Travel Dates: June 2-4; June 20-21
Travel Agent: Kathi with Wild Travel
Route: Houston Intercontinental to Dulles to Jo-berg to Harare; Cessna 206 from Harare to Sengwa Research Center. We drove from Sengwa to Harare on our return.

Our luggage and more importantly our gun cases were checked in direct and arrived with no issues. Make absolute sure you get your 4457 forms! Coming back through Dulles, I saw where Customers was giving another fellow hunter absolute grief for not having said form…not a pretty sight and many Urban legends are born from this misstep! thanks to Mike's coaching, I did not over pack!


We flew South African Airlines from Dulles to Africa. My only complaint about the entire trip is the seat dimensions of the Airbus. For me, it equated to stuffing 100 pounds of potatoes into a 50 pound sack! Aside from the seat dimensions being a bit uncomfortable, the seats that Mike and I had were bulk head which provided some welcome leg relief however, the downside was an air bag incorporated into the seat belt…this fact alone caused additional ergo metric shrinkage!

The first time I wedged my fat bottom into the seat, I told Mike, I would pay $500 for an immediate upgrade…Mike dryly replied “It would be at least 2 thousand…†I clammed up, hoping a deep sleep was in the works…it would take 2 ambian CRs…I have a terrible time sleeping in airplanes.



My first sight of Africa


Animals hunted: Cape buffalo, Kudu, Waterbuck, Zebra, Bush Buck, Grysbok, Elephant, Eland, Impala, warthog and Hyenas
Animals seen: Cape buffalo, Kudu, Waterbuck, Klipspringer, Zebra, Monkeys, Baboons, Bush Buck, Grysbok, Elephant, Eland, Impala, numerous birds, warthog, reed buck and NO Snakes! (Mike did see some though)

Animals taken: 2 Cape buffaloes, Elephant, Kudu, Waterbuck, Zebra (Sorry Lamar!), Impala

Weapons: 1) Dakota African 416 Rigby with a Swarovski Z6 1x6x24 EE Illuminated CD (this system performed flawlessly)
2) Kimber Caprivi 375 H&H with a Zeiss 3x10x44 Conquest Scope

Ammunition: 416 Rigby, Norma Factory 400 grain Swift A-Frames and 400 Barnes Solids “Mike’s†special loads
375 H&H Remington Swift A-Frames 300 grains and Hornady 300 grain solids

Interesting point: None of my soft points exited…

Note about my guns. I used the 416 Rigby exclusively for all of my game. A quick story about the 375 and why I did not use it. While we were setting up our hyena blind on day 3 , I stepped into a hole the size of a 5 gallon bucket. Funny thing is that everyone including our tracker, driver, game scout, PH walked all over the area….leave it to me to find this hidden canyon. Needless to say, as soon as I stepped into the crevice I along with my 375 hit the ground the very hard. So much so, that I requested that we immediately check the zero. A couple of shots confirmed it was 6†low and 4†to the right. After a few more shots we were in the money however, my confidence was…pardon the pun “shotâ€! My 416 was true to every animal…..

Hunting Dates: June 5 - June 19

Area: Sengwa Research, Zimbabwe; operator HHK (hats off to HHK and Andrice, the appy PH; and Madala)

The area I guess is about 70-80,000 acres and is 185 miles west north west of Harare. Contiguous to the north is the Chirisa safari area operated by HHK. Based upon our drives, I surmise that the remaining area is surrounded by communal land. I do want to inform readers that we found very little evidence of poaching. I can recall only a couple of snares. This fact of seemingly little poaching can be attributed to the Head Game Ranger….he was a very diligent and delightful gentleman who did his best to optimize his operations with few to little resources and HHK’s anti-poaching efforts.

Chirisa and Sengwa are in the same area as Chizarira National Park. From my GPS, I got elevations from 2800 to 3200 feet MSL. The higher reading was taken on top of a wonderful look out called Ntaba Mangwe….which is one of the most beautiful bluffs/hills that I have ever seen. Most of the tracking was on fairly flat ground however, it is funny how my PH find hills…BTW, he could climb a hill or gorge like a billy goat, so be warned! Most of the game can be found near, between, along the Sengwa and Lutope Rivers.

