Dates: July 1 - July 13 2006
Area: Ripple Creek Camp, LEMCO Conservancy, Zimbabwe
Outfitter: HHK Safaris, http://www.hhksafaris.com
Professional Hunter: George Hallamore, http://www.hallamorehunts.com
Videographer: Tyge Floyd, Fulldraw Outdoor Media, http://www.fulldrawoutdoormedia.com

Booking Agent: Ann Horsman, Aspen Hill Adventures
Travel Agent: Kathi Klimes, Wildtravel

Rifles Used:
Territorial Gunsmiths TGL Rifle (http://www.gunsmith.net), 300 Win Mag w/ with Swarovski 2.5-10 PH Scope. Load was 168gr. Barnes TSX @ 3225 fps

Winchester Model 70 375 H&H with Leupold VXIII 1.5-5 Scope. Load was 300 gr Northfork Soft @2500 fps.

After lurking on this site for about a year, I booked this safari in March of 2005. Many thanks to everyone who helped make this trip a great experience.

After flying from Minneapolis, MN to Bulawayo, I arrived to find that my rifles had not made the connection in Johannasburg. I had contracted with Optima to make sure that they made the connection. They met me at the gate, took my baggage claim numbers and then assured me that my baggage had been transfered. It was quite a surprise to find that they weren't on the plane when I landed. Luckily for me, my PH's wife was able to work her magic with SAA and find my case and get everything cleared through customs for me. It was however, day three before I received my rifles. Thankfully, I didn't pay them on my way through.

One of the most pleasant surprises of the trip was the overall quality of the camp. The facilities, food and staff were excellent.



The primary focus of this hunt was a leopard, although I hoped to have enough time to hunt for some plains game as well. Aside from the SNAFU with my rifles, everything else on this trip went perfectly. I hired Tyge Floyd to video the trip, and he said that out of the nine safaris he's been on or videoed, I was by far, the "luckiest SOB" he'd ever seen in terms of both the quality of game taken and the overall ease of which we were able to do so. I'm not complaining.

The first two days we spent collecting and hanging baits. Having the opportunity to get my shooting warmed up shooting baits was a big advantage for me on this trip. I ended up shooting 10 impalas and two zebras for bait. Most of these were shot using George's 375. Here's a picture of one of the zebras.


George is an excellent cat hunter and is very meticulous about his bait placement. Although I ended up shooting my leopard out of a tree, we actually positioned most of the baits so that if the cat came in, he would be feeding off of the ground.


In addition to hanging the baits, we did a lot of drags utilizing the blood and guts of the impalas we shot. The "bait barrel" had been seasoning for about three weeks by the time I got there. Getting a wiff of it in the morning didn't help a whole lot with the process of digesting your breakfast!

The first major animal I took was a 32 inch waterbuck. Every day we hunted, we'd see between 30-60 waterbuck. They are very plentiful in LEMCO and the quality is excellent. This one was taken with the 375.



Over the course of setting and checking baits, we took several other animals including this 31 inch Eland


I hit him a little far forward on the first shot, but managed to put him down using a "texas heart shot" after following him for about 100 yards. The Northfork bullets performed excellently, retaining almost all of their weight and penetrating very well. I also took this Stenbok using the 375 and some borrowed solids.



The Leopard Hunt

On day four, we found a set of large Leopard tracks in a piece of thick brush. With the amount of tracks present, we assumed that the leopard had been there for a few days and most likely had a kill nearby. We started out by hanging an impala for bait. When we came back the next day, he had hit the impala but only eaten a few handfuls of meat. We added a quarter of zebra to the bait and set up the blind. That night, we sat in the blind from 3:00 to about 8:30. We had big herds of impala and wildebeast feeding right next to us as well as a large troop of baboons. When we came back the next day, the timer showed that the cat had fed at 3:15 AM. He had also walked within about 10 yards of the blind, so to be on the safe side we relocated the blind about 40 yards further back and prepared to sit in the blind from 3 PM to 6 AM. Tyge set up the camera for us so that all we had to do was push the record button as he thought he'd enjoy sitting in camp getting waited on by the staff versus sitting in a blind for 15 hours. . We first heard the cat at about 6:30 PM. By 7:45, the impalas and wildebeast were snorting and generally feeling kind of nervous as the cat came in. At 8:00, he walked straight up to the tree and began feeding. When the light came on, he didn't even notice. George gave the go ahead and I hit him through the shoulders with the 300 Win. The impact of the bullet blew him right off the limb. In the video, you actually see him falling with all four feet straight up in the air. After waiting for about 10 minutes, we followed up on him and found him directly under the bait. Surpisingly, he was still alive, so I put another shot into in him. Better safe than sorry.



