Outfitter: Mokore Safaris
Area hunted: Sengwa Research Area
PH: Peter Creighton
Date July 1-7, 2013

This was the first leg of a double non-trophy bull elephant hunt. I had already booked a hunt in the Caprivi when I saw this special non-trophy hunt with Mokore Safaris in the Sengwa Research area. I had wanted to hunt with the Duckworths for some time and they had recently acquired the lease on the research area so I couldn't pass it up. Peter Creighton would be my PH, poor sole. I emailed him before I left just to give him a heads up and asked him if there was anything small I could bring him, like a Hym double. He said he didn't need a Hym but he could use some Skoal. I could tell Pete had a sense of humor and this hunt was going to be fun. The amount of work the Duckworths have done in three or four months is mind boggling, building a luxurious tented camp complete with beautiful tile in the bathrooms which are in suite. The level of service they provide is over the top. There was hot water bottles placed in your bed to help keep you warm during the chilly nights. That was a first for me. We also BBQ'd several times at lunch when we were out in the field including grilling elephant heart the day we killed the bull. It was tough but I managed.
Now for the hunt: We were fortunate to David Baillie helping out in camp. He is kin to the Duckworths and just graduated from high school in England and decided to work in camp for the hunting season. They worked it out for him to go on my hunt so I got him to video using my camcorder. It was great fun to have him along and watch him experience his first elephant hunt. He was also the target of several pranks. We spent the first couple of days finding out where the movement was. Saw some cows and several nice bull tracks but they were a day or so ahead of us. We were seeing a lot of buffalo, one herd of over 100 that had at least 25 bulls in it. Most were young, soft boss, but given a few years they will be outstanding trophies. Plains game was plentiful, eland, kudu, water buck, zebra, we were having a blast pointing out different animals. Around the fire pit we could hear lions or leopards every night. Sengwa is a special place. On the way back to camp on Day Two we saw a bull that would work for us but it was to late for us to go after him.

On the Third Day we were still finding large tracks but it seemed like if we went to the lower end of the river, the bulls were at the upper end and if we went to the upper end they were at the lower end. This is my second bull hunt, I've done the tuskless and PAC, and I'm learning that hunting bulls can be very frustrating. Sometimes you just have to keep grinding. With about one hour of daylight left, we spotted two big bodied bulls 200 yards away but they started running toward the river. We sprinted after them hoping they would cross the river but they got in the thick stuff and never came out. Our hearts dropped to our feet. We felt that we had the wind right and they were to far away to hear us, they had to have caught some wind of us and didn't stand around and ask questions.
The next day was the routine by now, be at the river by first light and walk the dry river bed looking for tracks. Saw a small herd of 8 to 10 cows and calves which wanted to cross exactly where we were so we moved on. Came around a bend in the river and saw the mother load of elephants lined up crossing the river. There had to be at least 60, cows, calves and young bulls but we spotted 2 bulls 500 or 600 yards on the other side. They must have been skirting the big herd and were definitely worth a closer look. As soon as the big herd had filed across the river bed we took off cutting behind them when we noticed another group entering the river bed. We were right between a group of about 60 and another group of about 30. Pete decided we needed to pick up the pace and get out of their way. There was one bull in this group however. Pete said he would go about 40#, too big for me. Just my luck, here is a bull headed straight for us and we were in grass high enough to hide and ambush him but he was too big. We still had the two bulls we had spotted earlier so we are walking as fast as we could and lose sight of them when we enter I a small neck of brush and trees. We came out into the edge of a big open field of grass and 400 years on the other side we see one of the bulls facing away from us, but can't see the other bull. Pete goes a few steps further around some brush and 60 yards away was the other bull with his head in a tree eating, facing away. He was an old bull with small ivory, just what we were looking for. Pete said "We are going to walk right up behind him, I'll get him to turn and you take a frontal brain shot." Sounds easy, I'm thinking I've never done a frontal but it's to late now, we are walking fast straight to him. We're getting closer and closer and I'm beginning to wonder if Pete is going to pull the bulls tail to make him turn but we stop 20 steps from him. Pete taps the stock of his rifle with his wedding band but the bull pays no attention, then Pete coughs softly and that got his attention. He spun around, holding his head high with his ears spread out, I shoot and his head goes up and his rear end went down in the classic brain shot reaction. I was ecstatic. Pete and I hugged and hardy handshakes to everybody. David was able to get it on video, great footage. It was a happy group of guys. I was extremely pleased with the shot and knowing "The Old Mann" never heard the gun go off.
At the beginning of the hunt, Pete had said when we got the elephant, we would BBQ some elephant heart so I was anxious to see how this would turn out. He cut some thin slices off along with some clear white fat and we grilled it in the shade close to the bull. Had some slaw and sudsa(not my cup of tea). I think back that the old ivory hunters would take a couple of biscuits and a tin of water, come to think of it a couple of biscuits with the heart would be just right for this Southern Boy.
The three days remaining in the hunt we just went out to enjoy seeing wildlife and the scenery. Pete loves to hunt buffalo so we tracked a large herd, got up close on them and enjoyed that. The night of the 6th Day, while sitting around the fire pit, saw a brilliant shooting star that lit up the whole sky, much brighter than lightening. I have never experienced anything like that. The last morning of the hunt, we went out to have one last look around and while stopped looking at buffalo tracks we heard a lion roar 500 or 600 yards away. The last afternoon, David, Pete, Melanie Duckworth (Gary's wife) and I drove to the dry river bed to watch the sun go down. We ate popcorn while some waterbuck looked on as the sun slipped behind the trees. What a great way to end a fabulous trip.

