I was looking through some old photos from our hunts years ago.

Some of my friends on these photos are no longer with us, but we do have wonderful memories of sharing great times together.

Some photos from Chete and some from Matetsi in Zimbabwe.

"Zimbabwe Rodeo, bulldogging event, Saeed makes a good showing."
(Caption for first photo above.)

Please see if you can find the 49-Incher with a broken horn tip.
Pretty please!

Rip ...

Excellent

Mike

What exciting adventures; thank you very much for sharing!

Wonderful photos and memories.
Thanks for posting.
Cal

Very nice photos. I especially like the ones taken in Chete, that is my favorite place in Zimbabwe, and I hope to hunt there again. Thanks for sharing.

That is something we all should do from time to time- reflect on how we got here!

You were always very successful hunting, it seems!

And Walter was allowed to bring his plumber's nightmare once upon a time, I see!

Great photos!

A trip down memory lane is always worth the price of admission.

The last photo shows our camp in Matetsi.

The photo before that shows Walter with Gerhard.

Gerhard was from Austria, and he was a pilot. He flew both fixed wing and rotary aircraft.

He was the man who introduced me to reloading.

The gentleman in leaning with his elbow on the buffalo head was Horst. He was also from Austria.

Horst was the curator of the Dubai zoo. And we started reloading in the zoo.

It was quite a memorable day.

Gerhard used to call me Junior, and I called him grandad.

Anyway, it was arranged that we will meet at the zoo so he can teach me reloading.

When I got there, I found that he has already setup shop to cast bullets.

It did not take long before he poured molten lead on his toes!

Anna Marie, Hort's wife, did not waste time telling all of us off - apparently Gerhard always managed to break something.

After shye looked after his burnt toes, Horst told him to leave the casting to us, and he should lube and size the caste bullets.

It did not take long before he managed to break the stem that squeezes the lube!

After a while, they decided that we would reload some 223 ammo.

Luckily, that went on without a hitch.

The lady who is holding the buffalo head with me standing behind her is Eva.

She makes absolutely the best Swedish meat balls.

Her husband, Rolf, is the one with the kudu.

Walter was trying "instant plastic surgery" holding a lioness head in front of his face.

Quite an improvement!

The lady in the photo with us and Walter's waterbuck is my wife, Hanna.

The gentleman with me with the kudu and buffalo is Hite Sinclair.

He is the son of Fred Sinclair, of Sinclair International before being acquired by Brownell's.

The game scout was Big Boy.

We had quite a bit of fun with him, as he wanted to be a professional hunter.

So I started teaching him a few facts about animals.

I shot a kudu, and we asked him to tell us how old that kudu was.

He did not know.

So I started counting ridges on the kudu's horn, and we came to a rather prominent ridge. I told him that ridge only occurs on a leap year!

Hite was bursting, trying to stop laughing.

Walter was telling Big Boy that the best way to judge a zebra's age is by feeling how heavy his balls are!

As you can imagine, no one knew how to be serious.

I really enjoy looking at hunt pics from bygone years, a very refreshing post indeed.

The tracker shooting the Ruger Number One - rechambered to 460 Weatherby Magnum - is Pheneas.

He has no clue how to shoot and was trying to shoot balloons Walter tied to a tree.

The balloons were swinging in the wind,and each time he shot Walter was telling him he actually hit it.

No matter how far back in history you go, Walter still looks old :-)

The greatest part of all hunts are the friends and family we share them with and the memories we make.

Great pic's!

Saeed: Is Hanna your daughter Hessa’s mother? I can see where she gets her beauty from.

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing, I love seeing old hunting photos. 45 series Land Cruisers and film cameras, the good old days.

That's Matetsi Unit 5 camp I believe. Is that right Saeed?

Great photos and memories.

Love the African countryside.

Outstanding! Is that a Blaser I see with Walter?!

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Outstanding! Is that a Blaser I see with Walter?!

Yes, that was the first, and last, time Walter was allowed to take it to Zimbabwe.

He also got on the wrong side of Hanna, and got to eat impala poop for his troubles.

He was giving her a hard time, and she decided to pay him back.

Walter loves chocolate.

Hanna gathered some impala poop, and melted chocolate over them to make it look like chocolate covered peanuts.

It was so hot there in Chete, we kept the chocolate in the fridge.

