After lurking around here a while and having my resolve stiffened by a friend here, I had decided to make a trip to Africa for a hunting trip. Butch Lockerby had convinced me that this was something I HAD to do, so I went to work and did some research, that didn't pan out, so then Butch introduced me to Mark Young here, and the rest of the planning went reasonably smoothly. I used Mark Young as my outfitter agent (through Adam Clements Safari Trackers) and had the travel arrangements done by Shawn Brigance at Gracy Travel. I ended up going to Zimbabwe with Mokore Safaris doing a Buffalo/Plains Game 15 day safari. I was to start out at Chewore for the Buffalo and then move to the Save Conservancy for the remaining plains game. I really reccomend using an outfitter agent and a travel agent; I probably frustrated Mark and Shawn with all kinds of "what if" questions. On the other hand, everything went exactly as they said it would when I went on the trip!

I left Minneapolis St. Paul on 9/6/07 and flew with Delta to Johannesburg. Having never flown international commercial air before, this was quite a new experience. Even in Business class, the seats were not quite large enough to be comfortable for me, and of course, as soon as red wine was served, we hit turbulence all over me.... I then transferred to SAA for the trip to Harare. I had no problems with any of the flights and apparently had beginners luck as all my luggage made it with no problems. The customs gal thought the two Dakota Rifles were pretty cool, but the TSA guys looked at them like they were leper suppuration. I of course had pulled the bolts on them, and got asked if they were loaded. Interestingly, the hassle over the firearms was less in Zim than it was in the US.

I arrived at Harare at about 9PM local time, and everything went pretty smoothly, except that I was asked for a "tip" by the firearms inspector. He said it was $50 US. I was raked over the coals by my PH for giving that later!

I was met by Philip, an apprentice PH for Mokore outside the airport secure zone, and taken for a fast ride through Harare to Barrie Duckworth's house. The town was really well lit up that night. I was told later that because Zimbabwe was playing in some big Soccer match they had let the power be on through the city for that.

The following morning I was awoken at 6:30 for breakfast, and then was able to wander around until 2 PM when the charter plane left for Chewore.



Here is a picture of the Duckworth's Guest House in Harare. The food in Harare was not quite what I had been led to expect, but then the descriptions had came from folks who had been there a while ago.

I arrived in Chewore and was met by the camp Manager, whose name unfortunately escaped me. He shortly thereafter left to set up a camp for Barrie to hunt Elephant with a long-time client.

I was able to wander camp for a few hours and saw a number of animals prior to the arrival of my PH Hilton Nichols, who was finishing up a hunt with a client that day. The camp was mostly what I had expected- pretty comfortable, not midwest deer camp! I no sooner than got there than I saw a Bushbuck on a termite mound!



Some views of camp.





That evening we had the farewell dinner for the other two clients in camp, and got to know each other. They had a pretty good trip and one of the guys shot a good Sable. I found out that they did have a couple of Leopard available on quota, and thus I would have a chance at them if I wished... Of course... I let Hilton know I was new to this, and that I expected him to take care of me, and I would prefer if he felt it questionable that he shoot.

The next day we were up late, as we needed to check the guns and the other guys needed to fly out. Hilton was somewhat amused by my choice of breakfast- a cold bottle of Coke. They still use the old recipe there-no corn syrup- it was wonderful.

I had made the cardinal sin with my .416 Rigby. I had sighted it in carefully with Federal's 400 gr TSX and Trophy bonded Sledgehammer solids- then got a scope bite, and got the new Swarovski EE scope 2 days before leaving. I told Hilton this before I sighted in, so while not impressed, it didn't seem to really worry him when it was not on paper at 50 yards. The .375 was using Federal 300 grain TSX and Sledgehammer solids in their high energy loads. I had perfect performance with all of these throughout, except when I screwed up.

