Dates: August 13-22, 2011
Areas: Malapati Safari Area, Malapati
Communal Area, Sengwe II Communal Area
Travel Agent: Shawn at Gracy
Operator: SSG Safaris
PH: Nixon Dzingai
Trackers: Dixon, Macundo, Gift
Rifles: CZ Magnum Kevlar, .416 Rigby, 1.5x5
Leupold; CZ 9.3x62, 2.5x8 Leupold.
Ammo: Hornady 416 Rigby DGS, 400 grain solids,
Norma, 9.3x62, 285 grain Oryx.
Game Taken: Two(2) Cape Buffalo, Waterbuck, Kudu, Spotted Hyena, Nyala, Impala.


Travel
General:

August 9th, 10th and 11th :

Left Lafayette, LA on Delta to ATL, ATL to JNB, sat in economy comfort, seems to be better, Food was good enough. Arrived JNB greeted by Bruce from Afton Guest House. Self cleared SAPS without a hitch. Had a good steak dinner, and a nice nights sleep. Great breakfast the next morning and off to airport for flight to HRE. Flight was good and short and arrived mid-day. Too late to drive to Malapati, an 8 hour drive. Duncan Frost (Zimfrosty) picked me up at the HRE airport and brought me to his house for the afternoon and a sleep over. I met Duncan's wife and daughter and Duncan and I had a good afternoon "chin wag". Duncan took me to the shooting club to show me the improvements that are taking place over there. Very nice shooting facility. I took Duncan and his family to Miller's Steak House for dinner and wine and we enjoyed a great meal. Had a great night's sleep.

August 12th:

Duncan had a provisioning run to the Save Conservancy for Savuli and several other operators there, so I rode with him to Chiredzi (about 5 hours)(and talked hunting, etc all the way), where we met Nixon Dzingai for the rest of the trip (2.5 hrs) to Malapati. Met Nixon and Barney and took off for Malapati, after a quick stop at Nixon's house.
Arrived at Nixon's camp on the Mwenezi River. I was brought to my sleeping quarters, a nice permanent green painted block building with windows and a permanent roof, with a view of the river, with 2 beds and an ensuite bathroom. Very comfortable. There was a great firepit overlooking the river and a very nice dining and visiting area, also with a view of the river. Nixon's trucks appeared to be almost new and in very good condition. Nixon himself is very personable, a complete gentlemen, speaks the Queen's English and follows US politics very closely. He is a very bright and well informed man.


Hunting General:

Every day started with the generator coming on at 5:00, breakfast at 5:30, and off to hunt. Breakfast was excellent. I brought my own coffee, Community Coffee Dark Roast, so there was a pot of coffee waiting for me when I got to the table. Eggs, bacon, toast, etc., sometimes hot oatmeal (which I like). Sometimes we returned for a hot lunch, always an excellent sit down meal, like lasagna, shepard's pie, fresh salad, and the ever present Orange Mazoe (I love that stuff), etc. Sometimes we would eat a sandwich in the field instead of going in, it depended on where we were and what we had accomplished that day. We usually returned from the hunting after dark. We would go straight to the campfire, have some great South African Red wine and conversation while overlooking the Mwenezi, which was mostly dry, but a riverlet of water ran just below the campfire area. Dinner was always excellent, usually started with a homemade soup, various entres of Buffalo filets, Nyala stir fry, fried chicken, grilled pork chops, Telapia filets, etc., fresh vegetables, salad, more wine and always dessert. Dessert was usually pudding, in a different flavor every night, but the last night we had Crepes suzette, fantastic. Titus the cook (a young man), can really put out some great cuisine. There was a cute serving girl named Tyndi who would announce the evening fare and call us to the table, very enjoyable.


