I led a group through Worldwide Trophy Adventures in early August to hunt with CM Safaris in Dande. Skip Nantz and I were hunting 2x1 with Buzz. Skip was hunting a non-export management bull ele, and I was hunting a tuskles or ration elephant cow.

I had 3 other clients/friends in camp doing buff. One started as an observer, but his buddy let him shoot his buff, and Buzz graciously allowed the original guy to take a buff as well. All 3 scored.


I had a leopard hunter as well. He killed 2 buff, and one was a monster 45" bull. He had a bit of bad luck on the cat and never got a shot, through no fault of 100% effort by PH Alan Shearing. They worked their tales off.

(99% of the photos by Justin Drainer)
Skip, Buzz and I hunted hard, were into elephants every day, and had lots of close encounters. We had a shout down inside 15 yards with a bull that had a herd just behind him, had another standoff with a big cow (and herd) at under 20 yards, and I believe we had walked about 65 miles by GPS before I took a shot on day 8.

On the morning of day 7, (frustrated)Buzz told us he was going to shave his head if we didn't shoot an ele that day. We didn't, and he held true to his word. He should have waited 1 more day!

After lunch on day 8, we got on a herd, and caught them in the hills shading up. There was an ancient old cow with a dry socket on one side, and a few inches of tusk on the other. Buzz told me we could take on the ration quota, so we walked in to 15 yards.

It was an easy side brain shot, but there was another cow directly behind, so we waited. When the cow turned her head toward us, Buzz told me to shoot for the eye, and I dropped her.

I hope you can click the link for the video of the shot. It ws in HD, but doesn't look so great to me in the youtube clip?
ele shot video

The cow was absolutely ancient. The pigment on trunk, face and back of ears had all faded pink, and when they pulled the jaw, they think it is the oldest ele they have ever taken. They had a verified 63 year old in the past, and Buzz thought the sone would be older.

I used my Verney-Carron .470 for the hunt.




A we tracked, Justin Drainer pointed out that leaves were passing straight through into the dung with 0 digestion.He said it was an old ele who was declining (obviously due to molar wear), and he was certainly right. She was a great ele to take. Also, she had a lot of blonde or colorless hairs in her tail.








I had some major blister issues, even though I took 10 year old and 6 year old boots!

Eddie impersonating Buzz...


On day 9 after the absolute best tracking I have ever seen for 5.5 hours, Skip got a shot at his bull. I'll let him tell that story. I will say it was a real honor to be with him for his first elephant. We have traveled to hunt together for over 20 years, and this was a very special experience. It meant much more to me than my ele.









We spent the last day on the Zambezi, and Skip's luck continued and he caught big vundu estimated at around 70 pounds. We visited Buzz's camp overlooking the river as sunset, and packed up.






When we left, I had 4 more guys come in to hunt buff on a 7 day special. All 4 got nice bulls as well.

We stayed over a night in Harare so we could have dinner with Richard Harland, and that was a big highlight for me. His books are among my favorites, and he is such a great gentleman in general. He even took us to his cigar supplier the next morning before we flew home.

All in all, another superb hunt with CM Safaris.Food was great, staff was great, PH and trackers worked their tails off for everyone- just what you expect when booking a hunt with a quality company like CM...

Sounds like a great trip. Lots of very nice animals. Congrats. Bruce

Great photos, thanks for the report and congratulations!

Nice hunt and great pictures. Congrats

Well played Tim. Some great trophies all around.

Great report and a couple of nice ellie Tim!

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Well do e Tim, hunters, Buzz and crew!

Some solid buff and what an old ancient ele! And fishing too!

Great report and pictures - well done Justin!

Thanks for posting.

Charlie

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Well done Tim. CM Safaris is top notch. I'm glad Skip had a good hunt as well. Seemed like a genuinely nice guy when we met him.

J&J

From the number of white hairs on the tail, most definitely an old animal, a very old one.

The Red Dot makes a whale of a difference when it comes to close-up, no dilly-dallying shots.

Well executed.

Awesome !!!! Love the hair cut Buzz

A lot of wear on the ele's feet, they have covered many, many miles. With that hair cut, I bet Buzz kept his hat on while hunting, that would be serious sunburn.

Excellent hunt and report!!! Congrats

Well done Skip, Tim and Buzz! Buzz is looking Saucy... even in the African Bush.

Tim,

Nicely done once again. A couple of bruiser buffalo. Big congrats to Skip on his ele.

Mark

What a great hunt! Congrats to all.

Well done and looks like a most memorable hunt

Awsome hunt. Nothing beats ele hunting, especially in the valley where the miles add up and the trackers are amazing!

Great Hunt and fantastic photos.
Well done !

Very well done Tim! Awesome hunt done the proper way!! Well done once again to CMSafaris and Buzzer! All your conservation efforts showing handsomely...

Very nice Buffalo Tim, congrats to all. Gotta try Tigerfishing one of these days, that has to be a blast.

Congrats to all, especially you skip. I know it's been a long time coming

Great hunt with an outstanding outfit.

You would have thought that old " floppy locks" would have learned his lesson about making rash bets after the Mankini affair eh ?

Great trip and report.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Herald:

. . . years of not using sunblock have finally caught up with Buzz. Pity. A lesson for the rest of us.

I can say that Eddie was LOVING the look of Buzz! His smile was truly ear to ear!!

Congratulations. CMS and WTA deliver again.

Well done to all my friends!

quote:

Originally posted by Skip Nantz:
I can say that Eddie was LOVING the look of Buzz! His smile was truly ear to ear!!

I bet Eddie is still smiling!.

Congrats on a fine hunt ! You did well.

quote:

Originally posted by Skip Nantz:
I can say that Eddie was LOVING the look of Buzz! His smile was truly ear to ear!!

Is it ever not ear to ear? I don't think I have ever met a happier guy.

Great hunt with nice pics.

I can't decide what I liked better; the 45" buffalo or those 3 doubles. LOL

Thanks for sharing.

BH63

Superb hunt. Cracking trophies all round. Well done to all.