Spent last 2 days following up on Elephants, lots of young bulls but nothing that would fit the protocol for this hunt, (50 year bull with 60lb Ivory)
Followed up on some true Dugga Buffalo, clients friend who has joined the safari decided to try his luck and the stalk was on,
Got into a great shooting position and took a great old Dugga Buffalo at 14 paces with 470NE
Will post photo soon,

JKhunter

Awesome hunt you having! Having aged the last 60 ele bulls we have shot I have a feeling that if we really got down to the "nitty gritty" of it it will be like the lion aging argument!

I doubt that anyone can very accurately age an ele until it is dead and molars removed and even then you need to know what you are doing.

In the last 2 years our two biggest eles 70 and 66 lbs a side were 36 and 37 years old respectively- that came a surprise to us!

Good luck on the rest of the hunt- looks like an amazing area with unlimited game! Cheers Buzz

quote:

I doubt that anyone can very accurately age an ele until it is dead and molars removed and even then you need to know what you are doing.

+1

Buzz,

Last year I hunted with Peter Holbrow in Bots, he told me Debbie Peake was doing a similar study on Elephant age. The age of their bulls were similar to your experience.

Bryan

Great stuff.

Morning Buzz
We have been forced to shoot elephants according to age categories over the past 7 years which does make it very tough, we get 3 groups,
30lb Bulls between 17 and 35 years of age
40lb Bulls between 17 and 35 years of age
60lb Bulls above 50 years of age,
The first 2 are a walk in the park as there are plenty bulls seen every day that would fit the protocol, but it’s the 60lb / 50 year category that is the tough one, we found a bull last night that was defiantly the correct age but only 45lb max,
We have found the best way to accurately age these SA Bulls is by tusk thickness, we have all of the Kruger cull info for all the years and there is a strong correlation with age and tusk diameter,
As soon as these bulls hit 17” to 18” at the lip then you are looking at a 45+ year bull,
It’s never cast in stone but as a rule of thumb works for us, my 2 biggest bulls were 94lb/93 and 91lb/68lb they were both 20 at the lip and when aged the one was between 48 and 50 years and the other was almost done his last molar and was aged at close to 55 years
The client leaves today for 2 weeks of work and will be back to finish off his hunt on the 20th July till 6th August,
I will post some more photos of the last few days events later today,

Nice Bull but unfortunatly still a bit to young

some camp photos, very basic but comfortable

Lekker,

Keep the photos coming...

Dugga buffalo taken by clients friend,

Client has flown back home for urgent business but will be back to finish off his unit on the 20th July, had a great week in the bush taking 2 buffalo and a magnificent Lion,
Will keep you all posted once Safari resumes, but till then look forward to your comments?

Fantastic pictures, great running report too.
Thanks for sharing with us.
George

Looks like your client is having a good time. Nice looking lion! Good buff too. Enjoying the hunt reports. Thanks for taking the time to post. Bruce

Sent team back to the Timbavati Today to start preparing for the second part of the Big 5 Hunt,

Will keep you all posted in the next few days as to any updates,

JK

this really is proving an exciting read, looking forward to the end result, thanks for sharing this with us all.

Keep it coming. Very enjoyable. More photo's please !!

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:
Client has flown back home for urgent business but will be back to finish off his unit on the 20th July, had a great week in the bush taking 2 buffalo and a magnificent Lion,
Will keep you all posted once Safari resumes, but till then look forward to your comments?

JKHunter:

It is now almost the end of July and we are squirming in our seats for the grand finale to this hunt which was slated for 40 days (20th June to 30th July).

So far, not looking too good as far as the quest for the Big 5 goes

Have really enjoyed following along on this hunt. As soon as you are able, please add to your report.