August 13: Day 1 of Hunting

Left camp and drove to Malapati Communal Area to check a pan for Buffalo sign. Parked the truck and walked about 10 minutes to a pan and there were tracks of several Dugga boys that had visited the pan the night before. There was also fresh Leopard tracks. We followed the Buff tracks for about an hour before Nixon decided to pull the plug. It was very windy, swirling from every direction, and it made approaching the Buffalo almost impossible. We went back to the pan and decided to build a blind to see what might come in that evening and hang a leopard bait.We drove around some of the area looking for more sign and eventually ended up back at camp for lunch and a nap. The trackers went behind camp and shot an impala for leopard bait. We went back to the pan that afternoon and sat in the blind till dark. Nothing came in, so we hung the Impala in a tree near the leopard tracks, made the scent drag, etc. and left for the night.


August 14: Day 2 of Hunting

Left camp and went to the pan again and checked the bait and Buffalo tracks. We left the truck at 6:45 and made the short walk to the pan. Dugga Boys had been there, but no Leopard. We started tracking the Buffalo immediately. We had been tracking those Dugga Boys for 3 hours when Nixon pointed to a spot in the brush and said that there was a big Dugga Boy right there, about 50 yards away. The Buff had not seen us, but I could not see enough of him to shoot. We moved the sticks several times to improve my sight picture on the buff, but before I could get squared away, a swirling wind alerted the buff of our presence and he and the others hauled ass. Nixon said the wind was becoming a problem, so we called off the stalk and headed towards a road walking for about another hour. We radioed Barney the driver to meet us half way and within about an hour we rendezvoused with the truck. We spent the next several hours driving around his different areas checking for sign, etc. Nothing worth pursuing. We got back to camp early, around 3:00,had a late lunch I took that opportunity to distribute the T-shirts and Caps that I had brought to give away to the staff. We left camp and drove around the riverine areas looking for Nyala, but did not find one.

August 15: Day 3 of Hunting

We started off by checking the pan again. No Buff tracks, no Leopard tracks. We walked about 30 minutes to another pan and checked it also, nothing there either, so back to the truck. We drove over to a very hilly and rocky area in Malapati Safari Area and came across a lot of Buffalo spoor crossing the road. Nixon said it was a very large herd and we should check it out. We tracked them for about an hour and located the herd. We worked our way around the herd looking for big bulls, but didn't see anything that Nixon thought we should shoot, so we backed out of there and went back to the truck. We drove around this area looking for Plains Game and we checked a couple of old Leopard baits, which had been entirely eaten. Nixon made note of this. We headed back to camp for lunch, etc. We left camp around 4:00 and drove the riverine areas until dark looking for Nyala, Bushbuck, Kudu, whatever. We always saw lots of Waterbuck, Nyala, Kudu, Impala, etc., but the trophy quality animals were always in unshootable retreat or else there wasn't anything worth trying to make a move on. Nixon said lets go back to camp and get to bed early because he wants to get up early and check that pan an hour earlier. Off we went to camp.


August 16: Day 4 of Hunting

The weather that night and morning was weird for Zim. It had been misting rain all night. It was cool, very damp, overcast, reminded me of Louisiana weather. We got to the pan early and there was fresh sign of Buffalo, but no Leopard sign, but it would be very difficult to track because of the rain. At any rate, at 6:00 AM we started tracking. My pants and boots were soaking wet, that's how wet the grass and brush was. At about 9:00 the trackers were getting excited, we were gaining on the Buffalo (4 of them) and the sign was visibly fresher. We tracked them for another hour, I looked at my watch it was now 10:00. Shortly after that the brush to our left exploded. The 4 Dugga Boys had been sleeping in some thick brush and got our scent and ran, they never saw us or we them. Nixon thought we would see them eventually and within 10 minutes, Nixon was saying that a very big Dugga Boy was standing in some thick brush about 50 yds away watching us and I should shoot him. Up went the sticks, I found his face, lowered to his neck and touched off the .416 Rigby. The Buff vanished and we could hear them running through the brush. We went over to the spot where the Dugga Boy was standing and looked around for sign. There was 4 of them in that brush pile and they left together, but we sorted it out pretty quickly, the one I shot left the herd, had run about 15 yards and fallen at full gallop leaving a huge scar in the ground. It reminded me of an airplane crash site. He wasn't there though. We readied our rifles and followed the blood trail for about 50 to 60 yards and there he was dead. He was huge, Nixon said over 40", probably 42"-43",the celebration started, pictures, etc. I was a happy camper. My shot had entered at the point where the neck joins the chest, traveled length wise and exited midway between the left front shoulder and left rear quarter. The Buff was slightly quartering as he looked at me. We sent a tracker back for the truck and started the quartering process. Soon the truck arrived, we shoved the Buff into the bed of the truck and headed for camp. We got back to camp after 1:00PM, had a bite to eat, dried our clothes and boots, and changed socks. We left camp around 3:30 to drive some of the riverine areas not too far from camp, still looking for that elusive Nyala. We put a tape on the Buffalo and he measured just barely under 42". Man was I happy. Nixon said we were going to get up an hour earlier the next day and head down to Sengwe II. He said I had a good Gonarezou genetics Buffalo and he wanted me to take my second Buffalo from Sengwe II and have some Kruger genetics.

