Sitatunga is a very sought after trophy animal and their secretive nature and the habitat they reside in make them a difficult specie to hunt.

As a freelance hunter I do quite a bit of work with young Richard Bell Cross in the Kafue and the concession there is stuffed with small swamps and bogs that hold healthy populations of this animal.

The concession encompasses a restricted fly zone and therefore our exploration is done on the ground.

My right hand man and tracker Green had informed us of two distant swamps that are much larger than anything we have opened up to date, so last week we sent him off to have a look before making the decision to cut a road. He has just returned and the news is all good so tomorrow Richard and I are going in. It will take us about a week to get in and out and I will post some photographs on my return.

If we do find big Sitatunga then we will put up a small camp and conduct a hunt there and I will post a report.

We are both quite excited as this is pure exploration and who knows what we will find. Note Richard last year took a 35 inch Sitatunga out of another no name swamp and currently this is the new world record.

The Kafue is now Africa's hot spot for Sitatunga and concessions both sides of the Lunga river can boast very high success rates. The Kasonso, Lunga Busanga and the Lunga Luswishi concessions are names to remember, for those who are serious about Sitatunga.

Good luck Andrew. Another great adventure. Will be waiting for the report...

That does sound like fun, bet you pull something big out of the reeds.

One cannot call shooting a sitatunga "hunting"!

All one has to do is sit in a machan and shoot straight from a perfect rest!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
One cannot call shooting a sitatunga "hunting"!

All one has to do is sit in a machan and shoot straight from a perfect rest!

The 'hunting' is done prior to the shooting.

I think both you guys are right but you arrived there from different directions.

quote:

Originally posted by Adrian Parham:
I think both you guys are right but you arrived there from different directions.

Very true.
And I love sitatunga hunting!

In fact, I am hoping I might be able to shoot one later this year.

I've had good luck and bad on the darned things, but one of the things I think I've learned is that you need to stay away from the full moon. In general I'm not big on lunar cycles--you hunt when you can and take your chances--but with sitatunga it seems to me that they are VERY nocturnal when the moon is bright, with odds much, much better in the dark of the moon. With sitatunga "off license" in Botswana, agree that Zambia is far the best, both western Zam. and Bangweulu. But probably more sitatunga in western Tanzania than anyone thinks, they just aren't hunted that much up there. Uganda likewise, remains to be developed more fully. Forest sitatunga, God help us...bongo must be at least 10 times easier to hunt!

Seems like this will be a very interesting and exciting trip. Best of luck!

Andrew - You know they'll be there, just make sure and shoot the BIG ONES! Richard has been telling me about these big swamps in the north for a couple years. I thought BARRY was trying to get in there a year or two ago?

quote:

Uganda likewise, remains to be developed more fully.

Have seen two skull caps with horns picked up in the Karamoja distric of Uganda. No one I know has actually seen a sitatunga on the hoof yet.

Here's a Zambezi Sitatunga I took in the Kafue a couple years ago! Its an AWESOME hunt/experience, go if you can.