Adam Clements recently returned from a great 21 day hunt in Tanzania with a couple of clients, and has sent me a story c/w photos to share with everyone here.



It is quite long and detailed, so I have broken it into FIVE parts.



Enjoy! I am one of the many "detail junkies" here, and I know I enjoyed the heck out of it. Thanks Adam!!



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I just returned from hunting in Tanzania, which is still today what I believe as the best hunting destination in Africa. As I always do every year I normally go to Tanzania and personally guide some of my clients, as I am a licensed PH in Tanzania and is pretty much my back yard, as that is where I was born and have lived most of my life.



This safari was booked as a 2x2 safari with Dr. Alan and his wife Laura from Indiana who I would personally guide myself. The second hunter was Mitch from Reno and his PH was Harpreet Brar with Rungwa Game Safaris. Harpreet and myself went to boarding school together in Kenya and have always been friends, and we have an excellent business relationship as well in Tanzania. This safari was booked for 21-days plus 7-days photographic, and they wanted to see as much of Tanzania as possible as this was their first time there. Both hunters were interested in the general full bag of animals, but were mainly there to have fun and enjoy the African experience. The plan was to hunt out of 3 of our hunting camps and give a week in each camp. I had told Alan and Mitch though that if they were very serious about lion hunting, then it would not be a good idea to move to different camps as we would be cutting our own throats only giving us 7-days in each camp. Both of my clients assured me that on this safari, they were not all that interested in lion hunting as they would be back again next year to concentrate on lion, and that this safari would be good to get leopard, buffalo and other animals, and just enjoy their first time to Tanzania.



By the way, this is the best attitude to have when anyone goes on safari, and to go with an objective of what you want to hunt, but really to go and enjoy the experience and let things happen as they will. The worst thing anyone can do to their PH is to put a lot of pressure on him about getting certain animals, as we all know that the more pressure and the harder you try to find an animal, it just does not happen. The safari went extremely well, and will give you a basic idea of how the safari took place below.



Hunt Dates October 6-26, 2004



Week 1

Alan, Laura and Mitch chartered into the Ruhudji camp on Oct. 5th with myself and Harpreet from Arusha. We got to camp and did the normal checking of the rifles to make sure everything was still on target, then enjoyed the evening sunset sitting by the fire on the Ruhudji River listening to the hippo grunt back and forth. We hard the evening meal and everyone retired to bed early to catch on lost sleep and be fresh for the first day of hunting.





1st day everyone was up and had breakfast at 6 am and ready to get the day started. Alan and Laura got into my landcruiser as I would be their PH for the next 21-days. Mitch got into Harpreets Lancruiser and would spend the next 21-days together. Harpreet and myself had already planned out and divided the block in half and we each had our half of the block to hunt in order not to interfere with each others baits and hunting. My half of the block was the Ruhudji River, and Harpreet would stay on the Pitu River side. Off we went in our directions for a long day in the bush. I managed to get Alan a Duiker at around 9 am and his first African animal. 11 am we found a lone dugga boy buffalo in some swamps feeding, and although he was not a big wide buffalo, he did have an impressive boss and a good way to get started off with plenty of bait. Had the trackers cape out the buffalo while Alan and Laura had lunch. 1 pm finished loading the buffalo and headed out to hang to some baits when we ran across a big herd of eland. Can never turn down a chance at eland, so put a short stalk in on the eland, and Alan managed to make a shot on the eland and hit the bull in the gut. Lucky for us, the bull did not run too far and was feeling very sick from the gut shot, so managed to catch up to the eland very quickly and Alan finished it off with a good shoulder shot. Now, we have too much meat to put in the cruiser, so left 1 tracker and the game scout with the eland, while I went and put up 2 baits that I knew I wanted to put some meat for that night. Went back to the eland and they had finished cutting it up and we loaded it into the truck. 5:30 pm we finished loading the eland and headed back to camp which was 3 hours away. A great first day of hunting, and Alan and Laura were already worn out. Got back to camp, and heard about Mitch�s first day, and he managed to take a nice 42� buffalo as well.

Alan Buffalo Alan Eland Mitch 42" Buffalo



2nd day same routine with breakfast and off hunting at day break. Spent most of the day hanging leopard baits and checking the buffalo baits that I had hung up. Managed to take a nice reedbuck and went back to camp around 7 pm. Mitch and Harpreet arrived into camp very happy with their day as they managed to take a huge 48� buffalo and a beautiful eland on their second day.

Alan Reedbuck Mitch/Harpreet 48 inch buffalo Mitch 48 inch buffalo Mitch Eland

Part II....

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3rd day checking baits most of the morning and hanging more baits with the reedbuck. Had two of the baits hit by leopards, but both were females. Saw a nice waterbuck and put Alan on the sticks for a shot, but he hit the waterbuck low on the front leg. We tracked for about 2 hours until we lost any sign of blood and tracks. Saw a nice warthog and also gave Alan a shot in which he hit the warthog in the gut and it ran off. Looked for blood and tracked for about 30 minutes without seeing any sign of blood, so went back to the truck. Started our way back to camp and saw another nice warthog in which Alan did manage to hit well and we got to hang another bait on the way back to camp. Saw about 3 herds of buffalo today, but was not interested in another buffalo yet. Mitch and Harpreet did not shoot anything this day as they were busy putting up all of the baits that they had from buffalo and eland.



