Hunt dates--9-16 to 9-29-2011
Safari company- Wayne Dietrechsen, Jimba Safaris
Booking agent- Adam Clements, Safari Trackers
PH-- Tim Lamprecht
Tracker- Luvmore
Game Scout- Ollie
Area-Sijaria Forest, Zim
Rifle- CZ 550 375 H&H For everything
Ammo- Factory 300gr Barnes TXS & 300gr Hornady DGS
Animals on main trophy list- Ele, Leopard, Buff.
2ndary list was Kudu, Croc, and Impala.
Travel agent- Lori Ginn, Travel Express
Airlines- Delta nonstop ATL to Jo-Burg
SAA- Jo-Burg to Vic Falls

This was my first time to Africa, so everything was new to me.

A few days before i was due to depart for my trip Wayne e-mailed me and stated that he had a meeting to attend to and would not be my PH until about half way through the hunt. Then he would take over. I was dissapointed to hear this because i was told that Wayne would definitly be my PH. There didn't seem to be anything i could say or do to change it so all i could say was OK i'm sure everything will be fine.

All the traveling and overnight at the Afton House went without a hitch thanks to Lori and Jamie @ Safari Trackers.

Tim and Luvmore picked me up at the Vic Falls airport. After introductoins and handshakes we were in the cruiser and off for our 4 1/2 hour ride to the Sij and the lodge.

When we were a few minutes from the lodge we spotted a nice Kudu bull standing along the airstrip. We drove by and looked him over. Tim said he thought he would go 53 or 54". I said he looks like a nice one and that i would be happy with one his size.

We continue on to camp so i can unpack and put my rifle together. { I put my rifle into a 36" breakdown shotgun case then put that into a 38" Badlands terre glide bow case}. After meeting the rest of the crew i got my rifle together grabbed some ammo and headed back to the airstrip to make sure my rifle was on. I should tell you now that before the trip i had taken it apart and put it back together many times, it always shot great so was not worried in the least. But i also know it has to be checked anyway.

The Kudu was still there. Looks to me he is still standing in the same spot. Tim tells me to load up and get in the back of the cruiser. We are driving straight for it and get about 150 yards from it when it decides to get outa there. Instead of jumping into the bush it runs out across the airstrip into the wide open. Big mistake on his part. We could clearly see that he was lamed up for some reason and could not run very fast. Tim speeds up and cuts him off enough to stop him. We are now about 100 yards apart. Tim said if you want him shoot him. he also said we need Leopard bait. To me it was a no brainer. BANG! Damn, i missed. I shot to the left of him and missed completly. I jacked another round in. He just stood there. This time i settled down some and sqeezed the trigger instead of jerking it. That time it hit home. The bull ran only a few yards then went down. He looked to me anyway like a fine old bull with worn down tips probably at or near the end. The way it all happened i figured it was meant to be. We had a trphy Kudu and Leopard bait and it wasen't even the beginning of the hunt yet. He ended up being 50 51".
It was back to the skinning shed and camp for a cold one.

The Lodge sits on lake Kariba and is owned and run by HHK Safaris. It's actually a fishing camp. I found it to be very comfortable and relaxing. The food was great and there was plenty of it.

i had emailed Wayne earlier about prebaiting. I stated that if he thought it would be a good idea to prebait than go ahead.

A few days before i arrived Tim shot 3 bait Impala and hung them up.

On our way out of camp the first morning we checked the first bait, which is only 250 to 300 yards behind camp. I was thinking this was really close to camp but didn't give it a whole lot of thought at the time. I was a newby. We stayed in the cruiser while the trackers checked the bait. Nothing had touched it.

The 2nd bait was in a wash where they had taken the 1st leopard of the year. { They have 2 on qouta} No takers here either.

Tim stated that the 3rd bait had been eaten by vultures because it was not covered properly. So we take a fresh Kudu quarter find a new tree and hang the bait. We end up hanging two more baits which takes the rest of the day.

