The concept was to offer an AR group an affordable hunt in Zambia whereas basically a group splits a safari and everyone mucks in. Initially the venue was to be the Kafue Flats and then I decided to tack on a week in Luangwa to stretch the safari to 14 days and the group gets to see a little more country. The AR team consisted of Jorge400, mho, Sally’s dad, Andrew McLaren and .505 Gibbs. My thinking was if I could get into the Flats early May then the flood waters would push the Lechwe into the fringes of this vast wetland. This worked beautifully and my prediction was spot on, however it back fired somewhat in Luangwa and the heavy rains had transformed the valley into a veritable jungle occasionally separated by seas of towering grass. Visibility was for the most a few yards and my game was hidden and secretive. Still a lesson learned here and the next hunt would have to be offered later in the season. The conditions in Munyamadzi made for some interesting hunting and the hunting of buffalo was in your face and kept us all on our toes. As per contract those that did not score their priority animal were downgraded to observer rates. Beauty is they get to do it again if they want.

Back to the Flats and the lads did well, they hunted hard and they shot well and often at distance.



The Lechwe during the evening would congregate on the dry grassy plains surrounding the Flats and we would be after them here early morn before the ventured back into the mire. It did not quite work like that and all the lechwe were taken in water and often some miles from the tree line. Water, reed and mud made the going quite difficult and I noticed our chaps were tightening their belts by the end of this safari. Great Lechwe were hunted and taken across the board and each had his individual preferences regarding look and shape of horn.

Andrew McLaren, Jorge400 and .505 Gibbs kindly offered to go a day ahead and set up a very comfortable camp for the group. Everyone soon got to know each other over a good whiskey and the camaraderie was continuos. We were to be be friends.

It is not my job to report on the hunt and each will post their experiences and thoughts along with their favorite images and photographs.

Would I do it again? Bloody right and now I want to go deep into the Flats when it is firm and dry, to witness Lechwe congregating in their thousands and I want you to hunt in the heat and the dust of Luangwa when it has shed its leaf. September would be good.

Well done. Thanks for offering this to the AR group, Andrew. A neat opportunity to hunt a unique part of the world for a unique trophy and a chance to make lasting friendships!

mho

Awesome photos!

Sounds like quite the adventure.

Going to have to put Zambia on the list of places to go, that's for sure!

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the other guys' reports too.

Wonderful adventure, wonderful photos. I look forward to joining you on a future expedition to the Flats.

Andrew, You are truly an artist!
I too hope to join you on an adventure someday.

The suspense of waiting for the reports is killing me.

Hmmm, I guess Andrew's last post was some of sort of a summons for me to write a trip report. I had actually figured I would be the last to contribute, since I came in last and left first. But I guess it makes sense to use the time in waiting until the other participants settle down and write their part.

Andrew will help me with a couple of pictures, perhaps, as I have little to contribute in way of this.

My trip to Zambia started on the 2nd of May 2011, which happened to be my 55'th birthday and the day Osama Bin Laden was reported killed - finally. One would have thought that would have arranged the stars for a "bon voyage", but that was not really to be. Thanks to an officious British Airways, female station chief in Zurich (who "knew the rules exactly"), my firearms were only checked through to London Heathrow - an absolute disaster as there was no way I could enter the UK with my rifle without having a UK permit. I had had misgivings about flying BA, and they seemed fully reconfirmed when I arrived in London. Fortunately, and with the help of at least six or seven friendly people, including BA employees, LHR employees and a UK Customs Officer, we managed to get my luggage re-checked curb-side without having entered into the UK, and now (correctly) checked through all the way to Lusaka, Zambia. Phew!

Sadly, my travel woes were not quite over, as our BA flight to Johannesburg ended up being late enough for me to miss my connecting flight to Lusaka. In turn, that meant running around Johannesburg airport for hours to try to locate my luggage and ensure it would be on my replacement flight to Lusaka. That evening, I finally arrived in Lusaka to find myself without my duffle bag containing all my clothing but with rifle and ammo in hand. I guess it could have been worse, but it sure was a stressful journey.

