Country: Zimbabwe
Dates: October 31 - November 11, 2013
Areas: Dande North and Dande Safari Area
Outfitter: Charlton McCallum Safaris
Professional Hunter: Alan Shearing
Airline: Ethiopian Airlines
Rifles Used: Sako 75, 9,3X62 (Hornady 300gr DGS Solids)

This will be my first hunt report here; previously I have only posted some pictures in Antons thread about hunting in Scandinavia

http://forums.accuratereloadin...8321043/m/1731051481

This trip is my first African safari; my only previous experience of hunting in Africa is restricted to predator calling in South Africa.

Born in the -70ths and grown up with propaganda from WWF and similar organizations, I early knew that animals like elephants and whales were not to be hunted. This opinion kept with me even though I started hunting far too young. Everything changed when I took a PhD course in savannah ecology in Botswana 2001. Then it was totally clear for me that the African elephant is a game species that you can hunt and that the only way of conserving this species outside of national parks and high fenced reserves is by wise use hunting. After that I have had an urge to someday be able to hunt the African Elephant.

Then it only took 12 years of money saving (to be a biologist is not the occupation you should have money-wise if ele hunting is high on your agenda…) to make this dream come trough.

The trip from home to Harare took 33 hours so we were quite tired when we arrived. Myles and Olivia took us out for dinner the first night and after that we had a good sleep in the B&B. The following morning, the appy Graham droved us down to the camp in the Zambesi valley.

Day 1-6

We were quite well aware of the fact that this time is the worst time of the year to hunt ele bulls in this area. It’s just not the right time for them. This proved to be right. During these days we drove everywhere looking for tracks of an old bull. There were no tracks to be found. Thousands of tracks of cows, calves and young bulls all over the place, but no old bulls. We did track young bulls every day to see if they have joined up with older bulls. During these days we found one older bull with broken tusks and one small bull that seemed to be old and in bad condition.

Day 7

This day we checked water sources in a dry river bed close to a village. We were called by some village people when we walked by. They have had a bull in the village the same morning. We tracked the bull down and it proven to be the same bull that we had a look on the second day of hunting. Now we found it in open area and Alan had no problem judging it. It was in very poor condition and when it changed shadow tree we could see that it had three bullet holes in the back from poachers. The poor bull was very skinny and obviously not doing well. We snuck out and Alan radioed to Parks and reported this. During this time Emma and I decided that if Parks would deny a mercy kill on this bull, we would take it on our license. After some 20-30 minutes we got Parks on the radio with an OK to make the mercy kill. Alan killed the bull with a perfect brain shot on 8 m (he did give me the chance to kill it but I tried with two bullets and did not connect with the brain, difficult shooting when the animal is in movement). 100% Alans ele.

Soon the villagers arrived to recover the meat. Sorry to say the right back leg of the bull was totally rotten. Regardless of this they wanted the meat. We claimed the right leg as a hyena bait to ensure that no one would eat this. I do not have a soft stomach, but this recovery of a wounded and infected elephant was a little bit over the edge. If it would have been a wounded moose at my hunting area I would have left it to the scavengers.

Day 8

Checked the hyena bait with no result. The hyena would probably not eat the rotten meat out of this bull…

No tracks of old bulls this day either.