Day-2 was spent checking baits and trying to find a place for the last quarter of Kudu. we checked a few spots but there was too much poacher activity in the area. We were afraid the baits would be stolen so moved on until a suitable place was found. That took the rest of that day. No hunting was done.

Day-3 Straight off checking baits and looking for buff tracks. No hits on the baits. We do find fresh buffalo tracks crossing the road.
The car is parked and we are after them. It did not take long and we were into them.
Tim looked them over but didn't see a shooter bull. We tried to circle around to get a look at more of the herd but got busted, off they went. We did this a couple more times. I could tell Tim was getting upset with the situation.


We ended up running across a small herd of ele while tracking the buff. We went around most of them, when the trackers said there was one more ahead of us. I could tell it was a bull but could not get a good look at it because he was standing behind a small group of trees. Thats when Tim grabbed the shooting sticks from the game scout. He positioned the sticks then told me to get on them which i did. Then he told me where to shoot it for a side brainer and said shoot it now!

At the shot he went straight down back legs first. It all happened so fast i didn't have time to get nervous. Tim had me put two more in him for insurance.

I seemed to have mixed emotions about this.
I was happy to have taken an ele but was dissapointed in the size of the animal and the tusks. I thought elephants were supposed to be huge. This guy was half as big or smaller than i expected. I could not believe ground shrinkage would be that severe with an ele.

Thats when i started thinking about Tim not even taking time to talk about its size and if if he thought we had a decent chance of taking a bigger one. Hell it was only the 3rd day of a 14 day hunt WTF. I thought a PH was supposed to talk to his client and discuss important things like that!!

Thats when thing started going down hill!
By then it was the middle of the day and getting hot. We took a few quick pics and left.

We got back on the buff tracks again and continued to follow. We were able to get close one more time but by then they were very spooky. Before the herd could be looked over for a shooter bull they busted us and were off. Shortly after that we came to a road and decided that was enough.

Tim sent Luvmore back for the cruiser. When the cruiser arrived we loaded up and headed for camp. We didn't go far when buff were spotted. Tim slowed down some to look over the ones we could see from the road. I guess they didn't interest him enough because we kept going. I really thought we could have went aways stopped and gone back to check them out. I am sure they were the same ones we had been chasing all day but hey you never know unless you try.

Day-4 checked a couple baits on the way to the scout camp. Picked up all available game scouts then headed to where the road needed to be cut to the ele. When the guys were lined out Tim and i left to check more baits.

when we returned the guys were only about 1/2 way to the ele. Tim said there wasen't any thing we could do. I suggested we could check the last bait as it didn't seem to be that far away.Tim said yes we could do that but i guess he decided not to because we didn't.

It was back to camp for lunch and Tims daily nap. Tim took a nap every day besides the day we shot the ele. I didn't need or want a nap but he insisted that is what we will do.

At about 3:30 we go back to to the ele. The crew has it skinned and cut up so we load it onto the cruiser. The meat is delivered to the scout camp the rest is brought back to the skinning shed.

Day-5 finds us checking baits again. We stop at the bait that was not checked yesterday. As usual Tim says we will stay in the car and let the trackers check the bait as it is 1/4 to 1/2 a mile to it.

We are not waiting long when Luvmore comes running back and says there is a cat on the bait. Of course we scramble to grab the rifles and sticks and were off.

As we get closer to the bait tree we slow down and start looking for the cat in the tree.The game scout Ollie is motioning to us something. We find out the cat is gone. Missed him by minutes. The cat had come down the tree and started walking sraight at Ollie. We figure the cat was coming to drink from the spring that was 20 yards from Ollie and in line with the bait tree. We will never know if it had seen Ollie or maybe he had gotten scared and spooked it. Or maybe it had gotten our wind, who knows. Anyway the leopard was gone. Not good!

