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DATE OF HUNT August 2008 LOCATION Makuti Safari Area, Zimbabwe GAME HUNTED Tuskless Elephant, Eland, Bushbuck GAME NOT TAKEN Kudu, Sable PROFESSIONAL HUNTER Buzz Charlton CM Safaris admin1@cmsafaris.com http://cmsafaris.com HUNT SUMMARY My oldest son and I arrived home yesterday from a terrific hunt in Zimbabwe w/CMS Safaris. We spent 10-days hunting plus one day in Mana Pools. We shared camp with Robert Jolley, his lovely wife Teresa, and wild-and-crazy friends Julian and Stephen, all from the UK. I am sure Robert will post something about his exciting hunt shortly. Evenings in camp and around the camp fire were interesting to say the least. Zimbabwe was perfectly safe, the people the friendliest in Africa as usual, and we had zero problems traveling/driving around Harare and to/from the Valley. Availability of goods and supplies was better then in past hunts as the safari operators have plans and systems in place now to deal with the shortages. Ditto with travel from Dulles to Harare via Joburg on SAA...piece of cake. The hunting was excellent, and the bush just about perfect. Makuti is rugged and awesome, and we did a lot of hiking in the hills in search of game. Our Camp was very nice and well supplied. I shot a big tuskless after an exciting climb and stalk (brain shot behind the ear at 20-25 yards, .458 Lott with hand-loaded Woodleigh 500gr solids), an old eland bull which we tracked for 11 hours over two days, and a very good bushbuck after a true walk-spot-shoot in a beautiful valley. Royal's Children Kumba & Lucia: ![]() CMS Office - Kirsty: ![]() Gathering Supplies in Harare: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Spike Camp ![]() ![]() ![]() Communal Area ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Marongora National Parks Office ![]() Road to Makuti ("WafaWafa" Meaning "To Die To Die" as Trucks Routinely Lose their Brakes & Crash) ![]() ![]() Camp in Makuti: ![]() ![]() Scenes from Makuti: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Mana Pools (most pictures taken while on foot): ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Airport Goodbyes: ![]() | ||
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Looks like another successful hunt. Congrats. ------------------------------- Will Stewart / Once you've been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun. --------------------------------------- and, God Bless John Wayne. NRA Benefactor Member, GOA, N.A.G.R. _________________________ "Elephant and Elephant Guns" $99 shipped “Hunting Africa's Dangerous Game" $20 shipped. red.dirt.elephant@gmail.com _________________________ Hoping to wind up where elephant hunters go. | |||
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NICE ! Dang I miss that place. ![]() tendrams | |||
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Nice! You gotta love that Eland. Nice old boy. Nice Bushbuck as well. | |||
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Wow...! Excellent pics... Congrats on the great hunt... Looking forward to the full report... ______________________ Sometimes there is no spring... Just the wind that smells fresh before the storm... | |||
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Very nice report. $350 billion for meat.........wow Love the scenery at the office. Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum | |||
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Bill, the Eland looks very nice. Congrats for your great hunt. mario | |||
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Love that Chobe Bushbuck, hope to get one as good in Oct. Great looking camp. Congrats on a great hunt. | |||
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Congrats on a great trip. Love that old eland bull. Good Hunting, Tim Herald Worldwide Trophy Adventures tim@trophyadventures.com | |||
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Bill, Congratulations on a successful hunt. Looking forward to seeing additional photos of your hunt. Kathi kathi@wildtravel.net 708-425-3552 "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." | |||
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Most excellent. Makes me homesick for Africa this morning. I look forward to your full report and will seethe in jealousy the rest of the day! ------------------------------- Some Pictures from Namibia Some Pictures from Zimbabwe An Elephant Story | |||
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Bill, congrats on a great hunt, although I still do not miss climbing the hills in Makuti. Mike | |||
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Congrats!! Great pictures, I agree with Wendell got to love that old Eland bull, what a great trophy, especially taken after a long tracking job, way to go. ![]() 6x NFR Qualifier NFR Champion Reserve World Champion Bareback Rider PRCA Million Dollar Club 02' Salt Lake Olympic Qualifier and an all around good guy! | |||
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It's good to hear that you had another good hunt Bill. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on Makuti as well as what happened with sable. _______________________________ ![]() | |||
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Congrats. That's one fine elephant bull you took picutres of. | |||
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Bill, Very nice! Love those bushbuck. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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Bill, congratulations! Thanks for sharing! Rusty We Band of Brothers! DRSS, NRA & SCI Life Member "I am rejoiced at my fate. Do not be uneasy about me, for I am with my friends." ----- David Crockett in his last letter (to his children), January 9th, 1836 "I will never forsake Texas and her cause. I am her son." ----- Jose Antonio Navarro, from Mexican Prison in 1841 "for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Arbroath April 6, 1320-“. . .It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.” | |||
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Great pics! Love that eland bull. But you gave the kids Crocs? Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Bill, welcome back and as usual you set a high bar for most of us - thanks. Pictures are fantastic as usual and eland has obviously added much to the upcoming herd. Look forward to your report. | |||
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Nice Bill....looks like you had a great time. The scenery in Zim IS beautiful and the folks great on my one visit. Gary DRSS NRA Lifer SCI DSC | |||