Day 9

We checked some water source in the morning, nothing. Now Alan called for an Tribal Council. There is no old bull in the area, we have checked every water source at least twice, some six times for tracks. Thousands of cows, calves and young bulls but no older bull. Alan offered us to try to shoot a younger bull with some nice ivory but I resisted. We decided to move the hyena bait and then go for a lunch in camp. After that we would focus on hyena and plains game for the next two days. We started to drive towards the hyena bait and after 30 minutes driving the first tracker Maplan started spanking the side of the car, Old Bull! Suddenly there was a track of an old bull, the only problem was that we had not driven this road before and the track was at least 24 hours old. Despite this, Maplan and Martin were eager to try to track this bull, the first track of an older bull we had found during 9 days. It was early in the morning and we left Bernardi with the car and started to track down this bull. Being from Northern Sweden this heat is something really different. This was the worst day of all concerning the heat. We tracked for many hours, I am full of respect for the trackers. When they lost track, we headed for the shade when they worked to find track. During the day our Iphones stopped working due to the warm temperature, then the range finder in my Swarovski binoc seized to work. I did really understand that it was warm when my Garmin GPS stopped to function. Late afternoon we found a wallow were the bull had had a good mud bath for hours. After that it was just some 500 meters of tracking before Alan saw the bull feeding. Alan said that it is a mature bull with black ivory. He told me it had a good head and that it was old but he was not sure of the weight of the tusks. I couldn't care less, if it was older than me the weight of the ivory was not important. We stalked into 18 meters when the bull heard that something was happening and looked directly towards us. Alan told me that it is now or the bull will run. I took aim for a frontal and shoot. Much to the surprise of many (people have told me that the 9,3 is to small caliber for this animal) the bull went straight down. Alan told me to put one more bullet into the chest but that was not really necessary, the bull never heard the shoot. Later we found the bullet in the neck muscles, it had traveled through the trunk all the way through the skull and ended up in the neck. A dream had come through. Maplan judged the ivory to 40 Ibs, Alan is still undetermined about the weight, I will post the Ibs when Buzz e-mails me the correct numbers…

Day 10

Was spent recovering the elephant.

Day 11

We started the day bay stalking in and check if there was any hyena feeding on the skeleton but no result. After that we went stalking for plains game. I shot a good bush buck.

Day 12

We stalked the skeleton in the morning when it still was dark. We heard something eating but not on the carcass. When the light comes the eating sound is till there but far to the right of us. We decided to try a walked up hyena with no result, to much leaves made our stalk noisy. It showed that the hyenas had moved one of the legs app. 80 meters away from the carcass.

The rest of the day was spent plains game hunting with no result.

All in all a fantastic hunting experience with very skilled people. Alan had the challenge of being a PH to two biologists with never ending questions about flora and fauna. He did not fail any task and after some days we were convinced that he was withholding us some university degree in biology but he resisted. I am still in doubt that he is telling the truth about this… The accommodation was perfect and we would really like to recommend anyone thinking of ele hunting to choose CMS as outfitter. Also nice to meet Mike Jines for some nights in camp in his and Buzz pursuit of a lion.

100% Alans ele



Turning Alans ele



Infected wounds from poachers bullets



After 3 days with the gun sling I trowed it away, always wondered why african hunters go without sling. Now I know...



Company for sun-downers






Second night we figured that it was to hot to sleep inside the cabin



Downside of my bed




Very clear that it was no shooting in camp



My bull



The team



My wife Emma and the bull



Skinning








Sirloin size of ele is surprisingly small, quite the same size of a big bull moose or a grey seal



The heart of a ele bull is quite big...




Bullet recovered in the neck after a frontal shot



Ele kebab







Buzz gave me a cigar to be used when I got my ele, it was very nice but I´m not a connoisseur




My bushbuck



Maplan the ele tracker



Maplan and Martin



The skeleton left for hyena bait



One day with vultures



One night with hyenas




Alan, fantastic PH



Alan really don´t like the mopane bees



The game scout that was very kind to carry my backpack found the Swedish grouse hunting ryggsack gun carrying system comfortable



Last day we finaly found a snake, a rock phyton (Phyton sebae)



The bushbayby washed its hands in the appys Grahams gin and tonic, much to our amusement....



The only flat tire of the trip



Lion tracks

Well done on your first African hunt.
You could not have chosen a better outfitter and Al is probably one of the most knowledgeable PHs on flora and fauna in the whole of Zim.
I like your attitude to that wounded ele bull. It's that kind of thinking that separates the compassionate hunter from the shooter.
Regards
Rob

Thank you Rob, we had a fantastic time with Alan

Congratulations P-A, I am thrilled your hunt turned out so well, but of course hunting with Alan and CMS one would expect nothing less!

