ZIMBABWE 2022 HUNT REPORT

Dates: June 17 - June 30, 2022. Ended early on the evening of June 25.

Outfitter: CMS – Charlton McCallum Safaris

Booking Agent: None

Airline: Emirates

Travel Agent: Steve Turner, TWG

Location: Dande East, Karunga Camp

Duration: 14 days. Ended early after the 9th day.

Professional Hunter: Keith “Brick” Wall

Rifles: (1) AHR Custom CZ 550 Magnum, Caliber .416 Rigby with Swarovski 1.5-4x24mm scope mounted in Alaska Arms quick detachable CZ mounts and (2) AHR Custom CZ 550 Magnum, Caliber .500 A-Square with Leupold FX-II 2.5x20mm scope mounted in Talley quick-detachable CZ ring mounts.

Game Taken But Not Sought: Warthog

Game Sought But Not Taken: Tuskless elephant, 2 Cape buffalo and hyena

We have just come home from an unsuccessful tracking buffalo and tuskless elephant hunt with CMS in Zimbabwe in their Dande East concession, based out of their Karunga Camp, near the Mozambican border.

AIRLINE

Emirates, uncharacteristically, turned out to be a disaster.

We planned to (and did) spend two nights in Dubai, in transit to Harare. Steve Turner of TWG advised that I should tell the ticket agent in Boston to check my rifle case and my bag containing my ammunition through to Harare, and my other bags through to Dubai. That way, the airport police in Dubai would take charge of my rifles and ammo, until my next flight, two days later, to Harare, and we would have access to our other bags during our two day stay in Dubai.

Despite my request, first to the ticket agent in Boston, and then to a manager for Emirates, also in Boston, that I needed to check my rifle case and my bag containing my ammunition through to Harare, and our other bags through to Dubai, I was told by the manager that her software would not permit her to do that because I was staying over for more than one day in Dubai, before flying onward to Harare.

Upon arrival in Dubai, what should appear on the baggage carousel? My bag containing my ammo. The rifle case had been taken by the police, but somehow, the bag containing my ammo had made it through to the baggage claim.

I immediately notified the Emirates baggage people.

They acknowledged their mistake, and directed me to go through customs.

BIG MISTAKE!

Over a period of three hours, the customs people x-rayed and then hand searched all of our bags, including our carry-ons, and every other thing in our luggage, item-by-item.

Finally, after they had exhausted every possible objection and question they could imagine, the customs folks handed us over to the police.

The highlight of the police interrogation was when one of them asked me, over a plastic barrier, “What is your occupation?!”

I replied, “I am a lawyer.”

He visibly flinched, then queried, “What are you going to do with this ammunition?”

I answered, rather too forcefully, perhaps, “I am going HUNTING! In ZIMBABWE!”

Finally, a half hour or so later, a police officer with more seniority emerged from the back room and asked me if I had clearance from Emirates to transport my ammo. I said of course I did, and gave him my paperwork. (Always have your paperwork.)

Three quarters of an hour later, I was assured by the ranking officer that my bag containing my ammo would be held by the police and loaded onto my flight to Harare along with my rifle case two days hence. I was even given a direct number to the airport police to call for confirmation on the morning of our departure.

Then, we found our car, and five hours after arrival in Dubai, at 1 am, we finally checked in to our suite at the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, and dined on a room service dinner.

All of this business with customs and the police was avoidable, and should have been handled by Emirates security. We should never have been sent through customs or the police.

We understand that mistakes can happen, but will definitely be re-thinking the use of Emirates in future.

COVID 19

On the subject of COVID 19, my wife and I have both been triple vaccinated, and have electronic, QR-coded vaccination cards, so no COVID tests were required coming or going.

Masks must still be worn at all airports everywhere, and we did that.

Masks must also be worn on airplanes, and everywhere in Zimbabwe, but let’s just say that those mandates are more relaxed. We routinely ignored them with impunity.

SAFARI

The hunting was challenging to the point of being impossible.

We tracked Cape buffalo for hours and days, through jesse so thick the thorns threatened to cut our throats. We trekked an average of over 15 kilometers per day, according to Brick Wall’s GPS device, Lindy’s “Steps” app and my barking dogs every night.

