The trip over was long, but relatively uneventful. Security at JFK was not tight, but the people manning the scanner were real idiots.
I informed them that I had firearms and ammo, yet when they saw the firearms and ammo on the x-ray, they lost their composure. They called over a pair of Port Authority cops to verify that the firearms were unloaded (even though I told them that the KLM ticket agent was supposed to do that).
The two 'Barney Fife' types really only wanted to know if I lived in NYC and had the required NYC long gun permit. I explained that I used to live in NYC, but now lived in the People's Republic of New Jersey. "Are you sure?" I told them, "Nobody claims to live in Jersey, unless they actually do."
After getting past these two bozos, I had no further problems, although KLM refused to admit to having any available bulkhead or exit row seating (I'm 6'4" and have a LOT of trouble with the lack of legroom on planes).

Some of you may recall, that I was scheduled to hunt in the Moyowosi; however, due to the arrival of the rains, we were sent to the Muhesi Game Reserve instead.

The temperature was in the high 90's every day, and the tsetse flies were thick and obnoxious, and the cook was awful!
The game was scattered over 1.7 million acres of Wengert-Windrose's concession, and we had to drive two hours or more to find any game.

Day 1 involved driving around, eyeballing some hartebeest (too small at 17") and stalking a few buffalo (too young, too soft, too wary). My first taste of the heat, flies, and beginnings of dysentery were nothing in comparison to the misery that would follow.

Day 2 started out well, as we came upon fresh buffalo spoor by 8am. We followed it for 1.5 hours before my legs starting cramping along with my stomach. The diarrhea started, too. I told Andy Wilkinson, my PH, that I needed to sit in the shade to recover a bit. He agreed, and left a tracker with us, while he and two trackers followed up the spoor.
Some two hours later, they returned, and told me of a 'beautiful buffalo bull' they'd found some 2km away.
After ingesting 1.5 liters of water, I felt better, and we set off after the buff.
While one tracker (carrying my .470), my wife, and I sidehilled, the PH and two trackers climbed to the top of the hill they'd seen the buff from earlier.
Unable to spot him, they assumed he'd left, and they descended to where we sat.
As we slowly walked out, the tracker and PH suddenly stopped, and waved me up to where they stood. I grabbed my .470 from the tracker, and gave him my .375.
I could now see the buff's feet, his chest, and the bottom of his jaw as he faced us in the bush. I lined up on his chest, with a Woodleigh 500gr. soft in the chamber, followed by Woodleigh 500gr. solids, all loaded to 2380fps.
I couldn't see him!!! There was just a big hazy spot with two legs sticking out the bottom! I lowered the rifle and looked at the objective lens; it had a greasy fingerprint dead center, as did the eyepiece!

The danged tracker had touched both ends of the scope. I exchanged the .470 for my .375, and prepared to shoot.
The buff had had seen enough of this Chinese fire drill, and began to run off. My first shot was a rear raking shot, the 300gr. Swift A-frame entering behind the ribs on the left, and exiting in front of his right shoulder.
The bull ran behind some rocks which blocked a follow-up from me, but the PH put a Kynoch 400gr. solid (.404 Jeffery) right into the root of the bull's tail, staggering the bull.
We ran to our left to where I could see the bull trying to get away, where I fired two more Swifts into the buff's (one in the chest, the other through the liver).
With the .375 now empty, the spare ammo back in the truck, and the buff still trying to get away, I grabbed the .470, and despite the smudged optics, put a soft into its spine, rolling him over.
He was still VERY much alive, and I was VERY excited. The bull fought his way back to his feet, and I put three more solids into him (one through the heart, one through both shoulders, and one through his boss (I said I was excited.))

The bull, now finally incapacitated, took another minute to issue his death bellow. I could now relax (after checking eye response with rocks thrown from a distance).

The necropsy showed that the first shot (.375/300gr. Swift) was a killing shot, but did not impress the buff at all. The .423" solid from the PH's .404 penetrated only 24" stopping at the beginning of the backstrap, and was recovered, badly fishtailed.
The second shot (.375/300gr. Swift) punched holes in the heart, and the third Swift hit the liver.
As I said, the .475" Woodleigh soft (shot #4) hit the spine and was horribly mangled. It was the ONLY other bullet recovered. The Woodleigh solids hit the heart (shot #5) and broke both shoulders (shot #6), and went through the boss (shot #7).

