I have had a few folks PM me about my Zimbabwe hunt, so I suppose I should get my butt in gear and write the hunt report.

Hunt Dates: June 16-30 2009
Outfitter: Mokore Safaris
Agent: Mark Young of Adam Clements Safari Trackers
Travel Agent: Shawn Kennedy of Gracy Travel
Rifles Used: Dakota Arms 76 African .416 Rigby loaded with Federal Cape Shok 400 grain TBBC and TBSH Solids
Dakota Arms 76 Safari .375 H&H loaded with Federal High Energy 300 grain TBBC
Airlines: Northwest (Minneapolis to Chicago) British Airways (Chicago to Johannesburg) South African (Johannesburg to Harare)

This hunt was originally planned back in 2007 when I got back from my first hunt with Mokore. I had spent about 7 days hunting Leopard on the first hunt and decided that I really wanted a Leopard. With this in mind, Mark and I tried everything to get the odds in my favor. We scheduled it early in the season during the dark of the moon, on private property so that we wouldn't have to hope that the cat would come in during "shooting hours", with an outfit that I was both familiar with and had a excellent record on Leopards (historically over 90% success.) Furthermore I would get to hunt again with my good friend Hilton Nichols who I had such good luck with on my first hunt!

I utilized the services of Shawn at Gracy Travel, and she was always helpful for the whole trip.

I left on this adventure on the afternoon of June 12 from the Minneapolis International Airport, to get to Chicago where I could get on the British flight. Unfortunately, the ticket agents "insisted" on checking my bags all the way through Johannesburg, and as such I had a 2 hour period of dealing with British to get the guns on the plane, as they "have" to check them on themselves. Fortunately, I knew this and told them up front, and everything arrived where it needed to go on the way out, even if it did take a lot of standing around and apologizing for the hassle. The only other outbound issue was that as has become my experience, South African Airlines' flight to Harare never has adequate carry on space, and every time (well both!) I have had to check my carry on. I did utilize a charter service in Zimbabwe and they were very helpful with the airport, meeting me at the arrivals desk and getting me through everything in the Harare airport (including no standing in lines!) I will note that as the UK has a "Arms Embargo" on Zimbabwe, you cannot directly get guns to Harare on British, and that is why I had to get on SAA in Johannesburg along with a transit gun permit.

I arrived on June 15th at Mokore late in the afternoon, and I was to get settled into camp and then we would go and check the rifles out. I had brought a bunch of medicines and items that Hilton could not find in Zimbabwe with me, and it seems that the TSA folks opened my bag without calling me, and did not pay attention to how things were packed. The pill bottles had been shattered and all of the pills were loose in my bag, with a number being pulverized. I told Hilton, and was about to throw them all out, but he objected, and said even the broken pills (mostly Ibuprofen) "were better than nothing!"

We then went out to the airstrip and using the truck as a bench got to zeroing the rifles. I will say that zeroing a .416 off a sandbag from the hood of a Ford Ranger is not a shoulder pleasing experience! I had used Talley QD mounts and had taken the scopes off for travel, and while both were a little off, it wasn't too bad, and nothing was dinged up. It took 6 shots with the .416 to get it where I wanted, and the .375 was a little better, but as it was the designated cat gun, Hilton wanted it "nuts on" at 100 yards, so it took 5 shots, with the last 2 touching to get this up to his standards.

That evening, I got to meet the other Mokore clients that were in camp. Rusty and Marcia, hunting with Neil Duckworth, were a husband and wife that were hunting Buffalo, and Chase, their 18 year old son was hunting with Gary Duckworth for Leopard. The young man had a spectacular hunt, getting a almost 63" Kudu, and pretty much everything else on quota, but with no luck on the Leopard. Rusty had most everything he wanted in the salt by this time and was just enjoying himself at the end here, taking a last few plains game trophies.

