ACCURATERELOADING.COM AFRICA HUNTING REPORT FORUM


Moderators: T.Carr
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
ZIMBABWE HUNT
 Login/Join
 
One of Us
posted
ZIMBABWE HUNT
August 20 – September 01, 2023-09-14
Charlton McCallum Safaris.
Concession: Nyakasanga

Longing to return for another Zambezi Valley hunt I contacted Buzz a couple of years ago to make plans. I wanted to hunt Tuskless Elephant and Eland and Nyakasanga was recommended as the prime concession. At the time only one Eland remained on quota for 2023 and Buzz kindly held this pending my decision. Time allowing I was also interested in hunting species that eluded me on earlier Valley hunts – Bushbuck, Hyena, Warthog. The limited Bushbuck quota would not be held but if quota remained when I arrived I could hunt for a buck.
Eventually dates were booked, flights were booked, the hunt deposit sent so planning and organising gear started in earnest. Having hunted the Valley ( Dande, Dande East ) twice previously with CMS organising myself for the journey over and hunt was relatively straightforward. My previous hunts were with PH Alan Shearing and his excellent crew and fortunately I was able to book Alan for Nyakasanga as well.
One difference on this hunt was the rifle I would take. I love shooting the .375 H&H and previously had used my Blaser R93. The straight pull is excellent and it’s accurate but weight and balance are not optimal. I wanted something different on this hunt so went shopping for a suitable left handed bolt action. The exercise evolved into a mission with much AR involvement. Of course I was scouring AR Classifieds and one day spied a LH Stainless Winchester M70 in 7mm Rem Mag in a Ramline synthetic stock advertised by Vol717. A perfect candidate rifle, so I grabbed it and arranged for sending to dpcd who installed a Douglas barrel in .375 H&H with barrel band sling swivel, pillar and glass bedded the stock, installed a Wyatt magazine box ( longer ), opened the action a little, milled the stock and exchanged the two piece bottom metal for PTG one piece with the floorplate release inside the trigger guard, drilled and tapped the action for 8/40 screws for scope bases. dpcd also ensured the action cycled perfectly and feeding, chambering and ejection were all as should be for a DG rifle. JTEX kindly supplied some Barnes TSX 300 gn bullets, allowing loading of test dummy rounds. Then the rifle was off to Brown Precision ( after advice obtained on AR ) for installation of one of their fine stocks and Talley bases for the scope. Impressively, Browns succeeded in keeping overall rifle weight within set parameters with balance at the correct point. The overall result is a reliable rifle most suitable for purpose, easily carried all day afield. Upon receipt in NZ the only niggle needing correction was the tendency to score the hell out the chambering brass which I couldn’t live with. A good Kiwi gunsmith sorted this for me quite promptly by relieving a little metal from the action feed rails which also ended up making feeding even smoother than it already was. I am also very grateful to my good friend Larry ( lrich on AR ) who became involved in ensuring the Stateside process went smoothly and getting the rifle shipped to Reloading International who arranged on-shipping to New Zealand. Larry also helped with shipping a scope I picked up from AR’s GunsCore, a nice Leupold VX6 1-6 Illuminated which was just what the rifle needed.
I worked up loads for the rifle with Barnes TSX 300 gn amd North Fork Solid 300 gn ( the old shape ) and got both shooting to the same POI from 25 to 100 yds.

I flew Emirates from Auckland to Dubai ( 17 hours ), layover 4 hours, then to Lusaka / Harare ( 10 hours ) to finally arrive in Zim. As usual I flew Economy. I like flying Emirates as even in Economy they do feed and water you regularly and the cabin crew are quite attentive. Another Emirates plus for me is they have never failed to deliver my baggage on arrival, which is reassuring when travelling with a firearm. As I can’t sleep well on these long hauls I passed the time reading a Wilbur Smith novel.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare has recently opened a new extension. I was impressed. It goes down into a new arrival area equipped with a modern baggage carousel. A big improvement over the old, cramped, original arrivals system. I grabbed both my bag and rifle from the carousel. CMS now has Meet & Greet persons to assist with customs and rifles inspection. Mine, a delightful young lady, Grace, promptly took my paperwork and whisked me through inspection in very short order. Fantastic and well worth her modest fee. Outside the terminal I was collected by Royal who ferried me to Buzz’s place where I overnighted. Letwin, the housemaid, whipped up a lovely dinner and coffee and it was so nice to take warm shower before sinking into bed. After sound sleep I snapped awake at 2:00 am and couldn’t fall asleep again so reorganised my rifle and gear for the upcoming charter flight. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast I was collected by Charmain who drove me back to the airport for the charter flight. Incredibly, for a domestic flight it requires a Police firearms / ammo inspection before you are cleared to fly. The facilities for doing so are cramped and poorly lit making it uncomfortable but at least it was quick.

