Just returned from Zimbabwe and wanted to let all who have hunts coming up know that there is as yet no reason to consider any cancalation or delay.

Police roadblocks were no more common than in the past, and police manning them were corteous and business like at the few where we were required to stop, mostly we were simply waived on.

Interestingly, economic activity in Harare and across the country seemed brisker than observed during my last trip, eighteen months ago. Saw more active anti-poaching control and active game scout patrols too and the Parks vehicles I observed were in better condition and had fuel too.

Every official from Imigration to Customs to Plocie to Parks and Wildlife was freindly and corteous. Those who I spent time with bemoan the political situation and to a man want Mugabe gone.

A note to those heading out, the heavy and late ending rains have the bush THICK and ground cover unussaully dense. Ground cover was significantly greater than last year and tracking was more difficult as a result.

I'll post a hunt report when I've caught up on sleep, etc.

JPK

Thanks for the in country report. Your experience is consistent with what I have heard from a number of folks. Hope the situation does not degenerate in anticipation of the run off.

Looking forward to your hunt report!

Good news, I take off on the big bird for Bulawayo in 20 days, not that I'm counting or anything.........

Welcome back -- looking forward to your report.

Glad to hear things went so well for you. Now, how about that hunting report?

quote:

Just returned from Zimbabwe and wanted to let all who have hunts coming up know that there is as yet no reason to consider any cancalation or delay.

I'm really glad to hear that you made it there and back and that everything looked okay to you.
I also hope that your hunt went well. You may know this, but the Department of State still has a travel advisory out for the country as of 5/14. (In another thread, I felt the need to post this travel advisory from the DOS: )

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_3234.html

I feel now that I'll be taken to the woodshed over this, but--what the hey?



Looking forward to the report and/or pictures, if you care to post them.

Welcome back! Sounds like you encountered difficult hunting conditions.

You have not missed much here, a few posters with no known African hunting experience, understanding of the country and the people, or current first-hand knowledge professing doom and gloom in Zimbabwe, but what else is new.

Have heard bits and pieces, looking fwd to the full report.

quote:

Originally posted by JPK:
Just returned from Zimbabwe and wanted to let all who have hunts coming up know that there is as yet no reason to consider any cancalation or delay.

Police roadblocks were no more common than in the past, and police manning them were corteous and business like at the few where we were required to stop, mostly we were simply waived on.

Interestingly, economic activity in Harare and across the country seemed brisker than observed during my last trip, eighteen months ago. Saw more active anti-poaching control and active game scout patrols too and the Parks vehicles I observed were in better condition and had fuel too.

Every official from Imigration to Customs to Plocie to Parks and Wildlife was freindly and corteous. Those who I spent time with bemoan the political situation and to a man want Mugabe gone.

A note to those heading out, the heavy and late ending rains have the bush THICK and ground cover unussaully dense. Ground cover was significantly greater than last year and tracking was more difficult as a result.

I'll post a hunt report when I've caught up on sleep, etc.

JPK

Blah, blah, blah. Where's the dead bodies?

A really breif preview of my hunt report, which I'll post later when I've had the chance to reaquaint myself with my wife and kids, office, and got photos squared away.

I hunted in Nyakasanga ans we struggled from day one. The jess and riverine bush were THICK, even thicker than anticipated. All of the pans in the jess were full and fuller, even typically dry-by-May pans. But what had us struggling was dense laid over dry grass and weed ground cover, making tracking slow and difficult.

Many times we would be following a good set of prints to loose the tracks to crossing cow heards and find picking them back up difficult or impossible. The trackers were looking at only indents in the grass or small protions of a print and with the numbers of eles in the area it was tough keeping on the correct track.

On day 12 we were charged by a bull that was looking for us from down wind. We were at a pan looking for tracks nad had already retreated from a herd of cows. When this bull crossed our wind at maybe 20yds he came looking for us. We could hear him coming quickly and we had nowhere to go. We first saw him at ten hads and when he broke through the bush at eight yards and saw us he turned, put his head down and came.

Somehow, I manged to double my rifle - don't ask how, I'll never f---ing know, but it was me and not the rifle because it has intercepting sears, but that ended the charge, as later determined by reviewing video. PH Rich Tabor fired his 470 just after I shot and missed the brain as well. He was trying to stop the charge. Only review of the video reveals that Rich's shot might have been better placed in the heart since my shots stopped the bull, but evertthing happened so darned quick. Glad to be able to type this because it was soiled shorts close in that thick stuff.

