I started looking for a buffalo outfitter on the Internet. From reading many articles and seeing a few videos, I knew I wanted a wild hunt and not one that is ranched. I narrowed my search to the Northern Territory and the Arnhem Land, an area of about 30,000 sq. miles! There are a few outfitters in this area. I searched the AR forum and remembered this Matt Graham guy who had many posts. Matt’s posts were always thoughtful and even when debating a “jerk” he was always respectful and professional. I figured this was a good place to start. After several emails and a few conversations, Matt stated simply, “ Big buffalo bulls ARE my business”. I decided upon HUNT AUSTRALIA for our outfitters.

I left from Whitehorse June 1 and met Dan in Paris. Seems like the wrong direction, but Dan had
explained why. We flew to Darwin via beautiful Colombo, Srilanka as Dan had business in Colombo and he thought he would kill two birds with one stone.

Our arrival in Darwin was without incident. We were met by our outfitter Matt Graham at customs. All went smoothly, having pre-purchased our firearms licenses by email and delivered by priority post. This is essential. Matt has got things pretty well “sorted”, but God help if you if you take a misstep or change your itinerary. Each region has their own laws and do not necessarily respect the other region’s laws. You are subject to the firearms laws and procedures of the region in which you first reach Australia, and again subject to the last region from which you depart Australia. Allow enough time for connections; it took over an hour of “their” paperwork to simply document that the firearm I possessed was indeed the one licensed and was indeed leaving the country! As I say, if you do not deviate from your plans, Matt has it pretty well worked out.

In Darwin we boarded with Matt, a small twin engine plane that took us to a very remote airstrip about one hour distant on the tip of the Cobourg Peninsula. Paradise is the only way to describe the beautiful beaches, deep blue lagoons, lush growth and tropical temperatures. (And the best part is that we are the only ones there!) Thirty minutes drive brought us to our five star accommodations, The Seven Spirit Bay Lodge. Beautiful open air dining and lounging areas and individual air-conditioned, roundel type accommodations with king size beds. The bathrooms are also individual, but open air with great showers, toilet and sinks. Amazing meals are prepared by our chef. Don’t even think of trying to lose weight with this five star cuisine!


Seven Spirit Bay Lodge


Dining/ Lounge Area


Ocean Lagoon


Fresh water pool


Another view of the pool


Your private beach

The beaches are so beautiful one forgets that he is in the middle of the wilds of Australia, but I was soon brought back to reality by an incident near our camp. Leith, Matt’s younger brother, and I were hunting in thick cover. Leith walked out to the ocean shore and I chose the easier walking, firm ground next to a billabong yards from the ocean. Leith suggested that wasn’t a good idea as there could be a “salty” in the billabong. I sort of ignored his warning until I came across a fresh “slither” nearly 2’ wide!

With conditions so fantastic even average hunting conditions would be acceptable. Now, the biggest surprise! The hunting was extraordinary with abundant trophy class, banteng and buffalo that had experienced “zero hunting pressure”. This was the FIRST hunt for these, normally elusive, animals in this region of the Cobourg, Garig Gunak Barlu National Park. The banteng is a shy animal even with no hunting pressure, so the hunt is challenging, but the trophies abound. We hunted the areas where the guides had seen super trophies, but there are numerous areas only reachable by boat, which remain un-hunted. We drove until we saw some tracks or actual banteng. Stalking slowly and quietly, keeping mindful of the wind, like hunting any bovid, was the rule of the day. In this game rich country it didn’t take long to find what we were after. Dan and Leith slipped away from us when we spotted a big old bull trotting away from one timbered patch to another. Matt and I stayed with the truck. About 45 minutes went by and then we heard just one shot. Matt and I are anxious to go see what had happened but didn’t want to blindly go into the bush, as a wounded banteng is definitely nothing to “fool” around with. Another thirty minutes went by before Dan and Leith emerged from the “bush”. Dan was out of breath and covered in sweat. They told us the story of surprising the big bull in one of the patches of timber. They explained the angle of the shot and the bull’s immediate reaction of dropping his head. From the description I was convinced this was a “terminally ill” banteng. We initially searched in large, arbitrary circles. I suggested we go back to the scene of the shot and look for blood. Here the picture of the hunt was quite plain. Blood at the scene of the shot and then a steady stream of blood in a direct line is what we found. I asked if there was water in the direction in which the bull was proceeding and both guides were not sure. We looked in the direction the bull was going and saw a large wooded area where I guessed he would be. I followed the blood while the guides went to where we thought he would be. On the way, an equally if not larger bull banteng, trotted ahead and then presented a perfect shot at about 125 yards. I didn’t have my rifle! Soon shouts indicated the big bull was found, stone dead in the timber patch. What a beautiful animal. I did not know what a striking beast the banteng is with the white legs against the purple/black body and white rump patch. What a trophy!


Dan and his first Banteng bull


Dan and his guide, Leith Graham


Beautiful Banteng bulls


Dan’s second beautiful bull

Dan was interested in taking two specimens for his museum and later in the hunt was able to take another exceptional trophy. I had not planned to hunt banteng, but after seeing such magnificent animals that Dan had taken, I was persuaded to try my luck for a couple of days and turned down several fine bulls looking for something truly special. I had watched videos and looked at the outfitter websites, but have never seen the quality of trophies that are abundant in this “Shangri-La”.