Pete by holes the elephant have dug to get to water.

Beautiful open woods, it would be a lot of fun to sneak up on an old bull here

Look close and you can see elephant trails up this steep slope, amazing what they can climb

Congrats on the hunt!

The Duckworths always put together a great camp, and hopefully their new area will continue their successes.

Looks like quite the elephant spot.

Great shooting and fine photos.

Mike

Well done! Thanks for your report.

Thanks for a great report and pictures. Got the elephant bug chasing my tusk-less... a non-trophy bull is next for me.
Well done.

Congratulations!! Great report and pics.

Great report,just what I needed to read this morning

Congratulations. Nice report.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill73:
Great report,just what I needed to read this morning

Nice shooting on that old Bull!
Congratulations

I loved my hunt in Sengwa. It is a beautiful area with the high bluffs, the vleis . . . I even enjoyed the old farmhouse. I understand the Madala is no longer working in camp. Congrats on a great hunt.

Randy

Great Report!

Sorry I missed meeting you, I had hit the sack by the time you and Pete made camp. I did get to see Pete early morning before we headed out, and I knew you all were in for a fun hunt.
Wonderful that David got out with you guys, good lad.
Sengwa is for certain an outstanding big game area.

Congrats!
Brett

Randy,

Well done! Thanks for letting me assist you.

Mark

Outstanding Randy!

Congratulations...great report and pics

Roland

Nice report - well done.

Looks like the Duckworths are doing a good job in Sengwa which is no surprise - first class family that.

Great report and congrats.

Did the Duckworths say anything about how things (hunts) are going in Mozambique this year?

I didn't hear much, there was a father/ daughter there when I was in Sengwa and they had a lion walking around their tent at night. The daughter loved it!

Randy.

Great report to read, fine pictures as well. It surely reveals you had fun and good times. Well placed bullet too. A fine hunt with some fine people I think.

Many congratulations.

Jytte

HBH-- Yea, we got there pretty late. David is a good kid, really enjoyed having him around and he had a great time being on the ele hunt.He is in Moz now and said he was going to get to shoot some PG himself and was excited about that.

Great report. Thanks for all the landscape and camp life photos. I just returned from my first hunt and am leaning toward a non-trophy bull hunt...with reproduction tusks made.

quote:

Originally posted by Badger Matt:
Great report. Thanks for all the landscape and camp life photos. I just returned from my first hunt and am leaning toward a non-trophy bull hunt...with reproduction tusks made.

I hunted cows three times, they have their thrills, but I wanted to hunt bulls because of their bigger body size. Cows are big but bulls are HUGH. When that bull held his head up high with his ears out he is pushing 15'. That is an adrenaline rush!

Nice, Randy. Thanks for the report and pretty pictures. Sounds like a great trip.

I've been up those same kopjes. You huff and puff getting to the top, only to find Elephant trails all over the summit. You can look down from the cliffs onto the backs of Elephant otherwise hidden in the trees below.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I've been up those same kopjes. You huff and puff getting to the top, only to find Elephant trails all over the summit. You can look down from the cliffs onto the backs of Elephant otherwise hidden in the trees below.

That's true, we actually sat up there and watched Gary and his client put a stalk on some ele below us. That was unique.

quote:

Originally posted by Randy W Martin:

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I've been up those same kopjes. You huff and puff getting to the top, only to find Elephant trails all over the summit. You can look down from the cliffs onto the backs of Elephant otherwise hidden in the trees below.

That's true, we actually sat up there and watched Gary and his client put a stalk on some ele below us. That was unique.

That's funny. When I hunted in Sengwa Research with a friend we did something similar. We had Buzz up on one of the kopjes directing us (my friend, his PH and myself) by radio to where the elephant we were stalking were located. To this day I believe that Buzz was simply telling us to turn right, turn left, go this way, go that way, just to watch us do it on the ground not because we needed to do it to reach the elephant. He seemed to be highly entertained by the whole exercise.

Congratulations Randy & thanks for sharing!

Randy thanks for the great report and sharing your experience.

thanks Randy enjoyed the report and photos...well done

Hey Randy,

What rifle is Pete holding in that one picture? Looks a lot like my Sako 458Win!

Great report and great hunt!

If memory serves me right it is a 458 Lott, not sure what make.

Great one, Randy!

Great photos and report. Very well done.

Hi Randy - you clearly had a good time! One question: what did the grilled heart taste like, and was it reasonably tender?

It tasted like beef. Not your USDA choice but reasonably tender. Pete put the white fat on top of the meat while he was grilling it and that helped. The fat was not gamey tasting like the fat from a deer. I'm sure the experience helped the taste as well.

awesome,congrats

Great report!