That morning we went and checked the leopard baits and then went looking for Buffalo. We found a large herd that early afternoon. I had a bit of exercise induced asthma that day, so it was a bit of a death march, but after that I had little problem with the walking, but we probably spent more time in the truck than Hilton would have preferred that first 2 days. Once we got on the herd, we snuck up on them and were close enough to hear and smell them, a family group of elephant winded us and blew the stalk. We were able to get close enough to see them but not to shoot, as they would get nervous and bolt off. After about 4-5 attempts, Hilton asked me if I would be interested in shooting a cow for camp meat and bait. I was happy to do this, but the one chance ended up having a young bull get in the way. Here is the herd we chased.



During this long forced march, I didn't realize I had placed the cartridge belt in the wrong spot, and thus really scratched the heck out of my .416's stock. This really irked me, but I guess it will give it character-- at least until I get Dakota to re-finish it. Hunting wear is good, abuse is ugly! We ended the day watching the sun set over the Zambezei Escarpment while looking for Sable



The second day was spent with watching for leopard in the blinds where our bait had been hit in the morning and in the evening.

Here is what some of the terrain looked like in Chewore South.





We also got to see some elephant in the distance. You could not go anywhere without seeing elephant spoor all over the place.



Here is one of the leopard's tracks. The round is a .375 H&H for size.



The 3rd hunting day was 9/11, which did cause me to pause for a moment to think on all those folks. Life is not certain, so do what you want to now, rather than wait. This morning we once again tried to surprise Mr. Spots at dinner. There was a young female on the bait with a male that night, but nothing there when we checked it. We drove over to near where we had seen the herd 2 days ago, and found spoor where they had crossed the road.



We follwed their spoor for about 30 minutes and then they came into view as we scrambled into cover and the whole herd just ambled by us, allowing us to see all of them and pick a bull to hunt. We saw one that Hilton just said "that's him" and we ran off to head them off at the river they were heading for to drink at. We got into position on the far bank just as the herd arrived there. Hilton was rather surprised that the herd bull had gone from the rear of the herd to the front. After some hurried coaching, he put me on the sticks and I shot at the big guy from maybe 75 yards. Hilton thought I had hit him well, but I had shot at the "whole animal" instead of aiming at a point on him. Hilton later noticed this was my problem and taught me not to do this, so later on it was no longer happening. (I admit to newbie mistakes!) I had hit him in the upper back edge of the lung, which probably would have killed him given some time. We stalked up on him where he was lying down and he stood up in some bush and high grass. I could see his back but not his head or hind end. I have rather significant hearing loss, and when Hilton said "he is facing to the right, so don't shoot him in the left!", I of course heard "shoot him in the left" and delivered a second 400 grain TSX to the hindquarters. The Buff did not approve, and started running to the thick river brush. Hilton didn't want to risk a follow up in that, and shot it twice in the rear with his .470, and executed a speed reload with his double. About this time, the buff decided that he was now P.O.'d and turned to give us his full attention. Hilton had stepped in front by this time, and then at about 150 yards put a single shot just above the left eye. I was a little dissappointed that I had messed up and someone else had shot my bull, but also glad that he was down and no one had gotten hurt. He was what I thought looked like a classic Cape Buff. He measured 38.5" with quite deep curls.







We had a marvellous night at the fire that evening with sundowners and tales of many other Buff that Hilton had seen. He didn't seem at all concerned, and if anything I think he was glad that I had told him I would rather he shot than risk anyone trying to get me another shot, likely at close range in the bush. Hilton commented that having been in a charge before, he did not like it, and would rather do without it, and felt that it meant something had been done wrong if you had one.

The following day we tried again for leopard, and once again Mr. Spots didn't show up for the party. Here is a pic of the leopard's tree with bait in it.



