2023 Selous Buffalo Hunt



Had a great hunt with Pierre Von Tonder in his wonderful Selous concession in September!



Met up with Pierre and his lovely wife Anneli at SCI in February and we were discussing the great Masailand hunt the wife and I did with him in 2019…….somehow….. we ended up on the subject of his Selous concession. He was offering a 10 day, two buffalo hunt with some plains game…….and…. well I booked it for September. Then I checked with my social events coordinator ( wife) and come to find out it was okay, as long as she got to shoot the plains game. Which was fine by me!

My name is Jim, and I have a buffalo problem….

Pierre and Anneli handled all the arrangements, hotel each way in Dar, charter, trophy prep and shipment, I just had to arrive in DAR with gear and rifles. Tanzania got much easier on their visa application with the E-Visa thing. And Pierre had a man waiting for me in the airport to get me through rifle permitting and to the hotel and then back for the charter the next morning, all went seamlessly.

When we arrived in camp after the charter, I was pleasantly surprised to see all the same staff that had made my previous hunt with Pierre so great.

The Masai trackers Mbejani and Kilemaa, man those are great guys and a lot of fun to hunt with. The driver and tracker Dominic, Camp manager Mr. Jackson (what a fine Gentleman he is) and his assistant Able, same fantastic cook Isaac, not to mention the other guys that handled the less glorious work behind the scenes…..it was like a home coming. And they all made the wife and I feel like we had come home.

The camp was great and very comfortable, it was a tent camp, we really like that. Plenty of hot water, the food was just outstanding, abundant and well prepared, Isaac is something else. It was warming up, 90’s during the day but it cooled nicely at night AND the wife brought two rechargeable battery powered fans that were just great.

The hunting…….was just incredible. This place is lousy with dugga boys! On the very first day of hunting I got a very nice old gnarly bull with a 40” spread. It was awesome!

The wife got a wonderful Kongoni (Lichtenstein Hartebeest), Niassa Wildebeest and an Impala Ram.

Then I got to hunt another BUFFALO!

We found a group of three Dugga boys, Two that looked over 40”, very nice bulls, but there was an old, old man with them. Shiny bosses, worn down tips, the whole package, He was in poor shape showing all his ribs, he had seen it all. Pierre told me “they are all good, pick the one you like”……. I hammered the old man. What an incredible trophy, not much spread but, old and experienced, great shiny bosses. beautiful trophy that I will be proud of forever.

We probably saw, just riding around another fifteen shooter buffalo.


WE saw a lot of animals on this trip. Lions, Elephants, Hippo, Eland, Kudu, Zebra, Wildebeest, Kongoni, Waterbuck, Impala and Warthog. We saw four different groups of wild dogs. This place is wild and there are a lot of animals.

Pierre is a great guy to hunt with, a fine gentleman that works his butt of for you. He pays attention to all the details and keeps everything shipshape and ready to go. He has a great rapport with his staff, and they were always in a hurry to please.

One thing, and a very important thing, Pierre makes the hunter a large part of the hunt. He works very hard to make the hunter a part of the whole experience. He is there to help you get what you want. To make sure YOU are a part of the hunting experience, not just a trigger man and check writer. I really love his hunting style.

Thank you, Pierre, you made this a wonderful trip my friend and we will be back for sure in ‘25 see ya in Nashville!

Did you see many elephants? Bulls?

Congrats on a nice safari!

Glad to hear this.

Pierre did tell me he was guiding a good friend of mine!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Glad to hear this.

Pierre did tell me he was guiding a good friend of mine!

Who says friends can't argue!

What? No pictures!
Congrats on a great hunt!

Jim,
Happy New Year and congrats on your outstanding hunt.
I should not have read this report. Now you have me thinking about hunting Buff ... again !

HB- Happy New year pard and thanks.....posting pics on this site is a pain!

Grant-Happy New year to you. Hunting buffalo is a must. And this was a truly great hunt.

Jim:

Congratulations on a great hunt. I really enjoyed your report and it looks as if you chose your hunt well.

I always enjoy your posts!

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Glad to hear this.

Pierre did tell me he was guiding a good friend of mine!

Who says friends can't argue!

We can argue, and disagree, on here.

But I consider everyone here as my friend, and welcome in my home.

As many have given me the pleasure of seeing here.

Next time you are flying hunting, and passing through our city, I hope we can meet.

quote:

2023 Selous Buffalo Hunt

Congratulations on a fine hunt. The Selous is a special place with lots of game.

Great report and I'll second both motions that the Selous is a special place and we would enjoy your pictures! All those in favor, say aye....

I hunted the Selous with PVT in 2008....great time.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Glad to hear this.

Pierre did tell me he was guiding a good friend of mine!

Who says friends can't argue!

We can argue, and disagree, on here.

But I consider everyone here as my friend, and welcome in my home.

As many have given me the pleasure of seeing here.

Next time you are flying hunting, and passing through our city, I hope we can meet.

You Sir are gracious as always. I would consider it a great honor to get to shake your hand.

And if something happens and you make it back to my neck of the world you would be a welcomed guest here as well.
.

Thank you all for the kind words. I really enjoyed this hunt and PVT's hospitality it was something special.....and to be repeated.

Ha! Managed to fumble my way to posting some pictures! I miss the old photo bucket days......





Buffalo number one!!!!! Heck of a start! I really hate to shoot on the first day.....but I couldn't pass on this guy



The old man.....almost as gray and rickety as me. I think this is probably the oldest buffalo I have ever killed, what a bull.



