13 December 2009, 01:34
MJinesNyamuswa/Makuti Elephant and Buffalo Hunt 2009: Charlton McCallum Safaris
Hunting Dates: November 24, 2009 to December 7, 2009Areas: Nyamuswa and Makuti, Zimbabwe
Outfitter: Charlton McCallum Safaris
Professional Hunter: Buzz Charlton
Videographer: Justin Drainer
Trophy Focus: Elephant/Buffalo
Game Seen: Elephant, Lion, Buffalo, Klipspringer, Duiker, Bushbuck, Zebra, Waterbuck, Impala, Grysbok, Warthog, Sable
Rifles Used: Krieghoff .500 NE/Parker Hale .404 Jeffery
Cigars: Punch Rare Corojo, Macanudo Duke of York
Whiskey: Gentleman Jack
Beer: Castle Lager
General Background
This was the hunt that seemed to be destined to not happen. Originally scheduled to be a PAC hunt in March 2009, the hunt had to be postponed due to the press of work at the office. The next available date was October. When October rolled around, work demands once again made it impossible to go. This left only one option: the last hunt of the season just prior to the closing of the camps. Buzz and the Charlton McCallum team (in the photo from left to right, Justin, Buzz, Charmain and Kirsty) went out of their way to accommodate the multiple schedule changes, for which I am very grateful.
Because we had pushed the hunt to so late in the season I had two primary concerns, the possibility of rain and day time temperatures. Thankfully the rain ended up not factoring into the hunt. We had two days of serious rains. One on the drive into the Nyamuswa camp (apologies to the thoroughly soaked crew on the back of the Land Cruiser) and one day during the hunt in Makuti. On the rain day in Makuti, we simply hunted through the rain. In the afternoons you could see thunderstorms popping up in various places but we were fortunate only to get a sprinkle or two. A positive aspect of the rain was just how beautiful the country was – everything was green and lush, flowers were blooming and trees were budding. It was a stark contrast to prior hunts during the dry season when everything is brown and dead.
Insofar as temperatures were concerned, just like August in Houston is hot, December in Zim is hot. Daytime temperatures would be over 100° F, but most evenings the temperatures would cool down nicely. In retrospect I should have made greater allowance for the temperatures. I would have worn lighter long sleeve t-shirts most days and skipped the gaitors for example. Heavier shirts and gaitors with socks meant dealing with heat rash. For those that can hunt in sandals, that would be advisable. On the handful of evenings where the temperatures did make sleeping moderately uncomfortable, Russell Marshall’s suggestion to take Chilly Pads was invaluable. I would simply wet the Chilly Pad, lay it over me like a blanket and the evaporative effect made sleeping no problem.
One issue I had not thought through regarding the rain was the insects. With the rains come insects. While the mosquitoes were bearable, the teste flies were brutal. Fortunately, they seemed to confine themselves to the river and stream crossings and other low laying areas. Avon Skin So Soft works to a point, but only to a point. After all these years, why hasn’t someone invented an effective teste fly repellent? Each one that I was able to kill brought me immense satisfaction . . . until the next one jabbed me like a hot poker. Good news is that the teste flies tended to only be a minor distraction from an otherwise outstanding hunt.
Nyamuswa
We started the hunt in Nyamuswa. Nyamuswa is northwest of Harare in the Chinoyi area. It is a beautiful farm owned by a French couple. While it was game fenced at one point, the fences have been down for years and unfortunately poaching has taken its toll on the plainsgame at the ranch. We would see the occasional duiker or kudu track, but the area is really now primarily an elephant and leopard area.
I initially hunted in Nyamuswa in 2007. On that hunt I was fortunate to take an outstanding leopard. On my leopard hunt Buzz had talked to me about an outstanding one-tusked elephant bull that frequented the area. Buzz had seen the bull on several occasions and it was clear from the manner in which he described the bull that he held the bull in special regard. The night that we shot the leopard, while we were sitting in the leopard blind, a group of elephant began feeding all around our blind. One of the elephant was the Nyamuswa one-tusker. The elephant fed off to a water hole without me being about to see it since my only opening in the blind was the slot my rifle was positioned in. Buzz was certainly gratified to see the old bull again, alive and seemingly doing well. After that evening in the leopard blind, we spoke from time to time about the Nyamuswa one-tusker and how exciting it would be to hunt the big bull. Little did I realize that my path would cross with the bull again.
When I arrived in Harare Buzz told me that the big bull had reportedly been seen in Nyamuswa in the last several weeks. The problem was that the rains had begun. With the rains generally comes a change in elephant movement. Our concern was that the rains might have had the one-tusker on the move. Of course, only time would tell.
