Outfitter: Jan Dumon, Shumba Safaris
Date: March 15th - 23rd 2014
PH: Eddie O'Reilly
Trackers: Calvin & Maxwell
Area Hunted: Belule Reserve, South Africa
Firearm: Custom Winchester M70 416RM 400gr Woodleigh Hydro's and PP's
Animals Sort: Duggaboy
Animals Taken: Duggaboy, cow buffalo, impala and porcupine.

Sorry but this will be pretty short and sweet as time is against me at the moment......

Ok, so this hunt was offered by Jan here on AR only 15 days or so ago and had to take place before the end of March. A quick phone call from Jan and it was all systems go.

Conditions were still very green and quite wet and the weather quite warm and humid but certainly not unbearable.

Drove out on the afternoon after arriving and found a really nice old bull that I just didn't want to take the first day even though he was a great old bull.



Saw this wide, awesome looking kudu bull.....



Finally a day or so later on the back of a large herd was this old bull lying in a creek with a cow while the remainder of the herd was several hundred meters away. When we made the final approach the cow ran off alerting the old bull who stood looking at us briefly before moving to the other side of the creek. He stood facing us tearing a tree to pieces with his horns until he gave me a front on position to place a Woodleigh Hydro straight through his heart between his shoulders. A
He buckled at the shot and then ran (dead run or charge I'm not sure, but it was at us )through the creek around some rocks at which point I placed another round through the point of his shoulder that exited at the rear of the offside ribs. He then continued towards us and as he cleared the creek he turned side on when another round hit square on the shoulder bringing him to ground a mere 12 paces from us. Quite exciting really.



Tracker Maxwell with the bull.


These bulls surprised me at the size they were and this guy had a neck and shoulders Mike Tyson would be proud of.

I was offered to hunt another buffalo, this time a cow, which I took up. This was a couple of days later and when we found the herd it was 200-300 strong and feeding through the thick bush. The idea was to find an old, dry cow and this we did while following the buffalo as the moved along feeding. As we made a final approach a cow got up out of the grass a mere 8m from us and moved off toward the herd when the cow we wanted suddenly came into veiw 50m away standing completely side on. I gathered a quick rest on the tree I was kneeling behind and sent off a shot that passed through her completely taking out both shoulders. She still managed to run 20m into the surrounding grass before she gave the death bellow. No follow up was necessary as by the time we got to her she was done.

Yours truly with trackers Calvin and Maxwell.



I also had the opportunity to take 2 impala rams and a porcupine. The porcupine was taken while waiting in a blind for a bushpig. The bushpig did come in 1 night and I didn't take the slim opportunity that it offered before departing That's hunting......

Spent a day checking out the sights around the area and was very surprised on what it had to offer. My only negative was that my wife couldn't make this trip as she would have had a ball.....







The hunting area contained all of the big 5 as well as hippo. We saw elephant, rhino and fresh tracks of lion. We didn't see leopard (who does ) but we did see day old tracks.





Who says they look nasty?


I would just like to thank Jan, his wonderful family and staff. Also Riaan from the Game reserve who proceeded to take my Pirates Rum

Cheers,
Mark.

Very nice report and great pictures too.
Glad you had a fine hunt.
Thanks for sharing with us.
George

Congrats on a great hunt. No way in hell I'd pass on that first bull, though. I'm resigned to the old guys though.

Awesome mate - congrats!!! Love the mass on the curve of the bull.

Post your impala photo...

One of your trophy buff images isnt working either... The one with the two trackers and you and the bull.

very well done bloke congrats on a great bull,I would have had a hard time not shooting that bull pictured in the water so when are you going back to do it again....................

Great report, lovely buffalo both of them. We were just across the cut line on the Klaserie at the same time, as you say bush is thick and green; hasn't been like this for years, you wouldn't recognise it if you came back in October

Well done! Congrats!

quote:

Originally posted by zhaba:
very well done bloke congrats on a great bull,I would have had a hard time not shooting that bull pictured in the water so when are you going back to do it again....................

First cape buff I'd seen on the first 2 hrs of the hunt. mmmmmmmm. Would I do that again, not likely

Well done. Thanks for sharing. Nice pictures

Thanks for posting Mark - looks like a great time.

Is that Blyde River Canyon ?

Congrats !! Nice old bull and the money is going towards a worthwhile cause !!

Proper!

Nice!
Great picture of that old boy in the water.
Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by gbax:
Thanks for posting Mark - looks like a great time.

Is that Blyde River Canyon ?

Yes it was a great time and yes it is the Blyde River Canyon.

Cheers,
Mark.

Very nice. Congratulations on a fine bull.

Awesome mate, just awesome!

blacks

Congrats - great trophies. AIU

Nice Bull.

Very nice.

Thanks for the post

Great safari. Really like both of those bulls. The one you decided on sounds like he gave you a very exciting time.

I'm surprised at the ruggedness of the country. Reminds me of some of the country in southern Utah.

Outstanding!

.

Well done, congratulations.

That first buffalo, standing in the water, is my idea of a real trophy. Wonderful buffalo.

Fantastic old bull bagged.

I agree with Mike J, that first bull lying in the water is a ripper, mate!!

Great report, thanks for sharing

Bloody terrific, Mark! Happy for ya!

Congrats on a great hunt!!!

Proper bull at a great price. I hunted the Balule Reserve in RSA for my first buffalo bull back in 2001 and had a superb hunt! I like that part of South Africa. Well done.

Congrats! And...$$ went towards promoting wildlife & hunting. Well done.

Well done, proper dugga boy

Thanks for the report, very nice pictures too!

Mark sure did hammer that old Dagga boy with those Hydros. Here's a picture of the heart.

http://i1275.photobucket.com/a...0629_zps104a7fec.jpg

Well done Bwana.

Myself, and many of my friends and clients have all hunted with Jan Dumon plenty of times. A fantastic operation and PH as well.

Congrats sir on a great hunt!!!!

Warning! Could be interpreted as a thread hijack!

I had to scan a negative to find a picture from 2002 (did digital exist?) when I hunted with Jan Dumon.

One of my first African big game animals:



You definitely did the right thing by choosing to hunt with Jan. He's one of the good guys and knows how to take a great picture. (And maybe film wasn't so bad after all).

Film was GREAT Wink...in fact I miss it so much I'm deciding whether to get back into it again brother


FANTASTIC HUNT Mark!!!

Super pictures!

Thanks for the report. Awesome impala!

awesome pictures