Dates: Feb 13-Mar 1 2019

Outfitter: Uganda Wildlife Safaris (Christian Weth)

Agent: Adam Clements (Adam Clements Safari Trackers)

Rifles: Dakota 76 African in .416 Rigby (loads were handloaded 400 grain TSX and 370 grain Northfork Solids)

Jim Kobe Custom Pre '64 Winchester M-70 in .300 Remington Ultra Magnum (Loads were handloaded 180 grain Swift A frames)

PH: Augustin Chialla

Flights: Delta/KLM via Shawn Kennedy at Gracy Travel.

Pre hunt:

I had originally booked this hunt through Adam back in 2017. Getting on UWS' schedule was not hard, but getting all the game animals they had was a bit more difficult. I wanted all of the unique species of Uganda on the ticket. Some of these animals are necessarily a bit low in quota, and thus not available right away. This resulted in me scheduling this hunt 2 years out.

In the end I agreed to a few less animals than I had hoped for and the hunt ended up being a bit shorter. I booked what was termed a Nile Buffalo/Sitatunga hunt. This included some animals I have already shot, but maybe I could find a larger example. Christian no longer books for Sesse Islands Sitatunga, telling me that the numbers are pretty low. He also dissuaded me from trying for the big Impala, stating the big ones are all shot out. I was told that I had access to Chanler's Mountain Reedbuck as well; but Christian just before the hunt started telling me that the Wildlife Authority had not released quota. That also was not quite accurate. What actually was the case was that the area is a hotbed of pastoral tribal raiding. The army has to accompany you into the area that the mountain reedbuck are in, Augustin informed me they usually send a full squad with a medium machine gun (makes hunting a bit challenging). The day before I arrived in Karamoja, 2 soldiers had been killed by the Kenyan Turkana raiders. They (the army) thus refused to allow us access. However, other companies were hunting mountain reedbuck in their areas, that are not in the danger zone. My main animals were thus a Nile Buffalo, and East African Sitatunga. Other animals on quota that I had not hunted before included Nile Bushbuck, Jackson's Hartebeest, Uganda Kob, and Guenther's Dik Dik.

I also got a new longer range rifle last fall, and was eager to use it. I had been told that Sitatunga shots could get out there a ways. Turns out that was a bit of an exaggeration. I shot the Nile Bushbuck a bit over 200 yards, and missed a shot at a Reedbuck in that general range. The longest shot for Sitatunga that they set up for from the machans is about 200 yards. A regular .30-06 or 7x57 Mauser is plenty enough gun for the plains game. That being said, I had determined I was bringing the new .300, and I had all kinds of trouble because the instructions that came with the Z5 scope were not abundantly clear and I was having poor Jim pull what little hair he has left out trying to get it on paper by adjusting the mounts (there was plenty of adjustment in the scope once I was told about how to access it.) The gun shoots pretty much everything OK, but it really likes a moderate (for a .300 RUM) dose of IMR 4350 and a 180 Swift A Frame. It puts 3 of those into under 1/2" from the bench, even in -20* F weather at 200 yards. In any case, I had asked Christian and Christy at Gracy about adding my .330 just in case- they were able to add the 3rd rifle to the permits, and when I didn't need it, no problems were caused by me not bringing the .330. I also brought substantially less ammo this time than before, as hauling all that stuff around is a pain in the butt. In retrospect, I should have brought the full 5kg, as it is a minimalist part of the hunt and we could have played around with a shooting contest at the end.

My pre hunt reading was dominated by reading some gifts from my brother and sister in law by Karamoja Bell. While I was not chasing elephant, it was the same general area. Some of the place names are still the same, but I was not exactly in the same spots as Bell was in Karamoja. Other folks were very helpful with additional information.

Map



This is the map that UWS has on its web page about the hunting concessions. The red triangle roughly corresponds with our expected hunt, but I went in a bit of a different order. The lower left star on the triangle is Mayanja camp, which is where I would go first and shoot Sitatunga. This ended up being where I stayed for about half of the hunt. Its a rather short jaunt by car from the capital of Uganda, Kampala. Kampala has a sister city (or suburb in my mind, but they call it a sister city), Entebbe, which is where the international Airport is.