Thor Kirchener, Andrew's main man for the Luangwa concession, kindly picked me up at the airport, and dropped me off at Andrew and Julie's place, where Andrew and Chris ("Sally's Dad" on AR) kindly kitted me out with loaner gear to tie me over for the trip to the Kafue. In turn, we arranged for Chris to use my rifle for the Lechwe hunt, as he had chosen to travel without.

Next morning, we were up bright and early for the drive from Lusaka to the Kafue Flats. Apart from taking a few wrong turns towards the end of that journey, and apart from a sunburn in the open Landrover, that was a pretty uneventful trip.

Pitstop - Andrew and Chris


Park headquarters




We finally managed to find the campsite of the advance crew (Andrew McLaren, Brad and George) by following some unlikely looking wheel tracks in the grass - a feat for which I salute you Chris, I would not have thought that would have been possible!

I'm in two minds about what part of this trip was the real highlight. One of the very strong contenders was simply camping out in the African bush, a lovely campsite the fellows had chosen, and finally arriving was like coming home. The sound of the pigeons (I presume?) and that special light finally made it sink in that we were in Africa. Oh bliss!

The camp


George getting ready to do the deed


It was time to get acquainted with the advance crew, and I think we sighted the rifles that evening, George doing best of us all from his bipod. We also went and had a look at the Lechwe around camp. Other than that, I have to admit to getting carried away with being in Africa, and strong drink made an early bedtime necessary - where a deflated air mattress made for a most miserable and restless night.

Next morning, I did not exactly feel up to hunting early in the morning, so I chose to stay in camp and let my soul catch up with me. What a lovely experience it is to camp in the African bush!!

In the afternoon, Andrew wanted to try out his plan of renting mokoros (dugout canoes) from one of the local fishing villages. The mokoros are a pretty wet experience, but they do get you closer to the Lechwe. It is a rush when they run off with a rush in the water just in front of you.

Eventually Andrew made out a Lecwhe bull (or is it a ram?) which seemed to match the criteria we had agreed in advance: classic shape, not too wide but heavy. We tried to wade inconspicuously towards the herd (not much of in terms of cover on the reed beds of the open flats). On the sticks, the darn critter did not do me the favour of standing still, so i was "forced" to try a moving shot. Let's just say it was not quite as surgical as I had imagined, but in the end we got the job done.

Coming out of the swamps with that Lechwe in the mokoro is going to be a picture in my mind forever more. Speak of adventurous hunting!

Andrew McLaren hard at skinning


I'll leave it to the other guys to relate what went on the next days, as this turned out to be their days.

A somewhat sad postscript from my side, was that I developed a medical condition, which necessitated my medevac from camp and hospitalization in Lusaka. Thanks a ton to Andrew, Andrew, Chris, Thor and Julie for taking care of me in my predicament. Sadly, my extension to go to Andrew's Luangwa concession had to be cancelled.

When I finally made it home to Zurich, my rifle had not made it. I was sure it had been stolen and roundly cursed South African Airway's insistence on tagging firearms - an invitation to theft in my mind. Fortunately, after two days, the rifle did turn up having somehow been "forgotten" in Johannesburg...

All in all, this was a wonderful trip, although the stars did not really line up for me. In the end, I have to count myself fortunate for fulfilling a 20 year dream of taking a Lechwe. As for missing Luangwa, I guess I'll just have to come back next year.

Thanks a ton to the entire crew, you sure are a swell bunch, and I would be honored to share a camp with you in the future.

Chris gearing up


Brad mending cuts


- mike

Jorge400 having just poleaxed a proper Lechwe.

mho,

It was a pleasure mate and look forward to seeing you in the not too distant future. Glad you are on the mend and will forward you a collection of the best photographs.

Cheers

Andrew

Andrew , Mike, guys - splendid show and one of the Peaks of the AR "Movement" so far - That's What It's All About at the end huh

C'mon Mike give us some more on rifle, caliber, bullet, load...

quote:

Originally posted by mouse93:
C'mon Mike give us some more on rifle, caliber, bullet, load...

Mouse, you know the funny thing was that three out of four of the Lechwe happened to be taken with my rifle. Not because it is anything special, but Chris traveled without a rifle and we agreed he could use mine. George just happened to be out in the muck without a rifle when his Lechwe was spotted, and mine happened to be at hand. Best thing was, the guys managed to save all the empty brass, warms an old handloader's heart!