Tissue damage was impressive, and I can't say enough about the stellar performance of the .375/300gr. Swift A-frames, and the .475/500gr. Woodleigh solids.
The Woodleigh soft seems too soft for buffalo at 2380fps, but it looks good for lions.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

[This message has been edited by GeorgeS (edited 11-18-2001).]

Ski+3

About the diarrhea. After my third day in Tanzania it hit me and stayed with me for the rest of the trip. There has to be a good medecine somewhere for that.

I am wanting to go to Maisiland for cape buffalo again but I want to fly to Amsterdam then to Arusha. The South African flights to Arusha are so long. A lay over in Dar etc. Would you fly KLM again?

Again congradulations on a nice buffalo. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

Regards,
Terry

Terry, KLM was okay, but nothing special. Their food was pretty poor, although they gave you plenty (fed once NY-AMS, twice on AMS-Arusha, plus a snack). Customer service at the airports was seriously lacking, too. I asked for bulkhead or exit row seating on every leg, and they denied having any available. However, every flight had some of those seats available; I think the pricks just didn't want to give me any assistance because I was flying on a consolidator fare ($1174 R/T).
As for the long flight from Jo'burg, our flight times were 6.5 hours NY-AMS, and 8 hours AMS-JRO (Kilimanjaro airport), for a total of 14.5 hours. That's less than the NY-JOB flight alone; I don't know how long JOB-JRO is. I'd try KLM if I were you. Just be sure that your guns are handled and tagged correctly (you can check in Amsterdam to ensure that your guns were transferred to the Arusha flight).

As for the diarrhea, I too had it the whole time I was in Tanzania and until today (a total of twelve days!). Imodium didn't stop it; getting out of Tanzania was the best medicine for me.
George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

[This message has been edited by GeorgeS (edited 11-13-2001).]

I have been more than pleased with both soft and solid from Woodleigh out of my 450-400 at 2150 FPS, but have seen a couple of failures in my hot loaded 404 Jefferys with the softs...No problems to date with any Woodleigh solid. However I will use only GS flat nosed solid from now on on Buff, in all calibers.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Congratulations on a successful hunt. Were you disappointed in not getting to hunt in the Moyowosi?

Other than a bad cook (which is a real bummer), how do you rank Wengert-Windrose?

Did you get a Hepatitus A vaccination before you left?

Did you have any rehydration salts in your first-aid kit?

Regards,

Terry

JohnS,
I have heard of Lomotil, but do not use it due to the side effects reported (dizziness, and/or drowsiness, neither of which is a good combination with guns or dangerous game).
As for Cipro, I carry Augmentin which has similar properties. The Flagyl sounds good for amoebic dysentery, but you cannot have sundowners while on Flagyl.
I agree with you; it was probably the bottled water (Kilimanjaro brand, Kibo Bottling Co.). After 24 hours off that stuff, I am 100% okay.

Nick,
Thanks. Buffalo hunting can be a bitch, but it's fun!

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

George

I run ALL of the water I drink in africa, even the bottled stuff, through a PUR viral and bacterial filter that doubles as a water bottle. No pumps or anything just a bottle with a series of filters set up in it. They are about $45 from REI and work extremely well. I think $45 is a bargain for a healthy hunt!

JohnTheGreek

A fine buff, and I REALLY like your hartebeast. I seem to have a weakness for those critters for some unfathomable reason.

This is probably the first time I've heard the words "the cook was awlful" used in conjunction with an African safari. Usually "good" is about as bad as it gets. Strange occurance from what i believe is suposed to be a class outfitter.

The cook was better with game than beef, but not by much. His combinations were unpalatable, and the meat was generally overcooked, as were his desserts.

I expressed my dissatisfaction to the PH and the principals of the company. Perhaps good cooks are getting tougher to come by...

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

Robert Jobson