Outfitter, Photographer and PH: Mike Fell
Trackers: Dustin, Kadimba, Mathao and Chalinze
Game Scout:Magessa
Dates: 25 June - 10 July 2018
Area Hunted: Northern Maswa Tanzania (borders Serengeti National Park)
Rifles: Custom .280 Rem model 70 and .375 H&H model 70
Ammo: handloaded 150 gr Barnes TTSX and 300 gr Swift A Frames
Optics: Leica 2-10x and Leuopold VXR 3-9x
Animals taken: Daylight Leopard, EA Impala, Patterson Eland, Roan, Cape Buffalos, Topi, Zebras, Hippo
EA bushbuck, thompson gazelle, ostrich, Warthog, white bearded wildebeest, baboons

First time trip to Tanzania and all I can say is that it was a trip of a lifetime. I can see why people dream of East Africa.


Our leopard using Mike's custom Nikon game camera in a Pelican case

My wife and I started off June 26th Flying Turkish Air out of Hosuton IAH to Istanbul. First time on Turkish Air business class and it was good. We had a short 3 hour layover at the nice Turkish Air lounge. Then a 7 hour flight in a 737 to Zanzibar, stayed on the plane then a 1 hour flight into Arusha (Kilimanjaro). The seven hour leg was tough because it was from 9pm to 4 am and sleeping on a 737 is no fun at that distance. However, arriving at 5am was nice in that we got a full extra day in Tanzania. We bought our visas at the airport. Getting the guns through the airport was a normal experience, meaning you never know what to expect. But Mike's people handled everything and we were on our way in no time.

Opening day was not until July 1st so we had some days to kill and be tourists. We took a helicopter to the Kenyan border and did a 2 night horseback photo safari with Kaskazi Horse Safaris (https://www.kaskazihorsesafaris.com/). I am not a horse person, but my wife is and this was a treat for her. By the end of the stay I was convinced it is the best way to see wildlife in Masailand. We saw lesser kudu, gerenuk, ele, giraffe and many other animals. Since we were on horseback the animals were very calm. This is the area where they filmed Hatari with John Wayne. Since we were on the border of Amboseli National Park we had the potential to see some big ele bulls. We got close to a pretty big one seen below and saw many others. We stayed in traditional east African mobile tents and it was a beautiful experience.


On Horseback with Kilimanjaro in background


Big Bull

Next we took the helicopter over Lake Natron to look at the home of the largest lesser flamingo gathering on the planet. We got some great video and pictures. Great experience. Here is a photo of the helicopter and flamingos:



We ended up at the Ngorongoro Crater. One of the 7 natural wonders of Africa. It is home to 30,000 animals including big ele, monster buff and gazelle, and old cats. We stayed at Entamanu Lodge on the rim of the crater and did 2 game drives. Having a professional photographer with you is a huge plus, we have some great photos. Here's an example of the buff in this crater....awesome:



Lots of animals


This is taken with my iphone. One of the biggest cats in the crater.

After 4 days of building anticipation and taking pictures, I was ready for some hunting. We got picked up in the caravan on June 30 and headed to Maswa.

Short Caravan flight from Arusha


Very comfortable "tent" for me and my wife


Common/Dining area

Day 1: July 1st
We shot the guns that morning to make sure they made the trip ok. Our first task was to hunt two zebras and get some bait hung. Finding zebra here is not difficult and that was done in no time. However hanging 8 baits from the two zebra would take a couple of days on 350,000+/- acres. During early afternoon the trackers spotted a lone buffalo under a tree facing away from us. We stalked up within 30 yards of him. The wind swirled and he stood up and faced us. Right before I pulled the trigger for a frontal brain shot he turned and ran. I shot him three times in the shoulder as he ran away. He quickly went down and I put one more in him for insurance. He was very old, had a badly hurt/broken back leg and a huge abscess on his side. The meat was all rotten. He didnt have much longer to live before a lion got him. We hung him nearby for leopard bait.


