Dates; 6.05.09 – 19.05.09
Area; Chewore South. Zimbabwe
Outfitter; CM Safaris
PH; Buzz Charlton
Cameraman; Justin Drainer
Rifles; Winchester 375 H&H , Krieghoff 470 NE
Bullets; Remmington 300grn Swift A Frame, Federal 500grn Woodleigh
. solids.
Game Booked; Trophy Bull Elephant, Bull Buffalo.
Game seen; Elephant,lion,buffalo,kudu,zebra,waterbuck.bushbuck,klipspringer,grysbuck,impala,
porcupine,baboon,black mamba,cobra,crocodile,hippo.

This was my sixth African hunting trip and my third consecutively with CM Safaris. I am a self confessed Africa nut and have worked my progression through plains game, Buff and Leopard and now wanted to experience Bull Elephant.
My previous two Buff and Leopard hunts had been with Alan Shearing as the PH and it is true to say that I almost felt like I was double crossing him when I chose Buzz Charlton to continue my African education by providing my introduction to Elephant.
I feel like an African greedy sponge for information and I am desperate to learn all I can so I decided that the change was healthy and that Alan would understand.
After the event the main thing that I have learned is that they are both outstanding individuals and that I now have an even greater problem of choice for next year.

The trip out was uneventful with BA from London to Joburg and then SAA to Harare. Air 2000 Hunt Support did their usual efficient meet and greet and transit paperwork at Joburg and Giles from Altair Charters provided a cheery greeting at Harare before flying my wife and I to the Chenje air strip in Chewore.

We were greeted at Chenje by Colin and Dyllas Taylor who manage three camps in the area for the owners Chifuti Safaris. They are great people, and, like so many that we meet had their farm taken in 2002. The fortitude of such people has my deep admiration and we can only hope that things work out for them one day. We were to stay at the main Chenje camp although I think that the Kachowe camp which we visited during our hunt is more picturesque. There was an American hunter called Rob in that camp who was doing a “big four” safari which was being filmed for the TV programme Tracks Across Africa. I won’t expound further on his hunt for obvious reasons other than to say that it will be well worth watching and to remind him if he reads this to send me a copy of the recording.

The weather prior to our arrival had been unseasonably wet and only the day before there had been a vicious down pour that had washed away one of the chalets at CM’s own camp at Makuti. Needless to say the bush was thick and green and the grass was tall. The road gang was out fixing the roads for the third time this season and it was pleasing to see how much Chifuti are still investing in the infrastructure of their concession.

Buzz Charlton pointing out our hunting area

Day 1

Out to the range and the obligatory nervous sighting in session.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I find this the most stressful part of the safari.
Luckily, on this occasion I found the black with both rifles (although only just with the double) and Buzz gave it his seal of approval.
We did the roads looking for a track which proved to be more eventful than we had expected as we had to winch at virtually every small river crossing because of the wet ground. The experience would have been quite fun if it hadn’t been for the tsetse flies who seemed to think that it was their duty to keep us company. They were horrendous at times.
In the afternoon we did a walk and Buzz tested our reaction to being around elephant by taking us in to a group of cows for a close look. He didn’t exactly explain that, but the guy obviously knows people and I could see that he had a planned way to introduce novice elephant hunters to the experience.
On the way back to camp and with the light fading he suddenly stopped the truck and said that he thought that he had seen a lion out of his side window. He reversed to get a better look and then conceded that he must have been mistaken. As he was about to start off again my wife’s hand reached down from the back of the cruiser and tapped on my passenger door window. ( I had persuaded my wife that she would see far more from the back and that it had nothing what so ever to do with the air conditioning or the tsetse flies -- honest ! ) When I looked out there was a lioness lying no more than fifteen yards from us looking like she didn’t have a care in the world, which was in stark contrast to all those on the back of the truck. All was well until the game scout started to lose his nerve and slowly moved to exit stage right. The cat began to flatten her ears and slowly lower herself into the grass, at which point the trackers explained to the scout the error of his ways. I can’t speak Shona, but I think that there were a few swear words in there. The scout sat back down and the cat relaxed.
After a few minutes she climbed to her feet and took a diversion route around the truck to rejoin her friends who Buzz had undoubtedly seen earlier.
No bull elephants, but a great start to the safari.