Picture of Ntabe Mangwe and the bank of Sengwa River. Note a young elephant..




Approach into Sengwa


My view of Sengwa is that of a bountiful garden….. There are flood planes, mopane woods, some thick jess, vleys, sandstone, natural springs, and numerous pans. It reminds me of the Texas Hill country with respect to the foot hills. We just lack the wonderful river valleys and game…

Outfitter: Charlton McCallum Safaris

Why Charlton McCallum? Mike hunted with Buzz last year and had a grand time. So knowing someone with direct experience is huge. At the end of the day, when you look at the value propositions of all safari outfitters, it all comes down to “Trustâ€. Who do you believe will do their best to deliver on their promise without over-promising?? Let me just say that Buzz did this….he set the correct expectations and worked his tale off to deliver. Some comments and observations about Buzz…If you have seen his 2 videos, you can tell that Buzz is a passionate dedicated PH, who is true to himself and is always looking after the best interest of his clients. Buzz’s on air persona is the same off air! He has but one speed….fast Where in the world does he get his energy from? The world wants to know!! BTW, he is an absolute blast around the camp fire! The camp fire banter alone is worth the daily fee….well maybe not

Professional Hunter: Rex Hoets

A note about “Rexyâ€. Of course, him being my very first PH will undoubtedly create a “halo†effect so please factor this fact into my summary however, I must say that our chemistry was spot on! He was very funny and quick witted in camp however, he had this “Game Face†when it came to hunting and tracking. Whether we were hunting cape or impala…he was the consummate professional who along with his trackers placed me in perfect positions as each time I pulled the trigger, the game found its way to the salt. In addition, Rexy was an extraordinary teacher….thank goodness he had the patience of Job as I asked way too many stupid questions. BTW, he is a very knowledgeable reloader and supplies a number of PHs with the goods! he shoots and commands a beautiful custom bolt action 500 Jeffery. I felt very safe…..He simply comes with my highest recommendation and I look forward to hunting with him again!

My tracker was named Mandepu, our driver/tracker was named Uusa and our game scout was named Daniel. The value that these gentlemen brought to the hunt cannot be overstated. I jokingly state that these dynamic duos could track a house cat across concrete…that is how good they are. In addition, they were a source of great humor and their work ethic and professionalism was second to none. Each of them has my profound respect.

Here is a picture of Mandepu and Uusa reacting to a Polaroid picture of themselves. The smiles say a thousand words! Some AR member told Mike J to bring along a Polaroid…it was the biggest hit!



Camp: We stayed in farm house which use to be part of the Research Center. I jokingly however rightfully state that this house was nicer than the house I lived in while growing up in East Bernard, Texas. I had a queen size bed and my own bath/shower facility. The house and its fire pit/brie area overlooks the Sengwa river. HHK plans on erecting a tented camp close to the house. They have made little progress as they are waiting on a release from the ZIM govt. I would be very surprised if the tent is completed this hunting year…I could be wrong. While we are at the Camp, we enjoyed almost continuous electrical service that was supplemented for just a few hours with the camp’s generator.

Here are the coordinates of the farm house: Google earth, Fly to: -18.1576383771, 28.2180788791



In addition, please find below a map of the Research area. If anyone is going to be hunting Research, please PM and I will be happy to send you a high quality picture of the map.




Getting our temp gun permits....the Parks folks were excellent!


Mike at the range with his 500


Mike handing out some gifts to the staff. This is Madala, a wonderful individual....