First Tanzania bull

That night we heard a leopard at camp. We were hoping to see him on a bait we hung near camp because Mike had seen a big one the year before. In fact, its the one he showed to me when selling me on coming to Maswa. He was a big one from the photos and videos.

Day 2: More bait hanging. We were lucky to see this big warthog near the truck. the .280 did its job easily.


We tracked some buffalo and Patterson eland that morning as well. Didnt see anything interesting once we got up on them. Hippo was on our license which is unusual for this area. I wasnt going to pass on the opportunity so we checked out a couple of hippo holes. We always ate lunch in the bush and had nice lunches with hammock naps. In this particular area you could arrange to go back to camp for lunch but we usually preferred to stay out. After lunch we talked ourselves into taking one of the bull hippo we spotted earlier. There were lots of cows and babies in the small hole with the bulls. This particular hippo had a gouged eye and was easy to pick out. We left him overnight to allow the cows and babies to clear out.

Later that afternoon we turned a corner in the land rover and came across a small herd of ele's, without warning one of the females charged hard. Mike was able to stop her by moving the truck towards her quickly, she paused her charge briefly and Mike maneuvered around her. She chased us for a while trumpeting the whole time. We were lucky.

Day 3: Checking baits and found a big leopard not far from camp was feeding already. He had eaten almost the entire zebra quarter. We refreshed the bait with the warthog. We went to retrieve the hippo shot from the day before, but the females were still there. This was unexpected since the females will usually leave after being disturbed from the shot the day before. We had to leave it another day rotting in the water.
While driving, we saw three male lions and a female. Our tracker Mathao has the most unbelieveable gift of spotting cats. During this trip we saw leopard and multiple lions form the truck because Mathao could spot them from far away.
On the way to a lunch spot we spotted a nice Topi. After a short stalk the .280 dropped him from 150 yards.


We missed a chance at a Coke's hartebeest. We saw dik-dik, porcupine and a blind wildebeest on our afternoon drive.

Day 4: Checked baits. The big leopard was there when we pulled up at 7:15. Mike is using StealthCam's latest video game camera. We got unbelievable 4k video with sound of the leopard. He is definitely a shooter, but not the one from the year before that has a unique head. It was also hard to tell just how big he was from the game camera. Before buidling a blind, we wanted to get the one on camera that continued to roar at night time near camp.



After the leopard excitement we saw 15 bull eland crossing the road in front of us. We stalked hard and fast for a couple of miles to catch up to them. To add to the excitement, Two of them stopped about 100 yards from the Serengeti border and started fighting. They were the two biggest of the herd. It was now or never. Mike pointed out the biggest one and I shot him with the .280. He was down within 20 yards. He was my first eland and absolutely beautiful. The camp was very happy to have their favorite meat.


We went to check the dead hippo again to see if the females had cleared the hole. All but one female had left, and she was not happy to see us. Getting that hippo out of the water is a story in of itself. Mike and his team are very good though and they made it happen while we stood guard over the female which refused to leave. This process took 2.5 hours or so. We saved the skull which is what I wanted in the first place. We decided to set up one of the cameras to catch lion, hyena and other stuff feeding on the carcass. While we waited on the bank for Mike and the game scout to set the camera, the female couldnt stand it anymore and charged Mike and Magessa. Mike's back was turned but Magessa took off running with both guns! The female thankfully stopped at the dead carcass and backed into the water. Disaster avoided.
We ended the day tracking a big buffalo, but never got a shot.

Day 5: Checked baits all morning. The bait near camp had a male lion near it, but no camp leopard. The hippo carcass had some lion tracks near it and lots of hyenas. But the hyenas knocked the camera out of focus. Checking more baits we spotted a big leopard in a tree thanks to Mathao's gift of spotting them. We hung a bait right there to hopefully keep him around for a closer look. The next area we spotted a female leopard in the tree. She had eaten almost all of the bait she was protecting. After our daily lunch and nap we spotted a big EA impala with a herd of females. I shot him head on at 140 yards. Turned out to be better than I could have imagined.


