Hunter: Shaun Hall
Dates: July 21 – August 4, 2008
Area: Salambala, Kasika, and Impalila Conservancies, Caprivi Strip, Namibia
Safari Company: Classic Safaris
Booking Agent: Wendell Reich, Hunters Quest
PH: Vaughan Fulton
Animals Sought: Buffalo, Elephant, Hippo
Animals Taken: Buffalo, Elephant
Rifle & Ammo: CZ 550, 375 H&H, Federal 300 Grain Barnes TSX and 300 grain Sledgehammers

My dad and I booked this trip as back to back 1 x 1, 7 day buffalo hunts, with each of us having 7 days as an observer. After a lot of research, we had narrowed our choices down to 3 outfitters, with our final decision to be made at the SCI show in 2007. This hunt was not one of those three before the show, but when we stopped by Wendell’s booth we met and spoke in length with Vaughan and decided to book the hunt with him instead of our other choices.

Wendell and Vaughan have both been great to work with and I would highly recomend them to anyone.

Our trip changed a couple of times leading up to our departure, first was while I was hunting Aoudad with Wendell on his ranch in Texas. He informed me that Vaughan had a TA Elephant available during the time that we would be there and wanted to know if I was interested. I think it took me all of 10 seconds to commit, I think Wendell believed he sold me the elephant too cheap.

The next was when an opportunity to hunt plains game in Botswana just prior to this hunt came up. The plains game hunt was an awesome hunt on its own, and it was a great warm up for the elephant / buffalo hunt.

We left Botswana on July 20th after our plains game hunt and arrived in Windhoek to be met by John, one of Vaughan’s PHs. He took us to our hotel room for the night, and we would be met in the morning by someone to take us to the airport. Following a bit of confusion in the morning, we boarded the plane bound for Katima Mulilo in the morning. Dad and I ended up on a charter plane somehow, and eyedoc, who was there to hunt the other TA elephant, was on the commercial plane, but we ended up in Katima within minutes of each other and then headed to Vaughan’s camp in Salambala.



The following day we hunted for elephant, but we didn’t find any suitable tracks to follow. Because this was a traditional use elephant we were looking for a young bull. As things go in hunting, we saw several sets of tracks from old bulls that we would have followed if I was trophy hunting. When we returned to camp for the day we were able to hear eyedoc’s stories about his elephant. His excitement only added to my own.



We left camp early in the morning. The early morning was slow; we weren’t seeing any sign at all. Vaughan commented that it was feeling like one of those days that nothing happens and then it all explodes at once. Within a few minutes we found what we were looking for, tracks from 3 young bulls. The bulls had not gone far, an hour of tracking and we had spotted them. As we moved in a circle around the bulls we saw where one had left the company of the other two. One of the bulls was very small, Vaughan commented that we would head back to the truck before shooting him; I was thinking he looked huge to me. This was my first time hunting elephant, and at 50 yards they all look big. We left him and moved back to the other bull, he was just what we were looking for. He was feeding and moving slowly along at about 50 yards. We continued to move parallel to him and edging in closer when we could. We closed to within 20 yards but didn’t have a shot because the brush was too thick. It is amazing that it can be hard to see an elephant at 20 yards, but you could only see movement and dark shadows. After several long minutes he moved into an area exposing his head and gave me an opportunity for a side brain shot. I remember thinking about shot placement, the sun was behind the bull and he was in the shadows of the tree and it was difficult to see his eye even with a scope. I actually turned up the power on my scope to try and locate the ear hole but I had to guess where it was. I picked the spot that I thought the ear hole would be, came back towards the eye about a hands width and pulled the trigger. The bull dropped instantly, I put in another round in the chamber and put one in his chest. We ran forward and circled around the bull to expose his chest again and I shot him again while Vaughan watched for the other bull that was coming in to see what was happening. Vaughan told me to put in one more for insurance which I did and then we left the area. The smaller bull came in to investigate and when he found the downed bull he vacated the area.



Watching the guys cut up and elephant is an experience on its own. 20 guys watching 5 guys work seems to be the ratio for something like this in Africa, but 6 hours later there was only a blood stain on the grass.