Day 2

Started the day feeling a bit tired following a night of mostly staring at the bathroom wall, but I soon perked up when we found a good bull track early and off we went.
The trackers soon caught up with him in fairly open mopane woodland and we closed in with the bull stood facing away from us fanning his ears. Buzz looked him over and estimated at thirty pounds or so a side and not worth considering. The bull was suddenly aware of us, swung around and started to come for a closer look. He came a bit too quickly for Buzz’s liking and I experienced my first shout down which stopped him at about forty yards. I was later to learn that that was a pretty conservative distance to be concerned about with elephant, but as I said before Buzz really knows his stuff with both elephants and people and in hindsight I think he was easing us in gradually.
After lunch we did more driving searching for sign and came across a track that although not large at seventeen inches was showing good deep cracks and a reasonable amount of heel wear. We followed for a couple of hours and finally came up on a bull in thick cover. As soon as Buzz saw him he said that we should have a good long look at this bull as he carried good weight and symmetry. We got in close to about fifteen yards and Buzz whispered that he was about forty five pounds a side, perfectly even and old. He asked if I wanted to take him. I explained that as a novice I was in no position to make a judgement and that it was his call. He said that if it had been day eight or nine he would have given the nod, but that he wanted me to have a full elephant experience and at day two with only two elephants seen it was too soon. We would pass. I was happy enough with that as I was there for the experience rather than the shot. I have often said before that I like to consider myself to be a hunter rather than a shooter.
The bull didn’t have a clue that we were there and it gave me a great opportunity to practice my shot placement choice with the double. He kindly offered a side brain shot, a quartering side brain shot and a frontal. They all seemed straight forward enough from my point of view, but of course I was just practicing !!
The Krieghoff 470 double had been purchased a year earlier especially for this hunt and even though each practice session meant a three hour round road trip I had practiced as much as I could.
When I first embarked on the dangerous game route I had decided that practicing shooting at bits of paper with a black dot on it just wouldn’t do, so I “made a plan” as we say in Zim.
I downloaded a couple of free images of elephant heads off the internet and had a friendly wide format printer print them life size on a thin vinyl. I then found a piece of ground with a high enough back drop and hoisted them up to a realistic level. I can tell you that there is no comparison what so ever between shooting at a two feet square piece of paper three feet off the ground and looking up nine feet into the eyes of an elephant at twenty five yards. (even if it is only a picture). I would strongly recommend this method to everyone as it not only adds more fun to the practice session, but also prepares you for the scale of the real thing. For those who have not experienced it, did you realise that when an elephant faces you with his ears out it is about nine feet from ear tip to ear tip?

A Game Keeper friend practicing on the elephant target. (this picture was taken on my mobile phone, -isn't technology wonderful ? )

We went for a late afternoon walk along the side of the Chewore river and saw cows and a good looking bull, but it was on the Sapi side.

Day 3

We had been expecting to be able to drive along the dry river beds looking for tracks, but the unseasonably wet weather had meant that all the rivers had a slight flow of water and this option was therefore out unless done on foot which was of course a lot slower.

All the rivers had some water

We did the roads as usual and then took a walk that yielded cows and a young bull.
The highlight of the day was discovering the pop up, one man mesh tents that Buzz provided for the mid day siesta after lunch. I don’t know which was the more satisfying, the nice snooze in the cool shade or the satisfaction of watching the vain attempts of the tsetses as they bombarded the outside trying to capitalise on an easy prostrate lunch.

