I wanted to give a special recommendation for a nineteen year old young Zimbabwean by the name of Shaun Neal who can be contacted at aneal@mweb.co.zw. I was hunting with CM Safaris in the Deka area for a tuskless elephant with Alan Shearing as my PH. We approached a breeding herd of ten elephants all huddled together under the shade of a tree. The stalk took about 45 minutes with Shaun staying right behind me. We were out in the open in the middle of the day. When I finally was able to take the shot - the whole herd charged lead by the Matriarch. I don't mean a mock charge, but a head down ears pinned back full charge with the matriarch out front. We were chased backwards about 30 yards when Alan had to shoot the Matriarch at seven yards dropping her instantly while the game scout was shooting into the ground. This caused the remaining elephants to run off to the left. It was fast and furious. The Matriarch had a wire snare festering around her left front foot. The amazing thing is that young Shaun didn't turn and run, but stayed right behind us running backwards catching the whole thing on video. At one point he fell backward on his rear and you can briefly see the top of his boots in the video. He never blinked or stopped filming. I will say it is probably one of the best full on elephant charges ever caught on film. For my part, I did make a clean side brain shot and didn't accidentally shoot anyone while running backwards in half circles. For Alan, it was just another day at the office. He was unbelivable cool. Buzz intends to use the footage in his next video. I have seen it, but will not pick it up from Buzz until I see him in Reno. I will then put it on youtube and make a reference to it here so others can see I am not blowing smoke. Shaun works for CM Safaris and freelances on his own. He did an outstanding job and is an exceptionally nice young man. If you are looking for a top notch video guy for your next hunt then give him your consideration.



You can borrow money, but you can't borrow time. Go now.

Charlton McCallum also uses a young man named Justin to video. He did an outstanding job on my elephant hunt. When I was showing some friends my DVDs they commented that it looked like it had been filmed by a television camera man for a network. I was more than satisfied with his fine work.

We were hunting with HHK safaris this year but the videographer came from CM Safaris, his name was Roy. A very nice guy but unfortunately a very bad cameraman, he failed to get most of the rifle shots on camera.

His camera was not rolling most of the time when action occurred and on two occasions when there was plenty of time to get the camera started, he was zooming in on the wrong animal in herd, what a disappointment. The best footage of the safari came from the Leopard hunt, which I did myself with my own video camera form the blind.

When hunting with Charlton McCallum safaris we used Ryan Cox, PH and videocameraman.


I just received his DVD. Fantastic, no less
A real pro.

Justin is a fine guy as well but I met him just once.

Ahmed,

I recall Buzz mentioning that one of the cameramen, I think his first or last name was Deon, had not been up to CM standards and that he had not lasted long was let go. I believe that for this season CM will be using Ryan, Justin and another fellow, Ian, for all their filming. I also know, since it arrived while I was there, that they will be using HD cameras this year too -- that should be sweet.

I can only say that when I go back in '08 I definitely intend to have my hunt videoed again. I really regret that I did not have it done on my first two trips. The quality is excellent and the memories it evokes are far better than pictures. Also, in looking over my contract for this year, the pricing has actually gone DOWN amazingly enough. The video is now $100/day versus the $150/day from the '07 season. I can only presume that Buzz is trying to price this at the bottom of the barrel to encourage folks to get the footage since he can also use the footage in his DVDs -- like the new one he is currently editing with the same editor that did such a great job on the elephant hunting DVD. The new DVD should be available at the shows as I understand.

JB,

I recognize Tristen's Desert Eagle there. Damn, I think I would rather lug my rifle around in the bush than that pistol!

I talked to Alan after your hunt (I have hunted with him also and highly recommend him). He told me about the charge and how she shook her head from side to side as she came. He said her body language was very conflicting and that she brought the herd across open ground to you. I was glad he switched rifles after damaging the sights on his 458.

He also said he was very pleased with your shot. Congrats on your ele.

Buzz is in the States right now editing the video footage. My hunt with Alan is on it too.