Lion and Fire in the Save'

Zimbabwe
Senuko Ranch in the Save' Conservancy
PH: Andy Hunter Chipitani Safaris
Melanie Brown @ Gracy Travel made the travel arrangements
Hunt duration Oct 9th thru Oct 27,2009. Left a few days early as I was shooting holes in my wallet after shooting the lion on day 10
Rifle used" Sauer 202 .375 calibre Barnes 300 gr. TSX and Barnes 300gr. Banded solids. Loaded by Superior Ammunition
Overnight at the Afton House RSA prior to the flight to Harare Zimbabwe
Andy Hunter picked me up in Harare and we dorve the 7 hours to camp
This was offered by Wendell Reich who contacted me.
Temperatures during hunt ranged from 33C to 40C in the shade.
Species hunted: Simba and bait for Simba
Species seen: elephant, lion, leopard, cape buffalo, black rhino, white rhino, Kudu, Eland, Giraffe,Zebra, Wildebeest,Impala, grysbok,Chacma baboon,Bushboc
Raiting: Off the chart for quality of game,food, accomodations in spite of the loss of the lodge, Andy Hunter was a top notch PH one would be hard pressed to find better.

Oct 6th
After finishing last minute items at the office I drove myself to the airport from my home in North Pole Alaska to Fairbanks International Airport for the departure flight to Seattle. The flight was the "bleary eye" which leaves 1:00 AM in the morning. Someone in my office would pick up the vehicle next day.This was the start of being up for 50 hours until I reached the Afton house in JoBerg.Being 6' and 250 #er with flying coach I just can not seem to conform my body to the non conforming seat. Sleep is out of the question. In hind site perhaps I should use a sleeping aide. This would be my third trip to Africa in as many years. The understanding wife says I have an addiciton.No arguement there. This would be the first trip without her or a hunting buddy. It was a bit of a sell as I had to convince her I would be safe. She pays attention to the world news and was up on "Bobs" shenanigans. I found out who the PH was going to be and asked on AR about the PH Andy Hunter. That did the trick as the references were glowing about Andy. In addition AR's own Craig Boddington chimed in as well with his seal of approval about Andy.My wife had attended a seminar at SCI that Craig had hosted. With that I booked the safari.In addition I packed the worlds best invention for a kitchen pass,the "SAT PHONE".

Oct 7th
The flight was pretty uneventful....thank goodness.The flight over the pond was 15 hours direct from Atlanta with no refueling in Senagal. Luggage, rifle and client arrived at the same place at the same time.Bruce and Chris were there from the Afton House to meet me. I do not think we broke stride in going through the SAPs drill for the rifle permit. At the Afton house a jeweler had set up shop. I bagged the wifes trophy "in jewelry" made arrangements to meet him on my return at the airport and after a nice steak dinner it was off to much needed sleep.

Oct 8th
Geez 4:00 AM wake up call sure comes early. Gulped down a bowl of cereal and off to the airport we went for the early flight to Harare. During check in I discovered that TSA some where along the line had cut the locks off the "lockable" hard case the ammo was in even after asking for my key in Fairbanks. I believe the moral of this story is to have TSA locks on your lockable items. SAA then took the ammo case zip locked it shut then put it in another plastic bag and checked it separate. I was thinking to myself.... Self, this is going to be alright we have only one stop and that is where I get off. We touched down at Harare and it was quite quick through immigration. A very helpful person picked up the luggage and had it on a cart all except guess what...the ammo. Being that it was separate of the luggage a guick inspection of carts and carousel produced the ammo package. With a sigh of releif I went through customs and paid for the rifle permit and out the gate to the pick up area. I soon discovered I had not sent Andy the corrected itinerary. The one I sent to him showed me arriving on the 12:30 PM flight and I just arrived on the 8:30 AM. No worries i just settled in as I was relatively sure he would be along.Shame on me not checking the itinerary when i recieved it at home to confirm everyhting.
The area cleared out quickly. Sure enough around noon Andy was there to collect me. The truck was packed and ready to go. We got out of town earlier than Andy had hoped. He thought we might reach Senuko ranch at dusk. The drive was good. It gave us a chance to get to know each other. The time went by quickly as Andy is a great conversationalist and posseses a great sense of humor. Conversation ranged from hunting, religion, politics, kids, SCI, and anything else we could think of.He touched on some close encounters. I was looking forward to the expanded version in the days ahead. As we progressed from the highveld to the lowveld the temperature went up. Andy estimated it to be 110F or so. I am thinking geez I am going to melt when hunting.
As soon as we passed the control gate that marks the boundary of the Save' Conservancy we could see smoke up ahead. It was not long there was fire on both sides of the road and fire landscape all the way to the ranch house. We pulled in at 6:00PM to the lodge and were met by a couple of smudgy smoke stained hunters and staff. The grass fire had gotten close enough with the prevaling wind.At about 3:30PM airborne embers had set the grass roofs of the lodge, bar, kitchen and one chalet ablaze. When we arrived it was a smoldering ruins.
That was the only day that things were a bit out of wack, which is certainly understandable. Our host Glenn Stockil was quick to have a meal prepared at his house even against my wishes as it was not necessary, client or not. This was just an indication of how his clients are treated at Senuko. By the next night it was almost as if nothing had happened. A make shift kitchen was set up around the braai pit. The food was superb. It amazes me how the food is prepared from a wood stove without burning it to a cinder.

