Outfitter: Rovuma Safaris
PH: Ian Brown
Trackers: Ramos and Daniel
Date: 2nd week May 2016

Planning for this hunt started a year and half before in Texas at the DSC convention where a deposit was made to hunt my first buffalo bull. More preparation involved purchase of a new CZ550 in 450 Rigby, purchase of brass, bullets and reloading equipment. Range time at home in the US including use of a chronograph, which resulted in an acceptable ammo recipe, however the biggest challenge was getting smooth loading from the magazine into the chamber without jamming. An initial gunsmith visit in the US revealed an incorrect magazine follower which CZ replaced free of charge, but jamming continued to occur during loading. This was frustrating having spent considerable money on a dangerous game rifle (2 to 3 times any previous purchase) from a company with long experience in Africa. Anyways this was ultimately corrected after two days in a very good gunsmith shop in Johannesburg, prior to overland travel to Mozambique.
The huge safari unfenced concession included trees like Mopane, Sjambok pod, Leadwood and Baobabs. Terrain included very bush, very thick thorn bush in places, but also some open areas under trees with tall grass. Underfoot was easier walking than in some rocky places in RSA, but strong ankles were needed none the less with gravel, rocks but mostly sandy soil.


Dirt roads were dragged to be able to identify fresh tracks which then involved considerable walking. Days were long ie 12 hours with camp departure before sunrise at 0600 and return after sunset. Many tracking efforts were terminated when errant winds gave away our presence. Finally on the 5th day a weather change brought cooler temperature and steadier wind direction. It seemed that my PH and the two trackers altered tactics slightly by following buffalo off-track but parallel and side wind, rather than behind on-tract. Suddenly the trackers spotted buffalo, crouched lower, and pointed.


We all got low, backed off and got behind thicker cover. Leaving the trackers behind, the PH lead the way forward on our hands and knees, to a particularly thick grove of bushes and trees on a slight rise. Right at the start of this safari I was asked what I wanted, which was a mature bull with good bosses, drop and tips. Thru binoculars we saw that the buffalo were calmly grazing, moving but oblivious of our presence. An initial candidate bull moved across our front but then lay down with only the top of his head occasionally showing. A long wait failed to result in the bull rising to his feet. This bull had the desired attributes plus very good spread. This could get your heart rate up. I was told to rest my rifle with safety-on on my sitting PH’s shoulder, and place crosshairs on a cow for practice, which had the desired effect of slowing my heart beat.
It was a particularly pleasant day to be on safari in Africa, sunny, 80F, low humidity and pretty much bug free – much nicer than the previous 4 days. Suddenly an impressive bull materialized in the background, also grazing along slowly. After a quick look by my experienced PH, my rifle forestock was back on his shoulder with the bull partially obscured by a bush. The further distance was such that it took a few seconds of viewing thru my 4X rifle scope to sort of reverse identify its position, ie tail, hindquarters, body, front shoulder but with neck and head not visible behind brush and leaves. A here-we-go murmur got Ian’s fingers in his ears followed by my shot, and then a buffalo stampede.
A short wait and then a walk forward revealed blood on the ground. Instructed to walk one pace behind and one pace to the right, and to scan the forward right quadrant we advanced slowly, my scope set at 1X. We had already been mock charged by a buffalo cow earlier in the week. And of course it was my truly hawk eyed PH who first saw my buffalo down and inert, ahead to the left. Maybe not necessary but per tradition and following instruction I put a second insurance shot into its neck.


Mozambique has impressive flora and fauna. Seen were giraffe, kudu, eland, nyala, wild dog, cheetah, impala and ostrich. It would have been nice to have hunted other animals but Moz prices are exorbitant compared to other destinations so after getting the bull I just contented myself by simply enjoying being in wild Africa.
The long drive back was scenic and included crossing a wide river by driving in the water, and viewing an old Russian tank.




Some additional photos

Congrats!

Congratulations on a great hunt outstanding Buff. To me it makes the hunt more interesting if you prepare like you did by developing your own loads and testing them and practice Practice with it . Payed off you found a problem with the feed and were able to fix it before the hunt

Congrats on a great buffalo!

Is this the area that has about a 100km border with Gonarezou NP (Zim).

Did you see any (many) elephants?

Great Bull! Thanks or posting.

Hey Tom,
Good to see you got your buffalo.

Nice Buff Congrats!!!

what an awesome buffalo. lovely drops. congratulations.

Excellent buffalo!

Now you have to start planning for the next African safari

great bull but also liked the eli

Good Hunting
Carl Frederik

Well done!

The areas of Moz. that I've hunted were truly game rich.

Hooo nice buff!

Nice buffalo.

I'm thinking about trying Mozambique for my next adventure but I don't see any Bovril on the breakfast table. I developed a mild addiction my last time in Zim. Very disappointed that they don't have it at my local grocery store in Texas.

Proper buffalo hunt! Congratulations! You'll be addicted now!

Best regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by Carl Frederik Nagell:
great bull but also liked the eli

Good Hunting
Carl Frederik

The 11th Commandment:

"Thou Shalt Not Covet the Park Elephants".

Well done and a nice bull.

Mark

Outstanding! Thanks for sharing.

Great buff.

.

Thanks for the comments. This was my first hunt report after annual hunts in southern Africa the last 12 years, so thats my excuse for a mistake in the posting, ie I entered titles in Photobucket for each of the photos but they do not show in the AccReload report. They are Baobab tree, the Ah-ha moment, my buffalo, tank, river crossing, first formal daylight breakfast after 5 days hunting, biltong (jerky) made from my buffalo,and elephant bull in Kruger Park on the way back. for Safari2: yes, near Gonarezhou. No elephants seen during my hunt in Mozambique (probably too early). Regards

Great story and great pics! I just finished my buff hunt in Zim. I wanted to go to Moz, but the extra money just wasn't in my budget. That is a really nice buff.

I have seen PHs become an improvised rest, but I never had the heart to actually shoot over someone's back. Hopefully your PH had ear plugs!

Congratulations!

BH63

That is a great looking Buffalo. Sounds like a great hunt to get him. Well done and some nice pics to boot. Bruce

Congrats on your first cape buff.

Wonderful buffalo, congrats. Mozambique is an incredible place. Not sure how many of those Russian tanks are around but there is one sitting outside Marromeu along with an old plane on an a abandoned airstrip. A haunting reminder of their history.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
Outstanding! Thanks for sharing.

Great buff.

.

+1

Great safari ,marvelous photos .On cz rifles i have many in my farm and never have a problem .Only a small problem in the magazine of a 308 that was easily fixed .The rifle has thousands of shells trough it .You have had just bad luck with it .My friend the late Ganyana always said that brunos are one of the best for DG work .

GREAT buffalo!

Well done!!!

Awesome buffalo!!

Thanks for posting!

Congrats on a gret looking buff! That's an excellent part of Mozambique you were hunting in for buffalo.