Hunt: Family safari with my wife and two boys 13 and 11. Buffalo and plains game with Andrew Baldry on the Kaindu Community lands in Central Zambia east of the Kafue National Park.

We started our hunt flying out of Logan airport in Boston, MA on Emirates airlines. We decided to take a day off in Dubai to break up the long flight. It was my first time flying Emirates and it was wonderful. Our stop in Dubai was a great way to get ready for the trip to Zambia and everything went off without a hitch including having the rifles and ammo held at the airport.

We arrived at the airport on July 20th and Andrew was right at baggage claim to meet us and helped clear the rifles and ammo. There are few things more comforting than having your PH right at the airport when you land to make sure everything is done correctly. Andrew dropped us off at the Marriott Protea in Lusaka so we could get a good rest and head for camp in the morning. We had a great meal at the mall next door and were excited for our adventure to start the next day.

Andrew was at the hotel bright and early and we were off for camp. The drive is approx 5 hours of which half are on good paved roads and the rest is on dirt roads. We rolled into camp somewhere around 1:00 PM on Sat the 21st.

Hunt: Buffalo and plains game with preferred plains game being Bushbuck, Reedbuck and Puku
Rifles: Blaser R93 professional in .375 H&H with a Leupold VX5-HD 1-5 scope with firedot reticle. Thompson Center Dimension in .308 Winchester with a Zeiss Conquest in 2.5-8x32
Ammo: 300 grain Barnes TSX bullets loaded to approx 2500 fps. 150 grain Barnes TSX bullets loaded to 2800 fps

Our first stop was to sight in the rifles after the long trip. I take both rifles down so I can use a Storm 3100 case which is much easier to transport. I was very pleased with both rifles as each put a shot into the bullseye from 100 yards and we were good to go after 1 shot from each rifle.

We decided to have a look around that first afternoon so we were off to see what we could find. Our game scout, Lungu, was also very eager to have "something for the pot". This was the first insight into how important the meat from our hunt would be to all the Kaindu people in the surrounding area. As we drove along we came across a female Reedbuck. A few moments later her boyfriend stood up and I alerted Andrew. Now this is the first Reedbuck I have ever seen but he looked enormous to me. I remembered the old Jack O'Connor saying, "the big ones look big". We stopped the truck and after a short stalk we had a wonderful Reedbuck for the trophy room and the pot! I still can't get over how delicious Reedbuck meat is.



As we collected the Reedbuck we also saw some great quality Oribi.



We could have literally taken 2 of the animals we wanted within the first half hour of hunting. As we drove back to camp with our Reedbuck we got an idea of just how many Puku Andrew has on this property, thousands.



What a great way to start a safari!



Back at camp we were able to get settled in and get to know the crew that would be taking care of us for the next 8 days. Ronald is the camp manager and master chef. Ronald can cook anything and does so to perfection. Pastries, omelettes, cookies, banana bread, fish and chips, you name it and Ronald can make it. He also runs a great camp and is always there when you call for him. Ronalds assistant is Elliot who is always there with a smile, and very little English. Michael is the tracker and I'd rank him right up there with the bushman trackers I hunted with in Botswana. Steve was our old school gentleman skinner and Sebi was our mechanic. In addition to this there are other helpers and roughly 30 scouts to protect the community from poachers. After a great dinner and some evening whiskeys we went to bed ready to go for Buffalo the next morning.