Arrival

I arrived at Entebbe a bit late as there was a ground accident at Schipol in Amsterdam delaying our departure (not my plane!!!) and we ended up getting in late. Gun clearance was a bit prolonged getting in, as they have a 5 member committee that signs off on them. This requires all of the members looking at each gun, verifying the SN, and then counting the ammo. Strangely, they photographed the ammo, but not the rifle for me... Another group of hunters came in on the same plane, and while I was done first, as they were also using UWS (they were hunting with Christian, starting at the Karamoja) we all were together. We were then transferred to the Speke Resort. This was a nice place, although I didn't see much of it. I had to call to get drinking water from the front desk and got a run around (Front desk- no Restaurant- no Housekeeping- No, Restaurant- No, housekeeping, who finally delivered it a half hour after I got there. You DON'T drink the tap water in Kampala, I was explicitly informed by others!) I was to drive out at 9 AM. The other guys (a family group of 4) were chartering out around noon.

I met Augustin at 9 AM and left for my first camp. The suggestion was made to go to Aswa-Lolim first as they had a issue with a problem buffalo. I was concerned that this might cause issues with Sitatunga hunting. The big group was essentially on the reverse schedule as me, and if I went out of it too much, we could end up crowding each other. I am glad that I did stick with Mayanja first, as it did take quite a while to get the Sitatunga, and having a bunch of folks hunting these shy animals at the same time struck me as a problem, and Augustin agreed.

Our drive out gave me and Augustin a chance to get acquainted. He is a Tanzanian citizen, and PH who has moved to Uganda and taken up residence there. His wife and daughter live in Kampala, and he has some businesses there. He has hunted with a number of the old Tanzanian hands, and he knows a lot of people I know of there. He grew up hunting in the open areas near the Selous and is a life long hunter. He also races motorbikes and Rally car events... He can get you where he wants FAST!

Augustin Chialla (with me and a buffalo)



It took us a bit over 4 hours to get to Mayanja Camp. The roads were pretty typical but we were in an air conditioned van- much more comfortable than a cruiser, but we rode in those after this one trip. The traffic was horrid in Kampala, and they take aggressive driving to a new extreme.

Kampala Traffic



Mayanja Camp



Camp site



We arrived at Mayanja no worse for the wear. It was early afternoon and we met up with the other hunters and Ryan, a PH from Kambako Safaris (a sister company in Mozambique) who was filling in. They were finishing up with their hunt, but still had a few days to go. We ate lunch and prepared to start hunting.

Tent



Start of Hunting

Edge of the Papyrus



We left camp and were looking for a good place to check zero, when Augustin sighted a really good Nile Bushbuck. He the said, why don't we check zero the hard way! Off we went after the bushbuck. I had told him my rifle had been on at home at 200 yards with this load. I had cleared the oil from the bore in camp, but hadn't even loaded it up or taken the scope cover off yet, and here we were jumping off the cruiser for bushbuck. I had seen a considerable number of them already, and they did seem unusually calm around here. In fact, I've never seen bushbuck behave this way- calm, if you get too close they run maybe 50 yards, and then settle down again. So, I pulled the scope covers off, loaded up, and we started stalking him. We just checked him in the binoculars for a while, then decided he was good. Up went the sticks, and he trotted 50 yards to a new tree. Stopped and we moved a bit, and up went the sticks, trot 25 yards and lies down in a thicket. We move a bit and on the sticks again, but this time his front is obscured. we move 15 feet and he gets up and walks maybe 10 yards and turns and looks at us. One shot, and he bolts like a heart shot whitetail. We see him drop maybe 30 yards away.