We did need to get more meat for leopard bait, and as I had agreed to shoot a cow buff, we tried to get that in the late morning. We came on some spoor and tracked a smaller herd for about an hour. I had a nice shot at a Buff cow at about 50 yards who had allowed herself to get to the edge of the herd where there was no chance of a shoot-through. I had my .375 as I had been intending to shoot leopard when we set out. I shot the cow in the offered neck/spine shot and she dropped at the shot, and twitched a few times. When Muji the head tracker kicked her,she was in spinal shock, and kicked in response. The trackers wanted another bullet in her before dressing her, so Hilton having heard me talk about maybe buying a double, had asked me to put one in her with his .470. I was surprised that the .470 has less perceived recoil than my .416 does.



That evening I was talking to Hilton about other Safari areas and had mentioned that I had thought about maybe doing a hunt where one could get more than one buffalo, as I think I had found my calling. His response was that there would be no problem doing that right then, as they had a left over quota given that someone who had reserved a hunt, but not paid was in default. Hilton got on the radio with the Duckworths right then and we made an agreement over the radio- I was allowed a second Buff bull. I had to pay a bit of a premium, but its only money! We decided that since I had shot a herd bull, the logical thing was to get a Dagga Boy, and experience both kinds of buff hunt.

Here is a flower that I saw out hunting Buffalo. I think its called a Sari Star, but I'm no botanist.



The 5th day was a long day of walking around and early AM and late PM Leopard blind sitting.

The 6th day was a bit of an unusual day. It initially started out with Hilton being a bit upset, as the Game Scout told him in the morning that we had to go back to the game station and have him check in. Apparently the camp manager had (rightly) expected us to have the buff in 4-5 days and that we would be going back to Mokore right after that. We thus got going well before sunup and were at the Parks camp by sunrise, with the game scout trying to get permission for us to continue. His head ranger said it was fine, but according to our scout this guy could be hell on wheels if he felt that he had been slighted. Hilton said that while we were there, we should try and get a Waterbuck, as he knew where they would occasionally hang out by a waterhole. We drove up to the waterhole, and they were there, so we circled around and made a stalk on them. While we were doing this, Muji grabbed me and pointed off to the river. Hilton said "Bushbuck!"and flopped the sticks up. Mark had told me if I got a chance at a Bushbuck, to take it as they are something that is difficult to find. I saw it, saw that it was a male, and shot pretty much at once. It jumped and I did not see where it went. We ran after it, and then found some blood spoor. Unfortunately, the blood spoor was in the wrong direction, and the .375 TSX had passed clean through (with at least a .60 hole on the off side) thus leading the trackers to think he had ran straight away from where I had shot. They tried to find him following that line, and lost the trail. We spent about 1 hour before Muji decided to start at the beginning again, and then they found some more blood and within 15 minutes found him stone dead under a small bush. He was not huge, with a 14" larger horn, but a very pretty animal.



After getting him loaded up, we then went to the main road and stopped to get a bite to eat. (Buffalo cow tongue sandwiches are much better than I thought they would be!) As we were eating, Hilton called his mother to wish her a happy birthday. While we were eating and chatting, John, the 2nd Tracker came up and told Hilton that there was a herd of Eland browsing 75 yards from us. We looked, and sure enough there they were. It took Hilton maybe 20 minutes that seemed MUCH longer to decide if it was shootable. He decided it was a mature bull. All I could see was a brown patch in the brush. Hilton said "That's his shoulder; put the bullet there and he will go down." I fired once and he took one step and fell over. Everyone was ecstatic about the Eland. While the guys were dressing him, it came up that Muji's totem is the Eland; as such he is not supposed to eat them. Hilton thus "graciously" offered to keep the tripe (which he likes) to keep Muji from going to hell. Muji rather dramatically said that he would gladly go to hell for eland tripe. All of the guys got a good laugh out of that. The Eland was 35" and had a nice ruff, even if he was not a classic "Blue Bull"





The poor truck was overfilled with the two animals, and thus we drove back to camp. As we drove by, maybe 2-3 miles from camp we saw a lone Dagga Boy. We stopped and looked at him. He seemed to be pretty old and Hilton told me that he would not move far. We went back to camp and dropped off the animals and had a nice lunch. That afternoon we went to where we saw the bull and tried to follow his spoor. Within an hour, Hilton said that he could see him, and got the sticks up. I did not see him, all I saw was a dirt bank...."That's the Bull!... Shoot!" I felt that I was not going to mess up another bull. I wanted a good shot that I felt was what I wanted. He kept ambling towards us, and at maybe 30 yards I shot him in the neck, and he dropped to the .416 TBSS. I then walked up to him, and put a second in him for insurance. He was MUCH older than the first one, much more worn, but also 38" a great trophy.