4th day out again checking all of the baits and found 4 baits hit today with 3 females and 1 young male. One bait had been demolished by lions and found 6 females and 1 young male still laying there guarding their find. Ran into a nice herd of buffalo and decided to go ahead and take our second buffalo with this opportunity, as the wind was perfect and they did not know we were there. So, put in a good stalk and waited for the herd to go into an opening that we had flanked them on. Two bulls came out into the open and started feeding in the swampy grass. The bull on the left was a very nice 43� buffalo and the one on the right was a young bull that was 36�. So, I put the sticks up for Alan, and told him to shoot the bull on the left. Boom! Went the gun, but did not see any bullet hit the bull on the left, and thought that I saw the bull on the right stumble. I asked Alan which buffalo he was aiming at and he said the one that he saw in his scope! I think I mumbled a few choice words and really practiced my patience skills. What if the one on the right would have been a female? Anyway, had a little educational talk with Alan and we then went after the wounded buffalo. Tracked the buffalo through some tall grass for all of about 20 yards, and heard the grass moving and one grunt from the buffalo. Here comes the freight train, but could not see him yet, but Alan shot into the moving grass, and decided that this was not where he wanted to be right now, and moved backwards. I finally saw the big black body emerge through the 10 foot grass and quickly let my 470 double finish the job. This was for sure not worth the risk and hassle over a 36� buffalo! Now if Alan had hit the 43� buffalo he was supposed to shoot, I would have enjoyed the whole experience. We had more bait though, and Alan was happy regardless. Saw a lot of eland and other buffalo today as well. Returned to camp and found that Mitch had taken a reedbuck and warthog to add to their baits.



5th day in Ruhudji was another day of checking baits and doing our rounds. Still had female lions on one bait, and had another young male lion on another bait. First three leopard baits were hit again by females, but the 4th bait had been taken over by a nice big male leopard. So, we built the blind and went back to camp for lunch, as I wanted to try to get a crocodile as well after lunch. There are a lot of crocodile on the Ruhudji and some very big ones as well, so did not want to settle for a normal 14 footer. We ate lunch and then headed out by foot from camp down to a sand bar that I knew the crocs liked to come out on during the heat of the day. We very quietly walked to the edge of the river and I glassed the sand bank where the crocs were sun bathing. There were a couple of 10-12 footers, and 2 in the 14� range. So, I decided that this would be a good time to have Alan practice aiming at a croc and getting a good feel of what it will be like when the time comes. So, broke down my shooting sticks as they come apart and make for a perfect rest when sitting as well. Alan looked over the crocs through his scope and I hoped that he would be comfortable enough to make the perfect shot which is required for crocodile. You do not have any room for bad shot on croc! While we were sitting there and just about to leave I saw another croc coming up the river with just a huge head. So, sat there a little longer and could not believe my eyes when this huge croc that crawled up onto the sandbank without any hesitation. This crocodile was just massive and would easily go 16 feet or better. The only problem was that it was not a perfect side shot as he was quartering away from us a little. This crocodile had so much fat on his neck, that the size of his neck almost blocked his entire head at that angle. Now, if I was hunting with one of my regular seasoned clients, I would have let them take the shot and would know that the croc would be in the salt, but did not want to take the chance on wounding this huge crocodile, as this was Alan�s first time. I did ask Alan if he thought he could make the 40 yard shot, and he was not sure, which finalized my decision to leave. We went back to camp and left right away for the leopard blind as it was at least an hour from camp. We got to the blind at 4:30 pm and Alan and I got into the blind, and I sent the car off for the long wait. It was getting dark at 7:15 pm and it was a no show for the leopard that evening. Back to camp for the night where we saw that Mitch had taken a nice waterbuck that day.



