Trip to Zimbabwe and Beyond “ 2005

Dates “ June 22 to July 5, 2005

Location “ Dande Area on the Zimbabwe-Zambia-Mozambique Border on the Zambezi River and Lemco Area in Southern Zimbabwe about 60 miles from the RSA border

Travel “ Arranged by Stacey Gibson “ Falcon Travel, San Antonio
Fran Clark “ World Travel, Tulsa

Agent “ Jeff Neal, Tulsa, OK

Concession Owner and Guide Service“ Dande Area “ Swainson's Safari's
Lemco Area “ HHK Safari's
All in country details and arrangements coordinated via Graham Hingeston and Shirley Flak - with HHK Safari'ss

Professional Hunters “ Dean Kendall, Ben Coulson, Maurius Maartens

Guns Used “ Winchester new Model 70's in .375 H&H and .300 Win Mag topped with Leupold 1.75x6 or 2.5 x8 scopes for the .375's and 3.5x10's for the .300's. Had two Winchester Model 9422M in .22 Win Mag, one with open sights and the other with a 1.75 x 6 as a back up scope for the bigger guns. Had no equipment malfunctions on any gun or scope on the trip.

Goals of the Trip “1) Hunt Cape Buffalo with my sons (Conor and Sean) and share the entire experience with my family (wife and daughter). 2) See real Africa in a rural setting. 3) Have fun.

Animals Desired Before the Trip Cape Buffalo, Sable, Crocodile, Grysbok, Eland, Warthog, Waterbuck, Baboons, Hyena and Kudu

Animals Taken Cape Buffalo (3), Sable (2), Warthog (3), Bushpig (2), Bushbuck, Kudu, Waterbuck, Crocodile, Impala (3), Steenbok, Klipspringer, Eland, Zebra (2), Baboons (5), Francolin, Helmeted Guineas, Kudu, Giraffe

Animals Seen but not taken Black Rhino, Grysbok, Blue Wildebeest, Elephant, Hippo, Aardvark, Civet Cat, Genet Cat, Vervet Monkey, Water Monitor Lizard, Hyena

Animals I would hunt again Sable, Cape Buffalo, Warthog, Kudu, Grysbok, Baboons, Bushbuck, Hyena

Executive Summary

For those of you with attention span problems, here is a brief summary
• Hunted Dande Concession and Lemco Conservancy for 11 days in Zimbabwe via HHK Safari's and Swainson's Safari's.
No significant problems with travel, accommodations, customs, PH’s, camps or equipment.
Hunted cape buff, croc and plains game – took everything we were after plus some. Trophy quality was good with 3 animals being very good with one making Rowland and Ward (a 17" Chobe Bushbuck and possibly the 14' croc according to the PH's, we don't get into measuring).
All promises were kept by HHK. Costs were as advertised.
Weather was dry and warm. Never needed more than a jacket in the mornings.
No significant “bug†issues. Tsetse flies were not a big problem.
Country is relatively stable but appears to be going the way of most African countries with a dictator. Would rate this an 8 out of 10 with 10 being the “perfect†safari, which does not exist. The trip and all parts of it met or exceeded my expectations for a first time buffalo hunter, now, confirmed buffalo killer.
• Would recommend the Dande Concession for dangerous game- especially buffalo. We saw 500 or more animals and 10 or more good bulls. There is poaching in the area and plains game opportunities are limited. Croc hunting and shooting is very good. Hippo should be very good as well. We saw lots of hippos.
• Would recommend Lemco Conservancy for plains game. Saw plenty of everything. This is a very large ranch type area and is fenced around the 800,000 acre perimeter. We did not see buff in Lemco but saw tracks, same with leopard.
• See Lessons Learned at the end of this narrative for more observations and insights.


Intro Borrowed from another Author

The July issue of American Hunter magazine, the NRA magazine for non-political types, carried a series of articles on African hunting highlighting a buffalo hunt, a leopard hunt and a trip to Masailand along with advice on equipment and guns. The buffalo article was written about a hunt in Dande North with Ben the PH, Claudious the tracker and Bongoni the spotter – all men we hunted with. The intro to the article was well written and I include it below as the author (a professional writer versus me the professional engineer) did a good job in evoking the feelings I have about Africa and African hunting “

It is, quite simply, impossible to hunt in Africa and not witness wonders.

Africa is a place that breeds them in every way imaginable way and to hunt there for the first time is to experience shock and awe. An African safari is never just about hunting, for that would be far too inadequate a description. A trip to Africa is about adventure, mystery, romance, danger and magic. Hunting is simply the excuse we use to go.

This is unlike any hunting trip most of us will ever experience. It is as far removed from a deer hunt in the Back 40 as is a flight to Mars from a drive to the grocery store. More than just a hunting trip, an African safari is an epic adventure.