This sunset occured as we dressed him. He had Lion scars on his hind end and a belly hernia where he had been gored, a real old warrior. Hilton then told me that I was really foolish for waiting that long, but that he would not argue with the results!



That evening we toasted that old Buffalo and I was much more pleased with how I was doing at that point!

The next day I had decided would be our last at Chewore, as we had gotten the Buffalo, and although I would like to get a Sable and a leopard, I really wanted to get some of the game that I had planned on. I was also to meet up with Mark Young at Mokore when he arrived there. We tried one last crack at the Leopard in the morning, then went over to the river by the Game and Parks station for another crack at Waterbuck. We got to the river and decided to see if they were near the road. As we walked up, we saw a group of Warthog. One was bigger than the rest, and Hilton said that warthogs are cheap and since they were there we should take him, but if we saw a bigger one later we could get him too. We kept low, and eventually we were close, and I shot him with the 375 offhand and he scurried off about 50 yards. He was shot perfectly in the shoulder, and I was rather surprised that the 300 grain TSX did not exit. I did not measure his tusks as they were quite small, but I think warties are neat and it turns out I would not have gotten another later!





Well before we expected to see them, a big buck Waterbuck was standing near the road. Hilton slammed the brakes and told me I would not have a better shot at him, to get out and use the door as a rest, and by god hurry as they were going to run! I know what most of the folks think of shooting from the truck, but I guess I was there and I did it. The hunting gods gave me my comeuppance. As I touched the round off, the rifle shifted on the door. The Waterbuck did not act like he was hit, yet he did not run too far. Hilton and I scurried after them and I lined up on the one I thought was the biggest. Just as I was about to shoot Hilton said to wait; the first one was bigger and he had to be around somewhere. We looked for him, and he was hiding in some brush, with only his neck exposed to a shot. Hilton asked me if I could make the shot; I was on the sticks and I have absolute confidence in that .375. I said yes, and shot. It was a perfect spine shot in the neck, with a instant drop. Our game scout had said that I had not hit him the first time, and Hilton had thought not as well, but when we got him, there was a bullet wound in his right hindquarter, which undoubtedly was why he didn't run far and fast. As he was the herd bull the whole herd just milled around when he didn't leave. He was 28.5" and quite thick horned.




The following morning we got all into the truck and did the 12 hour drive all the way across Zimbabwe. I was introduced to many delightful new curses as Zim truck drivers apparently view the centerline as optional. The little subcompact cop cars look humorous, but the AFV's they use as back-up certainly give pause for thought!

Here is a typical Zim farm vehicle!

Great, honest report with very good pictures. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on some fine trophies.

I will now start with once I got to Mokore. First off, I don't have any pics of the camp itself...a big oversight! This was quite deluxe! We arrived late on the 16th and met with several of the Duckworth clan. In the future, I would not take the drive, while it was interesting, it was long and sometimes frightening- I would say the most scary time on the whole trip- when you see a big 18 wheeler coming on your side with his lane packed with traffic!

