Congratulations amd thanks for the great report!

Hey Russel YOU the MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW what a great hunt and report. And I LOVE your new 416!!!!!!!!

Hope to see you in OK this year...

David and Hamdeni,
I shot everything but the grysbok and a couple of impala with the .416 because of a problem with my 30-06.

Palmer,
I use a Canon Powershot S2 IS. Has worked well for me.

Spenser,
Do you have a big Okie buck tied down for me?

Sorry about the installments but I can't pull a BillC and sit at the PC long enough to write the Hunt Report at one time! I think it's called ADD in kids!

I will finish off with a report on the camps and draw this thing to a conclusion in the next day or so!

Russell,

Congratulations on a fantastic hunt. Thanks for sharing. Fantastic photos. Hugh

Good go!!!

465H&H

Fantastic hunt, Russell. By the way, I will be seeing Mr. Rolston in less than 30 days for a leopard hunt with dogs in Namibia and then back to South Africa for more hunting. I'll give him your regards. I love your leopard and civet!

Again, I wanted to finish off with a few comments on Chifuti Safaris and what they are doing with Chewore North and my thoughts on their progress and operations...

I apologize for both the time of completion and the length of this hunt report but I feel the benefit of these reports help prospective clients get a feel for what they will encounter and tire kickers contemplating a hunt like this the chance to see how this particular outfitter conducted his hunts.

Chewore North is an outstanding venue for dangerous game hunting in Zimbabwe. I had five leopards feeding on six baits in a week of hunting... very impressive. I saw elephant every day. There are no doubt, some very nice elephant bulls in the Zambezi Valley, but reasonable expectations should be 35 to 40 pounds. IMHO anything bigger is an exception, not a rule.

Buff are thick in this area, and I saw many buffalo. I did not see alot of wide buffalo, if that is important to you, but I saw many old, grizzled bulls with excellent bosses and heavy horns! Lots of herds and small bands of kakuli bulls... so you can pick your poison for your style of hunting. I have no doubt there are some much bigger bulls in the area than I saw, but just like the elephant, I wouldn't pass one your PH is excited about hoping for a 45 incher.

Remarkably, I saw lion almost every day... on two occasions, lionesses with small cubs... a very good sign that lion are doing well there. The males I saw were large bodied with bush lion manes. However, I spent my last night in Tafika camp with Dave Fulson, Tim Dankleef and others and Dave had filmed a huge maned lion in the Sapi area that will make a guest appearance on a future segment of "Tracks Across Africa". I would not hesitate to book a lion hunt in this area...

Hippo and croc are not a problem and while not as thick as I saw them in the Luangwa River Valley in Zambia, are still plentiful.

Plains game was available along the Zambezi River... but gets very widespread in the interior of Chewore. I would not book a plainsgame only hunt here. That said, I saw grysbok, hyena, civet, impala, kudu, waterbuck, zebra, klipsringer, bushbuck, eland and baboons in huntable numbers. But you can spend buttnumbing hours slowly cruising the interior without seeing much.

Chifuti Safaris is doing some hard work opening Chewore North up to make it more acessible and take pressure off of the area around main camp and spread it throughout the large concession. Roads are being reopened by two road crews, in some cases after ten years according to Gibbo, which should allow excellent access to some super hunting areas that have not seen hunting pressure in a long time.

Fly camps have been built on the Chewore River near Mariatsoro Gorge and permits approved by Parks for a second fly camp to be constructed soon. This gives you the opportunity to stay in the bush much closer to undisturbed pockets of animals without leaving main camp at 3:30 in the morning! I really enjoyed fly camp though it may not be for everyone. Tents were well maintained, we had electricity and all the comforts that come with it (like ice for sundowners and cold beer)! A communal shower with hot water under the stars and a flush toilet rigged the same way rounded things out. Food was good and plentiful thanks to Joseph Souzi and his headboys... lots of beef and chicken, buffalo a couple of nights... and very nice puddings!

Mariatsoro Camp


Home, Sweet Home



Joseph and the gang...



