Thanks for the photos and updates. Always fun to follow along. Much appreciated.

Smooth old buff that one!

And someone didn't use the correct bug repellent.

We scared an eland bull driving in the morning, and followed him

After a while we gave up, as we were in thickets were he could see us before we see him.

Found fresh tracks of two buffalo bulls.

We went after them.

Three hours later we came to a small mountain.

Alan decided for us to climp it to look.

Very tough climb. Very rockey but we made it to the top.

And guess what?

The top was covered in buffalo dung!

Apparently from the other side one can just walk up.

So the buffalo were more inteliggent than us!

Down we went back to our two bulls.

A half hour later we saw an impala doe with a very young baby.

It ran off, and apprantly scared the buffalo too.

As a few yards further we saw wherer they took off.

We carried on after them.

Saw some kongoni, and were trying to avoid scaring them so they don't run off our buffalo.

Alan saw an eland bull further than the kongoni.

Tried to get a clear shot, then Alan suggested I walk to a tree slightly to the side which might be better.

Sure enough, I could see the eland standing facing away at an angle.

I fired, trying to place the bullet just ahead of the left hip, going forward.

He jumped, walked a few yards and stopped facing away, wobbling.

I fired another shot in his rear, and he dropped.

This one had larger horns, but not as much fat as the previouls one.

On the way back to camp we saw agood kudu bull standing close by.

By the time we got out of the truck he was gone.

Maktoum shot a buffalo and a zebra.

It’s been fantastic so far, congratulations!

Have you been hunting to the east of camp more, or mostly hunting the same areas as last year? That country further east seemed very interesting, with lots of game.

I understand there’s some very interesting news coming about Maktoum and Peter. Looking forward to the details.

Darn long horns on that eland bull!!!

Look at the ingenious way Ali, our skinner, has made his sharpening stone.

It doubles as an exercise bike too!

Saeed,

Appearing to be another great hunting trip.

great photos, thank you for posting.

Someone sewed that zebra up wrong

For someone who swears he is not a trophy hunter those are very fine horns on animals you presumably shot just for meat!
Love the photos of stuff so many just don't see. Great results as usual. Did that second, huge horned Eland seem to be younger than the first one?

The second eland had longer horns but less fat.

Still, lots of fat in both, the first one seemed to have work his short.

The second one had two bad wounds in his neck, probably from fighting.

Completely healed.

Followed a lone buffalo bull this morning, and two hours later caught up with him.

Shot him and took him home.

The other two teams are still out.

Great pictures as always!

I saw the exercise bike in the first photo but didn't notice the grinding wheel. Very ingenius.

Great photos, Saeed. Thank you for sharing.

Wonderful pictures, enjoying your safari vicariously

Maktoum is enjoying one heck of a great hunt so far!

One note that I personally find interesting is that the zebras are the Crawshay subspecies IIRC. They’re much smaller in body, and to my mind, one of the most attractively patterned of any zebra species.

Some exceptional animals you all have taken and great photos.

Had a long walk after buffalo yesterday and they beat us.

Passed through an interesting area. Where lions seem to like.

Three lion kills within two hundred meters of each other.

We stopped at a road waiting for the truck and a young eland bull walked straight into us.

Saw so many zebra.

And warthog feeding which couldn’t care less about us. Got to 10 meters of him and just carried on.

Nisse shot a bushbuck.

Good to see those young elephant bulls Saeed!

Are you seeing any more elephant than last year?

Yes we are seeing more elephants. Some with little ones too.

Saw what we thought was a pregnant one yesterday.

Maktoum shot a bushpig.

There is a photo of him and Peter with it, not sure who is better looking.

This morning we saw a lion and two lionesses lting in a sandy river.

Too far to judge him, so we decided to drive closer.

We stopped about 200 meters away, and he did not like it at all.

Made a mock charge towards us but only for a few yards.

The lionesses could not care less.

We thought we better get off the open in the river, and try to get closer from the grassy area.

Got stuck in the sand, and he came to the edge and kept looking.

We decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, as he looked a bit young.

Chased buffalo all day, and got nothing!

I wonder if that lion was the brother of the one that charged you last year?

Superb photos, Saeed. Do tell us the story of the snake. Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos.

The snake was found in one of our tents.

We have had two attacked by siafu in their tents.

2 had scorpions as visitors.

The snake was the second one too, but the other one was outside the tent.

The other two teams had a break today.

We went out and after a 5 hour, 12 kilometer track managed to shoot a buffalo.

Back early at camp, as a BBQ is planned.

One of our drones got attacked by a falcon and destroyed.

We got drenched by rain while tracking the buffalo.

We all looked like drowned rats for a while.

An hour later we caught up with the buffalo.

No lunch break so the BBQ will come in handy.

Hello Saeed !

I am enjoying your post with all the photos.

The last old buffalo, what was it shot with?
And, what is your lifetime total of buffs harvested up to?

Thank You

Since 1998 I have been hunting with my own 375/404.

I have no idea how many buffalo I have shot.

I do not keep track, as to me it is pointless.

Thanks Saeed,

I was talking about the old dugga boy with the smooth bosses. The gun looks like a ruger,

I understand, its about the hunt not the count, score, or points!

That was shot by Anders.

He is using a camp rifle.

Him and Nisse are hunting with Thabit as PH.

Maktoum is using my second 375/404 and hunting with Pete.

Roy and me are hunting with Alan and using 375/404

Roy shot a zebra
I shot a sable

Maktoum shot duiker

And a zebra with a bow.

The wound picture on the sable above is from a horn in a fight.

His rip was broken, but healed.

We are half way through our hunt.

As usual, everyone is having a great time.

There is a lot more water around this year than last.

Last year eland and zebra were very hard to see.

This year we seem to be seeing zebra around every corner.

Same for eland in the first 4 days.

Since they seem to have disappeared.

More buffalo herds.
.

Quite thick almost everywhere, except on open pans.

Seeing animals is not any more difficult, but finding gaps in the bush to shoot is a bit of a challenge.

We went to the lake trying to shoot a hippo and gave up, as the wind was wrong.

We hope to try again this week.

We had an elephant bull pass through the camp a couple of nights ago.

The tents are situated on the bank of the Madaba River.

Bank is quite high.

Space between the bank and the tents is only a few yards.

The elephant passed by there.

A few days early 3 elephants passed below the camp in the river bed.

Hyenas were making such a racket last night at 3 I could not go back to sleep afterwards.

Routine is we are waken up at 5 - some of us are awake well before that.

Breakfast and then leave camp by 6 latest.

Back depends on what we encounter.

Generally before 8 in the evening.

quote:

Breakfast and then leave camp by 6 latest.

Still pretty dark at that time in MA1

Some spectacular photos there, Saeed. Is that a salt lick that seems to be frequented by a variety of animals?

Wonderful photos Saeed. Thank you so much.

Great photos again!

For you elephant hunters, how big is the ivory on that bull?

Went to the Lake.

Where we shot our crocs last year is under water.

Shot a hippo for croc bait.

Took most of the day to recover and set up.

Maktoum shot a bushbuck.

The Vikings spent all day chasing buffalo in long grass without any luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
Great photos again!

For you elephant hunters, how big is the ivory on that bull?

What Saeeds elephant photos confirm is what I have been hearing about elephant numbers in the Selous and Niassa. The bad poaching ended about 2014 and consistently hear “breeding herds of 10 to 20 and lots of young bulls”. Numbers are rebounding well but age structure is skewed to the young side with the exception of older tuskless cows.