I really enjoyed reading about your background and the turn around to elephant hunting. Glad you got to experience what I believe is the greatest hunt in the world.

Congratulations!

P-A, I really enjoyed visiting with you and Emma. It is so refreshing to meet someone that appreciates African hunting for what it truly is, an adventure. Congratulations on your bull (and a very nice bushbuck to boot). My regards to Emma.

Very nice P-A. I also like your attitude toward taking the wounded bull. It shows you have a conservation minded outlook toward hunting. I find your background and the attitude change once educated to be refreshing. Shame the antis are so focused on their ideology that they can't recognize the truth as you did.

Congrats on your first hunt. As Rob stated, you couldn't have selected a better outfitter to start of and Alan is such a pleasure to be around.

I'm next up for late season ele bulls with CMS. My wife Donna, and I leave for safari on Thanksgiving day, Nov 28th. We are hoping that the rains will have arrived by the time we get there, drawing some activity over from Moz. In any case, I'll just be happy to be back in a CMS camp and enjoying the African wilderness.

Congrats again and I hope you have many more safaris!

Congratulations on an outstanding hunt! What an adventure and what a perfect path to success (I'm talking about the good karma you must have received for how you dealt with the injured bull elephant). You certainly deserved your trophy. Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to share this post with us.

Just done perfectly! A perfect elephant taken with dedication pride and much effort. My hat is off to you.

well done there!. and a damn fine bushbuck too. how did you get the bush babies to be so tame?

Money well spent. Classic.

Tillykke P-A
Som de andre har skrevet kunne du ikke ha fundet et bedre team end CMS. Jeg har mødt Allan en gang i Chewore, da han guidet en av dine landsmen. Min nabo Jytte har skudt 3 elefanter med ham. Jeg fandt ham meget sympatisk. Tak for de fine bilder, også de øvrige på photobucket. Elsket bildene af Bush babyene.
Det er kun et problem med en tur som denne; straks man kommer hjem længtes man tilbage

Jagt hilsen fra København
Mvh cf

quote:

Originally posted by Bill C:
Congratulations P-A, I am thrilled your hunt turned out so well, but of course hunting with Alan and CMS one would expect nothing less!

Bill, thank you!

And thanks for the advices before my trip. It is very good to be able to e-mail questions to a hunter that have hunted the same area with the same team.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
Very nice P-A. I also like your attitude toward taking the wounded bull. It shows you have a conservation minded outlook toward hunting. I find your background and the attitude change once educated to be refreshing. Shame the antis are so focused on their ideology that they can't recognize the truth as you did.

Congrats on your first hunt. As Rob stated, you couldn't have selected a better outfitter to start of and Alan is such a pleasure to be around.

I'm next up for late season ele bulls with CMS. My wife Donna, and I leave for safari on Thanksgiving day, Nov 28th. We are hoping that the rains will have arrived by the time we get there, drawing some activity over from Moz. In any case, I'll just be happy to be back in a CMS camp and enjoying the African wilderness.

Congrats again and I hope you have many more safaris!

Thank you,

The first rain for the season arrived one of the last nights of our safari. I hope it will continue so the bulls starts moving in to your area. I wish you all the best for that trip

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
well done there!. and a damn fine bushbuck too. how did you get the bush babies to be so tame?

Thank you!

The CMS team has trained the bush babies with popcorn over the years, feeding them closer and closer. Now they can sitt in your lap and feed

quote:

Originally posted by Carl Frederik Nagell:
Tillykke P-A
Som de andre har skrevet kunne du ikke ha fundet et bedre team end CMS. Jeg har mødt Allan en gang i Chewore, da han guidet en av dine landsmen. Min nabo Jytte har skudt 3 elefanter med ham. Jeg fandt ham meget sympatisk. Tak for de fine bilder, også de øvrige på photobucket. Elsket bildene af Bush babyene.
Det er kun et problem med en tur som denne; straks man kommer hjem længtes man tilbage

Jagt hilsen fra København
Mvh cf

Tackar!

