Bubye Buffalo August 2014

Bubye Conservancy--Zimbabwe August 21 to September 12, 2014
• Outfitter: Charlton-McCallum Safaris
• Camps: Dyer’s Camp & Ripple Creek
• PH: Butch Coaton
• Trackers: Ringi & Obeson
• Observer & PH: Terry Palmer
• Weapon: Custom Robar .375 H&H pre-64, I call Thelma, using 300 gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw

Proudly, I believe I’m the senior woman here, so I have, affectionately, dubbed myself the “Old Cow” of the AR Forum! I hope to receive Saeed’s permission and the rest of your approvals.

That being said, this has been the most difficult hunt report I have ever written, not because it wasn’t a great hunt, but because, in reality and with heavy heart, this was my eleventh and last safari to Africa. I’m still somewhat depressed about the idea, but I hope to remind you youngsters (and everyone is a youngster to me) to “do it while you can”. My husband and I celebrated our 75th and 68th birthdays respectively in Bubye Conservancy during this safari. And, although being there was rather luxurious and the hunting great, travel from LA to Africa is now too grueling. Hopefully, I will feel differently in the days to come.

Before any hunting story can be written, there are always months of dreaming and planning that must occur. So for this safari it started in 2013 with confirmed dates for a 21 day lion hunt in Tanzania in 2014. A few months later my husband suffered a major stroke. Although he recovered well and was only left with minor repercussions, his doctor would not approve of our remote travel plans to Rungwa. We were determined to get to Africa anyway, for at least one more safari, so we rationalized that Zimbabwe was more accessible. The doctor believed our logic.

So with Tanzania off the table, we booked a 14 day double buffalo which was offered on this Forum for the Hammond Ranch in the Save Conservancy with Buzz Charlton and Myles McCallum. Dates were confirmed, deposits were paid, travel arrangements solidified. Then a few months before our scheduled hunt, curve ball number two, Hammond Ranch did not receive their hunting permits. However, Buzz deftly came up with a new conservancy and new PH. We were off to the Bubye Conservancy with Butch Coaton as our PH.

We invited our friend and infamous professional hunter from Botswana, Terry Palmer, to join us as an observer. Terry was my PH when I took my first buffalo in 1996 and we have hunted together several times during the past 18 years. I knew when I made stalks away from the truck, Terry would certainly be able to entertain my nearly blind husband, whom he knows well.

My 1st Buffalo 1996 with Terry Palmer

We arrived in Harare with everything except my duffle, and it finally arrived via the next flight. We over-nighted at the Amanzi Lodge in Harare before air chartering to Bubye.
Amanzi Lodge, Harare

Neither PHs, nor my husband or I had ever been to Bubye before. So we were all anxious and excited to see it. It is 850,000 acres of dense mopane and grasslands, protected by double, high, electric perimeter fence, poaching patrols and an array of maintenance workers. As we were air chartering into camp from Harare, we saw nothing but subsistence farming until we saw Bubye Conservancy in the distance. Then the vast and glorious expanse of lowveld plains with occasional large kopjes unfolded. As probably everyone here knows, Bubye had been a large cattle ranch (LEMCO) before the conservancy was formed, so it has an intricate water system and roads, laid out in large grids. It is my understanding that Bubye is divided into eight hunting concessions/camps with four Zimbabwean PH’s licensed the market hunts. Our two camps were a far cry from the tent camps & long drops we were used to. They were permanent, luxury camps behind additional security fences. Definitely reassuring the night a lion roared for an hour in front of our cabin. The food and staff were excellent. (If you have to suffer, suffer first class!)

For the first 4 days Butch and I did long stalks both morning and afternoon following up on dagga boys. There were plenty of them in Dyer’s Camp. By day 5 we had seen 35. So day 5 was the day, it was my 68th birthday, I told Butch I wanted an old broken horned, scrum capped, or white faced bull. After an hour of tracking we were within 20 yards of five old bulls feeding in dense mopane. No shot opportunity until the old white faced bull presented a quartering 40 yard shot. The bulls all ran out of sight, about 50 yards and started feeding again. We could see four of them, and my heart sank when Butch said he thought the one I had shot was among them. Then we spotted my bull laid up next to a log. As I prepared to shoot again, he got up and I unloaded my magazine into him and he was down within 20 yards. We stood silently and watched two of his buddies trying to roust him before they finally moved off. Butch suggested that I take our second buffalo then, but we agreed we still had lots of time and there was still hope that we might get my husband an opportunity.