Pop-up mesh tents

Day 4

Up at 4.30am to the sound of rain. I thought that I was back in England for a moment until I heard Eddie the waiter shouting our customary wakeup call of “Knock , Knock, Knock” from outside the tent. His choice of words always made us laugh, but I suppose “Flap, Flap, Flap” wouldn’t have sounded right either.
(Just as a matter of accuracy it doesn’t always rain in England, but I put that bit in to feed the stereotype that other nationalities like to maintain).
The rain had stopped by the end of breakfast, but it did however stay overcast all day and in fact for quite a few days of our trip which certainly made it more pleasant on the long walks.
We followed a good bull track which eventually lead us into a group of cows. We didn’t find the bull, but I had my first cow confrontation when Buzz had to shout one down at about twenty five yards. My wife Teresa commented that she was surprised how calm she was under the circumstances of the mock charge and we both agreed that the credit must go to the calm exterior that Buzz always maintains. His professionalism shines through and you just feel safe in his presence.
After lunch we picked up another track and a three hour stroll brought us up to what the PHs refer to as “a rat”(anything under thirty pounds)

Day 5

4.30am wake up and it had rained again in the night. On the good track of two bulls by 11.30am which joined with two others before we caught up with them mid afternoon. We again got in close to look them over, but although big bodied the three we could see were all in the thirty pound class. The fourth bull had broken away just before we had chance to view him so we took up his spoor again, but unfortunately had to give up at the loss of light at 5.30.
The morning search for tracks had been quite frustrating, but our cameraman Justin Drainer decided to lighten the mood. When we eventually started out on the tracks Buzz asked Justin to pass him his hunting belt and binoculars. When he was ready to set off Justin asked him to identify a bird that was calling in a tree nearby. Buzz duly obliged and scanned the tree with his binoculars, but was unable to locate the culprit. When he lowered his binoculars to announce his failure we all saw the two thick black rings around his eyes resulting from the age old “soot on the eye piece” trick. Everyone kept their faces straight, but when we set off I could see the shoulders of the trackers in front jerking up and down for the first quarter mile as they tried to stifle their laughter. It suddenly came to me that this would probably be the day that we found the biggest elephant ever to be shot by Charlton McCallum Safaris and that Buzz Charlton would be filmed beaming with promotional pride and looking like a demented blue shirted panda. Fearing the wrong end of a 416 I decided it prudent to come clean (in more ways than one) and handed him a tissue. He took it all in good part, but I think that there will be some unexpected retribution coming Justin’s way before the end of the season.
If anyone is ever thinking of having their hunt filmed they could not do any better than Justin. During the lull periods when we were waiting for the trackers to regain the track he was our constant entertainment. He would point out interesting trees, insects, birds and reptiles. Oh, and my favourite – feeding tsetse flies to spiders !!

Justin Drainer – great company


Day 6

On leaving camp in the morning we had only travelled about a mile when we came across fresh marks where lions had been lying in the road, and as we stopped to view them I got the now familiar tap on the side window from my wife ( yes, she is still on the back - the fresh air is good for her )
Looking to my left I could see the four lions that had retreated about fifteen yards into the bush and were now giving us an enquiring look as to when they could regain their warm sandy bed in the middle of the road. Those on the back of the cruiser seemed to be a little more concerned for the lions comfort than we were in the closed front and were encouraging us to move on swiftly. Buzz and I couldn’t understand the rush, but we obliged.
We found tracks and eventually came up on three bulls, two in the thirties and one old bull in the low forties with a broken tusk. We had a good look at him, but my tutor decided to pass. In our dwelling for a second look one of the bulls came for a closer inspection and Buzz had to shout him down at about fifteen yards. We had already worked out a routine where I was to give an overhead warning shot if the shout down didn’t work. This would leave Buzz ready and loaded in case any serious work was called for. I thought that the routine was to be tested here, but thankfully not.

First close shout down

In the afternoon we picked up on the largest bull track to date which tested the trackers to the full by going into, and out of, four different herds of cows as it made its way to the thick riverine jess along the Chewore river. The jess proved to be full of cows and we had some very interesting moments. When I say “interesting moments” I really mean “ oh shit what is that crashing about in the bush ten yards on either side of me and which way is it heading !!! “
One of the cows that we could see also saw us and Buzz had to do another “ up !!, up!!, come on !!, come on !!” before it spun around, lifted its tail and left. That one was really close so I hope that it comes out on the video. Justin was good, - he stood his ground.
As the light was fading we had to abandon the bull track and walk down the river’s edge to meet the truck. We saw three more lots of cows and a young bull who decided to cross the river directly towards us and got a fright when we made ourselves known when he was mid way across. Young eles are very funny when they try to run fast in soft sand.
What a fantastic day. Try to put a price on that !!!