From the air the my overall impression of the landscape was “brown and dusty “. Actually visibility was largely obscured by smoke from copious fires burning vegetation as farmers prepped land for planting. No photo opportunities sadly. The bumpy flight took close to two hours before landing at Chirundu airstrip. It was neat at low altitude coming in to land near the Zambezi River. I saw Elephants in the brush and a Hippo pod in the river. The runway has numerous Impala middens. The plane trundled up to the parking area and Alan and his guys were on hand to meet me. A happy meeting all round and it was great to finally get feet on the ground in the hunting area.

We arrived at the flycamp on the Zambezi river and after meeting the camp crew got organised in my tent before starting a quick lunch. The original plan was to site this camp inland but Zim Parks had not issued permits in time so we were at a fallback location. Alan told me we were 45 minutes drive form the main Nyakasanga camp where a hunter was hunting four buffalo. I then learned that hunter was Larry Shores.
From our al fresco dining room I could see Waterbuck and Warthog feeding on the banks 200 yards away and hear Hippos grunting on the nearest island. It’s a neat spot to locate a camp.

Hunting wouldn’t start until tomorrow but at mid afternoon we drive away from camp a bit to shoot the rifle and check the sights. We had to wait for Impala to move away. On the sticks I shot one TSX and one solid at about 70 yards. Everything was good.
Alan wanted us up at 05:00 hrs tomorrow morning and ready to leave camp at 06:00 hrs. We confirmed that Tuskless and Eland are the priority game we will try for first. I headed for bed soon after dinner, listening to my Hippo neighbours and the melody of the Zambezi flowing by. It was great to be back in the Valley and the anticipation of the hunting ahead was pure tonic.