It is where you can travel back in time and see the world as it's been for eons: raw, wild, untamed, dangerous, and wonderful. It is where death is always close and, with it, life has more meaning. Africa is a place of witchdoctors and demons, of prehistoric creatures, ancient land and primitive cultures. It’s a land of blistering heart, amazing sunrises, miles and miles of wild country and more animals than you ever believed existed. It's a land that time left behind and where nature has reached a pinnacle. Some believe that Africa is the birthplace of humanity, and while that's open to discussion, nobody would dispute that Africa is the womb that nurtured the birth of big game hunting. What man would dare call himself a hunter and not dream of Africa? Few I know and not one with a bit of romance, wanderlust or imagination in his soul.

It you look hard, you can still find the Africa of Selous, Baker, Hemingway and Ruark. Each of these writers provided us a glimpse into the Africa they loved, a snapshot of their time and place. Some of it still exists in modern and updated forms if you care to look. But, Africa has never stood still and the hunting opportunities have changed, morphed and mutated. Opportunities have emerged that have opened the Africa experience to a much wider spectrum of society. For the price of an elk hunt, it is now possible to travel to Africa and take half-dozen big game animals. This, more than anything else, has brought African hunting to the masses and has opened the door for thousands of hunters to enter the African experience.

I can promise you that each of them will witness wonders Bryce M. Towsley, Field Editor

The Trip in Detail

For those of you, who enjoy a fairly good read, press on from here. This is a sort of diary, sort of reflection on our recent trip to Zimbabwe.

Planning for the trip started in July 2003, just after we returned from a fantastic trip to South Africa in the Eastern Cape. We were bitten by the Africa hunting bug, quit even thinking about deer or elk and focused on a trip to “darkest†Africa for Cape Buffalo. My research started on the Accurate Reloading website targeting the agents and hunters that seemed to know what they were talking about. I learned quickly that I needed to narrow my search and research to countries and areas rather than stay focused on cape buffalo. I checked prices of traditional hunts in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia. I also had somewhat limited dates that we could hunt, being late June-early July. Those dates narrowed my options as well as the costs to hunt in a couple of the other countries. Botswana and Tanzania were eliminated due to costs, Zambia was out due to not being able to find a suitable outfit for a family trip, Mozambique was out due to dates, Namibia was out due to lack of variety of species we were after. I was very interested in Tanzania due to the stories on the AR website about hunting buffalo there. At the end, the cost was about $10,000 higher than my budget. I then researched Zimbabwe and HHK. Learned all I could about the politics, the internal problems, the hunt areas and how the safari industry survived in spite of the issues there. I met with Graham Hingeston at the Dallas SCI show to learn first hand about the area. I spoke numerous times to and met with Jeff Neal as well.

Learning about cape buff hunting in general I credit to the Craig Boddington video “Boddington on Buffalo. He hunted near the area I was to hunt and used a PH that was known in the area. I watched his video three times to be sure I grasped what he was talking about. Basically, what I saw on the video was how things panned out during my hunt. The terrain was the same as were the hunting techniques. I used the same caliber, same bino's, same clothes and had the same results.

The decision was made to hunt the Dande Concession operated by Swainson's in partnership with HHK. I targeted this area based on our desire to hunt buff (three of us), sable and crocodile. This area, as well as Chirisa, seemed to fit. Taking teenage boys that like to hike and like to see a lot of animals, made Dande the best option. Dande is known for having large numbers of buff in the time of year we would hunt. This was confirmed by references as well. In retrospect, this was the best choice as we saw buff every day and made many stalks on shootable bulls. Croc were numerous on the Zambezi, so that fit well also. The question was sable – sable are in the area in low numbers. Dande is not a plains game area as you would normally expect. We saw occasional warthogs, impala, a few sable and bushbuck, but not in any appreciable numbers. Another plus, was that we could fish for Tigerfish in the Zambezi if we had time. I decided to pack some fishing gear just in case.

With buff/sable/croc desire sorted, we switched focus to plains game in particular waterbuck, eland and warthog. In our previous trip to South Africa, we did not connect on these three and really wanted to hunt for a large warthog. Again, after discussions with Jeff and Graham (HHK), they recommended taking a charter to the Lemco Conservancy in southern Zimbabwe. This is an 800,000 acre tract divided into 5 or 6 sections. The area is huge, on the scale of the King Ranch in Texas, bigger than Rhode Island. The exterior is high fenced with the interior managed for plains game without fences. The area was a cattle ranch and had interior roads and water holes. The animals are all free ranging with black rhino being re-established. We would see hundreds of animals and be able to be a little pickier in what we chose to hunt.

The main issue that I had to get over was the cost of charters to the areas. After looking at the distances, the quality of the roads and the time lost driving. I finally came around to spending the money on charters rather than burn up precious days in a truck seeing the sites of rural Zimbabwe. Every country I looked at for this trip and every safari required at least two charters – so, belly up and pay the piper for an airplane. We ended up using four separate flights for our trip.