Zebra:

Our Zebra hunt was not your typical zebra hunt…at least that is what I am told. The hunt occurred about 2Ks south of Ntaba Mangwe along the Sengwa river. The hunt began about 40 minutes before sundown and included an 800 meter stalk across an open plain. At one point both Rex and I were crawling on our bellies….the zebra stallion actually made an advance towards us during our stalk and had a great opportunity to smoke us out however, he mistakenly turned his back thus providing me enough time to transition from my belly (I actually felt as helpless as a turtle on its back while in this position) to a free handed sitting position with an 80 yard shot.. The stallion then turned facing us and was slightly elevated from my position. Rex calmly asked if I had a bead and I said, yes. I placed the circle dot where the neck adjoins the chest and calmly pulled the trigger. The 416 roared bringing the zebra down immediately. ….upon examination, the shot was a little higher up on the neck than I had wished; I could feel the bullet protruding from immediately underneath the skin having entered the neck stopping about half way down the back after exiting the vertebrae…the bullet did not exit.



Rex and I hunted capes extremely hard and chased a number of dugga boys and herds across the valley. Most of the hunting centered on dugga boys and began early in the mornings around the prolific springs marked on the map above. Our trackers would pick up the spoors and the hunt was on! We chased them seemingly across the concession however, each one ended in a bust; either we could not get close enough to discern the size, or if we did get close enough however the trophy had a soft boss or an underperformer or we got winded…I can say that one must take these dugga boy dances with the “slows†as the tracking is tediously slow and deliberate however, it is punctuated with absolute adrenaline. It was amazing watching Rex and his team read tracks like a palm reader…what a story they can tell! Yes, I am hooked! (Mike, when are we going back? My boss….errr, my wife just gave me the green light)









A note about my trophies…I did not go to Africa with a measuring tape nor did I set specific trophy expectation with rex or myself. My ultimate goal was to gain new experiences, explore the land, culture and simply immerse myself into the people and the animals. In addition, I wanted to learn more about myself and dramatically change the context under which I operated. In the end, I believe that I was true to myself and can unequivocally state that I have set a wonderful benchmark against which all other safaris will ultimately be judged. My goal is not to go after world records as this would be foolish. I have found that the hunting experience is a personal one….

Here is my readers digest version of the afternoon I took Santa Anna….(yes, I affectionately placed this moniker on my buff. The similarities are too obvious. I caught him soon after a nap, early afternoon, in the open with a lady nonetheless!....there are possibly other parallels) Close to noon, our tracking team came across the spoors of a small herd of cape buffalo. Since it was past noon, Rex thought best that we should re-charge our batteries with lunch. After a quick lunch, our team took to the spoors and began tracking through the mopanie trees/woods…..after tracking for about an hour, Rex nonchalantly through up the shooting sticks and calmly stated, there is your buff. I could clearly see him through the trees about 50 yards quartering towards me. Eventhough he was in a small clearing, there was a huge tree limb obstructing my shot. After quickly and quietly moving twice to clear the limb, I placed my circle dot in the area I thought equated to a high heart/lung combo. The slightly illuminated circle dot contrasted perfectly against the mass… I said over and over to myself, sqqqqeeeeezzzzee. I did just that and my Rigby roared from the thunder of the Norma. I quickly reloaded only to find that the small herd evaporated into the woods. Jeeze,, it happened too fast. I informed Rex that I felt extremely confident that the shot was true and about 2 minutes later; this was confirmed with the death bellow from my first buff! Hearing the bellow sent chills down my spine, for those who have hunted this magnificent animal you know the sound, it is hard to capture in words the feeling and emotions that come with this penetrating confirmation. Soon thereafter, we found my dugga boy about 60 yards from the initial point of contact.….






Sengwa Research is full of vleys and flooded planes; providing the perfect habitat for the territorial Waterbuck. Early on while tracking buffs, we came across a number of waterbucks however, each one proved to be too young. On day 12, while glassing from a bluff on the northern edge of the center close to the Charissa boundary, we spotted mid morning a lone waterbuck south of us that was in a grassy area along the Sengwa. Hunt on! After stalking for about 1 mile, Rex through up the sticks. I could tell that the waterbuck know something was up however, it lacked the S2 confirmation…sight and smell. When Rex through up the sticks, the waterbuck was moving from right to left at about 130 yards. I placed the circle dot on the left shoulder however, I did not lead enough. When the bullet impacted, it was a little too far back…..the shock knocked the animal to the ground but it quickly got up. We followed and soon thereafter placed 2 solids through each hind quarter which simply ran the length of this terrifically powerful animal….btw, these were shot 3 & 4. Shot #2 was too high! These are very tough animals.