Day 7

Followed the tracks of two bulls which we caught after a very short walk of about half an hour. They were both in the thirties so we passed.
Luckily we found another big track very soon after resuming a search and we caught up after only about five minutes of starting. This proved to be very fortunate as although it had a huge body it was “a rat”.
Each evening before dinner the three waiters would line up before us and announce the menu in a proud and deliberately rehearsed manner.
On this particular evening there was a slight communication problem that had Dyllas the camp manager put her head in her hands and the rest of us stifle our laughter.
The main course was to be venison cobbler, but Zex the waiter proudly announced that we were to sample the delights of “venomous cobra and tinned peas “

Day 8

Quiet day with no bulls found, but we had the pleasure of PH Doug Carlisle in camp at night. He was staying overnight prior to meeting up with his next client the following day and proved to be very entertaining company. We later found out that a couple of days later he had to shoot a cow elephant in self defence. He and his client had left the truck to check a track in the road when the cow charged out of the bush without warning. They just made it back to the truck in time which the cow then proceeded to customise. They had no choice, but to put it down.

Day 9

We tracked a bull nonstop from 9.30am until we had to give up for poor light at 5.30pm.
He was obviously on a mission by the speed that he was moving and the trackers proved to be incredible in being able to maintain the track when he joined and left several cow herds along the way. We bumped a young bull in thick jesse which excited Morgan the tracker when they met on the same narrow track.
Buzz disturbed an old dagga boy that was taking a wallow in a muddy pan.
Alan Shearing stayed in camp overnight on his way to his next hunt and it was great to see him and catch up with his news.

Day 10

As we were driving out in the early morning I had my first sighting of the infamous Black Mamba when an eight feet version slowly slithered across the road in front of the cruiser. Half way across it lifted the front third of its body off the ground in order to get a better look at us before dropping back down and gliding away. Even from the safety of the inside of the cab I could feel the menace of its reputation. Give me charging elephants anytime !
We looked at two bulls in the morning and then another three in the afternoon, but nothing exciting.

Day 11

Looked at five bulls during the day.

Day 12

We took an early walk along our side of the Chewore river in the hope that a good bull had crossed from Mana Pools National Park. After about half an hour we found it. We thought that we had been blessed by the fairies. There it was, just as we had hoped. It was big, it showed plenty of cracks and it was fresh. The trackers got to work straight away as it led us from the wet sand and into the thick riverine jess. They knew that this could be “the one” and you could detect that extra bit of concentration on their faces as they zig – zagged through the long grass and bush tunnels. It then became obvious that there was more zigging than there was zagging and the sad realisation slowly began to dawn. Yep; you guessed it !! – the track started to describe a beautiful curve as it led back over the wet sand and back to the sanctuary of Mana Pools. We did swear a bit, but you have to smile don’t you. Mother nature has a marvellous sense of humour.
Followed other track, but beaten by failing light.

Day 13

Anyone who read my report of last year’s Leopard hunt will be aware that I took my leopard on the next to the last day and so as this was the equivalent I hoped that the hunting fairies that had screwed us yesterday would now take pity on us.
We were on the move by 5.45am and at 6.30am Criton the number one tracker (and my new hero) spotted a track on a gravel road from the back of the moving truck. I should add that we couldn’t make out the same track when we were actually stood over it. We all felt good about it, not least because it was fresh and we were on it by 6.45am. He was moving at a leisurely pace and everyone was confident that we would soon catch up. After a couple of hours the bull seemed to have stopped feeding and picked up the pace to a forced walk which left us fearful that he had somehow winded us.
The reason for his urgency soon became clear when we found him twenty minutes later where he had joined two other bulls who were literally ripping chunks out of a fallen Baobab tree. They were digging their tusks into the trunk of the tree and then chewing on the moist inner wood. It was a noisy affair that was like watching three mechanical diggers at work. The bull we were following either knew where the tree was and fancied a feed or more likely received some kind of communication from the others.