The bait was also gone. That was not good either! It must have fed for two nights. That must have been a hungry kitty because that was a big hind quarter off the kudu. Tim tried to downplay the situation. He said there was a little piece of meat left. He was full of shit, there was clearly no meat left the bones were licked clean.

We talked it over and decided to build a blind. In a couple of hours a nice blind is built and ready for action.

Earlier it was agreed opon to take down one of the other baits and bring it to whereever we needed it. That idea was soon scratched. Tim and the trackers thought it would be best to bring in some fresh meat. So we were off to check the rest of the baits and bring down a new one.

There were good numbers of impala and quite a few kudu when you didn't need bait. It was midday and the animals were scarce.

I did get two off hand shots at impala but missed. I should have taken the shooting sticks with me because Tim didn't even bother to get out of the car. The trckers atleast tried to help. I just could not find a suitable rest in time. The first shot was about 100 yards the 2nd was around 150. Not easy off hand shots but i thought i should have connected on one of them. Thats when i realized how Tim could be. He sat in the car and stared straight ahead not saying a word. Him being upset and giving me the silent treatment was not helping in the least. It didn't help matters that we were late for lunch and cutting into his nap time.

After that we went back to camp for lunch and Tims nap, he needed it! Tim reminded me of Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde, he was always nice in camp or when he did't have to do anything but get him into a tough situation or the heat and look out.

At about 4 we continue our bait safari. It didn't take long before we started seeing game. I ended up shooting a cow kudu because we needed to freshen up some of the older baits also.

Tim give me hell because i shot the smaller of two cows. I told him the larger one had brush in the way and did not present a good shot. I thought give me a fricken break! I'm the one paying the damn bait fee!

Tim said it was getting too late to put the bait out and that it would go back to camp. I figured we had a good hour of light yet and asked if we could look for a buffalo or at least something. I was still looking for a trophy impala or even a bigger kudu. Tim looked at me and said, well Richard how many buffalo have you seen here in the afternoon? I said none so far. I was thinking to myself, we ain't seen any because we never looked for any. I didn't say anything because i didn't want to start any shit. I wasen't going to let this asshole ruin my once in a life time hunt. It's not that i didn't want to tell him what i thought, i just figured things could get worse if he wanted them to be. I was the only client in camp and he was the only PH. By then i had come to the conclusion that wayne was not coming. I ended up being right. After his meeting Wayne was too busy fishing and camping. We went back to camp.

Day-7 We set out sraight away to hang a new bait for Mr. Spots. When we were walking in and getting close to the tree the tracker thought he saw the leopard run into the bush. We checked it out and sure enough the cat had been laying not far from the bait tree and we spooked it again. Not good!! We hung the bait and left.

We had seen fresh buff tracks cross the road after we left the bait site. By then it was too late to go after them. Tim said if you do not get on them in the first 2 hours of the morning you may as well not even try. REALLY!!! It looked like to me a couple of those tracks were big.

We freshened up some of the older baits. Then we decided to hang a new bait in the same vicinity as the one that had gotten hit. We thought that the cat may not come back to the one it had been spooked from twice. We were right about that it never did come back.

The new bait however was hit right away. We built a blind right away and sat for two nights in a row. As luck would have it the breeze would be blowing perfectly when we arrived at the blind around 4:30 or so. But when the sun set the breeze stopped and the thermals started to take our scent towards the bait. Our educated kitty is now about to be a college grad with a degree. Who knew? No ones fault there. Thats hunting.

Day-8 We are still checking baits. A small group of impala rams were spotted ahead of us on the road. Tim states that one is a brute. We jump out and walk about 50 feet from the cruiser. Tim puts up the sticks and tells me which one to shoot. I made a good shot on the impala, he ran about 20 yards. He was a nice ram but not what i consider a brute.

