Some people have asked about Makuti, a former citizen's hunting area in Zimbabwe that is now a safari concession being hunted by Charlton-McCallum Safaris, among others. For those who are curious, I have uploaded some pictures of the concession and the camp that Charlton-McCallum Safaris have rebuilt (one of two camps on the concession).

I am still editing and adding pictures, but there are enough to give you an idea of the camp and the concession.

Makuti

Charles,

Have you hunted in Makuti? I am hunting there in August with Buzz.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Charles,

Have you hunted in Makuti? I am hunting there in August with Buzz.

Yes, I just got back late Tuesday.

Mind if I call you to talk about your trip? If not, PM me with your number. These pics pump me up!

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Charles,

Have you hunted in Makuti? I am hunting there in August with Buzz.

Mike,

When are you there? I'm hunting there 8/1-8/14.

Charles,

Thanks for the pictures!

Right after you. I arrive in camp on August 24 and leave 14 days later with an elephant tail in each hand, I hope.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Mind if I call you to talk about your trip? If not, PM me with your number. These pics pump me up!

On the way.

Charles
I'm staying at the Makuti camp and hunting Buff in Charara area 17th July - 26th July.
The pics were a great help and got the "juices flowing"
Thanks again
Any more?

I will probably edit some more tonight. I shot 600-700 and have to go through and find the few decent ones.

We drove the Charara/Makuti boundary traveling to different parts of the concession quite often. One night a young male lion crossed that road right in front of two LandCruisers full of elephant meat and camp staff...

Charles,
Excellent! I look forward to your hunt report... how are Buzz and Myles? Well, I hope.

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Charles,
Excellent! I look forward to your hunt report... how are Buzz and Myles? Well, I hope.

Buzz has had a bit of a run of bad luck with motorized vehicles but was having a good hunt when I left. Myles seems to be doing quite well and is enjoying the new baby.

I will throw a report together once I finish with the pictures, but I had a great hunt.

I'll be in Makuti the 31th july for a week . Just between R.Jolly and MJines.

Funny, thansk Charles

Welcome back Charles, glad to hear you had a good hunt. Great picts...looking fwd to all that follows!

Yukon Delta recently finished up a tuskless hunt in Makuti w/Alan Shearing of CM Safaris and will hopefully post something soon also.

Charles;

Thank you for posting the photos. I am also hunting the Makuti area for 24 days, starting Aug 10th, but with Ian Gloss of The African Safari company.

Can't wait to hear more about your safari.

Best regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by Bill C:
Yukon Delta recently finished up a tuskless hunt in Makuti w/Alan Shearing of CM Safaris and will hopefully post something soon also.

I met him while I was there -- we need to get him to post some video clips.

He had another trip right after so I do not know when he will be back at the computer.

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Charles;

Thank you for posting the photos. I am also hunting the Makuti area for 24 days, starting Aug 10th, but with Ian Gloss of The African Safari company.

Can't wait to hear more about your safari.

Best regards, D. Nelson

I think Ian hunts out of the other camp at Makuti which has a slightly different style. Yukon Delta was in that camp for a bit so maybe he can tell you about it when he returns.

quote:

Buzz has had a bit of a run of bad luck with motorized vehicles but was having a good hunt when I left.

Yes, I heard Buzz had his landcruiser stolen my first night in Harare. Tough luck... and quite a story behind it. Glad you had a great hunt!

Thanks, I'll await his return for more info...

However, was the terrain the same or any similarities represented by your photos???

Regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Thanks, I'll await his return for more info...

However, was the terrain the same or any similarities represented by your photos???

Regards, D. Nelson

I hunted and took pictures on the side of the concession where Ian's camp is as well as the other side, so the photos are more or less representative of the whole concession. His camp is more chalet or rondavel-style than tent/thatch if I recall from the one time we went by there, but I never stayed in it so my information is not the best.

I have not down-loaded the pics yet(acct slow dail-up here in the sticks)but I am sure they are great( your Nambia pics were so good). expect a cell call in a few days(gotta hear your story). Kurt.

Thanks for the photos ,excelent.Juan

quote:

Originally posted by kweber:
I have not down-loaded the pics yet(acct slow dail-up here in the sticks)but I am sure they are great( your Nambia pics were so good). expect a cell call in a few days(gotta hear your story). Kurt.

I'll be expecting the call. Still working on the pictures but should have more up by Monday.

Hello all. I just got back from a quick hog hunt (got 2 with the bow). I am in the process of making my own trip report and will post it in a few days. Most of my photos are from the other camp that Charles mentioned. Charles has the better photos of the Makuti tent camp. CM Safaris was only using the other camp for my hunt this year if I understood them correctly. Ian's camp was chalet style as mentioned. I will have photos in my trip report. I'm not sure how sharp the photos will be of the camp as I never saw it in the daytime! However, I can answer whatever questions you may have about it.

It was good getting to know you Charles and sharing camp with you for a couple of days. I look forward to your trip report. It's interesting how different our hunts were although they were both very successful and both in the same area. Makuti is a great place for elephant in particular.

Glad you had a good hog hunt -- I assume it was warm enough for you.

Looking forward to your pics as well.

Nice photos, Charles.

Very nice.

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
Nice photos, Charles.

Very nice.

Thank you sir - I find it helps to take a lot and hope for some good ones!

I think I have now pretty much uploaded all or virtually all of the pictures that are going into the gallery.

There are more of Makuti in there now, along with more from the Zambezi.

Great pics Charles. Looks like you covered quite a bit of ground and got to see a lot while you were there. Congrats on a super hunt. If you don't mind I'll be giving you a call soon as well. I leave for SA in about 2 weeks.

quote:

Originally posted by bluefin:
Great pics Charles. Looks like you covered quite a bit of ground and got to see a lot while you were there. Congrats on a super hunt. If you don't mind I'll be giving you a call soon as well. I leave for SA in about 2 weeks.

I'll look forward to it. I'm sure you'll have a great trip.

Hello Chuck "Yeager" Helm,
I finally got to study all the excellent photos.
They are outstanding.

"Tools of the Trade" in the original size becomes a painting? Copyright 2007 Charles Helm? How did you paint that one so quickly after the trip? It's great.

I still think the rifling marks on the misshapen FP are very faint, even when fully enlarged. Did passage through elephant skull scrub the rifling marks off the bullet?

Thanks for sharing. Your efforts have enriched this site greatly. That is saying a lot when you compete with the likes of Saeed and his crowd. You must not be a "dork."

You are too kind. Photoshop fixed the one picture -- there was excess noise in the photo so I applied a dry brush filter.

Yes, faint rifling indeed. I would chrono the loads before using them again although they seemed to penetrate well and in a straight line. The pictured round is the only one we found and I had two exits, one side brain and one center chest (angled). NF Mike is laughing somewhere as he wanted me to chrono them from the start. My barrel is slightly oversized so I only used the latest and greatest iteration of the NF FPS but further testing may be required in my rifle.

BUT -- no Chuck (Yeager or otherwise) please. That nickname was only authorized for a girl I knew a long time ago. For all others it is Charles...

Great pics Charles and congratulations. It looks as if you had a great hunt. Have you posted the report yet?

quote:

Originally posted by Jorge400:
Great pics Charles and congratulations. It looks as if you had a great hunt. Have you posted the report yet?

No, I just finished (more or les) collecting the pictures so now I need to do the report. I am running a bit behind.

Glad you had a great time!
Some nice pics and looking forward to the report.