I just returned on Monday from a ten day hunt with PH Shaun Buffee in the Bubye Valley Conservancy in Southern Zimbabwe. In my opinion, the Bubye is one of the finest, most tightly controlled and run conservancies in all of Africa. I had the chance to personally inspect and view many of the aspects relative to the administration of the BVC, and I can assure you that everything is tracked, inventoried, and controlled in a most professional manner, including game management, as well as the natural resources which make up the Bubye. I had hunted there in 2012 with PH Martin Nel and wanted to experience the Bubye again this year with Shaun. Dangerous game and plains game are plentiful and the available trophies are outstanding. I had the opportunity to hunt and take Cape Buffalo, Zebra, Hyena, African Wild Cat, Impala, Warthog, Chobe Bushbuck and Honey Badger. There were plenty of other plains game as well for the taking if one had the desire to do so. Bird hunting one afternoon was a great diversion for me, and helped me prepare for some night hunting for the Honey Badger. I used my Searcy 450-400 double rifle and my custom Winchester Model 70 375 H&H for this hunt. The following are pics of the trophies taken: Some other pics from the trip: This picture got a chuckle out of all of us going through Bulawayo: One final buff pic with my videographer Danielle Stewart:

Some very nice trophies UEG! Looks like you had a great time judging by the smile.

Well done, great photos of very nice trophies.
It's nice to hear things are being done well someplace in Zim.

AWESOME!!!
Im glad you had a great time!!!

Nice trophies and report.

Beautiful bull and bushbuck, there!

Excellent trophies. Congrats on another great hunt - jealous of the honey badger!

Superb trophies - well done!

Thanks so much everyone. The bull is 41.5 inches wide with a nice drop and 16 inch bosses. Here's a couple more photos of the buff: Tim: Shaun has the "honey hole" for honey badger. Frank: The chobe was 15.5 inches. A nice old bushbuck ram.

Congrats on a fine hunt. Thanks for sharing the report.

Thanks Mike. I thoroughly enjoyed your latest report with Buzz and the boys.

I like the sign of circumcision at the " One eye clinic "
Jay Leno would love that one
Nice trophies dude

Yeah, you go in to have your eyes checked and come out with a little less skin down below. Maybe it cures those experiencing near sightedness!

Well done.

Enjoyed the post.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Yeah, you go in to have your eyes checked and come out with a little less skin down below. Maybe it cures those experiencing near sightedness!

Yeah Vaughn that signage was funny as heck...great capture!!!

You just threw gas on the fire, 20 days and I will be there. What camp did you stay in ? Thanks for the report.

Randy: I stayed at Nengo camp, but I have visited all of the camps in the Bubye. There is not a bad camp anywhere there! I'm sure that you will enjoy every minute of your safari!

Proper wartie and bushbuck!

Outstanding Trophies!- Congratulations

Great photos! The BVC is spectacular, and Shaun is a great PH. Thanks for sharing!

How many lion did you see?

quote:

Originally posted by Greg Brownlee:
Great photos! The BVC is spectacular, and Shaun is a great PH. Thanks for sharing!

How many lion did you see?

How many elephant and buffalo did you see ?

Congrats Vaughn on a fantastic safari!

A grand old buff and I'm sure you enjoyed getting to take a picture with this honey badger, with the slight mishap on the one last year.

Well done and congrats again!!!

Thanks again. Greg: Lion were seen on a regular basis both day and night. Had two of them come charging into my predator call one evening, right up to the truck, flipping their tails and growling. Very cheeky fellows, for sure. You did not get off of the truck, day or night, without your rifle in hand. Last night we had at least one lion walk right through camp. Never left any trophies at the skinning shed unattended or not locked up. Safari2: We also saw elephant and buffalo every day. Had we been hunting buffalo steady, I'm sure that we would have been seeing many, many more. All: For a 30 year old PH, Shaun has the hunting acumen and experience of a PH much much older than that. A pleasure to hunt with such a great PH. Graybird: This year the honeybadger was DRT.

UEG,

Nice trophies! You the hyena and honey badger shootin' Man.

Mark

Thanks Mark!

UEG:

Spectacular buff and love the honey badger too! That's a unique trophy!

Do you have any pics of your camp?

Thanks for sharing!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Awesome buff! Congratulations!

Vaughn,
Congratulations on an outstanding safari and a superb buffalo! The old Lemco/BVC is a special place and I can think of no better PH to guide you through it than Mr. Buffee! Well done, my friend.

Well done sir! Great trophies!

quote:

Originally posted by Greg Brownlee:
Great photos! The BVC is spectacular, and Shaun is a great PH. Thanks for sharing!

How many lion did you see?

+1

Greg you mean how many WILD Lion did you see ?!

Not quite sure what you're getting at, but they're all WILD my friend. Just happen to be living inside the huge Bubye Valley Conservancy perimeter fence, like the Save. They eat what they kill-including nearly every species of animal on the BVC, breed and reproduce naturally, form coalitions of males, walk and go wherever they please, etc. Many studies are being and have been conducted on the lion and leopard populations on the BVC by Oxford University doctoral students. I'll post pics of Nengo camp shortly.

Wonder how many Lions (Area size / Lion Shoot) where taken each year in prime Zim (Matetsi) or Western Tanzania hunting blocks compare to the BVC. In the Wild you cant take 7-8 Trophy lions (6years or older) each year in 450000 ha
Just wonder

Russell and jorge: Thanks! Russell: Shaun says to give you his best regards. As to lion, I do know that they have a strict quota in the Bubye on lion and they do not shoot any male lions younger than 6 years old. For more detailed information, I would suggest that you might contact PHs Shaun Buffee, Martin Nel, John Sharp, Brent Hein, Pete Ficke, or the conservancy manager Blondie Leatham. If one thinks that he'll go in and shoot a lion without any problem, he would be sadly mistaken. While I was there, PHs John Sharp and Ade Langley both failed to shoot lion with their clients and they hunted their asses off. Shaun recently had a client shoot his lion and it was 9 years old with two broken teeth. I saw the skull in the skinning shed. I also know that other PHs are invited from time to time to hunt the BVC and there is a long list of PHs wanting to hunt there. Quotas, age, size, conservancy rules and regulations are all strictly followed and those PHs who choose to violate any of those are banned by Blondie from ever hunting there again. D. Nelson: Here are some pics of Nengo Camp:

Beautiful place. Have a leopard hunt scheduled with Shaun next May. Can't wait

UEG;

Looks pretty rustic

I should be in Bubye in 41 days, but I'm not excited or counting days!!!

Your report has certainly NOT added to my excitement!

Thanks for posting the pics!

Best regards, D. Nelson

They have any lioness tags yet? That place looks fabulous!

Shikaribabu and D. Nelson: You are some fortunate hunters!!! Wish I could go back with you!!! tendrams: No lioness tags have been issued. I was originally due to hunt lioness, but you know who screwed that one up. The Bubye decided not to issue the tags due to the ongoing indecision on lion by the USFWS. Same governmental entity that screwed up elephant importation from Zim and Tanz.

What a great hunt. Nice trophies. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations UEG on a great safari.

Some truly fine trophies you took on this hunt. Great bushbuck and that honey badger...

The camp looks very inviting - dinner with a view every night! Fine photos all.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, hunting the Bubye Valley.

Jytte

Thanks Jytte. The Bubye is truly one of the great hunting destinations in all of Southern Africa, and PH Shaun Buffee one of the very best in the business.