Days 8-12, Besides taking the impala nothing exciting happened. In the mornings we would checked baits and look for buff tracks. Then go back to camp eat lunch take a nap, then at around 3:30 or 4 we would drive to what was called ele bay. We glassed for crocs or any other game that came to drink. We spotted a few crocs that deserved a closer look but when we started to get even remotly close they were gone. It was kinda funny because you could get fairly close to the little ones but the big ones seemed to know we were after them and would vanish. I didn't realize that crocs were that wary and difficult to hunt.

Tim complained of all the miles/kilometers he was putting on his new cruiser so we stopped checking some of the baits that were out further than he wanted to drive to.

On one of the days Tim called Wayne to ask about something. The conversation turned to my hunt. Wayne asked Tim how the hunt was coming. Tim stated that things were a bit slow. We were both sitting in the cruiser and i could hear the conversation plain as day. Wayne asked Tim if i was interested in a hyena or a hippo. Tim said that no that i was not. Then Wayne told Tim to not to worry about the bloody cat and to get me a buff and croc. Tim knew i could hear all this so changed the subject right away. After hearing the ele ordeal and hearing this i was thinking these guys are more worried about trophy fees than taking trophy animals.

I told Tim that i heard the conversation. He said well it's a business and we have to cover our exspenses somehow.

I know it's a business but hearing that did not make me feel real good.

I told Tim that maybe the leopard did not mean anything to Wayne but sure did to me. After spending a small fortune in baits, baiting and all the time invested that i did not want to just forget about the cat!

Tim said that he understood and that we would stay on it and do the best we could. And for that i am grateful.

We were still working on spots {the college grad}.
We had to go on another bait safari for an impala to keep him coming back. He had us pegged, but we had to keep trying, he was all we had.. We were hoping to get a lucky break and he would make a mistake.

We built another blind thinking the wind would be kind to us. He was not coming in every night nor did we know at what time he was feeding.

Day-13 Woke up at 0430 instead of 5 to get into the blind at a good time. All 4 of us crammed into the new blind in hopes the cat was a morning feeder. We sat there for 1 to 1 1/2 hours with no activity.

We left the blind to look for buff tracks. While searching the trackers asked tim to stop. They noticed leopard tracks on the road and they were headed for an old bait that in the wash where the client shot his cat ealier that year. Things were looking up. The cat had indeed fed on the bait and his tracks indicated that he was a good one.

Tim and the trackers agreed that if we sat here tonight we could kill this cat. That was music to my ears! We imediatly set forth building a blind. The blind location looked perfect, it was between two large boulders about 4 or 5 feet apart.

It was also agreed upon that we should bring the fresh impala here so that is what we did.

We arrived at the blind around 5 and settled in for the wait. I was very excited about how our luck had changed for the better and now there was a good chance it might all come together. My mind was racing, thinking about everything that had happened up to this point, the good and not so good. The time passed slowly.
Twilight came and went, darkness was setting in. NO LEOPARD!

I was glad it was an area that allowed hunting after dark. It was very close to the new moon, and dang it was darker than the inside of an angus bull.

About that time i heard a sound like something was climbing the bait tree. I was not sure if i had actually heard it or if it was wishful thinking. Then i heard what i thought was leaves of some of the green that was still there being moved around. After i listened for a minute or two i knew there was something on the bait, i was sure of it.

I wispered to Tim telling him what i had heard. He whispered back saying he doubted it was a leopard because if it was you would know it.

Then he said get into your rifle and get ready. He asked if i was ready. I said yes. He then stood up and turned on the torch. I wanted to see a leopard so bad but there just was not one there to see. Thats when i caught movement on a small limb behind the bait. It was a genet helping himself to the bait. I was crushed! Tim turned the torch off and sat back down. we both whispered a few choice words at that genet cat.

I was trying to calm down a bit when Tim whispered, when a leopard startes to feed there will be no mistaking it.