On the first day of our hunt in Nyamuswa, we picked up the tracks of group of bulls and tracked them for several hours. We ended up on a hillside overlooking a small valley that was alive with elephant. As we began glassing we realized that not only was the valley alive with elephant but that they were all bulls! We counted over 25 bulls in the group, including several shooters in the 40-50+ pound range. What an incredible sight, to see that many bulls in one group. Buzz and Justin were astounded to see such a large congregation of bulls.
Our challenge was that we could hear cattle herders in the area and were concerned that once the bulls caught their wind, the bachelor herd would be off. We elected to move off the hill and try to get in amongst the bulls. As we did so, the wind shifted and several caught our wind. The bulls began a scramble – and so did we. We climbed a convenient ant hill with Buzz encouraging us to get higher on the hill. Among the bulls milling around was a 40+ pounder that certainly would be shooter in most areas. However, having seen a larger bull in the group we held our fire. Fortunately, the bulls moved off without incident. We tracked the group for seven hours and they led us on quite a merry chase up and down the hills of Nyamuswa. Ultimately with darkness closing in it was time to call it a day and start again the next morning. While we had not fired a shot, it was an outstanding day to see so many bulls in one group, to have a hurried run up an ant hill to avoid a charge and to have tracked the bulls the balance of the day.
The next morning (Day 2) brought clear skies and the hope for another exciting day. Driving we cut the tracks of several bulls and decided to follow the tracks. We followed the tracks for about two hours and as we caught up with the elephant they got our wind and moved off. At this point, other than glimpses of the group we really had no good idea what elephants might be in the group. We continued to give chase and started to move into a more open area. The elephant were to our left and moving to the right. We positioned ourselves beside an ant hill and waited for the elephant to start to move past. The first elephant started to file past and Buzz, watching the elephant through binoculars, immediately told me to take a side brain shot as soon as the first elephant cleared the brush. As the bull cleared the brush all I could see was one long left tusk. Could this be the one-tusker? It had to be. I shouldered the Krieghoff, fired and the bull collapsed. The other elephant began to disperse and as they did we approached the bull. It was clear that the bull was the one-tusker. The same bull that we had encountered two years earlier and the same bull Buzz had followed with interest for several years. We paid the insurance and stood back in awe.
Later we had the chance to measure and weigh the left tusk. It measured 6’9” around the curve, 18.5” at the lip and weighed right at 65 pounds. Interestingly, the one-tusker also turned out to have a second tusk. A small stub of mangled ivory with a bullet hole through the nerve socket. Years ago someone had shot the elephant through the right tusk and destroyed the tusk. I can only imagine the pain that caused the bull for some time after that incident.
Makuti
Day 3 was spent packing and getting organized for the trip on to Makuti. The camp transfer was uneventful. Upon our arrival at Makuti I was greeted by a number of old camp staff friends from my hunt two years ago. It was good to be back in Makuti.
The next several days we spent spotting and glassing. In contrast to my trip to Makuti two years ago, the number of elephant we saw was significantly lower. We speculated that the rains had the elephant moving into the valley to enjoy the pans and jess blocks. The lack of elephant we saw was more than made up by the buffalo herds we saw. One evening we spotted an incredible herd of literally hundreds of buffalo. The herd could possibly have been one of the herds from Mana Pools. We gave chase and sighted a large, ~43” dugga boy in the herd. With so many eyes, ears and noses, approaching was very difficult. We chased the dugga boy until darkness threatened and then picked up the chase early the next morning. They led us on a merry chase up and down one of the highest hills in Makuti (for those familiar with Makuti it is the hill with the microwave tower and while I can pronounce the name, I have no chance of being able to spell it). It was a long day of climbing hills, but ultimately the buffalo won that round.
On Day 7 we finally caught sight of a tuskless. The tuskless was in a group of cows tucked away in a thick section of brush cooling off in the afternoon shade. The challenge was being able to ascertain whether the tuskless had a dependent calf. Because of how they were positioned it was virtually impossible to see them unless you were right on top of them. Buzz and his tracker, Criton, climbed trees and took stock of group. After carefully evaluating the group the conclusion was that the tuskless did not have a dependent calf. Given the height and thickness of the brush, we were going to have to basically walk right up the cow to get a shot. It was clearly going to be a frontal brain shot. The big unknown was what the other cows would do once we fired in that confined area.
We started the approach and found a modest shooting lane that was approximately 12 paces in front of the cow. As I stepped into the lane, she faced me and I shot. She dropped to the shot and then all hell broke loose. The other cows went crazy trumpeting and milling about. We retreated – which sounds much more organized than in reality it was – and with the exception of one cow that was still very unhappy the others moved off. Ultimately, the one remaining cow trotted off to join the others. One of our two cows was in the salt. [I do not have pictures of the first cow since I did not have my camera.]
