Bill,

Congratulations on your lion! Lots of character in those trophies. Thanks for the report.

David

Just got back yesterday, I'm a bit jet-lagged, so please forgive my ramblings and grammatical errors... I had a very good hunt with Peter Chipman (Kwalata Safaris) in the Lower Lupande concession of the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. I saw a lot of game, including lion, elephant, buffalo, hippo, puku, a few leopards, and common species. Zambia definitely has a different and unique feel to it, and traveling to/from was without any problems. The people are very friendly, especially those from the rather primitive villages that lie within the hunting area.



I was successful in shooting what I was after, a mature bush lion. Not the type of lion that a "collector" desires, but just great for me. Age was estimated at 7-8 years based on wear of teeth and claws, coloration, size and color of nose (although it's hard to tell exact age). He's full of character with numerous scars and missing the end of his tale. Very large bodied with an estimated weight of 450-500lbs with a 25" skull. I shot him through the heart from a tree blind at about 50-yards with the .458 Lott and .500gr hand-loaded Woodleigh softpoints. Peter said he never saw a lion die so quickly that was not hit in the brain or spine. They shot a number of dark-maned lions this year and last (10 for 10 on lion hunts), and there are still quite a few more known to be in the park side. I got a brief glimpse of one that was calling for several nights near to our camp, from across the river, but he never made a mistake and may have been bait-smart the way he acted. We spent two nights in a tree blind, which was an unbelievable experience, with all types of creatures around including a scrap between lion, and lion and hyena.



Also shot two buffalo (38.5" & just 40"), puku (17", which is a nice puku), bull hippo (what an event this is!!!), bushbuck (13.5", but my first and with long horns), zebra and impala for the pot. Passed on croc (nothing seen over 12-feet, but didn't hunt them hard and concentrated on buffalo instead), kudu, warthog, baboon, waterbuck and hyena. Saw many really nice elephant including an honest 70+ pounder with long thin ivory that was darn near touching the ground. I caught some bulls w/the digital camera and will post pict's.



Peter is an excellent PH and a heck of a nice guy. He has considerable experience hunting in Tanz and Zambia, and has shot 63 lion in his 15-year career. His appy-PH is a guy by the name of Sarge who is great company and would be terrific to hunt with. The camp is 1st class: service great (some 25 people in camp); large straw huts with shower, real toilet and double beds; food excellent and made to order; located along the Luangwa River in the middle of the concession. The trail-road system throughout the concession is excellent.



I can tell that Peter has implemented many of the positive things that he has seen over the years, while taking steps to avoid the problem areas that he experienced while PH'ing in Tanzania. He seems to get along with everyone, including the gov't officials, game scouts and park rangers, the local tribal chiefs, other PH's and of course other hunters. His well-connected partner is actually active in the business, and in fact his partner's wife Kassy does the meet/greet in Lusaka (her father is a federal judge). While there, I met the man in charge of the National Park system in Zambia (touring the area with the Ambassador from Norway, and stopped by Peter's camp) and the guy who is the head of the Game Scouts in the Luangwa area, both of whom were friendly.



What's nice about this concession from a logistical standpoint is that one can take the Air Zambia flight from Lusaka into Mfuwe (which has a tar runway as the previous president had a place here and had it and the road to Mfuwe paved), which costs only $150 each way, then drive the ~2hrs to camp. This saves an expensive air charter, and is one of the reasons why Peter went after this area (there were 26 people/companies after the Lower Lupande GMU).



The Lower Lupande concession offers very good hunting, although it does not have a huge diversity of game (no eland, sable, etc). I saw just one snare in 17-days of hunting. It is definitely big game country, and we had all sorts of animals in/around camp at night including hyena, leopard, lion/lioness (killed and ate a warthog behind my hut), elephant and even a herd of buffalo the last day. Lion and leopard are sold out for next year, and I was "lucky" to get the hunt before the 2004 SCI show when the minimum hunting days as agreed upon by the Zambian outfitters was "only" 18 (now 21-days, and day rates increased).



I saw a lot of leopard sign in addition to three in daylight, and most every lion bait was visited by at least one. They are 10 for 10 on leopard also. None of the concessions in the Luangwa Valley have an endless supply of black-maned lions, and I think that trophy quality was high thanks to the 2-year closure but is bound to decline although overall numbers of lion seem high. There will be more taken out of this area in the years to come, but historically, the Luangwa Valley produces blonde-ginger colored lion. And anyway, I don't think the color of the mane dictates the quality of the trophy, although I suspect I'm in the minority on this one.



