Dear Friends,

The season has come to an end, thank you to all who made this year possible. We had some great hunting and a thoroughly enjoyable time with each and every one of you.

After a 2-week break in August, Steve came out for a Tuskless/ Buffalo hunt late August.

20th- 29th August
10 day – Tuskless/ Buffalo
Chirisa
Steve
Cameraman Ryan

Steve booked this hunt last year and after ‘patiently’ waiting for almost a year before finally arriving in Chirisa.
We got stuck in right away and shot a fantastic old buffalo on day 2 – Steve’s criteria was a boss that joined, absolutely no gap – after commenting that I had only shot 1 buffalo in my entire career that had joined bosses and it was not a common thing even in the oldest of dugga boys, we stumbled on this one – and JOINED bosses he had! Steve took a perfect frontal shot, the bull ran 15 yards, and after another quick broadside shot, collapsed him.





Day 3 produced a lovely bushbuck; he was unaware of us and we crept up to within 30 yards of him.

Our luck continued and after creeping up to numerous elephant, Steve pointed out a tuskless. We managed to get in front of them coming across 4 big bull elephant in the front of the group of cows. Getting really close in, the tuskless cow turned towards us at 13 yards and Steve made a perfect frontal brain with his .450/400. A bit of shouting turned the bulls that had decided to make a fast retreat exactly to where we were standing and after a lot of dust and noise Steve had his tuskless! What an experience – great shooting!



Probably the most memorable was Steve’s eland – after tracking for some hours we finally came across them and for those who have hunted with me before know that I favour a method called the ‘bum crawl’! Our luck continued and the outcome was this – shot at 80 yards, what an awesome antelope!





The rest of the hunt continued with us taking one of the oldest impala I have ever seen in Chirisa (its meat was confirmation as it felt like I was chewing on a piece of leather) and then we found a ‘better’ suited trophy impala the next day!



We also tried our hand at a bit of what Jay (a previous hunter and good friend of mine) called last year ‘doubling’. Needless to say, I had a great time with you Steve, even if we had to wait for Ryan to count to 3 and then some before he took a picture!



Steve, thank you for a great hunt, one filled with buffalo calling and bum dragging! Congratulations on some fantastic trophies taken and I’ll see you in the States soon.

AR report - http://forums.accuratereloadin...061023971#9061023971
And
http://forums.accuratereloadin...571034181#3571034181

29th October – 2nd November
5-day buffalo
Chirisa
Jan And Willie
Johan and George
Chris
Ernst

I hunted with Jan and his son Willie from South Africa whilst Scott hunted with Johan and his son George.

Off we set on the first day, enjoying being in Chirisa and getting to know Willie who was going to be shooting the buff. Having run into a beautiful sable the day before, the game was on for a sable as well!





We ducked and dived through many buffalo but never quite getting close enough for a shot. Johan and Scott had better luck and took a shot at a buff that unfortunately didn’t seem to slow him down at all. Going back the next day they followed but unfortunately didn’t manage to find him again.

Our luck was not getting any better and it was the last day when we ran into a group of buffalo including the one that Willie and I decided to take. Running, stalking, doubling back and forth finally resulted in us managing to get within 60 yards for Willie to shoot sitting down. He made a perfect frontal shot and the bull ran 20 yards before falling over.



This ended a great hunt where we came within 15 yards of some buffalo, out smarted others, and finally managed to take one. Thanks Willie and Jan, I had a great time with both of you. Jan – we will have to find that sable again next time! Willie – I had a great time sharing Chirisa with you.

Chris and Ernst – Your humour around the campfire was hard to beat and I look forward to next year with you guys!

4th November – 15th November
Malapati
12 day - 2 Buff
Larry

Larry came out on one of the buffalo specials I was offering in Malapati and his PH was Ishmael. Hearing back from Larry at the end of the hunt he described the walks... or long treks after buffalo, getting close to them, the wind changing, the frustrations and the elations of tracking in Africa. Larry managed to shoot his 2 buffalo on the safari and a hippo – He has written a report on AR – http://forums.accuratereloadin...921092281#5921092281






26th November – 5th December
10 day Elephant / Leopard
Carey
Gokwe North

The last hunt of the season brought with it some challenges – Firstly because of the rain and the secondly… because of the rain! Elephant hunting is great during this time but cat hunting is not so easy.