Overall, the main issues in planning were sorting out the various places, the animals we truly wanted to hunt and fitting the dates and budget together. Zimbabwe was the best fit for us. Now, I know many people are nervous about traveling to unstable places or places with bad reputations – I have been to Pakistan, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea on business several times, so I had a basic idea of what a potentially bad place could be like. I set up a meet and greet service in Harare, a good place to overnight and eat. I have learned that using a meet and greet service is the best money you can spend, the local guy with the right connection gets things done. Zimbabwe is no different than the other places I have been. In reality, the trip into and out of Zimbabwe was no problem, less hassles there than with USA customs. I had no problems and no issues. The Harare airport was clean and safe, the food was ok (just way over priced).

Further, Zimbabwe got a lot of bad press on the AR website due to Mugabe and some perceptions of posters that any hunting in Zimbabwe supported Mugabe and his henchmen. I did not see evidence of this. The PH’s said that without hunters and hard currency, the economy would continue to crater, thus forcing the locals to poach and live off the land more so than currently. If sportsmen abandon Zimbabwe, then the animals will disappear. We saw evidence of this and I will discuss this later in this narrative.

For equipment issues, I relied on Jeff Neal, the list sent by HHK and what I saw on the Boddington video. Two surprises on equipmen- I decided to hunt in shorts, something neither my sons nor I had ever done, and second, we used gaiters to protect our boots, laces and socks from collecting any thorns, stickers or twigs. No one mentioned gaiters on videos or on equipment lists, but Graham at HHK said to get some as they would be very helpful. He was right. All of us used the gaiters as did the PH's. We had no foot/boot problems at all.

Two last complications arose during the planning of the trip. My daughter (Lauren or Lolo) had reconstructive knee surgery on May 18th, five weeks before we were to depart on the trip. This was her second ACL repair on her right knee. She stepped in a hole just prior to going to college for her freshman year and tore the previously repaired knee. My concerns were for her walking and navigating uneven terrain. As it turned out, she re-habbed the knee and had no problems other than swelling and soreness on the trip. She hunted zebra very hard for 2 days before connecting and had no issues with her knee. She is tougher than her brothers by 2x.

My youngest son (Sean, 15 yrs old) had broken bones in his lower back in February, went undiagnosed until May as well. He had complained of soreness, but no big deal until the pain stayed with him for a couple of months. The orthopedic doc was surprised he had no serious pain with this injury from wrestling and put him in a body brace. This consisted of a hard plastic tube that he wrapped around himself from below his belt line to his armpits – to restrict his movement and any twisting on his back. This was a concern for the long plane ride and for the walking after buff. As it turned out, the plane ride was fine and he had not problems with the walking. The brace actually got him out of helping pack out the buff he shot. Ben, his PH, took great care of him and he had no problems other than the boys looked at him a little funny in his brace.

Rough Chronological Diary

Packed and ready, we left Tulsa for Atlanta to overnight and head out the next day. No issues other than we stayed at the Renaissance Hotel near the airport, an over priced and lousy hotel. Don’t stay there. The food was lousy, worse than anything in Zimbabwe, and was over priced (hamburgers for $12 per-ouch). Room was $180 and was equal to a Motel 6.

Up and at the airport two hours early to check when Delta/SAA would not accept three guns in one case. They said their rules state – two guns per case. Panic!! This was not a problem in Tulsa with Delta, but Atlanta is their home turf. Now, I had to buy a cheap, plastic gun case from the local vendor at the airport, buy locks and repack a gun. At least the agent relented and did not charge me for having an extra case.

Other than that, no issues at all on the flight over to Jo-berg. Movies on continuous loop on the backs of the seats kept my teenage boys entertained. We had a scheduled 8 hour layover in Jo-berg to catch the next SAA flight to Harare. Mistake – there are several daily flights from Jo to Harare on other carriers such as British Airways. My agent did not know or did not have access to those flights. Next trip, no need to layover in Jo-berg then have to overnight in Harare to catch the charter out. Jo-berg airport is nice with good food and plenty of shopping.

Arrive Harare to meet and greet service, through customs then to the Baines Bed and Breakfast for the night. No issues and breezed through customs. Up early for breakfast, then trip to airport to catch the charter. Saw long lines at gas stations and food stores. Sugar and gasoline/diesel are in short supply. The charter companies and safari companies routinely crossed to Botswana or RSA to get extra fuel. Apparently, only fuel paid for with hard currency can be bought. Overall, Harare looked a lot better than Lagos or Karachi or Port Moresby – places I had traveled to with reputations similar to Harare.

Here is the reason to pack light and in soft sided bags – the charters are small planes and cannot take much cargo. We had to unpack the guns from the hard cases, leave the hard cases with HHK rep at the airport and cram everything onto the charter. We were ok as we did pack light and in small bags. Next time – ask the safari company to provide loaner soft gun cases or just rent the guns – a lot easier and less hassle. Also, the charter pilot was a very young (23 or 24 years old) lady from RSA with about a 1 ½ years of flying experience. She did fine, but I was a little nervous for obvious reasons. Maybe I should not be as the young pilots are likely to be the most cautious. She was and all went fine.