Regarding buffalo, what is attractive is that on a 7-day buffalo hunt, one can shoot croc, hyena and hippo in addition to the available plainsgame (based on available quota). And the trophy fees for the croc and hippo are currently quite reasonable (buffalo, croc and hippo all $1300/each - which is less then I've seen elsewhere). The concession has a quota of 20 buffalo per year, and Peter estimated that there are between 1000-1200 buffalo in the resident herds and in the hills. I think one should expect to shoot a heavy-bossed, old buff of about 36-38-inches, and there is the possibility of 40+ as they shot 4 or 5 this year including one of 44-inches. I saw some with absolutely huge bosses, looked like helmets sitting on their head. I wish I had opted for one of these, instead of the second buffalo which we thought would go 40" (nice buffalo, but a bit soft).



The first 9-days were pretty much dedicated to hunting the lion, and I'll elaborate on these experiences later. The next 8-days we focused on buffalo. As stated, the area has a lot of buffalo, and we were in them every day we hunted them; the lone bulls tracked on foot around the villages in the morning as they went from the Luangwa River to the hills some 7-10 miles away, and herds in the wilderness areas around the mountains in the afternoon. I passed on a 43"+ buffalo that had a huge spread but no boss yet (I have on the digital camcorder, and will extract and post a still shot of him for "review"), and didn't get a shot at several others that looked to be 40+.



Costs for a 7-day buffalo hunt with trophy fee is $8300, and just about 9K with gun permit, trophy packing and $2/round ammo tax. Based on hunting in each, if I had to pick just one buffalo hunt out of the Luangwa Valley, the Zambezi Valley and the Selous - I'm not sure which one I'd select. Each has a unique flavor and it's own advantages. I will say that the ability to experience "real Africa" in the Luangwa is unsurpassed, and I'm not sure how much longer this opportunity will exist. I very much enjoyed the interactions we had with the local people, and Peter says they are as intriguing as the Maasai that he spent much time with over the years.



Peter books through a booking agent (Wes Hixon), but you can contact him direct also/instead. Just remember that while hunting, emailing take a back seat to the guy in camp. Peter's Yahoo email address is: kwalatapeter@yahoo.com.



Zambia, from my limited experience, appears to be safe, hunter-friendly and racially well integrated. It also seems to be a country on the rebound, and the attitudes of people I met were positive. Lusaka was clean and far less intimidating then other African cities that I have been in. The process at the airport was not quite as smooth as earlier this year in Harare (Zim), but I think most outfitters offer a meet-greet service to handle the paperwork.



Overall, I liked Zambia and I would like to see more of it in the future - including Bangweulu, which I did not get to. I opted to focus on buffalo instead, with cost of relocating and the extra trophy fees being a real consideration. There is only one camp running there now, so the area surrounding this camp is likely getting hammered, and Peter is not setup to fly camp there. Although, a PH from Swanepoel and Scandrol (Dave Radameyer, who was hunting a buffalo with some of Doug Scandrol's business associates in the concession) said he took a 30-inch sitatunga there a few weeks prior. Incidentally, Dave, as with other S&S PH's, seems like a good hunter as well as an entertaining and energetic guy.



I have over 400-pictures (2-128 & 1-256MB memory cards full) and some 4.5hrs of digital film (thanks to Sarge filming most everything), so I'll post more down the road including maybe some video clips and specifics of the lion, buffalo and hippo hunts plus feedback/thoughts on the Lott. But here's a few pictures of "old scarface", receding hairline and all!







This is Peter Chipman:







This is Sarge, who I also highly recommend:







And the Buffalo:











More to follow... Cheers!

Great pictures and a "storybook" hunt! I first heard about Peter at SCI when I saw Wes Hixon's video of the infamous lion charge that whacked Peter. I made it a point to stop by his booth at SCI and introduce myself, where I "tongue in cheek" asked him if Wes, after gooning up the shot that let to his mauling, bought him a double rifle Anyhow, thanks for posting! jorge

Bill,

Congratulations on a great hunt and damn fine report (considering the jet lag ).

I'll post a map below so people can see where you hunted (#33)



Regards,

Terry

Bill That really is a tough looking War Cat! Congrats, good story as well thanks for posting. Ben(rug)

BillC



What a great hunt. I have heard from my PH nephew Dene whom had met Pete Chipman some years ago in Zambia that he is a top chap and good PH as well, congratulations and enjoy the memories and all the wonderful pictures



Regards, Peter

Congrats on what sounds like an excellent hunt and good write up. You mention that Peter is not set up to fly to the swamps now, but I'd be interested to hear if Peter is planning to set up to fly to the swamp areas in the future, as a two part Zambian safari (swamp and then big 5) has been a dream for a long time.