I was a bit worried because Chris was not used to the R93 system, so we practiced the morning before he went out for his bull. George seems to have received instruction by Chris.

Andrew and I had a long conversation about calibers during the planning stages of the trip. Andrew likes the .30 calibers, as do I. Sadly, my favourite R93 .30-06 barrel currently lives in Hungary, and was out of reach for this trip. So in the end, I decided on my .270 Wby loaded to a modest 3100 fps with 140 grs Nosler ABs. I normally shoot 130 grs TSX in that rifle, but wanted a bullet which opened a bit more readily for Lechwe. It seemed to work.

- mike

Mike,
Great report / pics and glad to hear you are vertical again. Unfortunately, I am sitting at IAD dealing with the worst part of these trips. Oh well, be home soon enough.

Safe travels Brad. Looking forward to hearing about Luangwa in general and the elephant in particular.

- mike

Congrats mike,
I can only imagine the feeling of gliding thru the water in the mokoro, with a big ole Lechwe in the front.

It makes me yearn for the wild places.

Fairgame is not only a wonderful photographer, but also an accomplished painter. Not a bad PH either!!!!

Best regards, D. Nelson

A great adventure for all.

Great report. I would love to see Zambia someday.

Well, I guess it's my turn.

About mid-year 2010 I could see light at the end of a huge contract/commitment at work and took a quick break one afternoon to peruse the hunt reports on AR. A report that captivated my thoughts for some time was a report Nganga had posted on behalf of Fairgame (Andrew) about an experimental safari deep into the Kafue Flats for big lechwe. The idea of such a hunt kept gnawing away at me and I contacted Andrew a week or so later to express my interest in any such future hunt. Nothing more really came of it and I dismissed it as a missed opportunity, but still thought back occasionally about the report.

Then in early February 2011 I stumbled across Andrew’s AR group Kafue lechwe offer. My preference was to go later in the year, but when it looked as if that option wasn’t a certainty I committed immediately to the Kafue portion of the hunt for May. There was no way I was going to let this opportunity slip through my fingers. Other responsibilities and commitments, however, would keep me from committing to the Luangwa portion of the hunt.

I departed Atlanta early on May 1st. I had chosen the Addis Ababa route and wondered if my bags and firearm would make all the connections. My worries were for nothing and my luggage was waiting for me along with Andrew and Brad (505 Gibbs) in Lusaka on the afternoon of the 2nd. Andrew whisked me quickly through the immigration, customs and the firearms permitting process and we were off to his house where Andrew McLaren and his lovely wife Julie were waiting. I was a bit travel weary but when Andrew asked if I would like to head out early the next morning along with Brad, Andrew McLaren and two of his staff to set up camp, I did not hesitate.

On the way to the flats with a load:



We made our way to the flats following some verbal directions uttered from the night before or early that morning (I’m not sure which) and we began our search for a suitable area to set up camp. We picked a nice spot in the last decent patch of trees on the edge of the flats. Brad and Andrew McLaren took charge in offloading the Cruiser and trailer and we set about arranging our home for the next several days. Once things were squarely underway, Brad and I along with the game scout (Frank as we “named” him) headed out to have a look at some lechwe. Finding them was not a problem as they were everywhere. Gauging a suitable trophy was another as it was a bit like picking out ties.



Camp shaping up:



Andrew along with Mike (mho) and Chris (Sallys Dad) arrived in camp the next day via a route previously described by Mike. Introductions were made and it soon became apparent that we were all going to have a great time together. We did a bit of exploring that afternoon and one experience that really stands out in my memory was the sound of stampeding lechwe in the water and grass. The sound can only be described as that of a waterfall but somehow more surreal the closer you get. That night we enjoyed a delicious meal prepared in advance by and sent along with us by Andrew’s wife Julie and got to know one another.

