I recently sent Alan Vincent a deposit for a hunt with dates ‘To Be Determined’. Alan had a couple sets of dates he was working around with other possible clients, so I told him to slot me in wherever was easiest for him. I wanted no pressure, a relaxed safari and just an enjoyable couple weeks hunting with him.

He got in touch with me day before yesterday to give me my dates, so I started looking for flights. I finally had a ‘lightbulb moment’ and realized that one of American Airlines One World alliance partners was Qatar Airways. I had a bunch of points accumulated, so was able to book business class, SFO-DAR and back for the whopping cost of $96! I saved enough for an entire buffalo TF. Nice direct flight with Doha being the only stop in both directions, about 8 hours each time.

16 days, 3 buffalo, a leopard and whatever plains game strikes our fancy. Alan tells me the sable are excellent, both numbers and size, so it’ll be enjoyable looking for a bigger bull than the 45”er I shot with his father, Roy, back in 1983 at Deka. Back then, Alan was a barefooted kid in camp with us. It’s ironic how everything is coming full circle. Now Roy is retired, except for one hunt a year with Saeed and his gang and Alan is in the prime of his career.

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:
I recently sent Alan Vincent a deposit for a hunt with dates ‘To Be Determined’. Alan had a couple sets of dates he was working around with other possible clients, so I told him to slot me in wherever was easiest for him. I wanted no pressure, a relaxed safari and just an enjoyable couple weeks hunting with him.

He got in touch with me day before yesterday to give me my dates, so I started looking for flights. I finally had a ‘lightbulb moment’ and realized that one of American Airlines One World alliance partners was Qatar Airways. I had a bunch of points accumulated, so was able to book business class, SFO-DAR and back for the whopping cost of $96! I saved enough for an entire buffalo TF. Nice direct flight with Doha being the only stop in both directions, about 8 hours each time.

16 days, 3 buffalo, a leopard and whatever plains game strikes our fancy. Alan tells me the sable are excellent, both numbers and size, so it’ll be enjoyable looking for a bigger bull than the 45”er I shot with his father, Roy, back in 1983 at Deka. Back then, Alan was a barefooted kid in camp with us. It’s ironic how everything is coming full circle. Now Roy is retired, except for one hunt a year with Saeed and his gang and Alan is in the prime of his career.

Sounds great. Are you hunting in that new Western area?

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:
I recently sent Alan Vincent a deposit for a hunt with dates ‘To Be Determined’. Alan had a couple sets of dates he was working around with other possible clients, so I told him to slot me in wherever was easiest for him. I wanted no pressure, a relaxed safari and just an enjoyable couple weeks hunting with him.

He got in touch with me day before yesterday to give me my dates, so I started looking for flights. I finally had a ‘lightbulb moment’ and realized that one of American Airlines One World alliance partners was Qatar Airways. I had a bunch of points accumulated, so was able to book business class, SFO-DAR and back for the whopping cost of $96! I saved enough for an entire buffalo TF. Nice direct flight with Doha being the only stop in both directions, about 8 hours each time.

16 days, 3 buffalo, a leopard and whatever plains game strikes our fancy. Alan tells me the sable are excellent, both numbers and size, so it’ll be enjoyable looking for a bigger bull than the 45”er I shot with his father, Roy, back in 1983 at Deka. Back then, Alan was a barefooted kid in camp with us. It’s ironic how everything is coming full circle. Now Roy is retired, except for one hunt a year with Saeed and his gang and Alan is in the prime of his career.

Sounds great. Are you hunting in that new Western area?

Yes. Alan is very enthused about it.

Well done on you and hope you have a fantastic safari.

Alan's new area is Mlele. I've spent about 6 weeks total hunting there, but not recently. A beautiful concession that's just fun to be in. It's something to look forward to.

I agree with you about the Wuhan virus. I hunted last year in Lukwati (just south of Mlele) with no problem and will hunt another area this year. Good luck.

