Greetings all,

EDIT/ADDED 1/7/06:

Masailand Hunt Report - Part 1

Masailand Hunt Report - Part 2

Back from an awesome father/son in-law end-of-season hunt w/Bundu Safaris in Lobo & Lolkisale (Masailand, Tanzania). Unfortunately the Dec showers uncharacteristically failed this year so we did not see the masses of wildebeest, zebra and buffalo coming out of the Park like in normal years, but nevertheless shot lots of animals including a 42.5" buffalo, lesser kudu, EA eland, Grants gazelle, fringed-ear oryx, Masai bushbuck, EA impala, white bearded wildebeest, Coke's hartebeest, warthog, common waterbuck, zebra, jackal, hyena, and the first Thompson's gazelle shot in Lolkisale in at least the last 10-years. My taxidermist is pleased with my success, but I told him we'll be on the "3-5 year extended mounting program"

My father-in law was along as an observer, and I hunted with Brian, Adam and Paul, spending the majority of time in Lolkisale. The buffalo was shot on the 2nd day in Lobo w/Brain and his fun tracker Big Albert, near the spring that the buffalo share with the Masai and their cattle. Lobo is thick and thorny and interesting w/many Masai but few tsetse's. We then moved to Lolkisale as Adam's client was wanting to relocate south for leopard and lion. Lolkisale is flat but picturesque, and most shooting is long-range although the game is not spooky of vehicles or people, you just can't walk up to them.

Camps, food, service and East African hospitality were exceptional, KLM flights and logistics were without incident or stress, and everybody I met was friendly and professional. I especially enjoyed my time in the field with Paul, who was born and raised along with his five brothers and one sister in Lolkisale. Adam was great company and together we shot most of the game, he knows Lolkisale very well with help from Richard who is top-notch and was along doing some promotional filming.

My trusted M70 .300 which has accompanied me on five previous trips developed problems and had to be retired on the 2nd day, and I struggled with the shooting using unfamiliar rifles and lower-powers scopes then I was used to (more on this later), but otherwise everything was just about perfect.

The rains would have been an added bonus as I was looking forward to seeing East Africa all nice and green. I held out in Lolkisale waiting for the buffalo to come back in from the Park to feed, hoping for a monster while passing up some decent 37-42 inch dugga's that would have been shooters elsewhere, but there is no control over the weather.

I have lots of pict's and will post a report shortly in the Hunting Report forum, still struggling with the jetlag and re-entry into the real world (including going from 90-degrees and sun to 20 degrees and snow!), but here's a few of the highlights:

My 42.5" Buffalo shot out of a group of 3 dugga boys in Lobo on day-2:


A mature Lesser Kudu bull from Lolkisale:


A 30" old East African Eland taken just before sunset in Lolkisale:


The first Thompson's Gazelle legally harvested in Lolkisale in at least 10-years according to tracker Kizigi (13.5"):


A nice Grants Gazelle from Lobo:


An old "Roland Ward class" 15.5" Masai (East African) Bushbuck from Lolkisale:


A nice Fringed Ear Oryx from Lobo (PH Brian Van Blerk):


More to follow as I get a chance. Regards to all, Bill

Great report Bill. Contratulations on all the animals, especially the buf and grants. I really like the eland.

WTG Bill! Looks like a great hunt!

Bill,

Congratulations, what a safari.

Regards,

Terry

Thanks for the report. Looks like you had a great hunt! As usual, your pictures are fantastic! Whats with the buffalo's eyes?

Doug

Congrats Bill! Looks like a great time!

Your pictures are great. What camera do you use?

Cheers,
Canuck

Fantastic pictures, that lesser kudu especially. Looks like it was shot in heaven on a June day!

P.S. How long is that Grant's? Looks like a beaut!

Way to go Bill!! Love the buff and Grant's Gazelle. Keep the pics coming!

John

Bill,

Very well done!

Bill, congratulations on a great hunt!

I am curious whether there was a lot of walking on this hunt, or did the open country make that impractical?

And will the Winchester be replaced by a Blaser?

Bill,

Welcome home to ice and snow...Will talk to you soon...Great trophies...

