Have thought about a plains game/Cape Buffalo hunt. Zim not doubt came to mind, but Caprivi strip in Namibia came to mine also, I know little of it, have no idea what kind of Cape Buffalo come out of it. The only reason it came to mind is I would like to take a Gemsbok and possibly an Eland, therefore Namibia came to mind.

Anybody hunted Caprivi and does it make sense for a Buffalo hunt. I think Vaughn Fulton hunts that area, I’ve looked at his web site, I’m sure others also.

Comments please.

Billy,

The Buffalo coming out of the Caprivi usually have very heavy bosses. Spread isn't too shabby either. In a nutshell, they are very good Buffalo.

You don't hear much about it because the quota is so low.

It is not possible to hunt the Gemsbuck and Eland in the Caprivi, you would need to travel to another area to do this. But this is not a problem as you can fly back to Windhoek and drive into an area from there.

I hunted the Caprivi several years ago ('96) but not for 'buff. I believe you'll find that the low qouta = rather high price for a 'buff compared to those places that have them in high numbers.

Gringo - I hunted in the West Caprivi strip for leopard and buffalo in May 2003. The gov't concessions (such as the West Caprivi, which is different then the conservancies in East Caprivi WHICH WERE AWARDED) will not be awarded to perhaps May-June, if then. The Gov't is implementing a program whereby the operators must have a 20% local/black ownership. Right now, there are quite a few operators/PH's claiming ownership to the [clarification: GOVERNMENT] concessions in the Strip.

This means there COULD be some good deals shortly - at a time when Zim and Zambia are sold out of buffalo. HOWEVER, the buffalo hunting in the Caprivi varies during the year, and typically is best Feb-May (into early July of a wet year) when there is still water in the concessions, and again Nov as the rains start. I hunted there again in Oct-03 for lion (tracking on foot), and it was God-awful hot, burned and desolate. I'd hunt it early in the year, or late (Nov) providing the thunder storms and short rains began early. If booking in advance, this can be impossible to predict. Ele hunting is good all year.

The West Caprivi had eland on quota in 03, but it is a tuff (tracking) hunt. I'd do what Wendell suggested, hunt 7-days for buffalo and then elsewhere for eland, gemsbok, springbok, etc. The flight from Windhoek to Katima is an Air Namibia flight, no charter is required, so this would be easy to do. This would make for a real good 12-14 day hunt, especially if hunting the eland on foot, plus maybe a Mountain Zebra. Day rate for the plainsgame portion should be way less then the buffalo rate, and it is pretty easy in Namibia to hunt with two different outfitters.

For JUST buffalo, I'd do the Selous, or preferably the Luangwa or Zambezi Valley instead.

Following is my "Hunt Report". Feel free to email me w/any questions.

I was looking for unique yet classical destination for leopard/buffalo, and an outfitter who would make special accommodations for a father/son hunt. Fritz Reinhard, who was a scientist in Germany before moving to Namibia and taking up hunting, was very accommodating and offered me an excellent deal. My son was excused from school for 3 weeks, so it was also important for the trip to be high in educational value, as well as “safeâ€. The hunt surpassed my expectations in every way. The Caprivi is a “big game†area known for excellent elephant hunting, and feels much more like northern Botswana than Namibia (one could consider this a very economical Botswana-style hunt). The camp is tented, rustic and comfortable, situated along the Kwando River. The area is known for some 400+ species of birds, and our PH (Fred) knew just about them all. We took time out from hunting to visit and interact with the local bushman tribes, visit old SA army camps, fish, hike, game view and explore the area. My son kept a daily diary as part of his makeup work, which will sure to be a treasure to him later in his life. Buffalo: As there is limited plains game on quota, securing bait early in the hunt was a priority. On the 2nd morning, we picked up spoor of two bulls at a water hole and followed them for several hours until we found them resting under some shade. I used the .416 for a one-gun safari (Mike Brady@northfork@vcn.com). Earlier in the year, several 38-40â€+ bulls were taken, however, by the time I arrived most had left the area. In all fairness, Fritz highly recommended hunting earlier, but I had to schedule around my son’s school schedule. Leopard: We hung three baits and had two hit within days (the third one was found to be occupied by a black mamba). This was my first leopard hunt, and I thoroughly enjoyed the process of selecting the bait location and tree, setting up the blind and basically trying to outsmart the old leopard. I shot him on the 12th day during the afternoon, having successfully disrupted his nightly routine by baiting the area for hyena. Note there is no night shooting in Namibia, at least not legally, and ½ hr after dusk we were out of the blinds. Hyena: I shot a very large dominant female from the leopard blind. She will be mounted as a full body mount along with the leopard and a duiker I shot on a follow-up lion hunt. Bushman/Sans People: I have read stories about hunting with the bushman and their legendary tracking and survival capabilities, and they are true. The trackers we used had all been in the SA military acting as scouts and fighting against the current Namibian government (and had gunshot wounds to prove it). As such, they are somewhat outcasts in the Caprivi, living in three and four villages within the hunting area. However, I am afraid that with the temptation of modern civilization, combined with AIDS, theirs may be the last generation to possess true bushman skills. Miscellaneous: The best (most predictable) hunting IMO is early in the season (February-May), and again in November. Elephant hunting is said to be good all year, although I would avoid Aug-Oct for any hunting. There is a 10km non-hunting zone along the Kwando River. During the dry months, the buffalo migrate south into Botswana and north into Angola, returning after the early rains in Nov (there is no hunting Dec-Jan). Our PH, Fred Bezuidenhout, is an excellent hunter and companion. He served in the Rhodesian army for some 7-years before moving to Namibia, and has quite a few interesting stories to tell. He was as or more determined then I was to outwit the leopard, and I’d highly recommend anybody looking to hunt in the Caprivi or plains game in Namibia to talk to him. His email: fredbez@iway.na, noting like most busy PH’s, he hunts most of the year. There are some question regarding the hunting allocation for 2004, although it appears now that Fritz-Reinhard will have the concession for a least one more year.