And our trackers, including Brick, were experts at the job. They stayed on and after buffalo over ground so hard that a hoof could barely scuff it, and through grass so thick that it hid every vestige of spoor.

Keith “Brick” Wall



Visibility in the thick stuff, which was where we always ended up, was maybe 5 yards at best.

And still, our trackers never lost a track.

But . . . we never actually saw a buffalo. Just parts and pieces of them, and then only rarely and fleetingly. We saw and followed many, many tracks, but they always led us into the thickest jesse I have ever seen. I learned that the buff in Dande East are smart, and do not show themselves during daylight hours, but stay holed up deep in the bush.

We were focused on buff, and did not chase elephant. I did not want to hunt them until we had put our buff in the salt. As with the buff, we saw many elephant tracks, but the elephants too have been educated in Dande East as to human ways, and always stayed deep in the thick bush during daylight hours. We saw only one elephant, a young bull, who we ran into by chance, while tracking a herd of buffalo just at dusk. He was quite close, and very interested in us, but Brick shouted him down, and away he went in great haste.

In brief, we found that educated and skittish buffalo, coupled with virtually impenetrable jesse, stacked the deck against us. No matter how hard or how often we tried, and we tracked buff for hours and miles every day, they always stayed well ahead of us, and did not stop until they were in the thickest bush they could find.

Whenever we got close, the unavoidable noise we made crunching through dried mopane leaves, or the shifting winds blowing our scent around, coupled with the incredibly alert buff, would always kill any chance we may have had. I swear we could not have made more (or less) noise in those thickets if we had been walking across a tile floor covered in Rice Crispies and Doritos. Snap, Crackle and Pop would all have been proud. It was very frustrating.

It was also and unfortunately extremely boring and slow for my wife, Lindy, who accompanied us, as she always does, during all of our tracking. In the thickets and jesse of Dande East, Lindy had to stay well in the rear, with our game scout and community council member, to avoid increasing the noise level as we crunched our way through layers of mopane leaves after the buff. Lindy was so far behind us that she didn’t even get to see the elephant. About all she was able to see were birds, baboons and dung beetles, and their allure is limited.

Our entourage consisted of seven people in total. Without Lindy, it would still have been six. I could write an entire essay on hunting buffalo and other dangerous game by committee, but it is sadly a fact of life these days in every African nation. Brick split our hunting party in two for good reason, to keep the noise down and increase our chances. But there was a level beyond which the noise was simply irreducible, and we paid the full price for that in many installments.

I got off only one shot at a blur of brown, which was about the size of a postage stamp through my scope, and which we (or at least I) thought was a portion of a buff's shoulder. It was a shot I instantly regretted, shouldn't have taken and luckily missed cleanly. I got away with a bad mistake. Tracking a wounded buff through those dense thickets of thorn bushes would not have been any kind of fun.

Right after that, I shot a big-toothed warthog with my .416 while he was kneeling at a waterhole. I shot him purely for the pot. He was a pretty decent pig, but I will not take him home. I can report that, thanks to the culinary skills of our camp cook, this warthog’s backstrap ended up on our table and tasted quite good.



I had two other opportunities on buff. Once, after a long and uncharacteristically quiet stalk over soft and sandy ground, we saw a bull’s outline through the bush. And I mean BUSH. It was so thick between him and us that all I had was a badly obstructed shot through a curtain of branches and grass. I did not take the shot. Too risky. Then the wind swirled and he bolted.

The other time, we managed to close on a bull who untypically had not seen or smelled or otherwise sensed our presence. But in the few seconds I had to find my target and line up the shot, once again at a buffalo’s shoulder, the buff moved into heavy brush that totally obstructed my line of sight to a vital spot. When we tried to move, to get a better shot angle, he heard us and bolted. Again, all very frustrating.

But for those chances, we were completely shut out, day after day, notwithstanding many hours and miles of effort.

Brick and his team of trackers were terrific – truly impressive – but it's hard, not to say impossible, to succeed against such long odds.

At the end of the ninth day of our 14 day hunt, I decided to stop the fight. The day was frustratingly like every prior day of hunting, only worse.

We rose as usual at 4:30 am, and I was encouraged to see a seven legged spider crawl down from his web in the window onto the wall of our en suite bathroom.



I joked with Lindy that surely this had to be a sign of good luck! But it was not to be.