Nile Bushbuck



He's above average for the area. An older ram, with some horn wear and a nice dark coat. We then take him back to the skinning shed and head for the papyrus. The other guys have the north and central areas for Sitatunga. Augustin is the head of antipoaching here and states that you really don't need a lot of machans, just one that the animals are working. He relates that all of the existing machans are ones that have been productive, and that the staff have seen bulls working. His idea on hunting sitatunga is that you pick one that you know is active, and you stay there until either the bull has obviously broken pattern or you have seen him and chose not to take that one. Because of that, he has a tendency to move a lot less than the other PH's. His ideas have certainly jived with what I have learned about Sitatunga- that they tend to be territorial, and check their territory regularly. They also, according to Augustin, here, do not have a rut season, the females become receptive on their own cycle. This area had been assessed by a scientist from Canada, and she wrote a paper about it. Like on the shows you have seen, the machans are a set of poles with a screen of reeds, usually associated with a tree.

Abandoned Machan



You climb up (not my favorite thing, I don't much like heights) about 20 feet or so and watch over some areas where the staff had cut down the papyrus. The sitatunga like the softer plants and the tops of the papyrus to eat. While the bulls can use their horns to move the tops into reach to eat, the females either get in one of these cuts or have to come out on the edges. The bulls will follow the females into the cuts, but are much more wary of the edges during the day. These cuts are maybe 30 - 50 yards wide and 75-200 yards long. They take a lot of manpower and effort to cut.

Papyrus cuts from my machan



Essentially, you sit from 30 minutes before sunlight until 9-10 AM (when the Sitatunga usually settle down for the daytime) and then from roughly 4:30 PM until full dark.

My first day we did not see any sitatunga at all.



The following day we started out in the machan and we started seeing female sitatunga. I had not put the big lens on my camera yet, so I used my little one for the pictures of her, as she was pretty close. I have to admit, the sitatunga were not really visible most of the time, you could see some movement and some body, but the papyrus in the cuts was still 4' high or so. This one was the closest they came to me, but I am not the best photographer and the light was a bit low.

Sitatunga Female



In the afternoon, we started out looking for plains game, with a plan of being in the machan by 5. This did work out pretty well We didn't see anything we wanted to shoot, but there was a bunch of game around, notably Defassa Waterbuck. I had shot a good one before, and was holding out for something special. The big ones here were about 25-26", so not at my cut off. There were a lot of them, and they were calm. If one had been large enough, there would have been no issue taking it.

Waterbuck



That evening in the machan we again saw some female sitatunga. As they say, where there are girls, the boys will come.

The morning of the 16th saw us in the machan at dawn again. More female sitatunga, and lots of birds around the base of the machan. We also had bushbuck, reedbuck, waterbuck, and the ubiquitous cattle coming to swamp's edge for water.

Black Headed Gonoleck



Golden Weaver Bird



Sitatunga female



On our way back to camp, a duiker managed to jump up near us, but not immediately run off. I shot him a little low, and after a bit of pursuit, he ran towards the trackers (no shot) and Augustin grabbed him with the sticks, and I ended things with a knife. These guys are very tough- if elephant were as tough pound for pound, we would have to shoot them with 105mm tank cannon...

East African Bush Duiker



A trip back to the camp and the skinning shed. When we got there, we found out that the other clients had shot their sitatunga! It was their last day, and he was pleased as punch to get him. He was a bit different than most, being a reddish color-like the females- and he looked at first glance much more like the Zambezi Sitatunga I had shot a few years back in Zambia. Because of this, Augustin decided we were going to move to a different machan on the north side, where he had planned to hunt before the other clients had still been hunting and preempted that side for us. That afternoon was unusually hot. I made a joke about the boats in camp were falling apart from the heat. The boats they use for hunting are the same design, but damaged ones are used as decoration in camp...



I was told by one of the staff that the boat here had a unfortunate meeting with a hippo. While I heard them, I had not seen any of the hippo- they stay out in the channels. I was told that I should not get too close to the water as there are a lot of crocodile here as well. I didn't see any of them in the swamp, but did see a small one in one of the farmer's water dams (he was put there by the farmer and was supposed to keep the birds and wildlife out of the water. He was about 7', and Augustin mentioned that the farmers were worrying about him attacking cattle. He'd been asked to shoot it, but he was refusing, as they put it there...