The elephants had attacked the Baobab like mechanical diggers

We worked the wind and closed to where we could look them over in detail.
Stalking in to twenty yards we had two bulls on the far side of the tree and one on the near side. The two furthest away were in the thirties although one was extremely long and will make an outstanding trophy one day if common sense prevails.
The closest bull had about six inches broken off his right tusk and the tips were both worn and rounded indicating that he was old. Buzz estimated low forties on the full tusk with the broken one not much different as it was thicker at the lip. We decided to take it.

We moved in to within fifteen yards to look them over

The bull stood side on at fifteen yards and the side brain shot was definitely on, but Buzz said, “ no, let’s do this the classic way. I want you to walk forward until he turns to face you and then take a frontal”.
I thought, ok, I’ve had thirteen days of education and now it’s exam time.
Without giving myself anymore time to consider things I pushed the cocking lever forward on the Krieghoff and marched forward, making sure to make plenty of noise with the branch that I had to push aside to gain clear space.
As the bull became aware of me it spun around and faced me with its ears fully extended. I shouldered the double and as soon as the bead reached the central point just below the eyes it went off. I can’t remember consciously pulling the trigger or even if I closed one eye. As a lifelong shotgun shooter I probably didn’t.
It was a great relief to me when I saw the back legs collapse and the trunk go up in the air as the bull went down in the classic brain shot fashion. My main concern had always been that I make a clean shot. Buzz’s voice behind me of “perfect brain shot” confirmed things.

The bull didn’t even hear the shot

As the bull went down he momentarily fixed in an upright pose and I remember thinking that I would be able to reproduce my favourite picture from Months Of The Sun where Ian Neyschens is stood against the side of an upright bull looking casual, but those fairies were at work again and it very slowly rolled on to one side.
I expected the other two bulls to run off after the shot, but they just stood their ground looking about. One even started feeding again. Buzz said that he had never seen that before and we stood and watched them for a few minutes before deciding that we should move back and around to give them our wind so that they would leave. Buzz also observed that our bull must never have heard or felt the shot as he didn’t even have time to issue any kind of distress signal to the others. That sat well with me.
We later measured the shot distance at exactly ten yards.
Anyone who says that they do not feel some degree of emotion when they shoot an elephant is either inhuman or a liar. I was forewarned and had prepared myself, and I was glad for it.
Just to wake us up, one of the bulls objected to our presence when he got our wind and another shout down was required.

Shout down

At his departure it was time for the photographs.


While I was posing with my trophy and receiving the congratulations and handshakes I couldn’t help feeling a bit of a fraud.
Make no mistake, while we pay the money and take the accolade we haven’t really earned it. The people who earned it are the trackers.
I have lived in the country and hunted and fished for over forty years and I think that I am as attuned to nature as anyone, but these guys live in a totally different sensual world. The trackers on this hunt, Criton (my new hero) and Morgan were totally mind blowing. At times they tracked at a speed walk and goodness only knows what was influencing their direction because it was all a completely new sensual language to me. I couldn’t even see what they see even when they point it out at close quarters. It is an education and a pure pleasure to walk behind them.

Criton and Morgan

At the time of writing we still don’t know the tusk weights, but to be quite honest it is not important to me. It was an old bull and hence the right one to take and it had been a magnificent hunting experience. Buzz Charlton is an undoubted master at his craft and I couldn’t have had a better teacher.

The teacher in the classroom

Alan Shearing warned me last year that elephant hunting can be addictive and he was right
I am hooked.

Day 14

Day fourteen happened, but we weren’t hunting elephant , so who cares !!.

Excellent report. I love your attitude.

Congratulations on your bull.

Excellent job on the report and photos.

well done, sir. well done, indeed.

Great report, thanks for sharing. Makes me wonder how I am going to wait until October for my trip!

MJ +1!!

I have posted her a couple times that it is hard to beat CM Safaris for an African hunt.

Rich
Buff Killer

quote:

Posted 26 May 2009 19:18 Hide Post
Excellent report. I love your attitude.

me2

fabulous report! Loved your pics

Congratulations!