42" Buffalo

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Little Ernest was there.

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August 17: Day 5 of Hunting

We left early for Sengwe II, got there and picked up a game scout and a local villager who was born and raised there and knew the place backwards and forwards. We stopped at the site of Nixon's new camp under construction down there and he showed me around. Very nice, very similar in appearance to the other camp and on a river bank as well.
Around 8:00 we cut the spoor of 2 old bulls that had left Kruger, crossed the Limpopo, and were now in Sengwe II. We saddled up for the tracking. We tracked them for 1.5 to 2 hours, but the wind was swirling again, and they were getting our scent. We heard them crashing off one time and we followed for another half hour but to no avail. Nixon said lets go, they are staying downwind and we are never going to catch them. We went back to the truck and drove over to the Limpopo river looking for Waterbuck and Bushbuck, but no dice. We went back to the road and soon cut another set of Buffalo spoor. We tracked them for 30 minutes when the trackers decided the spoor was too old, so we ended it and returned to the truck. Nixon didn't like the weather saying that most of the game was lying down and not moving, so we decided to go back to Malapati and do some plains game hunting. We got to camp at 4:00, had a quick light bite and off to look for Nyala, et al. No luck, back to camp for a fine dinner. Nixon says we are going back to Sengwe II tomorrow because he got a look at one of the Buffalo and says he wants me to shoot that one.


August 18: Day 6 of Hunting (A day I will never forget)

Got up real early and left for Sengwe II. Picked up the Game Scout and the local villager again. We immediately cut the spoor of 2 old Dugga Boys. We saddled up for the stalk, but barely 30 minutes into the stalk they turned down wind and were staying ahead of us. They knew we were there. So we went back to the truck and looked for some more spoor. We soon found where a small herd had cross the road with several big bulls in the group. We saddled up again and started the stalk. This went better, within 2 hours, we had seen the herd and saw where 4 Bulls had left the herd and were off grazing by themselves. We soon caught up with them. We were in rolling country and the 4 bulls were on a sidehill opposite of us at about 50 yards feeding. I could only see one of them well enough to shoot. Nixon said he was a big bull and I should shoot him. Up went the sticks. I found his head, neck and front shoulder, but the rest was covered by some brush. I pulled up to the left front shoulder and touched off the .416 Rigby. All the bulls scampered over the ridge out of sight. We went over there and very soon after we went over the ridge found a very good blood trail. Nixon said that he had a broken leg as well, because he was falling and stumbling as he ran. As I would find out later, my shot had hit the bull broadside in the left front shoulder, narrowly missing the heart, lunged him, passed through and broke the right front leg. All four bulls were running together but were out of sight when we started trailing the blood. There was an excellent blood trail that was easy to follow. We went maybe a 100 yds when the trail went into a thick pile of brush. Nixon, said no. They may be in there waiting. So we went to the left and around to the back side of the brush. There we found the tracks of 3 bulls exiting the brush, but no blood trail. So, we started looking around the opposite side of the brush looking for blood. At this point, the tracker was at the 8:00 O'clock position, Nixon was at the 7:00 O'clock position, and I was at about the 6:00 O'clock position, maybe 10 yards from Nixon, all looking down for blood. Then, the tracker started pointing to the 12:00 O'clock position back in the brush, saying "there he is". The wounded Buff was lying down.

