What would be the earliest month of the year that would be a good time for Buffalo in the Selous, Tanz?

It depends to some extent on factors such as area, rains and when all those 'accidental' fires start etc, but the season runs from July 1st to Dec 31st...... in reality, the rains come around mid November so that's usually about the end of the practical season.

As a rule of thumb for most areas, the months of September onwards tend to be better.

You'll find more info here: http://www.shakariconnection.c...unting-tanzania.html

I hunted LU 5 for 10 days fron August 25 on and it seemed ideal to us.

It does depend on the block as well. A broad general rule is that September is a safe bet.

For the Selous I like the last week of August together with the first week of September.

Hunting probably gets even better after those weeks but it also gets hotter and I don't like to hunt in hot weather let alone try to sleep in a steam bath tent.

I have hunted in July in the Selous. I liked the temperature but the buff hunting was hard due to the high grass.

Oz,
you asked for "earliest" and that would have to be 2nd half of Aug

I'm not sure I stressed it enough in my original post, so I'll add that it varies enormously from year to year to year.

The best two Buff hunts I've ever conducted were the first two weeks of the season in about 97 or 98 or so. (maybe earlier)

The area was MK1 which was a helluva lot bigger and better then than it is nowadays, and on 2 consecutive hunts we shot the first Buff on the drive from airstrip to camp within about 20 minutes of the client climbing out of the aircraft and both 2nd Buff were shot the following morning of the hunt. On one of those hunts, we also filmed a herd of over 1000 Buff.

Sadly, the area is a shadow of it's former self nowadays.

quote:

Sadly, the area is a shadow of it's former self nowadays.

No wonder with this management and changing subleasing PH/Agents mostly from RSA.

Seloushunter

Course, it could also have something to do with an immense human population increase and poaching in that part of the buffer zone that's right next to the area, several losses of area to adjoining photographic areas, lack of anti poaching by the long standing leaseholding company, lack of GD anti poaching patrols, mostly due to the person in charge and a few other reasons to boot.

As with most things in Africa, anyone who believes in easy clear cut answers is gonna be disappointed at best........

That area used to be fantastic in the old days and even a few years ago, it wasn't too bad....and could be good again, but not without an awful lot of changes.

Thanks guys, much appreciated.
I get the picture.

The end of August can be good or it can not. It depends on the rains. I went the last week of August in 2006. The rains lasted much longer than usual. The grass was tall and green in some areas and just getting dry enough to burn in other areas. I would have much rather been there 2 weeks later or even a month later. I don't think you're likely to go wrong with September or October. Being able to see when the grass is gone makes all the difference in the world.

Brett

Grass was high in R3 in late August/early September of 2008. We even got rained on. So I'd probably go later, unless you are hunting cats.

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
What would be the earliest month of the year that would be a good time for Buffalo in the Selous, Tanz?

The drier the terrain the better! - Depending on the rainfall received during the Masika (long rains) the earliest by norm would be late August.
The best period could be considered around mid Sept/mid November being the driest periods; grass burnt with new sprouting, only the permanent waterholes remaining, obliging the game to concentrate in pockets.

Would there be a plan as early as mid July in a dry year such as this year?

Oz,
where in the selous and how many days?

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
Oz,
where in the selous and how many days?

Although not quite as far north as Selous (possibly four weeks in Niassa).
I figured the conditions should be similar and would get more feed back by questioning Selous.