HUNTERS
Chris Peccia and Robert Peccia

SAFARI OPERATOR
Zambezi Hunters – www.zambezihunters.com
Alistair Pole

PROFESSIONAL HUNTER
Thierry Labat – Zambezi Hunters and Thierry Labat Safaris
www.thierrylabatsafaris.com (site under construction, should be operational soon)

HUNT LOCATION
Zimbabwe – Sango Concession in the Save Conservancy

ACCOMODATIONS
Ingwe Lodge – managed by Lindsay and Nevin Leesmay and assisted by a fantastic staff

CAMERAMAN
Sean Herbert – Capture Safari Productions

TRACKERS
Lead Tracker: Mudini
Secondary Tracker: Rindai (Pete Wood’s tracker)

DRIVER
Ishmael

GAME SCOUT
Zacheus

DATES
Arrival in Camp: November 27, 2013
Hunting dates: November 28-December 9, 2013
Depart Camp: December 10, 2013

TRAVEL AND GUN PERMITS
Gracy Travel – Shawn Kennedy – shawn@gracytravel.com (airline arrangements and JNB hotel)
Gracy Travel – Christy Cevallos – christy@gracytravel.com (firearm permits)

AIRLINES
Delta Airlines from HLN-SLC-ATL-JNB.
Overnight at City Lodge in JNB on trip over, straight through JNB on return
South African Airlines from JNB-HRE and HRE-JNB
Cessna 206 charter into Sango – Matt piloting on the way in to Sango, Giles on the way out

FIREARMS, AMMUNITION AND OPTICS
Winchester Safari Express Model 70’s in .416 Remington (Duralyt 2x-8, illuminated reticle) and .375 H&H (Leupold 1.5x-6)
Federal Swift A-Frames and Barnes Banded Solids for both .416 Rem and .375 H&H
My Father and I both used Swarovski 10x42 SLC binoculars

ANIMALS TAKEN
Elephant, eland, waterbuck, buffalo x 2, impala x 5, zebra x 5, civet

ANIMALS SEEN
elephant, buffalo, eland, zebra, wildebeest, hyena, crocodile, impala, waterbuck, grysbok, duiker, klipspringer, kudu, leopard (two day-time sightings), black rhino, white rhino, giraffe, sable, lion, nyala, civet, honey badger, lots of birds and other small animals too numerous to name

HUNT SUMMARY

This hunt was originally scheduled to be an elephant-buffalo hunt in the Save on Sango in June but due to the problems in the Save that hunt had to be postponed. I hunted CMS’s Dande East and DSA with Thierry during the originally scheduled June time-frame and had a great hunt in those locations and thought CMS ran a hell of an operation. See previously submitted report if interested.

I was only back a couple weeks from the hunt in the Dande when Sango received their permits. Knowing the elephant on Sango would likely be in high demand, I knew I had to act fairly quickly if I wanted to try to hunt elephant there as the next few years were already booked.

There was no way I could get back to Sango during the prime elephant hunting months and Thierry was booked anyway so I decided to try a late season hunt as that was all my work schedule would allow. As it was, I had to skip the Thanksgiving festivities with my family in order to miss the least amount of work and that was a big sacrifice as those family times just can’t be replaced and I hated to miss it.

Travel over was uneventful and smooth. We overnighted in JNB with an easy connection the next day to Harare and then switched to the Cessna 206 for the one hour and 15 minute flight into Sango.

It was great to arrive back in the Save and we were greeted at the airstrip by Thierry, Sean, Mudini, Ishmael, Rindai and Zacheus.

A few weeks prior to departing the States, Thierry asked me if I cared if he had the hunt filmed as he wanted a video for promotional purposes. To be honest, I wasn’t overly thrilled about it but figured it wasn’t a big deal and Thierry assured me I would hardly notice Sean was there and filming.

In retrospect, he was right and Sean was one hell of a lot of fun to have along on the hunt. He was funny as heck and we had a ton of fun and lots of laughs. Sean was a welcome addition to the hunting group and was a great guy to have in camp in addition to being a top-notch camera guy. The footage he was able to capture was unbelievable and he has a real artistic eye. I was extremely impressed and highly recommend his services.

After a quick drive to the lodge, we were met with some cold drinks and a greeting by our good friends, Lindsay and Nevin Leesmay and the wonderful staff at the Ingwe Lodge.

After getting settled in our rooms, we headed back to the airstrip to shoot the rifles and departed the lodge with a meat ration request for two impalas from David Goosen, Sango Conservancy General Manager.

After verifying the zero on the rifles it was time to go hunting!

It certainly doesn’t take long to find an impala on Sango so within short order we were bailing off the truck with the sticks and the camera man in tow.

The hunting vehicle continued on and the two impala relaxed and we made our move. Thierry instructed me to shoot them in the neck or head as they were for meat.