After a quick breakfast, we drove to a pan bordering one of the areas of the concession that was more open than we typically saw. Our trackers spotted the fresh track of a large dugga boy, and we began to follow him. We tracked that buff for four hours. To my chagrin, I soon saw that he was not going to stop in the open, but was headed, as had all of the others we had followed, straight for the thickest of the thick stuff.

Soon, we realized that we were very close, as his dung was now soft and wet. We could see nothing but the usual curtain of green bush before us, and so we moved slowly through the thickets between us and the buff, looking forward into the bush for any sign of movement, trying with every step to keep as quiet as possible and constantly testing the wind.

We bumped that bull, without ever seeing him, three times. Each time, we stopped, and gave him an opportunity to settle down. But each time, when we closed on him, as with nearly every bull before, he heard us, or smelled us, or must have seen us, before we could see him, and he bolted off into the bush.

Oddly, as if he knew he was safe, he never galloped away more than 20 yards or so. But then he would merely slow down and just keep on walking.

Finally, a mile or so farther on, he joined up with a small herd. So, we followed all of them.

Same story. We never saw them, but ended up bumping them from a dozen yards away, where they were hunkered down, invisible in a thicket, as the wind changed and gave them our scent. They snorted and galloped away. I never saw a single one of them. From inside 15 yards!

In the turmoil, our trackers detected that two bulls had broken off from the herd. So, of course, we followed them.

Same story, as we never saw them either, but only heard them galloping away from us. The wind was right, so we surmised that they must have heard us as we approached them through the usual thick carpet of Rice Crispies and Doritos.

In an ironic twist, we canvassed the area, and picked up the track of our original quarry, the buff whose tracks we had seen at the pan early that morning. He was one of the errant pair that had broken away from the herd. We followed him, and he led us all the way back to where we had parked our truck, on the road near the pan where our trek had started.

When we showed up at the truck, laughing in amazement, Brick’s tracker and sometime driver, Forward, reported that he had watched the bull as he crossed the road. The old boy had been about a half hour ahead of us. Forward added insult to injury by telling us that he had seen the bull clearly as he walked across the road, and that he was indeed a big one, but that he had small bosses and an ugly set of horns!

I decided when we got back to camp, after due consideration and an earnest discussion with Lindy and Brick, to call it quits. We still had five days of hunting left, but in my view it was time to throw in the towel. I had mixed feelings, but had to face reality. I had lost all confidence that we could succeed under these conditions. Plus, I was feeling bad that Lindy had decided, out of sheer boredom, to stay in camp the next day.

As the wag once said, the surest sign of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting a different result. Based on our experience over the past nine days, I concluded that the buff in Dande East had been hammered, and as a result, simply would not leave the heavy jesse during daylight hours.

In that jesse, we might as well have been hunting Br’er Rabbit in his briar patch; however, there is no way to jump an educated buff like a rabbit. Buff won’t hold still for it. Yet that’s what we had been faced with, and had failed at day after day.

Now, I want to emphasize that I have no complaints, but only praise and the highest regard, for our PH, who truly was as solid as the “Brick Wall” his nickname suggests. Keith and his team never gave up, and worked unstintingly to find buff under what I had come to believe were impossible conditions. And besides that, Keith is great company and fun to be around. We enjoyed our time in camp and in the bush, and we enjoyed Keith’s company, very much.

That afternoon and evening Lindy and I made some quick arrangements to head for Victoria Falls the next day, as we had never seen them from the Zim side.

Buzz Charlton offered us the chance to finish our safari in CMS’s Dande North camp. I was grateful, but declined, as I had no confidence that things would be different there. Do I have regrets? Could I have taken a buff or two in the next five days, either in Dande East or North?

Possibly, but my frustration at the constant failure, and my expectation that nothing would change, despite everyone’s best efforts, persuaded me that it was time to declare, in the famous words of Roberto Duran, “No mas.” Not surprisingly, Lindy raised no objections.

Brick, Buzz and his partner, Myles McCallum, gave us great assistance in setting up our trip to Vic Falls, and CMS even picked up the tab for our return commercial flight to and from Harare. We didn’t ask for or expect that, and we are grateful for it.

CONCLUSION

My philosophy is live and learn, and cut your losses when you can. I also believe in looking at things from a positive perspective.