THE CHARGE

I started running towards Nixon so I could shoot the Buffalo. As I was running, I saw Nixon put his rifle to his shoulder and yell "He's Coming". I was just beginning to see the Buffalo, he was about 30 yards away, but what I saw was this huge black freight train at an all out gallop (broken leg and all) heading straight for Nixon. Nixon fired once just before I arrived and I ended up standing 3 yards to Nixon's right. I shouldered my rifle, Nixon shot again, I shot, Nixon shot again, I shot again, and now the Buffalo was very close to Nixon, I shot again. I knew Nixon was shooting for the brain, and I, not having a true straight-on shot but with a slight angle to the right of the Buffalo, was shooting for the boiler room, from the point of the left shoulder to the nape of the neck. All shots connected. I could see the bull shudder at every shot. At this point, the bull had been shot in the left shoulder, lunged, broken right leg, a bullet hole in the right boss, a bullet hole over the left eye, a broken lower jaw and three shots to the left side boiler room from me. None of Nixon's shots hit the brain and none of my shots stopped him. The Buff hit Nixon at almost a full gallop, sending Nixon flying and down to the ground. Before I could say "Oh Shit", the Buff made a hard left turn and hit me. I braced for the hit and turned slightly to my right to avoid a full frontal bashing. My rifle went flying, and he immediately swept me with his right side horn goring me in the left lower butt. He tried this right horn sweep again and I moved just enough that he missed and went up my left side leg and ended up with his horn under my Ammo belt. That may have saved me. I immediately grabbed his left side horn with my right hand and held on for dear life. We were hooked together by that ammo belt and he started shaking me like a rat to get me off his horn. Eventually, the horn came loose and I was lucky enough to grab his right horn with my left hand. Now I had hold of both horns, riding out in front on his head and he tried to shake me off and in the ensuing rodeo I bashed my face against his boss. Then, all of a sudden, he crashed to the ground with me still holding on to both horns. He slammed me to the ground on my back and his head and neck were on my left leg and torso. He was trying to pick his head up, so I let go and as he picked his head up, I scrambled out of there and ran about 2 or 3 yards away. At that point I hollered for someone to shoot him again before he gets up. I did not know if Nixon was alive or dead, but suddenly I see Nixon come running up from my right. He didn't have a rifle. What I didn't know was that Nixon's rifle had been broken in half from the force of the ramming he took and was unusable. Then I realized that it was over, the Buff couldn't get up, he was dying. I was relieved. The Buff had landed on the butt stock of my Rigby and Nixon came over, grabbed it by the barrel and pulled it out from under the Buff. Nixon cleared the spent shell, put the fourth one in and fired just under the left eye of the bull, putting him down for good.

I began to take inventory of my body parts. Miraculously, I didn't have a single broken bone, all my teeth were there, but I had taken a good bashing to the left side of my face. I was bleeding just below my left eye, bleeding from the bridge of the nose, my lip was split and bleeding, my chin was split and bleeding, my left elbow area was bleeding, my left shin was bleeding and my ass was bleeding. I dropped my pants and checked were I had been gored, finding a nice gash about an inch and a half deep on my lower butt, way too close to my two favorite boys. My left hand was badly sprained and very swollen. My left side torso was badly bruised. However, I was very happy with the results, it occured to me as I was being gored that this may end badly. I am, fortunately, not a free bleeder and my wounds quit bleeding very quickly. Nixon was more fortunate because the bull had jumped on me, leaving Nixon alone, he only had some bad bruising and a broken rifle.

Well, I had a very nice 40" Cape Buffalo. I am very proud of him and glad to be here to write this report. I don't think I give a shit for Kruger genetics though. They can keep them cheeky bastards.

