Date of hunt: August 1-14, 2009

Outfitter: Chifuti Safaris, booked at Reno SCI

PH's used: Dirk Mostert (me), Roy Ludick (Paul)

Area hunted: Chewore South

Camp: Chenje, managed by Colin and Dyllis Taylor

Animals taken: Buffalo, Tuskless Elephant, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Impala, Baboon

Animals seen, but not taken: Kudu, Zebra, Warthog, Hyena, Crocodile, Hippo, Klipspringer, Duiker, Leopard, Honey Badger

Rifles used: Sako 375 H&H, 416 Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan, and Ruger No 1 in 450/400 NE

Can't say enough good things about this hunt, the camp, or the people involved in the whole process. Safari Classics (thanks Tamela and Dave) and Gracy Travel (Melanie Brown) made the trip arrangements easy. Bruce on the ground in Joberg has it wired, and things went pretty good, especially since there were so many hunters on our flight. Afton House was as good as everyone has claimed in the past. Simon and Jiles with Safari Air Services made the flights in and out in the 206 very enjoyable and informative, and helped immensely with checking in and out ofthe country at the airport. Saw much more game than we were told to expect, and had a fabulous time. The camp at Chenje was nicely set up, and tented accomodations were great. Right on the river, and we had lions, leopards, hyenas, and eles sounding off every night.







There was some confusion between offices and they had us set up for a 2x1 hunt, instead of the two 1x1 hunts. When they were made aware of the mix-up, they fixed it immediately and were able to get Roy Ludick up from Bulawayo the next day. After some of the past negative hunt experiences, this was amazing service and an attempt to right things as fast as possible. Great job by Andrew Dawson!

Paul took a good waterbuck on the very first day, and that sort of set the tone for the rest of the trip. Looked at nice animals on just about every walk we took, whether it was in the hills, the rivers, or just tracking cross-country. He took a huge old wide cow, then a bull, and the smaller stuff he wanted. The weather was pretty warm for these Idaho boys, and we sweated our fair share but that didn't slow down the flies or mopane bees. I found out I am very allergic to tsetse fly bites, but put up with them for the duration and now look like a purple spotted hyena. We also learned the hard way that there are places you should not take a Land Cruiser.



Got a real nice 35 inch buffalo bull with really deep drops and lots of character on my 4th day, then concentrated on elephants which was my primary goal all along. We managed to get on them and picked out a character bull, and the 416 Ruger really thumped him. Point of the shoulder quartering, thru the heart and lungs and ended up under the skin on the off side. A 50 yard death run, and he rolled over a calf on his way down. Recovered the 400 grain DGX and was pleased with its performance. Just shredded everything in its path, and held together nicely.







Saw lots of elephants every day, but the tuskless were a bit elusive. Looked over 165 animals in 9 days and saw 6 (two were too small to shoot), and finally shot my big cow. Caught up to the herd and they were looking and listening for us, so it wasn't possible to get as close as I'd hoped. Once again, I used the 416 Ruger for a heart/lung shot at 60 yards and had Dirk back mine up with one of his own from the 458 Lott, then put two more into the right hip as she spun around to anchor, and put her down with a rear raking brain shot. Never really moved from the spot she was standing in thru the entire thing.





With the two big ones down, I switched to the 450/400 for a little fun. It was great to carry all day, and I didn't feel under-gunned with all the big stuff around. Took a wonderful 13 inch Chobe bushbuck at 180 yards in the Maura River canyon.





Passed up some better impala when I had the 416, but wanted to hunt with the No. 1 so I settled for a nice old ram after a great stalk. Quartering thru and dropped on the spot. Man, I love these two guns!



Skinning and trophy preparation appears very good, and the skulls were nicely done without overboiling. Will have the elephant leather tanned over there, and the bushbuck mounted here in a life-size pose. Normal shoulder mount for the buffalo.



It was pretty hard to give it up and come home, but Zim sent us off with a gorgeous sunset, and made us promise to return. That's one I'll try to keep soon.

Very nice safari and an equally good report.

Funny that you flew with Jiles. Great guy. I flew with him back in June.

