Dates: OCT 10TH-19TH

Chuck & Marla Swenson (Creswell Oregon)

Outfitter: John du Plooy

Professional Hunter: Darren Chowles

Booking Agent: John Barth, Adventure Unlimited

Travel Agent: Steve Turner, Patrick Wright, Travel with Guns

South African Arrangements: Afton House

Location: Luangwa Valley Zambia

Game taken; Puku,Zebra,Buffalo,Hippo

What a trip; We booked this hunt at SCI 3 years ago and had to wait an extra year due to covid. John and Laura du Ploy couldn't have been more accommodating with the delays. After an uneventful trip from Oregon to JoBurg we were met by Mr.X of Afton House and spent a great night there.
We then flew the next day to Lusaka and on to Mfuwe Zambia.
We had no problems with the luggage or Guns but the Zambian police
were not always on the ball.
We were met by our PH Darren and made the four hour drive to camp, mostly in the dark, We passed through two national parks and were glad to finally get to camp.
Conditions were very hot for Marla and I (being from the northwest
and it took a little getting used to. We slept in and hunted in the afternoon. Over the 10 days we saw plenty of game. The Cookson's wildebeest were the most plentiful except for the very large herd of Buffalo that were on the flood plain.We saw lots of Puku and Impala and a fair number of Kudu,Eland and Bushbucks as well as the other "usual suspects" We hunted the buffalo a couple times but was difficult to sort out a good Bull with that many animals, so most of the time we concentrated on Dugga Boys. In the first 4 days we got a Puku and Zebra. Im sure it was the prettiest Zebra Ive ever taken as it was a very dark one.



We spent the days driving and tracking Dugga boys and checking what few waterholes were left. On the evening of the 6th day we came across two nice dugga boys not far from one of the water holes. It was right before dark but still light enough for a stalk. We got on them at last light and hit the best one in the chest, quartering toward me with my favorite Swift A-Frames.
He took off and after about 5 minutes we quit for the night. Given the late situation, I asked our apprentice Sean Armstrong to let him have it too if he ran off and he shot once as well. Darren was confident of a good hit and I actually slept pretty well. The next morning we found him dead less than 200 yards away from where we shot him. We saw that Sean had hit him well also. He was a great old bull with worn down tips and his bosses were getting pretty smooth. Recovering him at dawn made for some nice pictures.




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Over the course of the Safari we were able to bag a lot of Guinea Fowl
for the pot. Lots of fun and we took turns insulting each other on the ones that got away.

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I had debated on whether to get a Cookson's Wildebeest or a Hippo and decided on the Hippo. The river was low and they were congregated in the deeper pools. Not the most challenging hunt Ive ever had ,but the recovery was an experience, for sure. We looked at several pods over
the first seven days and had our eyes on the best one we could find.
I shot him right in the ear hole and that was it. Some fisherman from downstream came a running and soon we had lots of help. After the fishermen beat the water to scare off the crocks we all waded out
and the guys rolled him back to the bank. Lots of happy people I can tell you.

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Marla and I accompanied the staff to deliver meat to a couple villages
It was awesome to see how much it was appreciated. Especially in an area with Tse Tse flies where they can't raise livestock. I know The meat was very important to them.
Since we finished up on day eight we hung around and shot a few more
Guineas and a couple sand grouse at dusk and left a day early and were able to spend a night at Johns lovely home in Lusaka. Sadly, Laura was out of town. John BBQ'd some eland for us. AWESOME !
Steve and Patrick changed our flights as quick as is possible From Mfuwe-Lusaka-and back to JoBurg. The Afton house folks met us and took the gun for storage and we went and spent four perfect days in Capetown.
The cool ocean air was the perfect recovery for the heat in the Luangwa Vally. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better Safari and vacation.
Special thanks to our PH Darren ! What a great guy and hunter and the
du Plooy's for a worderful 10 days we will never forget.

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That is a most beautiful Zebra, congrats on a great hunt!!

Darren is a good bugger. Well done and the area looks like Chanjusi.

Congrats!

Did you see many elephants?

Thank you for sharing your great hunt with us. I enjoyed reading it.

Great safari and report. Congratulations!

Chuck,

Well done! Your experience is the norm with Muchinga. They do it right everytime.

Mark

Congratulations! Did you see any big bull eles?

Enjoyed your report. I hunted with Johnny last year and had Darren as my PH. What did you think about, when you rode through the villages, the kids running out to the truck wanting you to through them a plastic bottle? I had a friend and his 13 year old son along and it was one of their favorite memories of the trip.

Sorry for the delay; Yes we saw a lot of elephant
and the kids wanting water bottles was crazy,
I gave thenm as many as I could. Kinda Sad!
They seemed to be very happy children though.
we are lucky people.

The DuPlooy's are great folks. I have hunted with them twice, once with Terry Van Rooyen as PH and once with Fico Vidale. Great safaris both times!

I see you had an excellent hunt as well... excellent trophies. Congrats and thanks for the report.

Chuck5656:

What caliber rifle were you using?

I just read your report and saw your beautiful trophies. I really love those mostly black Zebras. A huge congrats!