6th day up and adam with the same bait checking routine. As most of you know cat hunting takes a lot of time and patience and really controls the hunting days, as the baits have to be hung and checked everyday. I think by now we had a total of 9 or 10 baits out starting from as close to camp as 10 minutes all the way to 3 hours away, so you cover a lot of ground during the day. There was really only the one bait that I was interested in though today, and that was to see if the big male leopard had come in after we left last night. We went straight to that bait and found that the leopard had returned and fed very well during the night. So, I knew that we would sit on this leopard again today, and we set off checking some other baits. We ran into a huge herd of buffalo that was easy over 500 in this herd. I really did not want to hunt any big herds with Alan, as this was his first trip and was still not used to this type of hunting, but I saw some very big bulls in the herd and decided to try our luck. Most of the big bulls were on the left hand side of the big herd, so I decided to break the herd in half and we simply walked right towards them in the middle. They did exactly what I wanted and the herd split up. We followed the herd on the left which did not run far as they did not know what we were and did not have the wind. When buffalo do not know what is following them and they do not have the wind, they actually get very curious and will start walking towards you with their heads up. This is also very good to get the big bulls out from the middle, as usually the big bulls will come to the edge of the front of the herd trying to see what is going on as well, and this is when you usually get a shot. Well sure enough, I kept walking right towards them using some of the bush cover trying to break down some of the distance. Got to within about 80 yards, and step out into the open where they could see us and put the sticks up for Alan. I told him to get ready and wait, as the buffalo would come closer and would tell him which bull to shoot. The buffalo could not tell what we were and kept coming closer first with a trot, then standing still. The one buffalo that I had seen, did break through the front line and came in the open right at the front of the herd. This buffalo was just beautiful with a very deep drop and the boss was very big and closed together very tight. It was not a very wide buffalo, but would go around 42�, but with those deep drops in the horns, this buff was great. I told Alan that the buffalo he should shoot was the one right in the middle of the herd in the front and he could not miss it as it was the only big buffalo in the front line. He said that he could see it, so I told him to aim under the mouth and hit it at the base of the neck. I knew that we did not have much time, and told Alan to shoot quickly. The buffalo were now around 40-50 yards and I could tell they were getting ready to make a break for it. Alan then told me that he did not feel comfortable with the shot and did not want to wound the buffalo. I looked at Alan like he was joking, but he was not and I really had to practice my patience again. I asked him what he was not comfortable with as the buffalo was 40 yards away and all he had to do was put the cross hairs on the chest or neck and pull the trigger? Of course it sounds simple to those of us who do this all the time, but had to realize that Alan had never been in this situation before and everything was brand new to him, and just had to understand his fears. I jokingly asked Alan if he wanted me to shoot the buffalo for him, as I wanted to drop that buffalo right there with my 470.. He looked up at me and said that maybe I should shoot the buffalo for him, so he could get a big buffalo! Well, as soon as the words left his mouth, the buffalo make a break for it and took off, which I was actually glad to see, because I would have loved to shoot that buffalo, but would not have helped Alan any in getting more experience for himself. Alan and Laura are booked to hunt with me again next year as well, and told him that he has to get as much experience this year, so he is a sharp shooter for next year. Walking back to the car, we ran into a very nice Roosevelt sable bull that was around 37�, but because we were going to Rungwa next, passed up on this sable for a bigger one in Rungwa. We drove down to the river and found a nice shady spot and had long lunch. I did not want to hunt after lunch, as I knew we would get into something, and maybe miss our time for sitting on the leopard. So, enjoyed swimming in the Ruhudji a little and cooling off, and then a little nap time. We were back in the leopard blind at 4:30 pm again. Around 6 pm I knew the leopard was on its way as I could hear the Franklin making a racket to the left of the blind. 6:45 I was glued to my bino�s just knowing the leopard was there somewhere passing time. 6:50 I heard the soft foot steps of something to the left of the blind and the leopard appeared much closer than I expected and walked right by the blind at about 10 yards, but never stopping to look at us and made a bee line to the bait. I told Alan to get ready and very quietly to take his safety off and wait for me to tell him to shoot. I knew right away that this was a nice big male, but wanted to have a good shot for Alan, as I did not want to have a wounded leopard on my hands, but I knew that time was against me, and could not wait too long. The leopard circled the bottom of the bait tree several times and then laid down about 10 yards from the tree. Now that is great! I am running out of light and the leopard wants to rest now! 6:55 the leopard stands up and goes to the bottom of the tree and stands there looking right towards us with those burning eyes. I ask Alan in a whisper if he sees the leopards white chest? He says that he does very clearly. Not the shot that I want Alan to take, but am running out of time. If the leopard does not jump in the tree in the next minute I thought to myself, I am going to tell Alan to take the shot. Next thing I know Boom! and I almost fall out of my chair as I had not told Alan to shoot yet! I saw the leopard run to the right with one low grunt, and instantly knew that he was hit good. He ran into the grass, and heard the grass stop moving and knew that th was done for. I looked at Alan though and asked him why he shot without me telling him to? He said that he thought that when I asked him if he saw the chest, that was where I wanted him to shoot, and he took the shot. It worked out great this time, but never shoot unless you here me tell you to shoot. The car arrived and I quickly went to where I last saw the leopard, as I wanted to find him while there was still some light left. Got to the edge of the grass and did not see any blood, which got me worried again, but I knew the leopard was hit hard in the chest. I took five steps into the grass, and there he was laying dead! Kabubi Kabubi! The celebration words in Tanzania for those who have not been there. We took our pictures and I always thought that I took a lot of pictures, but Laura with her big digital camera took around 500 pictures! Had a great ride to camp, as anytime you get a cat, you feel a huge pressure off your back and the trip gets more enjoyable from then on. Went into camp with the normal celebration and a lot of stories around the fire place. We found out that Mitch and Harpreet had taken a nice 14� crocodile that day and a duiker. A great end to the 6th day.

