October 19 to October 28

Martin Pieters Safaris
Ume river camp

PH- Pierre Hundermark
Trackers- Ferunga, David, Fixon
Game scout- Elias


First I have to thank Bill Campbell for his spot on invaluble hot weather survival advice, I would add duct tape to his list as I had second degree burns on my knees after a crawl to check some bulls. YES, it really was that hot!!

Secondly Jerry Dollar for his apt description of the hunting area. This drove me to really work on getting in shape.

Last but not least, Ernest Gilbert for his help in planning our Vic Falls side trip. Not to be missed!!

To survive this hunt in October/November you must be prepared, if not you will be sorely disappointed. Drink a full bottle of water at every chance. No sips, no partial bottle. drink the whole thing every time. Use electrolyte replacments tabs at all times. Stand or sit in even the most tiny spot of shade every time you stop. When you are on the forced march back to the truck let the tracker carry your gun. They will offer, take them up on it.

The best way to prepare is to walk around a Walmart parking lot on the hottest days of the year for a few hours. Then crawl around it a time or two.

It was as hot as advertised, I enjoyed it. Had a blast actually.

This place is literally crawling with Buffalo, I tagged out with two by the morning of day four and saw hundreds of buff.

We drove to camp from Bulawayo. Never again!!! 11.5 hours on the road, or what passes for a road. At least 20 police road blocks. Several stops for trackers/scout and the occasional soda. To see what has happened to the productive areas is truly disheartening. These people are now so bad off they can not provide the family with food the whole year.

Pierre is a hard working driven, successful PH who I would hunt with again. His legs are a bit longer than mine but we managed to make it work. The trackers are as you would expect, amazing in everything they do. A PH is lost without his team of trackers. They worked tirelssly all day long. They also enjoy Atomic Fireballs. Every day started with Atomic Fireballs for the crew. We ran out the last day and Pierre said he was going to miss them.

Chris Moore, camp manager was able to handle every request with ease. I did have to assist them getting new shocks on a Hi Lux. They totally forgot the value of google.

having never even seen a Cape Buffalo before I was a true virgin. They all looked big to me. We made quite a few stalks, got real close. Sometimes too close. Dagga boy groups, herds of twenty and herds of hundreds. On the stick numerous times, on a knee numerous times.

Day three around ten am was the time for #1. At one point they were within 16yds but spooked without a shot being fired. caught up to them to get this guy.

Yep he is a bit soft. Boss says shoot, I shoot. Perfect heart shot he goes a hundred yards, I put a solid between his legs and promptly blow off six inches of horn.




Yep, I took a shot to the head. I am not afraid of the 416, I guess I relax a bit too much. Not the first time it got me and not the last.

This is where you want to shoot them.



Day four the plan was to find the tracks of a lone bull that we found late on day two. But five minutes out of camp there stood 5 bulls on the road. Bail out of the truck and off we go. No water, nothing but PH, hunter and one tracker. Didnt take too long till they lay down in some really thick shit. AS we were tracking them we couls see a herd about half a mile off on the side of a hill. WE could not get a good look at all the bulls. Pierre did see that none of them were spectacular when they crossed the road so we left them to go after the herd. Sent tracker for water and now it is just Pierre and I.

It took about 5 k's of fast traveling to get ahead of most of them. I was on the sticks as Pierre watched them go by. "Shoot that one". I don't, I can't, I knew it would have been a gut shot. Pierre said no problem, thats your call.
Off we go a couple hundred yards and on the sticks again. "Shoot that one". Yep, I can do that, bang!! Yep, scoped again, ha ha who cares.
This one did not hunch up and swing his leg like they often do. But I knew I was on him.



And this generally stops them.


This one is for Saeed and Walter.



Perfect performance from the Barnes TSX



7:07 am day four done. Now what to do. I am going to drink my bottle of wild turkey. Life was good!!!

Day five, we need something to do. We are amazed at the amount and variety of other game around here. I had no plans to shoot anything else but I decide Rena Needs a bushbuck. You know sometimes you get the feeling someone is little leary. Oh no, the girl is going to shoot. I know a secret, you tell her to hit that dot. Thats what she hits. Off for bushbuck with the camp 308 using FMJ bullets.

After a couple hours they find a nice one out on the flood plain at about 150 yds. Pierre says I will whistle and when he stops you shoot. They forgot to tell the bushbuck that plan. Whislte once, no stop. Whistle twice, no stop. Whistle the third time, no stop. Rena decides to take matters in her own hand. Bang, he takes a few steps and falls over dead. Pierre told me she shot him walking at 150 yds and he fell over dead. No surprise here!!



Then we went fishing/drinking or was it drinking and fishing. Anyways we did a lot of both.

the first day of fishing we caught 11 Vundu catfish and only got this small one in the boat. We learned we had to run them down with the boat.



The next day we went fishing/drinking again. this time Rena was able to score.




