Dates: August 21st – 28th, 2018
PH: Andrew Baldry
Concession: Illinda: Zambia
Concession Owner: Zaeed Patel
Riffle: Dakota 76 in 330 Dakota. 225gn Swift A Frames.


My interest in hunting Sitatunga was piqued in 2013 whilst hunting at Royal Kafue with Andrew.
Glassing across the Kafue River from Andrews Mutambashi camp into the Mutambashi swamp we often saw these shy and elusive animals out feeding in the late morning and basking in the midday sun.
Whilst some of the bulls looked OK to my untrained eye, The Headman Mutambashi, as declared by the Kaindu Royal Family in recognition of his communal efforts, assured me that there were true trophy bulls to be had in the region.
Of course, I pushed The Headman more on this over the coming years and in 2016 after much discussion and single malt whisky we booked with Zaeed Patel to hunt his Illinda concession. Here, there are only 2 bull tags issued every year and to date it had consistently produced good bulls.
August 19th saw me landing in Lusaka and after caching up with Andrew and his beautiful family for dinner we hit the road in the morning for the 8-hour drive to Illinda. The drive took us through the Kafue National Park and we were lucky to see 3 Cheetah in the Park.
Joining us on this hunt was Andrews son Ben, a fine young man with the Baldry pedigree more than evident.
Arriving at camp in the late afternoon we settled into our very comfortable accommodation and enjoyed the campfire.
The weather was beautiful and sunny during the days and cold in the mornings. The night temperature ensured sound sleep and getting up at a very gentlemanly hour on day 1 we had a nice breakfast and made our plan.
We wanted to have a good look around. There were several existing Machans and we wanted to sit in a good many of them to get a feel for the abundance and location of Sitatunga.
For those that are familiar with this style of hunting it can be “challenging”. Very early mornings to get into a machan an hour before first light and sitting until 9am and the same in the afternoons is the routine.
We saw plenty of females and young bulls but our patience was certainly tested in waiting for a glimpse of a mature bull.
Our perseverance was rewarded in the last hour of the last day (day 7)….yes it reads like a cliché ...but that is the honest truth.
We had actually resigned ourselves to leaving without taking a mature bull but true to form our luck held out. Out of nowhere this bull appeared and I did not wait for Mr B to tell me to shoot.
Hit him perfect and he went 10 yards.
What can I say. A true monster Sitatunga and trophy of a lifetime was ours.
Sincere thanks to Andrew and Zaeed for helping me to achieve another lifelong dream.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. Incredible habitat.



















[IMG:left]

http://i1327.photobucket.com/a...pswqlj0rbk.jpg[/IMG]

A true sitatunga giant with beautiful shape and ivory tips. Well done on your last day last hr trophy and I’m sure you felt elated!!

Serious bull sitatunga there. Very impressive.

Very nice!

Congratulations, Steve and Andrew, on such a fine Sitatunga! That bull is magnificent. I’ll be hunting them in a few weeks in a nearby concession, so your great report serves to stoke the fire.

Very nice Steve!

Is that Duri Simoes in the group photo?

Steve;

Well earned trophy! Congratulations! I know there was some celebrating going on after that!

Best regards, Darin

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Very nice Steve!

Is that Duri Simoes in the group photo?

Sure is. He is the resident PH at Illinda but does not hunt much anymore.
We had many great nights together around the dinner table and campfire with stories from Duri of his times hunting all over Africa including in Angola and Sudan.
You never know what is going to happen on safari and meeting Duri was an unexpected bonus and I am definitely better off for doing so.

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Steve;

Well earned trophy! Congratulations! I know there was some celebrating going on after that!

Best regards, Darin

Oh Yeah!

Wow.

Amazing trophy and amazing hunt.

What a bonus to have an old school legend to share camp fire and stories!

You are the man. Great bull Steve.

When I grow up can I be you for just a little while, please?

.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve416:

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Very nice Steve!

Is that Duri Simoes in the group photo?

Sure is. He is the resident PH at Illinda but does not hunt much anymore.
We had many great nights together around the dinner table and campfire with stories from Duri of his times hunting all over Africa including in Angola and Sudan.
You never know what is going to happen on safari and meeting Duri was an unexpected bonus and I am definitely better off for doing so.

Legendary African Hunting Family

Great bull!

What a BEAUTY!!! Congrats

That is a gorgeous bull and great photos!

.

Congrats on an excellent swamp bull!

WOW, maybe someday......

absolute beauty of a sitatunga

That is a stud. Congrats on a great bull. Sounds like an excellent hunt. Congrats
Bruce

Well done! It's a really good Sitatunga.

Fantastic trophy. Your rifle case is also fantastic.

Great Sitatunga!!

Jim

Most excellent!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve416:

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Steve;

Well earned trophy! Congratulations! I know there was some celebrating going on after that!

Best regards, Darin

Oh Yeah!

And you gave me grief about turning down the 26 incher!

Congratulations!

What an experience.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve416:

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Steve;

Well earned trophy! Congratulations! I know there was some celebrating going on after that!

Best regards, Darin

Oh Yeah!

And you gave me grief about turning down the 26 incher!

Yes mate I did....but you have to admit we were both questioning our choices sitting in the machan on the last evening....until Mr Big showed up.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve416:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve416:

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Steve;

Well earned trophy! Congratulations! I know there was some celebrating going on after that!

Best regards, Darin

Oh Yeah!

And you gave me grief about turning down the 26 incher!

Yes mate I did....but you have to admit we were both questioning our choices sitting in the machan on the last evening....until Mr Big showed up.

Go big or go home

Steve outstanding, and making the shot...

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
Steve outstanding, and making the shot...

Mike

How lucky was he

Congratulations on an excellent Sitatunga bull Steve!

I just returned yesterday from hunting with Andrew. We too got a Sitatunga, plus Sable and Puku.

Andrew may post a report.

Andrew has certainly found you some great trophies and your shooting has not failed to deliver!

Congrats again. Well done!

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:
Congratulations on an excellent Sitatunga bull Steve!

I just returned yesterday from hunting with Andrew. We too got a Sitatunga, plus Sable and Puku.

Andrew may post a report.

Andrew has certainly found you some great trophies and your shooting has not failed to deliver!

Congrats again. Well done!

Thanks. I saw a photo of your Sitatunga. Very nice indeed. Look forward to the report.

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
Steve outstanding, and making the shot...

Mike

Thanks Mike.

Simply outstanding, Steve! Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Simply outstanding, Steve! Congratulations!

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
You are the man. Great bull Steve.

When I grow up can I be you for just a little while, please?

.

Ha. Love you Jim.

I don't remember seeing a bigger sitatunga posted on AR...congrats!

What a monster Sitatunga !
Fantastic !!!

Very Nice!

Thanks all.

That is beyond amazing! Nice work.