We enjoyed our safari as much as one can when ultimately unsuccessful. We also enjoyed spending the rest of our time relaxing at The Victoria Falls Hotel and seeing the spectacular sights, including seeing the falls at close to high water from a helicopter.









Plus, from that positive perspective I mentioned, there is no doubt that l saved a lot of money on trophy fees - although I would gladly have paid every penny of them had our luck been better.

Sorry for the poor results but a great description of your hunt.

Thankyou for this hunt report. A descriptive account and enjoyable read. I am very sorry results were short of your expectations but that's hunting, sometimes, and the type of hunting I like most. No certainties and spiced with the prospect of disappointment.
I have hunted with CMS and hold the outfit in highest regard. Very well run and managed.
I hunted Dande East in 2018. It is home for some great Buff that know how to skip over the border to Mozambique and escape peril.
I feel your frustration and helplessness with no trophy after 9 days of total effort. Been there myself. To me though I use it as extra motivation. I don't like giving up. As long as I have time I want to keep trying. A few of my most memorable trophies were taken within the last couple of days of a hunt. But, I've never hunted with my lifelong partner so that was never a factor.
I know you are a good and keen Africa hunter and hope your next hunt grants redemption in some form. Best of luck.

I’m sorry you had no luck or chances.

That is hunting, and I can certainly get that with your wife along no desire to prolong her boredom.

Here’s hoping your next hunt is more successful!

Sorry for your luck.
When i hunted in Dande north last year i had the same experience.
Walked all day every day, burned by the thick bush and swirling winds.
Finally took a shot on day 10. Got lucky and got a good one
Better luck next time.

I agree tough when your sharing the trip with your spouse a non hunter. I just keep thinking of all the hunts I gutted out till the last minute of the last day and the memories that will last forever.I’m just not quitting with five days to go,if I’m alone!

All,

For the record.

I would not have posted this report, if I were not willing to be second-guessed.

I made the "No mas" decision.

Me, only.

My wife would have hung with me, if I had decided otherwise.

I did not want to hang.

I called it.

Thanks for your comments.

Michael thanks for this - brings back memories - Doma in April/May in 09...

As I see it now - wouldn't change a thing - it is an investment for the future - one can not appreciate more anything given on the later hunts after such experience...you will get them next time and it will be much more of everything

Thanks for posting, Michael. Just goes to show that when you hunt in in truly wild country nothing is a given. I really admire you and your wife for persevering under those conditions.

Sorry to hear this . It is a tough area. A very tough area.

I have been to Dande on three occasions. Not sure I went to the East. It is tough terrain. Physically difficult.

I’ve hunted all of the Dande areas CMS have.
Got my best buff from the east out of Karunga camp with Blake Wilhelmi.
It was tough hunting but rewarding.
Shooting was challenging as it was thick in the areas the buff were, but we persevered and had 2 opportunities in the safari and got him on second last day 40” and a nice bull.

Did see a Huge tuskless but back then they weren’t on quota in the east.
Also some great Kudu that would just vanish into the Jess before we could get a shot.
It’s real hunting and sometimes you need to stick it out till the buzzer.

Have also come home empty on a buff. Hunt in Chewore south.Did get my tuskless though.

I’ve found the later in the season the better the hunting is in the valley.

I prefer Sept. but have hunted suicide month October and also November.

The Jess thins out in the hotter months, but you need to be able to handle the hot weather.

Sorry to hear this.
Which Month did you Hunt ?
Why is the Outfitter doing this Safari so early in the Season when the Area is so tough or was it the wish of the hunter ?
CMS has a very Good reputation but nothing is for 100% when you do a Fair Chasse Safari into the Wild

Sorry to hear about a Buffalo failure. I hunted with Keith last year and agree with your assessment of him. He's awesome. What dates were you there?

Thanks for the commiseration.

Edited to add the dates: June 17 - June 30, 2022. Ended early in the evening of June 25.

June was held out to be just as good as July, since the bulls are still in herds then and easy to locate.

We located them, all right; we just couldn't get close enough to see them in that jesse without spooking them first.

They were very nervous and wary.

It was strenuous hunting, but we certainly put in the work, day after day.