It was about 10 or 15 minutes later when i heard more claws digging into the bark of the tree. Only this time it was much louder, i said to myself could it be? Thats when i heard the green being knocked away with some power and authority. There was no mistaking that there was something big in the tree this time and it had to be a leopard. I couldn't believe it! We just shined the light in the tree a little bit ago and gave ourselves away. He must have been just far enough away that he didn't notice anything wrong. WOW what luck!

We waited until he got settled in and started feeding. By then i was in my rifle and ready. Tim knew i was in position when he whispered OK i'm going to turn the torch on now. When the light hit him it was the most beautiful sight i have ever seen. Tim hissed shoot,shoot! BANG!

At the shot the leopard jumped straight in the air and came flying out of the tree. I knew it had to have been a good hit because i was right on him and the shot felt good.

We heard a low growl come from somewhere between us and the bait tree. We hoped that it was his last!! Tim kept shining his torch toward where we thought he should be to catch any movement if there was any. I was ready for a follow up shot if need be.

I couldn't believe it, i just shot a leopard!

The trackers heard the shot and came with the cruiser. They parked it so the lights were shining towards the bait tree then met us at the blind.

I was shaking like crazy and more excited than i have ever been before. What a high!

We waited a bit longer and readied ourselves for the follow up. We slowly worked our way across the rocks down to the wash towards the bait tree. We shined our lights around for what we hoped was a dead cat.

Tim saw him a split second before we did, he was stone dead. THANK GOD! I had my leopard. Talk about luck, with so many highs and lows. But thats the great thing about hunting, you just never know.

Day-14 The last day. After breakfast we take afew more pictures of the leopard.

I do wonder about it sitting all night as warm as it had been.

We leave the cat in the skinners hands and start checking for buff tracks. It wasen't long before we ran across some that were fresh enough to go after. A couple of the tracks looked big so we were hopful. We tracked and bumped into them all morning but could not catch a break. If there was a shooter bull in the herd he stayed hidden very well. The wind was not nice to us either. When we came to a road we decided to throw in the towel and walked back to camp as the car was on the other side of camp. At least we worked hard that morning. IMO we only worked hard 2 days for buff, the day we killed the ele and today.

After lunch and Tims nap. I asked if we could look for crocs from the boat that evening, {because i was getting tired of sitting at ele bay killing time until dark}. Tim said yes that is a very good idea what a wonderful way to end a great hunt.

Cruising the bays was very relaxing and you could see a lot of things from the boat that you can't from the car.

We spotted several crocs but none of any real interest to us.

There was probably less than an hour of day light left when the tracker spotted a bushbuck. Tim told me to get up to the bow of the boat and get ready to shoot. We slowly motored toward him until we were about 80 yards away. Tim said, { he is a good one shoot if you can}. Yes i shot the bushbuck from the boat. I know i will get some flack over that but thats how it happened.

I will post pics when i can.
To be cont.

Allgone,

Take your time typing it up. I suggest typing it into Word so it will autosave in case your pc shuts down or you accidentally shut down your browser. When you're finished cut and paste it into the Post window.

Looking forward to reading the rest.

Good report so far. Keep up the good work.

I am surprised there are no other comments. That calf is a real tragedy for all hunters! No way the PH should have asked you to shoot it whether it was day 3 or day 21. JMHO for a wanabe Bwana.

hope the rest of the safari takes a turn for the better, makes you really appreciate a quality PH!would like to see some pics if possible

WOW!!!

Sounds like Tim would have made fine leopard bait...

It would be better for everyone to understand the problems if the pictures were still viewable.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
I am surprised there are no other comments. That calf is a real tragedy for all hunters! No way the PH should have asked you to shoot it whether it was day 3 or day 21. JMHO for a wanabe Bwana.

Naki - I quite agree in the context of a trophy elephant hunt. But I don't see the killing of a young animal itself as a tragedy, as young animals are a legitimate component of a population management plan. I don't know what the local elephant density is in this particular region, but we shouldn't forget the substantial overpopulation in some areas that is causing untold damage to local habitat. So All Gone can feel aggrieved about the situation that led to the PH instructing him to shoot a non-trophy animal, but not beat himself up because a young animal died. JMHO

A photo of the elephant would be enlightening.