Cape Buffalo #1 Old White Face

Butch is a great PH and I really enjoyed hunting with him. I had been somewhat nervous about bringing in another PH, if only as an observer. But Terry and Butch matched up very well and were fast friends almost immediately. Same sense of humor and it seemed like they could read each other’s minds.

I had promised friends zebra rugs, so the next few days we were in pursuit. Ironically, the zebra were wilder and more skittish than the buffalo. We all gave Butch a rough time about not being able to get me a shooting opportunity on a zebra. There was some pressure to take the zebra here at Dyer’s Camp as we were told they had been heavily culled off our next camp, Ripple Creek. But the task was completed the next day. I should also mention, we saw a heavy maned lion and some very well fed lionesses during our stay at Dyers.

We relocated via hunting truck to Ripple Creek Camp for the next seven days. Another very well appointed, permanent camp. This one situated on the shore line of the Ripple Creek Dam. Very picturesque. The first afternoon we scouted part of the concession and found little fresh sign of dagga boys. We did encounter one buffalo herd, but it did not contain any older bulls. Both areas contained plains game, including numerous trophy eland, but there were no lions to contend with at Ripple Creek. We did encounter a few sable and a pair of nyala. And, one afternoon at a water source, we had two white rhinos come in to drink.
On our second morning at Ripple Creek, as we were about to board our hunting truck, Shawn Buffee, one of the permanent PH’s in Bubye, and his hunter came for a visit. Turns out his hunter was Steve416 who was hunting non-trophy elephant. Always great to put a face with fellow AR Forum members. Actually, the next day after our lunch break, we had a radio call that Steve416 had an elephant down. We joined him and his crew while they broke the carcass down, Steve sharpening knives at a maddening rate…albeit with a big smile to match his big 500!!!! Great shooting!

AR's Steve416]

The riverine terrain around the dam offered perfect cover for dagga boys and since we had not seen any fresh sign in the mopanes, we decided to work this area. Immediately we found a group of five feeding just outside the thick reeds. They were all old, mature bulls. After my shot at 40 yards, they all ran into the deep cover. As Butch, Terry and I followed up (this was kind of funny…Butch was immediately in front of me and Terry immediately behind me, I certainly felt well protected entering the reeds, I wondered if they did this sort of thing for guys.) We hadn’t gone but a few yards and we could see the back of a bull lying down about 30 yards ahead of us. This was almost a repeat of my other bull, we changed position to get a clear shot, I unloaded my magazine, and we heard the bellow. Yippee!!!! Hugs and pictures and this old cow had taken her twelfth old bull!

Cape Buffalo #2

For the balance of our hunt, we tried to get my husband, with his failing eye sight, a shot on an eland, but their color and that of the terrain did not offer enough contrast to make a confident shot. He loved giving it a try though, and after 46 years of marriage he has learned that if I was happy, he was happy too! Love the man!

We had one minor crisis before departing camp. As some of you know, my drink of preference is champagne…I call it my beer. Buzz had arranged, upon my request, 28 bottles for the 14 days of hunting. My husband drinks champagne too now. We had two nights to go and we were out of champagne. We tried to get some brought in from Bulawayo with other supplies, but apparently there was not a bottle to be had. We did not go thirsty though.

Ripple Creek

After tearful good byes (on my part), Butch and his trackers, Ringi and Obeson, drove back to Harare. Terry, my husband, and I air chartered out of Bubye for Victoria Falls.

After one night Terry departed back to Maun. Sadly, I don’t know when we will meet Terry again.

We stayed at the Victoria Falls Safari Club and I could not offer a better review of the staff and service there. Buzz had connected me to Cheryl Hayes of Exclusive Touch Africa, who had made all our arrangements and everything was perfect. We did a tour of the Falls, lunch at the Vic Falls Hotel, booze cruise on the Zambezi; and much to my surprise, an item I had pooh poohed, but which Kathi Klimes of Wild Travels had insisted that we try, an elephant ride. We have not stopped talking about it!!! Do it, if you go. I never thought an elephant hunter would enjoy this, but it was really fun. I got the elephant’s view of things. For those that have done it, we rode Jake!!!!!

As I said in the beginning, this was a rough report to write. I’m hoping it’s all just post-safari depression, but “do it while you can”! Words from the Old Cow of AR Forum

Posts: 2271 | Registered: 17 July 2003

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