As I write, Mopane flies are laying siege to my face. It's end of October and i think it reached 45 degrees this afternoon. I don't mind this at all as I'm sitting in a Leopard blind, a great looking Tom fed the night before and as usual in Leopard hunting it's always the last bait you check that the big one feeds on!! anyhow we managed to make a rush job through the middle of the day and with a one or two extra hands I think we have put together a decent blind for the night. My companion in the Blind is Bob. Bob who is 83 shot a great Croc two days ago, which went very...”wellish”
-We baited this croc in a small dam on the Save Valley Conservancy. The dam is home to a number of crocs that have apparently taken a few people this year. Bait was put out and blind was built with the intentions of coming back the next day to shoot the croc. Whilst putting the bait up on a little island no more than 60 yards from the blind we noticed the first croc start moving in. Very soon there was a dozen crocs with a very big boy lurking close by. There was no going back to come the next day. It wasn't long when the big guy scattered his much smaller companions and took ownership of the bait. Bob as per instruction sent a round aimed at the back of the smile. The tail frenzied the water a sign of a good spine shot, a couple insurance shots later Bob had a great looking Croc. Recovery time. I should have mentioned that the boat we had with us was a little short of 9 foot, it was tin with a homemade paddle. The two men that climbed in (Myself and the Mokore manager, Don Jooste) the bathtub boat had two hundred and thirty KGs between them and we were about to load a 13' croc. Not to be deterred we set sail towards the croc. As we left land two things became abundantly clear 1- Bathtubs are hard to steer 2- this bathtub was porous. As we took on water a "bailing bucket" floated down to me. Don rowed, Doug baled. We arrived at the croc. Quickly a rope was attached to its head and we managed to lift the head onto the bathtub. This was all we were getting on. The rope was firmly attached to the boat, we sat on the opposite end of the boat to balance the tub and started back with an inch of free board. Amazingly we made it back to the other side and a heroes return. Both of us with chests puffed out jumped out of the boat to greet our new found fans well with that the side where the croc was tied disappeared below the water. Yes we sank the tub. All ended well the tub was retrieved and Bobs croc was laid out for a few pictures.



The end of season has been great for hunting. Drought is here and animals are a little low on condition but a promising rainy season is ahead and there is food enough to see them through. This is what Bob, Ross, Dan and Brian (The Hunters I have had the pleasure guiding) have taken. I will give a short write up on each of the main animals taken but be warned this will be top heavy on pictures .





First to hunt with me was Brian and Lesley, their destination was Mokore Safaris property in Mozammbique a million plus acre area with what has to be some of the best African Plainsgame hunting around. Lions and Elephant were seen daily. Brian's main animal was a big old Eland Bull. The first day we got the blood flowing with a fine Warthog. Eland frustrated us for a couple days until eventually we caught up on a big blue bull, it was mid morning and he already had found his spot for the heat of the day. We "butt walked" until we were good and close. I got the sticks up and Brian started getting up. The bull sensed or maybe smelled us as the wind shifts as you get towards the middle of the day, he went from asleep to high alert but still didn't know where we were he gave a few nervous steps and stopped broadside but you could only see the top half of his body. Knowing we didn't have time we set the sticks up high as possible and Brian sent a .375 barnes x through the Bulls Lungs. A great trophy earned through a few days of hard hunting.



The most exciting reedbuck I will ever hunt happened on this safari. We spotted a great looking ram in the open vlei we managed to get close and bang the ram dropped. We go to the spot and found it stone dead, handshakes and the usual excitement following a good hunt and a bonus of a great trophy. With that a lioness stood up, less than 30 yards from us, followed by a big male. Chaos ensued. It was the quickest recovery I have ever done, PH backed away gun pointed at the lions and trackers showed herculian attribute to get the reedbuck in the car needless to say the lions sauntered off with no interest in us however it made for a good story.




Last night in the blind didn't produce the results I hoped for. A female and two cubs spent the night getting us excited however the big Tom didn't come back. A large herd of Elephant walked by our blind during the night and suddenly the poles we used to build the blind seemed thinner to me. We did however get another bait hit so once again I type this from a blind, my bait is across a small dam, it would be very picturesque if I wasn't looking at camo netting with a small window looking at some meat which is the greenest thing on the bait tree, regardless we are both excited as the Tom that fed here last night nicknamed Five C, (due to a rosette pattern) is a big cat indeed.







