Dates: September 20 - October 1, 2012

Outfitter: Zambeze Delta Safaris

Booking Agent: Global Sportsman, Patty Curnutte

Travel Agent: Travel with Guns, Steve Turner and Susan Hill

Airline: Delta Airlines

PH: Rye Plett

Trackers: Brazil and Mazou

Rifle: Kevin Weaver built .375 Ruger

Ammo: Superior Ammunition 300 grain Barnes TSX

Area: Coutada 11, Mungari Camp

Hunting Companion: Bwanajay

This had to be one of my smoothest trips in 18 across the big pond to the Dark Continent. I am almost afraid to report that everything went flawlessly, fron check-in at the Delta gate in Houston to our arrival in Jo'berg. Immigration has been improved greatly at Tambo since I last flew through and our bags made it none the worse for wear. African Sky Guesthouse's representative, Godfrey, was waiting on our group and in ten minutes of arrival at the SAP's office we were departing for dinner, a shower and bed. A big plug again for ASG... comfortable, clean and great food and service.

The next morning, except for some overweight issues Bwanajay had, we made it through and on to Beira with little hassle. ZDS's pilot, Shaun, and representative Chris?? met us and greased our way through the visa and gun clearing process. We were then off on a 45 minute flight into camp.

Mungari Camp was to be our permanent home for the next 11 days. It is an older camp, tented and quite comfortable. My tent was nestled beneath a huge msassa tree and I quickly settled in and made myself at home.

Our PHs for the trip were Rye Plett and Poen Van Zyll, bwanajay's PH. They met us at the camp's dining area to review our list of needs and wants on this safari and then we were off to shoot our rifles in. A few minor adjustments and we were ready for the first day's hunt!





I have always wanted to hunt the Zambezi Delta area after reading about it in Harry Manner's book "Kambaku". The fact that the skinning shed for Zambeze Delta Safaris was actually built by Manners for his buffalo processing facility let me know I was in the right place.

Jay and I had booked this hunt almost two years in advance through Patty Curnutte and I would suggest that if you want to hunt this area you contact ZDS as early as possible. We had attempted to book this hunt for 2011 in January while attending DSC. We were politely told they only had one buffalo safari left for 2011! There are two reasons I feel they stay booked well in advance in spite of the poor economy. The first is their appearances on several popular hunting shows like Tracks Across Africa and Boddington's Experience. When I spoke to him about hunting in Moz, Dave Fulson urged me to do this safari telling me I would not be disappointed. I wasn't.

The second reason is the incredible amount of game you will see while hunting here. I don't remember a hunt I have experienced in an open, unfenced concession where I was constantly checking out game like I did here. Red duiker crossing the roads in front of you, herds of sable and reedbuck on the edges of pans and hartebeest and zebra on the floodplain. It is amazing.



The first morning in the field, Rye and I discussed the different types of hunting country to be found in Coutada 11. The zones progress from the swamps formed by the rivers of the delta to the huge flat, featureless floodplains, then into the palm savannah and finally, the suni forest. Each area is a transition zone as you work your way farther from the coast. And each area shares some species but not others. The other interesting feature in the savannah and forest, are the large pans that are great places to spot game during the drier part of the season.

Typical palm savannah

transition from floodplain to palm savannah

palm savannah with pan


albino oribi in the palm savannah

Sun over the floodplains


Suni forest



Swamp







That morning we covered the palm and fever tree savannah and looked at several promising sable bulls and a nice old warthog. We spotted one trophy that got our attention and had me grabbing my rifle. But in the end there were too many females and too many eyes. I couldn't finish closing on that big reedbuck ram. He knew exactly how far he was from me at any given time. So back to camp for lunch.

That afternoon found us creeping along in the suni forest, shotgun in hand. We rode on the bonnet of the cruiser with our "chief driver and gun bearer" Bushy manning the wheel! Not a quarter mile down the road, we spotted our quarry. We crawled in and looked at him in the binos, Rye gave me the thumbs up and I had my suni.

If a suni is on your list or you are a "Tiny Ten" collector, you will look long and hard before you find a concentration of these small trophies like that found in coastal Mozambique. We literally saw hundreds over the course of the hunt.



