Area : Sengwa Research
Operator: Mokore Safaris
Cleint : Tom
PH : Neil Duckworth
Dates: 12 -21 May 2015
Animals hunted : 2 Buffalo bulls, Waterbuck ,Eland , Impala , Civet , Zebra and birds.

This was to be Tom's second hunt with me, the first was in C9 in Mozambique. This time his goal was 2 buffalo bulls. Due to some delays Tom missed his connecting flight to Vic Falls so only arrived on the afternoon of the first hunting day.




Shortly after landing we collected a Parks scout ,checked the rifles at the range and then headed out.

First priority for Tom was fridge meat. He wanted to eat what he shot so set out for a walk for Impala or warthog mainly. It was not long before I spotted a small herd of Waterbuck and Zebra grazing. The herd bull was a beauty so we went after him . With some crawling on our hands and knees we managed to get past the Zebra and into position. The bull was quartering towards us at 80 yards , Tom misread the angle and hit a bit back ,after a fairly short follow up we got him down.
A magnificent bull measuring 31 inches and SCI score of 82 ". We took photos and called for the truck.






After loading the waterbuck we continued our search for an impala. It wasn't long before we heard a ram rutting, we got within 150 yards and Tom put him down.
Not a bad start for the first 2 hours of hunting.

The next morning we were out early in search of buffalo. We got onto a big herd and worked them for about 5 hours. Eventually we got a nice clear shot on a good dagga boy at 60 meters. One shot and he was down, perfect through the heart. We loaded this and headed back.







Whilst waiting for Tom's plane to land on the first day I noticed a big dagga boy had been feeding frequently on the airstrip. So on day 3 we were there early ,followed him for several hours from the strip but he went into a no shooting area near the camp. For the next few days we worked this very clever old bull but he either saw us ,smelt us or crossed into the no shooting area.

On the tracks of the elusive dagga boy.









In between chasing him we took a walk down the Lutope river in search of Africa's greatest steak, Eland.

After a couple hours we picked up fresh tracks of a large herd of 50 plus eland. We followed for a short while and came up on them but with many eyes in the Jesse it was not easy. Luckily the flushed out of the Jesse into some more open Acacia country. We eventually got in position and after a couple shots we had a nice 35 " Eland down . Tom had plenty of good camp meat now.





After the eland and continuously getting whipped by the lone dagga boy we changed tactics and tried a herd of buffalo.

We had seen buffalo everywhere so it was not long before we found a herd of 100 plus in the Matekenya vlei. As it was still early all you could see were there backs in the long grass from a vantage point.




We waited for them to move to slightly more open country as visibility in the long grass was often down to the end of your barrel!!

After several hours we were closing in on a nice old bull. Tom was on the sticks with him standing broadside in the shade at 40 meters for about 10 minutes but could not shoot as there was a calf blocking the vitals. Eventually the calf moved and Tom put in a good heart , lung shot. The bull went 20 yards and was down.
A beautiful old timer!







After this we spent the rest of our time shooting birds for the pot .






Tom also picked up a nice Zebra after a painful 300 meter stalk in the open.




We also took several walks looking for bushbuck ,saw several but never got a shot due to the thick bush early season. Whilst on one of these walks we bumped a big Civet cat which Tom put down with his 7 x 57.






All in all it was a good hunt ,saw lots of game, chased dagga boys in thick bush and picked up some nice trophies.

The Sengwa gorge ,some buffalo and view point.








I hope you enjoy the report.

Great report and pics, and congrats on a magnificent waterbuck and som very nice dagga boys!

It's nice to see how green the bush is at this time of year as opposed to how it was there (Chirisa) in September


Torbjorn

Great report and photos. Huge waterbuck and great Dagga Boys. Thanks for a great hunt report.

Congrats on your excellent hunt.

Wonderful safari! Thank you for sharing.

Everyone is getting a civet cat, I want one in the worst way!

Awesome hunt, congrats. I will never tire of that view of the vlei from the hill. Sengwa is a neat place.

Great trophies and beautiful pictures, I enjoyed reading the report.

Sengwa is a magic place - miss it!! Nicely done gentlemen!

Nice report and some great pictures. Great hunt.

Good stuff and still very green.

Well done.

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:
Nice report and some great pictures. Great hunt.

Rick - isn't this where you are going to hunt in a few weeks?

Yes - enjoyed the report

Must visit some day


Morten

Fantastic water buck and safari - congrats and thanks for sharing.

Neil,

Very nice! Congrats to Tom and you.

Mark

Very nice!

Definitely an area I'd like to hunt someday.

I remember climbing the mountain and seeing the Elephants down in the forest below. I have photos of the Sengwa gorge here somewhere as well.

Well done. Always great to see a pair of buff on the menu. Interesting rifle... don't see many single shots for DG in the field. Any details on it? Thanks!

Bravo - congrats !

Well done guys looks like you had an awesome hunt

Very well done!

Neil

That last photo took me back. Vivid recall of watching a lion wake up on the sand. I should have asked Gary what Matekenya meant, but at the time I was certain it meant many elephant. Wonderful place! Congrats on a great hunt.

Brett

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

Wow! Great report. I wish I could do a hunt like that - buffalo, PG, birds & a Civet!

Neil

Great report as we have come to expect from you. Looking forward to more reports from Sengwa, Mokore and C9!

Great report and hunt. Sengwa Research is a great area and the Duckworths are good stewards of the land.

Great trophies and I loved seeing the photos which brought back great memories of the area. Phil was right about Sengwa Research being a magical place. One of those few places on Earth that I started missing even before I left.

Great job, Neil. Congrats to you and Tom. Can't wait to get back.

Well Done! Thanks for posting.

Very well done.!!!

Nice pictures and a great report.

Details about the single rifle please.

Not sure on exact details of Tom's single shot. It's a custom built 450 No.2 .It certainly did the job, 2 shots ,2 buffalo.

Lovely Hunt!

Well done, Sengwa looking good

Quality buff, quality area and quality PH. Well done!

I am wondering if the single shot rifle is one of Butch's stalking rifles? Certainly not one of Ralf's or a Farqharson actioned English piece...

Nicely done Gents.

Where's your double Neil?

Well done on the hunt and nicely written report.

Very nice report, thanks for posting. Well done.

Mandla I've upgraded to an original 505 Gibbs so not using the double anymore. The 505 was my dad's but I've claimed it now! That's what sons are for.

When you hunt with Mr. Duckworth you will spend many many miles with a good view of that 505 Gibbs.

I did not know you could drive up the kopjes in Sengwa until the end of the hunt. I believe Neil made me walk up to keep me from talking too much.

Very well done. I quite like the zebra picture and may have to borrow that style too. Thanks.