It was a blast watching the crocs go by, hearing and watching the hippos being pissed cause we were in their spot. And then going for a boat ride and gliding right up to the elephants drinking and cooling themselves.

Victoria falls will follow in a few days after I get back from deer camp.

God, we love Africa!!!

Keith and Rena

Very nice report. Glad you had a great trip.

The Omay is REAL African hunting, especially in October/November! Hard country for old men... congrats you knocked it out of the park!

Glad that you had a good time. I hunted with Pierre and Farunga back in June of 2011 and had a blast. It was a lot cooler at that time of the year. It was only about 8 hours drive then but we only had one police roadblock and two stops for supplies on the way.

Also they don't tell you until after you get there that the Omay has no flat ground on it.

Great report and very well done on your double buffalo.

Those Vundu will test your fishing gear and are fun to catch.

Does anyone know if Bill C did a post with his hot weather tips? Would really like to see a thread on that topic given there are often good deals late season.

Congratulations.Good shooting.Enjoyed the report

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
Congratulations.Good shooting.Enjoyed the report

+1

Aren't you glad I suggested getting in shape? As stated above, there is no level ground there and it's bloody damn hot in Oct!

Great report. Well done on some hard hunting. That is what it is all about.

Very well done on some REAL hunting, seems really tough but also looks like a blast, glad you had a good time, congratulations and thanks for sharing!

Congrats and Well done! The Omay in October, isn't for the feint of heart.

Ume camp is a very special place, and the Omay makes you work for every trophy - just as it should be. Nothing like fighting some vundu on Kariba either! Good shooting!

Surviving the Omay in October is an accomplishment in itself. Sad what it has become but glad that animals are surviving.

Good job!

Nice!

Congrats! Been there done that. It is tough country. Well done.

Well done for braving the heat in October!

Looked like you had a great time!
Well done

Thanks for all the comments. I just got back from a few days archery hunting in northern PA. I could have used about 20 degrees of that heat in the morning.

Very nice Keith. Would love to hear more, say maybe in the duck blind someday.

Bobby, we can do that. Maybe I will see you Christmas eve?

quote:

Originally posted by Dulcinea:
Bobby, we can do that. Maybe I will see you Christmas eve?

You bring the pics and I'll bring the Wild Turkey

Brother, fine job... You have the Leupold loop.

Stay on the gun and make the shot...


Mike

Hey Keith, I'm glad you guys had a good trip! Always great to make it back to Africa...time to start plotting your return!

Nice to hear that game numbers continue to improve and hats off to Mart for this.

Congratulations! Very nice report.
I conducted 3 safaris with Pierre and his crew hope we'll spend a lot of good time with him in nearest future.


Best regards,
Rinat

Can someone point me to Bill Campbell's heat advice? Can't find it. Nice hunt.

Hey 10G, in the hunt reports listed in my signature above (just noticed I need to re-upload some picts in a few of them...oh joy), I made mention to what worked for me during early season (wet/humid) and late season (pure heat) hunts.

Nothing earth-shattering, really just about making a comittment to staying hydrated, especially if doing a lot of walking during the heat of the day. A small battery powered fan and a cooling towel can help make sleep more comfortable. Showing up in good physical condition never hurts.

From the November 2011 "Months in the Sun":

quote:

During the more typical and cooler hunting season of June thru September, the diligence and effort to remain hydrated is reduced. This hunt was a Months of the Sun hunt, and staying hydrated was critical. I offer the following based on this trip and previous early season hunts (this is somewhat redundant of those reports) when it can also be hot and humid, in case it helps others in preparing for their trips.

Each morning I would fill a 32oz REI Nalgene bottle with water and 2 Nuun tablets and strive to drink it before the first walk. I have found that hydrating starts the night prior and needs to continue thru the morning. Drink as much as you can starting at dinner, and limiting alcohol intake is a good idea (I don’t drink so for me this is easy). Once on foot with the sun broiling there is no getting ahead and just keeping up can be a chore. You need to go into the day fully hydrated. I learned years ago that I am responsible for my water, and as such I bring along a small backpack that either I can carry (with a hydration bladder) or fill and give to one of the guys if I am carrying my rifle.

When walking, drink whenever the opportunity presents itself and don’t be afraid to halt the procession to chug a bottle. Never ever use your PH as a measuring stick as to how much you should drink. They are camels, especially later in the season. I have tried Gatorade packs in the past, but the convenience of the Nuun tablets is beyond compare. The various flavors are also not so sweet that after a few hours they become sickening. I need considerably more fluid early in the hunt, and once urine is regular and not bright yellow, I know that I am over the dehydration that can occur with flying, and getting somewhat acclimated to the new conditions.

It takes me about 6-days once on the ground to get all systems into sync, and the fishing and gentle lead-up on this hunt was very beneficial in this respect and I plan to replicate this approach moving forward whenever possible.

Please PM me anything, Bill