We depart tomorrow for my son’s first buffalo hunt. We’ve got an almost 2 day layover in Dubai before flying to Arusha on the 27th. That’s my sons birthday, so it’ll be a great way to celebrate turning 32. Then 2 days in Tarangire Park to look at buffalo before we charter out to Maswa for ten days. We’ll be with Mike Fell in Maswa North and Mike’s very optimistic about the hunting right now. He messaged me on WhatsApp this morning, saying he saw “hundreds and hundreds of buffalo today, with many coming out of the park now that the migration has moved on.” He thinks my son’s prospects for a couple really good bulls are excellent.

This is Mike’s last safari of the season in Tanzania and he told us it could be wet and muddy but the hunting should be excellent. He’s right about the weather forecast as it’s been raining like mad and the forecast calls for rain about half of the days we are there. Sounds like it’s gonna be a muddy mess but we’re going to have a fantastic time nonetheless.

I’ll post a report upon our return.

Best of luck to you and your son, Dan!

quote:

This is Mike’s last safari of the season in Tanzania and he told us it could be wet and muddy but the hunting should be excellent.

The rains are upon us and it will most very likely be wet and muddy - that is what brings on the start of the migration and a glorious opportunity for some superb Buffalo.

Just keep fingers crossed that it doesn't get too wet as even walking will be difficult.

Good luck my friend!...Safe travels.

Good luck and good hunting to you and your son!

Good luck. It's always a special trip when your kids can go along and participate.

Good luck and have fun.

Good luck and safe travels.

Let me know if you see any Robert’s Gazelles there. Apparently late, late season is the only time they’re there.

Happy Birthday to your son and good hunting!
LDK

Good luck to you

Have a great trip.

Shoot the one your PH Tells you to shoot and all should be fine.

Dan,

Best of luck and travel safe. Send me pix!

Mark

Good luck and safe travels. Mike will take good care of you!

That’s very exciting, best of luck!

Good luck this one sounds like it's gonna be
lots of fun!

George

Love hunting the beginning of the rains, despite the inconveniences of getting stuck. Good Luck!

Good luck ! Hunting with your son for his first buffalo is a real treat!

Well...

Y’all haven’t seen wet & muddy unless you’re hunting right here, right now. It has rained for 10 days straight, we usually get about half a day with no rain and then it pours for several hours.

Every Damn Day.

This hunt has required constant adjustments, starting the night before we chartered into camp when Mike Fell called to tell me he’s had a family emergency and had to return to South Africa immediately; with Tom Dames standing in as my son’s PH. As it turns out, Tom has been a wonderful, hard working PH. We would hunt with Tom again without hesitation. We’ve gotten the truck stuck probably 40-50 times through these first 8 days and I’ve seen a winch used more this week than in my entire 60 years. We can’t hunt most of the Maswa block, as the river we need to cross is a raging flood right now. So, we’re limited to hunting near camp. Instead of driving 100 kilometers a day looking for tracks; we are going 10-15 a day, and getting stuck more and more often. This morning, we got stuck in a spot we drove through yesterday and it took nearly 90 minutes before we were on our way again.

So far, my son has shot one nice hard bossed bull and we’re out daily looking for another. Two days ago, he could have shot a classic looking 42” bull but passed as one of it’s buddies was very old and heavy horned, broomed off on the ends and great character, if just a touch less spread. He couldn’t get a shot at that bull though. They were on them 2 days in a row, from 40-80 yards at various times, but couldn’t get a shot at the bull they wanted. This morning, they followed a pair of bulls and one turned out to be the best bull they’ve seen yet. Tom estimated him at 46” spread with a large boss. Unfortunately, even though they got as close as 20 yards, no shot was possible on that bull. Each day, we’ve come back to camp soaking wet as there have been Thunderstorms every day. We are wading through standing water probably 95% of the time. Weather-wise, this has been more like an Alaska Peninsula hunt than a northern Tanzania hunt. Hip boots, like you’d wear on a moose or brown bear hunt, would be the perfect footwear right now. But, we are making the best of it, hunting hard through the daily rain and having fun along the way. My son has walked quite a bit following buffalo and he’s pretty well hooked on it now. We are already discussing a future buffalo hunt together some years down the line. But, it’ll be a dry season hunt.