It was now about 10:30 in the morning. We took pictures, quartered the bull, and left for Malapati camp. We stopped at the local villager's village and dropped off some meat. They offered us some freshly brewed Palm beer, which we drank. We then stopped by the chief's house and dropped off some meat, and then dropped off the Game Scout. We didn't get back to Malapati until 4:00 PM. When we arrived, PH Stephen Meyers was there with an Austrian client. They could not believe their eyes. They of course told me how lucky I was and of course knew PHs and clients who were not so lucky. I knew this and appreciated their congratulations. I took a hot shower, cleaning all my wounds with hot soapy water. I put triple antibiotic ointment on each wound, took 800 mgs of Ibuprofen for pain, and a 500 mg Arithromysin antibiotic. I did that routine twice a day for the rest of the trip. I did not go to see a doctor. The deepest laceration under the left eye and the gash in the ass could probably have used some stitches, but I didn't do that.

Sat around the campfire, had some wine, told stories, had a fine meal of Cape Buffalo filets, it was a great evening.

One thing I am proud of, is that Nixon told me I saved his life. He said that if I had not come up, held my ground, and joined in on the shooting, that he having been knocked to the ground and defenseless would certainly have been critically injured if not killed.


40" Cape Buffalo (train wreck)

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August 19, 20, 21: Days 7, 8, and 9 of Hunting

I got up at the usual time the next day and every day thereafter and left camp looking for some of the plains game I was looking for.
I won't go into much detail, but over the next three days, we drove all the riverine country and some of the rocky canyons looking for Nyala, etc. Occasionaly we would get out and walk some of the brush near the river to have a look see.
On the morning of the 7th day I connected with a very nice old Waterbuck. That afternoon I also connected with a very heavy old Kudu. It appeared that my luck was changing back to the good.

Late in the afternoon of the 8th day, we caught a Spotted Hyena slinking along the river bank and I collected him. Pretty lucky again.

On the 9th day, I finally ran across a big mature Nyala and managed to get him before he got away. Late that day I also collected an Impala, which I had never taken before.


28" Waterbuck

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54" Kudu

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Spotted Hyena

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29" Nyala

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22" Impala

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August 22: Day 10 of Hunting

Well, now I had taken just about everything, and all trophy class, that I could have wished for. So, we rode around with maybe a Bushbuck on the wish list, and we checked several of the Leopard baits that were out. While I was out hunting Buffalo and plains game those first 9 days Nixon had Simon, his oldest son and a PH, go out and freshen up some of the Leopard baits. We eventually came to a Leopard bait with fresh activity. Nixon asked if I was up for Leopard. I said yes, but this was my last day and I didn't want an "all nighter" since I was leaving tomorrow and had an 8 hour drive. So, we built a blind and went back to camp for lunch and a nap. We left camp at 3:30, but had a ball joint break about 1 mile from the blind, so we walked to the blind arriving around 5:15. Just as darkness approached at around 6:15, we heard the Leopard roar, not too far away. Man what luck, he was coming. Shortly thereafter we heard another Leopard roar further away. Then later we heard both of them having a disagreement. Nixon said the second Leopard was probably a female and the Tom gave her a lecture and ran her off. It was all quiet until around 8:00, dark as hell, then we heard him, about 50 yards away. He roared several times and started walking away roaring every 20 yards are so. He must have gotten suspicious of the set up. Anyway he left. We abandoned the blind at 8:30 and called for the truck. The trackers had stayed with the truck and had bound the rig together with rope made out of tree bark. We limped along for an hour and had to do it all over again. It was amazing to watch them strip the bark and make a binding out of it. We limped along, and now we had a flat. Fixed that, limped back to to camp and arrived at 11:30. Had a quick bite to eat and off to bed. Tomorrow I was leaving. Man, what a safari, I don't know if it could have been much better. I did agree to shoot an Elephant Bull if a big one presented itself, but one never did, and after the train wreck, I didn't feel up to a full blown Elephant stalk. Oh well, I'm booked for March, 2012 with Nixon for an Elephant.