We needed more leaopard bait so we shot a baboon also. We found a zebra with a bad leg caught in a snare. Damn poachers, very sad.
That night we had a lion outside our tent window. His growl made my hair stand up.

Day 6: Started off the day bad by missing a hyena. I tried a neck shot at 80 yards then another at 250. My perfect record for this hunt was ruined, which is good since it was just a hyena. We found another leopard hitting bait and set another camera. We decided to go ahead and build a blind at the leopard that had been eating bait since Day 3. We still hadnt seen the camp leopard and wanted to look at the new leopard hitting bait but this was only a 10 day hunt. No time to be greedy. After lunch we headed out for buffalo and anything else we run across. Saw an ostrich and stalked him. He took off running and i dropped him at 220 yards. Redeeming myself from the hyena fiasco. Walking toward the dead ostrich, a big Thompson gazelle was looking at us at 140 yards. dropeed him too. further redemption.


We crawled to the top of a rock outcropping for some photos of the evening East African plain. It was beautiful. As we were leaving we saw an old wide buffalo near the truck looking away. HE jumped up, paused and took off running. As he paused I was pulling the trigger. I went for the shot but wasnt sure if I got him. It got dark quickly. We felt confident we would come back in the morning to pick up his trail. I hate the feeling of leaving something potentially wounded overnight.

Day 7: Leopard day. We left camp at 5:30 and were in the blind by 6:00 am. Both mine and Mike's wives came with us to sit in the blind. We all sat in the dark and watched the sun rise. We saw the leopard crossed in front of us in the long grass as he went to drink water about 6:40. Came back across at 6:50. Around 7:00, he Jumped in tree. Mike turned on his 4k video camera and we enjoyed watching him feed. 4 minutes later I shot him with the .375. All caught on video. Mike went out to check with his .577 double Greener. The leopard was dead 10 yards from the tree. I shot him through the lungs. The celebration was on. This leopard was HUGE! 6 days of work and shot on day 7 and only an hour in the blind. We took lots of photos. Back at camp the whole staff threw a traditional celebration and dance. I was so relieved.



No trick photography needed on him. He's massive.

Here's a great side story. My wife's great-grandfather hunted southern Kenya/northern Tanzania in 1947 on a 90 day safari. They hunted 100 pound elephants, monster buffalo, lion, leopard and lots of plains game. They took plenty of color footage on video camera and lots of black and white photos. Here is a picture of her great grandfather from 1947 and then a picture of my wife with our leopard. Even though she wasn't the one pulling the trigger, she was right beside me in the blind. This will be a great story and memory for our children.

We had breakfast at camp and then headed out to find the buff from the night before. To our extreme disappointment, poachers set fire to the area and all signs of tracks were toast. Bastards. We walked the area for hours. After lunch we bumped buff with the truck but could not get to him in time. Got back on track for 2.5 more hours. No buffalo, the poachers ruined the hunt. It was getting late and our wives had spotted a roan when we were looking for buffalo. We went to the area and there he was, the first and only roan we would see on this trip. We made a plan and quickly stalked him. We were racing sunset. My first shot was good, but a little back and he ran. We chased full speed after him on foot. Another shot and it stepped as I pulled trigger. We kept running. I Shot 8 more times on the run and finally got it down.The pictures were great with the sunset in the background.

What a Good day, leopard and roan in one day. Tomorrow we would look for the buffalo again.

Day 8: Lots of looking and stalking today but nothing meaningful.
Day 9: Started out the day stalking a coke's hartebeest. I took a long shot and missed. We had a flat a short time later, since that was the first flat of the trip I took it as a good sign to find a big buffalo. The guys changed it like a NASCAR pit crew, it only took 7 minutes. Immediately after, an old buff stood up right next to the road. I made a brain shot and dropped my second buffalo. The flat was a good sign! He had only one eye and a lion had taken a recent chunk out of his back leg. He is the biggest bodied buffalo I had ever taken. There is nothing better than old dagga boys.


