Jim Hall and I had discussed at some length the best time of year to try and hunt the big five , as far as possible he wanted an uncanned experience and so we had gone to some lengths to try and find a rhino in a less than canned scenario …with hunting as it is today all rhino are somewhat canned but anyhow , here is the story ..

We had arranged Mark Vallaro to do four days of prebaiting for us in chewore south …trying to hunt lion leopard buff and elephant in chewore in 15 days would have been crazy without some prebaiting and also someone to help with bait checking …

As we had expected the area was hot , wet and thick …1st of march was the date and my counterparts thought we were crazy to even try !! I knew though that when the bush is this thick , the hunting is great , animals don’t move all that far and cats are having a hard time finding enough to eat due to the very thick cover and so get well attached to the baits !! the tradeoff is many frustrating hours trying to see “through†thickets !!

Well as I landed with Jim in Harare I heard on the bush telegraph that already some male leopards were feeding , that doesn’t mean much but it’s a step in the right direction , sure enough on landing , without Jims rifles I might add , we were greeted by mark who indeed said he had already set up a blind and a big valley male was eating ….

Leaving Jim to unpack I went with mark to look at the setup ….the leopard at 12.45 pm was in the tree!!!!, sauntered off and disappeared into the dense thicket …now this was getting interesting…I was still scared to get my hopes up , how could it be this easy !!! well we got into the blind at around 3.45pm and settled in to wait , with jetlag and all the excitement , in spite of the tsetse flies and humid weather both Jim and I were soon almost asleep, 5.10 pm and there he was , as silently as only a leopard can be, he walked right up the branch , reached down to the bait , took a bite and then sat up to look around …what a sight!!!!! There are very few moments in hunting that can compare to seeing a leopard in daylight ….and being ready for him , with my blood rushing in my ears and sure that the cat would hear my heartbeat , I touched Jim on the leg …we had his gun in a permanent rest position , he aimed and in three more seconds it was over , what a start , after all the days I have spent in vain in leopard blinds and all the preparation that Jim had put in , to so far exceed our expectations was more than we could ever dream of …leopard down after just a few hours in camp ….whew!!

The next day as we left camp , tracks of a buffalo herd were crossing the road , the dung was fresh and the lush undergrowth meant they wouldn’t go far , at this time of the year the dew on the grass waters them and there is so much surface water that there is no need to commute …sure enough in less than an hour we heard the first oxpeckers and started to see the tops of their backs …. An hour and half later , a frustrating hour and half I might add as we tried to see the horns of the bulls and as usual as we would see one a cow or calf would step in the way , or he would turn and not give us the look we needed …anyway finally a huge bodied old dagga boy stood up with his head up to a cows rear …his massive boss and giant neck was all we need to see , Jim was using my .375 and a barnes triple shock did all it was meant to do ….what a great old trophy ….

Well with 7 baits out for lion , we ended up with 9 prides feeding , we had agreed before the hunt was even booked that old lion or no lion and so in spite of seeing several large males , we just couldn’t get the one we needed …and the girls were eating us out of house and home ….that wasn’t bad though as buff hunting is fun and the buff were aplenty , we had some excellent buff hunting ending up with two cows and four bulls , all four bulls great trophies , typical Zambezi valley spread of between 34 and 37, but all with nice curls and big bosses… two different occasions we had lionesses looking into and around the blind as we tried to keep totally still , pretty unnerving moments literally stuck in a blind in thick bush with inquisitive lionesses!!!

Not forgetting the elephant every day found us seeing some great tracks in the valley anything over 18 inches is worthy of following and son each day we would choose the best track and see what we could find , big tracks don’t mean big tusks and we also had a tuskless permit , so our mornings were spent many times close to elephants the thick bush and unsteady wind made this a challenge but for me there is simply nothing as exciting as being close to these giants and the moments as one looks for the tusks is always a heartstopping one …not knowing if its going to be 50# or 15!!!