One of the ubiquitous cattle.



In the evening we drove to the first north machan that I hunted. On the way we saw a lot of East African bushbuck. Augustin was not sure of why, but for the most part, the East African bushbuck stayed to the north, and the nile to the south. We didn't see any sitatunga at this machan, but the papyrus here had been burned by the farmers a couple days ago. The antipoaching guys said they had seen a "good" bull run away from the fire, so the hope was we would see him. That evening at about dark, a really good East African Bushbuck came out to drink, and wandered up to near the machan. Augustin was having some internal debate about him, and decided he was too good to pass up, at the risk of burning the machan for sitatunga. He told me to shoot him. One shot, and down.

East African Bushbuck



One other thing about bushbuck here. There are two different species of bushbuck here, and they do look obviously different. Nevertheless, the local language has one word for bushbuck, and the license is given to you as two bushbuck. You can shoot two of the same species, no problem, if you wish. I was introduced to the paperwork system as well. Apparently you have to fill out a form a day- I was told in some camps, the PH just pays the game scout to do it, others, like Mayanja, the PH does it. Regardless, the PH, the game scout, and the client all have to sign it. I was rather flabbergasted at the numbers that the game scouts put on for game seen later in the hunt. We were seeing hundreds of reedbuck, but they would say something like 50, yet when we saw a couple groups of elephant (2 groups seen 3 times each- I thought maybe 30 or so, the game scout had said over 100!) Buffalo were also somewhat underestimated. I raised my concern, but I was told that my numbers were my opinion (even though he agreed with me) and the Game Scout's count was what everyone agreed to use... TIA! It really didn't matter, as elephant are not on quota- but the counts are used to establish quota for the hunting areas. I guess underestimating is better than overcounting.

The next 3 days we spent looking for sitatunga at sunrise and sunset, and doing as little as possible during the really brutal heat at mid day. The 3rd day did end up with some rain, which cooled things down. We were seeing some females at our second northern machan, but no males other than one in the predawn darkness that was at the shore side (we heard him, not seen him) and one that showed up maybe 400 yards away at a cattle watering spot for a bit until the cattle spooked him. At the time, I was kicking myself that I had not seen him in time to take a shot. He may well have been the same bull from the pre dawn.

Francolin



The afternoon of the 19th was a bit earlier departure as Augustin did not like going for a few days without shooting something, and the weather was a bit cooler after the rain. We headed out at 3 PM to head over to an area that he liked for reedbuck. While I had shot a really good Eastern Bohor reedbuck, I certainly was not adverse to getting some camp meat in and standing in a machan for 7 hours a day is a bit boring when nothing is really moving except the girls. We came upon a good example, and I shot over him at about 150 yards. My next crack at him (closer to 200 yards) hit him, but too far back and I gut shot him. We followed him for a while and then I finally got the finisher shot in him. He was not as big as my second one in Tanzania, but he's a good mature reedbuck.