August 23: Departure for Harare

Woke up at the usual time and had breakfast. Packed my bags, settled up with Nixon, distributed all the tips to the camp staff, took some pictures of the grounds and left for Chiredzi. Went by Nixon's house, visited with his family for a moment. Nixon took me to a rendezvous with Duncan Frost. Duncan was on his provisioning run again. That was great because he took me over to the Save and we off loaded some supplies and the last stop was at Hammond. Mrs. Schenck, the owner, came out to greet us and showed me around her place. Very nice. When she saw the shiner and the scars, she wanted to know the story. So, I told her and she congratulated me on my survival and told me that one of her trackers had been killed by a Buffalo the year before. She offered me a beer and we had a chat. Very nice lady.
Duncan stayed at Savuli to help out with the hunting, so his wife and daughter drove me back to Harare. Duncan wanted me to see the Eastern Highlands, so we went back that way. Very pretty and mountainous area. However, this route is more heavily traveled and further, so we arrived back at Duncan's house after dark. We cleaned up quickly and went to a new Portugese restaurant called Paula's. Good food, chicken and prawns. Had a great nights rest at Duncan's house.


August 24 & 25: Returning home

Duncan's wife "Kari" brought me to the airport and I caught the flight to JNB. The usual layover in JNB. I talked to several other hunters returning from hunting trips. Ran in to Tim Herald in the JNB airport, he was returning from his trip to Moz. I told him the story and showed him the pictures. He was amazed. Uneventful flight, cleared customs etc, in ATL and caught my connecting flight to Lafayette. Got home, unpacked and waited for my wife to get home from work. She saw my shiner and lacerations and I sat her down and told her the story. She was horrified. My daughter came over to see me and I repeated the story. My son came in from out of town the next day and to quote him he is "freaked out" by my story.

The biggest concern that I now have, is that my wife and family will now worry more when I leave.

OH well, I am leaving Tuesday Oct. 4 to see Andrew and the AR group for a hunt in Zambia. No Cape Buffalo on quota this time.

Wow! Nice hunt and amazing memories, but you know it could have turned out worse. But then again, not a bad way to go...hunting the bad boys!

Dear Begno

Well that is a little to close.
Love it any way.

Great report for telling it like it is, well done.

Regards Mark

I don't know, Mr. Butch, #2 buffalo obviously expired out of respect - you look way tougher than it looks! Nicely done!

Butch,
Outstanding report & very exciting hunt !
Glad you made out as well as you did & hung in there to finish it off as well as possible. Should give everyone a little reminder that they call it dangerous game hunting for a reason & you never know when it all may come against you. Have a great hunt and thanks for all your help with getting me ready for my last.

Butch,

Great hunt and report. An experience to remember for sure.

Good luck in Zambia and take care.

Butch,

Look forward to Dallas and a fine story. You proved yourself underfire.

Mike

Great report and some nice trophies. You are a very luck man as this could have ended very badly.congrats

Outstanding!!!

Hell of a hunt! I admire your grit.

Wow what an experience... a few folks on this forum have been charged, but I believe you are one of the first that filed a hunt report who has been gored. I am glad your luck held out. Reminds us all that dangerous game can be just that!

Thanks. A dubious honor though(being gored).
I have become famous locally and have been called, Bwana Horn, Bwana Two holes, Bwana Horn in the Ass, Buffalo Whisperer, and Stupid.
I am having fun with it, but it wasn't any fun when it was happening.

Way too close for comfort. The scars may fade, but your story will last a lifetime.

Welcome back, thanks for the post.

A real hunt by a real hunter and a real PH. A good story, thanks for that. Do not let anyone put you off or stop you from the next one.

Butch
Fantastic report. No frills and fuss. I spoke to Nixon recently and he could not sing your praises highly enough. he did indeed say that he would be dead or very badly injured at the very least had it not been for your standing your ground and putting in those last few shots.

Charging Buffalo and exploding toilets sure made for an exciting trip

Look forward to seeing you again in March

Damn lucky - both of you. Glad you are around to tell the story and also glad you saved Nixon's bacon!!!

Gift is an aspiring PH, where was he when the Buff was trying to tear you a new one?!!!

