09 April 2023, 20:50
Carl Frederik NagellNyakasanga with CMS. Lion and 3 x buff
Hunt report Nyakasanga 2022Lion, 3 x buffalo, hippo, 2 x Eland, 3 x hyaena with CMS
Nyakasanga September 2022
Rifles:
Sauer 202 Take Down .416 RM and Verney- Carron Azur 500 NE.
Hand loads.
.416 RM; Rhino Soft 400 grain with 76 grain Norma 203-B, Rhino Solids 400 grain with 75 grain Norma 203-B and for lion Hornady RN Interlock 400 grain with 76 grain Norma 203-B
500 NE; Woodleigh Soft 570 grains with 100 grains N-550 and custom made DK Bullets, flat nose mono metal 570 grains with 100 grain N-550
PH: Buzz, Alan Shearing and Dean Kendall
Cameramen: Andy and Dan MacDonald
Trackers; Criton and Nyati
Driver; Eddy
Weather; Hot and windy
Animals seen; Elephant, buffalo, eland, crocodile, waterbuck, lion, leopard (trail camera), hyena, nyala, honey badger, zebra, impala, grysbuck, klipspringer, impala, bushbuck, kudu, hippo, duiker, warthog and jackel
Animals taken; lion, hippo, buffalo x 3, eland x 2, hyaena x 3, Zebra, warthog, baboon, grysbuck, impala x many.
Background: My favorite animal to hunt is elephant with buffalo being a good second. 2 years ago, I hunted Kazuma for a big 60+ pound bull but failed due to early rain in Botswana. The first 3 days of that hunt was amazing as we saw lots of big bulls with the best around 55-pound mark. Then during the night, it rained 80 km inside Botswana. Kazuma borders Botswana and like magic all the bulls were gone. So, my plan was to go back in 2022 to try to quench my thirst for big ivory. But then Buzz mentioned Nyakasanga. Nyakasanga borders the Zambezi for 30-40 km and is 350 000 acres. And the only concession along the Zambezi in the valley that I have not hunted. Many years ago, I bid and won one of the auction hunts in Sapi. Sapi also borders the Zambezi but on the other side of Mana pools. Sapi that is now closed for hunting, is one of the most beautiful areas I have hunted, and I imagined that Nyakasanga would be much the same and it turned out I was right. Now the Valley is not the best place to go for big eli bulls AND Buzz told me that September was not a good time of year for Eli in Nyakasanga, but Nyakasanga is so big that it is possible to hunt several friends from the same camp. So, I decided the big eli could wait and I would rather hunt with my friends Soren and Thomas. Nyakasanga may not be the hot spot for eli bulls in September, but it is very much so for lion and buffalo.
So, we planned to hunt lion, 3 buffalo, Hippo with the option for eli bull and leopard for me if with found some good opportunities.
Before going on a hunt, it is a must to ensure that the outfitter is ethical, and conservation focused. With Buzz and CMS this is not an issue as CMS is in the forefront regarding both.
I have hunted with both Thomas and Soren earlier but never both at the same time. On those hunts we shared a ph. This was not a problem, but it could easily have been. So, my advice is not to go 2:1 on ph but 1:1.
The EU has a weapon embargo on Zimbabwe. This includes sporting arms. This means that you cannot check your gun from an EU country through to Harare. So, you need to go through customs in Joburg. Declare your gun. Get a SA gun permit. Check inn again and clear you gun with The South African Police. This is a major hassle. I have done this many times before with success but this time our guns did not make it to Harare. Once in Harare we considered waiting a day for the guns but decided to carry on at once. We flew a charter from Harare and down to the valley. The plane a one engine Piper Cub was from the 1960 and the pilot also somewhat elderly. So, it was with some concern we boarded. That day was very windy and at takeoff the plan suddenly tipped hard over to the side. I thought this was it, but our pilot seemed unimpressed and 1 ½ hour later we were safely on the ground.
Approach over the Zambezi
https://youtu.be/jhwjV0atMss
Waiting for us were Buzz and AR´s Marty and his wife. Marty had just finished a double tuskless hunt. They had had a double charge all caught on video. It is one of the more spectacular videos I have seen.
The camp is literally 2-3 m from the Zambezi and is one of the most beautiful that I have ever been in. We daily had elephant, buffalo and waterbuck in camp. Multiple lions roared every night to the extent that it made sleeping difficult. Hippo and crocodile were often meters from our tents and could been seen while lying in bed. It was a happy and busy camp as we were 3 hunters, 3 ph.’s one apprentice hunter, one apprentice guide and two cameramen.
I will not give a day-to-day account of our hunt but more highlights as I remember them.
The lion.
