off, but if a good wind is causing a rustle 
in the grass or scrub, he may approach closer. As soon as you fire he will rush 
down and harpoon the animal, near the head for choice, and from behind. This 
prevents the animal seizing the harpoon, and the man in charge can then, with 
a little trouble, free the head of the harpoon from the shaft and wrap the cord 
round the animal’s snout three or four times. This prevents him snapping, and 
while the harpoon holds the snout in one direction, the axeman severs its spinal 
column from the opposite side. Because you may happen to have absolutely laid 
out the animal with your rifle, unless it has been the brain shot, don’t neglect the 
axe and leave the crocodile, because he almost certainly is not dead, and if 
you left him for an hour and came back, it is quite possible you would not find 
him. He will have recovered a little and struggled into the water. Once his 
spinal column is severed, he is safe. If you have not the axe handy, put a charge 
of No. 4 shot into his brain from about three feet away. If you are after a short 
snouter you cannot wind the cord round his snout owing to the shape, therefore, 
if he is of any size, always take a gun with you, and as soon as he is harpooned, 
if he shows the least sign of life, put a charge of No. 4 into his head from 2 feet 
away. He has a much thicker skull than the long snouter. If he appears quite 
dead, or at all events, quiescent, seize him by the tail and hind legs and drag 
him ashore, and then apply the axe. A short snouter is very much harder to 
kill than a long snouter, and both, if alive, are very dangerous when harpooned, 
so whatever you do, keep out of range of their jaws. The neck shot, 
properly placed, and not too near the foreleg, will usually stop a short snouter 
long enough to harpoon him, but you can never be sure. They have enormously 
thick, muscular necks, and they will often get into the water without being har- 
pooned, no matter where they are hit, as they usually lie very close to the water, 
and almost invariably, where there are short snouters of any size, there you will 
find very deep water, and deep close to the edge. The shot will usually kill him 
eventually, but even if you get him a few days later when he floats up, his 
skin is useless. 
As soon as you have hit an animal, and stopped it, if it is in such a position 
that the harpooner will take some time in reaching it, say over 20 seconds, which 
will frequently be the case from some cause or another, get your glasses and 
examine him again to see exactly where you have hit him. You will see the 
blood oozing out of the bullet hole. If he is hit outside the deadly zone, the 