We saw many animals as we got on the Save, and the density of game was much higher. I had not seen a single zebra or impala on the Chewore south area; its not a "good" plains game area, even though I did really well. Hilton said I was the luckiest hunter he has seen in many years there. In essence, the game is there, but its few and far between. I had seen some Roan there, and some Kudu, but they were not shootable although there was quota. I had spent in essence 7 days "half-assedly" hunting leopard, and although they were on bait, they were hard to see, and I never had a chance to see one, much less get a shot. Hilton did say the area is excellent for Lion, with them having essentially 100% success, but the quota was god-awful low. We saw a lot of elephant there, with a noctunal bull visiting camp most nights. Apparently he was coming in earlier, but a game scout had shot an AKM over his head thinking he needed to be driven off. He never came with enough light for me to get a picture of him.

I was also a little late for even bigger game!



There is an area where some theodont dinosaurs left a trail in the sandstone up in Chewore. Quite cool, and my little nieces and nephew thought this was the best picture!


Anyhow, on to Mokore!

There were fewer shortages in the Mokore camp. I got the last bottle of Zambezi beer they had at Chewore, and had to make do with either Miller genuine draft, or Gin and Tonic. I'm not a beer snob, but the Zambezi and the Castle were much better than the MGD. Mokore had a much better selection of beer and soda, as well as some stuff like fresh veggies and fruit. I would not think we really had a hardship in either place, but it was better in the south.

On my 9th day (the 17th) we were told to go and try and get my Zebra over at a local concession. I wanted 2 zebra, as my sister wanted one, and you need one to "pimp your ride" according to my co-workers. We went looking, and spent the day at trying to get a Zebra or Kudu over there. We saw plenty, but they did not stick around long enough to get a shot. I did have a good shot at a Wildebeeste, but at the time, we did not know we had quota available there. I did get some good pics and a bad picture of a pair of Black Rhino that had been de-horned (I know what it is, but you can't tell from the picture!)

Hippo and Croc



The Mokore Buff Herd



I had a number of shots at Giraffe, but I was not really interested in them.



I also got to see what I was told is the oldest tree in Zimbabwe, a @4000 year old Baobob. I saw a number of times when a highway was divided because there was a Baobob in the way! I'm 6 ft and about 300# so this should give an idea of the size of this tree!



The next day, having been informed by Neil Duckworth that there was more quota available over on the ranch we had hunted on, we went back for a rematch with the Zebra, and Kudu. I also found we could shoot Warties and Wildebeeste there as well. Unfortunately we could not shoot Eland, as they were all over the place there. Just before we left Chewore I got to have Eland Fillets on a Brai and I am sure there is no better food in heaven!, so I was more than willing to have another go with them!

We finally got a skittish group of Zebra to stand still long enough for me to get a shot. I put it a little too far back and it started running in the herd. I could not tell which one it was, so the follow up was Hilton sitting on top of the truck as I drove along the herd, until he slapped for us to stop for a shot. He fired 4 rounds of .375 into it as well, those buggers are tough! We could not tell which shot did what, but I think I jerked it into the belly. They did recover the bullet later, and it was a perfect mushroom, so it was me, not the gun/ammo.



As the day went on, we also tried to find a Wildebeeste, and eventually I got a 300 yard shot at one that I turned down. We then tried to get closer, and finally got to maybe 200 yards of one. Hilton later told me he thought it was mature, but a little small, but when we got it he was very old with very worn horns. He was quite tough also, as I put 1 375 TSX and 2 TBSS into his sholder before he fell. All 3 shots were at 200 yards and were within 2 inches- not too bad for field shooting for me.



The next day Hilton wanted to get a particular Impala, as he was rather funny looking, and was staying close to camp. We shot him off the Mokore airstrip.



His horns were 22" but rather close together. The rest of the day was spent in pursuit of the Kudu. This was my tough-luck animal for the trip, unless you count the Leopard, but I did not as I had not intended to hunt Leopard then. We spent a fair amount of time looking, without luck. At one point we had a maybe 25 yard encounter with a 30# Elephant Bull. Here is a picture of a bull that I think was the same guy, althoug I did not take it then, as we were a little too close then. I did have the saftey off on him, but he was a good elle and wanted about as much to do with us as we did with him!