All skinning was done as quickly as possible after getting trophies back to camp and there was plenty of salt to take care of capes. A nice operation, but they will have to reinforce the fencing eventually as the critters got bolder the longer we were in camp as they warmed up to the new curiousity in their territory...

Abel, the skinner


Chifuti Safaris is run very efficiently, pick up at the airport is arranged to whisk you through customs by Gecko Gardens and then on to an overnight in their compound. Back to your charter by 9:00 the next morning. I did have to bear the cost of the charter alone since I was the only hunter flying into and out of Chewore North so that made the hunt pricier than it could have been. However I had the concession all to my self for 13 days!

The demand to hunt with Chifuti is very high due to Craig Boddington's endorsement, the Tracks Across Africa tv program and videos like Boddington on Buffalo and Leopard. Be prepared to pay a bit more than you might with other Zim outfits, but their prices are in the ballpark with other major players and they do have Sapi, Chewore North and Dande North which are some of the premier concessions in the Zambezi Valley. Remember, you get what you pay for. You will probably not hunt with Andrew Dawson or Paul, they seem to hunt the sponsors of the TV series and return hunters... but who would complain about Ian Gibson, Andy Hunter, Ivan Carter or Brent Leesmay? I would hunt with the outfit again, no doubt for lion if I could. Chifuti has around 140 hunts booked this year which puts them in the #2 spot behind HHK for size in Zimbabwe. You can find their website at www.chifutisafaris.com

All in all I had a great hunt handled very professionally from pick-up to drop-off at the airport in Harare... couldn't ask for more. Chifuti has a five year deal on Chewore North with Billy Rauttenbach so they should have this premium hunting concession for awhile.

Thanks again for letting me share my adventures with you, hope they help you with your plans and I look forward to seeing you in Africa some day!

Mariatsoro Gorge


Chewore River up from Camp


Carmine Bee Catcher


Sunset on the Zambezi River

Hellofa hunt Bwana! Congrats on some great trophies! LDK

Hey Russell, great report and what a productive trip, man you took some tremendous trophies for a 2-week hunt. Good shooting too, brain shot on a buffalo is hard to beat…some stories take time to mature and develop, but are you sure was he not charging when you had to shoot him?

The pictures of Chewore North are terrific, in particular the ones from the gorge and river. It takes effort to snap shots while walking/tracking, but they are some of the best and most memorable. And love them fly camps, looks like the same gear we used along the Zambezi in 05. Again, well done all around there mate! Bill

Great report and a terrific experience to be sure.

I do want to say that if you want to hunt those concession areas that you are not limited to Chifuti's schedule. Chifuti is selling some of their quota to other companies...Charlton McCallum for one. It's standard practice for HHK and now Chifuti as they can't staff all of the hunts within the quotas. Those are some huge areas with lots of critters on quota.

Again, great report.

Excellent Report and what a hunt!!

Isn't Africa a Spectacular continent... Never ceases to amaze.

bwanamrm: Just wanted to post another, late thank you for the extensive hunt report. I will be in Chewore with Ian August 22nd and I was glad to hear they're opening up some of the interior. I've been there twice before and I had a twinge when you mentioned those buttnumbing hours cruising the interior. The pictures are simply professional quality. Thanks again.

Bwanamrm,
Did you find out what happened to the 06.
I am interested to know if it was the scope?
Regards
OZHUNTER

Fantastic hunting report!!!
I am leaving in 30 days for hunting Buffalo (for the first time) with Kevin "Doctari" Robertson in Mocambique

Great report! I did not realize that Civets got that big!
Thank you for sharing.

quote:

Did you find out what happened to the 06.
I am interested to know if it was the scope?

Adam,
Sorry for the delay in answering... didn't realize this thread popped back up... scope reticle busted... sent back to Zeiss for repair. The rifle shot fine when I arrived... might have been dropped or handled roughly on the truck. Can't say for sure.

Bwanna,
I figured you would see it sooner or later.
I'm always worried about air pressure and temperature of the Baggage compartment.
Some friends just got back from Zim and said their Rifles were frozen.