Congratulations on your leopard!

Jabali Hunter:

quote:

young animals are a legitimate component of a population management plan.

Not to a trophy hunter who splashes out mega bucks!

Population management plans are conducted through organized culls where numbers are the determining factor, irrelevant of age or sex.

quote:

Population management plans are conducted through organized culls where numbers are the determining factor, irrelevant of age or sex.

That statement right there answers a lot of questions. The type animal that was shot is normally weeded out during cull hunts, not trophy hunts.

Never had the desire to shoot a Jumbo, but don't fault those that do. If I did ever decide to go on a trip after one, I would take the tome to familiarize myself with what a mature elephant looks like versus a juvenile.

Also, I would take the time to reach an understanding with my PH and make it known to that person in a clear and undisputable manner what I was expecting in the way of the hunt and the trophies I wanted to shoot.

Some individuals lose sight of the fact that while a guide or PH may seem to be some sort of mythical hunting God, if you are paying for the hunt, then during that hunt they are in effect, your employeee.

As such, even though they are bringing their experience and skills into the undertaking, they are still your employee, and if they start screwing up, it is up to YOU as the employer to take steps in correcting the problem.

From the narrative so far it seems that the PH was big into using Passive-Agressive methods to run the show. Such things as forcing everything to shut down while he took a daily nap is not part of the service, or should not have been.

If the client wants to take a nap or knit doylies, that is one thing. For a guide/PH to simply hunt things down on a personal whim is something entirely different.

None of us like having to be confrontational on a hunt, we are out there to have a good time. But if things are being done that are making us feel uncomfortable or making us feel that we are not getting our monies worth, we need to bring everything to a halt and get things sorted out.

Hey All Gone
This situation stinks and I notice that many of the outfitters are quiet.
I have a standing rule with my clients and this extends to my Pro Hunters - you shoot a immature animal you look the guy in the eye apologize on the spot and let him know that you made a bad call and will be looking for another.

Its pro hunter school fees we have all paid it, weve all made bad calls, thats hunting.We are so called "Pro's" because we are supposed to know what we are doing BUT shit happens.
I want my clients to trust my judgement when a quick call is required. I hate it when you have a monster trophy thats just about to bolt and you say SHOOT an he starts fiddling with binos and"is he good enough?" well hell youve paid me so trust me!! But that trust will forever be tarnished with this.
Our reseme' is in our photos and the camp fire stories that our clients tell.Word of mouth is better than the most expensive brochure.
From what Ive read on this and your other thread, the Pro hunter should have called the outfitter at his earliest opportunity told him of the situation and arranged to take another on the same hunt if quota allowed.Or another hunt should have been arranged while still in country.
its just good business to keep your client happy and shooting mature animals on a TROPHY hunt would be a pre-requisite

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
Some individuals lose sight of the fact that while a guide or PH may seem to be some sort of mythical hunting God, if you are paying for the hunt, then during that hunt they are in effect, your employeee.

That being said, sometimes it takes a guided hunt or two to realize that. AG sounds like he was relying on a profession he paid to do a job and that job was poorly executed.

I had a house built in Florida years ago and the contractor obviously screwed up the stringers for a stairwell inside. When I called him on the mistake he got peaved and began telling me how he is the professional and not me. When he finally ran to his truck to get a level and show me how much of an asshole I was being he found out how badly that stringer was off level.

We both got over it after he tore out the stairs at his expense. If he didn't I would have and I will still be doing everything in my power to let the world know he's a lousy, opinionated, contractor.

Congrats on the leopard. I know that you will change your elephant luck soon. Bad leopard luck, however, can be hard or impossible to change. Maybe that's the silver lining here.

Thanks everyone,

Pics should be up shortly. Mark Y. helped me out.

