Gents:
A friend will be hunting in Gokwe North and I'm curious about the area as to hunting possibilities: ivory potential, buffalo potential, plains game, leopard availability, etc. The prices offered seem quite good but sometimes low prices are reflective of lesser quality.
I know nothing of the area and your input will be appreciated.
Cheers,
Cal

I would suggest sending Phyllip Smythe a note
I believe he knows the area well

Cal, pm Phillip Smythe, he has hunted there a year or two.

I'll hunt buffalo in Gokwe with Phillip this September. I think there are lots of buffaloes and elephants there, but I am not sure about the trophy quality. Leopard can be hunted at night.

Who's your friend booked the hunt with?

Torbjoern

Cal,

I spoke to Gary Hopkins at length yesterday about this area. Sounds good for hard headed buffalo 36"-38" and average Zambezi ele 30#-40#. Good leopard too and I expect common PG to be there but not in great densities. Gary also said a fair physical condition is necessary for the area as there maybe some long walks.

Great pricing which I will be putting up soon.

Mark

Hi Mark:
Gary also sent me the same info and prices but I don't know a thing about the area. I missed his phone call yesterday as I was out on an ill-fated grizzly hunt. There was too much melting snow and mud to make much of walk. No doubt the prices are good. I'm getting some PMs and emails about the area.
Cal

Cal,

What he told me is the area has about 500 elephant and at least 3 herds of buffalo. Common PG along the UMI river can be had also at Lake Kariba where he can hunt hippo and Croc.

I don't think this is a hunt like you'll have on the big conservancies but for a hunter that doesn't mind walking you might have a very economical safari. It's going to be hard to beat $800 per day for a buffalo and a $4,000 trophy fee.

Mark

Hi Guys,

My apologies for not seeing this earlier. Its been a busy season of late - always a good thing.

Gokwe is hard hunting but good trophies can be found there.

Elephant bulls are not good in this area, 30 lbs max... tuskless - great, buffalo - 36 to 38 inch range. with a possiblitly of a bigger one, it all relies on rigiht time and right place.
Leopards - great, as it is a communal area, hunting at night increases ones chances drastically.

Plenty of bushbuck, impala, waterbuck, warthog and the smaller unusual stuff - genet, civet, porcupine,

Sable - are there but not in high numbers,
Eland - are there but again not in high numbers.

I will post a mid year report soon (next 2 weeks - when I get back form a leopard hunt there) and you all can have a look and see how we are doing.

Hope this helps, and once again, my apologies for not seeing this until now.

I hunted there three years ago. The ivory is small 30 lbs about right. Buffalo seems to be a good heard, but that's not I was there for. There were two other hunters on the same concession and one got a nice buff. He was looking for a sable but never found one. A lot of evidence of poachers but never ran into one. The anti poaching team if they see one, they usually shoot their dogs.