Leopard - 7 foot 2 inches, 17 inch skull (green).
Buffalo - Old bull shot for leopard bait.
Hyena - 18.5 inch skull, 165 pounds.
Eland - Reason for Lack of Success: Limited numbers, found in certain areas only, ran out of time.
Game Condition: Unusually dry condition, water holes almost dried up. Saw lots of elephant and several nice bulls in the 50-60 pound range. Had several lions visit leopard baits and camp. Plains game still recovering from the aftermath of the civil war in Angola, and quotas are limited.
Highlights: Having my 14-year old son along for his first trip to Africa, taking a nice old tom on the 12th day, hunting and interacting with the bushman, learning about the history of the area, having three lion roaring for about 20-minutes not more than 30-yards from our tent one night.

Fritz Reinhard, Kuzikus African Safaris
www.kuzikus.com (Edit, corrected typo)
Email: kuzikus@iafrica.com.na

Bill C.

Very interesting, thanks very much

Gringo,

Caprivi is one of my "Dream Hunts" and I was seriously pursuing a hunt there at Reno SCI convention. Unfortunately, reality invaded my dream when I priced out a hunt with Dr Fritz Reinhard of Kuzikus African Safaris (the same outfitter Bill C hunted with). Bottom line is Caprivi is the most expensive buffalo hunt in Southern Africa, save Botswana.

I instead am going to hunt in Zimbabwe with Jumbo Moore and do a buffalo AND leopard hunt for a third less money than just the buffalo would cost in Caprivi. As for Vaughn Fulton, I have seen him mention the possibility of a Caprivi hunt on his website, but I have never heard of anyone actually hunting there with him. I suspect he is one of the outfits vying for a Caprivi concession from the government, as mentioned by Bill.

Zimbabwe remains the best buffalo deal in Africa, and some of those buffalo areas have very, very good plains game hunting to boot (like the Save Conservancy), where eland should be no trouble. You'll have to nix the gemsbok, however. They are a desert animal with few in residence in Zim.

Gringo,

Buffalo can be hunted in the Caprivi for prices comparable to Zim. My understanding is that the trophy quality is as good as about anywhere. If you'd like to know more feel free to contact me anytime.

Regards,

Mark

Well, it made sense to us...

My wife and I were scheduled to go back and hunt with Vaughan this June, but when he got the Salambala Conservancy, we quickly made different plans.

In this area, the buffalo come into the area as the flood plains dry out and the grass appears. So later in the year is better, up until November, when the rains start.

We are set to be there from Oct. 3 to 14th so we hope that coincides with the buffs schedule.

Gringo Cazador,

Bill C is correct in that government concessions will only be auctioned in June, however two conservancies in the Caprivi Strip have been issued with approved quotas by the ministry of Environment and Tourism and may be hunted.
The conservancies are namely Kwando/Linyanti and Salambala and they were awarded on a closed tender process at the end of 2004. I will be hunting in Salambala which is east Caprivi and borders on Botswana on the Chobe river. This is my first year in the area and I am excited by the prospect.

In certain government areas there were buffer zones (no hunting) between the concession and the river. Therefore some outfits recommended hunting early season and as Bill C mentions once the water holes dry up the buff move closer to the river.

It is not unusual to hear of one or two buff shot in the Caprivi scoring in the mid 40's. The averages still run in the 36-37" to 41-42" range.

Salambala sees a lot of migration of Buff and Lion to and from the Botswana side and game numbers reach impressive figures during these migrations.

For the last year I have the numbers from the Namibia Ministry folks, there were 10 Cape buffalo sport-hunted and exported in that year.

jim

Jim, did they mention the horn length too?

If so, what was the avg. for those 10 buff?

Thanks!

There will be quite a few more Buffalo this year. They have increased the quota ... considerably.

A 10 Day buffalo hunt will cost a bit more than what a Zim hunt costs. $12,750 once Buffalo trophy fee, tax, day rate etc. is totaled. That is not much more. If you have to charter in Zim, you are about even as there is no charter required.

I too saw people in Reno selling Caprivi hunts. They told me (honestly) we do not know which concession we will have ...

Lefty,

The don't care about size,just numbers. Now someone in the Ministry may know, but not when I was asking.

There are some rasty buff in those Conservancies. John W. got himself tossed by one last year ('03 IIRC).

Good ele too.

jim