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Thanks guys! No jet lag [yet] but severely back-logged at the office. ![]() Bryan - We saw a lot of sable, but not that exceptional bull that I was after (over 40" or old/broken horn bull). As you know, the most rewarding way of hunting Makuti is on foot, exploring the remote valleys, picking up tracks at springs, and glassing from hilltops. As is the case most anywhere, driving and spotting game can actually be more productive, which is possible here. While the ele is not a classic tracking hunt where you drive roads and pick up spoor to follow, it is possible once tracks are found. In this respect, Criton (Buzz's main guy) and Bongi (Myles's lead tracker who was available for this hunt) were amazing, following spoor over hard ground and thru tall grass. I enjoyed the terrain very much, and found the temperatures just about ideal. Very few tsetse's too. Although the road system is good, Makuti is quite a large block, and there are huge unexplored/unhunted areas closer to the Zambezi River that would be ideal for a backpack type hunt if National Parks would approve. Frank - Actually a Payless knockoff I believe, and very well received by Lucia. I should have taken a picture of Buzz's custom "Hunting Crocs", which are a cheap Chinese knock-off in olive green with a hard tread and cloth front toe band added. I had lightweight Lowa leather boots as used in Cameroon on my LDE hunt and was thankful for the support, I have no idea how Buzz navigates the hills and rocks in his custom-Crocs. Unfortunately, we wore them out! | |||
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As to backpacking in Makuti, we discussed it extensively. The problem is that Parks mandates a separate permit for each camp that is made...along with separate fees. ![]() I knew you would like Makuti. It's your kind of terrain I would think based upon our discussions about such things. Interesting that you found the camp so pleasant. I thought so too but you've got more experience. _______________________________ ![]() | |||
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Great hunt Bill, that place kinda grows on you after you've left it. Very nice bush buck that thing looks like he's at least 15inches probably pushing 16 inches. Dirk "An individual with experience is never at the mercies of an individual with an argument" | |||
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SUPER eland bull, Bill!! | |||
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Bill, wonderfull pictures, look forward to the full report. also welcome home. Glad you had a good hunt with your son. | |||
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![]() Here are pictures of Buzz's NASCAR-modified stock crocs. Apparently, the modifications continue as the season progresses since Bill mentions a cloth front toe band that has been added since these photos were taken. I apologize for the skanky feet, my Photoshop skills are not up to replacing Buzz's feet with Paris Hilton's. ![]() ![]() Mike | |||
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Welcome back Bill. Looks like you scratched your eland itch this year! A LDE and a Livingstone ~ show-off! Great to see your son hunting with you again. By the way, did you beat Buzz in the American version of football? I know he is small but I bet he is wiry... On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of ten thousand, who on the dawn of victory lay down their weary heads resting, and there resting, died. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch... Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! - Rudyard Kipling Life grows grim without senseless indulgence. | |||
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Bill, Congratulations on another successful hunt. I love that eland. David | |||
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Bill, Welcome home and super photos...Tell me that bushbuck was 16inches.. Also how much was the estimate on the bull's ivory??? Mike | |||
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Congrats Bill, That Safari sounds like just the plan. ![]() Any sign of Ingwe? | |||
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Congratulations ![]() Proud DRSS member | |||
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Hi Bill Congratulations on a fantastic hunt and memorable trophies. Funny, Monique Pouchain was just asking news from You this morning. Your son will even be more strong than You. That's really a grace to have kids sharing the same pastimes. You bring back fine memories : Buzz's home, Makuti, Eddie, Criton.......and I see for the first time Kirsten, really a wonderful woman. One more reason to join Buzz next year. Thanks for sharing jb J B de Runz Be careful when blindly following the masses ... generally the "m" is silent | |||
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Fantastic pictures. Really like the bull elephant silhoetted against the sky. ALLEN W. JOHNSON - DRSS Into my heart on air that kills From yon far country blows: What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again. A. E. Housman | |||
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Sounds like a great hunt and the photos sure confirm that. Congrats! JPK ![]() | |||
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Thanks again guys, it was indeed a very good hunt. Things are hectic and I do not think I will have an opportunity to do a full report for a while, but suffice to say that I enjoyed the time especially with my son. Anybody headed to or considering a hunt to Zim should expect a good hunt. Just make sure to book with a reputable PH/outfitter, as there are shysters out there who will say or do anything to make a quick dollar (or pound). Mike - The bushbuck measured 14.5" but had thick bases. The first and largest ele pictured was guesstimated to be at least 55lbs. Adam - Yes it worked out well. By Ingwe, was this Out of Africa who hunted/hammered Makuti in years past? Pls feel free to email/pm me if I can be of any assistance. Bill | |||
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I thought he was asking if you had seen any leopard sign. Seems to have been pretty productive for Spots last year. ------------------------------- Some Pictures from Namibia Some Pictures from Zimbabwe An Elephant Story | |||
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That's what I thought he meant. Charles and I saw a lot of sign last year in that camp...some of it with the leopard standing in it...or beside the tent at night. It was an interesting camp. _______________________________ ![]() | |||
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Oh, Ingwe, gotcha. Yes, there was leopard sign every where, and multiple feeding on baits including a big one on a bait which we hung. The camp female had a scuffle with hyena prior to our arrival, and did not make an appearance while we were there. Robert hunted them hard, but I won't steal his thunder. | |||
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Bill, Congratulations on yet another good hunt. The bushbuck and eland are great. ![]() Ahmed Sultan | |||
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