Below are a few photos from the recent safari that N'gagi and I just returned from.

We hunted with Big 5 Safaris in the Chewore North area of Zimbabwe. Had a great time! Can't believe that it came and went so quickly. Guess we will have to start planning for the next one

Congratulations on your fine trophies. I especially like the eland, looks like an old bull.

Great trophies. The bush has thinned out more than I would have expected after all the rain this year. Who were your PH's if you don't mind me asking?

Congrat's on some super trophies. You can be proud of that eland and the kudu, taken in one of the wildest areas of Africa. Looking fwd to the blow-by-blow recap! Bill

Fantastic trophies, I especially love the Eland

Doug

Awesome! And that is a way cool eland, "tons" of character.

Hey, that's quite the kudu! High Fifties?

Have you any photos of "Shorty"?

Great animals Tim!
Thanks for sharing the pictures, I can't wait to hear more about it.
You look like you were sweating a little less in these photos than your photos from the safari in October.

Kyler

Thanks everyone! It was a great trip. Hopefully N'gagi will post some photos soon as well. These pictures are from my digital camera. I still need to take my 35mm film in to be developed.

In addition to the game shown above, I also shot a couple of impala, a warthog, a zebra, and a baboon. As an avid bird hunter, I also had a great time shooting guinea fowl, francolin, and egyptian geese. I shot at (and hit) a spurwing goose, but the 2.75" #4 shells that I was using did not have the horsepower to bring it down.

This was my 2nd time hunting in this area and I hunted with the same PH, Ian Gibson. Ended up getting my buffalo on the 3rd day after a couple of hours of tracking in the hot sun. He was traveling with one other buffalo in some VERY thick brush. At one point, we were crawling on our hands and knees and got to about 20 yards away before they took off. An hour later we caught up to them again and I shot my buff at about 20 yards.

I put a 400 grain .416 Barnes X through his heart (he was quartering towards us) and at the shot he started coming for us. The PH shot and clipped his spine which put him down. He only went about 36" and he had broken off a piece of his boss. However, It was probably the most exciting hunt I have had.

The eland also had a broken horn, but his good one went 40". I shot him from about 80 yards away on a downhill angle. I also used the 416 Rigby (400 grain Barnes X @ 2,370 fps) on him and he just fell over at the shot. Did not even take one step.

I shot the kudu and bushbuck with my Pre-64 M70 300 H&H. On my last trip, I shot a 56.5" kudu so I wasn't really planning on shooting another one. However, we spotted this kudu and decided to put a stalk on him. Once I had him in my sights, I couldn't pass him up. He went 55".

Will, we saw a ton of elephant each day. You need to get back over there and thin out the herd a bit.

Anyway, I will try to post a few more photos later on. N'gagi had a great hunt as well, but I will let him fill you in on his.

Kyler, it was much cooler in the mornings and evenings. However during the day in the bush (away from the river) it fely like 95 to 100 degrees. On my last trip in October it felt my like 100 to 110 degrees during the day. So yes, I did not sweat as much, but it was still pretty hot.

Thanks again!

Tim

Congrats on some great trophies, Shumba. It was hot when I left the Valley on August 2nd. Sounds like it wasn't getting any cooler.
Glad you guys had an excellent hunt!