No pressure there, I just got off the plane! We got within about 50 yards and we could see them through some fairly thick stuff but there were a couple small openings. Bang flop, impala #1 down. The other impala moved off a bit but stopped well within range. Bang flop, impala #2 down. Off to the skinning shed we go to drop the impala off to the guys.



On the way to the skinning shed, we spotted a large herd of eland Thierry looked them over as they started to melt into the bush. “Let’s whack one!” Thierry says.

He didn’t have to twist my arm very hard so I quickly agreed.

We ended up tracking them for about an hour before we caught them in a nice open area right before dark.

There were probably 70 eland in the bunch with a couple good, old, blue bulls. On the previous trip to Sango, I shot a great bull of 43” so this time we were looking for an old, blue and worn down bull as we knew we were not likely to top the previous one in the “horn-length” category.

A nice, mature bull finally presented a shot and I shot him right on the shoulder at about 80 yards. He lunged to our right with a broken shoulder so we quickly closed the distance and I put two more in him before he collapsed in a heap.





On the ground less than three hours and we had two impala and an eland down. Not a bad start since the actual first day of hunting was the next day!

The first few days the focus of the hunt was the elephant and we had some great encounters. As a first-time elephant hunter, I was amazed at how difficult it was to track an elephant and the way elephants can appear and disappear quickly and silently. We had several up close and personal encounters that certainly got the adrenaline flowing and the finger moving up to the safety.









In addition to the elephant, there was a leopard still on quota so on the second day we shot a zebra and threw out four baits that were not too out of the way and would not detract from our elephant hunting.



On day four we had a nice male hit one of our baits and we decided to sit for him that night. After looking over several elephants in the morning, we constructed a ground blind and shot an impala to freshen the bait and arrived at the blind at about 5 pm to begin the sit.

At about 10 p.m. the leopard came in but from an unexpected direction and walked right up to our blind. The wind was squirrely and he smelled us and ran off.

In hindsight, we decided we probably should have held off until conditions were better but rain was forecasted (which didn’t happen) and we were worried about trying to get the elephant down so we decided to gamble and sit in the less-than-ideal conditions.

As it were, we came VERY close to killing that cat and he appeared to be a good one.

On the fifth day, we headed down toward the Save River which is typically loaded with elephants but there were only a few cows around and it appeared the elephants had pulled out after the early rains which made water readily available elsewhere.

On the bright side, while we were at the Save River we were able to find a really nice waterbuck. I was thrilled as I’ve been trying to get a nice waterbuck over the past few trips and just hadn’t been able to find a great one. This one was a hair under 30” (29 ¾” to be exact) with incredible mass and I was extremely pleased. They are a really impressive, beautiful animal.





The next day, we chased a few elephants around in the morning but didn’t find one that we felt was big enough.

On the way to go check another area for elephant spoor, we spotted two buffalo, both dugga boys and hard-bossed. Considering we were still hunting elephant, I wasn’t overly picky at this point so we decided to give them a quick go.

They’d run after we stopped the truck but instead of following their tracks, Thierry led us in a big circle and we got behind them. They were standing in the shade of a tree looking at their back trail and had no idea we were there.

Thierry said shoot the one on the right and I did. Hard hit, he ran off a bit and I shot him again. And again. After a little more stumbling and bumbling on the buffalo’s part, he fell over and I put one more in the “arm-pit” to secure him. Tough critters, three in the boiler room and I still had to give him one more.









A nice, old, worn buffalo and a fun hunt.

Early in the morning of day eight, we found a promising looking bull elephant track so we began the tracking job. It was over hard, rocky ground and we’d lose the track and find it and repeat. As we followed, we could hear trees cracking in the distance so that helped us keep a line on the tracks when we lost them. We did this several more times before we broke into a small clearing and could see two bulls standing in the shade of a couple of mopane trees.

We moved in for a closer look. Thierry looked them over and said that, “One has quite nice ivory, I think we should take this elephant.”

Frankly, I’ve been sweating the elephant shot. I watched both of Buzz Charlton’s videos numerous times (fantastic by the way), watched Boddington’s videos, and studied the shot placement guides over and over but was still very concerned about it.

The last thing I wanted was the elephant to experience any suffering or a prolonged follow-up if my shooting wasn’t perfect. In fact, I asked Thierry to follow up immediately if the bull didn’t go right down.

The bull slowly moved to our right and we closed the distance to about 35 yards. Then we quickly closed the distance a bit more as he emerged into a small opening, walking slightly quartering away from us.

Thierry whispered, “Side brain shot” as I settled in and squeezed the trigger. Thankfully the bullet flew true and the elephant collapsed immediately, tail gyro-scoping in a circle.

I put one more in his chest and quickly circled him and shot him again between the ears on top of the head and the elephant hunt was over.