Mike

Selous 06

Bill,

Congratulations! Glad to know that you had an excellent hunt! I was certain that you would! Looking forward to the full hunt report and pics. Love the lesser kudu and the bushbuck! Thanks, Hugh

I always enyoed your reports and photos continue the good work .And i hope you can report a gold medal red stag soon .juan

Congratulations! Sorry to hear about your rifle problems. Must have been frustrating to have to use a borrowed rifle.

But I can tell from your excellent photos that you sure did overcome any problems!

Again, mucho congrats!

Bill,

Once again you have made a great report for our reading pleasure.

Congratulations on a terrific hunt!

Bill- Congratulations. From past reports you must alrady have your next trip planned!

Bill,

What a fanatastic bag you've got there. That buffalo is expectional and he's the least of the bunch!



Welll done my friend. Well done.

What a safari. Tremendous animals.

Thanks for sharing.

Kyler

Lots of great trophies Bill. I love the lesser kudu. No one even mentioned bushbuck when I was there. Did you set out to hunt him, or was it a target of opportunity? What about the Tommy, did you see more than one?

I'm glad to hear it all worked out for you.

Also, you're giving the eland a run for his money in the muscle department. You should be skinny like me and your trophies will look bigger!

Congratulations on a great hunt. Kudude

Great trophies! Thanks for sharing.

Bill, congratulations on a successful hunt. Your pictures are great

Thanks guys, I'm working on the report now, will detail everything.

DougE, the older buffalo in the area have a characteristic white patch under their eyes, almost like a gland, which I have never seen before elsewhere. Looks pretty neat, and maybe somebody can add to this as I am curious too.

Canuck, my camera is an older 4mp Olympus C-750 that I've used on several trips, I really like the color it provides although I take MANY shots with different settings hoping to get one good one. My father-in law also took about 500 picts with his Canon, and I'm using pictures between the two.

Boghossian, The Grants measured 24", which is a real good one for the area. I wanted to take a second one, but we didn't see anything close in Lolkisale.

Dan, The hunting in Lobo can be on foot, and we followed the buffalo and a herd of fringed ear oryx for several hours. The ground is soft and nice for tracking. But in Lolkisale, given the terrain, it is mostly spot from vehicle and stalk. We had some nice stalks for most of the animals, and some sprint/shoot for others, and nothing was shot from the truck. But I think this did not help my shooting in a few cases, as one minute you are bouncing along in the Land Cruiser, and the next you are on the sticks trying to make a 100-200 yard shot. No time to "get mad" if you know what I mean. Reg the Blaser and my .300...maybe this was a sign?!?!?!

Mike, Sorry I missed your call, we'll chat soon.

Forrest, We tried for the bushbuck w/Adam, but he gave us the slip. A few days later w/Paul we saw him in the same place, and we drove on then walked a while back and caught him sneaking not down the river bed where it was thick, but into an open field. We had no idea he was so large for the sub-species at the time, to me he looked like a good bushbuck. AJ, another PH in camp said that of the few bushbuck shot in Masailand, most are in the 9-12 inch range. He was caped for a full-mount needles to say. I'll go over the Tommy in detail in the report, as this was a very special trophy.

I do want to mention that the Lolkisale area had sprinkles, which got the animals moving a bit, but not the heavy thunder showers as the area usually experiences in Nov/Dec. I'll post some picts.

Bill

Bill,

Excellent trophies. Well done.

Excellent trophies from a very special part of Africa, well done Bill. Masailand is a great destination, rich in it's hunting heritage and species of game. Look forward to your full report...

Excellent report Bill! Great trophies, I am in extreme envy over that kudu.

Now you've done it!!! Spoiled Christmas for a bunch of us with your report and those great photos. Congratulations.

Bill- My partner and I are scheduled for the same time in '06 with Bundu with Buffalo as our main target. We are currently booked in Lobo, but I am curious about your mention of the Masai in Lobo. How big of factor were they and their cattle in your hunt? Please elaborate on this when you share your stories since Lolkisale may still be an option for us. Thank you for the great pictures and congratulations on a fantastic hunt. Brian

Brian, the Masai in Lobo added to the hunt for me, I would not change areas because of this.

I posted a full hunt report over on the African hunting Reports forum. It was too long for one post, so I broke it into two chunks. Bill

Masailand Hunt Report - Part 1

Masailand Hunt Report - Part 2

It's too bad you didn't get a chance to hunt with Brian a bit longer....I spent 16 days with him awhile back and he is both an excellent PH and a lot of fun to hunt with.