As an FYI, in the jess blocks it was dense enough and visiblilty poor enough, with enough eles around that Rich had told me early on that if things got dicey and close to just go ahead and shoot if I felt it required to keep everyine whole. On this bull, I followed that admonition. We've faced a couple of for real charges together before, but none with so limited visibility.

We tracked that bull two hours before dark ended our efforts and then six hours the next day, eventually loosing him to crossing cow herds that covered his tracks repeatedly. He'd gone back to feeding and I'm confident he has only a headache.

Parks and Wildlife has yet to determine if that bull will be counted against my quota or as a self defense shooting. Hopefully the video and the game scout will resolve any Parks doubts, which, if any, will revolve around my shooting first as opposed to Rich, but I was closest and had the angle.

Gave away a cow buff and a hippo quota to another hunter, Steve Scott, who was hunting a bull buff and who produces a show on the old ESPN 2 channel now calld ? and which can be seen at 8:00am Sundays. We were running out of time, needed bait and the quota was paid for. He was a very nice fellow and appreciative of the opportunity. He should get a couple of good segements out of his hunts. He got a "right and a left" on the bull and cow buff, taking both from the same herd moments apart. Great video of the hippo to which was taken in a small pan.

On day 13 we found an "average" bull and killed him. The ivory isn't weighed yet but should go mid meube upper thirties, well below expectations for the area and time frame. Pretty ivory but thin at 13 1/4" circumference at the lip, should go about 4 1/2', but it wasn't chopped out before I left.

Struck out on leopard. Shot two hyhenas, one at 7:00am, well after sun up. Shot bait, but let an appy do most of the bait shooting.

Lots of walking from slow tracking to faster cross country humps to through the jess to get to the many, many pans, as much as nine hours a day of walking. With the amount of water and the condition of the jess the bulls, really all of the eles, were finding no reason to leave or cross roads.

Didn't give much effort to the tuskless.

If Parks rules the charging bull a self defense shooting, I'll try to return in Sept for the second bull and tuskless.

Toguh hunt, no lucky breaks. But we kept at it and no one got discouraged. I'm not looking forward to tying my wingtips on Monday.

JPK

quote:

You have not missed much here a few posters with no known African hunting experience,

No, I have no African hunting experience, period. So check that.

quote:

understanding of the country and the people,

Check. This applies to me also.

quote:

or current first-hand knowledge professing doom and gloom in Zimbabwe,

Check, I guess. I did read the Zimbabwe travel advisory and thought I'd share it FWIW. It's not like they've been having a big singalong over there in Zim lately.

quote:

but what else is new.

Oh, I dunno. A little human concern, maybe? Or is that just for bleeding-hearts and pussies in you guys' eyes?

So, without apology to anyone, I'm one of the "nothing-new" guys...



OK, I'm done.



Great story so far, JPK, despite the poor outcome. Thanks for sharing.

I mean no offense, but if you wanted to learn about or understand what life was really like in Mississippi, would you rather (1) talk to someone that lives there, (2) talk to someone who has recently been there, (3) talk to someone that had been there before even though it may have been awhile or (4) listen to someone that read something on the internet about Mississippi. They are all sources of information but qualitatively very different. I think that is the only point being made -- instead of listening to what is reported, why not listen to what those that are there or have been there recently have to say and make a judgment based on all the information taking into account the qualitative differences in the information. Like I said, just expressing a view, not trying to offend.

Good to hear some of the recent Paranoia is unjustified. If I listened to the travel warnings issued by the Australian Govt. I wouldn't leave my house.

Common sense, and a little intestinal fortitude prevail.

No offense taken, MJines.
The biggest thing out of that advisory that actually concerned me, for the sake of others, was the issue of the cameras. If I were going (which I'm not and never will, honestly) I would at least appreciate the heads up that someone gave me from an apparently reliable source, whether there was ultimately anything to it or not.

But people differ, I guess...

Nice work under very tough circumstances, JPK. Very nice work.

Sounds like a great hunt considering the bush wacking hope things thin out a little for Mike (MJines) and myself in June. Waiting for pics and the good stuff. Thanks, JPK

Dirk

John, sounds like a good challenging hunt. A lost animal is always frustrating but it sounds like you did well with the circumstances facing you.

Way to tough it out. I wondered how the heavier than normal rains would affect the hunts. I look forward to your photos as you have time.

Kudos to you on facing that bull head on. Hopefully, Parks will rule that to be self-defense.

quote:

The jess and riverine bush were THICK, even thicker than anticipated.

I got burned like that on a fruitless buff hunt one May. I swore never again.

Will,

The thickness of the jess and riverine bush were not a huge issue impairing success. The ground cover sure was though.

