HUNT REPORTS
============

1. Collecting Supplies


2. To Dar Essalam And Charter Flight.


3. Part III



4. PartIV



5. Part V

6. Part VI


VIDEOS
======


1. Waterbuck In Front Of Our Camp
This is a view we see most of the day from our camp. Waterbuck, wildebeest, baboons, elephants and a herd of buffalo pass right in front of the camp.

2. Buffalo

This buffalo was shot on our first day of hunting. We drove around, and saw a herd feeding. We jumped out of the truck and tried to intercept them. Most of the herd have passed into the forest, and some stragglers were left behind. WE saw some still feeding in teh grass at the edge of the forest. One old cow - as usual, had her eyes right on us. So we remained as still as we could. Eventually she decided we were no danger to her, and proceeded to feed again. Alan had the shooting sticks up, and was glassing for a suitable, mature bull. He saw this one coming, and told me to be ready. As you can see in the video, one gets just a short glimpse of him as he passes through. Another lucky shot, as Walter would say. The bull ran a few yards and disappeared behind a bush. Buffalo hungting. Nothing to it really. Just jump out of the truck and clobber one

3. Following Buffalo

Heere is another aspect to hunting buffalo. We spent whole days chasing them, without even getting the satisfaction of seeing them all to check if there is any shootable bulls in there.



4. Wildebeast

Shortly after we had shot our buffalo, we were driving back to camp to drop it at the butchery. We saw this lone wildebeast bull, and had no problems adding him to our camp meat.


5. Hartebeast

THis hartebeast was one of those animals being at the wrong place at the wrong time. We saw some zebra, and we ran after them. A while later, they seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth, and this bull was standing right there. Another lucky shot through some trees dropped him.

6. Impalas

Impalas feeding and playing in the morning.


7. Lookout 1

This is one of the high places over looking the river, from which we normally glass to see what animals there are and make planes for a stalk.

8. Impala

We wanted leopard bait, so this impala ram was added.

9. Bee Attack

This was so funny. WE stopped to have lunch. And our trackers discovered this beehive, and decided to collect the honey from it. They put a rope over a branch of the tree, and one of them tyried to climb it. He almost made it, but could quite get on top of the branch, so down he came. I suggested he put his feet in a U shaped rope, and we can all pull him up. This worked great, and he managed to get on top of the branch. He slithered to where the beehive was, and started poking it! The bees came out, and started biting him. They were a different sort of bees than we know. Rather smaller, but still can give you a nasty sting. A fire was started, and they tried tio smoke them out. After all their efforts, no honey wax found.



10. Zebra

Zebras are hart to get here. They seem to just show their stripes and disappear into then air. WE saw these late in the afternoon, and managed to get one.

11. Buffalo

Funny enough, we found these two bulls in exactly the same spot we saw the herd on our first day of the hunt! They were standing in the river bed, right in front of our approaching truck. They ran off into the forest, and we followed them. After quite a while, they came out of the forest into the hills, which were covered with dry trees.

I fired a shot at this bull, and he took off. We found some blood, and followed it. He went right in the open, and walked almost 2 kilometers into another thick forest. WE caught up with him and finished him off.

12. Snake

While we were cutting up our buffalo, we found this snake slthering right next to us in the leaves.

13. Klipspringer

We were on the way back to camp, and saw this klipspringer jumping from rock to rock on a hillside close to teh camp. After a few tries, we saw both male and female standing on the same rock. The male was higher, and had most of his body hidden by the female. It wasn't very far - may be 80 yards. I shot him in the neck, and was a perfectly prepared for Walter to BBQ.

14. Warthog

We left the truck and walked down a valley hoping to find eland or buffalo. We found nothing but many impalas and some small warthogs. We called the truck, and jumped in. A few yards further, we saw this warthog, and had to jump out of the truck to shoot him.

The recoil took my head off him as I shot, and he disappeared. I wasn't sure I hit him, so Alan laughed as I said "did I hit him?"


15. Eland

We were driving along, when our trackers saw some eland ahead. We jumped out, and saw a big herd, with several bulls amongst them. We managed to stalk them, and as they were disappearing over the brow of a hill, saw this bull with his body hidden, and only his nect showing. I shot bhim in the neck, as the distance was only about 120 yards.



16. Impala

WE saw a herd of impala feeding in the afternoon, and this broken horn ram was there. After a few minutes of trying to find a way to shoot through the brush, I managed to shoot him.


17. Following buffalo 2

Another fruitless day following buffalo.