TUSKLESS ELEPHANT
Nyakasanga has many Elephant, and I hoped, was chosen well for my very first Elephant hunt. We saw Elephant every day and their evidence is everywhere. Often, when in camp, we heard Elephant that were probably within one to two hundred yards of camp.
From the first morning we were hunting Elephant. Nyakasanga also has numerous pans, most entirely natural, a few supplemented with solar pumps. We found either dry, drying or well filled pans. Much of our first morning was spent checking pans for fresh tracks of cows without calves as only these are legal to hunt. One set of fresh tracks was followed for some way but evidently these cows had made it into Mana Pools National Park, a non-hunting area, so we turned around and went back.
Elephant hunting resumed early next morning and we motored along parallel with the Zambezi checking spoor along and crossing the road. The guys founds fresh cow tracks and Alan decided we would follow. In procession we slowly wandered off and up a rise through open thickets reaching a large area of jesse which we carefully entered still on the tracks. It was gloomy and close within and the Elephant were there. The boys took us to about fifty yards from the feeding herd. I heard breaking vegetation and stomach rumbles and saw partial silhouettes of big bodies as they moved. We manoeuvred constantly keeping the wind right and followed as we could looking for prospect cows. After some time we saw they knew we were close and slowly backed out and left them alone. Alan said there were no suitable cows as all he saw had tusks but that going in was educational as it demonstrated how utterly quiet Elephant could be in thick stuff, and difficult to see, despite their huge size. If Elephant charged in that situation they are upon you when they broke cover, usually very close.
After returning to the truck we motored some distance before hiking off to check a series of pans and assessing Elephant and Eland sign found. Most cow sign also has calf sign.
Midday had become very hot. The truck was called and we lunched in the shade while swatting Tsetses flies and Mopane bees. We resumed not far away, on foot, to check another pan that Alan found last year which, to him, was previously unknown. Thick jesse stood between us and the pan and the guys ( Maplan and Martin ) pause there, listening, before entering cautiously. Not far in I see by their body language they sensed something. Indeed, Elephant, at about fifty yards. Movement, silhouettes and feeding sounds. Creeping closer, the vegetation opened more and a herd is there, strung out. Alan lowered his binos saying a tuskless is near and the stalk is on. It’s go time. I followed Alan to about thirty yards where he positioned the sticks and I see the side brain opportunity. And this is where I mucked it up. The crosshair is rock steady as I squeeze the trigger, hard, but nothing happens. Sh*t ! I realise I’ve forgotten to release the safety ! The cow moved off. Feeling stupid I gather the sticks and mumble my embarrassment. I don’t know what Alan thought but we stay with the herd, distantly, keeping our wind good as we followed. Alan located the same cow but approaching takes time as we stop and start, negotiating around other Elephant. Making a determined approach to our cow we suddenly had to back away when a young bull wafted in on our left and might have betrayed us. He proved benign, clears off, and we closed on the cow again. She is in a glade, quite open and Alan again placed the sticks at 30 yards. I was feeling tense. I think buckfever kicked in too. The cow knew something is there. She was trying to see me. Two thin tree trunks block some of her head as she swung it left and right. I move the sticks left trying for the side brain but no dice. I waited and she looked straight at me. It’s a front brain shot. I shot. She reeled back, turned and raun as I crank the bolt. Alan gets one shot in from his double .470 Nitro and shouts at me to shoot again. I shot at body I can see. One high shoulder, possibly partially effective, two others somewhere in the rear quarters. Then, she has gone. Feeling particularly inept, I wished I could turn the clock back and start again, but know we need to follow up with no idea of how long this will take. Skilled trackers now truly earn their pay. Maplan and Martin kept us on course. As we walked very small splashes of blood became larger and closer. A good sign ? Thirty minutes and we found where the cow paused and coughed up blood, lots. Even I could follow the blood now. Fifty yards on Maplan stiffened, stopped abruptly. I know what that means. Alan already had his eyes searching ahead. Grabbing my arm he marched me forward, saying just body shoot as there’s no time for the brain. I see our cow, facing right. I’m amazed – she’s feeding ! Alan pushes me right a bit, the cow saw this and immediately moved into cover. No chance at the shoulder and I hesitate and end up not shooting. A mistake ?? Alan snaps off two from his double, stressing “it’s a wounded cow, you must shoot, must shoot !!”. This is simply hopeless – I must pull my sh*t together. The cow seemed pretty mobile still and we followed some way. The boys said she was walking, not running. Alan said that’s a good sign. It means she’s hurt. Some distance later I notice she had turned around, heading roughly back towards where I first shot. Around 17:30 hrs the boys pointed to the cow in light cover, maybe fifty yards ahead. Immediately I got two shots into the right armpit and the third hard into the shoulder, which Alan said rocked her. She broke hard left, running. Alan shouts “behind the ear” and my fourth shot hit the neck. Later, I realise he meant behind the earhole. Then she is out of sight. I recharged the magazine and want to chase. Alan said she’s going down – listen ! The sound of rustling vegetation soon becomes a loud crash of splintering stems as the cow crashed to the ground. We walked up and my last two solids went into the top of her skull. We need to check if she is dead. Alan hands me the .470 Nitro to use if necessary but he touched her eye and she is finished.
What an ordeal. I’m glad I got it done, eventually. I think everybody else was too. I had to stand aside a couple of minutes to recompose myself.
Almost evening by then. Alan warned us back as two other cows come in to check the scene. We will have to return with the recovery crew tomorrow for photos and make our way back to the road in fading daylight. Alan expected Hyenas would follow the bloodtrail to the cow overnight and hoped they wouldn’t eat too much.