Mad Dog

Allright RJ - congratulations - thanks

P.S. I was chasing Nyati in Doma hills when a lonely small plane flew over one day in early May - straight from Hre towards CS - it may just happen to be you - made our day since it was the only thing from outer world we have seen in 14 days - you guys realy got some attention there - thanks for that as well!

R. fine report and a very nice bull....Great pics and yes, ele hunting is addictive...

Mike

quote:

Anyone who says that they do not feel some degree of emotion when they shoot an elephant is either inhuman or a liar. I was forewarned and had prepared myself, and I was glad for it.

Well said Mr. J, congrats on a fine bull and your hunt. Enjoyed your report.
Cheers,
David

Great report and pictures! Thanks.

Congrats on the great looking bull!!

Great report - great hunt, great bull, great photos - thanks for sharing...

congrats! excellent hunt!


dale

Excellent hunt! Congratulations!

Brett

Great honest reporting.

Very nice report, thank you.

Excellent report and a great hunt! Congratulations!

Thanks for taking the time to share your report.

It feeds the desires of those of us that dream of hunting elephant someday.

Well done,sir. Greatly enjoyed your pictures and report. Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated . I stayed at the same camp and hunted tuskless with Alan last year, it is an incredible place to hunt

Great report and congratulations!!! Thrilling!

Regards, D. Nelson

Congrats your bull looks thick how big were the teeth???

Loved your report

Outstanding!!

jeff h,
We are still awaiting the tusks to be drawn and weighed. They could chop them out, but they prefer to allow the skull muscles to rot a lttle so that they can be drawn and therefore prevent any damage. We are currently running a book between the eleven people that saw them in situ. The assesments run from 38lbs to 45lbs. No money will change hands, but there is a bit of professional credibility at stake !!
My amateur guess is 40 and 42. They were approx 17 inches at the lip.
Anyone else want to have a shot at the weights ?

Excellent report!

Job well done!

JW

Congratulations!
Great report. Hope to experience this myself some day..

Thanks for a fine report. I very much enjoyed reading it. Excellent photos, too.

My compliments on your shot placement, and on killing so well and cleanly a great old bull. I especially like his worn and chipped right tusk.

Congratulations!

Wow, great hunt. Thanks for sharing.

Great hunt and report! I felt as if I were there. I dream about that hunt - someday I hope!

Great report on a great hunt. Congratulations!

Bill

Well done,grand old bull!

Way to go Robert - congratualtions! That's a wonderful old bull, and a heck of a good shot too.

A very nice ele and a good report what else can you ask for - good job !

Robert,
great report.Interesting moment for me waiting a moment for the classic frontal brain shot instead of the side one. I'll go in October for my first buffalo/tuskless hunt with Alan Shearing. I hope I'll be so succesfull as you was.
Petr

quote:

Originally posted by R.Jolly:

I downloaded a couple of free images of elephant heads off the internet and had a friendly wide format printer print them life size on a thin vinyl. I then found a piece of ground with a high enough back drop and hoisted them up to a realistic level. I can tell you that there is no comparison what so ever between shooting at a two feet square piece of paper three feet off the ground and looking up nine feet into the eyes of an elephant at twenty five yards. (even if it is only a picture). I would strongly recommend this method to everyone as it not only adds more fun to the practice session, but also prepares you for the scale of the real thing. For those who have not experienced it, did you realise that when an elephant faces you with his ears out it is about nine feet from ear tip to ear tip?

A Game Keeper friend practicing on the elephant target

Was that the same target that you showed me at the Copy Nook hotel in Clitheroe ?
It sure seemed to work and congrats on that elephant you sure were pumped for the hunt I could tell by the way you talked about it.

It was a pleasure to meet you sir.

Hi Frederik
Good to hear from you. Yep, the same one that we unrolled in the pub. My friends and I had great fun practising on it and it is amazing that the actual real shot ended up being at the exact same angle. No excuse if I had messed that up !!
It was a fantastic experience and I have just rebooked the same hunt with Buzz for next year.
Regards
Robert

What a fantastic report !! Thank you for sharing it with the rest of us.

L

A well prepared for hunt and a brilliant report.
Cheers for that.