On the elephant and lion front things started proving a lot tougher than how the safari turned out , until day 13 when we got onto a great 21 inch track …this surely was going to be a great bull …4 hours and about 5 miles later we heard a twig crack , on closer inspection two bulls were resting in the shade , as I looked , neither of them had any ivory worth getting excited over …as we were backing off a stick broke to our right and a hundred yards or so off …….we eased in there , terrified that the wind would kill our stalk …all I could see was the back of a large bodied bull deep in the shade …we got into about 15 yards and I tried to see the tusks , as soon as I saw he had both and that they were both good in length and quite thick enough ….we walked up behind him until he heard our footsteps at about 7 yards and spun around to see what we were at which point Jim put in a frontal brain shot ….he went down right there …what a great end to a great hunt …the old guy didn’t even hear the shot …

On return to the vehicle , we learned that we had a nice big lion on bait so without further ado we set off to the other end of the concession … where I looked at the trail cam pics and to our great excitement saw what I thought looked like a great lion …

We rushed to get our blind set up and at around 4.45 settled in , right away , even before the vehicle was out of hearing , a lioness came and looked into the blind ….we were busted …or sop I thought …no worries to her she crossed the sandy riverbed and began a long and noisy feed , grunting and swinging on the bait ….as the sun dropped I thought , oh well , another day7 gone , when seemingly like smoke , there he stood , large maned , old and completely unaware of us ….Jim was frozen , I whispered shoot , he didn’t move , I said it again , still he didn’t move , he looked at me , seemed to jump from his state of mind , leaned forward and made a great great shot …the lion leapt up and dashed into the almost dark thicket amid growling lionesses , with my double in front of me in I went , only to find him dead 60 yards from the bait …60 yards of very careful walking I might add ….

Then it was onto south Africa for 14 days , four of which we spent looking for one of three rhino bulls we were authorized to take , in the Tsolwana game reserve they auction off permits for bulls beyond breeding and then you can go in and do it as a genuine walk and stalk hunt , which we opted to do …. it was as good a hunt as could be expected and while I feel the park staff must have known where he was all the time , by not asking at least we got a great hunt out of it …. We also took a great buffalo there amid a great variety of plains game species , Jim took 32 species in his time there and Swartkei safaris outdid themselves with the quantity and quality of game we were able to show Jim ….


bryan will be adding the pictures ...thanks bryan

Oh brother, I can't even imagine the price tag on that hunt!

I've been waiting months to hear how all of this turned out. Funny how you worry about some things and they turn out great and what should come easily, doesn't at times. That's what makes it hunting.

As I continue to become more familiar with Ivan and get to know him better, some things keep surfacing; he routinely takes WIDE bossed buff, his trophy ele are often very thick tusked and heavy, and he often has pretty good luck with the cats. This hunt is another example of all of that.

Of course, like all good Zim PHs, he likes to get as close as possible on buff and ele. To give you an idea of just how close...Buzz and Richard Harland say that Ivan gets TOO close!

Good work my friend.

thank you bryan i appreciate your help ... and your kind words

bill ...it was more than a billion !!!!

That second buff is a dream come true with those bosses and the backward hooks.

Congrats to you and your client. What a hunt.

Good for Jim... glad you and he had a great hunt! He is one lucky guy!!!!

Ivan, outstanding and what a memorable hunt to remember always ph and client...
By the way how are the sport ears working???

Good luck on the rest of the season...


Mike

Ivan!

How about some stats on the ele tusks, length, lip circum and weight?

465H&H

Great hunt and intense story. Thanks for sharing.

That rhino looks stunning!

How wide is that last buff?

Great story, I felt like I was there with you guys! Congrats on some outstanding trophies!

I am up for adoption by that guy. Pick me, pick me!!!

Wow, what a hunt...

Ivan,

Even considering a 28 day safari you had incredible luck and a tremendous bag. Both cats and several buff in Chewore in just a couple of weeks is fantastic. Good area and getting better for lion. Neil Duckworth took a lion there also this year. Big congrats on this one.

Mark

WOW!
Not in my wildest dreams!
What a hunt.

TerryR

quote:

Ivan, outstanding and what a memorable hunt to remember always ph and client...
By the way how are the sport ears working???

sport ears working great ...i use them a lot and cant believe how i did without them.