I’ll post a hunt report after we return and dry out. Stay tuned...

Dan,

I was thinking of you just yesterday. It's all in the adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark

quote:

The rains are upon us and it will most very likely be wet and muddy - that is what brings on the start of the migration and a glorious opportunity for some superb Buffalo.

Just keep fingers crossed that it doesn't get too wet as even walking will be difficult.

Don't say I didn't tell you .... and there's still more to come.

On a different note, you and your son can be privileged to say you hunted in similar conditions as our predecessors back in the days of no fancy Land Cruisers with locking diffs and power winches.

My son has been invited to spend 5 days in one of the several camps bordering Tarangire in a week's time for a freebie buff hunt with a very reputable outfitter; I was also invited but cannot make it due to work restraints (would've loved to send a couple of 570 grains through the barrels for old times' sake).

With the amount of rain currently pouring down in that particular area the going will be tough; I spoke to one of the Maasai elders last night and he said its been raining virtually non-stop for the past week.

The migration however is in full swing and lapping up the weather conditions so my young man should be able to score with too much difficulty.

quote:

Originally posted by fulvio:
My son has been invited to spend 5 days in one of the several camps bordering Tarangire in a week's time for a freebie buff hunt with a very reputable outfitter; I was also invited but cannot make it due to work restraints (would've loved to send a couple of 570 grains through the barrels for old times' sake).

With the amount of rain currently pouring down in that particular area the going will be tough; I spoke to one of the Maasai elders last night and he said its been raining virtually non-stop for the past week.

The migration however is in full swing and lapping up the weather conditions so my young man should be able to score with too much difficulty.

Fulvio, I expect your son will be fine, as there were no buffalo to speak of when we
visited Tarangire 10 days ago. In 2 days of driving all over the park, we saw 1 group of 5 buffalo. Mubarek Atik, our host at Tarangire, suggested that most of the buffalo had probably moved into Lokisale and Lobo. They sure as hell were not in the park.

On another note, instead of flying out of camp, it looks like we will fly out of the commercial airport at Mwanza, which is a 5 hour drive in good conditions. With 60 clicks of two track and dirt roads before we hit asphalt, we are hoping we can get there in 8 hours.

I have done that drive before. You see a lot of US Gov funded billboards about female genital mutilation, still very prevalent in that corner of TZ.

Sounds like a great hunt, looking forward to pictures.

Well, my son’s first buffalo hunt is officially finished. It was a tough hunt, with heavy rain 9 of the 10 days we hunted, including a downpour this afternoon. We are all tired, wet and muddy. But...

Tom Brady,Aaron Rogers and Drew Brees got nothing on us when it comes to 2-minute drills! With about 20 minutes of legal shooting time left on this last day, my son shot a fantastic old bull! He’s the same Dugga Boy they hunted for 3 straight days earlier this safari. Heavy boss worn smooth, tips broomed way down, ears shredded and he was in poor condition, skinny despite the abundant grass. We think he’s probably at least 12-13 years old. He earned this bull, walking lots of miles tracking buffalo these last ten days. He passed up many lesser bulls and was prepared to go home without filling his 2nd buffalo license. Like a 2 minute drill winding down, they got it done just before the game ended.

Full report with pictures when we get home and recuperate a bit.

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:
Well, my son’s first buffalo hunt is officially finished. It was a tough hunt, with heavy rain 9 of the 10 days we hunted, including a downpour this afternoon. We are all tired, wet and muddy. But...

Tom Brady,Aaron Rogers and Drew Brees got nothing on us when it comes to 2-minute drills! With about 20 minutes of legal shooting time left on this last day, my son shot a fantastic old bull! He’s the same Dugga Boy they hunted for 3 straight days earlier this safari. Heavy boss worn smooth, tips broomed way down, ears shredded and he was in poor condition, skinny despite the abundant grass. We think he’s probably at least 12-13 years old. He earned this bull, walking lots of miles tracking buffalo these last ten days. He passed up many lesser bulls and was prepared to go home without filling his 2nd buffalo license. Like a 2 minute drill winding down, they got it done just before the game ended.

Full report with pictures when we get home and recuperate a bit.

Congrats