Fantastic report, thanks for sharing your hunt with us Bill.

Dave

Bill, congratulation on a great trip and as usual excellent report .

I have hunted from the same camp in 2004, when it was operated by HHK. The sleeping hut that you were in has got to be one of the best in Africa.

Great report! Thank you for sharing these wonderfull memories with us.

Great report Bill, (except that it took up half my working day !) The detail of the local areas and how things work was particularly interesting. Well done and best wishes.- Regards Robert

Great report, I wish I could write such a great report. Where were you camped in relation to the Manyuli Camp?

Bill,
The next best thing to being there is to read your hunt reports..thank you
Matt

Hello Bill

Congratulations, as always you set the standard for what an excellent report should be! What an adventure, thank you for sharing it, I really enjoyed your report.

Regards
Aziz

Thanks, what an outstanding report!

Your reports are the best/ thanks
Wishing I had the $$ for ZIP ele this year

Bill, Excellent report, as always. Reminds me of my hunt there in March, 2004. I had kapenta and sadza for lunch one afternoon with the crew that was building the McKenzies Point camp.

Hey Bill!- Great report. Way to tough it out w/the foot problems. The Doxy seems to be the bomb! Those shades of green in your photos are really something. Going to have to get over there at that time of year...

Bill, as usual I was able to "live" in one of your posts while reading it. It takes a generous heart to create such a lengthy text for others to enjoy. This story adds one more pebble to the side of the scale that tells me that I simply must hunt elephant before I die. Thanks.

OUTSTANDING!

Thanks Bill
I really enjoyed this as i have hunted buff in Martins area with another Ph and had a great time hunting not to mention a cold beer and a laugh each night.only problems is I want to go back again after reading this but have other plans for now.
just can't get enough of Zim

Bill,

Thanks for another fantastic report. I always read and re-read your trip reports for tips that might help me on my upcoming hunts. I know it takes a tremendous amout of time to create a report like this. Thanks for putting so much effort, energy and detail into your reports. (Maybe I can hire you to help me put mine together in September?

Congratulations on a successful trip!!

Doug

Thank you everyone for the nice feedback, I truly do appreciate it.

Elephant hunts can be pretty mundane, lots of driving, walking, and often without a lot of other game or activities available. Don't get me wrong, they are the best, but when you come back the camera is usually filled with many pictures of the same things. However, on this hunt, due in large part to the variables offered by the weather, and the concession itself, it felt like there was lots to do and see, which makes for an interesting report. Too, I work hard at keeping moving while I am there, and having an enthusiastic, upbeat, and energetic PH like Martin really helps.


To answer a few specific questions:

- Russell M asked on the previous post if I would return for an early-season elephant hunt, and the answer is a definite YES. I really like this time of the year, and there is something exciting about the first hunt of the season. I do think that for the majority of people in the majority of areas in Zimbabwe, June-Sept is the better period, especially if hunting a buffalo and plainsgame. A guy on his first African hunt, hunting in March, would likely come back disappointed in not seeing more game, and frustrated at the lack of shot opportunities. In many areas, early season trophy elephant can be hit-or-miss and hugely weather dependent. For non-export bulls, and guys who have hunted ele before and are looking for something different, early season is cool. Ditto with tuskless, but again, the early-season jesse is not for everybody nor for every PH…there are some that will not go into the jesse after cow elephant period.

- SGraves - There was that one day when the sun came out and began to evaporate all that rain water, where the humidity was tremendous, but otherwise it was not as muggy as I expected either. Nights were pleasant and good sleeping weather too.

- jimmara - Sadly, no other major hunt planned for this year, although I am trying to put together another Alberta "Rocky mountain mule deer" backpack hunt.

- Onefunzr - Yea, Saeed was kind enough to send me a few AR patches, but they never made it any apparel...my bad. I have written before that I'm not one for the Bubba Shrimp caps, but I am sure I can find a home somewhere for some proper AR branding! Bob's extra-green Cabelas cap stayed in Zim, and is now the property of our boat driver, Knobby (can you guess how he earned this name???)

Dylan and his official bought-at-the-show Dallas Safari Club cap:


Our boat driver and fishing assistant, Knobby:


- RCG - Sorry, it was all I could do to wangle this one! I'll try harder next time!

