My dad and I are looking at a buffalo hunt in the Sengwa research area.
Has anyone hunted with there and have any advice about the area ?

Who is the safari operator? I have hunted in the Sengwa Research Area but I would not recommend going there with the operator I had.

Mokore Safaris has Sengwa Research afaik.

quote:

Originally posted by Hoot Murray:
Who is the safari operator? I have hunted in the Sengwa Research Area but I would not recommend going there with the operator I had.

Sounds ominous?

Makore Safaris have taken over the area a few years ago. They have been doing a great job there with anti poaching and it's showing. I would have no hesitation in taking any of my clients there. The Duckworh brothers run a first class outfit and I would not hesitate to hunt with them. You will have a good time there. The area has a good buff population and some great plains game as well.

When I was there a few years ago with the previous operator, he simply ran the area into the ground. Even though there was large Parks and Wildlife office there with a quite a few game scouts. There was no anti-poaching patrols done. They had no fuel to run their vehicles.

Our camp had no food to speak of and what we had came from the Chrisa Safari Area. The camp was run down and pretty shabby. You know the sad part of this story is that one of the best safaris I have had was with this same operator at Chrisa in 1999 and this safari at Sengwa Research Area was the worst. A lot can happen in a few years.

We saw ample numbers of game when I was there, but not what you would expect. The area has tremendous potential.

I am sure that if you went to Sengwa with Makore Safaris you would have an excellent hunt. And you will not find anyone more creditable than Mark Vallaro to offer you advice. If he says the game numbers are up. They are up.

My only issue in this post was with the operator I had, and if he was still there, I could not recommend that you hunt with him.

Hunt Report from 2008 trip to Sengwa Research. I think it is a truly beautiful area.

Excellent area and Mokore Safaris is an excellent operator. Hunted there a little over two years ago with a friend. We both had great hunts. Plenty of game, nice camp, beautiful area.

I also hunted on Mokore in the Save and Coutada Nine in Mozambique with Mokore Safaris. Always very pleased.

I hunted there in 2013, that was the first year the Duckworths took it over. Beautiful camp they had just completed, lots of game. You will have a fabulous time. Mark Young has some discounted buffalo hunts there. I wrote a report on the hunt but I don't know how to give the link. The camp is five star and the Duckworths are some of the best. You can't go wrong.

One other thing to note is they have pulled some outstanding plains game trophies out of there the last three years..particularly Waterbuck and Eland

You will have an awesome hunt there. I think it has to be one of the most beautiful concessions in Zim. Gary and Neil have done a great job on the anti poaching and run a great and honest outfit. Buff and plains game numbers very good. Book with confidence!

How does Sengwa Research compare to Dande, on type of terrain, and number of buffalo and plainsgame??

quote:

Originally posted by Hoot Murray:
Who is the safari operator? I have hunted in the Sengwa Research Area but I would not recommend going there with the operator I had.

Hi there, just to clear up any confusion Sengwa research is now run by Mokore Safaris. This will be our fifth year there and can say that we have come a long way with improving both the camp and the concession. The previous operators hunted both Chirisa and Sengwa of which both were hunted hard and neglected to varying degrees and due to this fact Chirisa is almost past the point of no repair. Not to say we are doing everything right but we do take pride in trying to provide a top quality service.

As pointed out below Sengwa also has top quality plainsgame an has produced the best plainsgame animal shot in Zimbabwe for the last 3 years in a row.

quote:

Originally posted by TwicePipes:
How does Sengwa Research compare to Dande, on type of terrain, and number of buffalo and plainsgame??

Both Dande and Sengwa are both beautiful hunting areas. Dande is bigger and slightly more rugged terrain. Sengwa is slightly smaller area ,has a resisdent population of 500 plus buffalo and exceptional plainsgame.
I believe both areas will produced similar quality buffalo and the hunting camps and quality of service are probably on a par.
Both operators are in it for the long haul and have dedicated a lot of time and money into anti poaching and improving the areas.

Glad to see this thread. Will be hunting (plains game) Sengwa this Sept. with Mokore. It will be my first trip to Africa and I am really looking forward to it.

John

Hi John, I will be hunting in Coutada 9 Mozambique over the period you are coming to Sengwa so will not see you there but I know you will have a good time. Enjoy it. The first trip is always the best.

I'm doing buff/tuskless with Gary there this August. Mokore is a fine outfit.

Beautiful area, good time of the year and a great outfit.

I hunted there with Neil Duckworth in 2013, just after they received the concession. We were pleasantly surprised and my son and I got nice buff. Neil tells me it has only gotten better under their management. It's a beautiful area with good plains game and the camp was fine. It's tough to go wrong with the Duckworths. They run a great operation and you get treated like family.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...071002702#1071002702


Link to my 2014 hunt report with Neil at Sengwa. Special place

I hunted bull elephant with Doug Duckworth in Sengwa Research in May, 2015. It was the third of my four dangerous game safaris. In my opinion, Sengwa Research is a spectacular area for both scenery (high ridges, wide sand rivers, and plenty of "long grass," mopane coppice, and jess) and game populations. We saw hundreds of elephant, some in large herds (>50) and others in small groups. Maybe because of overhunting by the previous operators or poaching, it was very hard to find a decent bull elephant and I ended up taking one of only about 20 lbs. on the 9th morning of the hunt. But I had a great hunt, as I told Doug I wanted a "real" elephant tracking hunt and that's what I got. He estimated we tracked for at least 100 km all told. We were into elephants every day, often at close quarters and had to back out numerous times, shouting down aggressive cows a couple times. My search for a 40 pounder was a running joke between Doug and me, as were some of our "death marches" in the afternoon heat.

Other game was more plentiful than I have seen on any of my other safaris: many buffalo (and some beautiful bulls), waterbuck (One that I couldn't get that ended up being 33 inches when killed by a subsequent hunter.), impala and baboons everywhere, the biggest bushbuck I've ever seen (also outsmarted us), warthogs, and a few kudu and eland. Oh, and crocodiles in a small spring about the size of a beaver pond. I wished I had my shotgun for all the francolin/spurfowl we flushed.

I got the impression that the Duckworths had undertaken a major antipoaching effort that may already be paying off for the plains game, but may take awhile before larger elephant bulls become more abundant. They patrolled constantly and put antipoaching units out in remote camps.

The camp was very comfortable (I've never been in a bad one on safari) and overlooked the Sengwa River and it's wildlife.

My wife was with me, as she has been on the other safaris, and really enjoyed herself. She was right there with us for the whole 100 km.

Dave

The Duckworths deserves the support and encouragement for their efforts. Those boys are on top of their game.

Hi David!
Glad to see you are still at it. Best to Dianne!