Being 3 of us in the camp getting baits up was quite quick. So, within two days we had multiple baits hanging. And within a few days 7 or 8 male lions had been spotted either directly or on trail cameras. Of these 3 or 4 were shooters. I have been on a few safaris in my time but never have I seen so many male lions in such a short period of time. Nyakasanga must be the hot spot in all of Africa regarding lion. Day 5 and Alan and Thomas were faced with the problem of which of the 4 lion they wanted to shoot! Early on day 6 they approached a pan where they had seen 2 magnificent black maned lions. And there out in the open laid a fantastic big maned old lion. A short stalk, two quick shots and lion down. Amazingly a few seconds later out steps an even bigger lion. Consolation being the killed lion was the older of the two.
Link to Lion hunt
https://youtu.be/zygtwnupKiw
Back in camp we had an epic champagne celebration together with hand-rolled cigars by Richard Harland.
Elephant hunt.
As mentioned over Buzz had warned me that September was not a good time for elephant in Nyakasanga. We tried anyway. During the first 10 days we found od tracks on a daily base, actually the best tracks I have seen in the valley. One of them being a monster track. But every day the same story. The bull came in from Mana Pool some time late evening. We gear up and follow only to find that the bull walked back into Mana before first light. Long story short we never caught up to any of them.
Bull elephant on Zambian side!
Eland.
The first days we hunted with camp guns. Mine was a 7 x 57 for plans game. There were plenty of good Eland bull tracks: We found a track coming home from a tracking session on eli. And after I hour of tracking in open country we followed into some thick bush. Nyati soon located him standing looking back at us. I could only see the neck and the left shoulder. Sensing that he was just about to run I let go with the unfamiliar 7mm. The bullet strike was clearly audible, and he jumped into the air pulling his for leg up, but I felt I was to fare forward. We made chase and the now famed Nyakasanga shootdown started! Running after, Buzz and I opened fire every time we made contact. Buzz with his 500 NE and me with the pee gun. I try not to remember the number of shoots we used but it was 14.
Eland bulls are awesome animals with an enormous bulk. This one had a large abscess on its neck with thick pus. Exploring the cavity with a gloved finger to see if it was an old shot wound, I was surprised to see that this almost made Criton, Nyati and Eddy sick. I found this funny as I have seen them put their hands in stinking putrid guts without as much as a grin.
Soren also got his eland after a great stalk. You can track eland as you track buffalo making eland my favorite plans game hunt.
Hyena.
One day while tracking a group of dagga boys we came to a large pan that still had water. Upon walking up to it 10 - 15 vultures flew up from the ground and settled in the trees. And from where they flew up 4-5 hyenas made a hasty retreat into the bush. In the pan lay a dead buffalo cow. Buzz said we should set up an ambush as there was a good chance of them coming back. So, we quickly placed us on the other side of the pan and even before we had time to sit down one of the hyenas came trotting back down to the water. Crawling up to a termite mount the hyena looked small in the scope. It was 200 m and with the unfamiliar gun I was relieved when I heard the bullet strike and the hyena go down.
Link to Thomas´s hyena
https://youtu.be/X6eC8yg9ics
Soren´s Hyena
Soren’s Hippo and Buffalo.
Soren and Dean focused early on the hippo as we needed the meat for lion baits. Driving in the bush even 20 – 30 km from The Zambezi you could now and then find hippo tracks showing that some of the many pans would hold hippo. The recovery being a lot easier in a pan than from The Zambezi, Dean headed inland. And in a pan right on the edge to the escarpment as far away from the river as possible in Nyakasanga they found an old bull Hippo. A well-placed bullet in the earhole and Soren and Dean sat down to wait for the hippo to bloat and surface. Dan was filming the happy hunters as he noticed something in the corner of his viewfinder. Slowly walking to the pan comes an ancient dagga boy. So, within 5 minutes of having shot a hippo from the exact same spot, a buffalo is added to the bag.
Buffalo charge in Kazuma.
Buffalo charges are supposed to be rare: Saeed who has hunted innumerable buffalo has never have one charge him. I have only shot 9 and I have now been charged 3 times. The last one was in Kazuma 2 years ago. Thomas shot that buffalo 4 times through the heart lungs with a 416. Not understanding that it was already dead it charged. Len Taylor (ph) and I killed it 9 meters from us. Both hitting it in the right eye at exact the same time.
Link with buffalo charge
https://youtu.be/sC5uGRNcQi8
Buffalo with shoots in eye.
