I've just returned from a great ranch hunt with Dingwall Safaris booked through Jim McCarthy Adventures. The ranch is located about an hour and a half drive northwest of Bulawayo and has 7000 acres game-fenced and an additional adjoining acreage unfenced bordering the Khami River. I was able to take a nice duiker and steenbok, a very old warthog, an 11 3/4" reed buck, a 22" impala, a nice tsessebe, a 39" sable, a 50" kudu (saw one 56" later), and a beautiful 28" waterbuck taken on the last morning of my hunt after 5 days of trying to stalk him. This was my first hunt in Africa and it more than lived up to my high expectations. The design of the game fence is such that it doesn't provide much of an obstacle to the animals except the sable (not great jumpers). The game density was incredible. The presence of "settlers" (land invaders) and poachers on the surrounding properties in the district was causing the game to seek sanctuary on the ranch. Although many items such as sugar,coffee,flour and especially fuel are in short supply in Zimbabwe, my outfitter was well stocked and had no problems with supplies. My PH, David Amyot, did a great job in getting me my trophies and answering my numerous questions about the local plants and animals. I had a wonderful time and look forward to booking with David again, this time for cape buffalo. The safari operators in Zimbabwe need our support in these trying times as bookings are way down because of all the negative press in the media. I will try to post some pictures later. Best Wishes,gpauld

Congratulations on your hunt. Can't wait to see some pictures. I agree, ZIM outfitters need our support. I went to ZIM this year and would love to go back.

Regards,

Terry

Thanks for the story.....I too am looking foreward to the photos

Sounds like ou had a great hunt, with an impressive bag. Congrats.

Congratualtions on your successfull hunt! Look forward to seeing the photos. Considering Zim. for my next jaunt into Africa.
BigBullet

I am SO glad you posted your recent experiences in Zimbabwe. I hunted there in 01 and have decided on 05 to return. You hear a lot of doom and gloom ( and perhaps rightfully so) from lots of folks regarding the dangers of Zimbabwe. I still like to place my trust on the PH and Outfitters "on the ground" in country. Although I veemently despise Mugabe and the rest of his crowd, we as hunters and stewards of wildlife must do our best to protect it. And that means going to places like Zimbabwe and keeping the safari business alive until the next idiot takes power over there. Man, where is Sir Cecil Rhodes when you need him! jorge

I would like to thank Terry, Saeed, and all of you experienced African hunters for your valuable tips and advice. This forum is such a great resource! Thanks for the kind words. Regards, gpauld

Here is my waterbuck

A steenbok

My reedbuck

My tsessebe

My warthog

My duiker

My sable

My impala

My kudu

An African sunrise

An African sunset

Great pics, great trophies, thanks for posting !

Gpauld: great pictures. Man, 2005 will never get here! How big did that kudu go? He looks BIG. jorge

Congratulations on your great hunt. The photo of the two trackers look very familiar. Are their names Elias and Amos ? I hunted with Bundu Safaris in Zimbabwe during 1994 and 1996, they were both fantastic trackers and I would swear it is them.

Dear gpauld

Great trophies!!! Looks like you hit a home run every day!!! What a trip!!!
Jeff

OH boy you did GOOD.

Congratulations on a great hunt! Zim is one of my favorite hunting countries. I dearly hope ol' Mugabe has a heart attack or stroke soon to get him out of the way before that country's natural resources are completely destroyed. I'll echo another post......how big is that kudu bull? He looks like a horse!

That kudu looks bigger than 50"! He looks like he will almost make three full curls. He's impressive!

Thanks for the photos and congratulations on your success!

Kathi, my trackers were Moyo and Shadrek. Elias is Shadrek's twin brother and he was in camp working for Jacques Hoffman who was guiding another hunter. Watching the trackers in action was one of the highlights of the safari. Those guys are incredible with their ability to track an individual animal through all types of terrain and a million old tracks. Elias helped out on a couple of our attempts on the waterbuck bull.

The kudu looked bigger than 50" to me too, but although his horns were very tall, he didn't have the depth of curl to score to score higher. We had spotted a kudu cow in the road and then he walked out in the road looking at us. He was with a herd of about 20 kudu cows and we stalked the herd for about an hour before we spotted him facing us. I shot him off the sticks at 120 yards through the chest. He ran about 150 yards then dropped. I used a .300 Weatherby Mag shooting 200 grain Swift A-Frame Remington Safari Grade bullets on everything and the kudu was the only animal that didn't drop in its tracks. The sable bull went down with both shoulders broken but took two more shots to the chest to finish off and provided some excitement as he skewered the surrounding brush. Those African animals are TOUGH!

Nice trophies, great waterbuck!

thanks for sharing!

Rusty
We band of brothers!

Congratulations on your great trophies and photos of same. The Waterbuck & Sable are outstanding. These are two I must get for my trophy room. Looks like I'll have to go to Zimbabwe next.

Rslus

Gpaulld,
Nice trophies. I hunted Zim in May also and had a great time. I hunted south of Bulawayo near west Nickerson

gpauld,

A great hunt you had. Thanks for posting the pictures. Congrats!!!

Dave

Beautiful trophies. Love seeing Zim again. I lived there in 1979 and 1980. Then went back in 1981 for safari. My dad, George Hoffman, took my sister and I. We hunted on Johnnie Mayers farm. It was a wonderful safari.

Zim has had political trouble for years. Even when I lived there, there were shortages and ratiioning. It's sad that there hasn't been much improvement on that front.

Thanks for the pictures.

Nice trophies, but have one question? Why does that warthog seem to have a bigger grin than you do? Congratulations.
Max