My clients want to remain anonymous and in the atmosphere surrounding today's safari hunting I can't say I blame them. Having said that these folks had an amazing safari particularly when only a few weeks before their safari it became apparent that there would be no quota issued for the area they were originally scheduled for. The Du Plooys/Muchinga Safaris that were conducting the safari had anticipated this problem and were working on a Plan B.

Plan B was a 10 day 1x1 Buff/sable/PG hunt with 1 observer as it had been planned originally in the first area. This is where things began to align for a magnificent experience for this couple. The Plan B hunting area was to be Sichifulo GMA in Zambia's Kafue region. If some of you remember there was a discussion here as to whether this area and some others in the Kafue had been poached out during the closure. Sichifulo was not. The new leaseholder of Sichifulo at the Du Plooy's suggestion offered my clients a deal where they could hunt leopard in addition to the already scheduled game and only pay the upgrade if the leopard was taken. With my enthusiastic encouragement they took the deal.

My folks first spent a few days in Vic Falls where they were retrieved and driven to the Sichifulo camp. They settled into camp, checked the rifles, shoot a warthog and hung it that day for leopard bait. Remember this is not even the first hunting day of their safari yet. Next morning that was the first day of the safari they checked the warthog bait and a big cat had hit it. The hunters settled into a makeshift blind and about the time daylight came so did the leopard. Bang! Dead leopard. Hell of a way to start a safari.

Their luck continued on through the rest of the 10 days with them taking leopard, buffalo, sable, roan, Lichenstein's hartebeest, Chobe bushbuck, oribi, Sharpe's grysbok, common reedbuck, common duiker, 2 warthogs one of which is the largest recorded warthog ever taken in Zambia and an impala for the camp. Additionally the client reported kudu as being quite common there and he thought he could have taken an eland as they the saw 3 large bulls. My client passed as he had taken both kudu and eland on a previous safari. Here I should say the sable bull pictured above was their chose to take and it specifically was the one they wanted. They did see 8-10 large bulls and 3 that Johnny thought might go 45 plus. Also buffalo do not occur in great numbers throughout the Kafue but Sichifulo has decent numbers of buffalo and on this safari Johnny saw what he thought were two bulls larger than the 43 incher they shot.

In closing I'd like to say it was a pleasure to work with these folks as they went with the flow and it really worked out well for them. Also there is no question that the Sichifulo GMA is alive and well and was not poached out by any means during the closure.

When I have pricing for '17 I will post it.

Mark

Great hunt - congrats to all involved.

Based on hunt reports, etc., Zambia seems to have really produced this year.

Great mixed bag of trophies. The Leopard is massive and more good photographs of that cat would do it justice.

Who is actually operating Sichofulo these days?

Great safari and heart warming to hear that Sichifulo is still a decent area!

That kitty is a tank, congrats on putting your client on a great safari when things went south.

Great looking hunt.

The report is reminiscent of my Zambia hunt last year when Andrew Baldry stepped in and allowed me to hunt on Royal Kafue (on very short notice) after the quota for my original hunt was not issued.

It is good to see operators work together for the benefit of the client.

Guys,

Thanks for the kind comments. We could see the upcoming problem and the Du Plooy were actually able to offer my client a couple of good options but this one was the best since my client wanted to come back for leopard anyway.

Andrew Mulimo Safaris has Sichifulo. I agree the leopard deserves some better photos but that pic came to me with 3/4 of it being the surrounding bush. I did the best I could with it. Excited hunters often are not the best photographers.

Mark

Johnny looks pretty much the same he did 8 years ago....maybe a little chubbier in the cheeks. Glad to see all went well. I had a fabulous time with him in 2008.

Gary

What a fantastic hunt! Thanks for sharing...the pic of the buff sure got my attention.

BH63

quote:

Originally posted by GarBy:
Johnny looks pretty much the same he did 8 years ago....maybe a little chubbier in the cheeks. Glad to see all went well. I had a fabulous time with him in 2008.

Gary

Hi Gary!!

"A little chubbier"

Wow... that leopard!!! Zambia certainly is pulling some big cats out the bag this year Thanks for the report

Damn nice trophies... well done.

I have been watching the developments within the Kafue NP lately. 10 years ago the park had been badly poached and game numbers drastically reduced.

About 10 years ago you started seeing small photo/fishing operations open up in remote areas of Kafue NP. With these operations came protections that were previously non existent. This along with better law enforcement and involvement from The Nature Conservancy has allowed the game to rebound. So it is no suprise that Kafue GMA's adjoining the park are doing well.

These GMA's have taken some very nice animals as well as great variety. Furthermore well run Kafue GMA's should do better as conditions within the park continue to improve.

Andrew could probably chime in on this but I believe it to be accurate.

What a great safari. I'm sure your clients were thrilled. Some excellent trophies. Congrats Bruce

Bruce,

My clients had hunted only in Namibia for PG once before doing this safari. To get this many of their most desired trophies in one 10 day period was a little mind blowing for them.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
I have been watching the developments within the Kafue NP lately. 10 years ago the park had been badly poached and game numbers drastically reduced.

About 10 years ago you started seeing small photo/fishing operations open up in remote areas of Kafue NP. With these operations came protections that were previously non existent. This along with better law enforcement and involvement from The Nature Conservancy has allowed the game to rebound. So it is no suprise that Kafue GMA's adjoining the park are doing well.

These GMA's have taken some very nice animals as well as great variety. Furthermore well run Kafue GMA's should do better as conditions within the park continue to improve.

Andrew could probably chime in on this but I believe it to be accurate.

Indeed and I am working along side TNC who are duplicating my project elsewhere.