Folks - pictures to follow in reply. Having difficulty uploading from Mac to AR

10 day hunt end of season. Late Sept - early Oct. total days hunted 9 - I arrived getting over the flu and did not hunt first day

Species sought - Roosevelt Sable, Eland, Niassa Wildebeast, Lichtenstein's Hartebeast, leopard if possible

Species taken - Roosevelt Sable x2, Eland (Patterson's?) x2, Lichtenstein's Hartebeast x1. 5 animals total

Rifles and optics and ammo

Custom small ring 98 Mauser in 6.5x57 with Leupold 3x9 compact. Hand loads with Sierra 120 gr PH
--> I would not take this combo back to Africa. Too small cartridge, too light bullet, and this Mauser had a very slow lock time. In part because all Mauser 98's are slow, but specifically I think this had the original spring which was compressed. I upgraded to a David Tubb Speedlock when I got home on this gun

Sako L61R Deluxe in 416 Rem Mag with Leupold 1.75-6 VX3 w/ Alumina lens caps. Hand loads with Swift A-Frame 400 gr SP
--> This is definitely a good combination! I used IMR XBR 8208 powder and Remington cases. XBR 8208 is supposedly extremely temp stable and this load shot 3 shots into under 1/2" at 50 yards with a 6x scope with velocities about 2450 fps. The Remington brass is relatively hard compared to my other 416 brass - BELL and HDS. I don't recommend BELL and HDS - soft and necks too thin to crimp in my Redding dies
The Leupold VX3 was very sharp and crisp and a big plus with the VX3 series is the ends are threaded for their Alumina caps. These are very quiet and fast lens covers and the ability to keep dust off scope lenses in Africa is a big deal

Small items that are a must bring
Head net for mapane bees
Starbucks Via Instant Coffee - I like the 'scooter' Italian blend, and so did everyone else

PH Guy Whittall. Exceptional PH and better person

Trackers Taru mostly, and Manuel. Same as above for both Taru and Manuel. Outstanding individuals

We hunted both Nungo and Messalo camps. Michael Robinson hunted same area 1-2 weeks before we arrived and he has an excellent report on hunt camp and staff

General / macro observations on game et al

The herds of sable and eland and their quality is substantial. The subspecies of sable are definitively Roosevelt (genetic testing). My hunting partner took a 39" bull with 9 1/2" bases and I took 2 bulls over 40" - within 2 hours of one another. We also picked up a lioness kill that was 43 1/2 x 43 with 12 3/4" bases. I saw 2 additional bulls 39-40"

The eland are exceptional, but I do not know what subspecies they are or if they are a hybrid. Some of them have a white patch on back of forelegs like Patterson's and some don't. Mine did not but they were very mature black bulls and not being an eland expert I am not sure if that white patch disappears with maturity. Jumbo Moore noted that while SCI arbitrarily draws a line at the Tanzania border, that border is only 60 miles away and some of the species bear greater resemblance to those 60 miles near than those 600 miles south they are grouped with. The sable are Roosevelt not Common. The kudu do not look like Greater Southern even though that is their class. The eland per Jumbo, are bigger in a narrow band across northern Moz than the eland either north or south, so again I don't know what they are, SCI calls them Livingstone's but they have Patterson's markings. Until someone performs genetic testing I guess the jury is out. They are exceptional on Guy's concession and get little hunting pressure, so far anyway. I saw 4 'Black Bulls' and took 2. One bull was the biggest Guy had ever seen, and he actually has a green score high enough to make 'bronze medal' in SCI as a Lord Derby. And he did not cost $50K to hunt either

One would have good opportunity for Licht Hartebeast, Reedbuck, Niassa Wildebeast and Guy has lots of cats. I wanted a leopard but just ran out of time. We were stacking up so much nice plains game we ran out of time to shoot baboons - a good problem. And the weather turned cold and baboons became hard to find

Much of his concession they are still building roads and has had little hunting pressure. I would say the opportunities are excellent for someone wishing to hunt exceptional sable and eland, regardless of their species classification, and they may likely be classified as a smaller subspecies, like Roosevelt Sable, which makes them really impressive

The measurements on my animals were as follows

Lichtenstein's Hartebeast. 19 1/2 x 19 with 10 3/4 bases
This is the only animal I shot with the 6.5x57. And I shot him 4x, the first 3 shots all fatal but he did not drop until after the 4th shot in his ass straight away at 250 yards. This is too small a cartridge and too light bullet construction.