18. Sable


19. Roy Shooting An Impala


20. Lunch In The Bush


21. More Hippos

22. Hippo


23. Croc


24. Buffalo


25. Hippos


26. Following Buffalo


27. Hartebeast


28. Impala


29. Leopard


30. Roy's Wildebeast


31. Snared Hippo


32. Spotting Buffalo


33. Spotting Buffalo


34. Waterbuck22012


35. Croc

36. Chris's Wildebeast

37. Chris's Kongoni

38. A Herd Of Buffalo Going To Water

39. A Wildebeast Rescued From A Snare



40. Slow Motion Video Of The Trackers, Drivers And Game Scouts Shooting Contest



41. Carrying A Croc


42. Fun And Games


-----------------------------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The day has finally arrived, and we will be heading to the airport in a couple of hours.

As Walter likes to say, "the old people are already at camp, and the young ones are on the way".

Meaning that Roy, Rene and Alan are already there, and Chris, Walter and me are on the way.

Chris arrived here two days ago, and was quickly introduced to Walter's way of life.

Yesterday Walter arranged to take Chris on a tour of Dubai by air in a seaplane.

Fantastic photos! What an amazing city...added to the Bucket List.

Enjoy your trip Saeed, Chris and Walter!

Safe travels, have a fantastic time.

Best wishes and safe travel to all. Thank you in advance for sharing your trip with us again this year!

Have a great hunt and please post pictures.

Saeed, have fun!

Have fun & be safe. In others words "watch Walter real closely".
Look forward to reading your report.

Looking forward to the updates. Have a great safari.

Saeed,
Chris will be an able bodyguard, so you won't lose a leg to Walter's cherry bomb shrapnel.

Wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful ...
And a one, and a two, and a three ...

Another greatest show on earth begins.

Saeed,

All the very best. Waiting with bated breath for the "daily report".

Regards

Well, the adveture has begun!

Chris was laughing all the way to the airport, listening to Walter complaining about everything our driver was doing!

At the airport I discovered that I had left my suitcase at home!!?

My driver said I told him to put the guncase and ammo in the car, I did not mention a suitcase!

We finally got checked in, and went up to the First Class Lounge.

Walter suddenly stopped, and asked "Where is my boarding pass?"

"I gave it to you downstairs"

Chris said "you had to have it to go through security, so you must have it!"

Chris is a quick learner, he is getting into the mood to understand how Walter functions!

He has one of those National Geographic backpacks, which has about 999 pockets. So he proceeded to check each on to look for his boarding pass!

Eventually he found it, and we got into the lounge to have our breakfast.

Walter starts off with Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream, followed by yogurt and a chroisant.

Walter "Who is going shopping first?"
"I will. I would like to buy some magazines and be back in a few minutes"

"Chris, you go with Saeed. I will wait here with our bags"

"No I thinkI prefer to go down with you. It will more INTERESTING shopping trip than with Saeed"

Well, I went and got what I wanted, and now him and Chris have gone down. I am not sure what advetures awaits Chris!

Ya'll have a great trip! Can't wait to read the updates and see your wonderful pictures.

I am getting asked about our rifles and cameras.

Rifles and my two 375/404 wildcats, both built on Dakota 76 actions.

One has a Shilen barrel and one has a Dan Lilja barrel.

Our ammo is loaded with our own Walterhog bullets, which are made of copper on a CNC lathe here in our workshop.

The load is 85 grains of H4350, and Federal 215 primers, in Norma 404 cases.

We have a number of different cameras, which I will give the details of when we get down to the camp.

The pictures from the air were taken by Chris using a Sony NEX7 camera, with an 18-55mm lense.

I was given a Sigma zoom lense to try on the Canon 7D, I think it is 150-500mm. It will be interesting to see how it compares with our photos of last year, using a Canon 200mm lense with a 2X converter.

I will see if I can get Walter to add his own commentary to the hunt report - he has to tell me and I will post it, as I have absolutely no wish to let him use my computer.

He had half the airport gawking at him with ashtonishment while he was trying some disposable diaper covers for babies Emirates provide free of charge with baby carriers!

Wonders never ceases with him!

Saeed, good luck and have fun.

Saeed Beautiful pictures of your city. Good luck on your safari.

Blessings on your trip.

We appreciate the pictures, and also the work for sustainable conservation and hunting in Tanzania that your safaris contribute towards.

Looks like the beginning of a good trip. HAve fun.

Saeed,
I am going to visit Dubai for sure,always love your hunt reports

Have great trip Saeed!
I am going back to dubai to spend new years. See you have a picture of Madinat Jumeirah. Cant wait for another friday brunch in Al Qasr, amazing place

We arrived in Dar after an enjoyable flight on Emirates.