After 5 days at this camp we took a two-hour charter to our other hunting venue across the peninsula to our buffalo camp, Gan Gan. This terrain is relatively flat with slow moving rivers and billabongs throughout the region. The camp is about 2 hours from Gove and about 20 minutes from the Gan Gan strip. The camp is what you would expect when hunting buffalo, simple, neat and completely adequate. There are individual tents for each hunter and bathroom and shower facilities are shared. The dining area is screened in, but we didn’t encounter any problems with the “bugs”. In addition to our outfitter host/guide Matt, we met head guide Peter Harding and our cook, Meaghan. We had a hearty meal and talked of buffalo over good cigars and cognac. We left before daylight with Dan going on with Peter into the wild, “off road” area, and me with Matt to hunt along the main roads. I say “main roads”, but you might only encounter a couple vehicles each day. The “off road” area requires first navigating by boat a small billabong in front of camp where you could see the odd croc and catch a barramundi.


Typical stream


Banteng and buffalo wallow


Abundant watercourse

Both Dan and I had hunted extensively in Africa including many Cape buffalo. My biggest fear
was that hunting water buffalo was like shooting the “neighborhood pet”. Nothing could have been further from the truth. These animals deserve a much better reputation than the image of a Vietnam plow horse. This is a cunning, clever and potentially dangerous adversary, much larger than a cape buffalo with a heavier bone structure. A .375 H&H is a minimum and don’t feel over-gunned with a .500 double. I have only hunted these animals this one time, but I find them very similar to hunting in the forest and delta of the Zambezi in Mozambique. One looks for typical “Dagga Boys” in the forest and flood plains following the huge tracks of these giants.

You may remember my problems with a full moon in the Congo and this was exactly the same moon phase. The bulls were again feeding at night on these clear, moonlit nights. Hunting was tough, although we would look over dozens each day. Finding the old bulls was more difficult. As the days went by the moon was waning and hunting improved. Dan took his first beautiful old bull on Day 3, taking a bull a long way out in the Buffalo Flats. Well over 2000lbs with rugged sweeping horns. Dan was very pleased. The pressure was now on me. We drove to areas not hunted before when I got the chance to meet one of the aboriginal “custodians” as they call the “chief” in Arnhem Land. His name is Gawirrin Gumana, the oldest member of the Yolgnu. We reaffirmed his permission to hunt near their village. On the return drive we spotted a group of buffalo off in the trees. We couldn’t see any big bulls, for sure, but thought it warranted a closer look. We drove the vehicle a mile passed the group and quietly got out to begin out stalk. The wind was OK but not perfect. A younger bull became “aware” of us but didn’t crash but simply drifted away. There were about fifteen animals in the herd and luckily the big herd bull was nearest us. This bull had the wide sweeping horns that I prefer. Slowly and quietly we approached to about 125 yards when they begin to feed to the left. I got in a good shooting position and when the big bull presented a shot I took it. He was slowly moving but I held directly above his front leg when the .375 recoiled. The sound of a solid hit was unmistakable, but he hardly faltered. I instantly bolted another round and another solid hit. He wavered then fell. Matt said, “that’s enough” but my Cape buffalo training took control and I gave him one more for assurance. Perhaps this is one difference that these water buffalo bulls are less likely than cape buffalos to get up and kill you! I am not so sure about that.


Jim’s buffalo bull


Dan and Peter Harding with Dan’s second buffalo


Beautiful old bull

Lots of pictures, then a caping job for a shoulder mount. Dan takes all life-size skins and Peter Harding did this all by himself and just took it in stride as a part of the job. We returned to camp to find that Dan and Peter had seen several bulls but couldn’t close the deal. Cognac and cigars to toast my buffalo followed and discussions of strategy for the next day’s hunt.


Sunset on Seven Spirit Bay

I was “filled out” so was anxious to take the opportunity to film Dan’s hunt for his second buffalo. We crossed the billabong, loaded up in the old Toyota Land Cruiser and set off before light. We were going into areas they had not hunted yet this year, no vehicle tracks. Peter was quite daring where he would go with that vehicle, always looking for new areas. We spotted bull tracks on the trail ahead of us and got out of the vehicle to pursue the lone bull on foot. After 20 minutes of forced walk, breathless, Dan got a quick shot but as the video indicated, he missed cleanly. We followed the bull’s tracks as it wound through the bush and finally returned to the old “two track”. We got back in to the vehicle and followed the clear tracks for two miles or so. The bull’s prints finally left the track and Peter’s sharp eyes caught some movement off in the bush. This was not a lone animal, but a small herd. The bull must have been headed for this group when we interrupted him. We couldn’t make out the bull through the thick trees. Next came something I had not seen before. Peter got Dan situated for a shot and began “bawling” like a calf. The entire herd looked up and lead by a cow, began to come toward us. Several cows, calves and young bulls came by and then the big bull we were after. Dan made a great shot when the bull presented a fleeting opportunity as he trotted by. He staggered and Dan put another in his backside and he went down. We drew closer and Dan put one more in the heart. Another great bull! I was able to help Peter with the life-size skin and back to camp to toast our trophies and our guides and cook. All in all, we had a great time with good people and challenging animals. These are two hunts I would unreservedly recommend to others. This IS the “real deal”.

For information on these hunts and other South Pacific adventures contact:

Hunt Australia/ Matt Graham
www.Huntaust.com.au
office@huntaust.com.au
61-26771-4734

Sounds like you had fun. I enjoyed seeing the familar names and faces. Over the course of two hunts with HA I think I met everyone you mentioned. Going back again in 2013.

It appears Dan uses a H&H. mmm, lovely. Oh and great trophy's.

Hey Jim

Super photos and report mate - thanks so much for posting it!!

Ozhunter - Yes he does and yes it is!!

Good story Jim,
Thanks for posting it!
C

great report and pics, glad you had such a good time and fine trophys

Jim,

nice story and pictures.

all the best.

Phil

Looks like a fantastic place to visit even if you don't hunt.

Hey Dan,

That place is awesome, yeah???? That reminds me, I need to post up a couple more pics.

Cheers,
Mark.