Eland # 1. 38 1/2 x 37 1/2 with 12 3/4 bases
Is eland we tracked all morning when he was solo and could not catch up to him. As we headed back to camp we saw him with a herd of about 40 all sizes, including 2 other black bulls that were smaller. We tracked the herd for another 2 hours and Guy decided we needed to make a mad dash x a sunlight area or we were going to lose them. We did, Guy out up the sticks and I shot him broadside in the heart about 170 yards while he was tending a cow. When we walked up I thought damn he looks funny - he had run about 60-70 yards and fell against a small mapane tree. His head flipped backwards and his horns stuck in the dirt with his chin in the air as in the photos

Sable #2. 41 x 41 with 9 3/4 bases

I had missed this bull at 250 yards, shooting over his back. Don't let anyone BS you that a 416 shooting 2400 Fps with 400 gr bullets does not shoot flat. It shoots plenty flat enough by putting the CH at top of the back out to 300 yards, probably farther than your PH will let you shoot. Anyway, we caught up with this same herd late the following afternoon. After belly crawling behind a termite mound and not seeing the bull, we stood up only to get busted by him behind another mound. We ran like hell to another mound in the flay and I set up sticks to shoot him facing me at 100 yards. My shot went just under his heart by less than an inch, clipping him in the lung and guts. We tracked him until dark and decide to come back in e morning...

Sable #1. 42 1/2 x 42 with 10 1/2 bases

We head out early to resume the track on Sable #2. About 2/3 way enroute, we spot a large herd of sable crossing in front of us. We get out of the truck and into the mapane to wait for them to come across for a better look. At the back of the herd was this bull, and Guy says something I don't remember but something like what a monster - and I say, I will take a second sable if you give the ok, and Guy set up the sticks. Only chip shot of the hunt. 70 yards, broadside heart shot. He ran about 40 yards

Back to Sable #2...

We take some pictures and get back to looking for the prior evenings bull. We see his herd and he is not with them. We pick up his track, and though we figured him dead from prior night, he never laid down. We kept bumping him. 2 of the guys went back to pick up sable 1 and get him to the skinner. Taru decides to cut a big semi circle to try catching e bull watching his back trail and it worked. He motioned us up and as I got there the bull broke and ran. I double lunged him at 150 yards but he kept running. As we ran after him we saw him break and run again and that blood was pouring out. I shot him again, running quartering away about 120 yards in shoulder and then he piled up

And that is how I got lucky and got 2 heavy horned sable over 40" within 2 hours on the same day. Very lucky!

Eland #2. 33 1/2 x 31 1/2 with 10 3/4 bases

I was having such a good time with the eland in particular, and Guy noted that only 1 other eland had been killed (Michael Robinson's bull) a few days before, that I decided to try for another black bull. So went where Taru had seen a nice bull with a different herd. We found the herd after about 3 hours. They had been feeding on far side of a flay, a herd of about 25-30 all sizes with one nice black bull. We belly crawled across the flat to edge of the mapane and we could hear the bull grunting and saw some of the cows standing. The bull was on far side out of sight though we could hear him. We decided to lay flat on edge of the grass / mapane while they chewed their cud. We waited over 2 hours in that one spot, wind in our face and perfect, with some of the herd as close as 35 yards. The old black bull was grunting continuously. Finally they all got up and on the move. We waited then crawled and sprinted from one termite mound to the next looking for the black bull. And there he was. - Taru put up the sticks and I waited for him to step clear of a cow and calf. Quartering away, double lungs and off shoulder as he stepped forward. He buckled and went about 15 feet before piling up in a cloud of dust

So far staring this hunt out with the flu, puking and diarrhea for 3 days just prior to leaving for Africa, it sure ended well!

