Outfitter: SSG Safaris - www.ssgsafaris.com

Professional Hunter: Nixon Dzingai

Booking Agent: Aaron Neilson - Global Hunting Resources. www.globalhuntingresources.com

Cameraman: Tim Marks.

Rifle, Caliber and Scope: Remington 700, in .375 H&H mag with a Trijicon 3-9x52 scope.

Binoculars: Leica Geovid 10x42

Area hunted: Malapati safari and communal areas bordering Ghona Re Zhou National Park in Zimbabwe, Sengwe 2 near Limpopo river.



Animals hunted and bagged: Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Waterbuck, Hyena.

Animals hunted but not bagged: Nyala

Accommodation, food and other facilities: It was nothing fancy like the camps in south africa but it was comfortable, had all the facilities like hot shower, clean toilets with flush, bbq/bon fire area. The food was excellent and plenty so was the service. The hunting vehicles were the latest Toyota Land Cruisers (Baakies) the staff was professional and friendly.

The Hunt:
It was earlier this year when i got in touch with my good friend Aaron Neilson to seek some advise about hunting a big cape buffalo and a nice bull elephant, he told me about the excellent experience he had hunting with Nixon Dzingai of SSG safaris and the 80 pounder he shot in his area.

After reading Aaron's hunt report and getting some references i decided to book a 18 day safari starting June 2012 with SSG safaris, the good thing was that Aaron who had booked this hunt for me was also going to be hunting with me in the same camp so i was very relaxed that everything will go smoothly and that is exactly how it went. Perfect !!

I took the Emirates flight from Dubai to Jo burg as i wanted to try the first class in the new A380 plane Emirates had started for this journey and boy was it an experience. apart from the flat bed individual suites the A380 first class had a bloody SPA in it which was really cool so was the food.





wild Iranian Caviar with Don perigon :-)






spent a night at the Africa Sky lodge and took the SA airlines to Harare. I was met at the airport by the driver Aaron had sent for me who took me to the guest house where Aaron was staying.
we had a long journey ahead of us so we left Harare early the next morning for the 8 hour drive to the hunting camp, the roads were okay and we arrived at our destination without any incidents.

Nixon was going to be guiding me himself so i was quite happy he is one of the most hard working PHs i had hunted with and is very passionate about hunting. he speaks perfect English b.t.w.

We woke up at 4:30 every day and left camp by 5, the general method of hunting was to drive around until we came across fresh elephant or buffalo tracks and from there stalking on foot.
The hunting area was on the border of Gona re Zhou (translates as Home of Elephant) National Park and every night we heard elephants all around our hunting camp eating destructively all night and before the sun came out they would be back in the national park, the game population in this area is phenomenal we saw a huge number animals during our hunt but what was really amazing was the fact that the trophy quality was excellent. i could have shot a 55 pound elephant on the 2nd day of our hunt very very easily but since i was on a 18 day safari Aaron and Nixon both felt confident that we can do better, in most of other areas in Zimbabwe a PH would not say that to the hunter if they came across a 50 pound plus elephant but we were next to 'Gona re Zhou'.

We also saw huge herds of buffalos during our hunt and some of these were easily over 45 inches but they were either a bit soft or were too close to the national park so we did not hunt them, however we captured them on film, on day 3 i found myself standing 20 yards from a huge buffalo that was easily over 40 and i had a very clear shot but Nixon said we have a lot of time and can do even better that.
I would like to mention here that the trophy expectations i had discussed with Nixon on the day i arrived in camp were as following:

I would be happy with a 38 inch buffalo and i will be over the moon if i touch 40 inches.

I will be very happy if i shoot a 50 pound elephant as June is not really the best time for hunting elephants.

I really appreciate Nixon as he could have easily achieved my target during the first week of our hunt but he wanted me to shoot excellent trophies.
the trophy quality of buffalos in this area is definitely above average infact i will go so far as to say that it is better value for money than any other country in Africa. If you want Masailand quality buffalo for a reasonable price than this is the place.

coming back to the hunt, on Day 4 we came across tracks of 3 dagga boys and Nixon said this is what i want you to shoot so we started tracking it, it turned out to be a long walk we saw fresh dung but these old boys just kept on walking and walking and walking, after 3 or so hours we finally caught up to them and i got my first glimpse of a BIG dugga boy lying down with 2 other bulls in the shade. my binos ranged him to be 24 yards away from us and Nixon said he is definately 40 inches maybe an inch more but with really thick bosses, up went the sticks and i found him in my scope and decided to wait till he gets up.

