First timer heading over in five days!

I’m booked to hunt double buffalo with CM safaris…

Alan Shearing will be the PH and we’ll be hunting in Makuti…

I’ve done a lot of walking and a lot of shooting…

I feel that I’m in pretty decent shape (although I’m sure I could be better) and am shooting pretty straight (I can keep em all in a 4 group off sticks at 100 paces)…

Bags are already packed (I used T Car’s list as a guide)…

Just doing some last minute stuff now…

Tomorrow is my last day in the office and I will then spend the next few days before my flight relaxing and trying to calm my nerves!

Any words of wisdom from the AR members would be appreciated!!

Thanks

Matt V.

PS...

I owe pretty much everything to do with this hunt to the fact that AR exists (everything from my interest in African hunting to finding the right outfitter and even to finding my rifle!)…Thanks Saeed…

Drink your water, drink your water, drink your water. The jet AC, jet lag and so on dry you out like crazy. Put a pocket size bottle in your pants pocket to refill and keep on you for at least the first few days.

Take what the bush provides.

Do you KNOW where your rifle hits at very short ranges? (Aim high out to 25 yards.) Take a proof target (ie., pre-shot) along to do the scope check at 25 and 100 yards.

Take ten times more pictures than what you are now ready for. For digital cameras, take at least two memory cards and make sure you don't drop them in some airport trying to get to a gate. (Did that on a trip after the safari -- already on computer, PTL!)

May God have mercy on your soul, because you are about to be bitten by the African bug, which there is no cure!!!!!

Have a great trip!!!

What sucks, is that you're not going to sleep for the next 5 days.

Best of luck!!!! Enjoy every minute you are there.

It is almost a pity that you are starting at the top because you will find what you are about to do to be a hard act to follow. I have done the same hunt at Makuti with Alan twice now and you are in for a real treat. As Kathi said enjoy every minute and clear a space in your diary for next year or the year after because believe me you will be doing it again.
Have a great time, - I am very jealous.

Good luck and enjoy your hunt. Best advice I can give is to go with the flow and don't sweat the small stuff.

Don't forget some painkiller and mild sleeping pills for that long flight over. Take pictures, go with the flow and HAVE FUN!

Take many more photos than you think you should.
Drink lots of water.
Ask lots of questions and learn as much as you can - about everything !
Trust your PH.
Roll with the series of events and make the most of YOUR safari.
Let your PH know right away if there is something you are not happy with.
Take those backup shots - you WILL pay for any animal wounded & not recovered.
If possible get some sleeping pills to help you sleep on the flight over & returning.

Have a great trip.

Cervical pillows make long flights much more comfortable!!!! Have fun and relax your in good hands!!!! Take and keep a journal. Years after it's all said and done and the details of some memories of the hunt fade you can pick it back up, read it, and be transported back to the hunt with all the emotions, smells, and sounds, of Africa!!!!!!

Brett

You are just begining to find out why we are all so obssesed with Africa here on AR. It is a sickness that you will not want a cure for. On the way home from my first safari,, I was thinking on the long flight back on how I was going to pay the taxidermy bill. By the time I landed I was already planning on the next return trip.... You can make more money but none of us can make more time! Take tons of pictures, tons,,,, write in a journal everyday, the small stuff you will forget, I re-read mine all the time, I even write down what we ate in camp. Sounds trivial but it will be important, you will forget you saw 90 guinea fowl while chasing a gemsbock or whatever. Remember you are in Africa, things happen on Africa's schedule, don't question why, just go with the flow,, your watch is just there to remind you what time you take your i don't want to go home pill! Go with the flow, take what the bush provides you to hunt and see, be a sponge,, soak it all in..
Seriously,,, sleep will be hard to come by until you spend a day in the bush and then you will crash,,, and it is the best sleep I have ever had is in the bush. Forget your everyday grind and relax.
As everyone says,,, drink plenty of fluids, the flight is long and you can easily dehydrate and mess up a really good trip, skip the extra cocktail on the flight and drink twice the water you think you should.
I think Ph's think we are the most quizical group, we ask tons of questions, don't change their opinion of us. Even if you think something may be a dumb question, it isn't if you want to know something,, ask tons, learn all you can ,,,, for your next trip over because you will go back! Enjoy!

Above all relax, enjoy, and have fun.
good luck on the trip

Trophyhunter5K,

First off enjoy yourself...Remember all that practice and just make the shot... Your ph is excellent and I personally know Buzz & Myles... Great guys...
Some ambien and some G2 gatorade mix for hydration is what I have taken on four safaris... The G2 comes in boxes and they are premeasured to 16 oz...
Have a great safari and say hi to my friends if you see them..
More stories for Dallas in January...