And can't wait to go back. Would hunt those eland again as much as I could, and maybe some other great trophies of who knows what in a beautiful country

Jumbo and his family and staff were fantastic too at his lodge in Pemba

Awesome safari - congratulations!

Looking forward to pics.

Mike

+1

Sounds like a great hunt.

How did you get to Moz?

Congratulations!

Guy told me that the following hunter also ended up having great success. Did not realize you had been so ill. Damned good recovery, and great trophy animals.

Love those concessions.

Now, let's get those photos up!

On travel to Moz we used Gracy Travel. Shawn and Christy were my contacts. The flight over was the Delta non shop to Joburg and then you overnight at Joburg before catching a flight to Pemba in am on SAA

The trip to Moz requires an overnight in Joburg meaning extra hassle with your rifles The trip home to US is a straight shot as far as no overnight and checking bags to US. We took Delta as my partner had lots of miles on Delta. I prefer the SAA flight out of Dulles personally even with the stop in Dakar

On the return watch those guys inspecting your bags at Pemba. I was good but my partner had a knife and a pair of Swaro binocs stolen by them. They kept jerking our chain like their was a problem with ammo inspection so they could steal something which they did from Hamp

Guy picked us up at Pemba and that worked but he can arrange air charter with Jumbo Moore and that is something to seriously consider. If it rains that is mandatory as part of the route will be unnavigable

You might want to spend 1-2 nights with Jumbo at Pemba Lodge before returning to break up the trip. His accomadations are first class and he and his group are really a lot of fun and knowledgable. Fantastic food and you must have some fresh Moz seafood if you like seafood

Yes Mike I was sick as a dog and would have cancelled if had been going solo. Thank God I did not! I had not been able to keep food down for 3 days and had horrible migraines through first 2 days hunting. Exedrine Migraine was priceless!

A couple plugs / personal notes on bullets and scopes
On bullets I used the Swift a frame 400 grain and it was flawless and not changing since it shoots well in my Sako. Last year at Humani in Zim I used the 300 gr Norma Oryx in a Sako 375 Battue and that bullet was also fantastic and my PH Richard Brebner was quite impressed with it. Norma was changed their packaging and the Oryx bullets are less easy to find as a component. And they don't make them above 375 diameter. The Oryx is bonded gilding metal with what appears a nearly pure soft lead core. That bullet does not come apart and has over 2x expansion. The Swift also is bonded but with the H jacket construction on it it has much less expansion and more penetration but maybe less 'energy dump' if you would. I love them both. I have found what I think is a great alternative to the Oryx in a wide selection of caliber a and weights. Kodiak bullets from Alaska Bullet Works in Juneau. They don't have a website but you can email the owner Karl Mielke at kmielke@gci.net with your wishes. They sell for about $45 per box of 50 plus shipping. I think they are quite popular in Alaska and Canada with great reputation

My favorite scope in my limited 3 trip Africa experience has been a Leupold VX3 1.5-5x20 with heavy duplex and alumina lens caps. This scope sells for about $400. The VX3 vs VX-III has threaded ends for the alumina caps. The dust in Africa is substantial. There are lots of great scopes on the market. I have a Kahles and some Zeiss scopes I really like as well. That said even if my European scopes have better glass, which is debatable, they don't seal up tight to be dust free like the Leupold VX3 with alumina caps. And those alumina caps are quiet unlike the plastic ones from Butler Creeket al when you flip them open
I found 1.5-5 plenty of power on large game out past 200 yds and the low end a necessity for shots under 100 or running. Fwiw

Eland # 1

Eland #1 frontal while butchering showing horns

Eland #1 heart

Sable #1

Sable #2

Eland #2

Delivering sable meat to village Chief and his family

Two nice Eland AND two nice Sable on one hunt What an awesome trip! Big congrats!