the first time i heard the term 'Divine Intervention' was in the film 'Pulp Fiction' when this guy shoots all the bullets from his revolver at samuel L jackson and john travolta from 5 yards but misses, please see below:



well this is what happened:
the Buffalo got up, I had his heart lung area in my scope which was zoomed in nicely, 24 yards, in my scope i saw nothing but the blackness of the buffalos body, i shoot, the buffalo runs off, no blood, no nothing…

maybe the bullet deflected somehow and there are many other maybes but i think that buffalo did a pulp fiction on me. we filmed him, he did not flinch, did not stagger did not limp, nothing.
I felt like throwing up as i had that sinking feeling that i wounded a huge buffalo and will never find him again but when no one found any blood after following his tracks for a long distance we all were convinced that 'maybe' it was divine intervention and my heart beat returned to normal.
I felt like kicking my self in the nuts as normally i am not a bad shot but anyway i had another opportunity and i was not going to miss it this time, we were all walking back towards our jeep and we had not gone half a kilometer from the pulp fiction scene when Nixon and his trackers started pointing at something and seemed really excited, there was a lone bull feeding peacefully 400 yards from us and he was enormous when i saw him through my binos those horns looked really really BIG.

I asked Nixon his opinion on this buffalo and he said that he is a very old bull, the tips of his horns seem worn off and he should have a spread of 42 inch plus the only problem was that there was a big stream between us and the buffalo and when we tried to stalk up to him the closest we could get to him was 145 yards.

I told Nixon i wanted this buffalo under any circumstances and im willing to take the risk, like most hunters i am very superstitious about these things and i had a feeling that there was a reason why i missed a ridiculously easy shot at 20 yards on the 40 incher just a little while ago, i had been praying to god while we were walking towards the jeep and suddenly we have come across a 42 incher, i felt certain that if i did not take this opportunity i would go back without a buffalo as i will than be jinxed.

Nixon told me that if i decide to take the shot from 150 yards and wound him then by the time we cross the big stream he will be quite far from us and all the animals in this area when they hear a shot they run in the direction of the national park because they know they will be safe there. I remembered SBT's report about the wounded buffalo that went in the National Park but at that time all i could think was the opportunity nature has offered me, if i dont take it i will be jinxed. :-)

to make the long story short i lied down on a rock and found a very firm rest, i told Aaron that i am going to shoot him in the face and if he doesn't fall i want him to back me up so the buffalo doesn't go far, at this time the buffalo had his backside towards us and decided to feed away from us, this gave me an idea and i made a loud buffalo call (MOOOOO) and at once the buffalo turned broad side, Aaron continued to make the same call while i took a careful aim at his face, i squeezed the trigger and heard a thumping sound the buffalo staggered and then started running away from us i shouted "AARON SHOOT SHOOT" i heard Aaron saying "im not sure if it is hit or not" at this point the buffalo must have been 200 yards and running broadside i took the second shot and aimed just outside his chest he staggered again with this shot and aaron and i could both see a lot of blood coming out of the buffalo's nose, Aaron took a shot and did a good job backing me up, all in all i shot the buffalo 5 times and aaron 3 times, the beast had finally given up and went down.

when we examined the buffalo and the video later we found that the first bullet had hit him just below the eye but had missed the brain but it had shocked and slowed his escape, the second bullet i fired while he was running was square in the shoulder and had gone through the lungs, he had 5 other bullet holes.

it took us at least 20 minutes to cross that stream and when i got to the buffalo i was just in a state of awe by the size of that thing. one of Nixon's trackers had a measuring tape in his pockets and we measured him there, he was just above 44 INCHES. i cannot put that feeling in words here but im sure you all understand what i must have felt there.



After pictures and skinning the buffalos the difficult task of taking the meat across that stream began.
I think i was very lucky and i had later realized that i had taken a big risk to try and shoot this buffalo the way i did but i had followed my instinct so even if i had missed or screwed it up somehow i know i would not have regretted my decision.

Pictures and Stories.....please?

writing the report my friend :-)

quote:

writing the report my friend :-)

Bad teaser - starting a report like that without details and pics!!! Looking forward to the hunt report

quote:

Originally posted by Pir_Danish:
writing the report my friend :-)

Whew! Was a bit worried a drone accidently got you mid report ....

quote:

Originally posted by tygersman:

quote:

Originally posted by Pir_Danish:
writing the report my friend :-)

Whew! Was a bit worried a drone accidently got you mid report ....