We didn't measure him for length or weigh him, but the skull measured 16.5 inches. George estimated his weight at about 160 pounds and the length at about 7 feet. With the leopard done by day 6, we now had 8 days to hunt plains game.

Everyone was in a great mood and quite a bit more relaxed with the cat taken, so I suggested to George that he invite his wife, Justine and two children, Jorden and McKayla, to join us for a few days. He hunts about 220 days a year, so Tyge and I thought he might enjoy getting to spend some time with his family and that his kids would enjoy getting to hunt with their dad.

The first day with the whole family in tow, we took a jackyl,

which I accidentally shot in the head and a huge bushpig.


I don't remember the measurements of the bushpig, but George thought that it would probably be top 15.

The Giraffe Hunt


I know a lot of people don't feel that shooting giraffe is sporting, but I really wanted a giraffe rug for my trophy room. On the second morning with the family, we set off the find a big, black giraffe. George instructed me to shoot the giraffe straight on, dead center in between where the shoulder blades come together. It actually took quite of bit of convincing by him to get me to use the 375 vs. the 300. I'm glad I listened.

The first shot was straight on at about 70 yards and went through the heart. I was expecting it to pretty much drop at the shot. Within a second of getting hit, the thing was running full speed. George had warned me that a wounded giraffe can go for miles and to shoot until it dropped. So, as it took off, I hit it three more times. I was leading it by about a foot, but in the video you can see all of the bullets hitting far behind the shoulder. We took off at a dead run after it and ended up chasing it for about a mile. Over the course of chasing it, I managed to put four more rounds into it, two more through the heart/lungs and one that hit low in the front shoulder. The final shot (number 9) broke it's neck just above the body. While not all of my shots were that great, I was shocked by how though that animal was. From the first to the last shot, about 20 minutes elapsed. I never would have believed that a heart shot animal could stay on it's feet that long. For me, it was actually the most exciting part of the whole hunt. To Tyge's credit, he got the whole thing on video for me.



Within about an hour of recovering the giraffe, the vultures were thick and we got some great footage of them.



After the family left, we took a number of animals. I don't have a picture of it on my camera, but we went over the Fimbiri camp and I took a 54.5 inch Kudu late one afternoon. I also took two good trophy impala, 22 and 22.5 inches




A 3.75 inch Klipspringer



An 11.5 inch warthog.



A 29 inch Blue Wildebeast



A 3.5 inch Duiker



And a Baboon



The Bushbuck

One of the animals I really wanted was a bushbuck. Over the course of the trip, I hate to admit that I actually missed three separate bushbucks. I'm not used to shooting a lot of running game, and everytime we saw one he was running fast. On the second to the last day I finally connected. We saw him run into a thicket, so George sent the trackers around to flush him out. He came out about 70 yards from us at a full sprint. I put the crosshairs about two body lengths in front of him and fired. I saw my bullet hit at what looked like about 10 feet behind him. As I was swearing, George saw him start to slow down in a gully, so we went around and found him standing there about 100 yards from where I shot at him. I dropped him immediately, and we had a couple of surprises when we got up to him. First, my first shot actually did connect, which is why he had stopped and second, we didn't realize that one of his horns was broken off at 5 inches. George felt horrible about not seeing that, but to me, after all of the work we went through to get him, I thought he was a great trophy.



When all was said and done, I ended up taking 27 animals, 17 of which are being shipped back.




By day 13 we didn't have much left on quota besides a genet and a civit, so we decided to go to Bulawayo and do a little shopping. To do so, I changed $100 US into



$36,000,000.00!