At dinner introductins were made at Glen's ranch house. There were two archers in camp just finishing their safari. Their PH Gordon and Glenns family made up the dinner party. It was off to our respective chalets. Mine was situated above a water hole in the kopjes. It was a bit of a fitful sleep with sleep deprivation and sensory overload from the fire.

Oct 9th.
At breakfast Glen suggested we take a giraffe for bait and plans were discussed between Glen and Andy about the areas intended to bait. I was excited to say the least to be at last preparing to secure bait for Simba. We did not have to travel very far to Senuko's boma where Senuko has a breeding program underway for the Lippenstein hartebeest. A number of other species had been enclosed in the fence during the program to secure an area for the hartebeest. We picked out a young bull to cull after a short walk. Up on the sticks and I loosed a 300 gr TSX. The giraffe ran off out of sight. A few moments later one appeared in front of us walking. It appeared not to have been hit. Andy directed me not to shoot as he inspected it through the binoculars, wanting to make darn sure we would not be shooting at two giraffe. He gave me the go ahead after seeing blood on the giraffes shoulder. I fired again and it again was a shoulder shot. This time it turned to run away from the commotion. Shoot it in the tail Andy said. I fired again and hit it right next to the tail which caused it to go strsight down. I was amazed how tough the giraffe was, not showing any sign off being hit the first time. Aside from standing there bleeding. But then everything I have hunted and taken has impressed me with how tough they are even mortally wounded. Skinners were summoned and the giraffe was field dressed as it was too big to transport to the skinning shed. Ultimately the giraffe yielded four good sized baits and the neck yielded as Andy said a "teaser" bait.
So we were on to the next phase, selecting sites to hang baits. I was very impressed with how the sites were selected. In part by previous experience in the area but more so from the stand point on how the game was moving and where it was concentrated. The concentration part I must admit worried me with the fire that had just roared through the area. We saw that areas were still on fire but neigboring landholders had made some backfires to stop the progress. It appeared by estimates that 30% of Senuko had burned. The fire was started by neighboring squatters with little regards to the outcome of their actions. I was thinking to myself how this fire might affect the game movement and therefore the lions. I could just see myself hunting 18 days only to realize the prey animals had moved to the neighbors along with the lions in pursuit. Strange how ones mind works. I accuse my wife of being the head of the "danger patrol" where danger or percieved problems lurk around every corner.Here I was bemoaning the fact that due in part to an act of God I may not get a chance. I viewed this trip at this time as a gift because I thought lion would be out of my reach in my life time. For what ever reason this was a discounted hunt, perhaps as fallout of the global meltdown. I considered myself to be extremely fortunate to be standing here. I had even purchased trip insurance to insure against the unforseen. After mulling this over in my head I asked Andy what he thought. Sage advice if there ever was any... He counciled that we give it 4 or 5 days and see what transpired. Glen Stockil also was in agreement with this course. It turned out that the fire did affect the game somewhat but after the very first night two of our baits had been hit. This allayed my fears. With that out of my mind I was better able to concentrate on the tasks at hand.