The plan had originally been to hunt two cows, one buffalo and if we saw a nice bull to take the bull too. So far we had taken our bull and one tuskless. Remaining quote in Makuti meant that we also had the opportunity to take a second buffalo. So while we kept our eyes peeled for another cow, we shifted our focus to the buffalo.
Driving the boundary road between Makuti and “The Pool” area, on Day 10 we saw where a group of buff had moved across the road into Makuti. The spore was fresh, the day was young and off we went. It was not long before we caught the buffalo laying under a group of trees. Because the area was open our stalk was one crawling on hands and knees and scooting along on our butts in a crab walk. We came up through a small gully and spotted a good “representative of the species” bull. I had swapped my Krieghoff for my Parker Hale and centered the scope on the shoulder. The bull was off at the shot. As he ran, I chambered another round and fired. The bull gave quite a kick at the second shot. As we would later find out the second shot had been right through the scrotum! Hell, no wonder the bull had kicked. One more shot was fired, but really was not necessary. The bull was dead with the first shot. He collapsed going up a hill and gave the welcome death moan.
In the course of skinning the buffalo, we were able to recover two of the three rounds fired. I was using Hornady DGX ammunition in the Jeffery. While the bullets maintained their integrity, both Buzz and I were disappointed in the expansion. No question they got the job done, but it would have been nice to see a little more expansion from the bullets.
The Grand Finale
After several days of glassing, spotting and checking tracks we were approaching the last few days of the hunt. On the next to the last day of the hunt, early in the morning we cut the tracks of a group of cows. Criton took the track. After a couple of hours we bumped the group and they moved off a short distance. We continued to follow and it was not long before we could hear the elephant feeding in front of us. We still could not see them but knew that they were close.
We continued to approach and soon it was obvious that the elephant were aware of our presence. At this point we could now see them beginning to move from our right to our left. Buzz instructed us to back off and we began to slowly move back away from the elephant. The cow in front, however, had locked on to us. She had stopped, ears out and head up. We continued to back off and then she came.
While the video highlights that the entire incident lasted less than five seconds, in the moment it seemed like an eternity. As she trumpeted and came, Buzz and I continued to retreat. However, it was clear that this was no mock charge and she was not stopping. Buzz and I squared up with her, with me asking (imploring?) Buzz whether it was okay to shoot. As the cow got to within five paces, Buzz said shoot, and I fired. Buzz fired and I fired again. The cow went down on her front knees from the impact of the three quick shots. She staggered to her feet and began to move off – even though we had failed to brain her we had at least turned the charge. Buzz fired one more shot; she took a step and collapsed.
Everything had happened so quickly there was no time to panic, just to react. I seriously wonder what would have happened without the double and the two quick shots that it offered to break the charge. At some level, this type of experience of what dangerous game hunters are looking for – a test of their mettle and ability to face adversity. That said, such experiences leave you wondering how things might have turned out differently if the charge had not been broken. I would not trade the experience for anything, but I am not sure I would welcome the chance to repeat it (at least for a little while
).
[Kudos to Justin Drainer the cameraman. It is one thing to stand a charge with a rifle in your hands. It is quite another to do so with just a camera in your hands.]
That evening in camp we discussed whether we should simply relax on the last day or give the remaining buffalo a run. Buzz, as always, was game to see if we could get the second buff in the salt. That decided it, the last day we would go and see if we could locate one of the dugga boys that Criton had spotted several days earlier.
The next morning it did not take us long to located the spore of two old dugga boys that had been hanging around a small pan. The spore was from the preceding evening but our hope was that the buffalo would not go far with so much water and green grass right there for their taking. Our hopes were rewarded when we found a couple of spots where the two bulls had laid up overnight. Soon the spore was fresh and we knew that we were closing in.
Sensing that the bulls were in front us and with the wind in our face we began a painstaking process of inching our way forward. Any sound would evoke Buzz glancing over his shoulder to give the miscreant the “baboon eye”. Eventually we got into a position where we could make out a patch of black about 20 yards in front of us. Buzz could tell through the binos that the patch was the head of a solid boss bull. He asked me if I could make the shot with the Krieghoff through the brush and I told him sure. At the shot the bull started to run. The second shot was a Texas heart shot. We started to chase the bull and saw him standing in a small gully. Kneeling I fired one more shot and the bull slide down the gully and collapsed on his side.
We could not have scripted a better finish to the hunt. The bull was a sod of buffalo, with a spread right at 40”, smooth bosses and worn down horn tips. My best buffalo without a doubt and made all the more meaningful since it was hunted up close with a double rifle.
Final Thoughts
This was my third safari with Charlton McCallum and Buzz. Each hunt seems to get better and better, filled with memories of the hunt, good company and conversation around the campfire. I cannot thank Buzz enough for his dedication, persistence and good humor. I truly regard him as a mate, not just a PH. If I never hunt again, I have already had a lifetime of memorable experiences.
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