Fly 1 ½ hrs to Dande over rolling countryside. Most noticeable were the number of farms, dams, roads and general sites that told me that Zimbabwe was a very settled country. I expected jungle, monkeys hanging in trees, elephants standing around everywhere and zebra-wildebeests doing the “migrate across the plains thing†you see on National Geographic specials. Not so. The country is highly cultivated and “tamedâ€. HOWEVER – I saw no winter wheat or evidence of active farming, no sign of livestock or activity. Seems that Mugabe appropriated the farms from the white farmers and gave them to the “war veteransâ€. I learned later that of the 5000 white operated/owned farms in Zimbabwe, only 250 remain in the hands of white farmers. Nearly every white person I met (PH, meet and greet service, camp boss, etc.) had experienced the confiscation of their farms by the government/war veterans. As you would expect, the non-farming usurpers had no clue how to run a farm and hence, never planted anything in their lives. I expect, as did the white ex-farmers, that starvation and food shortages are coming very quickly. Based on what I saw, I agree. What a mess.

Once we fly over some hills and into the Zambezi River valley area, all traces of farming were gone. From the air, the place looked like the Hill Country around San Antonio or Austin, Texas. Everything was brownish-greenish-dusty looking – found out that this was the peak of the dry season and that everything was hunkered down waiting rain in a few months. All of the rivers were basically sand rivers with isolated pockets of water. The Zambezi was full and flowing, but everything draining to it was dry. Saw the occasional village consisting of the round roofed thatched brick huts, some isolated cropped areas and foot paths everywhere.

Met at the dirt airstrip by Jimmy (camp boss), PH – Dean Kendall and other helpers – Clemons (lead tracker), Bongoni (spotter and tracker), Witness (driver and tracker), Samson, Samson 2, and others. The names of the local boys were interesting as they seemed to get or pick names based on words that sound good. We met several tracker/skinner/camp boys with names like – Good Times, Bad Luck, Precious, Hard Life, Because, Love Life, and others. No last names, just fun first names. Learned that Bongoni was the most outgoing and had a lot of friends everywhere we went. The PH’s described his relationships with the local girls as “having a fly camp†everywhere.

Dean was a professional of the first order, had everything lined out and set up for us. The other two PH’s would arrive later that evening – Ben and Maurius. Ben and Jimmy took us to the camp, got us settled in the cottage/chalets (thatched roof, open-air huts with showers and toilets, all very nice), gave us a cold drink in the dining area and we discussed what we wanted to do and how to do it. Learned right off that Dean was a serious birder, as I am. From the dining area, he helped me spot 5 or 6 of the common local birds. There was a makeshift water hole within view that attracted a lot of birds, buffalo and other critters at night.

The camp boss, Jimmy, was a displaced farmer and worked as a camp boss while waiting out the current Mugabe/war veteran situation. Needless to say, he told us of the situation and described what life is like in a dictatorship when you had been raised in a stable country. His wife, Trisha, joined us later as she was at one of the other camps in the Dande concession. We were in the Pedza Camp.

Once settled, took the guns to the range and re-checked zero’s. No problems. Adjusted the .375’s to be dead on at 100 yards and the .300’s to be 1†high or so at 100 yards. All shots taken, except 2 were 100yds or less on the entire trip. Both of the long shots, about 150 yds each, were on sable.

Dean saw buffalo tracks that morning close to the camp, so we all went out to take a look. To our surprise, the buffalo had not moved more than a mile from where we spotted tracks. We made our first stalk on the herd of about 100 to 150 spooking them several times over the next couple of miles. The herd split up and we followed a group of 40 or so. Finally got a close look at our quarry – I mentally underestimated the size and color of cape buff. First, I had them being cow-sized – wrong! They are a little bigger and thicker than a Hereford bull. Second, I expected them to be black, not the gray color with varying shades of “darknessâ€. Third, I did not comprehend their sense of smell and the way the herd watches for danger. Very quickly, it became clear that buff are on guard and very nervous about smells and movement. Fourth, I expected to see them in the open, like on TV and videos – not!! These buff and those that I later stalked stayed in the thick bush and were difficult to see.

Now that my personal myths were exposed and exploded, I began to see that hunting buff was little more involved than I thought. We stalked and got busted over 30 times over the next week. Sometimes we got lucky, sometimes not. But all in all, I came away with a healthy respect for cape buff and the PH’s that hunt them after this first encounter.

We managed to get close and see that this herd of 40 that had one decent bull in it, but that he was surrounded by cows that seemed to have 6 sets of eyes each. We had fun, but got busted before we could decide – so we headed back to the camp for dinner and to meet up with the other PH’s. Overall, not a bad first day on the hunt! Youngest son in the brace did fine. Saw a klipspringer as we stalked the buff as well. Did not see other plains game, just a few tracks.

