Thinking about Sankyo Bots. for an elephant hunt in Sept. Anyone been there done that? What kind I expect?? Please help!

great area ,also known as NG34 hunted by johan calitz' outfit that is top notch ...lots of mopane ,both mature and scrub ...typically flat ...as is all of bots very edge of the delta habitat without actually being swamp ... you will most likely (read almost definitely) shoot an elephant over 50# though may be even luckier...the average last year was significantly higher than 50. you will see lots of bulls every day ... one of the few areas in bots where you may do more tracking than rolling tires , many areas in bots are more spot and stalk ...

email me if you would like more details

I have hunted there before, late season (Aug) in a normal year it is very dry. Early season it is great but we battled towards the end of the season when the water is gone, spent a LOT of time driving boundary roads and tracking from there. When we were there the photographic concession along the Gomoti was where most of the plains game concentrated. A big plus was only seeing bulls, no big cow herds, lots of good tracking so if you enjoy long walks it will be great. Early season the guys shoot some monster buffalo 45+ and the concession is full of Elephant, late season take your chances, you may get lucky or you may not......

jeff h;

My husband and I hunted there last Sept. on the final hunt of the season. I posted a hunt report which I have tried to show a link below. If it doesn't appear search for D. Nelson's Zim & Bots safaris 2007.

The camp is impeccably run. It was quite hot and dry while we were there. My husband took his elephant on day 4 of 14 days. We did see many elephant. As you will read, my husband is nearly blind, so we elected to take the elephant that was easiest to approach. I sure if we had continued to hunt he could have taken a larger trophy, but that was not such a goal for us.

Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer.



Here is the link to my hunt report:

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=162105737#162105737

Best regards, D. Nelson

Darin, I (re-)read your hunting report. What a great and moving story!!

But above all, what a sensationally pretty buff you got. Forget about measurements and scores, this is just PERFECT!!



- mike

mho (Mike);

Thanks so much for the kind words...I hope my buff, ele and leopard will someday make it home from Zim...I love that buff too!

Thanks, Darin

D. Thanks so much for the link to the report. What a great report. Best to you and your Husband!!!

D. CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE MORE ABOUT NUMBER OF ELE. THAT TIME OF YEAR. I MEAN DID YOU SEE ELE. EVERYDAY. SOMEONE SAID LOTS OF BULLS. WHAT WAS THE LARGEST YOU SAW?
THANKS

jeff j;

We tracked at least 3 bulls a day and saw at least 4-5 other bulls while driving. Of course, none were shooters. In the concession we never saw anything larger than the one my husband took, but that was only 3 days of serious elephant hunting. We did stay in camp the full 14 days, but more doing game drives rather than seriously hunting. (We were waiting for the last zebra tag to come from Maun.)

We ran into 2 huge elephant breeding herds of more than 100 animals in each. And a hunter in the neighboring camp did take a larger bull, I think it was 50+ lbs.

There was a big pan about 5 k's from camp. The only other water was about a hour to the edge of the delta water. So we checked the pan every morning. We usually did pick up tracks, but the elephants crossed out of the concession before we could catch up with them. Then we would drive the long "buffalo" fence to the river delta. Sometimes we would pick up tracks along the fence.

The terrain is very sandy and flat. Mopane trees in the area away from the river, and thick palms and sausage trees along the river.


If you purchased this cancelled hunt at the rate posted on the AR Thread, I think it is a very good bargain. I wished we could go back at that rate.

Hope this info helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Yep, That would be me. Thanks for all the info.
Is the camp really nice?

The camp is very, very nice. The clients stay in tents with permanent foundations. I wished I had some photos for you, but all my camera work was on video except the trophy shots. Maryann, the camp manager, lives there permanently (al biet in a kind of big tent like home) and she is meticulous. The staff were all great. If you've ever hunted out of any of Johan Calitz's camps (which we have done 3 other times,)this camp may be the nicest, and they're are all very nice.

The shower and flushing toilet were ensuite. And neither my husband nor I can remember for sure, but we think our tent had electricity all night long.

It was very hot and dry, weatherwise, when we were there last year. We didn't even want a camp fire at night, so in the evening we sat around the pit without a fire to tell our lies.

The camp overlooks a small, pumped pan. So critters did water there regularly. We were visited nightly by zebra, lion, leopards or hyenas. Right before we arrived a leopard chased an impala right through camp.

Let me know of you think of anything else I can help you with.

Again, I'm jealous about the price you're paying!

Best regards, Darin

Jeff;

I'm trying to post of link to Johan Calitz's web site. If you click on Botswana, they do show a shot of the Sankuyo dining hut.

http://www.johancalitzsafaris.co.za/ZBotscampphotosNew.html

D. Nelson

D. thanks so much. This is very helpful. I may touch base with you again.

Jeff

Who is your PH? Clive Eaton?

TerryR

no it will be one of Johan C. camps and ph's I don't know if I will know until I get there