At camp that night it was decided that we would head for the Kasika Conservancy. Dad and I would hunt buffalo, and eyedoc was going to hunt a TA Hippo and TA Buffalo. Later in the season Vaughan is able to drive to Kasika from Salambala but the road was still not open so we were taking a boat and would camp in tents and a houseboat. We drove to Katima Mulilo where Vaughan had his new boat. We took his new boat and the crew followed in the houseboat. It was about a 5 hour boat ride down the Zambezi to the Chobe and Kasika Island. We left the boat at the customs post and hunted from there to camp on foot with the game scout, Eddie. Eyedoc and Fred left with the boat to look for hippo. As it turned out we saw hippos and eyedoc saw buffalo. I was also hunting hippo, but for a trophy bull, and we saw what looked like a young bull, cow, and a calf. The young bull would have been perfect for the TA Hippo that eyedoc was pursuing. We compared notes at camp that night and it was decided we would go look for the buffalo that eyedoc had seen and he would go look for the hippo that we had seen.









The next morning we were able to catch up with the buffalo herd, but they were in an area that we could only get within 200 yards without being totally exposed. We crawled through the grass to that spot and decided to wait for the buffalo to move. We sat in the sun for 5 hours, all of us encouraging Vaughan to try another tactic. The sun was absolutely brutal, so all of us except Vaughan took whatever cover we could find in the grass and closed our eyes. He complained that all 5 of us were snoring so loud that we would spook the buffalo; I think he was envious as he was the only one with a view of the buffalo and had to keep watch. In the end he was right, and the buffalo got up from where they lay and started to feed in our direction. As they got less than 100 yards Vaughan was able to find a nice old bull. We had told Vaughan that neither of us was carrying a tape measure and the score was not what was important to us, but dad and I both wanted a mature bull with a hard boss. The buffalo continued to feed towards us, some of the lead cows getting fairly close. At about 80 yards out the old bull that Vaughan had spotted moved clear of the herd and presented a broadside shot. Dad shot and he ran about 40 yards and fell, moments later we could hear the death bellow. We waited about ½ hour to move in and claim dad’s trophy.



After some handshaking and pictures we left the trackers to skin the buffalo and we went back to the conservancy to pick up reinforcements to pack out meat. We really tested Vaughan’s new boat, 13 people, their gear, and a buffalo. I don’t think you would want 14 people and a buffalo, might be over the limit.



The next day we went with Vaughan to Kasane, Botswana, for fuel and supplies while eyedoc continued his pursuit of hippo. It was an overall lazy day for us but very welcome. We got back to the camp on the beach and prepared for our trip up the Chobe to Salambala the next day.

The Kasika area is directly across from Kasane, Botswana, which appears to be the gateway to Chobe National Park. The Chobe is the border between Botswana and Namibia, with the Chobe National Park running along the river. Our boat ride from Kasika to Salambala along the Chobe was one of the most amazing game viewing experiences that I have ever seen. The bird life itself was amazing, there is something like 450+ species of birds in the Caprivi area, and I think most of them reside in this area. We also saw many elephant, buffalo, hippos, crocs, lechwe, impala, puku, zebra, giraffe, warthog, and on and on. A lot of people pay thousands of dollars just for a trip like this, and we were just moving from one camp to another.











Back in Salambala, we were looking for hippo again. We were not able to get to the area we wanted to hunt because of the high water. We did spend some time in a mokoro on Lake Liembezi, which hasn’t had water for almost 30 years. 2 hours sitting in the bottom of one of those small boats is a long time. We did see 2 hippos while travelling in the mokoro, being within 50 yards of hippo while in that thing was a little disturbing.







The game scout in Kasika, Eddie, had told us that vehicles were able to get through from Salambala, so we decided to try our luck. There are two major channels that you have to cross to get through, and we were able to get through the first, but not the second. Back to camp and make a new plan. We decided to pack light and go with Vaughan’s boat back down the Chobe to Kasika. We would camp on the beach and stay there until we were done. We had the houseboat with its kitchen facilities and a cook with us before, but this time it was only Vaughan, 3 trackers, dad and me. We would have to fend for ourselves. It was an all day affair to get down the river and set up camp, the logistics of travelling around this area was wearing on the patience of everyone. It was a quiet evening and early to bed.