The next day we again tried to get a Kudu, but ran into Impala. I decided I wanted a typical one also, and although he was not as big, he looked bigger to me until we put the tape on him he was 19"



We spent some time at the old copper mine which Hilton said was being re-activated by the government; apparently all the safari operators in the Save are upset by this, but the government needs the money. I also mentioned Jimmy to him. He seemed rather surprised I had heard of him, and as his wife works for the Whitalls, offered to let me meet the little guy! Of course, I could not resist meeting him, and I will probably never get to touch a Black Rhino again! Jimmy took his usual dim view of men with me and when his companion tried to mount him while I was petting him, he tried to gore me in the groin with his horn! I kind of saw this coming and put all my weight on my hand to stop him, but he picked me up and moved me a few feet- he was strong already!



While we were hunting Kudu we came across a wild White Rhino also- he wasn't concerned we were there, but I don't think he would have been as friendly as Jimmy either! Maybe 50 yards away.



We also came across what we thought was a lion kill, as there were some lionesses feeding who ran off when we came up. After a while we decided to look at it, and it turned out it was a wildebeeste that had been snared- and we had been hunting there the day before!



I was not fast enough to get a picture of the lioness though!

The next day was a bit scary. Here in Minnesota, we had a Governor who in an election said "Until you have hunted man you have not hunted at all!" He was a self righteous fellow, but now I can say, been there, done that, didn't care for it! We were looking for Kudu, and all the sudden Muji hit the roof of the truck- the usual signal for an animal. We all bailed out and followed him on the trail. After about 30 minutes of fast walking, Hilton tells me, "If you see him, shoot over his head!" "What?!" is my artless reply, "why would I do that?" He quietly says "poachers!" I then get a real bad feeling!... We came across a stick as well as some tracks. Hilton calls in Roger Whitall's game scouts, and we get back to what I wanted to do...

Cops and Soldiers have my thanks, but I think they are a bit crazy!

Later on I fanally see a Kudu bull! We had came across several, but I usually did not see them until way too late, including one real monster. This one was according to Hilton, shootable, but a bit immature. My response was to let him go, and let him get bigger. Hilton was a little surprised as this was the first animal I had turned down, but I had told him I wanted mature animals, so a "borderline" one was a no-go. Besides, I had already done quite well. No fewer than 15 minutes later another Kudu jumps up in front of us, runs maybe 50 yards and stops. Hilton says "That's your Kudu!" so I take him. He is not the biggest one I saw, but was the only one that gave me a shot. He measured 51", so not huge, but still was a tough hunt for me.





As we were finshing up with dressing the Kudu, and get him in the truck, a herd of zebra walk on the road. I see them, and shoot the lead stallion in the shoulder. He runs maybe 25 yards and falls.



While we are getting him in the truck I hear some almost doglike barking. I look around to see if Supi the Mokore tracking dog is with us, and its not her. I'm getting a little surprised, and Hilton tells me that its the Zebra mares calling for the stallion I shot. I was quite surprised that they made that sound!

When we get back in to camp, I find that Mark Young had arrived from his trip, and was hunting at Mokore now. I think he put his report in earlier, take a look at it!

The following day I spent hunting Francolin, Dove and Guinea Fowl for the pot, and then we looked for a Bushbuck (the other was a Chobe, they had Cape or common at Mokore) and a big Warthog. We saw some Baboon, but Hilton felt shooting them was bad luck, and honestly, I didn't feel like shooting an ape at the time.

The last day of hunting was 9/23, and we spent it looking for the big warthog. At the end of the day we saw him and I had a crack at him, but I just couldn't take a trotting shot at him. I probably could have hit, but I could not be sure of dropping him, so I backed off. Unfortunately it was almost sunset by then and we were unable to run him down before daylight left.



That evening we had a send off for me, and it was rather bittersweet, leaving my new friends and having to head back to work!