I hunted Mlele with Mike fell in August of 2018 for cats. Lion and leopard are plentiful. I saw lots of sable but nothing that matched Lukwati's top end size. I shot a nice heavy 41" sable which was the best I saw.
Mlele has big buffalo, descent waterbuck and eland. Punda and kongoni are plentiful as well for baiting. There are topi but that area was a long drive from our camp. Tsetse flies were worse there than any other Western African area that I've hunted. We kept elephant dung smoldering in a can most of the time and that helped tremendously while in and around the car. The camp was for the most part tsetse free.

quote:

Originally posted by bwanajay:
I hunted Mlele with Mike fell in August of 2018 for cats. Lion and leopard are plentiful. I saw lots of sable but nothing that matched Lukwati's top end size. I shot a nice heavy 41" sable which was the best I saw.
Mlele has big buffalo, descent waterbuck and eland. Punda and kongoni are plentiful as well for baiting. There are topi but that area was a long drive from our camp. Tsetse flies were worse there than any other Western African area that I've hunted. We kept elephant dung smoldering in a can most of the time and that helped tremendously while in and around the car. The camp was for the most part tsetse free.

John & Jay, thanks for those notes, they mirror what Alan has told me. Mostly going to focus on the buffalo and leopard, the other stuff will be icing on the cake. More than anything, just want to have a great time with Alan. Gonna be low key, no pressure, what happens, happens.

quote:

Originally posted by bwanajay:
I hunted Mlele with Mike fell in August of 2018 for cats. Lion and leopard are plentiful. I saw lots of sable but nothing that matched Lukwati's top end size. I shot a nice heavy 41" sable which was the best I saw.
Mlele has big buffalo, descent waterbuck and eland. Punda and kongoni are plentiful as well for baiting. There are topi but that area was a long drive from our camp. Tsetse flies were worse there than any other Western African area that I've hunted. We kept elephant dung smoldering in a can most of the time and that helped tremendously while in and around the car. The camp was for the most part tsetse free.

Did you see many elephant/elephant tracks?

Safari2 I was keen to hunt a big bull but never had a chance because we stayed focused on cats. We bumped into one bull that may have gone 40lbs. Saw the occasional track from time to time but never saw anything interesting.

quote:

Originally posted by bwanajay:
I hunted Mlele with Mike fell in August of 2018 for cats. Lion and leopard are plentiful. I saw lots of sable but nothing that matched Lukwati's top end size. I shot a nice heavy 41" sable which was the best I saw.
Mlele has big buffalo, descent waterbuck and eland. Punda and kongoni are plentiful as well for baiting. There are topi but that area was a long drive from our camp. Tsetse flies were worse there than any other Western African area that I've hunted. We kept elephant dung smoldering in a can most of the time and that helped tremendously while in and around the car. The camp was for the most part tsetse free.

Tse tse flies repellent.

I make it myself, and works better than anything I have tried.

1/3 Deet
1/3 50 or 100 SPF sun screen.
1/3 mossy repellent.

Works like a charm.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by bwanajay:
I hunted Mlele with Mike fell in August of 2018 for cats. Lion and leopard are plentiful. I saw lots of sable but nothing that matched Lukwati's top end size. I shot a nice heavy 41" sable which was the best I saw.
Mlele has big buffalo, descent waterbuck and eland. Punda and kongoni are plentiful as well for baiting. There are topi but that area was a long drive from our camp. Tsetse flies were worse there than any other Western African area that I've hunted. We kept elephant dung smoldering in a can most of the time and that helped tremendously while in and around the car. The camp was for the most part tsetse free.

Tse tse flies repellent.

I make it myself, and works better than anything I have tried.

1/3 Deet
1/3 50 or 100 SPF sun screen.
1/3 mossy repellent.

Works like a charm.

I’ll take a gallon, Saeed.

Congrats!

That's a long haul from SFO to DOH. 16 hours?

At least you're in business class and can actually lie down and get some sleep.

Sounds like a great safari. I have never been to Western Tanzania, but have always wanted to give it a go. What rifle(s) will you be taking along?