The social events coordinator is one blood thirsty female

Nice!

What a fine old bull! The Boss took some fine trophies too!
In the Selous in 2009 with the late Wayne Clarke (KIA Buffalo) we had the meat from 2 bulls hung up for biltong too high for the hyaenas. Lions came in one night and took the lot.

We hunted twice with Pierre a few years ago.

Great man, and Anali was the perfect host.

But I see Pierre hasn't improved in looks!

I have pictures of him on his knees with Walter riding him, as Walter was complaining he was too tired to walk!

And Walter missing an impala and shooting a log!

Pierre picked up the log and they both stood proudly displaying their trophy!

Or the time Walter refused to shoot an impala because their was a couple of grass sticks in the way.

Or the time Walter wounded a warthog and ran out of ammo.

He started screaming BULLETS! BULLETS! MORE BULLETS!

I had to run and give him more ammo before he killed the warthog with my rifle.

He was holding it by the barrel, and just about to swing it on the warthog!

Or me trying to shoot a running warthog.

He was zipping between the bushes, and only visible in short instances.

I fired anyway, saying "I have no idea where that bullet has gone!"

We found the pig dead.

Pierre asked "why is he did then?"

"he ran into the bullet"

We all had a fantastic time with Pierre.

He was ecstatic when we got to buffalo before Ray did.

And shot them both times!

Pierre was dancing like a cheer leader

Nice pics, thanks Jim. Glad you worked out how to post them.
Looks like the boss was having a great time too. She looks mighty good holding a rifle !
Actually, you both look as young as I remember

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
We hunted twice with Pierre a few years ago.

Great man, and Anali was the perfect host.

But I see Pierre hasn't improved in looks!

I have pictures of him on his knees with Walter riding him, as Walter was complaining he was too tired to walk!

And Walter missing an impala and shooting a log!

Pierre picked up the log and they both stood proudly displaying their trophy!

Or the time Walter refused to shoot an impala because their was a couple of grass sticks in the way.

Or the time Walter wounded a warthog and ran out of ammo.

He started screaming BULLETS! BULLETS! MORE BULLETS!

I had to run and give him more ammo before he killed the warthog with my rifle.

He was holding it by the barrel, and just about to swing it on the warthog!

Or me trying to shoot a running warthog.

He was zipping between the bushes, and only visible in short instances.

I fired anyway, saying "I have no idea where that bullet has gone!"

We found the pig dead.

Pierre asked "why is he did then?"

"he ran into the bullet"

We all had a fantastic time with Pierre.

He was ecstatic when we got to buffalo before Ray did.

And shot them both times!

Pierre was dancing like a cheer leader

There's only one person on earth who safaris the way you do Saeed. It's like instructions on how to have a good time hunting. Good for you. A lesson for all of us.

Pierre had plenty of Saeed and Walter stories to tell......

Judging from the shoreline, Lake Utunge had receded quite a bit but that was before the rains which have come with a vengeance this year.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
Pierre had plenty of Saeed and Walter stories to tell......

Don’t believe anything good he said!

About either me or Walter!

Very fine trophies

Nice report and photos. Love that old buff bull.

Very cool.
Glad to see the neat pictures.

Great pics! Looks like a wonderful area and you 2 made the most of it.
Thanks for posting.

great report!!

Thanks for sharing, great hunt!!

I was planning a hunt with PVT. I had back surgery instead!! Still recovering!!

Maybe this year??

Looks fantastic all the way around!

I was exposed to the Selous by PVT in 2006 and our gracious host Saeed. My 21 day safari brought a little boys dreams to come true. My wife and I fell in love with Africa and Tanzania... Over the years I put 42 days there. Shot a huge leopard and a very large elephant with 6 ft of ivory and 16ft of croc.

Pierre and I shared so many adventures we made each other laugh. Still remember when the story of Mr. Jackson for bait...
One of the finest men I came to know and hold dearly.

Mike aka retreever...

A pleasant suprise. I didn't know that Pierre and family where gonna be at DSC this year.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
A pleasant suprise. I didn't know that Pierre and family where gonna be at DSC this year.

Bloody hell!

Make sure children deserve this!

They will have nightmares

We can't all be as strikingly handsome as you are Saeed!

Good stuff Jim, congrats!


.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
We can't all be as strikingly handsome as you are Saeed!

I know.

One doesn't get called the BLACK SHEEP of the family for nothing!

Congratulations on a fine hunt!

Keep feeding your addiction- you are blessed by having a wife who enjoys hunting!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by crbutler:
Congratulations on a fine hunt!

Keep feeding your addiction- you are blessed by having a wife who enjoys hunting![/QUOTE

Thank you.

Africa is gonna run out of buffalo.....or I'm gonna run out of money.....

I am blessed to have a wife like mine....she deserves better!

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by crbutler:
Congratulations on a fine hunt!

Keep feeding your addiction- you are blessed by having a wife who enjoys hunting![/QUOTE

Thank you.

Africa is gonna run out of buffalo.....or I'm gonna run out of money.....

I am blessed to have a wife like mine....she deserves better!

Hahaha!

My wife tells her friends that I took her to Chete, Zimbabwe, on safari soon after we met.

Then she had to follow elephants all day, no food.

So learned to take some with here.

Half burnt piece of toast wrapped in tissue paper.

Just our luck that we got chased by an irate elephant cow!

Or the evening we were getting back after shooting two buffalo, which we had to leave till next day.

Walking back to the truck, she fell into an almost dried waterhole full of mud.

Poor woman.

Something must be wrong with her.

She decided to stay with me!