Carey was delayed by a day as his bags didn’t arrive but the day he did arrive into camp we had a big male feed! That night the rain came for a few hours and the next morning showed that the cat did not apparently like the rain and did not return. Not a problem – driving around to check the other baits we stumbled onto some buffalo and Carey shot at a buffalo cow that decided to lead us into some EXTREMELY thick bush. Needless to say we managed to find her at very close quarters, Carey shooting her in the side of the head at 7 yards!



The next day was an elephant day and so we started ‘chasing’ elephants in the communal land round and round this little patch of Jesse bush (very thick bush). After what seemed like an age of doing this we decided to call it off as sooner or later we would have had to shoot one in self-defense, as they were getting a bit unsettled!

That afternoon, one of our other baits was found to have another leopard feeding but not having enough time to set up a blind I placed a trail cam to check later. The next day off we went elephant hunting – Finding plenty of elephant we managing to creep right up on one herd, a nice bull showed itself at the back. After some discussion, Carey and I decided this was the one – He came within 9 yards of where we were standing and Carey took a frontal brain, that unfortunately at that distance due to his scope (that stands 3 inches ABOVE the rifle), his bullet hit 3 inches BELOW where the intended shot was supposed to be. Carey quickly put in another shot. What an adrenalin rush! After pictures and calling the camp to help we decide to check our leopard bait.



Our cat was back and feeding at 1600, 1700 and then again at 1000 in the morning!

Waiting for leopard is some of the most boring and exciting time you can have. Our cat decided not to show up in daylight but just after – hearing him feed I tapped Carey and put the light on – he was feeding directly away from us – how that was even possible I don’t know! He slipped down the tree and off he went before we knew it. Light off – wait another 5 minutes and he was back; tap Carey, light on – he was in the SAME position! As he turned board side Carey took the shot and he collapsed instantly.





After an impala and baboon was shot the safari was over.

Larry was hunting Chirisa at the time with Keith Wall and joined us for a day – shooting a buffalo cow the day he arrived with us.

Carey, thank you for a great time – 3 of the big five in 5 days is hard to beat that’s for sure!

____________________________________________________________

Once again, I leave for the States and will be working in 2 booths;
Wendell Reich booth – WENDELL REICH’S HUNTERS QUEST and Aaron Neilson’s booth – GLOBAL HUNTING RESOURCES

Please give me a call and drop in – my number will be
214 – 790 – 5805

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and are looking forward to the upcoming year.

All the Best

Phil Smythe

IVORY TRAIL SAFARIS
Cell: (in the US – Jan/Feb) 214 – 790 – 5805
Phone: (Zimbabwe) +263 772 413 618
Email: phillip@ivorytrailsafaris.com
Website: www.ivorytrailsafaris.com

Phillip
Great report. Thanks for sharing.
Lil Earnest sends his regards and wishes all a Happy New Year!

Looks like some nice trophies there, and well earned. Congrats on a good year.

Congrats on a great season, Phillip.
Happy New Year!

Torbjorn

Phil - I had a hell of a time. Looking forward to getting you out to the Eastern Sports and Outdoor show next year. Maybe we can talk about a future leopard hunt as I've been thinking about those huge tracks we saw!
Guys..I can honestly say this was the best hunt I've ever had. You can't go wrong with choosing Phil and you won't be dissappointed!

Very nice pics and reports. Thanks for sharing.

Great trophies. Want a hippo someday. Thanks for sharing.

Good trophies and very good report, congratulation for great hunt.

1st day of the Dallas Safari Club - Dallas is freezing to us Africans!

See you all there!

Phil, sorry for a dumb question, but it looks like a holo sight or a reddot sight on your double, can you elaborate on what that is please.

Thanks.

quote:

Phil, sorry for a dumb question, but it looks like a holo sight or a reddot sight on your double, can you elaborate on what that is please.

Alaska...assume you are referring to my double as Phil doesn't own one YET. It's a Docter Optik 3.5m red dot. Do a quick search on AR and you'll come across several discussions on it.

Now now... You borrowed my double steve we all know that!

Alaskaman11 - hunteratheart is right though - its a docter optik sight!

Coming from the tactical world, I understand it's usage, is it the same for dangerous game? Rapid sighting?

quote:

is it the same for dangerous game? Rapid sighting

Rapid acquistion and better visibility for those who struggle with iron sights. I find the accuracy better using it.

Rapid acquistion and better visibility for those who struggle with iron sights. I find the accuracy better using it.

I have them on both my DR. I find mounting them in place of the rear sight is a lot better than in the rear scope mount area. The Dot is much clearer when it is farther away from the eye.