Date: June 1 - June 18 2008
Location: Matetsi Unit 3
Safari Company: HHK Safaris
Professional Hunter: George Hallamore
Videographer: Richard Rauch
Rifles Used: .416 Remington (MRC Action) with 370 Grain Northfork Softs and Solids, .300 Winchester (MRC Action) 168 Grain TSX's.

Animals Taken: Elephant, Buffalo, Sable, Kudu
Animals Hunted but not taken: Reedbuck, Hyena
Animals seen but not hunted: Lion, Waterbuck, Impala, Wildebeest, Zebra, Duiker, Baboon, Civet, Caracal, Genet, Warthog, Roan, Giraffe, Ostrich

There was a lot of rain in this area in the spring, so there was still a lot of water in the pans in Matetsi, Wankie and Botswana. As we got closer to the end of the safari, a lot of that water must have been drying up as there was a lot more movement of game across the borders of the concession. The grass was still very high (over 8 feet in places) which made spotting game somewhat difficult.

The first animal I took was a buffalo on the seventh day. We checked a herd of approximately 100 animals as they crossed from Botswana into our concession. The wind held steady, so we were able to loop around them four times without ever being winded. A lot of times we were within 30 yards of them as they filed through the scrub mopani. There were a lot of hard bossed bulls in the herd, and this one was the biggest. My first shot hit him a little low, shattering his shoulder and passing through his chest under his heart, coming to rest in the off shoulder. We finally caught up with him the next day after seven hours of white-knuckled tracking through a very tall vlei and some very thick brush. He didn't charge in the end, but by the time he was dead he had taken eleven .416 rounds from both George and I. His spread was just under 40 inches with 14 inch bosses.



The ninth day we spotted a nice kudu while looking for elephant tracks. He wasn't any bigger than the one I took two years ago, but when he was dumb enough to walk into the open, we decided to take him. His coloring was really beautiful and he was completely clean - no ticks. He measured out at 54 inches.



Over the course of the trip, we looked at at least 70 bull elephants. Most were in the 20-30 pound range. We spotted one bull that looked decent on the third day that had a broken tusk, but he was across the border in Botswana. He eventually came across and we found him on the morning of the 14th day. We had hoped for something larger, but given the size of the elephants we had been seeing, decided he was probably our best bet. We stalked to within 15 yards of him, where I hit him with a frontal brain shot that went a little low but stunned him. I had asked George to back me up immediately if necessary, since we were only a couple of hundred yards from the border. He put a second shot into him that helped anchor him and I finished him with a heart shot. We didn't have a very accurate scale to weigh him out, but the one we had said 41 pounds for the largest tusk. We hunted hard and looked at a lot of elephants, so I'm not disappointed with him.



We spotted a huge sable (44-45 inches) very early in the hunt. Over the course of about two weeks, we were able to locate him and get on him three different times. On the last day, I had him in my scope twice, but he either moved or had another animal move in front or behind him before I had the trigger fully squeezed. The herd ended up getting with a large herd of Zebra which ended up leading us on a very long and ultimately unfruitful chase. With half an hour of light left on the last day, we found this sable and decided to take him. He measured 39 X39.5.



The situation in Zim didn't seem to have changed much since I was there in 2006. The one main difference was that everyone in customs was exceptionally polite and actually thanked me for coming. The people in the permit office in Bulawayo actually gave the guy in line behind me change back when he didn't have exactly $30. There were a few police road blocks, but we were waived right through them.

There have been a lot of cancellations over the past month, so a lot of the PH's and safari companies are going to have a tough year. I would guess that there will be some really good deals when they need to unload quota.

I had my hunt filmed by Richard Rauch of Bulawayo. He did and excellent job; the quality of his footage was fantastic. As a hunter himself, he was very helpful in general.

Awesome animals and good report! Thanks for sharing.

Okay , you made up my mind, I'm gettin' a Sable!!!!

Good hunt report and it looks like you had a great time and took some wonderful trophies.I would love to hunt Elephant but we can bring the home in Aussie(BLOODY POLITICIANS!!!!!!!)Anyway I love the Sable I took one a few years back and think i will do so again after seeing yours.As for Zim i will go there until they allow it no more it just ashame those rock apes incharge haven't been knock off years ago before they destroied what Ian Smith made the jewel in Africa's crown

Shish, those Botswana/Matetsi elephant are big.

I think, and hope for you, that tusk is going to be significantly heavier than 40 lbs.

Congrats on your hunt.

A classic hunt.That is one tough looking buff.I wish I get the chance to shoot one like that.

Fantastic hunt!
That`s a big bodied elephant and beautiful skin on that kudu.. Well, the horns are magnificient too..

Thanks for the report.

I enjoyed it.

talentrec,

Congratulations!!! Great photos and report.

Reference the lions you saw, I was wondering how they have rebounded since lion hunting was closed for a while in Matetsi. Did you see any big males?

Thanks, and once again congratulations.

great report

Congrats on a great hunt and report. That is a really great looking buff!

Kathi-

Like this one?

Nice, thank you.

Great report and pics. Congratulations on a successful hunt. Love that sable!

T, Wow some very nice trophies... That kudu looks super... Any ele is a great trophy and hunting hard makes it even sweeter...Good shooting...

Mike

Great hunt report and excellent trophies!

Great trophies - great report - congrats!

Congratulations on a successful hunt! I will be hunting in Matetsi Unit 5 in Sept and I hope my hunt turns out as good as yours did. Thanks for the report, and those are some great trophies.

Great trophies! You going to do a full body mount on that ele?

Namibiahunter

Great report. Congratulations on your fine trophies.

Wow...

Now that is what I call a BIG TIME SAFARI....

Good on you!!!

Great story and very inspirational!!!

all trophies you can be very proud of.
Job well done

Impressive trophies, What a Hunt!

Those are very respectable trophies all around. Congratulations!

Dirk