I can't say enough about how great everyone (with the exception of Optima) was that helped me with this. Kathi and Ann did a great job of lining up everything and made sure that I had all of my i's dotted and t's crossed before I left. I also felt like I had the best seat on the plane for every leg of the trip. Thanks Kathi!

Tyge Floyd did an excellent job of filming the hunt. In addition to filming, he also assisted in spotting a lot of the game, hanging baits, and whatever else needed to be done. On top of all that, he's a great guy to have in camp. He'll definitly be coming with me when I do my Elephant/Buffalo hunt in 2008. If you've ever thought about having a hunt filmed, give Tyge a call http://www.fulldrawoutdoormedia.com

I could not have been happier with my PH George Hallamore as well. He really knows his stuff and has a great passion for what he does. I will be rebooking with him as well.

Final Thoughts

I was very happy with my choice of rifles, but not necessarily with my choice of scopes. The 1.5-5 Leupold really suffers in low light conditions. I think a 1.75-6 or 2.5-8 would have served me a lot better.

I also did not realize that I'd need solids on this trip. Luckily for me, George had plenty in 375 which he gave me, otherwise I would have had some really torn up smaller animals. Some solids in the 300 Win loaded down in velocity would have been great for small antelope.

If I were to do it again, I would probably bring one rifle, a 338, and a shotgun. There were huge numbers of upland game running around and a day of wingshooting would have been a blast.

Congratulations on a great safari! I really enjoyed your report and pictures.

Thanks for the great report and pictures -- you were very busy!

Did Optima explain themselves??? Sorry to hear about that glitch.

Congratulations, looks like you had a great trip.

Peter,

An absolutely beautiful leopard, congratulations.
I like the bushbuck even with the broken horn. It is a great story and the broken horn gives him some character.

Great report on a very successful trip. Please post any additional information you get on the Optima fumble.

Fantastic hunt report and pictures! I took my first safari on the Lemco way back in 1994... Looks like the lodges have gotten nicer but it still has the same fantastic game as when I hunted there. It is a magical place. Congrats on some excellent trophies!

Great report and nice photos. Looks like you had an unbelievable trip in terms of quality trophies. Congratulations!!!!

Phil

Great report and an great hunt. Thanks for the heads up regarding Optima. We didn't have any problems, but then again, who knows. How much time was there between connecting flights? With the new schedules, I know the connection time is considerably shorter. On the scope issue, I completly agree. The 1.5X5 is a great scope for a buff hunt (daylight) but for your use, a 1.75X6 Swaro or Leupie. I really liked your caliber selection though. A 375's always handy! Thanks again for a great report! jorge

Wow, you took some BEAUTIFUL animals. Especially that Leopard as well as the Waterbuck, Wildebeest, and Warthog. Thanks for a great report.
Cheers!

Nice report and well done on the hunting.
I recently spoke with Optima about engageing their services in JNB in route to WDH. I received a very polite email from them stateing I would be wasteing my money to do so. As with the new theft procedures in place at JNB they could no longer put their hands on my gun case and see that it gets loaded to the next leg of the trip. That it was best to have the ticket agent scan my claims checks to see if the bags were indeed loaded, as that was all they themselves could do anymore. Still if you were lied to it is not much of a comfort to those of us to follow.

Very nice report, thanks for that.

Excellent report!! Very nice bag array of trophies.. i really like the eland bull you took.. And I enjoyed the giraffe as well.. they are fun to hunt, aren't they??

Absolutely beautiful animals. Being fascinated with your stunning giraffe what are all your taxidermy plans/options for it? Thanks so much in advance.

Thanks for the report and pictures. That Lemco seems to be an awesome location for a hunt.

Brian

Jeez man! Save some animals for the rest of us!

That is one exceptional take of trophy animals. Tyge was right, you are a "lucky SOB" however, I have found that quite a few people create their own luck by being prepared.

Congratulations on a great hunt. That is one hog of a Leopard.

What a great safari! Congratulations!

