HHK is all you need to know, hunted Zim May 2004. I had not a fear in the world, save for the mean critters.Top notch outfit.

RLWC what camp did you stay at in the OMAY? Nice Buff.

Marty, contact HHK Safaris [www.hhksafaris.com] I hunted with them 21 days in June 2004. I had a great trip. I felt much saver in ZIM than I did the 2 days I spent in South Africa. I will be going back to ZIM with HHK.

You have gotten great advice with respect to hunting the Chewore area of Zimbabwe. Truly wild Africa at the most economical price. For the trophy fee price you quoted for RSA buff ($9500), you could pay for an entire 10 day hunt (daily rate of $650 x 10), a buff trophy fee ($2,000), and the charter flight ($1,000) and you would actually be hunting wild (non-planted) buff in large herds, bachelor groups etc. The difference between Zim/Chewore and RSA would be night & day. In fact, I doubt that you ever consider going back to hunt RSA after experiencing Zim/Chewore, Zambia, Tanzania, etc.

If you go with a reputable outfitter, there is no reason to worry about personal safety. I have had two very successful hunts in the Chewore area over the last 3 years. Some of the outfitters you might consider are HHK,

Big 5 Safaris http://wickedhost.net/bigfive/

Andrew Dawson at www.chifutisafaris.com

Barry Duckworth

Buzz Charlton (referred in an above post)

Also, call/email/post a message to Ray Akinson regarding his outfitter in Tanzania. You can't go wrong there.

Either way, save your hard earned play money and chase buffalo somewhere other than the planted buffalo in RSA.

Good luck!

Tim

Marty - Welcome to the forum! I was in RSA this past June with my dad and college buddy (both live in SD) and my dad hunted buffalo in the NE corner of RSA. The buffalo were those that wandered outside the Kruger Park and were damaging the locals crops. It was a true hunt - head down following signs in the mopane, looking up and trying to see the buffalo, keeping the wind in your face, etc.. The trackers were amazing with their ability to sort out the "new" sign from the "old" sign. If you do a search on the hunt report forum for my user name, yuou should find out more.

Here is a picture of the buffalo dad ended up shooting:

Not a hard boss, dugga bull, but a fun hunt none the less.

Depending on what side of the state you live on, you may be able to look up dad or JD - they would love to talk hunting!

Brad