Terrific safari, thanks for sharing.

Kyler

I shall try to briefly describe my first African Safari.

First though my sincere thanks to all on this forum who enticed me to look at the dark continent and helped form a concrete plan.

I was primarily interested in good buff and "pretty" plainsgame,realizing little that these critters dont occur in 1 area.I desired a true wilderness hunt rather than civilization.To sort out the many options,Ray Atkinson was pushing a hunt in TZ that should come closest,further inspection then showed that most plainsgame would not occur in sufficient numbers to assure a trophy in the same area where buff would occur.I added leopard and have posted the result already.

I had a custom rifle built by John Ricks in .416 Rem Mag,dveloped buff ammo with NF 370gr softpoints at 2500 fps.

That was the only rifle I took.

I hunted with Pierre van Tonder in the Selous.

For protection from mosquitos and TseTse's I relied on Avons "Bugoff",coating myself each morning with a total body smear.It proved somewhat messy,getting soaked up by the clothing,but I didnt dare to change,as the flies were present and agressive.As a recommendation,I would say that the stuff maybe worked for 2 hrs for me,maybe not at all.

The flies would bite through all clothing,even when soaked in the guck.I also took along the "BUGOFF" jacket and gloves and would heartily recommend them,I got mine from Cabelas.I "might not be alive without them",switched to proper usage the last week,meaning all zippers closed and face hood pulled ,neglecting pride and toughness .I will get the matching pants too as the flies proved able to severly change my contour when not protected.

As far as the hunt is concerned,limiting myself to "plainsgame" stated to be availablenly Impala and waterbuck as well as bushbuck and zebra were planned.

I was fortunate to find quite a few Sable and shot a beautiful old male at dusk one day,zebra in the beginning were difficult to corner.They proved quite alert,spotting,hearing or smelling us despite out best efforts.Until on the 5th or 6th stalk I managed to get to feasible shooting distance in thick stuff and resoved the feud - not without sustaining a scope injury of small size.

I knew my rest was wrong but felt he would bolt if I hesitated,so shot from an awkward position.Following that hunt,news got around and we met lots of zebra in small and larger congregations.not concerned about us the slightest.

Having most of my species filled we had been lookig for a blue Nyassa wildebeast,but could not find it,they must have been migrated out.The 5-6 day search though brought a very nice Kudu bull,spotted by the amazing trackers within thick brush.Previously I had lost my chance at a similar great Kudu,as he ran off once I was finally able to see him.This time though I managed to anchor him with one neck shot.

Bush buck proved elusive,we saw some Impala,reedbuck,warthogs.Quite few elephant,one charging our vehicle from the adjoining thick brush at about 10y.

Together the filled painsgame basket proved much better than advertised or hoped for,together with an excellent leopard.the Roosevelt sable and kudu were rounding out a nice trophy bag.



The main quarry of cape buffalo yielded Buff1 after an interesting stalk thru thick brush and grass to a resting herd of maybe 20+ animals,milling around,some resting.

When they bolted because of a wind change ,I nailed a good bull but probably lost sight of the "big bull" in the scuffle.

Bull2 was shot at distance as he presnted together with another duggerboy just prior to sunset.

Bull3 was meant to be my true trophy bull,we would turn down everthing that didnt look at least as "Rays last year monster ,deep curl,good spread.

When we finally met the #3 alone in deep grass,his head position fooled Pierre and we shot an old but mediocre bull on inspection.

All 3 bulls were old and fine specimens,but lacked "true trophy" stamps by my laymens wishful or hoping judgement.

That would require another hunt - just as many here find out.

Overall the latter mishap did not sour me as the quality of most ather specimens was remarkable to outstanding.Well worth the price of the hunt as well as the blood donated to the flies



I parted as a very happy man,eagerly waiting for the trophies to be shipped and nervously wondering how to pay for their mounting as well as where the needed space to display them can be appropriated

Opps! I read your other thread... Great leopard, too!

What was the length of your safari? Those were nice trophies.

I'm glad you had a great trip. While there are bigger buffalo out there, there is nothing wrong with those you took! What a nice sable!

I talked to Anneli on Saturday. I thought you got a leopard, too????

Did you get to meet Jim Sherman on the way out? I believe he flew in on your charter??? He was mighty excited when I talked to him at the Sea Cliff Sunday evening.

Great safari and congratulations.

Regards,

Terry

P.S.
Pics 3,4,5,7 and 8 are too large to export from Imagesation.

Go to Edit button on your post and delete the ".orig.jpg" from the end of the URL for each picture.

Dietmar,

What impresses me is the way you started off with your first trip to Africa by taking such great trophies.

One can't go wrong with a hunt booked by Ray Atkinson or a rifle by John Ricks but it took me a lot longer to learn that.

Nice Going!

Terry,thanks for cluing me in,changed the picture sizes.
Judge,thanks.Yes met the new hunter from Memphis when I flew out of Selous International.
The hunt went on a 21 day licence.Staff,trackers very enthusiastic,pulling for you at every moment and sharing in the experience.Their eyesight is phenomenal,seeing and identifying animals up to 800y and greater in thick brush!Stuff that we have trouble seeing even using binoculars.
Could not have scored without them

Sheephunter
Great trophies all. Looks like you had a true African experience. Do not get too caught up on trophy size, an inch or so here or their does not make or break a trip for me, it is the fun and experience of the hunt that counts.

Nothing can compare to a general bag hunt in the Selous and yours was particularly successful.



That leopard and sable would be enough by themselves.



Because of the animals you took, you had to be on a 21 day license. What part of the Selous were you in? Did you try to bait or see any lions? See any decent elephants?

mrlexma.correct on all counts
Did not try for lion but saw 2 maneless lions,1 hitting on our leopard bait,climbing trees.
Saw good groups of elephants.1 80 pounder,but he wandered into adjacent concession and was shot by another huner the following day.
Yes it was a great experience and hunt,but one has to come up with an excuse for "next time".

SH, were you in the same concession as Saeed?

Canuck

Congratulations! Those buff bulls might not be the biggest around but they are top-notch representative trophies with solid bosses .... a great first trip!

No,Pierre wisely moved the hunting grounds after Saeeds venture.I hear he shot 15 buff !
I hunted the Maghenge concessions he has.

Thanks Sheephunter. If you don't mind my prying, were you in M1, and if so was your camp on the Kilombero?

Regardless, you took some very fine animals and your wide grins are fully justified. Congratulations on a wonderful hunt. And just to let you know, you have done a fabulous job of fulfilling my need for vicarious African thrills!!! This has been a great month so far.

Best regards,
Canuck

Sorry Canuck,cant tell for shure which was the primary block.
Pierre has several,and in addition rented additional adjacent blocks at his costs.His rational was to increase chances and it worked well for him and me.
The animals seemed to range widely and not be contained within 1 concession



river in front of camp


typical country hunted

Sheephunter

I just love those particular Zebra specie, clearly defined stripes without any shadow and covering the entire body including the legs. Much better than the standard Burchall extensively found in SA with a shadow stripe

Regards, Peter

Sheephunter,

Did you recover any of the 370 gr North Fork bullets?

Im glad to see so many AR members using the North Fork.

Andy

sheephunter ----- I will be there next week hunting the same concession with Pierre. As chance would have it I am using the same rifle and bullet. I am also taking my .358 STA loaded with 270 grain North Forks for the plains game. Thanks for the information and pictures, they give me an idea of what to expect. Congratulations on some real nice animals. Good shooting.