I just returned from 12 days in Sengwe Research Concession owned by Mokore Safaris. Rich Tabor PH and I were after ration elephant and buffalo.

It seems that I am constantly barraged by bad news out of Africa. What a pleasant surprise Sengwe was. The Duckworths took over a bit over four years ago and the place had literally been hammered by unscrupulous hunting and poaching. Gary Duckworth told me the first year that they had possession that they found 86 elephant carcasses. So far this year not one poached elephant.

They are running a very aggressive and effective anti-poaching effort that is paying huge dividends. Dalton McClintock is a young and very switched on Appy that serves as camp manager and heads the anti-poaching with the help of some good game rangers. The results have been amazing. We did pick up 30 snares while hunting, half of which were old and chased two spear poachers. But the word is out amongst the locals.

The place is literally teeming with CALM plains game. Hundreds of impala were seen daily along with large numbers of water buck, eland, kudu, reed buck, warthog, bush buck etc. Buffalo were seen from the truck every day, we also saw three daylight leopard from the truck. Lions were heard.

The Ducks are doing it right. when they got the concession there were 9 elephant bulls on quota. instead of pounding the area they argued vehemently with the game department and got the quota down to one optional bull. The same with lion. One optional lion. Only 15 buffalo are taken per year. 4 ration cows and a few tuskless and that is it.

The future is bright indeed for Sengwe Research. It is great to see when other operators pound concessions into oblivion.

Hats off to the Duckworths

Jeff

Not to mention that it is a beautiful area. Large bluffs overlooking huge vlei areas, wonderful sand rivers, lots of mopane woodlands . . . a very pretty place.

Mike, I saw surprised when I climbed to the top of those bluffs and found Elephant trails up there. Those hills are steep!

The hunters I've sent to Sengwa have been very happy indeed.

Mark

They still have a couple of buff on qouta. The guy that was going with me folded like a cheap tent with 3 weeks to go.

Jeff

Good to hear the area is in good hands. About 5 years ago while hunting the river, we found signs of arsenic poisoning at a drinking hole, a bunch of dead birds laying around it. Well I believe that was the adjoining area Chirisa. The fundamental problem is the settlements are now right on the border of the Park and the hunting areas.

Great to hear. I'll be there in five weeks!

quote:

Originally posted by Marty:
Great to hear. I'll be there in five weeks!

Leave me some animals, I won't be there for 6 weeks. What are your hunt dates?

Jeff, I wanted to ask, is the old Madala waiter still working in Sengwa Research? When we hunted there the camp was the old farmhouse and HHK was the operator (I hunted with Buzz). There was an old Madala waiter that had been working there for many years. A delightful old man.

First hunting date is 8/23, 14 day hunt for buff and tuskless. I'll be hunting with Gary again. When and with what PH? What are you hunting?

quote:

Originally posted by Marty:
First hunting date is 8/23, 14 day hunt for buff and tuskless. I'll be hunting with Gary again. When and with what PH? What are you hunting?

Not sure on whom our PH is going to be. First hunt date is Sept. 5-15th. just doing plains game, hope to get a Waterbuck. Taking the wife with me.

The most Waterbuck I have ever seen in a concession.

Great news indeed!

The Duckworths are a success story and work hard for the game.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Jeff, I wanted to ask, is the old Madala waiter still working in Sengwa Research? When we hunted there the camp was the old farmhouse and HHK was the operator (I hunted with Buzz). There was an old Madala waiter that had been working there for many years. A delightful old man.

Yes Madala is still there.

The Duckworths are A+ operators. I was at Mokore earlier this month.

Well run camps, vechiles, long term game management, anti poaching, community relations (supporting schools near Mokore and sengwe) - everything you need for modern game management and conservation.

Barrie Duckworth spoke highly of Sengwe and how fast the wildlife has recovered there with proper care. Both Gary and Doug said it was their favorite place to hunt buffalo.

If I ever get back in the mood to hunt Buffalo - Sengwe would be at the top of the list.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:
The most Waterbuck I have ever seen in a concession.

That's good news as Waterbuck was #1 on my list with Bushbuck, and reedbuck #2&3. If I can get those 3 I will be a happy guy. If not still going to be a happy guy.

Rick Tabor is a savvy PH!

To all the good news above.

Not to detract from the positive story, but it's SENGWA as in Sengwa River. Sengwe, I believe, is down in the Lowveld.

Are the original buildings still intact? When I hunted there, 10 years ago, there was a game warden office still operating out of the old main office complex. As a client, I stayed in the original house up on the hill used by the head staff back in the day. There was also a huge warehouse literally full of buffalo heads, and various research samples of the local wildlife, in which I spent several hours just looking and comparing all the heads.

quote:

Originally posted by TWL:
Are the original buildings still intact? When I hunted there, 10 years ago, there was a game warden office still operating out of the old main office complex. As a client, I stayed in the original house up on the hill used by the head staff back in the day. There was also a huge warehouse literally full of buffalo heads, and various research samples of the local wildlife, in which I spent several hours just looking and comparing all the heads.

It was when I was there 6-8 years ago. It was sort of sad to walk through the facilities. You could tell that in its heyday it was quite a research facility. Lots of skulls, horns, specimens in jars, etc. all just gathering dust. The National Parks warden there seemed to be a decent enough fellow. As I recall when they opened the area up to hunting it was not without some controversy . . . some felt that the loss of the research station represented another strike in the overall decline of the country.

Reminds me of a related story. On my hunt in Sengwa Research I took a Polaroid camera to take pictures of folks in camp. To be able to give people an actual picture versus show them a picture on screen was a huge hit. There is a good sized compound for rangers and staff adjacent to the administration building. Our primary game scout was a lady named Blessing. We had others, however, accompany us too. One afternoon when we drove back to the compound to drop off a scout he had his whole family there to meet us. They were all dressed in their Sunday best. He wanted me to take a picture of all of them with the Polaroid camera so they could have a picture of the whole family . . . albeit a Polaroid. Pretty damn humbling moment.

I also recall two fairly large rooms with doors opening to the porch, to the right of the entrance to the main building. They had books, papers, manuscripts, and specimen bottles scattered about. The walls were covered with maps, each with detailed notations of game sightings, including species, numbers and gender. The dates on some of the maps and other material went back to the 60's. You could have spent days just looking through the stuff.