Congratulations on your hunt,BEGO.Good job!

Congratulations, Butch. Very well done. I am sure everyone here hopes he/she will stand in there just like you did when faced with a similar situation.

Good luck with Fairgame and the AR 'gang'. I am sure that will be a blast!

Mandlazim,

Dixon and Macundo were our trackers for that day. Gift works hard and a good hand, but not quite yet the tracker that Dixon is though.

Nixon told me that he has been hunting since the 80s and faced many a charge and false charge and had some very close calls, but this was the first time he had been hit. But, like Steven Meyers said, there are only 2 kinds of PHs, the ones that have been hit by a Buffalo and those that are going to be hit.
If you stay in that game long enough, it will happen.

Butch, Helluva story and pics! Glad everything worked out.

Whew, that was way too close!


Mad Dog

Amazing hunt, Butch. You and Nixon are very lucky. It is obvious that you are one tough hunter and someone that will stand in the face of danger. Well done!

Great adventure and good job! Very well done. Welcome home.

Thanks for the great report. Well done. Memories that will last a lifetime. It doesn't get any better than that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow - great hunt and report

Took a licking and kept on ticking.......

Impressive, sir.

Well done Butch!!
Glad you and Nixon are both still with us.
What a fantastic report.

Aiesh! That was close...
Congratulations well done

So any conclusions now, when the dust has settled?

P.S. Took me back to my Buffalo that charged as well...defenitely a thing you don't forget:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...=352105965#352105965

I vote that the post-charge picture go to the top of the forum page as it's new banner!

I agree the photo after the attack should be on the banner!!. Well done hunt war wounds and all.

"I vote that the post-charge picture go to the top of the forum page as it's new banner!"

Ditto.

Mouse93

Conclusions? As you would expect, I have thought about this over and over. My choice of caliber, 416 Rigby, was/is fine. My choice of solids was made for a reason. Nixon has a lot of big eles, and I was willing to shoot one that we might come across, so I wanted to stay loaded with solids and that was what Nixon recommended. I have killed two other buffs, all with solids, for whatever reason, I like shooting solids, it breaks bones for sure. I do think I like the high shoulder shot (last year) over the mid shoulder shot (this one). I now know that a PH can miss too, no blame here, it was real time, not rifle range BS, that brain shot with a bobbing head (especially with a broken front leg) is very difficult. I have dropped a buff that was coming towards me with a point of the shoulder shot, I wish I could have made that shot, that drops them now. I have total confidence in a low power scoped rifle, I had no problem with target acquisition. I do/would prefer a rifle with 4 round capacity. Somebody said you can kill Buffalo but you can't stop them, I agree with that. I have both wood and fiberglass stocked rifles. I prefer the look and feel of wood. I have used both in Africa, off and on, but wood breaks, kevlar doesn't. I WOULD NOT HUNT DANGEROUS GAME WITH A RIFLE I DIDN'T LIKE OR THAT DIDN'T HANDLE WELL. Just a month before I left, I had that CZs feeding system completely polished and slicked up. It fed those solids like butter. I can cycle that rifle very fast.

Great to see my old CZ leaning up against some nice trophies. Even better NOT to see pictues on you being medevaced to J'Burg. My hat is off to you for standing in the gap and seeing the fight thru to the end, well done.

Hunt of a lifetime I would say! Glad you all survived, excellent trophies!

Hey Head Trauma,

Yep, that old 9.3 of yours is a dream to hunt with. It handles great and shoots straight too.

Thanks for the report, i could feel the exitemnet just by reading!

STIG

WOW!! My hat's off to you, Butch. Well done and thanks for the report. Great trophies - I really like your nyala.

Hope to see you in Dallas.

My hat is off to you. What really impresses me is you hunted the next day. I can only imagine how sore you must have been. Nixon was lucky you were his client that day!

Wow! That is a hell of a report. I'm glad everyone is no worse for the wear.

Holy cow !!! or should I say buffalo,what an amazing hunt,glad you made it ok,you are one cool customer,hope to see you at the Comfort next time.

Damn, brother!