ELAND
Alan told me that earlier in the season Eland sightings were not infrequent in Nyakasanga and when in the vicinity of certain locations and pans he expected to see Eland. I quite believed it as in most places we searched we found Eland spoor, often large bull spoor, often quite fresh, indicating abundant Eland movement. Except we did not find many Eland at all. What I hoped was that we would locate fresh spoor of a large bull, take up the track and enjoy hours tracking a fine trophy, much like hunting LDE.
After a whole day of Elephant recovery on 22 August we dedicated our efforts to the search for Eland. During our hunt Eland were seen on only two occasions. On 20 August, our first hunting day, we were driving into a place known as “Paradise” in late afternoon and suddenly came upon a lone Eland bull in the open. I saw he was “blue”. Alan said “good bull” and we immediately commenced following his track which quickly turned into the jesse. So, in we went. But, not for long. The jesse was absolutely crawling with Elephant. We couldn’t turn anywhere without spying or hearing them and soon thought it wiser to retreat before causing any major upset.
From then until 25 August we saw no other Eland despite much driving, intensive searching and much walking, but we found spoor easily. However, Eland seemed invisible. Alan walked us through many Eland haunts he knew, including terrain in far Western Nyakasanga that is probably rarely visited, and cover along the Nyakasanga River. The “Paradise” area is a good chunk of country we visited several times for Eland. Late one afternoon we quietly stalked along the edge of cover as game was starting to emerge into the open. Alan stopped not far from what appeared to be a funnel from which game emerged en route to nightly feeding. We watched as hundreds of Impala filed past us, followed by small groups of Zebra, then a handful of super cautious Kudu including a nice but immature bull of about 52 – 53 inches Alan thought. Lovely to see. Alan was convinced Eland would come next, but it was not to be.
The next day we were even more determined to find Eland. We dedicated this day to Eland. Alan returned to “Paradise” yet again but today wanted to walk part of it he had never walked before. It was a lovely place to be. Eland tracks abounded but according to Alan, all heading out of “Paradise” to water beyond our hunting boundary. We tried following one set of large bull tracks from last night which became so obscured with overlaid spoor that we gave up. Another set of bull tracks was followed into a wooded section along a dry creek. The Eland had crossed the creek and we were about to do so when looking up an Elephant cow was approaching across the creek only thirty yards from us. We backed off quite smartly. We continued walking and exploring, just enjoying being there. Numerous Eland tracks were checked but none deemed worth following up. Some while later we walked onto a road and we called the truck. Alan now wanted to drive to the opposite end of “Paradise” and hunt from that direction, saying it was the right end to approach from. First though, we stopped for late lunch and rest. It had become a very hot day. By 15:00 hrs while motoring along again Alan suddenly halted the truck. He had spotted distant Eland crossing our front right to left. We lept from the truck and ran to some bushes, the only cover for hundreds of yards. Binos up and we saw a herd of some twenty plus Eland, raising a little dust as they move. Both Alan and I saw the herd bull, large and blue. Wonderful. A couple of cows stopped, looked our way, suspicious. “How far are they ?” Alan asks. “Too far” I said. It looked easily three hundred yards and too far to attempt. The main bunch of Eland moved off while we sat tight waiting for the stragglers to disappear, which eventually they did, running. Then the truck is barrelling along in pursuit. I thought we wanted to get ahead of them to intercept on foot but realised I’m wrong when we start walking. We were on their tracks. They were sticking to cover but at least it’s semi open Mopane thicket. Maplan spotted them. Across a small depression, one hundred yards at most. With binos Alan said “the bull is right there ..” and moved behind a small termite mound to place the sticks. By the time my eye came to the scope I saw the bull amongst cows, already moving away with no chance of a shot. We were busted. These Eland were uncomfortable but not spooked, yet, so we pursued. Daylight was beginning to wane as we closed yet again. We moved cautiously. Everybody sort of knew the Eland were just ahead and Ian, our Ranger, spottted them first. They have actually halted. Probably temporarily before changing direction or departing in haste. Alan beckoned me to stick close as we stalked in another fifty yards. A bush of ideal height is just ahead of us. Alan opened and placed the sticks to the right and my rifle comes up. I hear “ the bull is the dark coloured one…”, the same one I already had my crosshair on, facing right at one hundred yards. I almost shot but suddenly he moved right, behind a cow, then a little further right, behind a bush. My finger never left the trigger. As soon as his shoulder cleared the bush the first shot went. Pandemonium, hoofbeats, dust. I didn’t hear the strike but know the shot was good. “He’s unsteady. Give him an insurance shot…” I hear from Alan, spoken, not shouted, thus confirming a solid hit. There he stood in stunted Mopane, defiant and bleeding. The one hundred and fifty yard finisher to his left shoulder was easy. Still, for long seconds he stood, until he could no longer and crashed onto his side. I can’t adequately describe that feeling of walking up to my Eland, but it was the same as walking up to my Lord Derby Eland in Cameroon. Memories of both I will carry always. Alan said it’s the biggest bodied Eland he has ever seen. Later, at the skinning shed the guys said it’s bigger than a Buffalo. I already knew in body it is larger than my LDE. Alan and his guys used two winches getting the Eland onto the truck. Headed home we go via both the skinning shed and the main Nyakasanga camp. We reach our camp at 22:00 hours. It’s agreed that everybody deserves a well earned sleep in tomorrow. And, tomorrow, we will also make a plan for Bushbuck.
Alan quite correctly noted our opportunity for Eland occurred suddenly and we wisely took advantage. For the remainder of the hunt we never saw another Eland. Given the chance I would happily walk all day, with heat and Tsetse, wearing thin my boot soles, to hunt Eland. And Buffalo too. But sometimes you simply have to take the gifts you are given, no questions asked.