Hunting day 1 June 16 2009

We got started at 5AM. It was a little chilly, in the mid 40's with a good breeze when we were gotten up. I was surprised to see (I guess being from Minne-snow-ta) that all of the black staff were wearing what I think of as winter parkas and full length insulated coveralls, as were Gary and Neil. Hilton was his usual self with a battered old fleece jacked and shorts, and while a bit cool, as long as I stayed out of the breeze I was comfortable in my hunting clothes with a lightweight fleece jacket. I had Hilton do some prebaiting, and was told we had 3 female Leopard already on bait! We went and checked our baits and indeed, there were still 3 females on bait. I needed to refresh 3 baits the first day, and we went out and started shooting Impala. The bush was very thick and green, and even shooting Impala became a bit of an exercise from the car. In the afternoon we spent several hours chasing Buffalo.

Early season Bush.
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The bush was much thicker and greener than I remembered from last time, and it was full of things of varying malignity, Jesse Thorn, Buffalo Bean, and "Wait a Bit" thorn. I ended up getting scratches on pretty much any exposed skin. You guys who hunt in shorts are nuts!

June 17

We again checked baits and needed to whack 2 more Impala. Even the girl cats will eat a heck of a lot of meat. In the morning we went on a good walk to try and ambush a Waterbuck that Hilton and Mudzi, his chief tracker knew about. Unfortunately, Mr. Buck was not home. We also followed a Buffalo herd that skipped across the concession boundary that morning. Additionally, we got to see a big Black Rhino marking his territory on the far side of the river, maybe 100 yards away. The conservancy is moving some Rhino around right now as there has been too much poaching on the south side, and maybe that was why we saw so many of them, I ended up seeing 3 different Black Rhino this hunt.

Black Rhino
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In the afternoon, we spent some time looking for Sable Antelope and Nyala without luck, but did find some good Dagga Boy tracks that needed following the next day. On the way out to the area we came across a truly monstrous sized Warthog and promptly got on him. I had heard Hilton constantly chattering in the background, "You will have only one chance!" and felt that I needed to make a good shot. Finally as he stood still, I heard what he was really saying, "He only has one tusk!" and called it off. It was a good adrenalin surge, and Hilton got a laugh out of how I keep mishearing him, but fortunately I did not take a "cull" warthog as a trophy! "I thought maybe you really wanted him!"

June 18

After checking bait again first thing, and finding the females only still there, we got on the Dagga Boy's track and followed him through some of the worst bush he could find. After about 4 hours, Hilton got a quick look at him as we bumped him, and reported that he was somewhere between 37" and 39" with a good helmet. I had told Hilton that I was not too concerned about spread, but wanted an old Buffalo. This guy seemed to meet the bill, and we kept on him. He got bumped again, and Hilton called it off, hoping to let him calm down a bit. We went back after him in the afternoon and followed him for 3 more hours but he also took a walk across the boundary into Humani Ranch. As we drove back to camp, we flushed a Bushpig, but it was too late to put a stalk on him.

June 19, Hunt day 4

On the morning we again found evidence of 2 females and one of them had a juvenile male with her. We needed to put more bait up, so 2 more Mara (Impala) donated their lives for the cause. We also took a little time to inspect the old copper mine on the concession we were hunting. There are a bunch of old abandoned whitewashed buildings that are falling apart, and an old black mine shaft. You see a lot of bright green rock about which was what they were mining. The shaft is open, and you could walk right in, but Hilton is a bit claustrophobic, and I hate snakes, so we just looked at the outside. After the bait were resolved, we again took after a Buffalo herd. These guys we got close enough to that I could hear their stomachs and smell them, but did not see them. They also ended up going across the boundary, although they were in no hurry. By this time, Hilton and Mudzi were quite exasperated with the concession boundary thing. The animals kept moving because of the wind I was later told, and we (I) just were unable to get in front of them without the wind letting them catch us. That afternoon, as we are looking for more tracks we see a really old bull from the truck peering myopically at us. Hilton takes a quick look at him as we drive by. We get maybe 300 yards downwind from him and Hilton lays out the plan, saying he's a really old bull, if a bit narrow. Hilton has always told me to use softs for herd Buffalo and solids on Dagga Boys, as he likes the extra penetration. We head off and get to within 40 yards of him. He is looking at is, and I get on the sticks. I think its a classic frontal shot, but it turns out he is very slightly quartering. I shoot right under the chin, which end up being slightly to his left. He staggers and then bolts. A second buffalo runs off behind him, and we hear him crash through some bush. Within a minute we hear the death bellow and the guys are all smiles. We take no chances on the approach and take about 15 minutes, but Hilton tells me to check him, so I think they all knew he was out. He has no corneal reflex, and I get to examine my bull. Hes a but narrow and broomed, but quite old with at least 12" bosses and all kinds of Lion scars and his ears show the tattering of many a fight. Later on in camp, Barrie Duckworth called him a "True War Vet" and really thought the bosses were good. I did not get the bullet recovered, but it did not penetrate through the buffalo. His heart was wrecked and the chest cavity was full of blood, the spleen punctured, and the bullet was in his intestines somewhere.