The next morning we were up early and left camp on foot, trying to find buffalo. We walked in the direction that Eddie and Vaughan thought we might find buffalo for several hours. We cut track of a herd several miles from camp, how they can read sign in that area with all of the grass, mud, and cattle moving around is beyond me, but now we had something to pursue. Within a couple of hours we spotted the herd off in the distance. There is not much cover on the flood plains and closing the distance can be very difficult. We were only able to get within about ½ mile with anything resembling cover and had to crawl on our hands and knees in the heat of the sun to try and close the distance. The buffalo were feeding and moving slowly away from us and we ended up crawling almost a mile in the 12†tall grass. None of us had any skin left on our knees or elbows. I am still not sure how dad did it with his knees, but not even a complaint from him.

We finally got to an area where there was no cover between us and the buffalo herd, we couldn’t even crawl to get closer and they were still 300 yards out. We had to lie in the grass and wait for them to move. This time it was only about 45 minutes to wait and they started moving, but we were not as luck this time as they were moving away from us. We waited for them to get out of site and began our pursuit. The terrain was not much better for us and we were able to close the distance in a hurry. We got within 100 yards of the herd and were looking them over for a suitable bull when 30 yards off to our side an old dugga boy stood up. As Vaughan put up the shooting sticks the bull spooked and ran towards the herd but stopped broadside about 150 yards out and I took the shot. The shot felt good and the tracker said I hit him but he took off and ran into the middle of the herd. At that point the herd still had not spooked and we couldn’t see the bull so we all crouched down in the grass to wait and see what would happen. As we sat there the herd settled and began to lie down. We waited over an hour speculating about the shot. It was starting to get late in the afternoon and we knew we had to sort out a wounded buffalo before dark so we decided to move straight in on the herd and see if we could sort out the wounded bull. I was still hoping the herd would leave and we would find a dead buffalo, but that would not be the case.

As we closed the gap the herd stood and all circled around and began to face us. As we looked them over Vaughan spotted blood on the side of a bull, my initial shot was too far back, but at least we had located him in the herd. We then had to wait for the herd to move around and present another shot. It seemed like hours that we stood in the hot sun, with my rifle resting in the shooting sticks, the muscles in my arms cramping up, waiting and willing the buffalo to move. Finally they did and I was able to shoot him again, a front on shot that missed the heart. I knew by the reaction that this would be a dead buffalo, but I didn’t know how long before he would give up. His adrenaline was already pumping due to my misplaced first shot and he ran back into the herd.



The shot was a frontal shot with the bull turned slightly, I was using the 300 grain Barnes TSX and the shot was slightly off center, hitting one lung and travelling all the way through the body and broke his hind leg. He was now not able to move very well, and as the herd spooked he was not able to keep up. Just as I thought I would be able to finish him off the herd regrouped and came back for their wounded companion. We decided then to circle the herd and press them to try and get another shot, which worked out and I was able to put him down for good. The strength and will to live of that buffalo was amazing.

It was an awesome day of hunting, physically and mentally demanding, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. We took some pictures and decided to cut some grass to cover the buffalo so the vultures wouldn’t get at it. I was helping Eddie cut grass and carry it back when he jumped back in alarm and pointed out the puff adder lying where I had just picked up a pile of cut grass. I had to push from my mind the thoughts of the numbers of snakes that we must have walked past in the long grass of the flood plains. After covering the buffalo we had to begin our walk back to camp, 5.7 miles as the crow flies according to Vaughan’s GPS, no truck here to come pick you up.



It was a nice walk back to camp that evening as we all felt satisfied by the day. We arrived at camp past dark and began making dinner. Vaughan, Dad, and I split the cooking duties, and I do have to tell you that Vaughan did complain loudly about my cooking abilities. He didn’t like the potatoes that I cooked one evening, and quite frankly neither did I, but there was no leftover food that night, we ate every scrap.

I grew up hunting in Alaska with my dad, spending days on end in a tent, and this was reminiscent of those times. One evening we had 300 – 400 elephant across the river that we watched and admired as the sun went down. After dinner our trackers informed us that the elephant were crossing the river and moving past our camp in the dark. We could see the villages off in the distance lighting large fires to warn off the elephant, but we were camping on flood plains and the only fire wood we had was what we brought with us, and at that point it was only enough for coffee and breakfast in the morning. Not a lot of sleep that night, with the sounds of elephant growling and trumpeting mere feet from the tent followed by our nightly chorus by the lions. The lions would start every morning around 4:00 am and continue until sun up.

We spent 4 nights camped on the beach in a small tent, Vaughan only in his bed roll. I did enjoy the air conditioned chalet that we stayed in while hunting in Botswana, but for me, those nights in the tent on the banks of the Chobe River were the best nights I have spent in Africa, or anywhere for that matter. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I am grateful that I had the opportunity.