Noticed an oddity – the government requires that a “game scout†go with us on every hunt. We had three of these guys with us, each with a uniform and an AK47. I was a little concerned at first, but the PH’s said these guys are no problem and may even be of help. As it turned out, they were just fine and enjoyable to have around.

Ben Coulson and Maurius Maartens, the other PH’s, showed up later and we all settled in for dinner and made plans for the next few days. After seeing how buff are hunted, we decided to split up and hunt in pairs, rather than me hunting with my sons on alternating days. As it turned out, this was a good decision. At first I was concerned about not being with my sons from a safety standpoint, but I came to realize that the more people on a buff stalk, the less chance for success and the greater chance for a problem with an animal.

We decided that I would hunt with Dean, Conor with Maurius and Sean with Ben. All were great guys, excellent outdoorsman, lots of experience and confidence. All reassuring to first timers like us.

Added about 10 birds to my life list today.

P. S. – We heard that there are some lion hunters in another camp and they are in our area. He had located a lion closer to our camp than to his and had set up baits in several places. During our hunt, we stayed in contact with that group to try and track their success/failure. On one day, we found lion tracts directly on top of ours near one of the baits. Hope they kill the beast. I am not much on lions.

Day 2

During the night, a couple of interesting things happened. There were bats in the cottages, roosting in the steeply pitched thatch roofs. Now, I have not been around bats much and was a little taken aback by this until I figured that they were after whatever bugs were flying around. This is good, I don’t much care for bugs, especially flying bugs. Second, I was awoken at midnight by what I thought were a herd of 100 elephants eating and breaking up the trees and grass about 10’ from my cottage window (not glass, no screen, just a curtain). I could not believe the noise and looked out in the full moon light to see what I could see. After about 20 minutes of not seeing any movement but hearing a lot of noise, three buffalo stepped into view about 10 yards from my cottage, grazing on the grass that was grown around the camp. They had come in for water at the makeshift waterhole and decided to stay for dinner. Now, armed with a camera that I could not work in the dark and an active imagination supplemented by the malaria drugs we were taking, one of the buff must have been a fifty incher and stood six feet tall at the shoulder – at least he looked that big to me in the moonlight. I was glad my wife and daughter had not arrived yet as this would have sent her over the edge. She would have been looking for me to shoot the beast in my shorts and chase the others off with a switch.

To say I was rattled was an understatement – never having been so close to a cape buff, nor having any real idea what a big one looked like, let alone knowing that all they were after was some easy meals at the camps had me so wide awake, I never blinked the rest of the night. The trio finally wandered off, but kept me wide awake listening for ever sound the African night can offer.

Up at 5:15 for breakfast, I relayed my buff sighting to the PH’s, who accepted my story as the truth but did not seem as concerned as I expected. I had hoped they would say – “Yep, we saw them as well, a real monster that one is, at least a 50†if an inch, a real mean one that we have been after for years, glad you saw it, why didn’t you just shoot him on the spot? We sure want that guy out of here.†Their response was – “good, seems that they are after water, we never heard them, must be the local guysâ€. I waited for them to say – “Let’s go after them!†but no, they didn’t, they had other plans to check other areas. So we did.

My youngest son and I decided to try to hunt together with our PH’s and trackers. This worked ok for a little while but it rapidly became apparent that this was not going to work. After getting comfortable with Ben and his guys, they went off and hunted that afternoon without us in the way.

On the drive out to look for tracks, we spotted a group of baboons coming down from a night in the trees. Being an avowed baboon hater, based on our experience in RSA two years ago (never got a shot in RSA but were harassed by them on several occasions), we stopped and I drilled the leader of the pack with my new, untested .375 H&H. Smoked his sorry blue butt with one shot while the rest of the 50 or so ran for it. Turned out to be an old male, with virtually no teeth. The PH’s were impressed with the “beginner†connecting on the first shot at 80 yards. The also said that they had not seen that old of a baboon for a long time. Off with his head and down the road we went.

Ross & Sons – 1 Baboons – 0



Youngest son (Sean) and I hunted together in the morning, made a couple of stalks on herds, got busted, hiked several miles back to the truck. It was good taste of buffalo hunting. I had not idea how good the sense of smell was and how we had to consider the wind at ever step. The trackers were amazing as well, telling us what the herd was doing, where they were headed, how many in the herd, when the herd split up and on and on. We finally got glimpses of the herd and picked out 2 or 3 shooters but could never get in position or close enough. So it goes with buff.