This charge started very peacefully one afternoon with us having a random walk along a riverbed. Soon we found the tracks of 3 dagga boys. The track lead us into very thick riverine vegetation with visibility only a few meters. The tracking was easy, but we walked very slowly several times looping around elephant feeding in the lush vegetation. Suddenly in a small clearing with the sun gleaming on its horn stood a magnificent buffalo broadside looking back at us. Buzz did not need to tell me this was a shooter as it was evident at once. Nyati that had the lead crouched down for me to shoot, but I could not get myself to shoot over his head. So, I pressed myself up front but at the same time the buffalo turned and ran a few meters into the shade of the bushes where it turned and looked back again. The distance was only maybe 15 meters but the contrast between the sunny area where I stood and the darkness of the cave like vegetation where the buffalo was standing made it very difficult to make out buffalo. I shoot at what I saw as the front part of the buffalo. In the shoot it fell on its chest still standing on its hind legs. My next shoot was rushed and did little harm hitting low in the gut as it turned out. The buffalo was up in a second. Reloading as I rushed forward, I was able to put a shoot in behind the rib cage as it disappeared into the dense foliage.
The bush went silent. We stood for 2-3 minutes hoping to hear a death bellow but besides the cicadas started singing again there was nothing to be heard.
Nyati carefully inspected the track where the buffalo stood when shot and then followed it on his own a few minutes. When he came back I could see in his face that we had a wounded buffalo on our hands.
We waited 45 minutes and ever so slowly followed the tracks. We at once found blood. One type was low on the vegetation, dark and smelly the other higher but bright red and without bobbles. Indicating one or two shots in the gut and one somewhere outside the lungs. Any hope I had of finding the buffalo dead vanished. The track mingled through the dense riverine forest apparently without aim, the musty smell of buffalo hanging in the stagnant windless air. At first the 3 bulls kept together, not a good sign as hard-hit bulls can’t keep up, and it makes any follow up shoots very difficult. The last thing we wanted were 2 wounded buffalos our hands. Twice I could see a buffalo in front of us and twice I could not shoot as I was not sure if it was the wounded one or not. We followed for 1 ½ hour but only covering a short distance. One step at a time, stopping, listening for any sign of the buffalo, trying to penetrate with our eyes every dark shade that could hide 800 kg of fury. At last, our buffalo left the 2 others and my mood rose. Shortly after Criton spotted the buffalo lying down 20 meters in front of us. Try as we could nether Buzz or I could see it. Apparently it was facing away from us. It was not possible to get at it as the vegetation was impenetrable. So, we decided to loop around 180 degrees. Approaching from the buffalo’s front Nyati suddenly disappeared to the left. The buffalo seeing us jumped up and charged head on at once. Standing on Buzz left side, we both shot our 500 NE double rifles. One bullet nicked the boss the other hitting the boss above the eye missing the brain. The bullet continued through the scull, neck, chest cavity, abdomen and ended up in the back leg. That is what I call excellent penetration. The bull did not drop but swung to the left. Second barrel behind the chin dropped him. This is what big game hunting is all about. I love it.
Link to Buffalo Charge In Nyakasanga
https://youtu.be/369zTVbt1uE
It had a funny aftermath. Parks had recently decided to impose a new buffer zone towards Mana pool. But they had not informed anybody including the outfitters about it. It turned out that our buffalo was shoot inside the new buffer zone. So we were summoned to meet the warden and an investigator from Harare at the place of the shooting. The warden a very polite and nice man came in his pressed immaculate field uniform. The investigator came in civilian clothes with a yellow shirt. The warden wanted to see the exact spot of the first shot, so we followed Nyati into the riverine forest. Not knowing what the warden wanted the mood was somewhat awkward. At one point we ran into a group of female elephants, so we backed up quickly and let them pass. As we were about to walk on we discovered that the investigator was missing. Calling for him he immerged from a bush behind us. He was no longer wearing his yellow shirt but only his underwear. At first we were speechless but then we all burst out in laughter including himself. He was convinced that the elephants would see his yellow shirt and attack so, he ran into a bush and tore it off. After this the tension disappeared. The ordeal ended with Buzz, Nyati and me being fined 12 dollars each for hunting in the buffer zone. The laugh we had from the investigator was worth every cent of it.
Link to Thomas´s buffalo
https://youtu.be/6RMdIHXQf9E
Camp buffalo
My take aways on this hunt:
Hunt with good friends or family if possible. Makes evenings and travel so much more fun.
Try only to shoot with my double. Might shoot less but so much more rewarding.
Bring more champagne next time.
As always with CMS everything was perfect. Buzz, Alan, Dean and the teams did everything possible to give us a fantastic hunt.
Buzz I can’t wait to go back and shoot that big tusker.
Good Hunting
Carl Frederik
Those buffaloes are real warriors. The size of that lions head is amazing. One day. One day. Thanks for the report!