BUSHBUCK
My impression is that Nyakasanga has a few Bushbuck requiring skill and luck to find. Were it not for Alan I would probably still be wanting a Bushbuck.
Before today we had stalked here and there through riverine jungle, and jesse, searching for a buck. Sure, Bushbuck were found but all does and immature rams. The trouble was stalking was very slow work due to not wanting to spook other game in the same hideout. The Impala numbers were unreal.
On 26 August Alan drove us to the main Nyakasanga camp to refuel his truck and for the boys to collect supplies for our camp. Dubeh would drive the truck back while a few of us returned via the river in a camp motorboat. I got some Hippo pics and looked for Crocodile while Alan pointed out spots along the banks where he had seen Bushbuck rams, saying we would search late today and stalk if we saw a good ram. Around 16:00 hrs that afternoon we reboarded our boat and slowly motored along downstream glassing the passing riverbanks. We started seeing feeding does at first and Alan cut the motor and allowed us to move at current speed. More Bushbuck were appearing in the cover, including a young buck or two. Then Alan found a good buck that had stepped right onto open shoreline. He wasted no time motoring upstream to a point where we disembarked and hustled up onto firm ground. Alan hurried us along. We had about two hundred yards to go and Alan wanted to reach a small hill he thinks the buck is headed for. Amazingly, as we pushed through thorny thickets we saw Bushbuck jink away from us, left and right ! We reached the lower end of the hill which is covered in thick, stemmy shrubbery and a few trees. Alan, with binos, is adamant the buck is there, somewhere. Then he moved right, opened the sticks and pointed at the hilltop. I’m damned if I can see anything through the scope while Alan tried to explain. It was only eighty yards. I caught a quick movement. Our buck …? “Yes”, said Alan. Not visible enough to shoot so I held off. A couple of minutes… more movement. White leg patches moved to our right. Definitely our buck. He stopped again in thick stuff and all I can see through a hole is brown, with white spots. Is that his shoulder ? “Yes”, from Alan, “shoot”. So, I shot. Something sounding like approval muttered by Alan and I watched our buck leaping downhill, coming towards us, looking very ill. Twenty yards from us he could not stay upright and dived to the base of a thornbush. We waited for his movements to still but he tried to stand. An insurance shot ended it finally. I’ve waited too many years to risk losing him. He is a beauty. Moments like this make me wonder if I deserve such luck. I am thankful.
We had the muted, last light of the day as the sun descended over the Zambezi in which to take our photos. I think some of the pics captured that.
where is the nearest gas station to me