Eastern Bohor reedbuck





As we headed back to the skinning shed, Augustin mentioned that one of the trackers had told him that he "was forgetting his origins" and that he had decided to move for no good reason. I'm not sure why this came up, but it ended up being rather serendipitous. After dropping off the reedbuck at camp, we went back to the first machan we had sat in. We were a little disorganized, and the tracker went up first, carrying my cased rifle. I followed. Normally Augustin was the first one up, then me, then the tracker. I was almost up, when the tracker, Peter, started gesturing for me to hurry and be quiet. He thrust the gun bag at me and mimed loading but quiet, and said the bull was here, but I needed to stay low until Augustin got up and decided if he was good. It seemed like forever before Augustin made it up, and then they had a conference while glassing, but rapidly I was told to shoot. Of course, I could not see anything! I was scanning with the scope, and then binoculars. Augustin said he's right in the middle, you should see his horns... and like magic a pair of horns came up. I could not see his body at all, but Augustin could and told me he was standing broadside facing to my right. Shoot through the papyrus... I could make out a area where the papyrus was darker, so I centered up on it and shot. When I came out of recoil, I worked the bolt and tried to find him again for a second shot- I saw nothing. Augustin said he disappeared when you shot, so I think you got him... Congratulations!, but keep watching, the guys are going to look for him, and he went down to join them. Before he got into the swamp, the driver was by where I had shot and flashed me a thumbs up and yelled "KABUBE!" At that point, I unloaded the rifle and went down myself. I was about to go help haul him in, when they were at the edge of the papyrus. As he came out, I was shocked. I had shot a good sitatunga in Zambia, and a monster in Cameroon, but this guy made the Forest one look like a dwarf (but yes, the forest are much smaller animals.) His body was huge, but as Augustin put it, a bag of bones. He was very worn of tooth and his horns show a lot of damage from fighting and use over the years. All in all, a great bull to shoot. The guys were saying things like huge and were obviously very happy with him. Lots of photos commenced with a lot of handshakes and backslapping.

Sitatunga with the hunting crew



Sitatunga foot



We got done with the photos, and the guys had already decorated the car for the Kabube drive. We all had papyrus scepters and shot about 500 yards out to announce success. There was a troop of baboon around and they ran away like raped apes with all the shooting from the car.

The whole camp turned out for the celebration and I think I stayed at the skinning shed until the job was complete. I think I had a few too many Nile lagers that night... it made for an interesting drive the next day...



The next day we were up late for us... essentially at shooting light. We had decided after discussing that the big group was headed to Aswa Lolim this day, maybe it would be smarter to just go directly to Karamoja camp- Karenga. This would be a 10 hour or so drive, but it would mean we didn't need a long drive to get back to Kampala on the last day.

We stopped for Breakfast at Masindi around 10, at the "Hemingway Bar"... well, not exactly, although I did walk into the hemingway bar room to use the rest room. The bar had been cleaned out for renovation, but that is going slowly. The old floor was still in place and the remnants of the bar. We ate in the garden. Its a nice hotel, but not quite the historic sight I had hoped to see. I did not get a tour of any type due to the renovation work.



On the drive out was when I was told about the situation regarding the hunting of Mountain Reedbuck. At that point, we had not been told no, but I was told that it was a security issue and the Army's decision- it was out of our hands as to whether or not we went there. We also discussed South Sudan and the area. Apparently, it would be easy for me to make a trip into South Sudan, if I wanted. There is no border crossing per se, and no passport control... but... it will cost you $60-80. You need to buy a AK 47 and a bandoleer of magazines, and a pistol and a bunch of magazines- if you are armed to the teeth, folks leave you alone like in the wild west- except you don't look at any women. If you do, there will be shooting. No thanks.

Christian is supposedly getting a hunting area set up. The government is inconsistent on it; and its on again- off again. However, Augustin said he had been up there and the game is in exceedingly good shape given all the warfare. He is hopeful it will be opened soon. He also said that he is hearing that Kenya will be opening soon on private land- that they have finally recognized that their method is not working at all. I would say that I will believe when I see it.

The Karamoja plateau (from Karenga)



I then was given a bit of a primer on what exactly is the situation up here in Karamoja. The last president who was able to sit down with the Karamojong while they were armed was Idi Amin- who is apparently much more fondly remembered in Uganda by the "little people" than those in the west would like to admit. Apparently, he thought of them before his ministers or the outsiders. The UN is generally not liked by the people. They drive around in caravans with police escort like a head of state, and don't do much of anything other than hand out food and auction off construction equipment after its there for 2 years (with maybe 50 hours on the clock at that point) Great deal if you have the money- but they have not done any of the work in Uganda or South Sudan that they were claiming they would do.