The next few days we spent looking for a croc or hippo, as a croc license had become available, but we were not so lucky. The water was too high still, maybe next time.

This was an amazing experience. Vaughan is a good man and I really enjoyed the time I spent with him, a real first class person. Hunting in the Caprivi is a unique experience, not like anything else I have ever done or even read about. I hope to get back there someday, but I will probably have to take my own coffee.

What a great report. Congrads, Vaughn, Eddie and Caprivi House boat tours folks are FIRST CLASS.
I hope Vaughn did not drive the boat.

Vaughans driviing of the boat is what caused us to have to repair the prop!

I would have posted pictures of dad and bending the prop back but I was busy and Vaughan wouldn't take the pictures.

Shaun,
Good report on what sounds like a great hunt. The idea about doing back-to-back 1X1 hunts sounds like the way to go.

Glad you could do this with your Dad.

Shaun,

Congratulations on an outstanding hunt! Great trophies, awesome photos. Thanks,

Hugh

What a great report !!! Thanks for sharing those pictures !!

L

Very nice. I was waiting for this report as I have the same elephant hunt booked next year. The main difference is that I will go to the conservancy for PG for a week prior to the elephant.

I was wondering about Vaughan's new boat also. Congrats on some great memories.

Congrats to you and your dad. A very neat hunt and good report.

Great report and what a great experience. It sounds like you had some well earned trophies and memories.

Congratulations on a tremendous hunt and thanks for a heads up on what I can expect. I have a trohpy elephant hunt with him starting Oct. 19th. You say it is hot already?......I wonder what the second half of October will be like? I'll make sure I bring my camel back.

If, and only if, I ever get to chase buffalos. The ole boy standing in the water by himself will be the one I'll be looking for. Great picture!!

Congrats on an excellent safari! My wife and I are expecting our first child in about two weeks, and I hope someday I'll be able to take him to the enchanted land call Africa! And, hopefully, he'll return the favor and take ole pops!!

Congrats again on a great safari with your father!!!

Shaun, congratulations on a great hunt and thanks for the lovely photos.

Congratulations, Shaun, to you and your Dad. Yours was truly a memorable hunt, well reported and photographed. You guys really earned those old bulls.

I have to say that I am amazed at how wet Salambala was during your trip. I see it in your photos but still have a hard time believing it.

When we were there a few years ago, the Chobe River was flowing only intermittently. It was bone dry over many stretches.

Water was scarce, and where one could find it, in the odd water hole here and there, the pools were muddy and pretty shallow.

Just the idea that one might ever need a boat to get around would have seemed crazy!

Again, congratulations on a great safari.

Outstanding hunt, great photos and report!

I'll be hunting this same area for buffalo with Vaughan the second week in September of this year. Now I'm really charged.

Thanks,

Larry

WOW! What a great trip! Congratulations on a couple nice bulls-- and some really good photgraphy, too. I was this close to booking another plainsgame hunt with Vaughan, because it's all I can afford. Now I will have to reconsider. Guess the kids don't really need to go to college anyway.

I liked that picture of Vaughan leading tracker and hunter through the grass. I was sorry I didn't get one like it to remind me of the many hours I spent with a good portion of my view taken up by Vaughan's backside.

Great story, wonderful pictures and super trophies! Very well-done... kudos to you and your father on an excellent adventure.

I enjoyed reading that! Thank you for sharing, and well done.

Great pics, report was a joy to read thanks for taking the time to share this great hunt.

Dirk

Excellent. I had that big itch calmed down, now you went and irritated it again!!!



Dulcinea

Great hunt!! Congrats, looks like an awesome adventure. I am taking my dad to Namibia in 6 weeks and the Itch is unbearably irritating!!

love the story. congratulations on a fine hunt.

Thanks for all of the comments. Based on what Vaughan said, be prepared for the heat later in the season.

MR, What time of year did you go? Vaughan said that it will become just a trickle later in the season. He told me that when I booked that the hunting was better the later in year we could go, but my work won't allow for me to be gone in September.

I was reading on comment on another thread about booking agents following up with clients after a hunt. Wendell called me twice on Vaughans cell phone while I was there to see how things were going and a couple of days after we got back as well. Vaughan told me that Wendell does that with all of his clients and that he is the only one that he knew of that did.