The second day in Coutada 11 was one of my best hunting days in my long career. It started that morning when I took a nice reedbuck around ten o'clock. We had glassed a herd of buffalo with a couple of solid bulls just a few minutes earlier in the forest and had left them to move into a pan that held reedbuck and hartebeest. Rye spotted reedbuck females and grabbed his sticks motioning me to follow. We moved to within 200 yards of the ewes when the ram stood up. We couldn't get closer at this point so on the sticks with Rye as a rest for my right elbow. I took the shot and was rewarded with that satisfying "whump" of a bullet connecting. Rye was pleased to get this ram as he had a previous client miss him and he worried he might change territories. Lucky for me he did not.




That afternoon we cruised the edges of the forest, creeping up to pans and glassing for animals feeding in the lush grass that grows around them. We had seen a remarkable number of sable in just a couple of days. From single bulls to herds of up to and over one hundred animals,so we were not in a hurry to shoot a bull. Then about 4:30, we spied a herd with a bull that got Rye's attention.

A stalk along the edge of the pan and up to a fortunately placed termite mound which provided a steady rest for the 130 yard shot. The result was an excellent old sable bull with the required mass, length and secondary growth.

PH, happy client, dead sable


Old guy, older tracker, Mazou, younger tracker, Brazil, bundu basher and head gun bearer Joshua aka "Bushy"


Over the course of my hunting career I have found Africa offers us opportunities on some hunts, and turns her back on us on others. I had not planned on an nyala, but they were available on quota. My discussions with Rye the day before our hunt started was that I would be interested in any trophy not on my list that was on quota and he deemed "big". Nyala, warthog, bushbuck, bushpig... I had taken them all but, if he saw an outsized trophy I was definitely interested in hunting it!

On our way in after loading the sable, the trackers started tapping urgently on the roof of the cruiser as we passed a pan. They had spotted an nyala that had them excited. We pulled up in the bush out of sight and crept back to the pan to glass. One look through his binos had my PH motioning me to load up and follow him. We skirted the pan and stayed back in the bush. The nyala ram was on the far side and interested in a female that was with him. After a quick ten minutes stalk, we exited the thick stuff and began to look for him again. We lucked out and caught him moving back into cover. It was a difficult angle, but the beauty of using the.375 Ruger on plainsgame is the fact it will drive a bullet at hard angles. One shot and the TSX did it's job. It was the most massive-horned nyala bull I have ever seen. I was truly blessed to experience a day like that! They are all to rare.






Day three was the day we had chosen to head into the swamps and hunt buffalo. One of the big reasons I wanted to travel to Moz and hunt. We left camp extra early and had breakfast in the Rio Salone fly camp in the floodplains at the edge of the swamps before heading out.

The swamps call for specialized gear and transportation. You will get wet, clouds of mosquitoes will try and devour you and the razor grass will cut exposed flesh, so the more exposed flesh you cover and the quicker-drying clothes you wear the better! I wore a polyester-based, quick drying fabric like that found in fishing attire and found that it held up well. I also used neoprene wading boots... just a note, don't make that mistake, you want a canvas shoe that drains.


It is amazing what the argos with tracks will go through to get you into the world's toughest places to hunt, be it Yukon bush or Mozambique swamps. Papyrus-covered rivers, vast areas of muck and razor grass and skirting the palm islands, they make the hunt doable in a day; where before, porters and swamp fly camps were called for. I could not imagine spending a night in the swamps...



Before we made our way too far in, Rye knew of a dagga boy living on a palm island he wanted to try. The palm islands are unique to hunt, raised areas that stay out of most of the water but are covered in palms and thick thornbush like waitabit and conbretum.

We came close to that bull a couple of times, in fact, mere feet at one point. But he had the advantage on his home turf and though we saw him twice, we didn't have a clean shot. And you do not want a wounded buffalo in that nightmare of tangles.

Bested by him for that day, we accepted defeat around 9:30 and headed into the swamp proper to look for herds. We would be back to see if we could settle the score though...

18 kilometers and an hour and a half into the swamps by Rye's GPS, we stopped to glass for buffalo the third time. We were rewarded when we saw egrets fly up and then back down 600 yards ahead across a river tributary. Buffalo!