In the mean time I'll continue. Brian and Lezzels (Leseley) left and it was off to Mokore ranch in Zimbabwe, located in the Save Valley Conservancy. The camp has a stunning view of the Turgwe River and the area is home to the big five and more. Dan and Gail arrived with a bag full of animals wanted, Gail hunted with my Cousin Gary Duckworth. They shot a great Buffalo and a whole bunch of plainsgame. I had the pleasure of hunting with Dan. As with Brian, Dans main animal was a big Eland Bull. We made this our priority. We hunted hard and had a good number of animals to show for it. The Eland, was seen by my other Cousin, Neil Duckworth. At lunch he told me the details, pretty simply he said it was very blue and had a massive body but couldn't see the horns as it crossed the road. As a nice big Eland T-Bone is a favourite in our camp I feared he couldn't get his eyes past the fillets. Anyhow we had a plan. We waited for late afternoon to start following as this is when the wind settles a bit and the Eland start feeding. It turned out there was two Bulls. Solomon, my Head tracker, started on the spoor, the tracking was easy as the Eland were walking through the Mopane or at least Solomon made it look easy. An hour down the line and the sign got really fresh. The wind was not favouring us. I decided to start looping the tracks. It worked- -for a change- the very first loop and we had the two Bulls walking through the Mopane totally unaware of us. Perfect. I got the sticks up, Dan got on them but the Eland didn't stop walking and through the Mopane no shot was available. We slowly stalked behind them playing the patience game - Zebra. The Eland walked through a heard of new species Zebra called "f**** Zebra" again we had to loop, time was running low and with less than twenty minutes of light we managed to get in front of the two Eland. Now we were close. At 30 yards sticks up and Eland down. A great exciting hunt. The bull was indeed huge in body crossing the ton mark i would estimate. His horns thick and worn with a good size still in them. All in all a great trophy and memory. A few days later the Eland brought us more joy as we watched Neil devour his Eland steak. This may seem random but those who have watched Neil feed know what I'm talking about.





Another night in the blind starts, the big cat came in last night. He started climbing the tree then jumped out again without reaching the bait. We sat till after midnight but he didn't come back. I fear the script had been leaked to him. We are sitting again in the same place tonight if there is no joy then we will have to move the bait and the blind. This morning revealed that there were a lot of hyena around this may have been the reason he didn't come back, one hyena took a liking to my light which has now undergone numerous repairs.



Back to the hunts - After a few short days at home I was on my way back to the Save. I arrived the day before Ross and his Father Ross. Ross's father Ross would be hunting with PH - wait for it - Ross Johnston. That is correct three Ross's, it made for some interesting campfire conversations. On arrival I was informed by the manager that there was a elephant that had been caught in a snare. We needed to go asses and as it turned out we had to put the elephant down. The snare had caught the Back foot and was almost to the bone. It had come from outside the conservancy where it had been caught, as sad as it is, it is yet another example that opens your eyes to the blatant fact that African wildlife needs hunting.





Moving on with the hunt. This was the Ross's first time to Africa they had an open mind to the animals wanted. Ross Jr. Really wanted a nice Kudu and Eland, a buffalo cow was left on quota and proved to be a very exciting hunt. PH Ross told me where he had seen a big herd of Buffalo that had crossed the road in the morning. That afternoon we caught up to them quickly. We looped round to the front of the herd and found a small valley which I though the herd would walk through. We got into position and sure enough here they all came. A big cow in the front, too easy. I though this should be done in no time and could already taste the the worlds best beverage – a cold October beer. Not to be. The cow got to about 30 yards from us and from behind out stepped her calf. Pretty soon We had over a hundred buffalo the closest at 25 yards but all within 100 yards. Calves everywhere. This was Murphy giving me the finger for the earlier thought process. We trailed the herd for a good 2 hours bumping them twice. Eventually at last light Ross got the go ahead from me to shoot. The bush erupted. We found a good blood trail and followed for a few hundred meters, it was too dark to continue so we left it till the morning. In the Morning we came with the two camp dogs that are a great help with anything wounded. We eventually caught up with the cow Solomon did a great job finding the buffalo and the dogs kept the Buffaloes attention away from us so Ross could finish her off. A great hunt and fuel for Ross's return for a Dagga Boy.





