Hunter: Bryce Dillabough
Video: Walker Dillabough (brother)
Outfitter: The African Safari Co. (Ian Gloss & Dirk Du Plooy)

PH: Kobus Botha
Area: Makuti, Zimbabwe (Northeast of Lake Kariba)
Date of Hunt: Sept 11 - 26, 2010

Rifles:
Kreighoff 470 NE DR
ATRS Custom 416 Rigby

Species Taken:
Elephant Bull, Klipspringer, Zebra, Cape Buffalo, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Tigerfish

Species Seen:
Sable, Reedbuck, Kudu, Steenbok, Grysbok, Duiker, Baboon, Impala, Hippo, Croc, Warthog

We spent the first two days relaxing at the Wild Geese Lodge on the edge of Harare. Which proved to be a great decision that allowed us to catch up on sleep and collect any lagging luggage. Luckily, all our rifles and baggage came when we did and our adventure was ready to begin.

Joined by family friend Brian and his wife Sandy, we headed to the Harare airport once again to catch our charter flight to Kariba, then off to camp via 'hunting car'. Kobus had us in camp with in an hour of landing. Almost as soon as we reached the outside of the airport, we had our first taste of the Tsetse fly! He would be our hunting companion for the next 16 days....oh joy!

We were greeted at camp by Trimor (waiter), with some ice cold Castle Beer, my new favorite. All of us had the were just soaking up every bit of the experience so far. The trip was already a success and we hadn't even started hunting.

Day 1:
Our mission was elephant. I made it clear that i was willing to spend as much time as possible hunting elephant, but to my surprise, they were everywhere. The hills and valleys were littered with elephant and spoor. The issue was finding the right bull. We spotted an amazing variety of game this first day, but made no stock on elephant.

Day 2:
Day of the Zebra. After a long bit of road clearing by the trackers we reached a part of the concession that had not been visited all year. Visions of monster bulls crossed my mind as we came around the last obstacle. Well, we saw plenty of elephant once again, but no big bulls. A tracker spotted a Zebra, alone, on a hillside. A decision was made to get after him. We came this far and a zebra would really be a great reward for all the hard work getting into this spot. We had him soon after a well planned stalk. What a beauty!

Day 3:
Another morning spent hunting elephant. A lot of glassing the hill sides and valleys has taken place by now. The particular hillside we were on today had a fine klipspringer at the bottom of it. The decision was made to take him. Surprisingly the his fall off the rock did more damage to his fragile hide than the solid from my 416. He should still make a fine mount. What a cool little animal!

Day 4:

Bluff charged by a big old toothless bull while evaluating one of his herd mates. That was enough for the trackers to scamper well off after telling the PH that we should do the same. Kobus shouted him down and we all went separate directions. What a rush!! This is what i came for! Unfortunately, his mate was not quite what we were looking for.

Day 5:
Christmas came early! We had to get a closer look at this guy. Once we got to him, Kobus said this is the one we should take. Was i ready?? I was as ready as i was ever going to be, but i tell you what...You are never ready for this unless you have done it. All the practice in the world does not prepare you for this opportunity. All the mental preparation, video review, studying of shot placement and visualization does not prepare you either. Now you feel only pressure and adrenaline rush. Now it is make or break. Can you make the brain shot? I was certain that i could, but i didn't. Luckily, i was able to make some great follow up shots. Kobus did also after i pleaded with him to shoot. He was down very soon. Celebration ensued!! I was in awe of this great animal. He had lived many more years than me and has probably seen many things in his life that i cannot even imagine. Including the work of some poachers at some point. You could see the healed holes of two previous bullets in his head from some time ago. What a shame.
Right side: 37lbs (61.5")
Left side: 33lbs


Day 6:
Well now that we had our elephant, we could concentrate on the remaining 2 days that Walker had on his hunting time for Buffalo. It took all of 2 hours of hunting to come up with a nice bull for him. I had the video camera this time and got some great footage of his even better shooting. No mistakes, this bull went down quick. Great shooting Walker and nice bull to boot!

Day 7:
Finding a Dugga Boy in spot where we can evaluate him and get a shot was going to be difficult. I was surprised, even after all i have read about how smart they are. Several tracking attempts were thwarted by the long grass or crossing in to neighboring concessions.

Day 8:
Kobus was on to a bush buck earlier in the year that was a good representation of the area. Our goal was to seek him out on foot along the river bed in which he was expected to be living. All of about 30 steps from our drop-off point were all that were needed on that mid-day trek to find our quarry. This one happened very quickly. Not so quick that Walker didn't get the camera shot, but quick enough for him to ask what the hell did we just shoot!?