We geared up, exited the argo and began the stalk. This sounds ridiculously easy, it is anything but. Sucking calf-deep mud, water filled flats, bugs and leeches and a river crossing added to the fun.

In 30 minutes we closed in on the herd of 150 buffalo. Rye glassed two hard bossed shooters in the group. One of the bulls had a little separation from the herd so up went the sticks and three shots later he was down. He wasn't the world's biggest buff or even the biggest buffalo we had seen in the last few days but he was an honest swamp bull and one of the reasons I traveled to Moz in the first place.




As several people have pointed out who looked through my pictures, the flies and mosquitoes were absolutely trophy class! And everyone of the SOBs, from the hippo flies to the mutant house flies would bite! Somehow I forced a smile for the pictures!

With more trophies in the salt than I expected at this point, we began to slow the pace of the hunt. Heck I wasn't at the half-way point yet...

So we hunted red duiker on the fourth day, uneventfully. We saw many, but by the time we could evaluate male or female, trophy or not, they had fled the scene.

The next day we concentrated on Lichenstein's Hartebeest. I enjoy hunting the different variety of hartebeest and did not have a Lichensteins.

We headed to the floodplain and caught a herd just exiting the palm savannah. They are damn tough to sneak up on. We quartered them, tried to cut them off, you name it but they kept us at 300+ yards. Finally, after an hour or more of trailing them, the females began to run back toward the palms. The herd bull was concerned with two cows who lagged the bigger group and we closed to 225 yards... now or never. He was a very good bull with long tips and nice mass at the bases.




That evening in camp we discovered there were 6 buffalo left on quota. As most of you might have figured out over the years, I love buffalo hunting and a quick plan was made to head back and hunt the old dagga boy that gave us the slip on day 3.

We made a plan to hunt him that afternoon and if we did not connect, to spend the night in the Rio Salone fly camp and try again the following morning.

We worked the palm island that evening but could not catch fresh sign. We must have bumped him out of his refuge a few days earlier.

The Rio Salone fly camp was very comfortable and the fireworks of thousands of fireflies across the pan below camp was worth the trip!

The next morning we were up and in the argo at first light. We were rewarded with buffalo spoor in the middle of the two track at the first palm island and the trackers were off on the trail... the bull had joined with a small herd of 5 cow and calves. Sweating profusely in the early morning humidity we closed in on them. They had already moved into the thick tangle of bush.

After 45 minutes we were close, you could feel them. We were working out of the thick stuff to the edge of a small tributary of a river and then back in again. When a croc busted out of the brush and headed for water we all jumped out of our collective skins. We heaved a sigh and pushed in another few yards and spooked the buffalo only a few yards away. All of the buff came busting out of the island.

We could see them through a small opening only fifteen yards away as they crashed out, crossed the water and into the floodplain.

We could not believe our luck... we thought we would see them and catch up in short order.

Now this is why I like hunting buffalo, especially old bulls. It's a chess game. We barrelled along certain we would catch up with them, following a path even I could make out. We followed maybe 300 to 400 yards where they crossed the main river, we were 5 minutes behind them. As we were looking and deciding where and if we were going to cross, Rye looks behind him. The old bull had hung back and let the women and kids lead us out of his way. He was heading back across the floodplain to another safe haven but Rye just happened to look behind and see him!

Damn those old boys are crafty! But we won this day. We crept up using what little cover we had and at 75 yards I swatted him three times before I lost sight of him running toward the river.

We caught up to him and he tried to stand one more time... he was valiant to the end. And a helluva trophy and a hunt I will long remember!





With our last few days we hunted hard and caught up with a really nice red duiker. Rye was pretty excited about him so I think he was a good one.



We also had a funny thing happen to us on the 9th day. We drove out of the forest and into a pan we had not driven through before. Rye was telling me about a big warthog that a client missed in the pan at the beginning of the season. He no sooner let the phrase die in the wind when he blurts out "there he is"! Sure enough a huge warthog breaks for cover and holds up in a patch of weeds trying to decide if it is safe to head for the forest. The trackers have my gun out of the case as I stepped out of the cruiser. We headed to the edge of the patch and saw the weeds part as he made his break for it. At fifty yards I had no other choice than the Texas heart shot. As the trigger broke the big pig sat on his haunches and another bullet through the shoulders put him down. We didn't measure him but he is the biggest warthog I have ever seen, much less shot!