I spent several minutes admiring the bull and saying silent thanks for a clean kill. I’ve shot lots of game in Africa and in the States but there was something extremely moving about shooting an elephant. Not bad, not good, just different. A strange, mixed emotion that is very hard to quantify with words.

















Nevin arrived to aid in the recovery and keep us hydrated!



Rindai enjoying some fresh elephant kebabs



I have to say I liked elephant hunting a lot more than I thought I would. I absolutely loved being up close and personal with those incredible animals, I don’t think I could ever get enough of the rush that was associated with hunting elephant. My Dad on the other hand, wasn’t so sure about it. His exact words were, “Will you please shoot the damn elephant so I can quit being scared all the time!”

We ended up looking over 23 different bulls before we shot one. We saw two that were maybe slightly better bulls but that would be splitting hairs and taking away from the hunt. We had eight great days of hunting elephant and my only regret is we didn’t get to hunt them for another eight, or ten or fifteen days more. I really enjoyed it.

I can tell you there will be another elephant hunt in my future.

Now that the elephant was down, we switched the focus to leopard for me and a buffalo for my Dad.

My Dad and I shot several zebra for bait that afternoon and the next morning and we deployed 12 baits in hopes of getting a leopard hit as we were down to four days left.







We were checking baits a day or two after shooting the elephant and saw a small herd of buffalo cross the road in front of us. We drove past them to get the wind right and jumped off the truck and circled back toward the buffalo.

We could see them mingling around in some thick brush but they were too far for a shot so we just held tight to see what they would do. They eventually started feeding toward us and I had a front row seat as a nice bull fed out into the open in front of my Dad and Thierry at about 40 yards.

My Dad shot him perfectly low on the shoulder and through the heart and he ran off a short ways but out of sight. We waited a minute or two then heard the welcome sound of a couple deep, guttural bellows followed by silence.

We moved in slowly and found an excellent buffalo piled up dead in the brush.









Nice job, Dad! Of course he had to remind me about the fact that he made a one shot kill and I , in return, had to remind him that it was only one shot because he shoots too damn slow to get another one in him!

Whatever the case, we were all happy for my Dad as he had been following us around watching me shoot stuff and putting the miles on while elephant hunting but he now had a real nice buffalo for himself and I was thrilled for him.

The last few days were spent checking baits, looking for a great eland or an extremely big kudu if we saw one but we were on cruise control now. It had been a great safari so no pressure to shoot anything as I had already shot a very nice leopard on Sango the previous year.

We had a few females hit our baits but it was one hit and done.

As most of you know, it’s really hot this time of year and the baits were only lasting a couple days so we needed a couple fresh baits and one “meat” impala so the hunt for impala was back on.

Sean, for all his filming of hunts, had only had the opportunity to shoot a rifle a few times so we decided to get him behind the rifle. I was promoted to camera man and Sean was the hunter.

As noted previously, finding a cooperating impala is usually not a problem. After a few warm up shots to warn the impala we were serious, “Four Shot Wonder” Sean made a great shot on an impala and we had one piece of the puzzle completed.







“Knuckle” Thierry Labat hassled Sean a bit about his shooting prowess so we unanimously voted that he had to do the shooting on the next bait impala and one meat ration impala. Much to our chagrin but not surprising, Thierry proved extremely capable behind my .375 and made two great shots and we had filled our bait and ration requirements in short order.

It was a ton of fun to watch Sean and Thierry do the hunting but we all agreed I should not quit my day job to start filming hunts for a living. That would result in Cheetos for breakfast, lunch and dinner and no more Africa hunting for me!

Our final day of checking baits did not start out looking very promising. The baits were getting pretty rank and we didn’t have any takers.

Until we checked the last bait. A nice, big male had hit the bait and fed from about 7 pm until 1 a.m.

We were going to be sitting in a leopard blind on the last day of the hunt then running for the plane in the morning.

Alas, it was not too be. We set up a great tree blind, freshened up the bait and had a good wind but for whatever reason he didn’t show. I honestly thought we were going to kill this cat but he didn’t get the memo.



We sat from 5 pm until about 2 a.m. A very unfortunate civet showed up right before we called it quits and I drilled him with the .416. Sorry about that buddy, you should have showed up at 9 p.m. and you would have been fine but after sitting in the blind for 9 hours somebody had to pay the price and it wasn’t Mr. Spots.



I suspect the cat found something young and easy to kill somewhere along the line as there were literally thousands of young impala and tons of warthog piglets on the ground this time of year . Or maybe he made us out somehow but I don’t think that was the case.

I think it was simply a difficult time of year to hunt leopards and we were lucky to get two shoot-able males on bait as it were.

I can say with 100% certainty it wasn’t the PH because Thierry is THE cat man in my opinion. His record on big cats in phenomenal and he has a sixth sense about them and how they react to certain situations. You’re in rarified air when you’re hunting anything with that guy.