We were feeling lucky, so we went back to the spot where the poachers had burned our buffalo tracks a couple days prior. We were driving through the thick acacia bush and Mathao spotted 2 poachers running. The chase was on. We were able to capture one. He was caught with knives, lots of meat, lion poison and interestingly a wildebeest fetus and a small bird to sell to the witch doctor.

He was able to tell us where the main poacher camp was located. I'm not sure the result of the raid, but the anti-poaching units were going to take care of them. I hope they got them all, these guys are the scourge of Africa.

Day 10: We started off the day looking for coke's hartebeest. We spotted a nice EA bushbuck within 15 minutes of camp. We were able to get a shot off, which cleared a baboon's head by less that 2 inches.
Later in the day we heard on the radio that a lady had wondered into camp. Not completely unusual to the locals, but since we were miles from anything on the north side of the Serengeti I found it unique. Shortly after we spotted an old white-bearded wildebeest. Took a long shot and got him.
We spotted a male lion near camp and Mike used his "beetle cam" to try to get some footage. Look up beetle camera, its basically a remote control car with a camera. Pretty cool.
Day11: No hunting today, just paperwork and packing. We heard an unbelieveable noise near camp. Maybe the big camp leopard, maybe hyenas, but definitely something was being chased. When we went to investigate, we found the big leopard tracks of the camp leopard and this fresh warthog kill in the tree.
Mike Fell got the camp leopard on the next hunt and he did not disappoint. His head was huge and was torn up from fighting another leopard.

I give this hunting area a very high recommendation. We shot a big leopard, had another on bait and on camera that was a shooter and knew the camp leopard was nearby. We saw numerous animals every day. Bushman safari's equipment was top notch and good shape. The employees were all very professional. The camp cook was an executive chef that prepared great food. The camp was very comfortbale and recently updated.

I want to thank Mike Fell for designing this entire trip, his endless positive outlook and energy and for making this a great safari for both me and my wife. This was my 6th safari, (2 south african, 1 Botswana, 2 mozambique) and it will be one of the most memorable for all the right reasons.



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Fantastic report! One of the best I have ever read. The photos are absolutely top notch. Congrats on a wonderful hunt and resulting trophies.

RCG

What an unbelievable trip, truly a trip of a life time. Don't see how you can improve on this. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for a fantastic report.

What an area!!

Quality trip from start to finish! Cool connection to your wifes GGF too, neat way to add some additional meaning to the safari. Congrats!

___________________________________________________________
A Few Hunt Reports:
Namibia Family Holiday Round-2 2018 - In Process!
Namibia Family Holiday with Shona Adventures 2016
Bubye Valley Conservancy Father/Son PG & Lion Research 2013
Dande East Elephant Bull Hunt 2012
Dande North Tuskless Elephant & Buffalo Late Season 2011
Cameroon Lord Derby Eland Tracking Hunt 2008
Makuti Tuskless Elephant & Plainsgame Pictures 2008
Deka (Zimbabwe) Elephant Bull 2007
NWT Dall Sheep & Mtn Caribou 2006
Sapi Bull Elephant & Plainsgame w/Sons 2005
Luangua Valley with Peter Chipman 2004

Congrats on some great trophies. Looks like a huge leopard. That Impala looks like a hunge brute too. Great report.
Bruce

Great report. Glad you had a magnificent hunt with one of the top PH's in Tanzania. Mike is one of the best

Looks like one hell of a hunt to me! Congrats!

Very nice report!

Maswa is a gem, the game is so numerous!

Mike is the real deal, isn't he?

Mike, congrats again to you and your wife on a super safari!