Alan Leopard

Mitch 14' Croc



7th day was out last day in Ruhudji and I wanted to concentrate on crocodile now as I knew there would be no crocs in Rungwa. So, we went out in the morning for a little while looking for zebra or whatever. Had two chances at zebra and put Alan on the sticks 3 times for zebra, but he was not quick enough. Checked a few of our leopard baits in case there was any other males on bait for Mitch, but just females hitting our baits that day. Went back to camp around 11 am to work on the crocs. I sent the trackers down the river to see if the crocs were out of the water yet with radios. They came back and said nothing big was out yet. So, we had lunch and then went up river this time looking for crocs. I saw 4 crocs out on a sand bank and wanted to get in close to them, so we made our way through the tall reeds and started to crawl the last 10 yards. Got to the edge and saw 3 nice 14 footers laying on the sand bank and decided that I could not be extra picky today and a 14� croc would be excellent in any case. So, put the sticks up for Alan where he had a nice steady rest, and told him to shoot the croc that was in the middle that was completely broadside. I explained to him that he had to hit the croc right above the smile and just below the ear. We are 40 yards from the crocs and have all the time in the world and tell Alan to take his time and make the shot when he is ready. I also told Alan, that if misses the brain, that the croc will go into the water, so if I have a chance, I will try to put one of my 470 bullets in him before he hits the water. The Ruhudji is very deep, and once the croc hits the water, it is a very slim chance of recovering that croc in that section of river. Boom! Alan shoots with his 375 and I see the croc lift its head and whole front of its body in the air, then realizing that Alan has missed the brain and has hit the mouth section. The croc starts to head for the river, and crocs move very fast, so I tried to put a .470 into the neck trying to hit the spine to stop him, but my bullet hit in the front shoulder which will be fatal, but not any help to us at that point. I saw the bubbles from the croc about 10 yards from the sand bank and that was the last of any sign we saw. We brought the boat up to where we were and had the trackers with long 20� poles look for a dead croc. Some of the places not even the 20� poles would reach the bottom! We searched until 5pm and then gave up and went back to camp. We called it a day and we decided to pack up our bags for the charter the next morning to Rungwa. Mitch and Harpreet had come in and had no luck on their baits that day. This is very unusual for the cats not to be hitting the baits more, but the problem for us was that it had started to rain early this year and there were baby warthogs everywhere, which made it tougher for cat hunting, but it was still not as it normally is for us, and we usually do not have any problem getting leopards on bait regardless.

Part III...Rungwa Concession...
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8th day we catch the charter to Rungwa at 9 am and get to the Rungwa camp by 12:30 pm and have a quick lunch there and unpack. For us there was no pressure as we were not looking for any cats and we could enjoy just the normal hunting there. Mitch and Harpreet had to start all over again and start getting leopard baits up again. It had also already rained in Rungwa 3 weeks earlier and all the grass was green, but would be harder hunting now as the animals would stay in the Miombo where they had shade, water and food now. Normally the animals are all out in the open areas feeding which makes it easier hunting. We decided that we would only stay here for 5 days as we wanted to get to LU5 to work on the elephants, as we knew with the early rains, it would be harder as well. That afternoon we manage to wound a hartebeest and miss a zebra. We saw 3 sable herds, but no bulls in them, as well as 2 roan herds, but no male over 27�. We go back to camp to see what Mitch accomplished. They managed to take 3 baboons and a warthog to get started on their baiting projects.

9th day we hunt hard covering a lot of ground bush bashing everywhere. This block is 3,500 square miles and is just huge territory. We ran into a group of 4 dugga boys, but nothing that got me excited, so we kept on going. We manage to wound an Oribi which is a first for me. About 3 pm got Alan on the sticks at a shot for Hartebeest at 100 yards. Alan shoots and misses by 3 feet, but the hartebeest still stands there. He shoots again and misses 2 feet low, shoots a third time and hits the hartebeest in the gut. We tracked the hartebeest for 30 minutes and catch up to him where Alan misses 2 more times. Track again for 10 minutes and catch up where Alan misses again. Track for another hour and run into a nice roan of around 26�, but we only allow roan that are 27� or bigger to be shot, so we passed up, and continued tracking the hartebeest. Finally caught up to him again standing in an open field about 250 yards out. I knew that if he saw us, he would take off again, so I told Alan that he would have to make this long shot or we would loose the hartebeest as it would be dark soon. Alan handed me his .375 and told me that he could not make that shot and told me to finish it for him. I thought that was a great idea as well, so put the .375 on the sticks. The hartebeest was walking away from us and all I had was its rear end, so put the bullet right through its tail in its spine and dropped the hartebeest so it would not go any further. We walked up to the hartebeest and told Alan to finish it off. Alan then told me he had run out of bullets, so I took my .470 and finished this 3 hour hunt. Back to camp to see what Mitch had done for the day, and he had taken a hartebeest, warthog, reedbuck and oribi and had hung all the meat already. In 1 � days they had put up 12 leopard baits.