Day 9, 10:
Remember what i said about the Dugga Boys earlier? Well these last two days were again sobering as we hunted hard for an old guy with no luck.

Day 11:

We went back to a spot that the group of Dugga Boys were hanging out. A spot where we had seen a beauty a couple days earlier. Today, we caught them red handed. Once we identified the 'One' it took a little coaxing to get him to stand in a spot where i could get a clear shot. Once we did, i made a good shot. Everyone was excited about this guy. He was a grand old bull with a huge, light grey body. A true Dugga Boy! I couldn't be happier! Was this really coming true. My expectations for game have been exceeded many times over, i had an elephant, and now this.

Day 12, 13:
The Kudu were being tricky and we turned down a couple of 51" bulls, but mostly we were after waterbuck. We had been in their back yard for the last couple days, but the rough terrain and time of day restricted us on one nice bull.

Day 14:
A waterbuck bull that we had spotted a couple days ago re-appeared mid morning. He was heading for the hills and i thought for sure he was gone, when all of a sudden he held up in some river bottom bush. There was a cow there and it held him long enough for a quick, walking shot at about 100yrds. I made good of that opportunity and suddenly realized that i was definitely going to have to wire more money for the trophy fees than i had prior to the hunt! Oh well, it was worth it.


Day 15:
Our plan was to head to the Zambezi for a day on the river, fishing for Tigers. This was one of Kobus's favorite past times when not hunting, so it was like a little vacation for him too. I had no idea what to expect other than that we may not even land a fish today, but i didn't really matter, there were so many other sites. All of a sudden...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...the reel sang and stopped, then sang again. Holy Crap! This is intense fishing. They forgot to tell me that it wasn't the strikes that were hard to come by, it was the hooking of the fish that was tricky. After my 4th strike of the day, i managed to get a hold of one....and fight! He was a 9lb Tiger and the trackers could not wait to cook him up for dinner. Sorry i don't have a picture of this guy, he is on my bro's video camera though, so i will try to add a still frame from that at some point. We also spotted a 60lb elephant on the shore in the late evening. He had Kobus drooling like fat kid over chocolate donut!

Day 16:
We hunted the morning then spent the rest of the day relaxing and filling out the oh-so-important paper work. Dropped the scouts off back to their camps and endulged in a few too many drinks that evening. My arm is still sore from the arm wrestling that ensued at the end of the night.

That pretty much wraps it up. It is hard to include all that you see in such few words and few pictures. All i can say is that the PH's, trackers, camp staff and hunting companions were all top notch. The experience was unforgettable. I hope anyone that wants to do it can one day. I hope that i never take this experience or these animals for granted. It truly has been a dream come true for me and i am so happy to be able to share it. Good luck to all of you on your adventures!!

Here are a few more pictures just for fun. The big bull in the one picture is in an actual hunting concession along the Zambezi.

Congratulations and well done

Great report and pictures. Congratulations on an awesome hunt!

Jason

beautiful trophies...congrats!

What a trip!. When a hunter gets two of the big five, it's a good trip--and yours were excellent trophies. Congratulations. Was this your first Africa hunt? I figure you're already thinking about the next one, huh?

Neat to share the experience with your brother, too.

Congratulations on the fine trophies and the excellent report. It was like I was with you on your African adventure. Thanks for posting and best of luck in all of your future endeavors.

Very nicely done.

Great report, Thanks!

Very good report. Congrats.

WOW this is truly a Super Buffalo. Congrats.

What a hunt. Great trophies across the board and the old Buffalo bull is a superb specimen.

Well done mate ,love the buff and that Kilipi

No finer meal than Bushbuck filet. Love the buff.


Dutch

Great report and photos. Congratulations on the outstanding trophies... I hunted with Ian Gloss out of Makuti in 2007 and had a wonderful safari too. Your report brought back great memories!!!

Best regards, D. Nelson

How to go little bro! I am very happy for you. What an adventure you guys had. Wished I was there for the excitement!

Really awesome photos!

Love the buffalo photos.

Glad you found a great elephant, nice work!

Great report. I leave for Tanzania in three weeks. I hope I have the hunt you did. Congratulations. I really like your description of shooting the first ele. I too have been anticipating and trying to visualize the shot on my first. Can't wait.

Great hunt and trophies. Buffalo is outstanding.

From the looks of things you had a great hunt. Thanks for posting.

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

thanks for the report, great pics, I can't wait to see the goods when they get off the boat.

Love the elephant and buffalo photo's. Congratulations!!


dale