Before we took off I told him that I had some hours in a Cessna 182 and he let me fly his 206 from Save to Harare. He just turned around and chatted with my wife and I managed to get us back to town.

Great hunt!! Nice Buff!

Brett

Great hunt, thanks for sharing

Great ol buff bull..

Looks like a great time - congrats!

Congrats!

Very nice, thanks for the report.

This is how they all should go .. Chifuti is a top dollar outfit but they don't cut corners.

Nice report.
Love the Bushbuck,and the Buffalo.

blank, very nice and good shooting...

Mike

Congrats on a wonderful adventure!

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
Very nice safari and an equally good report.

Funny that you flew with Jiles. Great guy. I flew with him back in June.

Before we took off I told him that I had some hours in a Cessna 182 and he let me fly his 206 from Save to Harare. He just turned around and chatted with my wife and I managed to get us back to town.

How do you like the 182? I have been logging some hours in a new (2007 I believe)t182t with the Garmin G1000 in it that a friend of mine bought, wow what a plane. Also, how did that big 206 handle?

Great hunt and some nice trophies... btw I was also impressed with the performance of the DGX bullet. I have been waiting for some pictures to filter back of recovered bullets. Only one I know, but with that and Ivan Carter's report, I am feeling better about them already!

quote:

Right on the river, and we had lions, leopards, hyenas, and eles sounding off every night

You gotta love this!

The buff calf that the bull fell on, was it ok?

Sounds like a real quality hunt, thanks for posting!

quote:

Originally posted by Sevenxbjt:

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
Very nice safari and an equally good report.

Funny that you flew with Jiles. Great guy. I flew with him back in June.

Before we took off I told him that I had some hours in a Cessna 182 and he let me fly his 206 from Save to Harare. He just turned around and chatted with my wife and I managed to get us back to town.

How do you like the 182? I have been logging some hours in a new (2007 I believe)t182t with the Garmin G1000 in it that a friend of mine bought, wow what a plane. Also, how did that big 206 handle?

Ironic. I also have a friend with a newish 182T(2007 I think) with DUAL garmin 1000s on the panel. You almost forget to look out the windscreen. Alot like a video game.

206 flew like a 182 for the most part. Controls and panel were basically the same. GPS was a model I'd not seen. We were in cool morning air and the going was smooth.

I found the 182T to be pretty tight after flying in 20 and 30 year old aircraft.

Were it not for hunting, I'd have my license and might have a plane too. For now, however, hunting is my wife and mistress.

"Were it not for hunting, I'd have my license and might have a plane too."

I agree, I charter a small plane to look at cattle around the west enough to think I need one, just not enough to actually justify it or make it pencil. I have several friends in my industry with one, and sometimes I get like the kid that wants the new tennis shoes the "cool kids" wear.
I think like you, I enjoy my hunting trips too much to switch my focus that much.

Aren't Collin and Dyllis wonderful people. I enjoyed their company last year very much.

Looks like you guys had a great trip. Shelley and I enjoyed meeting you both.

Great hunting report.

I see Dirk's driving skills haven't improved since last September...

I forgot to add in the post for the big bore shooters and reloaders. The Hornady DGX weighed exactly 340 grains from the original 400. I thought that was great performance, and look forward to more recovered bullets and results.

PSmith: Yeah, the driving in the rivers is a real challenge at times. I explained the Idaho definition of stuck to him "Stuck is having to call for help, otherwise, you're just delayed"! At least we were smart enough to turn around, since the next exit out of the river was another 7 miles



For all you airplane guys out there. My first trip in a 206 - it has the twin cockpit doors, and cargo ones in the back. The airframe was immaculate, and it only had about 200 hours on a complete overhaul. With the cargo pod it hauls an incredible amount of gear. Pilot Simon Wild getting us loaded up to go, and the flight was wonderful.





The first game taken on the trip. A real nice waterbuck for Paul, who really was wanting one of these. Since it died in the water, I guess it lived up to its name.



Paul's buffalo bull. Nice and wide, and came after about 7 days of tough hunting. His old cow is even wider still, and is impressive.



Finally, you just can't go to the Zambezi without tiger fishing. Talk about pirranha onm steroids!