24 February 2014, 13:23
Neil DuckworthMokore Safaris 2013 Hunting report Sengwa Zimbabwe
MOKORE SAFARIS 2013 HUNTING REPORTMokore Safaris managed to secure a new and beautiful concession called Sengwa. This area is situated south west of Harare on the edge of the Zambezi Valley. Our first priority was to do some improvements to the existing camp set up. This was quite a big challenge given the time period available between our trip to the US and the hunting season. Gary and the team did a great job to create a nice tented camp on the banks of the Sengwa river.
The first hunt of the season started with a bang where Denny Adelung from Houston bagged a beautiful 62 pounder with PH Neil Duckworth .
From here the season continued and many hunters came and went , all happy with the area and the wonderful hunting it offered. This area although part of the Zambezi Valley has a surprising amount of plainsgame animals as well as plenty of buffalo and elephant.
Elephant were on average around 40 pounds which is consistent with the whole of the Zambezi system. The hunting of Tuskless was very exciting and quite challenging. The elephant herds in Sengwa often number 50 to 100 in one group!!! In Sengwa we also offer non trophy elephant and buffalo hunts , these are obviously cheaper hunts , yet still offer great hunting experiences to our clients.
We adopted a policy where only solid bossed buffalo were to be shot to ensure long term sustainability of the area and ensure that the quality will get better and better over time. The biggest bull taken there this year was 41 inches ,some bigger bulls were seen yet still a bit soft. These were left to do the breeding and will be magnificent trophies in the near future.
Sengwa offers a good variety of plainssgame . Most common are waterbuck ,eland, zebra and impala. Some herds of waterbuck bulls run 20-30 strong and it is common to see herds of 50 -60 zebra or eland .
Chobe Bushbuck are also plentiful here and some very good trophies. There are also some very good kudu in this area although numbers are limited. Reedbuck are quite plentiful along the Sengwa floodplain yet we only have a small quota on these.
Mokore also did some hunting in the SVC in 2013. As most are aware we were not issued a hunting quota on Mokore itself but got some quota on our Umkondo property which was a huge relief. Four nice buffalo and one leopard were taken along with an array of plainsgame . The leopard was taken on the second day ,first night in the blind. 2014 is looking a lot more promising as we have finally been allocated our quotas on both properties . Unfortunately we had to adjust to the national indigenization policy which we fought for several years. This will not affect the hunts in any way but will be something that we as owners will have to deal with. Due to very limited hunting over the past few years we expect that the hunting this season will be better than ever.
We are excited and looking forward to the upcoming season, may there be many miles following dangerous game through thorns and thickets, adventure and excitement.