+1 on the Wendell comments. I know he checks in with clients and operators on a regular basis. I've observed him go to extraordinary lengths to make things right when things go wrong. That's the difference between selling a product and providing customer service...and the canyon between can be vast! Plenty of evidence of that around here.

Thanks again for the report. I look forward to doing my similar trip next year. In fact, several AR members will be there about that time next year.

Congratulations, what a great hunt, and excellent photographs. Thanks for sharing.

Aziz

SD,

Super report.... Hunting buf has got to be some of the best memories and great ele also...

Tell your Dad good shooting...

Mike

Ditto on the reviews here of Wendell Reich. On a recent hunt he repeatedly called the outfitter while I was in the field to see how things were going, as well as a follow up call once I returned to the States. I have used some of the "larger" and more famous booking agencies and never experienced the same level of concern.

SD,

Great report and hunt! That looks like a great time and a really unique hunt.

Shaun, we were there in October, so I guess that explains it. And it was indeed hot, generally in the one teens and twenties F.

But I think I would rather stand the heat than go boating down the Chobe in one of those mokoros among the hippos and crocs!

Do the mokoro rentals include collision and liability insurance, or is that extra?

Great report, and a real adventure hunt. Very well told story too.

Those Caprivi buffalo have the coolest bosses in Africa. I have a "little" one that measures about 33" wide (shot w/Fred as the PH), but with a boss like your Dad's and it just might be my most favorite buffalo trophy, which says a lot about the hunt as well.

Did Vaughan provide any guesstimate on the ele age and tusk weight? Looks like the perfect meat bull. Well done on the SBS too!

Bill C - Dads Buff was 32", mine was 34", but you are right, the old bulls there have incredible bosses. There are some very large buff in the area, but shooting a wide bull was not a requirement of either of us. We both told Vaughan that we wanted to shoot an old bull, mission accomplished!

I think he guessed around 25 - 30 pounds per side, it measured 14 1/2" at the base with 32" showing. I know there is a way to guess the weight base on those measurements but I don't know how to do it. We didn't spend much time talking about the weight, but it was bigger than I had expected. I took the measurments thinking that I might do some reproduction tusks.

SD,

That was an excellent report. I am truly jealous even though I have been there. To see your pictures takes me back there in an instant. Back to where you can hear the footsteps of the elephant in the mud at night.

A wonderful place and great people to be around. And you even get to hunt!

Funny to look at the "Non-trophy Bull Elephant" and see some of the sizes of them isn't it!!!

Congratulations on a wonderful hunt! Thanks for sharing.

I loved the report and will be hunting with vaughn in mid august 2009 for buffalo and elephant. What would you bring with you that you didn't if you were going back, that is in the way of equipment or accessories.

I would take a cell phone. I took a satellite phone with me, but between the cell sites in Kasane and Ngoma there was cell coverage almost everywhere.

I took three pair of boots and I was glad that I did. I kept one as camp shoes and alternated the other two pair, letting them dry out in between use.

Sounds like you spent a lot of time wading. What would you recommend in the way of foot ware. Type of boots, ie canvas, nylon etc. Did you take gortex socks by chance. Can be very uncomfortable walking distances with wet feet.

Shaun- I am finally back home and wish to congratulate you on that fine old buff you took. I really enjoyed hunting with you and your father and would be very happy sharing a campfire with you at some time in the future.

Your hunt report is marvelous and the photos are simply awesome. Great job in all respects. Don't know how you guys failed to snag a flat dog unless you just ran short of time as there were plenty to choose from particularly in the Kasika area. Come to think of it though , it seems most of them knew what side of the river to stay on.

Again , congrats on a great hunt and a great hunt report.

eyedoc - There were a lot of flatdogs around, but we did just run short on time. Good reason to go back.

How was the rest of your hunt?

I wound up taking an eland, giraffe, warthog, hartebeast,kudu and two gemsbok. The hunting was great and I got to spend some time with folks I love and respect.Makes it hard to come home.

Shaun - Congrats to you and Dennis. I spoke to him tonight and I know you guys had a memorable time. We must share a campfire together again soon. Hope all is well.

Rodney

Shaun, what a wonderful trip. Great ele and buff. My understanding is that Lake Liambezi dried up partially as a result of all the hippos being poached out years ago, but I know that the rains in the past few years have brought back the water.
Makorros are not a very pleasant way to be upon the water! Thanks for the absolutely first class pix!