Richard

All Gone here are your trophy pix.

Personally other than the elephant I'd have to say you did quite well. The leopard is a nice big tom, the bushbuck is very nice, the kudu is an old worn down warrior and the impala is a mature ram.









Mark

Indeed, that is a beautiful, big leopard.

Splendid leopard, more so for being a valley cat

quote:

that is a beautiful, big leopard.

+1

...and photos of the elephant?

Thank you so much everyone. I am indeed very happy with my trophys.

David Hulme, I am still trying to put in words the wonderful experience i shared with you all at the Ultimate Lodge. I hope Russel is well. I will be back someday. Stay well My Friend.

SBT,

The ele pics are in the Africa hunting thread under need suggestions by yours truly all gone.

Thanks again,
Richard

Very nice Leopard AG, good for you.

Sorry about the elephant, but otherwise it looks like your hunt turned out ok. Congratulation on Mr. Spots.

I feel for your position AG. While that was a good leopard, that elephant was inexcusible.

Beautiful cat and nice chobe bushbuck.

I do believe a photo of the elephant is called for due to the nature of this controversy.

Some fine mature trophies there and the leopard is a beauty.

If you manage to get a refund on the elephant I would say you have done very well.

AG, very nice cat. Lazy PH

I read this report with great interest. My brother and I hunted with these clowns two years ago and had the exact same experience. Yes, nice trophies were taken and we were happy with them. But that isn't the only measure of a successful safari. Unprofessional, lazy PH's and a poorly run operation. I am not one for publicly trashing someone on the internet but when you invest huge amounts of time and money on what is supposed to be a dream hunt you expect your PH's to work hard, treat you with respect, and have the logistics of the hunt properly lined up BEFORE your arrival.

Wow that Cat is great and thats a pretty good Bushbuck and Impala ram too.

just a pity about the overall sour taste.

keep us posted on developments

quote:

Originally posted by CDub:
I read this report with great interest. My brother and I hunted with these clowns two years ago and had the exact same experience. Yes, nice trophies were taken and we were happy with them. But that isn't the only measure of a successful safari. Unprofessional, lazy PH's and a poorly run operation. I am not one for publicly trashing someone on the internet but when you invest huge amounts of time and money on what is supposed to be a dream hunt you expect your PH's to work hard, treat you with respect, and have the logistics of the hunt properly lined up BEFORE your arrival.

With all due respect perhaps if you would have given an unemotional review AllGone or someone else that booked a hunt with Jimba in the last two years may have been saved from a similar outcome.

quote:

you expect your PH's to work hard, treat you with respect, and have the logistics of the hunt properly lined up BEFORE your arrival.

You mean pre baiting?

I have been told that pre-baiting is illegal in Zim. Baits can only be present for the days that the client is booked to hunt. Last day of the hunt, the left over baits have to come down....

Am i misinformed???

This whole report is a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride.....not sure what to make of it. I think one really had to be there to make an informed opinion on the hunt quality, PH, outfitter, and client....

No, I don't mean pre-baiting. We weren't targeting cats, but did hang some baits late in the hunt for the next hunter who was. As they were preparing a bait site and the trackers were spreading the stomach contents at the base of the tree, my brother had some thrown on him by accident and the comment from Tim was "if he doesn't want shit on him he can get the hell out of the way."

The day we arrived we were taken to Wayne's bar in Bulawayo and got the hard sell on going to their fishing camp, so I was not surprised to see that Wayne didn't bother to show up for AllGone's hunt because he was fishing. We were literally being pestered on a daily basis to pack up and move to their fishing camp, even before I had my elephant down. I finally had to tell Wayne in no uncertain terms, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN FISHING UNTIL I GET MY ELEPHANT. I CAME HERE TO HUNT ELEPHANT, NOT FISH. He seemed surprised but left it alone after that.