We never found a monster bushbuck or bushpig but not for lack of trying! We saw bushbuck up to 15" which is a damn nice ram but I have shot quite a few so had the bar set high. Same with bushpigs... I must have seen a couple of dozen but not that one big old nasty boar you just have to shoot.

The last evening was a hell of alot of fun. We may have been slightly overserved but we had much to celebrate.

In the end it was a fantastic trip. This area of Mozambique is well on it's way to it's former glory days of safari in the 60's. Lots of quality game in a truly wild setting with a great outfitter. I can highly recommend!

Rye, Poen and Mike Curry with some old guy grinning like he was having fun

Moon over Mozambique

Shoe leather

bwanamrm;

You can't stop here!!!

My husband & I hunted out of Mungari in 2010. I recognize all your pics, but I'm dying to hear about your hunt.....please continue ASAP!

Best regards, D. Nelson

I look forward to the next chapter Russell. I like the rustic but comfortable look of that camp. Great adventure. I want to get the details though over a beer and a plate of cheese enchiladas at Chuy's.

[P.S. I am starting to understand your Photobucket problems!}

Russell,

Nice trophies. Your right about that place being loaded with the little guys. They're running around like bugs there.

So I'm not the only one who bought a 1.75x6 Leica. Just sent mt in to be reconditioned. Nice glass.

Oh! Photobucket is giving me fits today.

Mark

Fantastic Russell! Monster reedbuck and nyala.

Russell, Congrats on some very fine game. I just returned home from hunting there and it was a fantastic experience.

Great pics of your trophies.

Cheers,
Mark Hampton

Thanks Mark, I am sure you had a great experience as well! Look forward to your report.

And thanks David, Mike, Darin and Mark... I hope to get this finished soon.

And Mark, like yours, my Leica has been an excellent scope and a perfect fit for that rifle.

Congrats on a great safari. That nyala is a beauty! Two friends and myself are booked for 2014 to hunt there and reports like these make me even more anxious to go.

That is a monster Nyala and I love that beat up old bull.

the road through the suni jungle looks awfully familiar except we sat on the tailgate and slide off as the truck continued on when a suni was spotted. great report and the scenes described bring back a lot of fond memories. can't wait for more!

Damn Russell!!! What a hunt!!(so far!) Your Nyala looks more like a Mountain Nyala! And the Common Reedbuck, Sable, and Lichenstein's-WOW! But, I must say, your Livingstone's Suni is a MONSTER! I can't hold my breath much longer-get the report finished!!!

What a warthog!!

One question if I may...Boddington has stated and you eleduded to more and more buffalo showing up in the forest(dry)areas. Did you observe good, huntable numbers of buff in the forest?

Congrats again.

Awesome hunt, Russell! Thanks for sharing.

What a fantastic hunt, congratulations! That warthog is huuuge.

Torbjorn

Congrats on some very fine trophies. I am hung up on that warthog....wow!

russell,

Wonderful report and photos. Thanks! Congrats on a great hunt and wonderful animals. You had one heck of a trip my friend...

Russell....Thanks for the report,and Congratultions on your wonderful trophies!

This is a hunt that I have been thinking about.
Even more now!

quote:

Did you observe good, huntable numbers of buff in the forest?

Safari2,

There are large numbers of buffalo in the forest. In fact, the two best bulls I saw during my hunt were in herds that had fed into the open dambos and pans on the edges of the forest. The bull we saw on the last day was probably close to 40"... isn't that the way it always happens when you've finished the hunt!

Russell

Russell;

The full report was worth the wait!! All of your trophies are super. That area of Moz is certainly a unique type of hunt, for sure.

Glad to see Joshua as an appie!!! He was a lucky charm for me with my bushpig!

Congratulations, I love both your old buff!

Best regards, Darin

Well done as always my friend.

Jay, are you too afraid to post your hunt report? Afraid that you will end up becoming the poster child for some PETA campaign? Can't find a photo hosting site that has enough storage space to put all your trophy pictures from the hunt? What's up?