Relaxing around camp:



The next day was full of looking over lechwe, slogging through muck and mire, stalking, looking over lechwe, slogging, stalking and slogging some more before repeating several times. And of course, Mike’s success as relayed above. On one particular stalk, Andrew and I set off after a herd and took particular note of one bull. We used grass and a termite mound as cover and closed the distance. However, when we popped up over the termite mound, our special bull had turned into 3. “Shit! Which one is he?” I asked. Then we debated back and forth. “Is he is the one on the left?” “I think he is the one on the right.” “Maybe he’s the one in the middle.” Truth be known, they were all nice bulls but the one we had our sights set on had a unique “kick” to his left antler and none of these 3 were giving us the proper angle to make a determination even as they made off out of range.

The next morning, we headed out and Chris successfully stalked and took a great bull, which you will read about. I slogged out to assist after the kill and was admiring his great lechwe while Chris kept motioning to a particular bull that was out a bit further. I took a quick glance but went back to admiring his bull. Finally, Andrew took a closer look and asked “George, where’s your gun?” “Back at the truck”, was not the answer he was looking for. I grabbed Chris’ rifle (which he had borrowed from Mike) and Andrew and I made a quick stalk, again using a termite mound to our advantage. This time there was only one to choose from and a short while later my lechwe was down. He has the classic shape I was looking for. Nice curl and wide with flared tips.





We celebrated with three of the four lechwe down and Brad’s to follow not too long afterwards. Unfortunately, Mike got sick and could not remain with us for the remainder of the Kafue portion. I have to agree with Mike’s assessment of camping in the African bush being one of the highlights of the trip. While we weren’t exactly roughing it by any means, it was not your typical full service safari camp and we all did our part to make it home for the time we spent there.

Chris cooking up our celebratory lunch.



Throughout the Kafue portion of the hunt, I had to hear this and that about how great the Luangwa portion was going to be and “too bad you won’t be joining us George.” However, due to in part to completing the lechwe hunts earlier than expected, word that I had a reprieve from one of my work commitments, and the devil on my shoulder (who bore a striking resemblance to Andrew Baldry) telling me “go ahead and go to the Luangwa”, I was able to extend my trip and few days and spend some time in the Luangwa. I want to thank Steve Turner with TravelWithGuns.com for making the necessary changes to my flight on such short notice on Mother’s Day of all days.

Andrew was truthful in his assessment that the hunting was tough in the Luangwa due to the vegetation. Nonetheless, I’m glad I continued on with that part of the hunt. I wasn’t feeling quite right for the first few days after we arrived but once I got back to my old self, I began to enjoy the area. While I didn’t shoot anything there was still excitement. On one stalk through a particularly thick area looking for bushbuck, Thor caught a flicker of movement. We all froze and glassed the patch for quite a while only to have two elephant melt out of the thickness about 80 yards in front of us.

I still had to leave the Luangwa earlier than the rest, but sharing the same patch Earth with elephant, lions, buffalo and leopard (including the one that visited camp the first night) was memorable and I’m glad I was able to work in that portion of the safari.

I would say that the trip was wonderful and pretty much what I expected. Sharing camp with the other AR members was great and there was certainly no shortage of laughs and good times. I would like to say special thanks to Andrew Baldry for making such an opportunity available. Without putting together this hunt, I’m not sure I would have ever had the chance to hunt Kafue lechwe.

George

Congratulations!!! Beautiful Lechwe!

Best regards, D. Nelson

What a hunt! Nice pic's in a beautiful area.
I have hunted the flats my self, but it was in december and it was for sure dryer...
I got great memories and my Kafue Lechwe at the wall.
Still I want to go back...

What a great hunt.

On the edge of my seat reading this and grow greener with every sentence. Great hunt and pics. The "real deal" hunt!!!!! One day I want to hunt the flats!

Thanks guys, great reporting.

Jorge400

Jorge400 is a wonderful chap and very funny to boot. For me this was the best Lechwe of the safari and it had everything that I was looking for. It will make a stunning mount and those wide spread horns will dominate any trophy room. Sally's dad also shot one very similar and that has yet to come.

Jorge400,

Brad and I have a cunning plan for next year if you are interested mate?

Cheers

Andrew

quote:

Originally posted by Skip Nantz:
On the edge of my seat reading this and grow greener with every sentence. Great hunt and pics. The "real deal" hunt!!!!! One day I want to hunt the flats!

If I get enough interest I am considering September this year? Different hunt and different conditions.