We cleared immigration and customs in record time. At the charter terminal we met Dean and Garry, who came along with us on the flight to join our hunt. The flight took 90 minutes.

Roy and Alan met us at the airstrip, and weheaded to the camp.

We sawa young male lion lying in the sand of a river bed as we passed by 20 yards away!

Rene was waiting for us, and prepared a great steak dinner or us.

We start hunting in the morning after we have checked the sights on our rifles.

Chris starts hunting tomorrow, as Walter likes to relax after his flight!

Which block in the Selous?

A fun and safe trip for all.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

I AM REALLY ENJOYING READING THIS! THANKS FOR SHARING.

You don't waste time!!! Congrats! Really enjoy you live report with the awesome pics. Hope more good luck follows you and the crew!

Well, we had a great start to our safari.

It was cloudy this morning, and we had a few drops of rain.

We had our breakfast, and went to check the zero of our rifles.

After that was done, we headed in different directions.

Chris went along with Dean abd Garry and Walter.

Roy, Alan and me went in another direction.

We checked some waterholes, and found some tracks of buffalo that were 2 or 3 days old.

We decided to go and check in the hills.

About 9 we met with a large buffalo herd, and we followed them.

We somehow managed to get ourselves in the middle. Some of them on either side of us.

We stopped and waited, then saw a decent bull walking about 80 yards in the grass, I fired a quick shot at him, and he disappeared behind some bush. The rest of the others with him stopped, and we were not sure what was going on.

Suddenly we heard him bellow, and we all smiled knowing that he is down. Apparently he ran less than 20 yards and piled over.

We waited until the rest of the herd left, and went to see our bull.

We gutted him and loaded him in the truck and headed back to camp.

A few ks leter we saw a long wildebeest, and managed to shoot him.

Again, we gutted him and loaded him in the truck, and went back to the camp to have our lunch.

Chris and Walter are still out. Hopefully they have the same luck as we did.

Boy, was I late to check on this thread! Loved the pics of Dubai, Saeed, and am hoping to visit your wonderful city again. The last two times were not enough.

The safari looks to be starting off with your usual great success, Now if you can only keep Walter in line.
Max

MA1 or MH1 is my guess, right in the heart of the Selous.

quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
MA1 or MH1 is my guess, right in the heart of the Selous.

Wrong guess both times - LU5 maybe?

quote:

Originally posted by Skip Nantz:
You don't waste time!!! Congrats! Really enjoy you live report with the awesome pics. Hope more good luck follows you and the crew!

Let the games begin

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

Man, I look at that rope and know if Joyce and I were there one of us would be off that cliff.

Stay safe and thanks for the report!!

Cheers
Jim

Saeed: Outstanding start to another adventure! Dean Kendall must be a glutton for punishment! Two years in a row with Walter!!

Thanks for sharing all of the great pictures. The smiles speak volumes.

We just had dinner.

Chris and his party did not shoot anything today, but had an interesting day.

I will leave that to Chris to enlighten you to their adventure.

But, as Walterbwas with them, something was bound to go wrong!

It involves a hippo and blowing up spare tyre!


Our hats were made by Hessa. She made 3 for Roy, Chris and me, and 3 just for Walter.

This afternoon we saw some buffalo, and followed them, but the wind was not being very helpful. So we gave up the chase and went looking for whatever we might find.

Saw some kongoni, and tried to see if there was a mature bull to shoot. But, we could not see any.

Headed back to camp, and a couple of Ks from the camp we saw a large buffalo herd.

It was getting late, so we continud on our way home.

Saeed,

All the best with the safari.We see that you are off to a great start.It has become an annual ritual for us to follow your safaris.Thanks for sharing.

Best-
Locksley,R.

Google Earth

08° 38' 50" S
37° 40' 30" E

will take you to the runway by the river.

Beautiful country. The animals call it home.

Saeed,

Many thanks for letting us here at home share in your adventures! In addition to your daily hunting reports could you let us know about the elephant poaching and efforts to get it under control?

Thanks

Saeed,

I'm looking forward to following your safari adventures and antics on AR. It is about the only time I get to see Chris even though we live nearby each other. I recently shared a mountain buffalo safari with Chris, known locally as Staggerino~Arino, in northern Tanzania last November. Haven't seen him much since but he was a fantastic safari partner, extremely knowledgeable and a great guy to have around when you need to re-sight in a heavy recoiling rifle. Lucky for Chris that he can take abuse....with Walter in camp! Have a great time and good hunting.

Cheers,
Bill