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by bwanajay:
I hunted Mlele with Mike fell in August of 2018 for cats. Lion and leopard are plentiful. I saw lots of sable but nothing that matched Lukwati's top end size. I shot a nice heavy 41" sable which was the best I saw.
Mlele has big buffalo, descent waterbuck and eland. Punda and kongoni are plentiful as well for baiting. There are topi but that area was a long drive from our camp. Tsetse flies were worse there than any other Western African area that I've hunted. We kept elephant dung smoldering in a can most of the time and that helped tremendously while in and around the car. The camp was for the most part tsetse free.

Tse tse flies repellent.

I make it myself, and works better than anything I have tried.

1/3 Deet
1/3 50 or 100 SPF sun screen.
1/3 mossy repellent.

Works like a charm.

Something I found that works well:

Starting month before you depart, start taking a garlic table in the morning, not the odorless kind.

Then two week before you depart up that to two tablets, one tablet in the morning and another tablet in the evening.

Make sure you pack tablets to match your hunting days.

Works great.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Congrats!

That's a long haul from SFO to DOH. 16 hours?

At least you're in business class and can actually lie down and get some sleep.

Sounds like a great safari. I have never been to Western Tanzania, but have always wanted to give it a go. What rifle(s) will you be taking along?

Good luck!

Michael, yes a long flight, 15 1/2 hours, but Qatar’s business class is supposed to be excellent so I’m sure it’ll be comfortable. Looking forward to seeing a bit of Doha, but can’t do much as I only have a 9 hour layover. Can’t venture too far from the airport. To me, the most important aspect is I’m on one airline the entire way, with only one stop and change of planes between SFO & DAR. Lessens the likelihood of problems.

Western Tanzania sounds great, but the reality is that, for me, it’s about hunting with Alan. We’re going there because that’s his current area. That said, I have heard wonderful things about Mlele; including from a PH we hunted Maswa North with in 2019. He told me it’s a fantastic place to hunt, for what it has. Alan is also very optimistic about the place, especially for the buffalo and cat hunting.

As far as guns go, I’m taking a pair of Model 70’s I’ve had going back to the 1980’s. One is my .338 Win Mag, which is my main ‘go to’ rifle; and the other is a .416 Hoffman, which is a wonderful buffalo rifle. I had it custom built by Champlin Firearms and took delivery less than a month before Remington announced their .416. Had my timing been better, that’s the cartridge I’d have gone with. All I shoot these days are model 70’s, with Brown Precision stocks. Other then a bit of difference in balance due to barrel dimensions and scopes, they’re about as close to identical to shoot as I can get them.

quote:

Tse tse flies repellent.

I make it myself, and works better than anything I have tried.

1/3 Deet
1/3 50 or 100 SPF sun screen.
1/3 mossy repellent.

Works like a charm.

Duly Noted!

Saeed,

What is Mossy Repellant?

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Saeed,

What is Mossy Repellant?

I wondered the same thing. I think he’s referring to Mosquito repellent, but perhaps not since that’d be somewhat redundant with DEET.

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Saeed,

What is Mossy Repellant?

I wondered the same thing. I think he’s referring to Mosquito repellent, but perhaps not since that’d be somewhat redundant with DEET.

Bloody hell, if you funny foreigners ever managed to learn the Queens English...?

Mosquito repellent.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:


Bloody hell, if you funny foreigners ever managed to learn the Queens English...?

Mosquito repellent.

The confusing part for some of us is that mosquito repellent and DEET is the same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by CharlesL:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:


Bloody hell, if you funny foreigners ever managed to learn the Queens English...?

Mosquito repellent.

The confusing part for some of us is that mosquito repellent and DEET is the same thing.

The mossi repellent is actually an attractant in this case.

It attracts the tee tse flies, and the DEET kills the.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by CharlesL:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:


Bloody hell, if you funny foreigners ever managed to learn the Queens English...?

Mosquito repellent.

The confusing part for some of us is that mo squito repellent and DEET is the same thing.

The mossi repellent is actually an attractant in this case.

It attracts the tee tse flies, and the DEET kills the.

April Fools was two days ago.

Someone let us know when vaccinated persons can fly without pre-test, post test, return test, and wearing a friggin mask in the airport and on the plane .. that will be the day I get on a plane for Africa, not before.