The jess was thick enough that we walked into wild dogs - or rather they walked into us, a sleeping hyhena at about noon and four napping lions at maybe three yards from the closest of us - thankfully, after filling our shorts with a hellacious roar, the lions moved on.

Sometmes we had very close encounters with other elephants too. When they are feeding in green jess they feed quietly, few breaking branched or crackles and crunches to give their position away. Nothing like hearing a stomach rumble just the other side of that bush in front of you, or worse - to your side, to get your immediate attention. Likewise rounding a corner into better visibility and realizing that you just walked past a couple of cows at maybe ten yards without realizing they were there - especially when the last guy in the train is still only ten yards away and oblivious.

This is why Rich told me to just shoot if I thought it required.

JPK

JPK - Thanks for the overview, I hope you are to return for the bull although personally I'd happily make the trip for "just" the two tuskless and leopard. I was in Sapi in July 05 and encountered opposite conditions, all extremely dry with little water and nothing to entice the bulls out of Mana. Last year was dry too...you just don't know.

SOG, I do not mean any disrespect. The thing is there are already numerous threads on the state of affairs in Zim, and I do not feel that a "Back from a Hunt!" thread is the appropriate place for continuing to beat this horse. The Travel Alert is just one piece of intel in the overall puzzle and decision that each of us must make. I read some of the frightening Alerts and Warnings for countries in Northern Africa, the Middle East and South America, and my first impression is that anybody who goes there for pleasure must be nuts. However, people familiar with the countries and the people look at this differently I am sure. I don't have a copy of the one that preceded the current Zim Alert, I do not recall it being much different.

quote:

SOG, I do not mean any disrespect.

No problem, sir. I meant no disrespect either.

But I think it's mighty inconsiderate of JPK to return in one piece and make fools of myself and the DOS. Honestly!



Just kidding. Glad he's back, whether it made fools of us or not. Foolish is my natural state anyway.

JPK,
Sounded like a tough hunt... but an adventure. Hope the Fall hunt turns out to be a corker and makes up for the early season jaunt. Cheers!

JPK
Glad you made it back OK.

Nothing compares to elephant hunting in the thick.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
I mean no offense, but if you wanted to learn about or understand what life was really like in Mississippi, would you rather (1) talk to someone that lives there, (2) talk to someone who has recently been there, (3) talk to someone that had been there before even though it may have been awhile or (4) listen to someone that read something on the internet about Mississippi. They are all sources of information but qualitatively very different. I think that is the only point being made -- instead of listening to what is reported, why not listen to what those that are there or have been there recently have to say and make a judgment based on all the information taking into account the qualitative differences in the information. Like I said, just expressing a view, not trying to offend.

Let me see if I can make this a little more clear in a manner that isn't so biased to many here.

There is a possibility of a Cholera outbreak in Myanmar. Lets say you talked to a person who just got back from Myanmar and Cholera was not an issue at that time or in the place they visited.

This does not mean that there is not a high possibility of a Cholera outbreak. It ONLY means that there wasn't one at that particular time or place.

Reporting on the increase in factors that can lead to an outbreak shows the increased risk, not a certainty.

Just to build on that analogy, I think the real point is that talking to the doctor on the ground in Myanmar or one that just left regarding his/her assessment of the situation is far more meaningful that reading Yahoo assessments.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Just to build on that analogy, I think the real point is that talking to the doctor on the ground in Myanmar or one that just left regarding his/her assessment of the situation is far more meaningful that reading Yahoo assessments.

This is truly the case, for instance, I was in touch with my PH, Rich Tabor, regularly before the hunt and he continued to report "no problems." I was concerned but had a Plan B since Zambia was a short drive and but a half mile boat ride and we had the boat. I was concerned enough to ask Rich if he would be more comfortable if his new bride came with us from Harare, his response was, "why?"

JPK

JPK:

Glad to see you back home safe and sound.

Fingers crossed for the outcome with the parks folks.

We should try to grab dinner or something and talk about huntin' and DRs.

All the best,

Paul

I got the tusk weights from the bull I killed. The left tusk went 38lbs. The right had a large hole and an abscess near the base, under the lip, caused by a previuous bullet, as well as a long crack along where the nerve would be. An old 375 soft point was recovered from the core of the tusk. That tusk went ~28lbs with the damage and missing ivory.

Perfectly in line with my luck for this trip, eh?!

Gotta wonder if the moron that shot the 375 soft is still with us or if he is fertilizer.

Paul,

When I come up for air after catching up we should do that.

JPK

JPK,

Glad to here a little calming news from Zim and sounds like you had quite a memorable safari...