Buffalo

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http://i256.photobucket.com/al...rbutler/IMG_1170.jpg

That evening, Shayle (Neil's wife), Barrie and Bertie Duckworth arrived in camp, and had a story about a particularly irritable Black Rhino that almost wrecked their truck as they came in as it refused to back down, and took them on a merry chase in reverse for a while. That evening, we had these giant Eland T bones for supper, and only Rusty was able to finish one.

The next morning we were away at first light again. I will note that in comparison to the hunt in Chewore 2 years ago, we were getting up later, as we did not have to drive for 45 minutes to get to where we could start hunting, but were actually starting our day at about the same time. While we checked baits I almost got a chance at a Klipspringer. I could not see him from the ground, but the guys in the truck saw him scrunched up against the ground. Eventually he got away, and we continued on the Leopard Quest. We saw a number of Kudu, but they were all in the low 50's as far as size was concerned, and unless I could get a much bigger trophy than I shot before, I was content to let these majestic animals be. In the afternoon we tried to ambush a Waterbuck in the river bed. We went on a long walk, and while we saw plenty of Lion tracks, as well as Waterbuck, Zebra, and Impala tracks, we did not see any animals. This was Chase's last day, and that evening he ambushed a baited Bushpig. I was told that evening that we would be taking over Chase's baits and the new guys coming would take what I had put up, as it would allow me to hunt the Leopard closer to where I needed to be for my Sable and Nyala.

June 21

Today we go out to inspect our new baits. We see some Tom Leopard tracks, but not on a bait. 2 of the baits needed refreshing, and we want another near the tracks, so more Impala are shot. While we are out driving around checking bait, we see a Black Martial Eagle, which has reportedly been feeding on Baboon in the area. He is a very big bird, and sat still long enough for me to get some photos.

Black Martial Eagle

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Monday, June 22 Hunt day 7

Today we get some "response" on one of our baits. While he doesn't feed, we have a Tom who walked under one of them last night by tracks. This again causes a need for bait, and 2 more Impala get shot and hung in a tree.

Leopard Tracks

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Later on in the morning, we find some Sable Antelope tracks and follow them for the rest of the morning. When we finally catch up with them, it ends up being a Sable cow with a youngster in tow. Unfortunately, the bush is too thick for me to get a photo before they wander off. As we go on back to camp after the long walk, we come across a Bushbuck. He has a deformed horn, and Hilton is eager to get him as he has never seen a Bushbuck with a deformed horn. He is quite old with the dark mature coat, and the decision is made that he is a good specimen. We stalk up to him, maybe 100 yards and he is hiding in a tangle of bush, browsing along. I suspect with his deformed horn, he is somewhat used to being bypassed by hunters, but nevertheless I put him down with one shot. I never turn down a Bushbuck!

Bushbuck

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That evening, we once again make a walk looking for Waterbuck, and although we see a few females, there are no Bucks. Mudzi made the comment to me that this is very strange and we are not seeing animals where he is used to seeing them, and the fact that we are really seeing nothing on our walks really is unusual to him. He says we are not making much noise, the wind has been in the right direction, and it just isn't normal. To date, all of the animals I have shot have been spotted from the truck, not the usual track then spot techniques that Mudzi usually has done.