Mike:

I have been 3 times with CMS. Always in September or October. It is much easier to see as the vegetation is much reduced. Granted it is hot as hell and the terrain is still rough .

I have had extraordinary success on my hunts with CMS. As many as four buff on a single safari . Multiple elephants each trip.

Buzz and Myles are honest guys that run a great outfit. I’d try it again but later in the year .

I wish I could remember if we hunted the east. I always stayed at the Pedza Pazi camp.

Sorry for the disappointing safari .

In 2013 I did an early season double elephant bull hunt in Dande East. The hunt was a 20 day hunt and we were focused exclusively on elephant bulls since the hunts were being filmed for a new DVD Buzz was making. The hunt was in early March and the bush was incredibly thick. When we woke up on Day 19 we had yet to shoot an elephant bull with two days left on the hunt. That evening we shot a bull with one side going almost 50 pounds, the other broken but still 35 pounds.

Would I have the same level of perseverance today? Not sure really and I would certainly not criticize someone that elected to pull the plug early and enjoy some of the other sights of Africa. But the reality of hunting in a truly wild and free ranging area is that the hunting can be tough, particularly in a area like the Zambezi Valley with thick jesse blocks. There is a Calvin Coolidge quote I have always liked, "nothing in the world can take the place of persistence . . . persistence and determination are omnipotent". That has certainly been my experience in hunting.

I wish you better luck on your next hunt . . . now you have a special incentive to get back.

[An aside. I know that for years Buzz and Myles have undershot the quota in the DSA and other Dande areas, feeling that the government set buffalo quotas were too high. So while the hunting may have been tough, I do not believe that it is function of the herds having been subjected to excessive hunting pressure.]

Even time of year doesn’t always help, you just never know.

I hunted Dande and ward 2 last October, taking tuskless early in hunt with Tinie Kok as PH. Still having some buffalo on quota, I decided to pay the upcharge on the trophy fee to make a go for one. We spent 5 days trying to get a shot.

Our best chance came after letting a herd lay for the day and picking them up in the afternoon. That morning we had them laying with in yards of us and we just didn’t want to push them after seeing 2 good bulls. After issues with some elephants, we had them spread out on their feet, relative open area, wind was perfect.

And three poachers and their dogs spooked them right as we started to find those bulls. Got within spitting distance of catching the poachers too, but just got their kit. All heavy stuff, those elephant were pissed as a calf had a bad snare injury from them and mom was not happy.

Would have paid the premium trophy fee for the assagai spear they had as a souvenir.Wood burned “458” into the shaft; cause it was magnum.Even poachers think bigger is better. Maybe if Buzz sees this he can post a pic.

Keith Wall was PH for the other hunter in camp. Really decent guy,his client was happy with him too, really enjoyed camp with them both at Pedza,and later when fishing up north.

Mike: You did the right thing and called it. And, I believe that you saved your safari with another trip to the Falls with your wife. Wisdom and a good choice. No regrets and no second guessing in my opinion.

Your hunt may not have been a runaway success but I am grateful that you took the time to post a report. Not every hunt results in a magnificent trophy, not every stalk leads to a shot being taken.
I have hunted Dande East with CMS on an elephant bowhunt and was fortunate that Diana smiled upon me. However I was not so lucky during a recent buffalo hunt in the Zambesi delta. In the end though your tough experience will make the next success that much sweeter!

JB

Just back from an awesome hunt in the Dande North where unfortunately my client had to leave early due to a family matter. However since he was on a buffalo lion hunt and we were successful in 8 days of hunting it was a success.

I was devastated that Mike and Lindy left early as it is never the result any operator wants for any client especially two such nice people as Mike and Lindy.

Hind-sight is 20/20 but looking back on it Mike and Lindy should have gone to the North from the beginning. He had however stressed the want to shoot two old bulls and in reality the East has fantastic Dugga boy hunting.

The back ground to the East is it is an area that had ZERO buffalo when we took it over. Now it will have a few hundred in the area at any one time and lots of dugga boys. They certainly are wide awake as when they cross the border to Moz they are often chased by poachers but like I say to clients poachers are not trophy hunters and take what they can. As a result with OUR VERY LIMITED trophy quota when you get a bull in the East they are generally of very good quality, as many clients will attest to.