After lunch, while looking for tracks, we spotted a solitary baboon sitting on rock about 100 yards away. He looked at us, gave us a look of disdain, turned his head away and basically said with his body language – “bugger off, you mean nothing to me and scare me not in the leastâ€. With that, I got out the .375, put one right on his chest without affect/effect. He looked right at me, did not move – so I put a second one on his chest. No affect/effect. Then he started to tense his arms as he was holding onto the rock. He slowly, like in slow motion, started to lean over, then tip over the side of the rock – all in super slow motion. The PH’s laughed and said they thought he did not think he had been shot, but that his body told him otherwise. Getting to the rock and the baboon, both shots hit him in the lower chest blowing out his stomach and other messy guts all over the rock on the backside from us. He was a stinking mess when we got there. Who knows what he was thinking or why he did not react to getting Swiss-cheesed with a 300 grain TBBC. Again, an old guy with no teeth. How do these guys eat without dentures? I guess Mrs. Baboon chews the food for them. Pictures, laughs with the boys and PH’s, off with his head then off for buff.

Ross & Sons- 2 Baboons - 0

Hunted hard all day. Saw kudu cows, elephants, lion and leopard tracks, impala, warthog, bushbuck and lots of new birds for my life list. Did not see large numbers of anything but buffalo. Everything else was in ones and twos.

As it turned out, my oldest son and PH Maurius bumped into a herd a couple of miles out of camp, made a stalk and out flanked the buff around a hill. They climbed a ridge to get ahead of the buffalo, hoping they would head down a small valley. Instead, the came up the hill toward them, winded them and took off. Conor and Maurius regrouped and flanked them a second time. The targeted bull, hard boss and horns at or outside the ears, made the mistake of getting in front of his bodyguard cow as they came around a hill. He was tagged with a frontal shot in the heart/lungs with one shot from my son’s .375 H&H, ran 70 yds and dropped. Five bellows later, he was dead – all by 10am on the first day. His comments that night were, he expected buff to be a lot harder to hunt, but this was easy. The PH’s all laughed and said that this was not the norm and that they had not been that lucky in the past few years. My son did not comprehend this until he spent the next 6 days after sable and only seeing one shootable buck/bull/ram (whatever they are).



We did not get the message until dark that evening as we had hunting hard, getting up on a couple of groups of buff but getting busted every time.

That evening, we sat outside under more stars than you can see, listened to night sounds by a fire. Great time, great fun, lots of stories to tell and laugh about. The PH’s were funny and enjoyable. The only downer was the weird dreams and dry mouth caused by the malaria meds. No “psychotic episodesâ€, but weird dreams and emotions. My sons had the same.

More birds were spotted bring the count to 450.

P.S. – The lion hunters had hits on one bait and waited into the dark for the lions to appear – but no luck. Seems they have been at this for about 7 days – PH, hunter, game scout, tracker, spotter, video man – all in a blind waiting on a lion, all sweaty and tired. I will bet the conversation was a bit tense in that blind. Glad I am not a lion hunter.

Day 3

Looking over my notes from the trip – I wrote- bust of a day. But that was before Sean came in from his hunt with a big bull with 15†+ bosses. My “bust of a day†was due to a) jet lag finally caught up, b) I am tired and my legs are scratched up from wearing shorts, c) made 7 or 8 stalks and got busted each time, d) finally made the perfect stalk on a big bull, bull is coming right at us unawares, steps behind a bush/tree, I shift position to smoke him when he emerges, he emerges but not where I expected and am out of position, he winds us and runs, e) we are in a sable area, decide to check a couple of places, make a long climb on a high, rocky hill, spot a sable the tracker says is a good one, get ready to shoot and the PH says “what a minute, he is small oneâ€, climb back down in the stickers and rocks tired, beat up and hungry.

The details – we hunt hard, cut tracks and make numerous stalks on several groups. A couple of times, there was no hard bossed bull in the group and we had to retreat, check another group. We find a large group in some very tall grass in a sand river bed. We cannot get close due to the grass and the wind but set up on the ridge overlooking the grass/sand river bed. We see dozens of buff grazing and working through the grass. Dean climbs a tree for a better look and spends an hour up the tree. He sees a couple of good bulls that merit closed attention. We set up ahead of the grazers, but get busted. Then try to go into the grass to see what happens. Chaos is what happens – the buff smell us, run in all directions – sometimes right at us, sometimes away. This is the first time I see one up close and personal in the daylight – a cow but big to me.

They split up and we stalked two small groups seeing a two good bulls. This time, we do not get busted, but the group splits again to about 20 animals with the two bulls in one group. We stalk and set up to intercept them. This time it works too well. They had left the sand/grass river for some hills that were relatively open. Now they decide to return to the grass/sand river bed at a slow walk. Dean, Clemons and Bongoni decide they know how and where they will get back to the rest of the herd – we set up there and wait. Here they come with the big bull in the back. I have an open shot at 125 yards, but Dean says to wait to get a better shot. Ok by me. The buff go into a low spot and re-emerge about 50 yards in front of us coming directly at us, not down the path the guys expected. Ok, now what? The lead cow gets nervous and changes direction back to the expected path – the route other buff had used earlier that day. No big deal, just change position slightly to get a good view of the buff when they emerge from the bush into an opening. They seem lined up in good order with a cow in the lead, a nice but not huge buff next, a bunch of cows, calves and young bulls, then the big bull in the rear.