Regarding Optima, I have not spoken with anyone in charge, just the person who met me at the gate on the way home. I do have a theory on what happened. Kathi was kind enough to give both Tyge and myself some of her bright green luggage tags. I had them on my bags, as did Tyge. He had brought his bow with him for a hunt in SA after we finished. I'm guessing that instead of actually checking the baggage claim numbers, he just assumed that Tyge's bow case was actually mine because they had the same type of luggage tags. His bow arrived with us, my rifles didn't. The guy from Optima told me specifically that he had placed both bags on the plane, I can't imagine that he would maliciously lie to me. I think he just got lazy and didn't verify that it was my bag.

As for the giraffe, He's going to be made into a rug that will go on the floor of my trophy room.

Here's another pic of some bullets I recovered.



From left to right:

1. 375 cal. 300 gr Northfork recovered from should of Giraffe. Shot was at 300 yards+/-. Penetration was about a foot. Recovered weight was 292 gr.

2. 375 cal. 300 gr Northfork recovered from eland. Shot was at 100 yards. Penetration was about 2.5 feet. No major bones hit. Recovered weight was 289 gr.

3. 30 cal. 168 gr. Barnes TSX recovered from impala. Shot was at 150 yards. Quartering away shot, penetrated entire length of animal from hip to shoulder, bullet was under the hide. Hip and shoulder both shattered. Recovered weight 122 gr.

4. 30 cal. 168 gr. Barnes TSX recovered from Kudu. Shot at 110 yards. Downward angle "Texas Heart Shot". Shattered two vertibrates, then penetrated all the way through the guts, one lung and was found under the hide at the front of the chest. Recovered weight 127 gr. This was over five feet of penetration.

Will you have the head/neck as part of the rug or display it another way--perhaps pedestal? I want a giraffe on my next safari and am considering taxidermy options as my space is getting a little crowded. But, that's a good problem.

Congratulations on a very successful trip. I hunted there (LEMCO) last July and also had great success with HHK and Ade Langley my PH. I will be hunting with them again in Aug/2007 but probably Matetsi this time for Buffalo.

Congratulations, Looks like you had a great hunt, many beautiful animals.

Great report and photos! The leopard and giraffe are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Fantastic Waterbuck and I love that Bushpig.

I really enjoyed reading your story. Well written!
On a sidenote; I had no problems going through JNB this march, without using Optima or any other help. We had filled in the SAPS forms upfront and made sure we had all the necessary paperwork.. Were through within appr. 45min. And there were quite a few other hunters there as well..

Thanks for sharing!

Great report on a great hunt!

Thanks,

JPK

Pete,

I am glad you had a great hunt. Too bad you didn't leave anything for the rest of us!

Looking forward to seeing some video.

Here's the response from Optima

From: Sumaya Pillay [mailto:vipassist@optimahandling.co.za]
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 10:32 AM
To: Peter Hunt
Subject: RE: Service Issues - June 30 Johannesburg to Bulawayo Transfer

Good day Mr Hunt

I was actually the person who met you on the day of your arrival.
What I don’t understand is, how did it happen that your baggage was not loaded?

I personally went to the Basement to confirm that it was on the container to be loaded to your flight.
I also confirmed with Security that your Rifles where on the Van they use, to be loaded on your flight.

Please accept my honest apology for the inconvenience caused.

Regards,
Sibu
+27 83 771 9413

talentrec,

I will be at that same camp in Lemco next year for Buff and plains game. Can you tell me how the buff herd looks?

As Kudu is also on my list, was the switch in camps driven by your Kudu or for another reason?

BTW, very nice tom and eland. George told me to put an eland on my list but I had decided to leave it off. Your report has me reconsidering.

Any insight would be appriciated.

Regards,

Mario

Good show at LEMCO. I had a great hunt there last year, though I didn't hunt from Ripple Creek. I hunted the first 9 days from Fimbiri and the last 3 from Ngali. Did visit Dyers Camp as well.

Wonderful area.

Thanks for an great report and fantastic pictures!

Interesting that Optima was less then optimal (pun intended!). But at least they met you at the gate. Which they didn't even bother with when I booked them last year... Thankfully, my stuff made my flight to Zim anyway.