The picure shows (l to r) Raye Nichols, Hilton, myself, Sadie and Mark Young



I really enjoyed the trip and have already put down a deposit with Mokore for 09, so I can't think of anything more positive to say!

cb

Excellent first hunt, your Buffalo and Bush buck are great. Well done

Very nice hunt report. For a first time over trip you did very well! Are you getting a shoulder mount of your eland? He's quite colorful and looks like it would be an attractive mount.

Great honest report. Thanks for taking the effort to post al the photo's it looks like you had a great time.

I'm very jealous!!

Rgds,
FB

Well done. I really enjoyed the report.
Bill

Thanks for the report, I only hope do do the same myself soon.

Charles,

I really have enjoyed working with you. Nice report.

Mark

Very nice report, thanks.

Charles-

You showed a great amount of self discipline and knowledge for a "newbie". Very well done and thanks so much for your report. I assume you are now thinking, "how do I get back to Africa by next year?"

John

Thanks for making such a detailed report - I hope to do something very similar next year.

cb
A remarkably successful Hunt! Congratulations. Excellent Report and super Picts. That second buff is one to really be proud of.

Thanks guys and gals

I really enjoyed the whole experience, and have probably been bugging my friends too much about the whole thing.

I still have to save up for the taxidermy bill, so I'm not quite sure what to do with which one... I will have to talk to them about that one!

cb

Excellent report Charles and some fine trophies! We have some outstanding African game Taxidermists right here on AR. If you looking in the Taxidermy forum, you can research who and where they are located. You can also visit some web sites to get ideas. Good hunting, David K.

CR thanks for the report, great group of trophys and that's the nicest piece of wood I've seen on a Dakota. As the other poster said good honest report. When your bag is as large as yours was something almost always goes astray.

very nice first hunt,keep it up,cheers

great report -thanks and congrats

Thanks for sharing! What a great way to start your African career.. Three buffs and a variety of PG!! Nice pics also.

Great report and gald to see you had a good time.

I must be getting soft. I hate those after effects of shooting a zebra.

Great report, great pictures, thanks for sharing all of the good, bad, and ugly things that happened, which happen to all of us at one time or another on mixed DG and PG hunts. Great waterbuck, and those are some beautiful Dakota rifles you have, enjoy.

Dirk

Many thanks for the great report and photos!

Enjoyed your report and your pics.

Really enjoyed your documentary. Beautiful tropies too. Love to talk more. I am living in Minneapolis and am booked for Zimbabwe this July.

cb
Your tale of the zebra chase reminded me of my zebra hunt in Botswana. After an illadvised (off balance and through some brush)shot at a zebra, we found a blood trail and my PH utterred those words of doom "you hit him hard, he won't go far". We spent the rest of the day tracking, stalking and flushing that zebra. After the last busted stalk, as the sun was going down, the PH whistled up the truck, and said "climb on and get ready to shoot". Off we went chasing and then catching the herd. Over, around, and trough the brush, until he slammed on the brakes and I flew up and he yelled "shoot!". Finally I got smart, pretended I had a shotgun and used some lead. In short order I had my zebra. I still don't know weather I was exhilarated or terrified. One thing I do know, I'll never take another shot that I don't feel good about. I pray.

TerryR

Well done on a great hunt. and there is very few hunter that admit when they shot a bad shot. it is how you fix it that makes the differnce you earned your stripes in the way you handled it.

my dad always said that a hunter that has not wounded has not hunted alot yet. you get 2 types
1. the hunter that wounded a animal
2. the hunter that stil has to wound

once again Well done

Great report and the photos add much.

I would like to have that Baobob tree for my back yard. I don't think I have the time to grow one myself.

Larry

Looks like a wonderful trip! Congratulations on your trophies.

Great report on a great hunt. Gotta love it when a guy is honest with himself and everyone else. Too many "internet perfect" hunts and shots posted to represent the real world of hunting. We are all imperfect and not every stalk of shot is going to be perfect either.

Thanks,

JPK