Due to the very heavy late rains the Valley as a whole has been very difficult with thick bush and tall grass. We actually had more rain in April then we had during the whole rain season. As a result I had offered Mike a tuskless as an option to the second buffalo should the need arise. This was at no extra cost should he decide to trade the second buff for the tuskless. He also had the option to take all 3 should the opportunity arise.

Simply put I have never failed on tuskless in the East and I personally would have changed my focus for a day or two and shot a tuskless and then gone back to the buff. Would the eles have been in the Jesse- absolutely and yes you would have had to track them also.

Alternatively a 2 hour drive to the North would have had Mike and Lindy in some of the most beautiful country. Would the hunting have been easy in the North- NO . The bush is thick and yes it’s a tracking game and yes one will not often get a perfectly clear shot however as an example Keith got his buff there now on day 2 and we got ours in the first day we tried.

All in all as I say we are sad that Mike and lindy did not get the buff (as are communities that rely on the trophy fees and meat etc) . Nicer people we could not have asked for but I do feel that a lot can change in 5 days and I would have stuck it out or gone to the North!

quote:

Originally posted by dinsdale:
...hunt with Tinie Kok as PH.

Oh, my. I hope the pronunciation of that fellows name is different from how it reads!

As far as the making the call to fold, hey, it was his hunt and his money. And his marriage.

I'm in the camp that doesn't quit until the last second of the last minute of the last hour, especially on an important (to me) hunt, but to each his own.

I killed a NH bull moose in the White Mountains years ago on the second to last day of a ten day hunt, much of it in hellacious weather. Like 80 hour MPH with snow weather, at one point. The hunting was brutal in often steep, thick and difficult country with heavy winds, rain and snow.

My second bailed the day before I finally got a shot at my bull, having had enough and being out of gas physically. He claimed at the time that his wife said to come home due to a sick child but I learned from said wife later that Vito was just plain dunzo physically. That was after 90 hours of hunting from dark to dark every day and having put maybe 60 miles on my boots.

I figured I might never hit another lottery tag for that hunt and knew if I didn't get one it wouldn't have been because I quit. Funny thing is, my wife was with me at the time, toughing it out right beside me. It was a good lesson in hunting. Times like that you find out just how badly do you want it and what lengths you're willing to go to have the chance at success?

MR, thanks for your report, and you did what was right for you, and that's all that really matters in the end, I figure.

This is a classic story of what hunting is.

The client tried his best.

The professional hunter tried his best.

The outfitter tried his best.

Everyone was very happy with what was arranged.

But, nature got in the way.

I have had similar experiences, but never for the whole safari.

Sometimes one goes for days without seeing any sign of buffalo, sometimes one chases them for endless hours without being able to take a shot.

Mike, I do hope you have better luck next time.

And a word of advice, don't go hunting when the bush is all green.

One reason I always hunt later in the year.

One tends to get better visibility.

Having hunted in Chewore North on the Zambesi with Richie Schultz at the start of the season I agree that visibilty is limited and conditions difficult but perseverance paid off in the end.
There comes a time, certainly in your seventies but probably a lot sooner, when you leave your wife somewhere nice while you go off to hunt and then take her away immediately after for a romantic vacation.
I have just returned from a tour around France with the Boss following my hunt in Namibia. Cheaper than a divorce!
Went around the cemeteries along the Normandy beaches. They were good boys and so very young. Died fighting for democracy and freedom from fascism in a foreign land. They wouldn't have believed what happened at Congress last year!

quote:

And a word of advice, don't go hunting when the bush is all green.

One reason I always hunt later in the year.

One tends to get better visibility.

When the countryside is lush green there will be waterholes everywhere, the grass will be high offering poor visibility and tracking more difficult and the game will be constantly on the move.

The best time is when most of the grass has been burnt and new grass sprouting, the countless pans have dried up leaving the more permanent ones with water forcing game to be more localized.

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Just back from an awesome hunt in the Dande North where unfortunately my client had to leave early due to a family matter. However since he was on a buffalo lion hunt and we were successful in 8 days of hunting it was a success.

I was devastated that Mike and Lindy left early as it is never the result any operator wants for any client especially two such nice people as Mike and Lindy.

Hind-sight is 20/20 but looking back on it Mike and Lindy should have gone to the North from the beginning. He had however stressed the want to shoot two old bulls and in reality the East has fantastic Dugga boy hunting.