Walter wasted no time in breaking trying to stuff himself with a very large piece of this specially made chocolate for him!?

In a way, it was a good pay back for him to get after lasing Hite's chewing tobacco.

Hite had a habit of taking a slug of tobacco and putting it in his mouth.

He shared a hut with Walter.

Walter asked me to bring him fresh impala poop - it has to be fresh, as the tobacco is moist!

He mixed some into the tobacco tin Hite was using.

It was so funny watching Hite grimace when he took a plug of tobacco, saying "this tastes like shit! Must be the heat ruining everything!"

The penny dropped when Walter answered him "Is the shit you are tasting today the same taste as teh shit you had yesterday?"

Hite answered "Everything tastes like shit here. The heat is terrible"

Walter "What I want to know is, can you tell the difference between impala shit and sable shit?"

Walter has a knack of enduring himself to others.

When Hanna was expecting, and he knew it was going to be a girl, he asked "I really hope she is not born looking like her father, and have her mother's brains!"

Well, it turned out the opposite.

She has her mother's looks, and my brains

This does not please Walter one little bit, as she gives him as much trouble as we all do.

Damn, THAT'S SO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Damn, THAT'S SO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad YOU think it is funny!

We are SERIOUS hunters, so quit laughing!

I am going to add more photos from the past, so keep coming back.

Our hunting past is no laughing matter!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Walter has a knack of enduring himself to others.

Wise Saeed just could not bring himself to type the words "endearing" and "Walter" in the same sentence.

When Hanna was expecting, and he knew it was going to be a girl, he asked "I really hope she is not born looking like her father, and have her mother's brains!"

Well, it turned out the opposite.

She has her mother's looks, and my brains

This does not please Walter one little bit, as she gives him as much trouble as we all do.

Hanna is obviously wise as Solomon, giving Walter a taste of his own medicine with the impala poop.
So Hessa has two genius parents, she'll do alright.
I endured Walter and lived to tell of it.

Rip ...

quote:

Wise Saeed just could not bring himself to type the words "endearing" and "Walter" in the same sentence.

Saeed hit the nail on the head with his careful choice of words!

One time Walter upset both Hanna and Anna Marie.

The girls paid him back by putting orange hair die in his shampoo!

You should have seen the look on his face when he discovered that he could not undo it!

Saeed your killing me, orange dye will be used in the near future ,glad im bald and quit chewing Tabaco . looking forward to more pics ,thanks !

Pretty cool pics Saeed
You remind me so much of my friend I grew up with back in Czechoslovakia
So much for genetics , in Eastern Europe, we are pretty good mix from the days when East met the West

Those are days of 'youth' of you and Walter for sure. Nice trophies!

I was in the Chete camp last month, it hasn't changed much at all in 20 years.

Great photos Saeed.

It does make me wonder about some of them.

Why does the waterbuck in the back of the truck have a white foot?

Interesting story on the 3 old dugga boys.

We were driving along, and saw them lying in a muddy hole.

We continued driving as if not to scare them, went a bit further and walked back to them.

They were gone!

It was late in the morning, but we followed them in the heat.

They went quite a distance, and we lost their tracks.

We decided to give up the chase and head back to our truck.

About half way there, we saw them!!

And a few minutes later we had all three down!

Using the smallest caliber allowed for buffalo, and all dead within a few yards of each other

Nice photos, thanks for posting them. Always fun to look back on good times!

Great photos!

Saeed, as always, I really enjoyed your photos. I can tell they are full of great personal memories.

You have inspired me to go through some of our own photos over the weekend.

We seldom take the time to do that, but it is always rewarding.

Such luxury!
Walter is the only hardship endured by the entire safari party,
seems to me.

Rip ...

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Such luxury!
Walter is the only hardship endured by the entire safari party,
seems to me.

Rip ...

And just to please you my friend, my next selection will be all Walter

Yes!

My wife just asked me what the hell was going on with all of the laughing. Once she saw some the of pictures, well. . . . . . Saeed: Did Hessa paint and adorn some of the clothing that Walter was wearing? Love the necklace with the three red chiles! It certainly appears that Walter's 'illness' has been long term, with no hope of cure!

Impossible to unsee that, but I will try ...

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
It certainly appears that Walter's 'illness' has been long term, with no hope of cure!

So true.

Rip ...