Hi Fujotupu

client has not been back yet, has postponed second part of the trip due to new contacts he just got awarded, he will be back in September, in the mean time we have hunted 4 buffalo and 2 Elephants and could have shot the Big 5 3 times over with the amount of game in the area this year,

Maybe one day you should come hunt here any you will have different outlook on my hunts,

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:
Hi Fujotupu

client has not been back yet, has postponed second part of the trip due to new contacts he just got awarded, he will be back in September, in the mean time we have hunted 4 buffalo and 2 Elephants and could have shot the Big 5 3 times over with the amount of game in the area this year,

Maybe one day you should come hunt here any you will have different outlook on my hunts,

Ummmmmm.....yawn....September has come and gone and this overly hyped hunt appears to have fizzled out in an anti climax.
You are truly a very patient and understanding person to be able to put up with clients such as this one!

Well Fujotupu,

if you really want to know the client had cancelled the rest of the trip due to work commitments, lucky for him he is in a situation financially to do this as he has a few more billion in the bank than either you or me,

and as for patience i have plenty, and as for the animals we have hunted the Rhino and 2 Elephants and just have the Leopard left to do,

So for the year that is 35 Buffalo 10 Elephants 2 Hippo 1 Lion 2 Rhino in the salt and just a few more Buffalo 2 elephant and 1 leopard to go and my season is done in the Timbavati,

so as for hype on this hunt, it would have been nice to do a live report as it went along but unfortunatly it did not work out,

Client still took a Huge Lion, and 2 buffalo

and left very happy and satisfied, and will be back in 2014 to try again for the Big 6 in one go,

So Fujotupu, what have you hunted lately,

regards

JKHunter

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:
Well Fujotupu,

if you really want to know the client had cancelled the rest of the trip due to work commitments, lucky for him he is in a situation financially to do this as he has a few more billion in the bank than either you or me,

and as for patience i have plenty, and as for the animals we have hunted the Rhino and 2 Elephants and just have the Leopard left to do,

So for the year that is 35 Buffalo 10 Elephants 2 Hippo 1 Lion 2 Rhino in the salt and just a few more Buffalo 2 elephant and 1 leopard to go and my season is done in the Timbavati,

so as for hype on this hunt, it would have been nice to do a live report as it went along but unfortunatly it did not work out,

Client still took a Huge Lion, and 2 buffalo

and left very happy and satisfied, and will be back in 2014 to try again for the Big 6 in one go,

So Fujotupu, what have you hunted lately,

regards

JKHunter

I didn't ask nor do I give a flying F..K what the client has in the bank.

I asked what happened with this particular hunt that you started off with a great fanfare, which was interrupted by the client's business commitments and which was to resume but got held up, etc. etc.

It was after all an anti-climax to a hunt whose results were awaited with much anticipation - too bad, we'll all have to wait for the Big 6 slated for 2014.

The way you described it led to understand that you shot the Rhino but now you talk in plural (BTW - damn nice rhino).

"So for the year that is 35 Buffalo 10 Elephants 2 Hippo 1 Lion 2 Rhino in the salt and just a few more Buffalo 2 elephant and 1 leopard to go and my season is done in the Timbavati".

Pics man, without pics we ain't happy!

Have not hunted at all this year - decided to take a break and leave it to the young bucks instead.

Fujotupu,I don not know JK Hunter but can tell you for a fact that he hunts one of the best areas in South Africa and for that matter Africa as well. AND HE HAS BEEING POSTING PICTURES On a regular basis of some of the best buffalo I have ever seen, and being in the business my self clients do cancel safaris and Sh.t happens that is not the outfitters problem or fault, I would bet a bottle of the best this client will be back to finish this hunt. I for sure would have love to see the outcome of this. The Timbavati is a magic place.

Phillip:

Read my post CAREFULLY before jumping to conclusions .... and maybe go back into the history of the thread.

From what JKHunter said, it would appear you owe me that bottle - the client's 2013 hunt is done and dusted - he may be back in 2014 for another in the form of a Big 6.

Timbavati Reserve is undoubtedly a great hunting area and I hope it remains that way though by taking 35/40 bulls every year may eventually have its repercussions even if the bulls being targeted are the 36-38" daggaboys.

Fujotupu, What is was trying to say is the client will hunt there again, but I will gladly buy that bottle, The Timbavati will not run out of bulls it is fed by the Kruger National park that have more than 25 000 buffalo and some of the best genetics in Africa. 35 bulls a year will not hurt it one bit. HAVE a GREAT DAY.