June 23

Today the new hunters are due in camp, although I do not meet them really this day. Apparently they were delayed by a hail storm in Chicago and loose 2 hunting days because of the flight delays. We plan on eating supper at Hilton's home with his wife, Rae. It turns out, this does not happen. We go out to check baits, and find that a big male has chased off a small male feeding on one of our baits. Hilton immediately makes a plan, and since there is an old blind there, Hilton decide we will spruce it up and sit in it tonight for the Leopard. We set up his Bionic Ear and get a rest ready for the rifle. We shot another Impala to keep the cats interested, and hang it up in the tree. At about 7 PM Hilton hears a cat feeding. As I'm pretty hard of hearing, I hear nothing, but he gestures for me to get on the gun. He hits the light, and I see the Leopard! I immediately pick a rosette and await the word. No word. I start looking at the cat, and it really doesn't look like a big tom, and I start trying to see if I can find balls on it. No go. She seems to be unconcerned and keeps eating. Hilton turns off the light. We wait maybe a half hour, and turn it on again. Same cat. We pick up quietly and head to camp. Hilton says on the ride back that we made a mistake in using the blind because we could not see the base of the tree. He felt that the male may have been sitting there, and that's why the female acted like she did, he thought she was looking at the base of the tree. We get in to camp at 9 PM and grab showers and go to bed.

June 24

Today I meet the new hunters. They are Dino, a financial guy from Chicago, and Tony, a long time client of Mokore, who is a Urologist. Dino is hunting with Gary and is after Buffalo and Plains Game. Tony is hunting with Neil and is after Leopard, Buffalo, and Elephant cow with a gun and is hunting some plains game with his bow. We get out to the scene of the crime and try and sort it out. We cannot tell if the male was there or not. We move our blind and the plan is to not sit tonight and give the cats a chance to get used to it. Hilton and I will get a chance to have the Lobster dinner he planned on tonight. That afternoon, we see a big Waterbuck as we drive out to the area to look for Sable. He looks good, and is in fact the one that all of the PH's have been trying to get for the past week. He finally steps clear of his harem, and I get a shot. I get him through his shoulders, shattering one. He runs maybe 100 yards, and lies down with his head up. I get a frontal shot, and he collapses. We go up to look at him, and as Hilton is prodding him, he staggers to hsi feet and falls again! Hilton has had enough and tells me to shoot at point blank range in the heart, and put him out. Any of the three shots was fatal, and we recover the one TBBC that went through the shoulders.

Waterbuck

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June 25 Hunt day 10 of 15

We go out to the bait we have been working at, and things are still unsettled. Hilton arranges to use Neil's trail camera to try and sort it out. We get a pair more Impala and get working, and set things up to try and look. We also hear about a Leopard kill and go and set a bait there, although Mudzi thinks its a small female. Barrie's client Allen arrives today also. Here is a picture of how our bait appeared.

Leopard Bait

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June 26

Here our luck takes a turn for the worse, and a cold front rolls through. The next several days are cloudy and at times we even get a very spotty rain. The game camera did not really resolve the issue at all. I think it looks like the same cat that we had on the first day, and it turns out that Hilton's binoculars are not as good as the Swarovski scope on my rifle- Hilton was unable to see the rosettes clearly the other night. Hilton, however remains unconvinced, and we did not have a good view of the cat's backside to make a definitive ID. We renew another bait, and plan on sitting out tonight. We again sit, and the cat comes in. Hilton cannot tell, and I have him look through the rifle scope, and he disgustedly says "female" and we head in. While we had been sitting earlier we had heard a shot, and because of this, Hilton did not think the male would come in. It turns out one of the other hunters wounded a Buffalo at dusk.

June 27 Hunt day 12

We once again check all the baits and need to get a few more Impala. Notably, with all the cat hunting, I have not been selective on the Impala. Early on I had a few misses and I still would miss occasionally, and it became obvious that the bullet is not really stable in my rifle at the higher velocity- when I shoot into brush it seems to deflect badly- today there was proof, with a sideways profile bullet strike on a different Impala than I was shooting at. I felt better that I had finally gotten proof of what was going on, but because of the problems I was just smacking the first Impala that was free of the brush, and I did not get a single trophy Impala, despite in the end shooting 22 of them.

Impala bait in the truck

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We spend the whole night in the blind, and it is probably the coldest night out there. We end up hearing a male calling on the river, and hear Lion in the distance. We did not get a cat in the tree tonight.