Wonderful Reports! I am so sad that i wasn't able to join the group. I need more Time and a sponsor a wonderful opportunity, fairgame

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

Jorge400,

Brad and I have a cunning plan for next year if you are interested mate?

Cheers

Andrew

There's that little devil on my shoulder again. Of course I'm interested.

George

George,
Great report.

George and Mike- Nice work on the reports, I hope to follow up with mine by Monday. Make sure you listen to that devil George, it sounds like another big adventure.

quote:

Originally posted by Sally's Dad:
George and Mike- Nice work on the reports, I hope to follow up with mine by Monday. Make sure you listen to that devil George, it sounds like another big adventure.

Look forward to it.

This trip came together fairly quickly for me. I’d seen the lechwe hunt info for last year and had been hoping to have a chance to go. When Fairgame (Andrew Baldry) first posted this year’s hunt I was interested but couldn’t commit. When a few things fell together for me, I was able to join up about 8 weeks before the departure date. It’s great that things worked out because this was a great trip!

I flew Dulles to Johannesburg on SAA and the only hitch was a few extra hours in Dakkar. After a night at the convenient airport hotel I began looking for MHO in the waiting area for the flight to Lusaka. Mike was delayed and missed that flight but Andrew spotted me as I exited the terminal in Lusaka. Quick note- be very clear with the immigration folks when they ask you when you are departing, and double check your hand written entry visa. My best advice- add at least a week to your expected departure date and then check that they wrote it down correctly.

MHO showed up later that night and we enjoyed some of Julie’s fabulous cooking. Early wake-up the next morning and a chilly ride in the open rig to the Kafue flats. The drive became more and more remote and we may have back tracked once or twice before finding the camp . 505 gibbs, Jorge400 and Andrew McLaren had set up. A cold drink, rifles checked, and then a quick look around. We saw Kafue lechwe all over the place and I knew this was going to be a fun hunt!




I chose to rely on the kindness of strangers on this trip and borrow rifles. As we were taking turns hunting this was not a problem. A big thank you to MHO and Brad for loaning me their very capable rifles.

On the first day I was first up through some sort of group decision. We spent half the day trying to close the gap on lechwe but luck was with them. We found a shooter bull late in the morning and Andrew and I spent quite a bit of time trying to connect. There was always an obstruction of some sort and the bull got away from us. I passed the hat over to George for the mid-day hunt, with similar results. Later that day Mike got his heavy horned lechwe as described above. Beautiful bull!

Meanwhile, George and I made some new friends, although we’re still not sure where they came from or what they were doing…


The next morning we left camp and hadn’t gone far when we spotted a good bull with a herd. Fairgame said to go take him so under his watchful eye Andrew McLaren and I moved in on the bull. What should have been an easy stalk turned into a 2k walk as the lechwe used the cover to move out in the water. M first shot was no good and they moved away at speed. I finally had a good opportunity on him and took the shot. Mike’s rifle did the trick, as the lechwe reared up like a horse and bolted further into the swamp, only to fall after a burst of speed.



While admiring my Kafue lechwe I couldn’t help noticing the big bull standing a few hundred yards away. George describes that hunt in his report, resulting in a fantastic, wide horned bull!




The next day we watched Brad connect with his Kafue monster, filling all of our tags. Back at camp we found MHO not feeling well, and that continued until later in the evening when the decision was made to get him out to medical attention.






In the morning we packed up and headed back for more of Julie’s cooking. During the night we talked George into continuing on with us, he’s a heck of a good guy and we just couldn’t see him heading back to the office instead of the Luangwa. After an early morning start we managed to reach the Luangwa just in time to catch a proper sundown(er) over the river. This piece of wild Africa immediately made an impression as we watched waterbuck, impala, hippo and crocs right in front of the rondavel style chalets.



The shared accommodations were very nice, including a shower and toilet in each room. Julie’s lamb curry was a special treat she’d packed for us, and the rest of the cooking for the week was very good but hard to measure up against that! Another hunter joined us during the week, John who had been on last year’s lechwe hunt. He was a nice addition to camp and was looking for kudu and waterbuck. Andrew’s system of sharing a license and having us work out our priority animals worked well for the group. We had no conflicts and managed to concentrate on the animals we wanted when Thor joined us as the second PH and we split the group.