Saturday July 21st we rolled out of camp for my first day of dangerous game hunting. We saw a very heavy Puku on the way out of camp but we were after one thing, Dagga Boys. Two Dagga boys that Andrew had not seen had recently moved on to the property and Andrew figured we'd go have a look to get our feet wet. About a half hour out of camp we found some incredibly fresh wet dung. We left the family on the truck and Michael, Andrew and myself started tracking. Well Andrew and Michael were tracking as I couldn't see anything on that rock hard ground. Apparently there were two Dagga boys as Andrew and Michael followed separate tracks. After about a half hour we were close. Ahead there were 3 separate 20x20 yard groupings of cover and trees. The best way to think of it is a triangle with each area of cover on the 3 points of a triangle. Slowly we moved up to the bottom left cover and started to move around to the front of it. Andrew spotted a nice Dagga boy in the cover at the top of the triangle. I thought great, we will set up here and wait for him to come into the clear between his cover and our cover. Just then he quickly moved into our cover and started coming around to where we stood! We beat a hasty retreat and ended up in the third area of heavy cover. Andrew set me up on the sticks and we could not see the buffalo at all at this point. In my mind he would walk out to the left in to the long grass. While it was probably only 30-40 yards away I turned my scope up from 1 to 3 so I could see through the grass. Andrew then sent Michael around to send his scent in to the cover the Dagga boy was in to push him out. This worked wonderfully well, too well we would soon learn. In hindsight we should have known better but at the time the set up seemed perfect. You see Michael scent pushed the Dagga boy out all right, he was in a full trot coming straight for the next bit of cover in which we happened to be standing!!! Now I've watched all the Buffalo hunting dvds hundreds of times, I've studied the shot placement, I know the higher risk shots. I also know you should tell your PH if you aren't comfortable with the shot. All of this "knowledge" suddenly became useless as we HAD to shoot. So as Andrews blood pressure was spiking his calls for me to shoot shoot shoot intensified, I shot. I shot a trotting buffalo presenting only a frontal shot coming right for us! This was not in the plans. I then heard the crack of Andrews .404 Jeffery. I fired again. I was also able to get off a third shot. Then he was gone. WHAT JUST HAPPENED I thought. Andrew turned to me and said where did you hit him, I told him behind the shoulder. Andrews expression changed and replied you couldn't have shot him in the shoulder he was coming right for us. Ummmm...... Andrew went for the spine shot and must have missed as the buffalo didn't drop. This isn't good. We take a few minute to collect our thoughts, get back with Michael and track this buffalo which may or may not have holes in him in to the long grass, great. After 15 of the longest minutes in the history of mankind Michael spotted him perfectly broadside at about 60 yards. I get on the sticks and drill him in the shoulder, he slowly walks forward and I hit him again in the shoulder, at this moment Andrew fires and the blast of his 404 rings in my ears. As he enters the long grass I put one more shot in to him and he seems to drop. It's over. We send Michael to collect the truck and join up with the family. We found him right at the spot of my final shot, my beautiful old grey dagga boy.





So once we settled down, heard every ones side to the story, counted rounds, examined the buffalo, looked at the pictures, and asked about how many shots were heard this is the best I can tell what happened.

As he came out of the thick cover I did indeed hit him in the chest. There was a bullet hole in the chest region with no obvious exit wound so it was probably a decent shot. Andrews spine shot attempt ended up hitting the boss as the buffalos head was swinging up and down. My second shot, which Andrew didn't hear, was in his shoulder (this is the shot in my mind when Andrew first asked me where I hit him), and my third shot missed. Prior to my third shot I attempted to turn the power of the scope down from 3 to 1 but accidentally cranked it up to 5 leading to more of a point and shoot shot at a wall of black. When we found him again he really hadn't gone very far, this leads me to believe he was really hurt at this point. Also he didn't move very fast when I hit him in the shoulder on the first shot of the second engagement. Of the 8 shots fired, 6 were by me and 2 by Andrew. My thought is I had 1 miss, 1 frontal, 3 shoulder shots and one spinal shot. Andrew had the missed spine shot which hit the boss and one shoulder shot.

That's one hell of a first morning.

To be continued......

July 22nd.

With a great Reedbuck and Buffalo in the salt we decided to spend the day looking at a buffalo herd, check out as many Puku as possible and look for other wildlife. We found a heard that morning and we were able to stalk up and take some pics. There was a wide but young bull in the heard but no Dagga boys.



We ended up seeing Zebra, Monkeys, Baboons, Puku, Impala, Duiker, Oribi, Reedbuck and numbers other animals that day.





We didn't end up taking any animals this day but mostly by choice as we wanted to look over 100s of Puku and make a plan for the following day.

July 23rd.

Today was the day we were going for Puku. Shortly after rolling out of camp we spotted a male and female Bushbuck. After a successful stalk and shot we had animal number 3!



We attempted some failed stalks on Puku as well that morning but returned to camp with the Bushbuck and settled down for lunch.

That afternoon we came across 1 of the two Puku we had picked out as shooters. With so many eyes and ears it can be very challenging but we had success and took the 2nd biggest Puku Andrew has ever taken at 18".



Day 3 was in the books with 4 great animals taken so far.

At this point we decided to slow down and take our time and enjoy our safari. We spent 4 of the remaining evening fishing for catfish with great success. Ronald makes some outstanding fish dishes. We also went to see Roan, which were everywhere, Sable, Eland, Hartabeast, Elephants, Waterbuck, Hippo, Crocs and so on.



























At this new more leisurely pace we were still able to collect an Impala after an exciting stalk.



On the last day and second to last day we had worked hard to get this great Oribi and Common Duiker.





We also got to play a little Robert Ruark and go after some Guineafowl and Francolin with the .22

We had the opportunity to see 4 2 year old Cheetah up close and personal which was a real highlight of the trip







Without my wife there taking these great pictures the safari would not have been the same!

Wonderful...
Yet another wonderful trip and fabulous experience with our own Mr Baldry!!