Mike Fell and Tanzania are as good as it gets.

I'm Looking forward to catching up with you guys.

Well done Mike. Good to see you on AR...

fantastic!

HOWARDep,

You certainly got Heck of a lot done in 10 days. Great trophies and nice report.

Congratulations!

Mark

Thank you for sharing this fantastic report and photos. Congratulations on an excellent Safari!

I've got to make sure my son sees this since we'll be there next year.

fantastic trip!!!!!!
congrats

Well done! Wonderful pics and report! Fine trophies! Congratulations to you and your wife!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Well done! Splendid report.

Awesome Hunt Report, awesome pictures and magnificent trophies. A true dream hunt.

Wow! Great trophies and photos! Thanks for posting this.

Thanks for the great report and congratulations on a fantastic hunt.

Excellent report. That impala is a dandy!

Awesome leopard; love the crater pics of the ele and buff.

Wonderful report. Thanks for taking the time to put it together for us. Love the pics of your wife's great grandfather with his leopard and your wife in a similar pose with yours. That's going to be a great side-by-side display somewhere.

Wonderful Trophies!!!

The area and animals are fantastic considering what you were able to pull out of their in only ten short days! Fantastic to say the least and a professional hunter that knows his way around without question.

First class all the way and thanks for the insightful reporting!!!

Story of the year!

Congrats! Awesome pic of your wife posing like her grand dad! Your children and grandchildren will have a GREAT story there!

Great safari, awesome report!

I would not expect anything less from Mike Fell in Maswa.

That is an outstanding Leopard and one of the biggest I have come across on these pages.

Congratulations to all on a superb safari and vacation.

Wow just wow! Congratulations to all!

Brett

That is an absolutely incredible Eland! Congratulations!

Great report!

Thank you for sharing your hunt, looks like a safari to remember.

That sounds like one of the finest safaris ever. Great report.

Seems like a great place to hunt and a great safari. Congratulations.

But why did you hide your face? Were you somehow ashamed of what you did?

I would not post a hunt report if I felt I had to hide my face in it. Sends the wrong message.

Sorry to interject this, and don’t mean to distract.

But for me, it was sadly the whole story.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Seems like a great place to hunt and a great safari. Congratulations.

But why did you hide your face? Were you somehow ashamed of what you did?

I would not post a hunt report if I felt I had to hide my face in it. Sends the wrong message.

Sorry to interject this, and don’t mean to distract.

But for me, it was sadly the whole story.

. . . I have to agree.

Great report. Personally folks there's a lot of people who have a lot to lose from these major national news "name and shame" campaigns that start around various iconic African animals. Especially for those of us with businesses and families with small kids, it's easy to see why being safe is prudent. I don't blame him a bit. Looking at the blurred out faces made me wonder if I would post a picture of an iconic species like an elephant, lion, leopard with my face, for my business and children's sake. Anyways congratulations again!

Brett

quote:

Originally posted by BrettAKSCI:
Great report. Personally folks there's a lot of people who have a lot to lose from these major national news "name and shame" campaigns that start around various iconic African animals. Especially for those of us with businesses and families with small kids, it's easy to see why being safe is prudent. I don't blame him a bit. Looking at the blurred out faces made me wonder if I would post a picture of an iconic species like an elephant, lion, leopard with my face, for my business and children's sake. Anyways congratulations again!

Brett

EXACTLY !!!

Great report and great animals.

quote:

Originally posted by BrettAKSCI:
Great report. Personally folks there's a lot of people who have a lot to lose from these major national news "name and shame" campaigns that start around various iconic African animals. Especially for those of us with businesses and families with small kids, it's easy to see why being safe is prudent. I don't blame him a bit. Looking at the blurred out faces made me wonder if I would post a picture of an iconic species like an elephant, lion, leopard with my face, for my business and children's sake. Anyways congratulations again!

Brett

Yes I have to agree. For many people that is simply not an option.