HYENA
On 22 August Alan and the guys built a rudimentary blind on the side of a small hill. I paced seventy yards to the bait tree where hung my Elephant’s ribcage and skull and miscellaneous smelly viscera. It took twenty minutes walking in the dark from camp to reach the blind, via a quiet side track. Around camp, in the darkness we often heard Hyena singing their peculiar calls and had seen others in the headlights when driving at night.
Hyena are smart. They have my respect. Native Zimbabweans say Hyena can see your dreams. Maybe some truth there. I had never been lucky enough to shoot a Hyena and can’t say I held great hopes this time. But, trying is fun.
The morning after building the blind, before dawn, Alan and I walked up to our position there. Last night around camp Lion had been quite vocal and we wondered what we would find. Sure enough, four lionesses and a two year old male. Buggers probably ate half the bait. We sneaked out and spent the day elsewhere, hunting. That evening on our return we stopped the truck short and Alan and I again walked to the blind. The lions remained. The young male walked in from the side, sniffed the bait, turned and walked our way. I thought he had seen us and wanted to get closer. But he stopped in a small dust bowl, rolled on his back and appeared to fall asleep with all four feet in the air ! We backed out without waking him.
The following morning we counted six lions at the bait. We hoped they would run out of bait and leave.
The next morning we did not visit the blind due to other priorities. But some kms later as we motored through some tall forest Alan suddenly yelled “ Hyena, Hyena, Hyena, Hyena…”, lept from the truck and ran among the trees. Maplan had his arm out, pointing. Following, I never saw a thing. Another Hyena that was too quick and too smart for me.
After the excitement of shooting the Eland it was 26 August before we returned to baiting Hyena. Finally, the Lions seem to have gone. Today we collected viscera and scraps from the skinning shed and refreshed the bait. Alan got the boys to bury random scraps. The idea is to make the Hyena search for these and dig them up and keep them hanging around looking for more.
Then, early next morning we again walked into the blind. No Hyena. But, we thought they only recently departed. Most of the buried scraps had been dug up. Hyena have eaten their way through the back of the Elephant skull for the brain. Needing more bait we drove to the skinning shed, collected scrappy meat, some Bushbuck, Buffalo ribs, bones and intestinal matter and got all this hung at or buried around the bait tree. Counter routine, at 16:00 hrs today Alan and I walked to the blind and waited quietly until 18:00 hrs, saw nothing, then walked back to camp. We would have another go first thing tomorrow.
28 August, pre-dawn, I followed Alan yet again to the blind. He took one look and signalled that I should shoot. One Hyena at the bait. Carefully I put the barrel through the opening for the rifle. The Leupold’s center dot glowing. The Hyena appeared very fuzzy in the low light and moved briskly to and from the tree, snatching high at the bait. I worried I wouldn’t get a steady shot. My knees began to twitch ! The Hyena returned to one spot three times as he snatched at the bait, then retreated. I held the glowing dot on that spot and the next time he returned the dot was right on him. I fired and was surprised by the muzzle blast and flash. I thought the Hyena would be dead on the spot. He went about fifty yards before piling up. He bled like a bucket with no bottom. Tougher than I expected.


WARTHOG
Our last three days were dawn to dusk affairs in pursuit of Warthog. I don’t know what mileage we accumulated in the truck but I don’t think we spent as much time driving or looking for any other animal, except perhaps Eland. Comparing walkabouts I think we spent as much time boar searching as we did for Eland. But despite huge effort a boar became the Rabbit we just couldn’t pull from the hat. Judging by the frequent sightings of sows and piglets it seemed the overall Warthog population was sound but that the boars had relocated elsewhere. Alan speculated that maybe most had relocated nearer to the Zambezi and abundant water when favourite pans had dried off. Our only excitement was a boar sighted from the truck on day one. This boar was quicker than us and escaped our brief chase. We were pretty sure it was the same boar shot later by Larry Shores.
Another day, late, we were driving past a nearby pan and saw a sow and piglets. We almost noticed the boar too late and he was running before we stopped the truck and gave chase. But again, we were too slow and the boar too quick.
Despite the result I’m not unhappy. I have a nice Warthog from Cameroon and will keep a Zim boar on top of the list for the next Valley hunt, one day.

This hunt was my third hunt with CMS and was no less enjoyable than my earlier hunts in Dande and Dande East. I don’t think hunting Nyakasanga is necessarily easier than the Dande concessions but sighting or finding game is easier I think due to sheer numbers. Proximity to Mana Pools and myriad pans may be factors in this. Most of the terrain we covered on walks was fairly easy.

I really enjoy walking and exploring on foot while hunting with rifle in hand. To me that is just the greatest feeling. On this hunt it seemed we spent more time driving than I expected. I think if our camp had been sited inland as intended it would have cut down much of the required driving to get around. Also, Nyakasanga is a large area so I guess a fair amount of driving is unavoidable to achieve good coverage. All in all though it worked out in the greater scheme of things.