- Die Ou Jagter - Martin's camps are in the northern section of the Omay. Looking at the map, the Ume camp is located on the west bank where the Ume River first dumps into Kariba. From the camp, you can see both the Ume River and the Kariba inlet.

- Doug - No problem, of course I'll be needing a 21-day license to make sure that I accurately capture the spirit of the hunt!


Again, thanks for the replies, and keep them coming!

Bill

Bill,
Thanks again for a great report. You set the gold standard for hunt reports.

Green hunt, eh!?

Thank you and big congrats, bwana jesse!

Thanks for another terrific report!

Once again, well done my friend. Super report with tons of excellent technical and logistical information! I am impressed with the quality of the hunting in the early "green" months.

Great report and pics.

How is your foot and did the infection make you think about cutting out early?

Bill, just a terrific report. Very detailed, informative and enjoyable, as always.

I am definitely going to have to visit Zimbabwe one of these days!

I'm curious as to how the finish on your blued and wood Ruger held up under the onslaught of all that rain and humidity? Maintenance must have been a nightly chore!

Thanks for taking the time to record and post your experience.

Bill, always an outstanding report... Good shooting... Very nice ivory...

Mike

Excellent post! Great photos. It appears that you had a wonderful trip.

Martin - After I addressed it, no problems, and the thought of leaving early never crossed my mind noting that at no time was I concerned that it would get worse, I just should have addressed it sooner. The next day we shot the ele early, so not too much walking then, and Sunday w/two ele down we took a day off. After that, all was as-new, thanks in large part to the antibiotic (Doxy) I am sure. I am working on a better approach to a future wet-season hunt, and just got a new pair of Lowa light-weight waterproof hikers to try, that will dry out quicker then the all-leather ones did. If anybody has any suggestions on how to handle "ET Feet", please let me know, I'd appreciate it.

This is one reason why I always book at least 10-days (in this case 12, but 14 for a trophy elephant hunt is just about right) as you can often lose a day or so due to the unexpected. I find that after 3-4 days my "systems" begin to acclimate, and after 5-7 days I am in top form physically, and into the hunt mentally. Even having been on elephant hunts before and knowing the routine, during the first few stalks, one gets heavy-feet walking up to a herd of angry elephant! Not just clients, but PH's and trackers too! And it just takes some time to get into the swing of things, especially with a new PH/team.

MR - And therein lies the beauty of hunting with a $1500 gun!!!

I thought at the time that it would be trashed, but after giving it a good cleaning, it's okay. The surface rust seems to have come off, and the patches here and there (like in the magazine trap door) are not that bad. The wood survived, although the black forend is no longer completely flush with the stock. The bluing is patchy on the barrel, but this is from carrying it. As a working gun, it is fine, with lots of nice character! And anyway, it's next call to action will likely be in the rain for more elephant, so I figure no use getting it too pretty!

Thanks again,

Bill

Wow, fantastic report and awesome pics. Really enjoyed it. Thanks !!!

Great report!
I haven't had time until now to read the full report, but I enjoyed every word!
Thanks for sharing.

Just read the March '09 hunt report. What a good read! This kind of effort is a tremendous asset to all of us who need to learn from one another. I wish I had your dedication to detail. Let's hear more in the future. Bill

Very enjoyable read. First class hunt and report. Thank you.

Bill,

You should be ashamed of yourself! Going on a hunt like that, having a great time, blah, blah, blah and not even taking your KIDS!


I would love to get back (have hunted Chewore North twice) but my wife says I can't go until my two boys (6.5 yrs & 4.5 yrs) are old enough to go with me. Oh well, a lot to look forward to but a few years off.

Great hunt and report by the way. Thanks for taking the effort to put the report/photos together.

Tim

Thank you gentlemen!

Tim - Your turn will come! This is why I tell folks to take advantage of the time while you can. With the boys in College now and all that goes with it, it is not as simple any more, but I'm working on it. We did just come back from 10-days in Tortola/BVI, which I might add is stunning and has quite an African flavor to it...so they are not suffering too terribly bad! Bill

Bill:

This is the single finest report I've read on AR. By your effort you motivate many of us to try a little harder with our own hunt reports. Thanks for taking the time to provide us with such fine reading. I can't wait for your next one!