As we woke up that last morning my wife rolled over and said "I don't want to go home". That's how good of a safari we had. Andrew runs a first class organization with wonderful staff and accommodations. Andrew was unbelievable with my boys taking them fishing, playing cards, making them spears, teaching them to drive, everything. I was a little worried that my wife and kids wouldn't love Africa as much as I do but they left as much in love of Africa as I could have dreamed. When I asked my 11 year old what was his favorite part he simply said "all of it". From trophy quality, to quantity of game, to social life at the camp, to equipment, everything was even better than I had hoped.

To think this area was totally devoid of game just 6 years ago is mind blowing. What Andrew and the scouts have been able to accomplish with the help of our hunting dollars is staggering. Every single ounce of meat we didn't eat ourselves was immediately consumed by the community. My buffalo went to feeding a community meeting the same night I shot it! We also had the honor of meeting the local anti poaching staff and Andrews man in the bush who fights poaching, Green. These guys caught, and had convicted, an elephant poacher with 3 sets of tusks, a bushbuck poacher, and someone with ammo. This was all while we were there.



Zambia and Andrew's Matumbashi camp in the Kafue are something special.

well done to all good team work
fantastic report , trophys & photos

What a great family safari! It looks like you'll be taking the entire gang along again and memories made with them are the most important thing of all. Congratulations on giving everyone a stellar time.

Congrats on a great family safari. Doesn't get much better!

Wonderful!

Congrats to all.

Congrats to all!

Well done everyone! Great family vaca.

You chose a great country, a great location, and a great PH!

We return this year for safari #3 with Andrew.

I wouldn’t have found Andrew if it wasn’t for this site. Everyone was very helpful in helping me find a great hunt and PH.

Congratulations on a wonderful safari. Really nice you had your wife and boys along to share the experience.

It really was great to have the family come along. Andrew is really talented with taking photos and had some great tips for my wife.

The boys got to do the things every kid dreams of like

Drive for the first time





Start fires for the last controlled burn of the season





Make spears



and just be a kid

Geoff,

Excellent report. Thank you for sharing. One small correction would be that Royal was not devoid of game 4-5 years ago. More like 8 years ago now. Joyce and I were first to hunt Royal and that was 2012. I had the pleasure of seeing some raw video footage when we recently visited Darin Nelson and Joyce and I both could not believe the game density in the footage. Andrew has done well as the protector of that land.

What did you end up doing in Dubai?

Cheers
Jim & Joyce

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:
Geoff,

Excellent report. Thank you for sharing. One small correction would be that Royal was not devoid of game 4-5 years ago. More like 8 years ago now. Joyce and I were first to hunt Royal and that was 2012. I had the pleasure of seeing some raw video footage when we recently visited Darin Nelson and Joyce and I both could not believe the game density in the footage. Andrew has done well as the protector of that land.

What did you end up doing in Dubai?

Cheers
Jim & Joyce

Thanks Jim. For some reason I was thinking it was 2014 not 2012. I went back and fixed it.

We did as much as possible in the day and half in Dubai. We went to the mall, the boys went ice skating, we went to the top of the Burj Khalifa, we paid a cab to drive us to all the sights like Burj el Arab and Atlantis. We had some amazing food as well.

Congratulations!

You had a whale of a time there! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed the report.

Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed it as well!

.

Great report and pictures! Well done.
And well done Mr Baldry! Another gd safari.

Congratulations all.

Charlie

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Some great pictures and a good hunt report! Congratulations.

Great report, trophies etc. It's amazing how quickly an African area can recover with some good stewardship.

Good show!

Mark

You took some great trophies. looks like the family had as much fun as you did. That is a great achievement in my mind. Something they will always remember. Congrats
Bruce

GeoffM24:

Well done!!! Wonderful report and trophies!!!

Andrew is, indeed, a pleasure to hunt with and that camp (and especially Ronald) are the best!

So happy you got to share the magic with your family. Memories for a lifetime.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Congrats on a fantastic family safari in one of my favourite African countries.

Keep up the excellent work Andrew

Fantastic, what a great experience!

Great report!!! Time spent with the Family is time well spent!!!

I forgot to add I continue to be impressed with the performance of the Barnes TSX bullets. They pulled this out of the Buffalo along with one of Andrews Hornady soft points and the TSX had much better performance in terms of both expansion and weight retention.

Thank you for the great report. The size of the smiles tells it all. Your kids will be telling their grandkids about the hunt, stop and think about that. I must do Zambia.

Terrific hunt report. It's pretty obvious by the smiles on everyone's faces that it was a great time.

What an incredible experience.

Out in the bush with wife and kids.

Shooting a buffalo on full trot front on with crazy action.

Hunting with the boys. Guinea fowl with a .22!

Thanks for sharing this wonderful hunt. God bless.

Well done!

AWESOME!

Fantastic!

It is wonderful to see hunters enjoying themselves.

I just wish the photos were a bit bigger.

I size photos for here at 1800 pixels, on the larger side.

Well done to everyone involved.

Client and professional hunter.