When I reflect on the animals taken, the waterbuck is simply the most elegant…not sure why but I find them to be a majestic animal.





View from the lookout where we spotted the waterbuck


During the course of chasing dugga boys and cape herds, we frequently came across various impala herds however, we never saw a ram which stood out until towards the end of the hunt. We made 3 separate stalks on 3 separate days for this one ram that stood out from the remaining herd…..it ended with a 130 yard shot off the sticks. The ram was quartering towards me and the swifty entered the front right shoulder. The bullet’s progress stopped in the back right hind quarter…..again not exiting!



For some reason……(Mostly self inflicted!) I had a heck of a time bringing down my first kudu. Having spotted the kudu with only 20 minutes of light left in the day, the stalk for my first kudu actually began with a 300 meter gallop from our hunting vehicle to a vantage point where Rex had judged the kudu to be. Within 120 seconds of our Olympic sprint, Rex through up the sticks and said do you see the kudu and I replied initially no….and then the grey ghost appeared out of seemingly no where looking directly at us. I gingerly placed my gun on the sticks and sqquuuueeezed….and guess what, nothing happened. Ever so security conscious, I did not chamber a round prior to the sprint. So while the kudu was trying to make us out, I ever so gently chambered a round into my 416. At this point, I was a little flustered, my heart was coming out of my throat, I was beating myself up for making such a rookie mistake…and then I…..jerked the shot hitting the kudu in the front throat knocking the kudu down to the ground very hard. Before we could determine that the shot was off, the kudu got immediately up and started running away….I chambered another round and this time squuueeezed and the shot appeared to go right through the kudu as my next rounds were solids however, it was a clean miss. After a couple more shots, I finally had my kudu….it was not my finest moment however, the results are supposedly what count….still kicking myself a bit for the mental lapse, I will be ok after some counseling/professional help..



So after taking, a kudu, impala, cape, waterbuck, zebra…..On day 12 of our 14 day trip, I received word that the head ranger of Sengwa requested 2 elephants and a cape buffalo for rations. The request came because his scouts were wholly under gunned with their AK 47s and wanted to humanly take these animals. When Buzz informed me the night before, that I would be hunting an elephant.....my stomach turned inside out.

Probably being the most prepared hunter that I know…the ever ready and able Mike, provided me that night photo copies of elephant heads along with shot placement…so the night before the hunt, I played arm chair elephant hunter trying to mentally picture the brain from the various angles. When I woke up the next morning, I felt as if I was taking a final exam without ever having attended class, not a warm and fuzzy feeling.

After tracking 4 separate herds and surviving 2 separate elephant charges, we got a bull at around 3:00 in the afternoon. The bull was actually quartering towards us moving from left to right when I placed Mike’s special loaded Barnes solid through the front right of the brain. The bullet went cleanly through passing through the back left of the head bringing the magnificent animal down instantly. At 35 yards, the bull hit the ground with a tremendous thud….




Notwithstanding any spiritual, humanitarian or family experiences, I know of no greater human endeavor than hunting elephants. I have been blessed with many experiences, ....no other human endeavor comes close to the exhilaration I felt as when hunting these gallant animals. Yes, I am hooked….and will be back in due time.

On our drive back to Harare, I attempted to capture the helplessness of the most innocent



Thank you Cindy , Taylor, Haley and Emily for being so supportive of my trip and endeavors!

Thank you Mike J for being the catalyst….without you, I would still be dreaming about Africa.

Thank you Buzz and Rex for the passion you have for your clients and the profession which you each are so true to.

Thank you to the Zimbabwean people. I have learned so much about myself through you.

Thank you AR Members, I have taken so much and given very little....

Great report. You're hooked...welcome to the fold.

