You can now view my report below, with attached pics.

Mike

Excellent report, and glad to hear it. I am taking the liberty to copy it here, hope that is not a problem.



LionHunter
one of us
Picture of LionHunter

Posted Aug 19, 2012 1:42 PM Hide Post
Back from Zim less than 48 hours and still in recovery mode. But here's some brief info:

PH Al Shearing went ga-ga when I pulled my .458B&M rifle from its' bag to zero. He and the Appie used words like "beautiful" and "so compact". It got better when I put two shots into MOA on target. SIL was shooting a Win Mdl 70 in .416Rem - same as Al carries - and did similar on target. I explained the CEB bullets, as Al had not seen them but had heard some about them. To say enthusiasm was high would be an understatement. The beautiful word was used again on day one - mine is a SS 20" bbl with OEM brown laminate stock modified for proper LOP by Brian at SSK when he built it for me. There is a pic of Michael458's similar on his B&M website.

Day 1 - tracked Buff herd in the morning, let them settle and came back to them in the afternoon, SIL takes a frontal chest facing heart shot with a BBW#13 NonCon at 30 yards while buff is feeding, blows huge hole through buff heart (petals at work here) and lodges in the intestine, buff runs 20 yards and folds up, insurance shot paid, recovered original bullet during butchering, no deformation and all petals expended (none recovered).

Day 4 - Locate Ele herd digging for water in riverbed at late afternoon, Identify two tusked cows eligible for ration quota, wait for them to come out of the riverbed into the bush and move into 15 yards range, large tusked cow candidate turns her head towards us and I take a frontal brain shot as she raises her head, she crumples ass end first as I re-load while watching her reaction, PH says you brained her but I see her raise her head after she goes down, can't get insurance due to brush, herd reacts and we begin to back away as I re-charge my magazine, now dark when herd leaves and I put in two insurance shots, take the tail and some quick pics and leave to return in a.m. with road and skinning crew. Before butchering I let Al put 2 NonCons into the top of her head and the Appie put 1 solid into her neck spine, recover one NonCon with perfect formation (other is pass through), examination shows my kill shot passed below the brain striking the spinal cord which resulted in the CNS reaction paralyzing her from the neck down and accounts for her raising her head after the shot, original bullet not recovered but believed to be lodged in the spinal column. As this was a ration quota, every part immediately goes to the government camp so no further examination can be done; hopefully the Appie can reclaim the skull for dissection and possible bullet recovery at a later time.

To say everyone was impressed with the B&M rifle, cartridge and BBW#13 bullet would be an extreme understatement. After shooting it, Al commented on how surprised he was at the light recoil level of the short rifle. This was my second Ele taken with the BBW#13 solid - first was last season from my .458Lott while awaiting delivery of my B&M.

SIL tried for a Hippo and Zebra in Chewore South but no shooters were found, so we moved to Chewore North and spent the final 2.5 days hunting a bull Hippo on the Zambezi, again with no luck. The bull Hippo on the river just get hammered all season long.

Both kill shots are recorded by video cameraman. 15 BBW#13 solids and 11 NonCons in .416Rem were given to PH Al Shearing when we departed. He promised to report on their performance as used.

Looks like I should have posted this as a new hunt report, so I will make a reference post to it.


Mike
______________
SCI Life
NRA Life
Sables Life
Mzuri
IPHA

Posts: 2179 | Location: Silicon Valley | Registered: 18 November 2008

Thanks for re-posting this Michael.

One correction - Beau shot his Buff at 60 yards, not 30.

Mike

I hope I am not taking too many liberties here, but since I have a couple of the photos, thought I would go ahead and attach them to the report as well.






Michael

Very nice gun Mike, Welcome back home. Are you already planing your next safari?

Joe Savikataaq Jr

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the welcome home, and how are things in the Great North? Are the white bears out and about?

I'm only 1 week post-safari and still a bit jet-lagged from the very long flights on Emirates. 27 hours flying time over a 37 hour period from Tafika Camp to San Francisco with 4 take-offs and landings - you always want those numbers to match!

Will start to consider next years safari soon. Already booked for DSC and SCI. I only need a Roan to complete my African 29, a goal I set for myself early on in my safari career. Not too many african hunters can claim the African 29, so I'm thinking maybe a return to Zambia next time.

Yes Mike there are lots of Bears out there waiting for the ocean to freeze. Did you hunt in the same camp as Len Taylor? Your hunt must have been so much fun.

Joe Savikataaq Jr

congrats- glad you guys had a good trip!

Thanks Tim.

Hope you're doing well.