Sango is a very special place to hunt and they have done a first-rate job in managing the wildlife and the hunting. The lodge is amazing. I love visiting with Lindsay and Nevin and the staff. Food and service is second to none. Now if they can get the rest of the Save sorted out, things will be much better for everyone and it sounds as if progress is being made on that end of things so fingers crossed for ALL the operators to get back hunting the Save in 2014.

Zambezi Hunters does a great job. Alistair is on top of his game and everything is always super smooth and easy and the communications are always prompt. I can’t recommend them enough and will vouch for their level of service in providing a fantastic safari.

Thierry Labat is an incredible PH who has become an extremely good friend. I really enjoy hunting with him and expect I will do so several more times in the future. He’s a fantastic hunter and an all-around great guy and I really enjoy his company whether by the fire, in the cruiser, or on the hunt for something that can kill you. There are some top-notch Zim PH’s out there but I can’t imagine anyone who could do it better than Thierry, he’s got to be at the top of anyone’s list.

What’s the next adventure? I’m planning on taking my two daughters and wife back to Sango with my Dad in June ’14 for a double buffalo hunt and the let the girls experience Africa first hand. Both daughters are hunters and it will be a lot of fun to take them to Africa and show them why I love it so much and they will get to do some shooting of their own. I shudder to think about the hell they will likely raise on those poor plainsgame animals!

I’ll leave you with some miscellaneous pictures from the hunt and wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year’s!

Cheers until next time!

Very Nice! Congrats on your bull!

Fantastic Chris..congrats.

What a fantastic safari. Congratulations. Thank you for sharing!

Nice report! Sounds like a great time. Congrats on some nice trophies.

Chris,

Well done in all respects. Gotta love those late season hunts. Hot as Hell but great hunting.

Mark

Great report and great photos. Thanks for posting.

Doug

Great report!!
Amazing Photos!!
I have hunted with Thierry a bunch, and I second everything you say about him..
Except we call him "slipknot"...you have to ask him about that one...lol
Your daughters will just love Sango, I am sure!!! My wife and I took our two boys to hunt Sango with Thierry in August, and we have an absolute amazing adventure!!
I really need to follow in your footsteps on the Ele!! That just sounds and looks fantastic!!

D

Super photos - great report. Thanks. AIU

One the best hunt reports I've read here. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

Thanks for posting the report and pictures. Great hunt.

Great report, thanks for sharing

Super report - fantastic trophies. Well done to all.

Very wow!

Awesome bull - congratulations!

Congrats . Sango is indeed fantastic.

It is interesting to see the area when it is wetter and greener than when I have been there.

Congrats, thanks for sharing.

Fantastic hunt and a great report. Zambezi Hunters is a first class outfit and you can't go wrong hunting with Thierry. Congratulations!
Did Thierry smack that rhino on the butt? He is one that I would imagine to try just that.

Fantastic hunt for the Montana men. Great trophies and wonderful photos.

Mike

Excellent report

The Save is a special place - hopefully get to hunt there next year

Great hunt with great trophies and great memories. I would have given anything to have been able to do a hunt like that with my father.
You will always cherish the memories of your hunt.

Congrats on a great hunt! Nice pics too. Thanks.

An excellent and a most enjoyable hunt report to read and the pictures are first class.

I laughed out loud when the picture of Sean with a pith helmet turned up. He filmed my buff hunt with ZH in '09 and the dvd I received from that specific hunt is outstanding. Sean is funny beyond words, great company and a very capable cameraman.

Congratulations on a first class safari and some great trophies.

Jytte

Wow!!! What an adventure… Congratulations!

I need an Eland like that!

Looks like you had an amazing time. great photos and good write up. I bet right now you are wanting to go back again.

Great Job in laying out the story I enjoyed it...

Good Luck!

Outstanding!

Phenominal report and great trophies. Very well complimented with the photos.


Dutch

GREAT SAFARI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thierry is a great PH & fun to be around.
He either has several pair of the same style shorts or the ones he's wearing sneaking up on the rhino are the same ones he wore everyday on our safari with him in 2011.

Great trophies and pictures. I really enjoyed reading it.

Congrats Chris and Thierry!!! Great report. Some very nice trophies you got

Thanks guys and gals, it was a great hunt and I appreciate the kind words!

Congratulations on the safari of a lifetime. Would have loved to be able to share one with my dad.

FANTASTIC Chris and Thierry...Congratulations!!!

Nice Chris
Glad you got your ele
Excellent report

I had Matt and Giles fly us into camp and back as well. Great trophies!! We will have to get together for a beer and BS.

I had Matt and Giles fly us into camp and back as well. Great trophies!! Love to see another father/son hunt. We will have to get together for a beer and BS.