Congratulations on your excellent Zambia safari. Your lion is a massive and battle-scarred warrior. There is nothing like a lion, is there?

And I really appreciate your detailed report--you write well, and particularly well for someone who must be completely wiped out.

Your writing is lucid and your observations are perceptive, informative and helpful, especially to anyone considering a Luangwa Valley safari.

Thanks, and again, congratulations!

Bill C,

Glad to hear you liked Lower Lupande. We hunted there in '98 and had a wonderful safari.

Congrats on the lion and all the rest. The Luangwa is very special.

Great hunt report also with great pics.

Regards,

Mark

Congratulations Bill on an excellent lion. I can tell you that I would choose your "small maned" lion over any that was "groomed" and "bred" to look like an MGM. One can tell immeadiatly that is a "wild" lion.

Happy hunting!

Bill,

Thanks for sharing your stories and photos. I like the "war cat" description for your lion. He's a great trophy.

You don't look like you needed a rifle for the buffalo. You're big enough to wrestle them into the dirt.

Terrific safari, congratulations.
Forrest

Bill: Congrats on a great lion. I just saw Peter Chipman on TV guiding Gerald McRaney to a Buffalo this morning. Good timing.

Bill, congratulations again. An elephant hunt in Zim and a lion hunt in Zambia, all in the same year....when I grow up I want to be just like you! Great lion and I look forward to your other pictures as well.

Thanks guys for the feedback, and Terry for posting the map (one can see how large of a boarder the LL shares with the Luangwa River and South Luangwa National Park). The more time that goes by, the more thrilled I am with the lion. I'll never hunt them again, and it sure is a special trophy and I feel quite privileged to have been able to take such an awesome animal.



Jorge - there's actually more to that story which is interesting. And YES, he has a Merkel .570 now which he shoots quite well, as well as a light-weight Lott bolt action that he carries most of the time (while his one tracker carries the double, just in case). He was using a .375 bolt at the time of the lion incident, and said the lion never reacted to the chest shot. Peter firmly believes that if he had his Lott or his double, things would have been different.



SnakeLover - The problem was the short-notice, and gathering the necessary equipment while leaving enough time to justify the move. To fly camp in the swamp, one needs to plan in advance.



Erik - I'd hunt with Dave Rademeyer any day, and just may in the future. Regarding which is the "thickest", that's hard for me to say, as the time of the year makes a tremendous difference, and I only saw a fraction of the Selous. All three areas I hunted had a permanent water source (River), and the habitat along the rivers were pretty much the same (dense brush and mature forest). My gut feeling is that the northern Zambezi can be the thickest depending on where you hunt. And I think one can find more open country in the Selous. Where I was in the Luangwa, there was not much Savannah, although once you go over the hills marking the side of the valley (a huge area not hunted), I'm sure it changes. I talked with Peter about earlier season hunting there, and he said that although visibility was not as good, it was easier to get close to the buffalo for a shot, and stalking was quieter (the same anywhere really). I frankly was not prepared for the longer shooting distances offered in Sept, and struggled a bit on the first buffalo with the Lott and the 5x scope, where a .375 and a 3-9x would have been more appropriate perhaps. I was lucky to hit the buffalo, especially now that I know what the problem was with the mounts (unbeknownst at the time, the top "tabs" on the Warne mount had snapped allowing the scope to shift), but the Lott compensated for a less then ideal shot nicely and the buf didn't travel more then 200-yards before laying down. But this is another story...



JD - Crap! Peter wanted me to tape this for him. I was flicking channels, but somehow missed it. If anybody knows when it's on again - please let me know, thanks!. Incidentally, Peter said this was a real challenge to do, especially the reenactments. Peter also filmed with Mark Watts, the ex-CNN reporter turned hunter (Perfectly Shot Plainsgame video, among others). He said Mark is a very nice and down to earth guy, and that he enjoyed the hunt immensely. Mark's filming is 99% over the shoulder, and the animals on this hunt were "mostly" perfectly shot. They are hunting again in Masailand in October for lion and other game. Edit: I just saw in Sports Afield an ad for Mark's hunt with Peter in the LL, $30 for VHS and $40 for DVD. (312-226-4047)