10th day we saw a lot of game in the morning and managed to miss a Klipsringer. In the afternoon we finally saw a sable that I thought was good enough for us to take and put in a short stalk and put Alan on the sticks at 70 yards. Now this is a black sable standing in a green open area with a few bushes. Alan could not see the sable to save his life and we stood there for 3 minutes me trying to explain to Alan where this sable is right in front of us. I actually through my hands up in the air to give up and could not believe that this sable was still standing there looking at us. Laura was standing behind us and starting laughing at the whole deal and video taping from their camcorder. Alan finally saw the sable with his eyes, but then could not find it in his scope. So, I looked at Alans scope and saw that he had it on 10x and turned it down to 6x for him. The sable still standing there and Alan finally saw it through his scope and made a decent shoulder shot. The sable ran off and we followed it for around 300 yards, where we saw him standing again acting very sick. So we got closer and told Alan to hit him again in the rear as he was walking away from us. He shot and missed, and the sable ran another 100 yards and laid down. We walked up to it and Alan shot it again to finish him off. I told Alan that this sable was a miracle and was meant to be for sure. We all had a good laugh and Laura told me that she has never seen anyone with as much patience, as she was about to start yelling at Alan as well, as she saw the sable the whole time. Turned out to be a nice sable that was 41� and we were happy. Back to camp and found that Mitch had taken another warthog and they had 6 female leopards on bait.
Alan 41 inch Sable


11th day we really did not have much more to take here and would really only be looking for a big roan today or a zebra. Saw several younger roan bulls, but nothing that would make our standards. We did shoot a baboon as I told Alan he needed some shooting practice. Had a good shot at a nice 52� kudu, but Alan was too slow and he was not going to hang around for his picture to be taken. Should have had that one though! Saw a lot of sable today and 3 very nice shootable bulls. Went back to camp and heard that Mitch and Harpreet were sitting in a leopard blind. They returned to camp and said that the male was grunting there, but a female jumped up in the tree instead. They now had 9 active leopard baits with only one big male on one within 3 days. Alan and I decided that it was time for us to move to LU5 as he really wanted to get an elephant, so we called the charter to pick us up the next morning. Mitch and Harpreet decided that they would stay another 2-3 days and work the leopards that they had on baits.

Part IV...back to the Selous..

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12th day Alan, Laura and myself chartered to LU5 in the Selous and left Mitch and Harpreet in Rungwa. They ended up shooting a nice sable as well and had 12 active baits, but no really big males that Harpreet was happy with, and they joined us in LU5 3-days later. We got to the LU5 camp late afternoon and went straight out hunting see a lot of elephant, waterbuck, impala etc. This was game paradise as usual as you are always seeing game in LU5. A lot of hyena in camp that night and elephants came to water just 20 yards from the tents.





13th day first thing on my schedule was to find a hippo and get that big job out of the way. We decided that we would bait for lion in LU5 just in case we got lucky, but lion hunting in LU5 is not as easy as some of the other areas we have, but you still have a good chance, so we decided to try anyway. I parked the car around 10 am and decided to walk to where I knew a lot of hippo always hung out, but no roads there in that section. I also wanted to get a hippo on dry land, to make it easier and to give Alan and Laura a good thrill. So, we walked about a mile along the Luwegu River. It is really thick bush along the river and where the hippo like to sleep during the day. We came around a little corner and we bumped 3 hippo, but th went crashing into the river. They did not go far though and when they got to the water, they stopped and just stood there in ankle deep water as it was very shallow there. They did not know what we were and just stood there, so I told Alan to shoot the big male that was on the far right that was broadside and to hit him in the ear. Alan shot and the hippo just collapsed as the other two ran off back up into the thicket. I could not believe that Alan actually made a perfect shot, and started to congratulate him when the hippo got back up on his feet and started up the bank just 10 yards in front of us. I ran forward to try and get a better shot before the hippo disappeared in the really thick bush and we would be in trouble. He came up the bank right in front of me where I put a .470 solid through its shoulders and he spun around throwing blood everywhere and opening its mouth, then came straight forward with his head down breaking the small trees is front of him like toothpicks. I was so close though that one of the trees almost hit me as he broke through it and I side stepped a little and put another .470 to the head which dropped him in his tracks. I did hear Alan shoot once during all of this and asked him where he shot. He said that he put the gun up right after my first shot, and when he looked through his scope he saw the hippo open its mouth and he thought the hippo was right in front of him and he shot into the mouth. I told him he was lucky he did not hit any of the teeth and if he would keep his power down on his scope to 4x it would not have looked so close to him. Anyway, they had a good adventure on that one and many stories being told I am sure. Now, we had a dead hippo, and we now had to cut a road into us for the car to get there. It took us around 3 hours to finally get a road cut into the hippo. We finally had half the hippo in the car and the head and headed back to camp. I sent the extra car in camp back to get the rest of the hippo, and we went and hung two baits. We enjoyed a nice evening by the camp fire right on the river and listened to all the hyena and hippo.

Alan Hippo



14th day I decided to go way up to the Northern boundary to hang two baits up there, where I have seen some good lions before. This is a good 4 hour drive one way if you do not stop to hunt. So, we stopped and hung one bait about half way, then the second bait at the end right on the river. We decided to have lunch in this beautiful spot. We headed back about 2 pm and Alan shot a nice Klipspringer. Saw plenty of buffalo and other animals on the way as well as 2 very big eland bulls. Decided to go by one of the baits not far from camp to check a bait that we did not check in the morning, but nothing on it. We did some across 2 hyena and told Alan to shoot the one on the left. He gave it a good gut shot and it ran off into some very thick forest. So, we tracked it for about 20 minutes while we still had light, and it was leaving a lot of blood. So, decided to come back in the morning as it was getting dark in this thick stuff.