The best,

Mike

TH5K-
Just relax and have fun. Enjoy each and everyday and all that it brings. Leave your tape measure at home and leave half of what is in your bag at home...

And start a special savings account for the next trip and get a credit card that gives miles so you can fly on them next time!

You are certainly starting off with the right outfit.

Best Wishes For Great Luck On Your Trip.

Sounds like you are all set and ready for the dance.

Ask questions and learn, enjoy the experience, and as everyone else has said, Take Lots Of Pictures.

This is the hunt of your lifetime, even if there are others in the future.

Don't pick up a stick and beat the buffalo if he drops grave yard dead at the shot.

Enjoy the whole experience.

Remeber to breathe! Remember to take some time to soak it all in. Remember the cold buggy rides under the Southern Cross.

I bid you safe travel and enjoy a wonderful hunt!

I hope you will remember these warnings-

"Africa is undoubtedly a most fascination wild mistress. She gets a tenacious hold on most persons; bewitching, magnetic, that is almost irresistible, and once experienced, is NEVER lulled into forgetfulness."
May French Sheldon 1891"

And, so if you meet a hunter who has been to Africa and he tells you what he has seen and done, watch his eyes as he talks, for they will not see you. They will see sunrises and sunsets such as you cannot imagine, and a land and a way of life that is fast vanishing. And always he will tell you how he plans to go back.
Author: David Petzer

"If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"
MacD37 AccurateReloading.com

Have fun. Buzz and company are great guys.

Two buff in Makuti is good stuff.Good luck and say hi to Alan and Justin.

Matt,

Good luck and have a safe hunt, there is nothing like your first one. I had a piece of advice that served me well to allow for the planning of problems, changes and hopefully minor obstacles that every safari encounters:

"Put your "give-a-shitter" in neutral"

Enjoy the hunt and keep us posted.

There is lots of good advice here. As good as Miles and Buzz are there will be problems, delays, etc that will occur. African time or distance is not the same as ours. "Close" or "short walk" may be 5 miles, "a little while" maybe half a day, but savour each moment, for it as part of the experience. you must be patient through it all and just go with it.

I would recommend a note book or daily log book to record your days events. May you have a wonderful trip.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

And, so if you meet a hunter who has been to Africa and he tells you what he has seen and done, watch his eyes as he talks, for they will not see you. They will see sunrises and sunsets such as you cannot imagine, and a land and a way of life that is fast vanishing. And always he will tell you how he plans to go back.
Author: David Petzer

Rusty, I love this quote but have so far been unable to find the source. Do you know the book or article where it can be found? The only David Petzer I can find is a writer on child abuse and teenage behavior.

Thanks everyone for the advice and well wishes…

I’ll be taking plenty of pics and will be journaling each day’s events so I’ll be sure to post a good hunt report when I get back…

So until then…

Matt V. signing off…

Good luck, good hunting,
savor the adventure
file a trip report with PICTURES!

My buff hunt two weeks ago took an intense 40 minute stalk and it ended in fifteen seconds with a downed animal and a death bellow. All the work of planning and executing the plan was worth those fifteen seconds. A logical person might question that, but only one who has never hunted buffalo.

Once you get Africa in your blood, you are doomed to connive, scheme, plan and devise methods of returning. It is a delightful disease.

As others have said, just go with the flow and enjoy the anticipation. Nothing else I've ever done beats nitty-gritty time with a Cape buffalo in the thick stuff.

Yes, you must repeat this phrase exactly or Gort will destroy earth: "Klaatu barada nikto!"

Relax and have fun. There is nothing worse than putting undue pressure on yourself. I know believe me. You may be a good hunter and a good shot but this is your first time and you will be nervous. Try to just soak up and enjoy the experience without stressing over your performance. I am sure you will do fine and after you break the ice you will calm down considerably. It is normal to be like a little kid the night before Christmas. I think most of us do it to one degree or another.
Like the guys said above push the water at least initially. Drink a glass or a bottle before you go into the field. The time to hydrate starts right at that point. If you wait until you get into the field you are just playing catch up and you wont do as well.

As people have said on the board many times. TAKE WHAT AFRICA GIVES.

If you go over with preconceived notions of what will make a successful hunt, well good luck, you won't get another first hunt.

However if you take what Africa gives, you will not be disappointed.

+1 to all of the comments above! Enjoy every second that you spend in Africa!