Bill,

Your report is perfect and captures emotion in a way so many reports fail to. You were the ideal hunting companion and I would gladly share a campfire and camp with you anytime. I appreciated the company and being able to share in your experience (except the elephant charge!). Well done.

Great report with excellent photos. Really, it sounds like you had the perfect hunt. Charlton McCallum is simply a fantastic company to hunt with. All of their PHs are great (I hunted elephant with Alan last year). I'm a bit envious of all of the EXTRA elephant that kept falling down in Sengwa while you and Mike were there.

See what happens...you're already planning the next trip! Just don't get used to having extra elephant.

Thank you for sharing. Great hunt with a well written report.

Congratulations Bill, ain't Africa wonderful.

Incidentially we know each other from our younger days. Abel Street on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Thank you for sharing! Did you leave the illumination on the scope constantly on, or flick the switch when you needed it?

Great report, great pictures, great hunt! Congratulations...and sorry that you're hooked. Welcome to AA (Africa Anonymous).

Namibiahunter

Thanks for sharing this wonderful hunt with us! Seems like one heck of an experience.. Now you can look forward to getting the trophies back home and on the walls..

Thoroughly enjoyed the report and wonderful pics. Great report.

Thanks for sharing.

Great report and photos

FANTASTIC photos and report, Congratulations.

quote:

cable68

Last name starts with an "H"? Great hearing from ole friends from Wharton! you are a Dr... correct?

Nitehawk
I flicked it on when needed! I cannot say enough good things about the Z6 illum..

Excellent hunt and report - congrats. That definitely is a good elephant and buff area...

Well done. Congratulations on a fascinating hunt.

great pics, even better report
congrads. I have not been to zim in 3 years. Looks like you a great trip. Keep your ck. book handy
your going to need it.

Great report and some very nice trophies! I also appreciated your photography. Over time these will become some of the most valuable mementos of your trip... one look at them and they will send you back to the sights, sounds and smell of Africa!

That's me. I'm working as a general surgeon in Ponca City, OK these days.

Heading to Zim myself in 8 days.

Caleb,

Small world! So can you share some of the vitals regarding your hunt? areas, animals, PH....

Have an awesome trip. I along with Mike J drove all over Harare on 2 seperate days with a lady driver for one trip and never felt or observed any issues that we cause us pause. Just act meek and you will fit in with 100% of the people...

I look forward to your hunting report...

Cheers from Sugarland, Texas! Bill

My hunt will actually be split between RSA and Zim. I'll be in the Sapi safari area in Zim for a buff as well as maybe a hyena (and the outfitter is trying to get me to take a hippo as well), and then Kwa-Zulu Natal for an nyala, and finally Limpopo for bushbuck and blue wildebeest (rug for Mom). Not entirely certain who the PH will be. The particulars were arranged by the outfitter in RSA.

Bill,
A++ on photo's and report, can I pay you to do my reports in the future, great job, great experience, when you hunt with the great lotto ele bull hunter Mike good things happen.

Dirk

I thoroughly enjoyed your hunting report and pics...

You have inspired me and I hope to make the trip one day to Africa to hunt ELE and CB...

Thanks a bunch...

Congratulations on a great hunt.

Great report

TerryR

Congatulations from me as well...!

Excellent report...

I'm booked with the same outfit next year...your report got me fired up!

Matt V.

Bill, simply superb report... Your honesty and humility came thru with every word...

The best,

Mike

GOOD INFO AND GREAT HUNT. I AM HAVING A DAKOTA 416 RIGBY BUILT AND WAS GOING TO SCOPE IT WITH THE SAME SWAROFSKI SCOPE AND RETICLE YOU CHOSE.

BEEN WATCHING THE DVD BY BUZZ AND IS GOOD TO HEAR SUCH POSITIVE THINGS ABOUT YOUR HUNT AND THE PH.

LOOKING TO BOOK A BUFFALO AND BUSHBUCK HUNT WITH THEM FOR 2010 AND HOPEFULLY THINGS WILL SETTLE A BIT IN ZIMBABWE.