Jo jag håller helt med angående detta. Nu tänker man ju bara på hur man skall kunna åka dit igen snabbt nog...

Grattis P-A!

Nu måste jag spara mina pengar ännu ivrigare!
En nietre hela sextiotvå räcker gott till allt.

Med vänliga hälsningar
Mats

Thank you for a wonderful report! I could feel your sincerity as a hunter as well as your interest in all things in nature. One goes with the other. My wife and I hope to repeat some of your experiences on a future hunt (she is Norwegian, I hope you won't hold that against us!!). All the best to you and your wife - Skol!

quote:

Originally posted by husky:
Grattis P-A!

Nu måste jag spara mina pengar ännu ivrigare!
En nietre hela sextiotvå räcker gott till allt.

Med vänliga hälsningar
Mats

Tackar, jo det visade sig att nietrean funkade alldeles utmärkt

quote:

Originally posted by joester:
Thank you for a wonderful report! I could feel your sincerity as a hunter as well as your interest in all things in nature. One goes with the other. My wife and I hope to repeat some of your experiences on a future hunt (she is Norwegian, I hope you won't hold that against us!!). All the best to you and your wife - Skol!

Skål!

Congratulations! A very well done hunt and a very nice report!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by fairgame:
Money well spent. Classic.

I totally agree, best spended money ever...

P-A!

Congratulations. What a fine report, fine elephant and bushbuck. Full of respect for your attitude towards taking the wounded elephant on your licence in case Parks did not come through.

The fine pictures you have posted tell a tale of a great hunt.

CMS are very good, and Alan Shearing is without a doubt a walking Encyclopedia, and a very very good PH.

I am a little curious, what is that beside the picture of the lion track? A box of snuff?

Seriously disappointed Buzz never gave me a cigar to celebrate my elephant.

Kind regards to Emma and yourself.
Jytte

quote:

Originally posted by mej:
P-A!

Congratulations. What a fine report, fine elephant and bushbuck. Full of respect for your attitude towards taking the wounded elephant on your licence in case Parks did not come through.

The fine pictures you have posted tell a tale of a great hunt.

CMS are very good, and Alan Shearing is without a doubt a walking Encyclopedia, and a very very good PH.

I am a little curious, what is that beside the picture of the lion track? A box of snuff?

Seriously disappointed Buzz never gave me a cigar to celebrate my elephant.

Kind regards to Emma and yourself.
Jytte

Jytte,

Thank you!

Yes all Swedish pictures of tracks and such is allways taken with a box of snuff beside to be able to compare and judge size. The snuff box is 7,5 cm.

We need to press Buzz on the cigar matter, why did you not get one?

P-A: Your post really shows the collateral benefits of a trip like this such as having the opportunity to meet the locals and seeing the unusual flora and fauna.

My wife wasn't keen on getting up close and personal with any snakes when we went to Tanzania, but (short of getting bitten) I think seeing them adds to the experience even if one is not a trained biologist (such as yourself). Both of us agreed that your pics of the bushbabys in camp were particularly interesting and we wished we'd had such an encounter. Very, very cool!!! Thanks for including it!

Edited to add: Reports like yours really demonstrate that "trophies" aren't dead animals, they're keepsakes that remind us of a special adventure in its totality.

quote:

Originally posted by Pulicords:
P-A: Your post really shows the collateral benefits of a trip like this such as having the opportunity to meet the locals and seeing the unusual flora and fauna.

My wife wasn't keen on getting up close and personal with any snakes when we went to Tanzania, but (short of getting bitten) I think seeing them adds to the experience even if one is not a trained biologist (such as yourself). Both of us agreed that your pics of the bushbabys in camp were particularly interesting and we wished we'd had such an encounter. Very, very cool!!! Thanks for including it!

Edited to add: Reports like yours really demonstrate that "trophies" aren't dead animals, they're keepsakes that remind us of a special adventure in its totality.

