Outfitter: Usangu Safaris
Area: Usangu Game Reserve Southern Tanzania/South of Ruaha National Park
Professional Hunter: Edmund Mbeya
Dates: September 1 - September 11

This is intended to be a short report that will be supplemented later with more detail. Since the trip is still fresh in my mind I thought I would go ahead and jot down some information for those that might be interested.

While we were originally scheduled to hunt in the Selous due to some last minute permit issues we ended up hunting in the Usangu Game Reserve. The Reserve borders the Ruaha National Park, with game moving into and out of the park and reserve freely. The camp sits on the Ruaha river.




Our primary trophy objective was cape buffalo. Russell (Hunter Formerly Known as Texas Hunter) and I collectively took five buffalo on a 10-day safari. In addition to buffalo (3), I took zebra, impala, hyena and baboon. Russell took buffalo (2), impala, zebra, hardibeest and topi. The camp was nicely equipped and the staff were all friendly and extremely helpful.



Hunting largely consisted of driving looking for spoor and then tracking the buffalo into thick brush. My three buffalo were each taken on long stalks through thick brush with occasional sightings of the buffalo, culminating in finally getting a shot on each. The area is completely wild and not only did other hunters take lions while we were in camp, we saw lion and leopard tracks every day. Additionally, we saw, giraffe, elephant, hippo, croc, sable, roan, eland, dik-dik, duiker, monkeys, waterbuck, bushbuck, among other animals. While we saw many animals, do not be misled, this was all fair chase and frequently the animals were on the move by the time we saw them. The area also had impressive numbers of guinea fowl, franklin and dove.

I was shooting a Ruger Safari Magnum in .416 Rigby. The bullets were Barnes TSX. The bullets performed well and believe me at no time did I feel "overgunned". The second and third buffalo were both one shot kills (with an unneeded finishing shot on the third buffalo). The first buffalo . . . well that is another story . . .

On day one of the safari we cut the tracks of a herd of buffalo around 7:30 in the morning. We followed the tracks for a relatively short distance and then observed black shadows on the hillside in the brush . . . buffalo. We spent several minutes trying to maneuver into position for a shot and locate a good bull. After some serious glassing, Edmund indicated that there was a good bull on the far left. It is amazing how thick the brush is and even with a scoped rifle at 50 yards I was having trouble picking the bull out. After several seconds I had the bull in the scope -- the shot was a quartering on shot with the bull angling to the right. I placed the shot in the center of the chest, slightly below the midline and the chase was on.

For those that have not hunted buffalo, unlike deer hunting, you do not let the animal "stiffen up" before following. Buffalo have a nasty habit of running in a fish-hook type pattern, doubling back on their own track and charging when the hunter is parallel to the buffalo. To prevent this, the PH will try to chase the buffalo to keep it in sight while also trying to get additional shots into the buffalo. So as soon as I shot, we immediately began chasing the wounded buffalo. The wounded bull ran with the herd for only about 20 yards and then broke away -- a good sign that the bull is seriously hurt. We caught sight of him in a small depression but could not get any additional shots off before he was on the run again. We continued the chase through the brush (which was an interesting experience in trying to navigate rocks, brush, thorns, etc. all the while running like a halfback). About 50 yards into the chase, up from our right jumps a young male lion about 60 yards away -- it seems that we were not the only ones hunting the buffalo that morning. In retrospect, I am somewhat amazed that we did not pay more attention to the lion. He was clearly surprised and on the move, but other than simply noting his presence we continued our pursuit of the wounded buffalo. Glad that the lion did not decide that the two-legged game in the field that morning would be easier to hunt than the four-legged game!

We saw the bull crossing a ridge about 40 yards above us and both Edmund and I unloaded on him -- we fired a total of five shots all of which connected but seemingly had no impact on the bull. We continued the chase down into a small gully where the bull finally turned to face us. After having been shot six times with a combination of .416 Rigby and a .458 Win Mag, the bull was clearly hurt but still acted as if he intended to try and advance on us. I fired two more finishing shots in the bull and at last he was down for good.

A classic stalk, a wild chase through the woods including spooking a male lion at close quarters, and a great trophy with lots of memories.

Mike,
Very nice! Hunting buffalo in the thick stuff is my favorite "extreme" sport. Well done. Look forward to your next installment.

Did you buy a 14 or 18 day license to be able to shoot three buff on a ten day hunt?

Good hunting....
Russell

Good job, I hunted with USANGU at the same concession in 2003. A friend and I went for 16 days and took 3 buff and everything on our plains game "list" and a few extras we weren't even planning on. We then went up to the concesion up north in Natron. My friend took a beautifull lesser kudu, wildabeast, thompsons and grants gazelle and a great east african impala. I got the thompsons and grants but couldn't find a big impala.

I highly recomend USANGU and I am going back to hunt leopard and elephant in 2007.

Bwanamrm,

We purchased a 16-day license that included three buffalo.

Mike

Great report, highly detailed wrt ballistics, calibers used and the ability of buffalo to soak up lead. You mentioned you never felt overgunned. did you feel "undergunned" during this episode? jorge

No, not really. I also brought a .500 NE double, but the bush was so thick I felt more comfortable being able to shoot the scoped rifle. I always had confidence that the .416 would do the job. With the exception of the first buffalo and my hyena, all the other animals -- two buffalo, an impala, a baboon and a zebra -- were all one shot kills. I think the .416 Rigby is an excellent choice for all round shooting in Africa. I might feel different if the shots were 250 yards plus, but that is not that typical in the area we were hunting. All in all, I think the .416 Rigby is plenty enough gun.

Thanks, I own a 416 myself but a considering a 450 Dakota. jorge

Mike,
Congrats on a sucessfull safari and a great bull. A chase after the initial shot can make things very interesting and good story telling. Camp looked nice as well.

Mike,

Congratulations on a great hunt! My dad and I leave on October 4th to hunt out of the same camp. I'll look forward to reading more and seeing more pictures!

Congratulations! I am pleased that your hunt went well and you were successful. Kudude

Thanks for sharing, Mike!

Thanks for the report and congratulations on a great hunt.

Mike,

Very nice buf and that had to be alot of fun chasing and shooting...Making the shots...

Mike