The back ground to the East is it is an area that had ZERO buffalo when we took it over. Now it will have a few hundred in the area at any one time and lots of dugga boys. They certainly are wide awake as when they cross the border to Moz they are often chased by poachers but like I say to clients poachers are not trophy hunters and take what they can. As a result with OUR VERY LIMITED trophy quota when you get a bull in the East they are generally of very good quality, as many clients will attest to.

Due to the very heavy late rains the Valley as a whole has been very difficult with thick bush and tall grass. We actually had more rain in April then we had during the whole rain season. As a result I had offered Mike a tuskless as an option to the second buffalo should the need arise. This was at no extra cost should he decide to trade the second buff for the tuskless. He also had the option to take all 3 should the opportunity arise.

Simply put I have never failed on tuskless in the East and I personally would have changed my focus for a day or two and shot a tuskless and then gone back to the buff. Would the eles have been in the Jesse- absolutely and yes you would have had to track them also.

Alternatively a 2 hour drive to the North would have had Mike and Lindy in some of the most beautiful country. Would the hunting have been easy in the North- NO . The bush is thick and yes it’s a tracking game and yes one will not often get a perfectly clear shot however as an example Keith got his buff there now on day 2 and we got ours in the first day we tried.

All in all as I say we are sad that Mike and lindy did not get the buff (as are communities that rely on the trophy fees and meat etc) . Nicer people we could not have asked for but I do feel that a lot can change in 5 days and I would have stuck it out or gone to the North!

Buzz brings up a good point. Weather can change things and change them drastically. I have had two horrendous safaris. In retrospect, both were in drought years. Hunting changed drastically.

We have a client in the east now. He was booked by Tim Herald and is after buff and Tuskless. The first day he looked at 3 herds of buff and decided to pass been the first day.

Today they followed a big herd of eles and shot a big tuskless after tracking 5 hours in the Jesse. Personally tracking 5 hours and catching them in the jesse as thick as it is should be considered a good hunt. To shoot one is the cherry on the cake!

Hunting can be so frustrating.

We did our annual meat hunt week before last. In 5 hard days of hunting spending 8 hours a day in the bush, my son, my wife and I struggled to shoot 4 bluewildebeest and 2 impala in 5 days.
The nights were bitterly cold and every morning a cold wind would pick up from the east and the game vanished into the raisinbush thickets to escape it. My wife offered some choice phrases about our lack of success that would spring the seams of a pirate ship.(or rather my inability to present her shot with opportunities)

To crown her frustration one of my mates rocks up with the first good weather and when he starts hunting shoot a wildebeest and 2 impala in 3 hours.

I think he wasted his luck, he should rather have gambled with that luck. Winning a big lottery would have paid for much more interesting hunting.

Tough luck Mike. Sometimes the hunting gods just don't smile on us. There is always the next safari!

Thanks, again, to all, for your comments.

If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck

Felt this way from day three.

Except my woman is the best.

Thrown from her horse, and stepped on when he got up, at 14,000 feet, in the Tien Shan mountains, in Kyrgyzstan, she got back on the horse, and kept on hunting.

As far as my wife goes, I am a lucky man.

Now, as for buff in Dande East, not so much.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Thanks, again, to all, for your comments.

If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck

Felt this way from day three.

Except my woman is the best.

Thrown from her horse, and stepped on when he got up, at 14,000 feet, in the Tien Shan mountains, in Kyrgyzstan, she got back on the horse, and kept on hunting.

As far as my wife goes, I am a lucky man.

Now, as for buff in Dande East, not so much.

Been there and done that. The early season when the bush is thick makes it almost impossible to sneak up on game. Especially alert buff. I have often been employed to hunt areas under seemingly impossible conditions and fully understand your frustrations.

Report from the East

3 DAYS HUNTING
1 TUSKLESS
1 MISSED BUFFALO
1 BEAUTIFUL DUGGA BOY

The client has had opportunities on sable and Kudu that he decided not to shoot. He is now focusing on Hyena and then will probably go to the river to fish. Hunting is a funny game!

Buzz, were they all blind and deaf with no sense of smell?

Congrats to the lucky hunter. He sure as hell got my share!

Sorry Michael. Hope your next one goes better for you.