If you are an experienced hunter, you know what happened next – the buff emerged right where we expected, however, guess what – the big bull came out first!!?? How? What? I asked the PH if that is one, he says “shoot!â€, and I hesitate and ask again – “are you sure?â€. He has his fingers in his ears and does not answer. The PH whistles to get the bull to turn broadside, the bull does but is obscured by brush. He stops one step too soon for me to shoot. The bull gets nervous, looks our way, stops with his chest covered by brush. PH says – “shoooooot!†As I try to get on the bull again, he turns and runs dead away from us blocking us by brush and trees. All of this at a distance of 30 steps. The rest of the herd bolts and we see butts and tails about 600 yards away as they head for Mozambique. Busted! Why wasn’t the big bull in the back, where he belonged? Why did he impersonate the cow and come out first, like she was supposed to? PH and I sit in silence, spit on the ground, discuss the weather and decide that fate was on the bull’s side this time.

Busted, busted, busted! Every stalk, every attempt. I have lost my enthusiasm and begin to question what in the world was I thinking when I decided to do this? Tired, whipped, ready for a nap- we headed to a spring for lunch. We ate in a deep cut into the hillside and by an active spring. We say all types of tracks, mostly baboon and elephant but lots of activity. We were in the shape, cool and no bugs with big outcrops of rocks around us. There was big tree that seemed to grow straight up out of the rocks, slowly splitting it into pieces. Quite a lot of power in a tree that is slowly pressing out of a rock. I explain a little about the oil business to Dean as we sit and discuss things other than hunting. I tell him how the business works and he listens. It is not much different than any other business – you provide a service or a product that some else wants. I provide expertise to dig holes in the ground looking for energy – he provides expertise putting people close to animals safely.

On the way in, the PH said we were in sable country and that he knew of a sable or two that hung around a particular valley and a particular hill. These PH’s are mind readers and attitude readers as he could see I was about worn out on buff after this day. We headed to the area, climbed a fairly steep hill with a long running ridgeline over looking two valleys. A great place to glass from. On the way up the hill, Bongoni the Spotter sees a sable bull and says ‘ “good bull, shoot, shoot!!†I whip into position, get him in the scope and am about to pull the trigger and the PH catches up and says-“whoa, he is young oneâ€. Thank you Mr. PH. I just about dropped the hammer on a 32†sable to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars. Lesson learned – nearly everything is a shooter to a tracker or spotter. They know the animals but are not always the best judge of trophies. I pull up, and we wish Mr. Sable a happy couple of more safe years to get big. We continue the climb and glass for an hour. We are treated to a spectacular Oklahoma style sunset, complete with doves cooing and other noises that fit the scene.

Scratched, tired, thirsty, hungry, pissed and in a bad humor, we head to the truck and to camp. What a day – I am regretting ever going and ready to pack it in. Then we went back to camp….

Talk about smiles and high fives all around. Sean, the youngest, has a buff in camp with huge bosses – at least 15†and a story to tell. They cut tracks, found the herd two miles away, started a stalk from a rocky outcrop above them. They get busted, stalk again from above as they grazed through a small valley. They spotted a good bull, flanked them by getting ahead and waited for them to walk into them. The buff walks out and takes a 300 grain Bearclaw in the lungs a little far back. He runs 200 yards and was in sight the whole run. The bull lay down so Ben and Sean puts the insurance shot in the shoulders breaking both. He tries to get up, but Sean follows the Murphy Rule of Shooting – fling lead until it quits moving. He put 4 finishers into the finished buff.



Now, the fun starts. Aside from Ben the PH being impressed with the boss on this bull, he realizes that have killed it about 3 miles from where they can get the Landcruiser. Oops. The tracker had friends in a village not far from the concession, so he went for help there and the guys waited on reinforcements for a couple of hours. When ten locals showed up, the hide, guts, and blood were flying off the buff. Sean mentioned that they were “ripped†meaning in teenager-speak that the guys were muscled up, no fat on them. He was amazed at their strength in the small package. He lifts weights to look like that and they lift buffalos. Maybe he needs to re-think his workout program. Cut up, caped, bagged – the local guys were carrying out every piece of this bull. Most interesting to Sean was that a young boy about 3’ tall was carrying a man-sized load on his head. The youngster was carrying a bag full of stomach and other pieces only Cajuns will eat. Packed out, we saw the remains in camp – the boss was big for the area and all three PH’s were pleased. Horns were in the 38†range and worn. Sean was a happy camper and ready to go after something else.

A note on trophy measurements – we don’t measure as that is not our standard of success or failure. The PH’s measure to help the concession holders to track what is taken, but we don’t care much about the inches.

Not bad – 2 full days of hunting – 2 buff in the salt by two teenagers.