The Turkana from Kenya are the source of most of the local problems. They raid the Karamojong (who were forcibly disarmed by the Ugandan government) for cattle and women. They apparently rape and then kill the women when they leave. Of course, the Karamojong did the same when they had guns... Both sides pick on a small tribe that is down to a few hundred folks, the Iki. They basically are rather pacifistic and both sides kill them with gay abandon. The army is trying to protect them, but apparently use of force by them is rather like our forces in the middle east- too much PC "politics"... the Turkana want nothing to do with helicopters and jet fighters, so if the army flys them around they leave Uganda...fast... but its not acceptable for them to do this, so the UPDF get shot at instead.

Karenga borders the Kidepo National Park. The buffalo here are thick! This is as good of buffalo numbers as I've ever seen (and I hit the migration at Lokisale and have been in Maswa in Tanzania, and have seen the best that the Luangwa offers in Zambia) and what's more, they are much more tame than in anyplace besides Maswa. You want to shoot buffalo with an open sighted double, you can do it here! If I had known what I know now, I would have taken my .470 instead. Intersetingly, the camp manager here was also named Charles, and the staff immediately called me Charles 1, and him Charles 2, until Augustin heard that... "NO! " He then pointed at me and said "He's Charles 3" and then showed the manager the hunting permits that actually had my full name on that. Everyone got a good laugh out of that.

Buffalo herd



There are two types of buffalo here.

Nile Buffalo



Cape Buffalo



The differentiation is their drop of horn. The Nile has little drop, the cape has a bunch. The formal statement is that the Nile skull without jaw if set flat on the ground, the horns are not to touch the ground anywhere.

I had shot a reedbuck back in Mayanja, but if anything, they were more numerous here, and they herd up, not in pairs like you see in Tanzania.



However, they do display the same hiding behaviors, and you can get very close to them.



My first day in Karamoja, we spent driving around and getting a look at what all was around. We did see lots of different species, ranging from Elephant to Oribi.



One local rarity, which we saw often was Maneless Zebra. Unfortunately, they are not on quota, even though they are prolific in the area.



This is a breeder/slightly soft bossed Nile bull. We were thinking of shooting him, but he's just a little soft and young.



The following afternoon, we had another client come in to hunt as well. He was hunting with a different company, and was here just for buffalo. That afternoon I also finally found what I was looking for in a bull. I was being picky, I wanted an old bull who had 40" spread. There are lots around, but 40" is a bit rare for Nile buffalo. Most folks shoot 36-38" bulls.



Following the buffalo, I then concentrated on Guenther's Dik Dik, Waterbuck, and when I was told that a second buffalo was available, I was up for that- but a Nile buff was pretty spendy- a cape was more reasonably priced. I was OK with a mid 40's+ cape or a scrum cap.

While hunting Dik Dik, we would get up at 4 AM to drive to the area where they were and get there by sunrise. The afternoons would be spent looking at stuff in Karenga... Waterbuck ended up being a bit of a nemesis here. We saw a fair number the first afternoon, and then they disappeared. The Dik Dik was more a shooting issue. On the first day, we saw a couple, and I missed with the .416 and solids. The second day, again I missed, and had pretty much exhausted my supply of solids. The problem in retrospect was these were left over loads from my elephant hunt in December, and I had not rechecked zero with my new loading of the buffalo bullets... at home, I found out that they were shooting 4" higer than the TSX... not a big deal with elephant, but a BIG deal with Dik Dik. After 2 days of bad shooting, we took a day off of Dik Dik hunting and then came back the following day with the .300 instead. Probably a lucky call, as we got hit with a huge rainstorm that cut out part of our morning hunt and it rained until 2 PM. It made quite a difference! The first shot I got, I hit him. It blew apart the little guy, but at least he didn't feel anything. He was quite impressive for a Dik Dik.




The Dik Dik are a pygmy antelope which have a proboscis like an elephant or some of the extinct great mammals. They are remarkably interesting animals, that do not need water to live, getting it from their food and some dew.



As far as the rest of my hunting in Karamoja, it was mostly looking for waterbuck and buffalo. We saw quite a few elephant, but they were probably migrating from the park for water.

Big cow Elephant



Baby Elephant



We also saw giraffe on occasion



An unusual find was an Eland. While some areas in Uganda have quota for them, this one didn't, mainly because they are so rare here. We saw 2 at different times. These were rather flighty.