As Buzz said - by all reports, my client there is having a superb safari.

Great story/report. You had a real adventure in a tough and beautiful area, and you are a good writer as well!

Thanks, I enjoyed it . Brian

Wonderful report! Bum deal on the hunting conditions, but a great story to tell none-the-less.

Thanks, gents.

Some of the most interesting, amazing, bizarre, funny and unforgettable things have happened to me on “busted” hunts.

Among other things, I will never forget how in Dande East, a butt-ugly but big bull led us in a circle, through a herd and with a buddy, and finally without him, for five straight hours, bump after bump, through thicket and thorn, to right back where we started.

That was not his first rodeo, to be sure.

But it was not my first rodeo, either, nor will it be my last.

Mike- Funnily enough having hunted a few buff Ican say that they certainly have their prefered routes. I have like you followed a number of dugga boys that end up back at the cruiser where we started only to hear Eddy my drive call me on the radio to tell me he is looking at our dugga boy!

I remember following a gut shot buff in chewore North for 4 days from sun up to sun down and he went in a figure of eight crossing the exact same point 4 times!

Just as an aside, I have always worn Filson long-sleeved shirts for any hunting.

My theory is that one can always roll up his sleeves and make a short-sleeved shirt out of a long-sleeved shirt, but not vice versa.

On this safari, I rolled up my sleeves in the heat of the day.

After every death march (as we came to call them), as we emerged from the thorny green Hell of the ever-present and barely penetrable jesse of Dande East, my forearms were invariably studded with thorns and red and dripping with blood.

I told Brick, rather emphatically, after about the fifth or sixth day of this, as I pointed to the thicket from which we had just miraculously extricated ourselves, that "I F#CKING HATE THIS SH#T!"

Bear in mind, that we had by then seen no buffalo. Just patches of two of them through blockades of brush.

Next to us, over on the side of the road, sat our trackers, Gari, Forward and Matsika.

Note that they are no fools.

They all wore some sort of green, canvas and long-legged and long-sleeved overalls, and through long experience, were unscathed by the thorns.

They each understood plenty of English, especially the choicer curse words, and had bent their ears toward Keith and me as I erupted.

Immediately, they all exploded in unrestrained laughter, and Brick and Lindy joined them.

As I wiped the blood off of me, I couldn't help but smile, too.

We hunted out of Karunga in 2018. We cut a Sable track parked the truck and followed it for 14k ending up around 100 meters from the truck. I remember describing the exercise as a black hole into which we throw time. After my first buff this year I can understand why the time is so worth it. And yes, Nyakasanga is definitely a place you should go.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
In 2013 I did an early season double elephant bull hunt in Dande East. The hunt was a 20 day hunt and we were focused exclusively on elephant bulls since the hunts were being filmed for a new DVD Buzz was making. The hunt was in early March and the bush was incredibly thick. When we woke up on Day 19 we had yet to shoot an elephant bull with two days left on the hunt. That evening we shot a bull with one side going almost 50 pounds, the other broken but still 35 pounds.

Would I have the same level of perseverance today? Not sure really and I would certainly not criticize someone that elected to pull the plug early and enjoy some of the other sights of Africa. But the reality of hunting in a truly wild and free ranging area is that the hunting can be tough, particularly in a area like the Zambezi Valley with thick jesse blocks. There is a Calvin Coolidge quote I have always liked, "nothing in the world can take the place of persistence . . . persistence and determination are omnipotent". That has certainly been my experience in hunting.

I wish you better luck on your next hunt . . . now you have a special incentive to get back.

[An aside. I know that for years Buzz and Myles have undershot the quota in the DSA and other Dande areas, feeling that the government set buffalo quotas were too high. So while the hunting may have been tough, I do not believe that it is function of the herds having been subjected to excessive hunting pressure.]

If I remember right Mike I hunted Ele with Buzz sometime before you. We hunted the last two weeks of Feb in 2013. Had an absolute blast. Shot a great bull, sable, and I think a few other animals. Would have wished Buzz had some Buff left on quota as we bumped several of old bulls on that hunt without even trying to find them. Went to hunt Hippo one day as well but once we got there and got ready to set up it was shooting not hunting! Haha, so I passed. Don't recall the terrain being too difficult but was in my early 30's then.