Conor and Maurius show up after deciding (we find out later) to bait and hunt hyena. They set a bait (buff guts or ribs I think), then leave to hunt sable. They walked about 100 miles tracking sable but don’t see any black or horns. They head to the hyena bait and bust a hyena off the carcass by actually walking to the bait instead of the blind. They got turned around and forgot where they were. Good for the hyena, bad for them. Try again the next day is the plan. Conor also shot a baboon but lost it in the brush – he said a good shot but no head or hide to show for it. Also, while out, the used the .22 mag on a francolin – one shot kill through the shoulder. Will eat for dinner.

Ross & Sons – 2 Baboons - 1

With Sean’s buff in the salt, my attitude improved, I decided to stay and not fly home. Pressure was on old dad to slay the mighty mbogo.

Again, more birds for the list today. Now stands at about 465.

P.S. – The lion hunters had lions after dark but not during daylight. They asked us to take a different route out of camp the next day to avoid any chance of bumping into “their†lion or disturbing the area within a mile of the bait. I had been warned that cat hunters had “priority†in safari camps, but was resolute to not let that happen to us. I told the PH that I appreciated how hard lions are to hunt, but that was their problem, not mine. He worked it out with the other PH and we had no issues. Based on the tone of voices on the radio, the lion hunters were a bit discouraged. Glad I am not a lion hunter.

****As the report exceeded the limits on posting length, it has been broken down into 5 parts. Here are the direct links to the other 4 parts:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Miscellaneous Photos

Wow! What a report! I am going to have to read all 5 threads twice to absorb all the info. Thanks for posting it!

dogcat

That's a great report with very nice trophies. Dude, you're a lucky man to have a great family that likes to hunt with you; the family that plays together stays together. Since I've got a short attention span, I had to put the reports down on disc and review them later, can't do it all in one sitting.

Dogcat

Exceptional report . You would make even an accomplished journalist look like a high school student. Congratulations - your fine trphies and report .

Brad

What a great report! I felt I was in Zimbabwe.
Thank you very much.

Great report, I hope I can keep as detailed of notes as you when I go. I'm done with part 1 now on to the rest.

Edit: I just finished part 5, so I'll change my mind to outstanding report! What a great family adventure.

WOW what an awesome report, that would have taken me 2 weeks to type with my 2 finger typing!!!

Dogcat

For 10 minutes I was transported from a wet and windy Yorkshire, England to the Dambos and plains of Africa

An excellent exposition on a wonderful trip, well done. Lovely trophies also

P.S. When will we hear from you again

Graet report, very nice pictures

Thank you for sharing your story with us. You read between the lines and you know you hearing from a good solid American who is in the process of nurturing the next generation of great Americans. Be proud, you have a right to be.

Thanks again.

I believe Tolstoy would have been proud of that report!

Truly an excellent report and fine trophies. You have to be proud of your kids and hat's off to you for introducing them to the Dark Continent! Other parents should take note. Well done.

You also hit the nail on the head on hunting in Zimbabwe. Despite the problems and shortages, it is a relatively safe destination to travel to and hunt with an amazing diversity of big game. Folks who check it off their list don't realize what great hunting opportunities they are missing out on. And, most importantly, the safari industry there needs our support to survive!

A beautiful piece of work. Kudos to you and your fam for the planning, execution and sharing of wonderful times.

I love it! Thanks Dogcat!!

John

A stunning account of your most-excellent trip Ross! Educational, insightful, inspirational, factual. YOU need to write for the mag's!! Bill

PS: Now there's nothing left to do except GO BACK!

THanks for the kind words - Yes, I am planning the next trip but have not settled on game or destination- am looking hard at Ethiopia.

Dogcat,
I enjoyed greatly you account of your trip. I would like to know how you kept your notes on the events of the day, which were so colorful and detailed. I found it difficult to make just a few notes each day.

I wish that I had been able to collect my boys for a hunt like your before they "flew the coop," and hope to put a hunt for us together in the next year or two.

Again, thanks for the wonderful story and sharing your pictures and family with us. Kudude

Kudude,
I keep notes in two ways. I made notes every evening in a my own version of shorthand, then, on the plane ride home, I talked with my sons about what came their "mind's eye", noted that as well. When I got home, I wrote it out, then went over it again with the boys to be sure I captured what they thought and felt. We had a great time re-living the trip over and over.

I also was lucky to have a PH that was a switched on birder. I had a guide book and we made notes on all of the birds we saw as well.

That report is AWESOME! Congrats on a great hunt and experience with your family. And THANK YOU for taking the time and effort to get it written down and for sharing it with us.

RE: your birding notes, I have similar notes from my recent trip to RSA. The only difference being that it was about trees not birds. I am a forester and my PH was extremely well versed in his tree identification.

Cheers,
Canuck

Well-written and full of interesting facts, side stories and inspiration.

Ross, thanks for taking the time and effort to put this to 'paper'. I very much enjoyed it.

KG

P.S. Those are a couple of lucky kids you have there. I imagine it's going to take an *awful* lot of grass cutting and car washing to repay the old man for the bill on their critters!