The next day we followed a big Eland track. Some Impala frustrated us a few times running into the Eland who in turn took off. Lady Luck did smile though. Again on last light after getting to the place where for the third time the Eland broke into trot due to those damn Impala. We started on the tracks again up ahead was a clearing, often animals will run through the clearing and stop on the other side. We got to the edge and stopped scanning the thick Mopane on the other side. Nothing. I was about to give Solomon the go ahead to continue when I heard the unmistakable clicking, a sound made by the tendons in the Elands foot. Two Bulls walking straight for us. At about 70 yards Ross shot the lead bull, they never knew where the shot came from. A great trophy, a great hunt. Being a few clicks from the nearest road it made for a long recovery.



After seeing his fathers Klipspringer, Ross decided he wanted one. We walked down one section of river that is really rocky, I spotted three Klipspringer walking up the river towards us. being too far to tell if there was a decent one we needed to get closer. Between us and the Klipspringer were Kudu, impala and a audience of Baboons. The Baboons thankfully for the most part sat on the high banks and watched us, the impala and kudu eventually sauntered off unaware of us and we made our move. We closed the distance however I had now lost site of the Klipspringer. Coming round a rock we came face to face with one of the females and she took off. The second female and male bounded a few meters then stopped not knowing what alarmed their companion. Ross shot the male perfectly. It was a giant, Ross was not a record book man but his appreciation for the trophy was evident. For interest sake it measured a little more than five and a quarter inches and has a SCI score of fourteen and a quarter. Easily the biggest I have ever taken and a contender for Zimbabwes antelope of the year.





Which brings me to my current hunt with Bob. As it is we have 3 males of good size on different baits and in total we have 8 baits out and have 10 cats feeding. This will our fourth night in the blind as the big toms are being big Toms. Bobs son shot a very nice Buffalo this morning, it had sixteen inch bosses and a spread of forty one. I hope I can finish up this season by getting Bob Snr, who is now 83 a nice Tom.









Pro Hunter
Doug Duckworth
mokoredoug@hotmail.com

a fine selection of trophies. That Klippie is a whopper. Well done. Thanks for sharing.

Great report! Some outstanding trophies there.

congratulations great hunt

Hello, I'm "Dan" from Doug's report. I'd like to thank him for an amazing week of incredible hunts. His short description doesn't come close to doing justice to what I experienced on just the Eland hunt, let alone the six other trophies we took. The Mokore Ranch is a very special place. This was my first trip, and I spent time within a stone's throw of lions, elephants, rhinos, buffalo, and wild dogs. Also saw hippos, crocks, cheetahs, and herds of plains game.

A big thank you to the entire Duckworth family the great staff at camp that made my brother and I feel like we where meeting up with old friends from day one. It was also nice to share part of our trip with a new friend Tim and others that arrived in camp before our last day.

I don't think Doug should be talking smack about Neil's skills at the dinner table. I believe that he and Gary could give him a run for his money if they weren't pretending to be counting calories. It's a tuff place to be on a diet. The food was incredible. After the first meal, the first night, I stopped asking what we were eating, just kind of planned on it being the best meal I'd ever had. Hats off to Don the grill master. Don't try to tell him when to flip an eland fillet, or in his own words "he'll hit you fast you'll think your surrounded". Just being in camp was worth the trip, the hunting was huge bonus on top.

Thanks Doug!!!

Daniel Johnson

Thanks for the Kind Words Dan. You are correct everyone of the animals we took was worthy of a few words.
Indeed I accuse Neil but admittedly I am not shy around food either.

Some fine trophies. Congrats to all.

Doug,

Well done as always. Thanks for taking such good care of my guys and girls. Everyone of them was super happy.

Mark

Now that is a klipspringer!

Well done all.

Thanks for the great report Doug, that Klipspringer is huge. When I get some time I will post a report of my hunt with Gary. See you in Dallas

Doug - many thanks to you, Fabian and the whole Mokore Team for such a terrific safari. Coutada 9 is truly a wonderful place. Thanks for everything! -Brian and "Lezels"

Great story and pics. Thanks for sharing.

BH63

Okay, a great report with a bunch of fine trophies, but...

Where are the pictures of the croc recovery? Sounds like it should have it's own video...

Gd Stuff Monya!!!!

Very fine trophies indeed.

Thanks Everyone! Look forward to your report Gale and see you in Dallas

Very Nice. Can't wait to hunt with you guys in 2017...

Doug, was that croc shot on the Turgwe?

Hi Scott,
Croc was shot on a Dam close to the Turgwe.

Superb. The buffalo in photo 1 needs to decorate a trophy room.

That klippie is unreal - like from another planet.