How about some stats on the ele tusks, length, lip circum and weight?
we got hurt by length and a largeish nerve ...16 inches at the lip, 37inches sticking out ..44 and 42#...

That rhino looks stunning!
yes we were very fortunate and it went 31 inches ... jim shot him with a brain shot at about 15 yards.. an interesting experience to say the least.

How wide is that last buff?
44 and a half , interesting , showing how very fair the sci measuring system is , he scored 104, the first buff scored 101 but was only 34 wide but had a deep drop and 14 inch boss! i am not an inches guy but i was amazed how close these two animals were on the sci system even though their width was 10 and a half inches different !!!

Neil Duckworth took a lion there also this year. Big congrats on this one.
thanks mark , yes neil took a great lion , i was in the area when that took place , some excellent lions have come from the valley this year and so far chifuti is 13 out of 13 which is unheard of.


thanks guys i appreciate your positive responses...we were certainly very lucky...always rather be lucky than good !

WOW!
I am speechless----well done!!!

Thanks Ivan. The ivory looked bigger than that to me. It's always interesting how much the nerve can affect the weight...and there's no way to know until you take it out.

I am green with envy. How do you come up with an encore after a hunt like this?

Jeff

Awesome, Ivan. Well done!

ya bryan , i thought it would be just over 50 actually...it was a big bodied bull and he had age on his side ..... still for chewore we were pleased ...

The rhino/buffalo hunt in South Africa was shown on Tracks Across Africa today. Just in case you missed it, set your DVR, good show.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
I am up for adoption by that guy. Pick me, pick me!!!

Wow, what a hunt...

Me Too !!!!!

But I would settle for the taxidermy work.


Great hunt and report, Thanks for sharing.

Ivan, outstanding. The trophy quality on all animals is unbelievable. Thanks for sharing.

Outstanding Ivan!
Cheers,
David

Great tale to read through!

Ivan congratulations, what a hunt. You got some terrific animals.

Regards
Aziz

Ivan,

No doubt that was a Great Hunt.

Leopard on the first day!!!

That is a good elephant in anybodies book, especially when you brain shoot them close like that.

PS, Certain people here on AR think I get too close to Elephant as well, as you know, there is Nothing like close in Elephant hunting.

Again, Well Done.

Just saw the Rhino and Cape Buff on Tracks Across Africa....AWESOME

Robert

Came across this post and thought everyone would like to see how the Rhino was mounted. It is obviously a pedestal mount but it's on a rotating top that rotates approximately one revolution per minute. It is a very impressive animal for sure...

Oh My ... The stuff of which dreams are made!

Congratulations on the hunt of many dreams.

Ivan, simply superb! Thanks for sharing. I also enjoyed our visit at Afton House the end of May on my way to hunt with John Sharp in Bubye.

One can only hope that you, John and others are storing up all this knowledge and experience for future books.

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
Thanks Ivan. The ivory looked bigger than that to me. It's always interesting how much the nerve can affect the weight...and there's no way to know until you take it out.

For the Sport hunter I think the "Look" of the Ivory is more important than the actual weight.
At least it is to ME.

That is NICE looking ivory.

Jim is still subsisting on the lottery winnings, eh? Somebody's gotta do it!

Jim and Ivan

congratulations on what seems to me to be the hunt of a lifetime, beautyful beasts taken.

best

peter

Outstanding Pedestal Mount. Congrats

Seloushunter

Congratulations to all involved, it is great to hear that such things are still acheivable today for those with the means to do it.

So Ivan, what's the next hunt your client is going to do? It must be difficult to top that.

Rgds,
FB

Very Very nice...

Mike

Dang! What a safari. Makes me want to break the Tenth Commandment about coveting.

Maybe I can join ACORN and get some of the stimulus money and spread it around at Dallas Safari Club and help the industry recover. We could fly to Africa on Nancy Pelosi's new plane, too. Lots of taxidermy stimulus, maybe some Searcy stimulus, Cabela's stimulus, Hornady stimulus.....

Hey! I think I'm on to something.

Ivan, I'm ready to book!

Seriously, though, what a logistical accomplishment. You obviously planned well and know something about organization! Well done!