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
good one charles.
now dont make me go OBL on ur a*s :-)

Very nice buff. And huge cajone's for taking that shot!As "they" say...an atta boy makes up for at least ah merde!

Atta Boy!

Continued...

with the Buffalo (of my dreams should i add) in the salt we were looking for elephants every day.
we stalked up to another 50 pounder with short but really thick tusks on day 8 but i wanted something with longer tusks so passed him.

I wanted a Nyala and this area is known to produce some Huge Nyala trophies, as expected we came across some very good trophy Nyalas but i never got an opportunity at shooting one, i could have easily shot one from the jeep but i did not want to do that.
one day while looking for Nyala in the bush we saw a ridiculously big Waterbuck from some distance, he was with some hinds. i have already taken a respectable waterbuck in Namibia so was not really interested but when i saw this male in my Binos i decided at once to take him, we did a fantastic stalk and i took a shot from 75 yards, the buck went down after 50 yards or so. this was the biggest Waterbuck taken in Nixon's area in the last 8 years (according to Nixon) and it measured 35 inches.





The Nyala i could have shot from the jeep


some other pics

You sure took a chance and it really paid off. it sure seems like Aaron and GHR know their stuff. I can't wait to hear the rest.

Great report Pir! I love the Pulp Finction correlation. It made me laugh. Congratulations on a tremendous buffalo.

Two incredible trophies so far.

The temperature in this area was very pleasant, it wasnt too cold as i was expecting just pleasant, (although in the morning it got a bit chilly)
besides the excellent animal population the best thing i like about this area is there are no Tse Tse flies here in any season which is great and i never once got bitten by a mosquito.

we took a trip to the national park and i saw a 80 pound plus elephant there standing 10 yards from our jeep.

day 15 we were out early morning as usual and while looking for Elephant tracks we saw a lonely Hyena, i always wanted to have one in my trophy room and i specially wanted one in front of my lion in the trophy room so up went the sticks and i took him at 60 yards.

quote:

Originally posted by tygersman:

quote:

Originally posted by Pir_Danish:
writing the report my friend :-)

Whew! Was a bit worried a drone accidently got you mid report ....

Good Lord Charles, that is freakin awesome!!!!

Another Nyala I could have shot from the jeep.

Behave yourself now Aaron, i still have some hunt report left.

quote:

i told Aaron that i am going to shoot him in the face

This might be the greatest statement ever made in an AR hunting report. Unbelievable buffalo and an even more unbelievable waterbuck.

quote:

Originally posted by 505 gibbs:

quote:

i told Aaron that i am going to shoot him in the face

This might be the greatest statement ever made in an AR hunting report. Unbelievable buffalo and an even more unbelievable waterbuck.

Brad - You should have been a politician, or better yet, a journalist!

Fantastic
I cant wait to hear the rest. I will soon walk the same ground with Nixon.

Outstanding animals Pir, congratulations.

the best time to hunt Elephant in Malapati area according to the locals is earlier in the year, its hot, the crops are ready and so is the amarula fruit, big elephant bulls come out of the gona re zhou national park to raid these crops and eat the amarula, keeping in mind the time of the year I was a bit skeptical about the success rate of my elephant hunt but when I was standing really close to a 55 pounder on the second day my confidence grew even now however i would have felt really lucky to shoot a 55 pound plus elephant.

On day 16 of my 18 day safari we left camp extra early for Malapati communal area looking for Elephant tracks, by now i was secretly cursing myself for not shooting the 55 pounder on the second day, now we only had one more hunting day left and still no elephant. Nixon still kept on reassuring me that dont worry we will get your elephant.

Soon enough one of the trackers saw a big track and banged on the roof of the jeep, we stopped to examine, we followed it for a while and saw the biggest pile of dung i had seen during the last 15 days of stalking elephants. Nixon told me this was surely a big one and i thought to myself Big or no big im going to shoot this one as i did not want to go back empty handed, besides i had loved the whole experience of stalking elephants and i hunt for the experience not for inches and pounds.

we followed the tracks and broken trees for atleast 4 hours and it was exceptionally hot that day for some reason, now the tracks turned right and were going towards the national park, I started cursing myself again for not taking the 55 pounder on the second day.