Oct 10 -
Part of the preparation of bait sites is the dragging of "Matumbu" Shona for guts. This we did numerous times. It was feared that with the intense heat the baits would not last. However it was not to be so. Andy picked the sites that were in deep shade at least as deep shade as was possible. When I arrived there were no leaves on the trees. But by the time I left the trees had leafed out in beautiful lime green the color of new growth. The crew covered the baits very well to add to the shade and keep them out of site of the vultures. We had baits lasting 6 days. Most did not last because lions were actively hitting them. Lionesses were feeding and we kept the baits up in hopes a male lion would make his rounds also.
The night time revealed Mopane trees on fire as the fire had burned quite hot as it went through. Time would show some of the Mopane trees caught fire at the base and burned through only to fall. Over a period of days the hardwood sustained the fire and it would completely burn up leaving a pile of ash outlining were once was a large tree on the ground.

Oct 11th
Success, we have lions feeding on two of the baits and on the third one a leopard is feeding.We set up a trail camera on a bait. We do not have all of the baits up yet so it is decided we take a zebra for bait. Up to this time I have been very impressed with the number of game animals we are seeing. What is particularly encouraging is the numbr of young animals in the herd make ups. Evidently a few years ago an anthrax outbreak decimated the Kudu. We were seeing numerous Kudu cows and young bulls. The trackers knocked on the roof of the truck while traveling and they had spotted a nice Kudu bull. Andy asked if I wanted to try for it. A phrase he used often as I really was not planning on taking additonal trophy animals. Of course I was an eager particpant. We tracked it for some time but it played up to its nick name "the grey ghost" and disappeared into the landscape.
Later in the day we came across a herd of zebra. Andy was very very good at picking out the stallions. On this occasion the stallion was pointed out to me after playing hide and seek with them. After I shot, Andy said the Zebra has been attacked by lions. Sure enough when we got up to the zebra it was very evident it had succesfully managed not to become lion food. It was estimated the attack was two days old. The wounds were pretty astounding. Sure testimony of the facts of life for animals in Africa.

Oct 12th
We are back checking our baits. One of the baits has hair from the mane of a male lion.This is the site where we saw a lioness the day before. This is encouraging as a male has joined the lioness.Plans are made to sit in the machan tonight. At this location quite close to a water point the machan had been up for some time. It needed a facelift however. The crew busied themselves with putting fresh brush on the blind to better break up the outline. All holes were covered and the
shooting lane was cut from the limbs in the way.
Later that day we were back in the area we had stalked the kudu. It was spotted again and again we went on the stalk. This time as we stalked the Kudu it was very thick and the bull was in dense cover trying not to move. As it did we shadowed it until an acheivable sight picture presented itself which was a very small portal through the brush. Up on the sticks several times before the right shot was taken. Beautiful animal the Kudu. I marvel at the spiral horn symmetry and its beauty. I give thanks silently and pictures are taken. I can't help but think how blessed I am to be here.

We are in the machan at 4:30PM. Andy councils me about proper blind etiquette. We go through the do's and don'ts. I practice in getting the rifle out the small opening before it gets late. Andy is reading "When a Crocodile eats the sun" a book about life in zimbabwe. He suggests I read it when he is done.It does come to pass that I do read the book as we wait for hours in the blinds.This day I sit engrossed in rerunning the expeirences thus far. Along
with trying to imagine what it is going to be like when a lion does show up. I talk to myself often to rehearse the sequence of making a good shot.
As the afternoon grows later impala and giraffe come to the water point to drink. The giraffe provides some entertainment as I marvel how it manages its spread legged stance to drink. This particular bull is alone and very very cautious. It lowers its head numerous times and takes long drinks. I am still hot and sweating with no wind to cool me off. We all seem to need lots of water in this heat man and animals alike.
The sun sets and darkness comes. With that a herd of 100 or so elephants come to water in two different herds. I can not see them but I surely can hear them drinking,and splashing, and making low grumbling sounds. At one point the tree we are in shudders as an elephant leans up against it to rub a bit. Andy is able to see the ladder and an elphant puts a foot up on it as if he could climb. After most are watered Andy calls for the truck. A bit too active a night so we call it early.

I must post what I have. It has been painfully slow in getting this far. I promise to add to it. To be continued....

Posts: 71 | Location: North Pole, Alaska | Registered: 20 June 2009

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