I won't make as detailed a report as most members have recently done.

Hunt dates: 11th dec to 13th dec 2006
Area: Naitolia, Tanzania
Gun: Winchester classic .375 with Federal TBSH 300grns solids and Barnes X up the spout and a Remington 7mm rem mag with 165 grns NP.

Finally made it out there despite Mr. Murphy doing his best to prevent it. The afternoon before i was due to go, I had a run in with a winch cable that near cut my finger off! Had 5 stitches put in that night and hunt plans on hold. That was Thursday night! Finally left on Sunday and got camp all set-up by lunch time.

The Hunt:

There was very little game around where I had license to hunt. The bush was lush and green and very dense. I walked all my favorite valleys and hills for the first 2 1/2 days! Not a single track, old or new was crossed. Focusing on buffalo I passed up several opportunities at impala which i also had license for. Got a steinbuck along the way - for the pot. Finally, on the 2nd last afternoon, found a "secret" valley with recent tracks of dugga boys up and down it. They bedded down early into very deep korongos one could repel in with thick vegetation all around them. While glassing an opposite ridge i saw 4 dugga boys feeding along at about 4:30 pm and set off on a stalk. I bumped them 3 times with no shot oppotunity until they took me for a good 6 km trot into almost impenetrable thickets. They had run in a large arc leading back into a very big and deep gully. Decided not to push them further in the hope of finding them again the next day. Walked the remaining few miles back to camp, just in case, and sure enough bumped 2 more dugga boys in dense vegetation. Again no shot but almost, as I did raise my rifle to acquire a frontal target. They slithered silently away downhill with no tracking opportunities in 5 foot grass. As the rain began to fall I realised then, that was the place to be and headed back to my campsite for a cup of coffee and some rusks. Dinner menu was beef stew with rice and I settled to bed by 9pm. A half moon and clear skies where signs of things to come. 2 different lions roared that night - probably wandering where all the buff were?



So with high spirits and knowing I had to get back home by 1 pm on my last day, I set off early for the "secret valley" of buffalo. Sure enough, the same 4 boys were exactly in the same place I first saw them the afternoon before. This time I planned my stalk more carefully and 1.5 km later I was within 40 yards. We came over a rise and there they stood facing us. I quickly assessed the closest one to me who was eyeing us with more than just simple curiosity and as he turned to depart, I let fly. 4 shots and 6 seconds later I lost site of him as I reloaded my empty gun. 30 yards on and there he stood looking back to see if we were following. Good shot at 50+ yards and 3 seconds later the death bellow. I checked my watch; it was 7:18 am. Drenched in sweat from the high humidity I sat on a boulder above the fallen bull and marvelled at the raw peacefulness of the "secret valley". For a few seconds, it felt as if time had stood still for hundreds of years as I relived the last 3 minutes in my mind again. Butchering in order to load the animal on the truck took more than usual as we battled to haul the carcass by foot from the ravine it expired in to the car several hundred meters uphill.





I had enjoyed my short stay in the bush for the long walks in thick bush uncovering one ridge at a time leading up to the final showdown. The weather had been kind and we only got a couple of little showers - I say we cause i brought my driver and gardener with.

So this saturday its impala on the menu.

Sounds like you had fun and what a nice Buff.
ozhunter

Lucky fellow to get to hunt buff that way. And a nice bull too.

Congratulations.

Nice report. Thanks for sharing.

It’s really interesting to get the prospective of a local hunt.

Kyler

Mich, as was said, you are fortunate to be able to hunt buffalo on foot from a tent in the bush, I am envious. And congratulations on the well-earned buffalo.

Reg the "report", no need to apologize, short and sweet with a few pictures is just about perfect.

Regards, Bill

Enjoyed that - congratulations on uncovering a "secret valley" - hope it pans out in the future for you.

Bwanamich,
What a unigue opportunity. I see that your hunt was a couple of days after we finished in Lobo. It sounds as though the rains are maybe letting up. At any rate, what a fine way to hunt. How is it that you are able to do that? Are you a PH, resident, etc.? Thanks for the post.

Bwanamich,
you forgot to tell how much you payed for the buffalo license. I payed usually around 30$ for a buffalo, a few years ago. But I didn't find it very exciting to deal with that bunch of meat, so the animal was always donated to the nearby village.

Forget the five star camps and daily laundry service. This is how I would like to hunt Buffalo.

Nice old bull hunted fairly, good show.

Yellowstone,
I´m a resident and as a resident I´m allowed to hunt in designated Open areas.

Warthog hunter,
The license for a resident non-citizen nowadays for a buff costs 190,000 Tsh about $145. I employ 7 staff at home so the meat goes to them, my dogs, my local tracker and his family. I also always leave some choice bits (Stomach, heart) to one of the local families on the way. I just keep the fillets, tongue and sometime the tail.

That is the way I would like to hunt buf. It should make better memories. Thank you for sharing your story.

Very nice! Adding to the above question about the rains, how is it for moisture in general- average? Congrats!

nice - glittering green - Mitch did you do the tracking by yourself?

Most of the time I have a local "tracker" along. In this case, as with most, there was not much tracking needed as we spotted this bull with 3 others at a distance across a valley and I made the approach. There was no tracking required after the first shot either as I got 4 shots in before he was out of site and then 1 more to finish him off after he had gone 40 meters or so.

Crane, moisture when the rains are around is pretty high; I would say from 60% to 100%.

Bwanamich'
What happened to the Impalas?

Ran out of time with other commitments so never made it.