Simply awesome Russell, a huge congrats to you and Jay. You are looking quite fit there my friend!

The trophy pictures are wonderfully constructed, every one of them. That pict of you at the tail of the nyala really pops on the iPad. Ditto the reedbuck (I gotta get me one of these!).

Sable, 2xbuffalo, suni, red duiker, hartebeest, and that warthog - wow - what a bag!

Why does that camp look like home....

The Argo must have been a different experience....where did the trackers and scout sit? What about the buffalo once down? Any picts of a "loaded Argo"?

What was the airport like in Beira?

So much green for September...was it a typical year as far as rainfall is concerned? Or being coastal, with perhaps later rains, is this the norm?

Yea yea I know, I blew it!

Good show guys!

Oh no!!! Not "the swamps" again! :-)

What a fantastic bag of trophies, Russell! Congrats and thanks for sharing with us

I'm especially interested in the tiny ones, and my collection has two open spots for suni and red duiker. I'm going to Moz! Just don't know when

Mike, I've never posted a hunting report on my Safaris. That said, I am in the process now (pauly pauly) slowly and am waiting on Poens, my PHs, pics. The quality of my pics are really not up to the standard here on AR.

Russel,

Great post. Love the pics.

Thanks for the updated report and pics. That pig is unbelievable!!!

Wow...Congrats on a great safari!

Enjoyed the report and fantastic pics

Thanks for all of the nice comments folks!

Bill,
The reason that camp looks like home is that you should have been on that trip with Jay and I! Seriously, the argos were nice but rough riding. The trackers were troopers and rode in the back. On my first bull we had to skin and debone the choice cuts which were loaded in burlap sacks along with the buff's head. The guys sat on top of that and it made for avery slow trip back. The river crossings with that load were nightmarish.

The second bull dropped in the floodplain and we did a full recovery with two argos.

The airport at Beira is pretty nice actually, a big step up from Bulawayo and not quite as nice as Harare. Close to Lusaka. And efficient. Nobody really bugged us for tips.

We were about 80 miles from the coast and had a couple of days with rainshowers so it stays greener than the Zambezi Valley or Masailand. Though this is the drier warmer part of the year, there is still a lot of water in the swamps and pans. Their rainy months are the same as most of southern Africa... December through March.

I am going to be off the radar screen for awhile. Chasing grouse and woodcock in Maine for the rest of the week. In fact, I am writing this from my hotel room in Boston this evening. Check back in next week!

Russell,

A wonderful safari and fantastic pics .. Love that nyala and great buff and all the rest. That wart hog should be mounted a super one.

Mike

Excellent, thanks for that report and photos.

Congratulations!You got perfect trip. Amazing place and nice trophies as well. Thank you for report.

Great report. Love the Nyala.

Cheers
Jim

Russel,
great hunt. Good for you.

Was the argo able to drive through/over the papyrus?
I'm considering getting one for our operations in the Moyowosi swamps

Great report!! You got a lot of great trophies. I love the looks of that Nyala and Buffalo. Got to love those little guys as well. Well done

Great hunt and trophies. The delta is a terrific destination, seems to just keep getting better. Thanks for sharing your story and fantastic photos. Love that pig.

Bwanamich,
Please understand I only spent a couple of days in the argo but from my limited experience, the argo worked well crawling over the papyrus in the rivers and swamps. The key was the tracks, I don't know if it would have been possible with just the wheeled version. The wider stance and grip with tracks kept the argo from sinking. Althought when heavily laden, we did hit some soft patches and had to back out. An e-mail to Mark Haldane would probably be in order if one was contemplating a purchase. He is a great guy and could give you all the pros and cons. Thanks!

Big congrats on a fantastic hunt. Talk about some huge trophies. Great story and photos. Sounds like a great destination minus the bugs though! Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
Russel,
great hunt. Good for you.

Was the argo able to drive through/over the papyrus?
I'm considering getting one for our operations in the Moyowosi swamps

we used an 8 wheeled Argo in the floating papyrus reed mats in Coutada 10, which adjoins Mark's concession. it worked fine with no problems and on open water sections, it just floated and the churning tires essentially acted as outboard motors.

Super trophies and pics. Congrats on a wonderful hunt. Thanks for sharing it.