Pulicords, thank you. I have allways been interested in snakes, travelled to many countries to catch different species. This trip was low on snakes due to the very hot temperature

Great report. Those late season elephant hunts can be killers. I lost a lot of weight in six days of chasing them. Loved your story. Thanks so much for sharing.

Congrats on a well earned trophy.

Seeing you sleeping on the verandah because of the heat reminded me of one evening I did the same with a couple other PH's on the Pedza camp lawn several years back - every night a group of Dagga boys would come onto the lawn and feed until twilight, all the while tolerating our snoring etc from just a few feet away. This particular night, one bull took umbridge to me shinning a torch at him and proceeded to toss my bed just as I rolled off!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by MANDLAZIM:
Congrats on a well earned trophy.

Seeing you sleeping on the verandah because of the heat reminded me of one evening I did the same with a couple other PH's on the Pedza camp lawn several years back - every night a group of Dagga boys would come onto the lawn and feed until twilight, all the while tolerating our snoring etc from just a few feet away. This particular night, one bull took umbridge to me shinning a torch at him and proceeded to toss my bed just as I rolled off!!!!

Yes, the buffalo herd that grazed the lawn during the nights was quite interesting. One night they were just 2,5 M from our bed.

Well Done!!! CMS is the bombdiggity!!!

Jeff

Grattis P-A - flott rapport og lærerik. Jeg har snakket litt med Buzz på mail - virker som en utrolig hyggelig kar og et flott opplegg. Alle gutta her på Acc Reload anbefaler CMS. Jeg sparer penger som bare f...

Morten

P-A:

Lad mig tilføje mine egne lykønskninger til et fint jagt. Et veludført rapport med fremragende fotografier. Vi vil alle se frem til din næste safari!

Jeg er på jagt med Buzz og CMS næste September - min anden elefant jagt med ham. Læsning rapporter som din hjælper månederne går hurtigere. (Undskyld for den dårlige dansk. Jeg talte det sidste da jeg var barn.)

Venlig hilsen fra en anden skandinavisk medlem,

quote:

Originally posted by The Norwegian:
Grattis P-A - flott rapport og lærerik. Jeg har snakket litt med Buzz på mail - virker som en utrolig hyggelig kar og et flott opplegg. Alle gutta her på Acc Reload anbefaler CMS. Jeg sparer penger som bare f...

Morten

Toppen! Du kommer inte att ångra dig

quote:

Originally posted by KPete:
P-A:

Lad mig tilføje mine egne lykønskninger til et fint jagt. Et veludført rapport med fremragende fotografier. Vi vil alle se frem til din næste safari!

Jeg er på jagt med Buzz og CMS næste September - min anden elefant jagt med ham. Læsning rapporter som din hjælper månederne går hurtigere. (Undskyld for den dårlige dansk. Jeg talte det sidste da jeg var barn.)

Venlig hilsen fra en anden skandinavisk medlem,

Tackar!

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:
Well Done!!! CMS is the bombdiggity!!!

Jeff

Where is the "Like" button for this one!

P-A,
I enjoyed every word and photograph. You clearly did your homework, selecting your outfitter, hunter, and bringing the right attitude.
Congratulations on your adventure and trophies.
Thank you for your outlook on hunting.

All very good, enjoyed sharing your hunt and fresh attitude. Thanks for sharing the story and pictures. May there be many more fine hunts as well in your future.
George

Very well done. Congrats on Your safari.

I can see that you enjoy the simple things as well on safari.

Cheers to you and your wife P-A.

quote:

Originally posted by KPete:
P-A:

Lad mig tilføje mine egne lykønskninger til et fint jagt. Et veludført rapport med fremragende fotografier. Vi vil alle se frem til din næste safari!

Jeg er på jagt med Buzz og CMS næste September - min anden elefant jagt med ham. Læsning rapporter som din hjælper månederne går hurtigere. (Undskyld for den dårlige dansk. Jeg talte det sidste da jeg var barn.)

Venlig hilsen fra en anden skandinavisk medlem,

Kim - til og med en nordmann klarer fint å lese din danske penn