Alan Klipspringer



15th day went back to finish tracking the hyena and started where we had left off and tracked for about 20 minutes where we found where the hyena had laid down over the night with tons of blood everywhere. I would not have believed this until I saw it myself, but we found where the hyena had torn out all of his guts, which were laying right there on the ground. This hyena had no guts left as they were all on the ground. I told Doto my head tracker that there is no way this hyena could be far from this, or he had been eaten by other hyena. Doto picked up fresh blood from where the hyena must have taken off when he heard us coming. We tracked the fresh bloos trail for 30 minutes when it went into some 12� tall grass. Now I knew this hyena would be in here, but how would I be able to see him. We kept on the blood trail and Doto literally almost stepped on the hyena when it jumped up growling and disappeared into the grass again. There was no way of getting a shot off, so we followed again. I could not believe this hyena could keep going like this with no guts! Another hour and we found where the hyena went into a hole in an area that also had around 10 other holes. That was it and no way of getting this hyena, and he would parish in the ground. Got back into the car left and we saw a nice waterbuck and Alan made a spine shot which dropped the waterbuck. A nice 27� waterbuck and we took it back to camp. That afternoon we spent really looking for elephants and saw quite a few, but nothing I was interested in shooting. So we headed back to camp and had fun having a competition on shooting birds and who could get the most with the least amount of shells. I gave Alan the shotgun and told him that he had to get two birds before it was my turn. 6 shells later Alan got his two birds. Now it was my turn and with 1 shell took 3 birds. We then saw an Egyptian Goose standing on a sand bank about 100 yards out in the river where it was really shallow. I told Alan that this would be a good time to practice with his gun and to see if he could hit the goose. He said that there was no way he could do it, and I had to have a little talk with him about confidence. He asked me if I thought I could hit it? I told him that not only did I think I could, I would hit it with my .375 with open sites, and he did not believe me. So, I told him for $1,000 on the table I would show him. He thought this would be an easy way of making some money, so agreed. I took my .375 that I had as an extra gun with open sites and laid it on the top of the car rack and let it rip. I put a solid in the gun so as not to ruin the meat too much for the boys, so when the gun went off and the bird started to fly, Alan was very happy and said I had missed. I told him to just watch a second and the bird flipped over in mid air and fell to the water. Alan could not believe his eyes, and Laura just died laughing, and told Alan that is what confidence shooting is all about. We had fun, and told Alan I would feel bad taking money from him that easy, so told him I was donating it to Laura for putting up with us all this time. She had been a real trooper this whole safari and never missed a day of hunting.

Alan Waterbuck



16th day went out in the morning looking for wildebeest or whatever. Saw several herds of buffalo and decided to try for another buffalo and Alan�s third. Got into the herd and found a really nice 40� buffalo, but Alan was not comfortable with the shot and we returned to the car. Saw 2 nice kudu bulls and made a long stalk on them, but they disappeared on us, but we ran into another herd of buffalo but did not see any over 40� so went back to the car. That afternoon I wanted to change things up a bit and told Alan and Laura that we would leave camp at 4pm and change our timing on the elephant as there is one area by �castle mountain� as I call it where I always have my luck with elephants between 4-6 pm. So, we left camp at 4 pm and drove to castle mountain which is about 45 minutes from camp and where I had taken a good elephant last year with the Crews. I know there are some big elephant in this area, as the have plenty of thick cover, food and water as they either go to the river or they like digging for the cool water in the sand river beds. On our way we saw two bulls down on the river, and made a quick look at them, but no big enough. We kept going and the very next sand river bed we got to, there to our left was a beautiful elephant, and I told Alan that is the one we want. The elephant was walking up the sandy river bed and we fell in pursuit after him. We came to a bend in the river bed and when I looked around the elephant was standing there throwing sand over his back. We were only 15 yards from the elephant, but did not feel comfortable with Alan trying for a brain shot, so told him to shoot the elephant right behind the shoulder. Alan and Laura both had already told me to back him up as he did not want any trouble with the elephant. So, with this go ahead all I needed to hear from Alan�s gun go off and did not really care where he hit it. I told Alan to shoot quickly and he did hitting the elephant a little far back, but was my turn and put a .470 in the shoulder which stumbled the elephant a little, and he took about 2 more steps wanting to run, and I put a .470 into the brain which dropped the elephant in its tracks. Now, let me express that I personally do not usually shoot my gun and normally do not have to back up a client, but when I do have a client that has not been shooting too well during the safari, I will talk to my client and discuss the issue in detail with them. In most cases though with all of my clients, they have always told me to use my judgment and if an animal is not hit properly they would rather I do back them up, as they prefer to have the animal as a trophy and not lost. I have never had a client tell me that they did not want me to back them up on elephant either. So, I am not just shooting to shoot, and have full agreement with my clients from the very start of the safari. Normally though with my regular seasoned clients, I hardly ever get to shoot as they are great shots, and I never have to worry about their shooting. In any case the we had a beautiful elephant down and everyone was in great spirits. Alan had shot the elephant with a .416 which the bullet went in just behind the rib cage. My first .470 solid bullet went in just behind the front shoulder and exited on the other side straight through. My second .470 bullet went into the brain just in front of the ear and also went straight through exiting the other side. There is nothing like a .470 and the power it has on big animals. We took the pictures and because it was getting dark, did not want to start the big job of cutting up the elephant. So, we covered it well with thorns and toilet paper and even put a scarecrow up to keep the hyena�s away. Big celebration back in camp. The tusks on this elephant will go close to 60 pounds and right around 5 feet or better.