Wayne didn't have enough food in camp for a ten day hunt and we wasted a half day of valuable hunting time driving to the nearest town to resupply. When I asked Wayne why it wasn't taken care of in advance, the reply was "you want to eat don't you?"

The alarm bells really started going off when Wayne told me he was being sued by SCI and hunters in the states but he wasn't worried about it because he wasn't subject to U.S. law.

Wayne didn't even know what was on quota in the area, and a good opportunity on buffalo was lost because "I didn't know you were interested in buffalo" even though I had told him numerous times I was.

I could go on and on with everything that happened but you get the idea.

I booked this hunt with a well liked and very active booking agent on this forum. I believe he didn't really know what he was selling at the time, and quite honestly didn't want to get roasted by others in his defense. I have no beef with the agent and would book with him again. I just chalked it up as a learning experience. In hindsight you're right Frostbit, I should have posted a report. But I have seen a few somewhat positive reports here on Jimba too, and just decided that maybe my expectations were too high.

I have been to Africa three times and a couple of dozen guided hunts in North America, so this was not my first rodeo and I have reasonable expectations when booking these hunts. My first safari was with Roger Whittall in Zim and it was a great experience. Being around PH's like Collen Van der Linden and Rich Tabor set the bar for me as to what a quality PH is and should be. I most recently booked through Aaron Nielson with Gavin Hume last year in Zambia in the Kafue for lion. Hunting with a quality operator like Gavin really opened my eyes to how bad Jimba really was. Gavin runs a top notch operation, a far cry from Jimba.

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:
Jabali Hunter:

quote:

young animals are a legitimate component of a population management plan.

Not to a trophy hunter who splashes out mega bucks!

I agree and thought I said as much

quote:

Population management plans are conducted through organized culls where numbers are the determining factor, irrelevant of age or sex.

Yes, but you also have tuskless hunts which surely fall into the management category.

Jabalihunter:

"Not to a trophy hunter who splashes out mega bucks!"
I agree and thought I said as much.

Where? the only mention you made was related to a trophy animal and quite frankly I do not see much of a trophy in a tuskless elephant - just an opportunity in killing an elephant (preferably an old one) at a greatly reduced rate so the question of mega-bucks is not part of the argument.

"Population management plans are conducted through organized culls where numbers are the determining factor, irrelevant of age or sex."

Yes, but you also have tuskless hunts which surely fall into the management category.

The numbers of tuskless hunts are far too small to have an effect on elephant population when talking in terms of management.

Elephant management culls are done or were done very differently and maybe shouldn't be talked about in detail on a public forum.

The killing of the young bull that started this topic is nothing more than a monumental balls up on the part of an incompetent PH and has bugger all to do with tragedy or animal management.

The nice cat should take some sting out of the safari. I will say that the outfitter and PH would not have enjoyed hosting me. That type of effort would have resulted in a very hard confrontation. And the " forget the leopard" comment, well that is unacceptable on every level.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Fulson:
The nice cat should take some sting out of the safari. I will say that the outfitter and PH would not have enjoyed hosting me. That type of effort would have resulted in a very hard confrontation. And the " forget the leopard" comment, well that is unacceptable on every level.

There's a previous hunt report on here if you want to search for it. The PH "Tim" was described as a "drill sargent" by the hunter.

quote:

And the " forget the leopard" comment, well that is unacceptable on every level.

I agree. If thats how PH's arrange safari's... for their own benefit...well it makes me want to quit going to Africa.

Congratulations on the leopard, bushbuck, kudu, and impala.

There is no excuse for the elephant or a lazy obnoxious PH.

There were a couple of bright spots as the camp seemed to be very nice. If you read through the reports you will find alot of guys that spend endless nights on multiple trips to shoot their leopard. You were very lucky in that regard.

While that does not make up for the other issues hopefully it is some consolation.

Do not give up on Africa and especially Zimbabwe. It is a wonderful country with many good people.

Good luck on your next adventure.