And of course, buffalo!



On my last day in Karamoja, I did see a couple young 46-48" cape bulls (they were a little soft, and in a herd.) and also a perfect scrum cap buffalo bull- unfortunately on him, when we jumped out of the cruiser, the game scout told us he was too close to the park... and told us the same on a 27" or so Waterbuck.

That evening we ran in to a trio of dagga boys, one of who looked very odd. Turns out, it was a cow buffalo that had been gored. She had a huge wound, and really was not in good shape. With her was a beat up old bull, and 2 smaller bulls. I decided that I wanted the bull. He was a beat up old bag of bones as well. He had a deep mark on his face just below the bosses, which is some sort of wound- whether from a fight of what, who knows.



The whole hunt I had cell reception. I didn't tend to leave it connected due to getting robocalls from home while in the field... what BS! but I did GPS check the old bull:




We then left for Aswa Lolim as we had only 2 hunting days left at that point. This was the area that I was to shoot Jackson's Hartebeest and also Uganda Kob. I was told by multiple people that the Kob were so thick underfoot you would see too many. Augustin said that you get "Kobbed out" after a day or two. I didn't get to that point, but I was sure not there long. We could also shoot a waterbuck if we saw a big one.

On the road- a pig to market!



While I didn't see it, I was told that the local guys will even haul cattle this way.... The pig was not happy- every bunp was a series of grunts.

You stay at a Safari Lodge called Bwana Tembo. This is owned by the concession owner. We were told that you need to be a little cautious around the guests as the hunting is not exactly popular amongst the photosafari set. However, there was a big fishing contest going on at Murchison Falls NP for fund raising, and the owner and his sons were entered (they won 2 years ago) so the camp was a bit light.

Albert Nile



The area was very hot and humid. The concession borders Murchison Falls NP, and the camp is next to the Albert Nile (Called such due to flowing out of Lake Albert...) Our first afternoon was productive. We had not even gotten out of sight of the staff camp in the hunting area when the tracker called "Ten Power" due to his only having one eye, yet seeing 10 times the game than anyone else- pointed out a good Kob. He wasn't quite the one Augustin wanted, but then a bigger one stepped out. This was the one. After a bit of maneuvering, I got him with one good shot and he went down.

Uganda Kob



We then dropped him off and started looking for Hartebeest. We had been seeing them everywhere since Mayanja, as they were endemic everywhere we went. I'm not sure why, but they are a bit more restrictive quota than other animals here. As the sun was dropping down, we found a couple bulls feeding together. Both were quite good. Augustin said one would score better, but was not as old, the other was more thickly massive, but shorter. We agreed that the old guy was the target. My first shot hit a bit back, but made him pretty sick, hitting the liver. The second shot spined and dropped him. He was dead by the time we got up to him, another about 200 yard shot.

Jackson's Hartebeest



The final day we spent searching for a Waterbuck. I also did a drive through the northernmost part of Murchison Falls National Park. We were looking for a problem hippo that needed to be shot originally, but the rangers said that they had been told that a vet was coming down to see if it could be saved (I really doubt it, from the snare wound...) but they called us off until he got there- and he didn't arrive until the next day. The Waterbuck eluded me on this trip...kind of. We found him in the park....

Buffalo herd in Murchison Falls



Big Uganda Kob



Kob herd



The elusive Oribi (another one I wanted, but could not find where I could shoot one)



Defassa Waterbuck



and a bigger one



Lake Albert as seen from Murchison Falls NP



Idi Amin's lakeside retreat- Hotel Pakuba. He destroyed it in a fit of rage over a woman he married being pregnant with a white doctors son. He had the baby cut out, then killed the baby and mother, and then bombed the hotel over this. This was a part they cut out of the movie "The last King of Scotland."



An unusual horn configuration on a Kob



Jackson's Hartebeest bull



A couple more Kob



Warthog family



Warthog are fairly common in Uganda- I saw them often- but the quota is rather low. I was not allowed to shoot one.