Alan Elephant

I am already hooked! Where is part two and three? It is almost like I am there myself. Almost....arrgggh!#%!

Thanks for the great post.

Bill

Part V...Selous continued...
_______________________________________

17th day we went straight back to the elephant to do all of the skinning etc. which took us from 7 am to 1 pm, when we went back to camp. Mitch and Harpreet would be coming into LU5 today as well. That afternoon we managed to get a Nyasaland Wildebeest and missed two shots on zebra. Did some more bird hunting on the way back to camp. Mitch and Harpreet had arrived and where very worried about their leopard situation as they had had 11 leopards on bait in Rungwa, but were all females or young males. They did have 1 big male feeding, but he would never come in before dark as he knew that they were there. This is very unusual for our Rungwa block, as the leopard hunting there is the best and usually very easy taking leopards in broad daylight at 4-5pm! They also had 3 nice male lions on bait, but Mitch wanted a leopard more, so they did not bother with the lions, as he will hunt lion next time. Anyway, back to square one again, and they only had a very few days left in LU5, but we were still confident as LU5 is a fantastic block. We had put up some leopard baits for them before they arrived, so hopefully things would fall into place. That night it rained on us and not a good sign for elephant hunting at all for Mitch.
Alan Nyasaland Wildebeeste

18th day we had two shots at kudu again but Alan could not hit one. We checked some of our old baits that we had not checked in a couple of days due to the elephant, and found to be finished by females and the others already too rotten. Saw several buffalo herds, but decided that he had had enough of buffalo and would wait until next year when he returns and after he practices more with his shooting. Pretty much just had fun shooting birds today and not taking anything serious. Returned to camp to find out that Mitch had taken a very nice Kudu and a hippo today.
Mitch Kudu

19th day same thing with us as we just drove around seeing what might be of interested and really only interested in kudu and zebra at this stage. We did see some kudu, but they were too quick for Alan. Several nice buffalo seen today as well. Enjoyed a long lunch and nap and pretty much went and just bird hunted the evening. Mitch and Harpreet came into camp with a celebration as they had taken their elephant and very happy about that. It was a very nice bull that also will go around 5 � feet and around 55 pounds. They had also taken a nice wildebeest in the morning.
Mitch Elephant

20th day we did not have much left to do as Alan had decided that his collection on this trip was a good start and enough for him to be proud of. So, we actually played around and I did some lessons on shooting with Alan etc. and told him to really practice and to get to know his guns before he returns next year. Once he gets comfortable with his guns, then and only then will he be comfortable with himself and will shoot much better next time. I hope! Mitch and Harpreet had a leopard on bait and sat in the leopard blind that evening without any luck. So, they decided to try first thing in the morning.

21st day Mitch and Harpreet came back into camp at 7:30 as they had finally shot their leopard and everything was relieved and very happy. The leopard had jumped up on the bait at 6:30 am and Mitch made a perfect shot. Now Mitch had taken everything he had come for on this safari and everyone was over the moon.
Mitch Leopard

This safari was a great safari and every single animal was seen that both Alan and Mitch had come for. Except for lion, which we really did not hunt hard for, every single animal was either taken or shot at, and could have been taken. The trophies that were taken were excellent and they can be very proud of their first safari to Africa. We look forward to hunting with Alan, Laura and Mitch again, and we thank them for a great time and a lot of laughs. I personally want to thank Alan for teaching me even more patience!

All jokes aside though, I can not express enough to anyone going to Africa that it is VERY important that you take a gun that you are comfortable with, and make sure you do practice with it before you go. If you have practiced with your gun and know how to shoot it in different situations and distances, you will have a great safari and should take most everything you go for.

Guns used on this safari:
Alan .375 and .416
Mitch .300 and .375
PH Adam Clements .470 Searcy
PH Harpreet Brar .500 Hambrusch

Shooting sticks from my office that are great. They breakdown and you can travel with them anywhere and are excellent in the field. Call to order or if you have any questions.
Shooting Sticks

Adam Clements
210-698-0077
adam@safaritrackers.com
www.safaritrackers.com

WOW!!!!!!

Wow!
Thanks Adam and Canuck. Quite an Opus. I have printed off all 23 pages of it and will peruse it more completely, then shelve it next to volumes I (Mellon) and II (Boddington and Flack) of _African Hunter_ . This will be called _African Hunter III_ by Clements and Canuck.

Canuck, thanks a ton for doing the posting for me as I am still behind times on the picture posting stuff.



I had a great hunt and time with Alan, Laura and Mitch and have become great friends with them. They are all booked to go back already for 2005 and 2006, so they had a great experience for their first time to Africa and Tanzania. They have read the story and like it. I wrote the story as close as possible to the events etc., and Alan is already practicing on his shooting for next year, so it should be great. Hope everyone on AR enjoys the story.