I really enjoy hunting with CMS. They operate in some great hunting country in the Zambezi Valley, have very well staffed and equipped camps where clients are well cared for and the hunting teams do their utmost to get you into shooting distance of game. I cannot speak highly enough of Alan Shearing and his team Dubeh, Maplan and Martin. They are simply wonderful guys to be with on the track and so long as you’re willing to walk Alan will simply not stop hunting until the very last second.


Hunting.... it's not everything, it's the only thing.
 
Posts: 2013 | Location: New Zealand's North Island | Registered: 13 November 2014Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Great report! Headed there myself in 10 months and 29 days...not that I'm counting.
 
Posts: 51 | Location: South Carolina | Registered: 10 April 2019Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Great Report

Did you see or hear of any trophy bull elephant taken there?
 
Posts: 1862 | Location: St. Charles, MO | Registered: 02 August 2012Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Thank you for taking the time to right that report Grant.

I really enjoyed it and you took some exceptional animals, congratulations!
 
Posts: 2640 | Location: Utah | Registered: 23 February 2011Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Excellent report Grant. it was good visiting with you in Nyakasanga.
 
Posts: 11955 | Location: Orlando, FL | Registered: 26 January 2006Reply With Quote
One of Us
Picture of Hannay
posted Hide Post
 
Posts: 675 | Location: Oklahoma | Registered: 27 November 2010Reply With Quote
One of Us
Picture of Michael Robinson
posted Hide Post
Nice work, Grant.

Like yours, my Livingstone eland was bigger in body size than my Lord Derby eland.

They are such impressive animals, no matter the subspecies.

Like no others.

Congrats!


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
 
Posts: 13384 | Location: New England | Registered: 06 June 2003Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Grant,

What a great hunt report. It was very well written. Glad you were so successful.

Larry R


Hook em Horns
 
Posts: 330 | Location: Austin, Texas | Registered: 11 February 2012Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Congrats, Nyakasanga is a great place to hunt.
 
Posts: 65 | Registered: 01 October 2017Reply With Quote
One of Us
Picture of DLS
posted Hide Post
Congratulations on a very nice hunt. Thanks for the well written report.
 
Posts: 3854 | Location: California | Registered: 01 January 2009Reply With Quote
One of Us
Picture of fairgame
posted Hide Post
Wonderful report and Alan is a top notch PH


ROYAL KAFUE LTD
Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com
Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144
Instagram - kafueroyal
 
Posts: 9865 | Location: Zambia | Registered: 10 April 2009Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Thank you for taking so much trouble to write such a detailed report. I'm hoping to do this hunt myself when family circumstances allow.
 
Posts: 294 | Location: New Zealand  | Registered: 24 March 2018Reply With Quote
One of Us
Picture of Charlie64
posted Hide Post
.

Grant, what a great trip! Good for you! And a new rifle! Some super trophies there and fully agree with you re CMS.

What are you planning now?

Maybe we can catch up in NZ in April 2024, will PM you details.

Cheers and again congratulations on a fine hunt!

Charlie

.


"Up the ladders and down the snakes!"
 
Posts: 2259 | Location: South Africa & Europe | Registered: 10 February 2014Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Great report! Fantastic Bushbuck!
Congratulations!


Guns and hunting
 
Posts: 1098 | Registered: 07 February 2017Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Eland hunting is the best! And eland meat is the best as well. So far, all my African hunts have included eland: braai and biltong. I wish I could live on the stuff!
 
Posts: 567 | Location: southern Wisconsin, USA | Registered: 08 January 2009Reply With Quote
one of us
Picture of Fjold
posted Hide Post
Great report, Grant!

Very nice Eland. I heve been skunked three times on Eland, none have ever been blue enough.

Nice bushbuck also but strangely yours has two horns, do they come that way?


Frank



"I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money."
- Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953

NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite

 
Posts: 12535 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: 30 December 2002Reply With Quote
One of Us
posted Hide Post
Excellent report and great animals. Any idea on what the bushbuck measured?
 
Posts: 71 | Registered: 29 December 2018Reply With Quote
  Powered by Social Strata  
 


Copyright December 1997-2023 Accuratereloading.com


Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia