Seeing Chris's report reminded me that I needed to post about my hunt with Myles in Dande East.
My wife and I hunted in Dande East with Myles McCallum from 18 March until 27 March, it was a 10 day hunt but had to return to Harare a day early for Covid testing (to make certain we had results prior to a 12:40 pm departure). It was our third hunt with Myles, my wife bought the hunt at the Lubbock DSC chapter fundraiser in 2019. We added an elephant bull and for that reason we hunted out of their Karunga Camp instead of the scheduled Pedza camp, also partly because the roads to Pedza were almost impassable. While speaking about camps...Buzz and Myles had allowed ZPHGA to use their Makunga camp for a "practical" exam for prospective new PH's...first class guys.
We flew Qatar from DFW with a relatively short layover in Doha. The flight was pretty good, very good service but we were delayed about an hour at DFW while CBP removed 9 individuals from the plane along with their luggage. No problems with TSA or CBP as far as firearms went, but every passenger was screened by a human and a K-9 as they boarded.
We also had a 3.5 hour layover in Joburg and our luggage was checked thru to Harare, which should have been a blessing as I already had an approved transit permit from SAPS which TWG had arranged thru Rifle Permits.com, but...two employees from Rifle Permits.com notified SAPS that I had a rifle and SAPS pulled the rifle from the baggage area. We had been at our departure gate for about an hour (lounges and restaurants were closed) when the young gentleman who had met and escorted us thru the in transit area showed up and said I must go outside or give my guncase key to a Rifle Permits.com employee. I wasn't doing that, so went with the gentleman, which meant I had to go thru immigration, go to the SAPS office, open my case (the officer didn't look at the serial number), go to the SAirlink counter and recheck the guncase, where I was charged a R325.00 "transfer fee" (and I had no Rand since we were only in transit), go to a currency exchange and get Rand, go back to SAirlink and pay, go back thru security...where I didn't have my Covid letter (escort was able to convince them to let me thru, go back thru immigration and return to my gate. I'm 100% convinced that the Rifle Permits.com people did this in order to get a tip...they sure as hell held their hands out. No tip.
Arrival in Harare was quick and easy, three forms to fill out and show Covid test document, my wife's test was over 48 hours by a few hours but the Zim health people said nothing. However, when boarding the SAirlink flight in Joburg my wife was told she needed another test but a supervisor determined that since we she had not left the secured area another test was not needed. Others were not so lucky, those that had overnighted in Jpburg and had exceeded the 48 hour limit were denied boarding.
The charter flight to camp was pretty nice, there was lots of water to be seen and everything was incredibly green.
Camp turned out to be very nice, we were the first international hunters in this cam since July 2019! One thing CMS has done is to make their camps solar powered and it worked almost flawlessy, they only had to run a generator for a very short while one morning due to some quickly repaired glitch. CMS also has several solar powered boreholes as well (17 I think but I might be wrong) we looked at a few of them and one was pumping over 3000 liters an hour on solar energy. They are piping the water a long, long way to provide water in previously "dry" areas, I think 4000 meters on one borehole with plans to take it another 4000 meters.
To the hunt...I had planned on taking only one rifle, a .470 double, and that is what I did. I knew going in that having iron sights would limit my opportunities (as Craig Boddington said it would) and that was the case. But, on the day we arrived we shot the rifle to verify there had been no shift in sights and "went for a walk" to a line of pans not far from camp. I could not believe how thick the brush was, it was green and nearly every bush was covered with vines that grabbed and held you, or tried to trip you. Within 10 minutes we saw a very nice warthog and then the trackers said they heard elephants. It wasn't elephant's but a large herd of cape buffalo, well over 100 strong, but we could catch only glimpses of them thru the brush. The buffalo were within 15-20 yards and we couldn't see them, two bulls started pushing/fighting about 20 feet from us, so close that one of the trackers pushed my wife into a crevice in a large tree. We saw a young bull which stared us down from about 20 yards that Myles said was at least 44"...just too young. He bolted and the heard moved off allowing us only a short look at a very respectable old bull, just what I wanted but no shot.
The first "official" hunting day we went after an elephant, we went to the eastern part of the concession where there are several villages which had been hit by crop raiding elephants who would raid the crops (sorghum, sesame and a bit of cotton) and then retreat to the thick bush. We found where the elephants had crossed the fence...CMS has a herd of cattle in that area and has a fence built, not so much to keep their cattle in but to keep the others out. For those of you that have cattle, they have Mashona cows serviced by Boran bulls and they are some slick looking cattle, smaller than what I'm used to but very well formed and apparently efficient as well as tough.
Anyway, we got on fresh tracks about 7:30 am and followed them through the thickest and nastiest brush I've ever hunted. We caught up to them at about 12:45 pm after walking pretty much nonstop , got within about 25 yards and Myles picked the bull to shoot. He was facing us with his head slightly tilted back and I shot right between the eyes with a 500 gr Barnes banded solid. My rifle doubled (first time ever and I shoot the left barrel first) and the second bullet grazed the top of his head according to the tracker. Myles instantly shot and center punched a Mopane tree as the bull swung around behind it. We waited about 45 minutes and started tracking and tracked until sunset, never catching sight of him again...though he did leave the herd of 9 bulls. We walked over 27 K that day. The next day we started where we left off and tracked all day, the loner rejoined the herd and we never caught up to them, 23 K that day. The next day we looked for fresh tracks on roads and asked locals if they had seen/heard the bulls...no luck. Late that afternoon we found where the bulls had destroyed a section of the cattle fence and headed into Mozambique. Apparently, the bull wasn't hurt too badly but I cant figure out why the shot didn't drop him. I was surprised to learn from several friends that they had a similar experience.
Now for the buffalo, we easily saw at least 800-900 buffalo, the first bunch we track was near a pan on the Mpz border (Poachers Pan) for those of you that have hunted in Dande East, as an aside there was a blind built in a tree overlooking the pan built by a Moz poacher, which the crew demolished, I'll leave their names out and they can chime in if they chose, and the brush was as thick as ever. We caught up to them after about 4 hours but couldn't find a shootable bull, busted them and caught up to them three times that day. We tracked and found buffalo every day in the thick stuff but couldn't find an old enough bull like I wanted. We did find on magnificent bull that Myles estimated at 47". He was by far the widest buffalo I have ever seen alive. Still young, though. Finally, on day 8 we tracked a herd right on the border and caught up to them after about 4 hours of tracking, same story...lots of buffalo and several very nice bulls, just not the one for me. We then stopped for lunch and a short nap and had just settled down for a snooze when one of the trackers called on the radio and said buffalo were coming. Sure enough, about 30 buffalo came to a very small water hole about 40 yards from the truck and started wallowing and splashing in the water, they paid us no attention whatsoever. Then the tracker reported he heard more buffalo a short distance away. We gathered our rifles and made a wide circle to where he said he heard them and sure enough about 50 buffalo were standing in the shade of some bigger trees. We were able to locate a bull that fit the description of what I was after and we then began to wait for him to clear a group of cows. After about 15 minutes he stepped clear and I shot him on the right shoulder with a 500 gr Barnes TSX...and he ran off, the first bullet did not expand but punched thru the shoulder and made a .474 size hole thru lungs and lodged in the ribs on the off side. We waited about 30 minutes and began tracking, finding very little blood, and about 1/4 later found him in a tangle of brush. He ran out the far side without presenting a shot and we followed another 3/4 mile or so, finding large clots of blood, finally, he jumped up about 15 yards in front of us and ran the opposite way. I shot him twice in the butt and Myles shot at him once, the buffalo went down and I reloaded and shot him thru the neck. He was done. The recovery was pretty easy and the remainder of the hunt was pretty much a sight seeing and photo event. I've posted a few photos now and will add several more in the coming days.
During the sightseeing portion of the hunt we visited a local school where a new roof is being installed thanks to a very generous donation by a hunter/client of CMS. This gentleman also lurks about on AR as well, but he will remain nameless unless he chooses to say something. There are quite a few "good guys" that frequent AR. I'll put a couple of photos of that as well. When we visited the school, it was recess or whatever they call it and many of the classes are being held outside under shade trees due to the construction underway. I was sitting on the truck with the game scout and 4 small boys were standing beside the truck staring at us and quietly talking amongst themselves. Even though I couldn't understand what was being said it was plain to me that two of the 4 were daring another to do something. The game scout started laughing abd told me that they were daring the one child to touch my boot...they were afraid of me because I was "big" and had white hair on my face! He didn't touch the boot but all 4 did run like hell when I stepped off the truck.

Sorry for the long report. To those of you that have hunts booked but are leery of going and thinking of postponing, I'd encourage you to go! The outfitters need the business and some might not be in business next year if they don't have hunters this year. There is nothing to be afraid of.


Karunga camp






Solar system


Solar pump output


Covid medication, widely used, cost between $1.00 and $4.00US


Lunchtime buffalo




Buffalo down




Morgan, no other caption needed


I have lots more photos to post and will add a few each day.
Sorry for the long post!

Lond posts are welcome. Especially hunt reports. Sounds like a tough hunt with all of the greenery. Tough luck on the elephant. Congrats on the buffalo.
Bruce

Sorry about the elephant Karl. It does happen... Glad you got a nice buff and braved the strange new world of international travel. Will be interesting to see if it gets a bit easier as the world opens up a bit.

Thanks for the report Karl.

Thanks for the detailed post Karl and cheers to you for taking a bull buff with your double!

Karl
I heard about your hunt while i was there. Tough luck for sure.
When you said it was thick and green, you were not kidding.
Hard to believe you can be 20 yds from a herd of buffalo and still no shots. Happened everyday to us.
Was nice getting that close to the elephants and buffalo. Definitely a good hunt for a double rifle

Got a message from myles this morning telling me that two nights ago an elephant killed a local farmer in the same area we were hunting.

Barnes TSX from buffalo


Picture of fence destroyed by elephants


Guy hitching a ride in Harare

Thanks a lot for posting, Karl. Sorry about your ele.

The travel and covid testing info is especially valuable as I'm leaving for Zim in a few weeks.

This report reminds me how much I dislike going through JNB with rifles. Fortunately going through Dubai to Harare this time.

Well done and any pictures of your buffalo? Sorry about the elephant but it happens.

Glad to hear Dande East is still covered in buffalo. My son took a 45" bull there with a double in 2014 - we know "poacher's pan" well. Dande East is a testament to the dedication and effort Buzz and Myles have poured into this special place. Tough luck on the elephant. Depending on how close the barrels fired when it doubled, the first shot could have been effected - and even if it wasn't - it prevented you from a making a quick backup shot. Thick cover makes backups tough to begin with. Thanks for posting, and thanks for going - as you say, the outfitters and wildlife they manage need it.

Karl and Rebecca- Thanks so much for coming out with us and I am sorry Steph and I could not see more of you guys! No luck on the ele but these things happen!

Myles has just got back from his hunt after yours- he got a nice buff and leopard after just 5 days of hunting! I set off to the east soon for a couple of buff and an ele- lets hope the bush is a little thinner! Thanks again for coming out !!!

nhoro & Buzz:
Thanks for adding to my report, we had a fantastic time! What a wonderful concession, Rebecca and I had a fantastic time, even though the elephant potion of my hunt didn’t end as planned. Such is life. I’ll be back to seal the deal on the elephant and until one visits Dande (North or East) one can’t appreciate the effort CMS and DAPU puts forth for us hunters and the wildlife in the area, they do a crazy good job with limited resources; support them if you can.
I’ll be posting more photos and comments in the coming days.

Karl,

Sorry to hear about the elephant. I am sure that had to be very upsetting but in the jess and when the jess is green shots can be very tough and follow up shots are near impossible. Congrats on the buffalo and for making the trip and stirring the African fire embers. Buzz and Myles have come along way over the last decade plus and it is extremely gratifying to see.

Outstanding report Karl. I’ve been lucky that of all the animals I’ve shot during five hunts in Namibia I’ve only lost one animal I wounded and failed to retrieve. It was a 200+ yards shot at a trophy Kudu and although the shot felt on the mark, we only found spotty blood after tracking for several hours. I feel your pain.