Nixon said we must quicken our pace and maybe we might just catch him before he goes back in the park, the idea seemed far fetched but i complied and we walked/jogged for sometime when the tracker who had run off in the front was coming back running, he seemed really excited and was asking us to come quick.

when we reached that point i could hear the elephant eating and breaking branches, Nixon and his trackers were really good at stalking elephants and they took me as close as 18 yards and i had a clear side brain shot.

I was using the .375 with cutting edge solids that Aaron had brought with him, Nixon was going to back me up in case i missed the brain with his 458.

i tried putting the rifle on the sticks but they were no use as i had to point the gun literally upwards so instead I took a rest on a tree branch, I looked for that slit in the ear and put the green dot of the trijicon on the earhole and gently squeezed the trigger.

Aaron had told me two things about shooting Elephants before we started the hunt "shoot quick" and "shoot often"

after the first brain shot the elephant just collapsed sideways but i reloaded and kept on shooting him anyways just to be sure, i remember i was shooting so quick that im pretty certain i must have hit the elephant atleast once while he was falling. i put an insurance shot just under his neck and I had my elephant down before me.

by this time i knew he was a big elephant but i honestly do not remember having enough time to look at his tusks through my binos and asking nixon that how much the tusks would measure etc. all i asked Nixon when the sticks were going up that 'is he big?' and nixon's reply was 'yes take him.'

within a few hours we had a throng of local villagers, they just came from every where with pots, pans, plastic bags. whatever they could find to take their share of the meat.

the people seemed really happy as they would have fresh healthy meat to eat for a change, they were singing as they took turns to skin the elephant. they cleared the bush with their machetes so we could bring the jeep in.

"the trunk always belongs to the chief" Nixon explained to me so I met the Chief and presented him with the trunk myself, he was very happy and said i could return and hunt in his area whenever i feel like. these gestures of hospitality reminded me of the mountain folk of my country, they are poor but have big hearts.

amazingly all trace of my elephant was gone within 2.5 hours and the only thing left behind was the skin, feet, tusks and a bloody puddle.



chief's house:


Chief's grand daughter:










that night we celebrated and i did a Pakistani style bbq for everyone. it was a shame my friend Charles (Tygersman) could not join us, it would have been nice to see his face go red after trying the spicy pakistani chicken bbq. :-)

Wow, Danish. And I thought I had a great Safari with Nixon in March. Outstanding. Monster Buff and I didn't think Waterbuck got that big, and freaking great Elephant.

Huge Congrats.

quote:

Originally posted by BEGNO:
Wow, Danish. And I thought I had a great Safari with Nixon in March. Outstanding. Monster Buff and I didn't think Waterbuck got that big, and freaking great Elephant.

Huge Congrats.

many thanks Butch, thank you so much for your kind advise and guidance. i had a great time hunting with Nixon and Aaron.

Jeezz, I miss Malapati and my friend Nixon.

the last day:





the tusks measured 67 pounds




writing hunt diary on my way back:

Wow, What a great trip, so much excitement. Congrats on some fantastic trophies.

thanks brian, 505 gibbs, fjold, thunderhead.

quote:

Originally posted by Pir_Danish:
writing the report my friend :-)

Apologies - that is one damn fine Safari!!!!!! That Waterbuck is magnificent, makorokoto!

Cheers,
Brent

Danish:

These are the first pics I've seen of the ele. Congrats - absolutely awesome! Wish I'd been there for it.

I hope I left you guys enough beer to finish the trip.

Stupendous!

Well worth the wait. Great elephant as well, nothing like waiting to the end of your hunt to close the deal.

Great safari.

Biggest waterbuck I've seen or heard of.

Nice report, photos and trophies!

wow - great hunt

waterbuck is awesome

Great report, great animals, thanks for sharing.

Cheers
Jim

beers tandoori chicken cigars after a successful hunt is pretty damn cool

Great report, love the last day photos!
that buff is a monster!

Its about time you got that report out! Nicely done Danish! I don't care what Aaron says, your not that bad!

Awesome Elephant, sorry we had to leave before we could see it!

Very nice! thanks for sharing!

quote:

Originally posted by Phillip Smythe:
Its about time you got that report out! Nicely done Danish! I don't care what Aaron says, your not that bad!

Awesome Elephant, sorry we had to leave before we could see it!

hahaha thanks mate.

thanks for appreciating friends.