Nice!!
Congratulations

Looks like you came away with some fine trophies!

I have always had a thing for big blued eland bulls and having taken two on the same Safari... Wow!!

Many thanks to all and especially Guy for the hunt and my hunting partner Hamp Warner for setting it up

Hamp took many nice animals too - we had 9 between the two of us and they ran out of salt and gave away a LOT of meat, especially with 2 eland bulls in the mix

Guy commented that my good fortune was something just not done - no one gets 2 black eland bulls in one trip to Adrica and no one gets 2 sable over 40" on same trip. And I got both which I think reflects tremendously on the quality and quantity available there now

A couple interesting observations on that area in particular and African horned game

My property in Illinois where I hunt whitetails is on a terminal moraine, where the glaciers stopped depositing a lot of minerals at that spot. ILlinois DNR biologists don't know why but that area has trophies in ratio of about 10:1 over adjoining counties with identical topography. One theory is the soil is rich with glacial deposited trace minerals that promote better health and antler growth

Guy's concession is all volcanic with incredibly rich and fertile soils. I don't know if that is a contributing factor to the quality but certainly can't hurt

The other parallel observation is that the left horn is almost always he side with the biggest measurement I know antelope tend to broom one side more than the other but this trait is true on North American antlered game almost always

The theory here is increased blood flow to the left side when the animal beds down. Mammals all have their heart on the left side and when they bed they always curl to their left so their heart rides high for good circulation and then they lay their head across their body with the left side dropping lower - thus the left side gets better blood flow than the right side and it is the 'Big Side'

Fwiw, an observation

Congratulations!!!
I'd say you had a superb hunt!!! Wow!!!

Nice Trophies and report.

Hamdeni

Correction on the lioness kill
That sable bull had 10 1/2" bases
That was a cool experience on its own to hear that lioness growling at us off in the long grass while we cut off the sable bulls head and set up a trail cam. Guy has nice pics of her from the trail cam. A healthy lioness and 2 cubs

Fantastic hunting experience in a most spectacular area. Congratulations on your splendid collection of trophies. I had the privilege of accompanying Guy and Bill Kuchan on an exploratory fly camping safari in the extreme north of Messalo earlier in the year, and it was eyes wide open for me. Wilderness personified. I have promised before to post a report, and believe it or not it will happen soon. A few very entertaining tales about Manuel, what a character. I keenly look forward to returning. A succession of highly successful hunts have been conducted in Nungu/Messalo the last few years, and there is no doubt the trend will continue.

Thanks for the report, David

Great expedition ,congratulations ,excellent trophies .

As I retread this I noticed one of many typos that may be confusing the color of the patch on back I forelegs on the eland is black not white fwiw

As stated I defer to someone who is a genetics expert as to what they are... I just know they are nice and both the eland and sable have fantastic mass and thick bases

Everyone has their personal preferences but I almost like that thick black hair on the boss as much as the horns

I got an email from Guy about the left horn being bigger - it is a nice thing to know from standpoint of field judging animals. I noticed every antelope in Guy's trophy storage had that trait of left side bigger. Generally longer and more mass both

Folks can get too caught up in record book rankings and status I think. But that said it can mean a lot financially to those selling the hunts as to how a species is classified or recognized

I hunt wood bison in north Alberta and from those few animals not treated as a game species by Alberta Wildlife (some of the animals may have brucellosis and Bovine TB so they don't require permits for them) to my guides dismay this means they are not recognized by Boone and Crockett and he can charge only about 1/3 of those recognized, even though it is a brutally difficult fair chase hunt and the animals would 'make book' based on quality

It will be interesting to see if SCI corects their eland and sable in particular classifications as no doubt it would change the economics - both good and bad for different outfitters and there would be some ticked off members that have records reclassified into a larger subspecies that gets them bumped in book rankings