Big Pig



Rothschild's Giraffe- another animal I saw a fair number of, but they are not hunted in Uganda.



A good sized elephant bull



There are a lot of elephant in Uganda, but at present, they are not hunted. There are several 100# bulls in Murchison Falls NP. This guy was on the border, standing next to the major Tanzania/Kenya/Congo highway.


That brought an end to my time hunting in Uganda. We drove back to Kampala, and I got a day room. I had a grand view of Lake Victoria from my balcony. A few hours later, I got on the plane and was home by noon the next day.

I hope to get back there again soon and chase buffalo again!

Well done Dr.!

Good to see Uganda fairing well since I was there 2010.

Wonderful..thank you for sharing

That was brilliant and a very interesting read. I must say the trophy quality is superb and you did very well indeed.

The Nile Buffalo and the Sitatunga are first class as so was the Kob.

Well done.

Well done. I head there on Friday. Super sitatunga and bushbuck!

Fantastic report, I'd go just for the bushbucks.

Thank you for the wonderful report.

Great trophies!

Great report.

Did you see Kob by the thousands?

Good luck, Dogcat! You will enjoy it there.

As to seeing thousands, overall, yes. I didn’t see thousands all at once in one place. What is common is you see a hundred or two any time you look in the high density areas, and even in the lower density spots you saw them at times; it not that they blanket the land like locusts...

Lake Mburo is the spot for impala.

Great report, thanks for sharing! It was quite a wonderful safari based on your photos and comments. Congratulations.

Looks like you had an eventful and memorable hunt Charles. Congrats on some fine trophies. The sitatunga was a dandy! As were the buff...

I hunted with Augustin when I was there and enjoyed my time with him. I also took some excellent trophies as he has a good eye and the patience to see what's around the corner. Hope to be paired with him again in '20 when it is my turn to see Karamoja having hunted Mayanja in the Kafu River Basin and Aswa Lolim on my first trip to Uganda.

Thanks again for the detailed report.

Excellent report and adventure.

Great report! Definitely a bucket list hunt. Thank you for sharing!

Great stuff! One of the best hunting destinations in Africa. You took some great animals. Augustine is a great guy...

I will be there this November and again in Feb 2020 with a bunch of AR guys. Counting the days!!!

Uganda has a very rich and interesting history regarding safari. I;m glad to see it is still producing great experiences. Well done.

Outstanding Hunting Report. Very reminiscent of Dogcat’s style, just missing the awesome bird pictures he always includes.

Well done doc. Great animals and experience.

Congratulations on a great hunt and great trophies. Uganda is on my list.

The trip was very well done Doc. Those pics bring back some great memories. Augustine is a superb hunter. Bwanamrm, Tim and I will be returning to Uganda in 20.

Great hunt! Congrats!

Nice pictures!

Excellent report. I would love to hunt Uganda some day.

Riveting read my friend....

I truly appreciate you taking the time,
as this was wonderful to take in.

Congratulations. Super quality animals and enjoyed the report very much.

Am at Sitatunga camp now, using WiFi that is better than what I have home. First class all the way. Have seen over 1000 Buffalo, shot 2 and seen more than I thought were in Africa. Lots and lots of game, excellent camps and food.

Will file a complete report when I get back.

Thanks for the update!

Wonderful Trophies!!! Congrats

Thanks for that report. Superb!!

A very nice and interesting reading too. Dang you got all the animals in one trip! Congrats.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Am at Sitatunga camp now, using WiFi that is better than what I have home. First class all the way. Have seen over 1000 Buffalo, shot 2 and seen more than I thought were in Africa. Lots and lots of game, excellent camps and food.

Will file a complete report when I get back.

Some guys . . have all the luck and fun!

Congrats to Dogcat on the two buff. Looking forward to your usual first rate Hunting Report.

Thank you for sharing your incredible adventure and your photos. They are all excellent as well as the trophies.

Wonderful report.

great pictures.

How did I miss this?! Outstanding report and pics!