Hey Adam,
I've looked again for the pic in the files you sent and don't see it. I haven't left quite yet, so if you shoot it over to me quick I will inject it into the appropriate part of your story.

BTW, I for one appreciate the honesty of your writing and applaud the hunter for endorsing all the details being published for public consumption.

Cheers,
Canuck

Absolutely Fantastic!!!

The type of hunt I have been dreaming for years! Love that 48" Buff!

Canuck, I am a detail junkie to.....you just can't have to many details of a hunt like that!

Congrats to the Adam, Mitch and Dr.Alan....!

Regards,
Dave

Adam, there ya go, updated with the missing pics...it is much better!

RIP: Apologies in advance, but the new pics do justify a reprint!

DavidC: You bet. That was a great read!

Cheers,
Canuck

All I can say is, what an experience that must of been. WOW!!!!

Very nice! I am looking fwd to reading all the detail, but at first glance, Mitch's 48" buffalo and 14-foot croc are awesome.

And there's something striking about this picture...can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it has to do with the great boss )?



Congrat's Adam !!!

In Ga its not great boss.... we say great rack...though the boss does have a rack....oh, nevermind.

A truely amazing post of epic proportions! This will be printed out for bedtime reading!

Erik D.

Thanks for ruining any chance of me getting any type of work done this afternoon.

Sounds like a great hunt and it had me jealous with envy.

graybird

TERIFFIC!!! Thanks for a great thread. I'm just wondering--is there anything left for when I go back?

Alan, I'm a true Wildebeest junkie, on our last trip I shot 2 Blue Wildebeest, and your Nyasaland is just beautiful. What would it take to hunt one?

Hilarious! Made my day! Funny! I cannot believe the PH is going to do it again next year. He has more patience than I do. Now I know why I quit guiding. This is a joke, right? Your just pulling our legs.

Excellent story Adam. And thanks to Canuck for posting it. I just reread it and tallied up some numbers....
The hunter....
Shot at..........31 animals
Made good shots..14
Made gut shots...5
Lost animals.....6
PH shot..........3
Missed...........9
I may have missed a few, but thats a pretty close tally.

TJ,

Those numbers give us a fair bit of info....

The overal quality of the camps and operation....the patience & skill of the PH's to keep their clients on game despite some shooting issues. Obviously, the areas hunted produce some fantastic trophies in good numbers.

I bet these folks will be much better out of the gate for their 2005 & 2006 safaris....If I only had that kind of money. Some day....

Remeber, Ruark said it best "The air is different in Afria"

Regards,
Dave

TJ, we had a great safari, and I hope you do not get me wrong as i do not want to sound like I am talking bad about my client, as I am not and just wanted to tell the story as close to as it was. My client and I have created a very close relatioship and we had a great time together dispite the shooting skills. He understands the mistakes and simply knows that he was just not prepared for the hunting in Africa and is really looking forward to showing me his improvement next year. We ended up turning the whole safari into a fun experience for all even though I really did have to practice my patience to a whole new level.

Believe it or not though, many clients come to Africa and have the same experience in that they miss and wound a lot of animals, and that is just the way it is. Africa hunting is different and can really change the way someone shoots if they are not used to it. Even the best shots have come to Africa and have missed leopard at 25 yards! So, it can happen to anyone and we just have to enjoy the whole experience and appreciate the African experience. I am sure that next year when I write another story of the hunt from this same client, that it will be a different story and he will be ready next time.

The main thing is to go and have fun and what happens happens and just enjoy the time in Africa.

Were that "Nickudu" crouched down behind this buffalo, the wallets of both PH and booking agent would be about $1000 thicker! I dare say, I'd fly an AirBus to bag that guy!

48"??

Money talks, though it may not shoot worth a crap.

Please don't start with the class warfare. Next thing you'll want to do is raise taxes on the rich.



But I'd sure like the ammo concession for a few of this guy's safaris. It'd be nearly as good as a defense contract.

Adam:
I applaud the guy for letting the story be posted. He had the cajones to do that. I realize we are not all Anne Oakley and most could use some practice. I bet next year he will be a better shot. You folks had fun and saw a lot of animals. That's the best part.

Nick, No need for an airbus as KLM will take you there in comfort and with great service! I have to tell you that I do not think that I have seen many areas that have the quality of buffalo like I saw in Ruhudji. Every single herd I looked over had at least one 42" or better buff in it. I also saw some fantastic big buffs in LU5 as well this year.

Canuck,

Beautiful post and great hunt! To me, this was heartwarming seeing an Indian Harpreet Brar, as a PH. What was sad, though, was the fact that this would not be possible in India itself.

Best wishes and good hunting!

Canuck and Don, Yes, it was a very good year for buffalo in LU5 this year. Just got off the Sat phone with today and they have just taken another great elephant in the 60+ pound range and also took a 46" buffalo today with 16" boss! The client is moving to Ruhudji now for lion and leopard.

Canuck,

Great report.

Adam, You have the patience of a saint. I don't think I ever appreciated how difficult it must be at times to be a PH.

Russ