Does any on have a map on the different Matetsi blocks and outfitters that hunt them?
IE, what number is the block adjacent to the Zambezi, southern boundary of Kazuma Forest Land and west of the Deka river?
Regards,
ozhunter.

Bordering the Zambezi are Unit 7 (non Hunting) and unit 6. Unit 6 runs down the botswana border as it's western bondary. It is owned by Chiwenga (on US Sanctions list)

Unit 5 joins on the south side of Kazuma forest- Run by National Parks commercial unit (aka Mugundumu safaris - Ron Oliver who often post here is their US Agent.

Units 1 & 4 have Deka as the eastern bondary - Pass

Ganyana, I'm heading to Dallas in two weeks to inquire about a hunt in Matetsi for 2009. What unit and who would you recommend for buff/sable/waterbuck?

sevenmagltd ,
in december i hunted unit three , operated by hhk , we took a 44 inch sable , a 42 inch buff and a 28 inch waterbuck ...i feel we could have done better on the waterbuck but it wasnt a primary animal and we took him in passing ...

in that mix , sable and buff i presume will be your primary animals , sable are good in all the units , though i think three , two and one are the best , as far as numbers go ....

the buff move a lot and arent always there when you want them , i have hunted some occasions and not even seen a buff on a particular unit and then the very next hunt there have been three herds there ...having said that there is a system where if your unit is battling with buffalo or elephant for whatever reason , you may apply and be granted permission to hunt adjacent units ...

waterbuck are common on all units and again i would say the best would be one two and three ...


most units ae sold out for 2008 as far as sable goes , so i would be sure to check in with the guys on the first day of the show and see what options remain for 2009 ..

i agree with your choice though as far as an area where those three species occur in numbers and quality ...excellent choice of area ..

You could try Bushman Safaris of Bulawayo. He has hunting in that area and I have seen the biggest Sable I have ever seen in the area North of Dibangombie up near the Fuller forest boundary.He also has very good Waterbuck and ok Buffalo. The Waterbuck are down near the Matetsi boundary fence area and quite plentiful. I was hunting Elephant and had a 416 both tmes I saw this one Sable or he wouldn't maybe still be around. He agreed it was one of the biggest he had ever seen. Beautiful Sable in that area and very nice Waterbuck. 35/40+ always came to the dam there at the camp after dark and some of them were awfully nice. Sable & Waterbuck would not really be a problem the Buffalo travel around pretty extensively depending on water mostly. Has been 2 years since last there but spent 2 months there that time and can't believe it's been hunted out yet. Good hunt country but the ankle breaker rocks are murder when walking.

sevenmag:

Your question was directed at Ganyana, but for what it's worth, I hunted in Matetsi Unit 2 for seven days and then spent three days in Unit 3 watching an elephant hunt, just animal viewing, and fishing. This was in late September 2006.

In Unit 2, I saw trophy sable every single day, including a couple that probably went 44. I suppose the reason I saw so many is, I had no sable on my license. We even saw a very nice bull standing right on the road that had a broken rear leg.

In seven days, I saw a total of six buffalo with only two shootable bulls; I left one of them and shot the other which was a decent 38" hard bossed dagga boy.

Waterbuck were fairly common and we saw probably three good bulls. I took a 30 inch bull.

Anyway, by a wide margin, the most common trophy animal I saw in Unit 2 was the sable; the place was thick with them. Followed by impala (lots), zebra (lots), kudu (5 shootable), waterbuck (3 shootable), and eland (2 shootable). And one of the mighty grysbuck.

We saw lots of elephant on Unit 3.

I went for a buffalo and I feel darn lucky I got one. I had a great PH.

If you want to hunt matetsi, you really have two options- HHK or Mugundumu, or one of the smaller operators who sub contracts for them.

Deka is a lovely area, but not ideal for what you want. Of the forest areas, only Kazuma pan and Panda Masuie can offer the kind of hunting you are looking for. Since forestry commission only let out the hunting for one year at a time, it will only be on the 10th of jan that operators will know for sure who has got what hunting in thoese two areas.

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:
sevenmagltd ,
... we took a 44 inch ... , ... a 42 inch ... and a 28 inch waterbuck ...i feel we could have done better on the waterbuck ...

What, the waterbuck hunt wasn't worthwhile and a better hunt could have been done?