Andrew had secured a buffalo tag and everyone was nice enough to let me take “dibs” on it. We spent three days tracking and bumping buffalo in the tall grass. I’ve got to hand it to Brad, Andrew and tracking team- this was thick, nasty stuff. Multiple times the buffalo were within 50 yards, sometimes much closer, with no chance for identification or a shot. It was pretty intense a few times, but everyone kept at it. This was early season, very tough hunting, and eventually we would have had a lucky break. Unfortunately the buffalo got spooked out of the country, either by the numerous and loud lions or just the pressure of us stepping on them multiple times. They just took a direct line and booked it out of the country. I was on the sticks a few times, with buffalo RIGHT THERE, but the thick cover never made it possible to see or shoot.

I had a fantastic time chasing them around under conditions that made this a truly challenging hunt. Here's a photo of some of the easier buffalo conditions.


The other animal I really wanted to hunt was puku. There were many on the property but with the thick cover finding a good male was tough. One late afternoon Andrew raced us down to a wide flat next to the river. Puku were out feeding in small groups and we quickly played hide and seek with the available cover. As the light was fading we got onto a larger group and Andrew set up the sticks. The ram we were looking at turned out to be a small guy and the group spotted us and started to bound off. From behind me I could hear Brad trying to get my attention, pointing excitedly. It took a minute to get Andrew and I focused on the ram, but when we did Andrew said to shoot. One lucky shot off the sticks and my puku was down. He had amazing thick horns and was better than Andrew thought we’d find in the area.



Over the next couple of days we checked for the return of the buffalo, shot baits for Brad’s hyena baits, and generally had a great time in a wild part of Africa. I spent my first night in a blind, and my first in a machan that was more comfortable than many hotel rooms. Even with the thick cover we saw many animals, including herds of roan, kudu, elephants, impala, puku, the occasional bushbuck and waterbuck, hippos and crocs.

This was a fantastic trip that worked out really well. I’d never thought I would be able to hunt Zambia but Andrew’s concept of a group hunt made it possible. This was exactly what I was hoping for- great animals, tough hunting, very nice accommodations and food, and really good hunting companions that I’d never met before. If I get the chance, I’d love to see the Luangwa during the dry season just to view the startling contrast.

Thanks to Andrew, Andrew, Brad, George, Mike and John for a great time!

Hey Chris, what sound did those buffalo make when they were feeding?

Great report Chris. I'm glad to hear that you connected on the puku.

Cheers,

George

Sally's dad,

Remember the herd that cantered over the ridge and all we could see was the grass sway and the grassy ridge seemed to shiver but still we could not see them? Remember the grass bowing forward and we were pointing, waiting and expectant?

Remember that when you shoot your first buffalo.

Talking of remembering things don't forget Where the water meets the sky.

Cheers mate.

Chris,

Great pics and report!!! Love the Puku!

Weidmannsheil Chris, on a lovely Puku and a great hunt. Thanks for the report.

- mike

505 gibbs- When buffalo feed, they are happy, and make the sound "mwaw, mwaw" as they munch contentedly on the grass.

Fairgame- I will never forget the way the grass bent as buffalo blasted off, toward or away from us it was hard to tell. I also have that lasting image burned in as those two big bulls crested the hill with their small herd, unseen at 40 yards but clear at 200+. Like you said, it will be hard for my first buffalo to be as exciting as all of the first almost buffalo in the tall grass.

George- thanks! I'll give you a call this week.

quote:

Originally posted by Sally's Dad:
505 gibbs- When buffalo feed, they are happy, and make the sound "mwaw, mwaw" as they munch contentedly on the grass.

Fairgame- I will never forget the way the grass bent as buffalo blasted off, toward or away from us it was hard to tell. I also have that lasting image burned in as those two big bulls crested the hill with their small herd, unseen at 40 yards but clear at 200+. Like you said, it will be hard for my first buffalo to be as exciting as all of the first almost buffalo in the tall grass.

George- thanks! I'll give you a call this week.

Let's now talk Bangweulu and a place called Lumbatwa where you walk up sitatunga like you would a pheasant.