June 28 Hunt day 13

After warming up by a fire, we go and check the rest of our baits. We have only one female on a bait today. We shoot some more Impala, and again stay out at the bait all night. We head in at 2 AM after we have some Bushpigs rooting underneath the bait tree. Hilton now asks me if I wish to change focus to Plains game, as with the weather change, he thinks our chances of getting a cat are now slim. I remain insistent on the Leopard, and if we go down without getting one, so be it.

June 29, Hunt day 14-- next to last day.

We once again get going at 5 AM and head out and check our baits. Today it drizzles some, and we pack up the blind we had been sitting in, as there are no tracks even from the female. While checking a different bait, we see some Klipspringer on the side of a rock cliff. We get set up, and one is a reasonable male. I get a clear shot, and shoot back in the guts on purpose to avoid damaging the cape too much. He tumbles down the mountain, and I get my last trophy for this hunt. We spend some time in the morning looking for a good Impala ram, but although I see one, I can't get a shot at him.

Klipspringer

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That afternoon we see a herd of Sable Antelope from the car. They are pretty out in the open and start to run as soon as they see us, but we get a good look and there are no bulls present in this herd. We then find some Eland tracks and follow them for a few hours, and he runs across the border with Sengwe before we get a sight of him.

I do see a couple of oddities that I took pictures of on the walk back to the car.

Beetle
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Termite Mound
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Final Hunting Day June 30 2009

This morning we again hit the road at 5 AM and look at our baits for the last time. There are 2 that have females feeding on them, but otherwise no joy. We follow a set of bull Sable Antelope tracks that we have been consistently seeing, but again he gives us the slip at the Savanguli border. We see a decent Impala in the evening, but he won't step out enough for me to get a clean shot once I see him. We play cat and mouse for maybe 30 minutes before the herd decides to go elsewhere. Our final stalk was for an Eland. We found tracks of a good sized bull, and followed him for 2 hours or so. We finally catch up with him and get a shooting opportunity, but he is immature, with no ruff and rather narrow horns. This ends up being a final success. We get back to camp, and we put out a bait for Bushpig, hoping that one will come in and I can get one of these difficult animals, but unfortunately they stayed home...

Final sunset

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The next morning the charter should be in at 9AM to get me. I get woken up by the guys just like any hunting day, and chat with the others as they head out. We do the paperwork, and pay out the tips for the guys. The flight is a bit gray and turbulent with some clouds around. I get to Harare, and we have no problems with getting on the plane, and it is maybe 2/3 full on this leg. In Johannesburg they again have checked the rifles through, so I go through the now routine discussion with BA and we are off. In London I get bumped to first class for the flight back to Chicago. I could get used to this... However, when I arrive at O'Hare, I have to show my rifles to the customs folks. I find that the bolt has been popped out of its recess and has damaged the stock of the .416. The gal at the BA desk denies its damaged, but the customs guy looks at her and without me saying a word says, "Lady, that's a custom rifle. You are looking at at least $5000 damage." Whereupon, she tells me she will not sign anything and that I must deal with customer service in New York. They are currently dealing with that. More airport SNAFU's follow, and I finally get home at midnight.

I had a good time with the hunting and I'm already trying to figure out how to get Mr. Spots next time!

Congratulations on the hunt. That's awesome that you saw a black rhino in the wild.

Brett

Great buff, and a good hunt- sorry to hear about that cat ! We can start a team .. Did you you consider to let loose the dogs ?

Chuck,

That was a well written report with nice pix. As you said we did everything right but the stars did not align. Been there and done that a couple of times myself. We will break this catless streak in Tanzania though.

Mark

i dunno - did you book him into a cathouse in tanz??

Butch,

That's included in those mysterious "Hidden Costs" that people refer to.

Mark

Nice report and great animals. Congratulations

Good, honest report and nice trophies... leopards are never easy but perseverence usually pays off. Or gives us plenty of excuses to go back!

Great report and it sounds like you had a good honest hard hunt. Nice pictures as well!

Jon

Thanks Guys!

It was a hard hunt, and we tried our best, but Mr. Spots has a hex on me, heck the whole feline crowd does...

A., My PH suggested that now that I've "Paid my dues" I should do a hound hunt. Maybe later, but I have another chance in Tanzania coming up in 2 years.

I really had fun with the buff, and I can't see hunting Africa without going after them. This old fella has character to me.