Saeed,

Thanks for the running account of your hunt!

It's not as good as being there but I'm enjoying it and I can afford this safari quite easily...

$bob$

I think Walter has more fun on these hunts than anyone.

We chased a bunch of duggao boys 8 hours, covering a total of 25 kilometers, and not getting anything to show for it. We drank all the water the trackers carried, and more as we got back to the truck. We have not eaten anything since breakfast. But, none of us seemed to be hungry, just anxious to get back to camp. We got back to camp about an hour after sun down, with a promise of taking it easy the next day.

Somehow I managed to get blisters over blisters. We all slept very well.

This morning the plan was to go find one of the hippo bulls we seem to see the tracks off in the bush. They seem to live in small pools all over the place.

We drove to another part of the river, and saw an enormous croc swimming by. We decided to drive to some of the pools, and see if we can find hippo tracks to follow.

We saw a very big warthog, jumped out of the truck and chased after it for about half a mile. He seemed to have just disappeared off the face of the earth.

Back to the truck and on to the pools.

We saw a duiker, and remembered that Walter wanted one for his BBQ. We ran after it and managed to see it behind a log. only his neck and front part of his shoulder was visible. We shot him and continued on our way.

We went to one of the pools we had seen a hippo tracks previously. The trackers found fresh mud leading out of the pool and followed it. Soon they came running to tell us they had seen the hippo. We went down wind and stalked him. He was at an end of some sort of gunga, behind a large rock. It was difficult to tell him appart from the rock, as he had his head down, and headen behind a tree.

We crept slowly trying to get in front of him. We stopped 50 yards from him, and I put a bullet into his brain. He dropped with making any movement at all. He was a very old, big bull. Some of his teeth were missing, and Roy said he think he might be about 40 years old.

We cut him up for bait, and had lunch 5 yards from him.

We hung part of him for a leoprad that had been feeding, and the rest we took to camp to use as croc bait.

Walter went with Nelson in the other truck, and they are not back as yet.

Its not a dagga boy but at least it's bigger than one and not every day you get them to shoot on land.

And some people think that hunting in Africa is too easy!!!

Really enjoying the reports, Saeed. Thanks!

Cheers,
Chris

I can fix the blister problem. There is a product called Spenco Gel Bliter Kit that I got introduced too in 1992 in TZ. It goes over any blister you get and helps heal the blister and allows you to continue on in reasonable comfort. I never go away without the kit since.
Saved my '92 hunt and the same for my wife in 2000 in Namibia when she too got a big one on her right heel. Funny how such a small problem can cause such discomfort and nearly ruin your hunt.

We've used hippo for lion bait, but I've never heard of using it for leopard bait.

I hope it works for you!

Sounds like The Prince is living The Strenuous Life, hunting hard.

Bully good show!

We have thousands of great photos, but I am afraid our connection seems to be very slow.
We are using an INMARSAT modem this year, which is supposed to be broadband. But it does not seem to be anywhere near what we were getting from Thuraya last year. So posting photos is a bit of a struggle.

We have thousands of photos, and I will post plenty of those once I am back home next week

We started the day at 5 as usual. Walter was not too impressed with 'arrangements' as he calls it. He says why the hell do we have to get up so early, when all animals are normally shot at lunch time - not true, but, that wold make no difference to him!

We went to look at our croc baits, found both have been completelt finished, and many small crocs around - some up to 12 feet - but no serious contender to be added our "diet". Again, Walter has promised to eat the tail of any croc we shoot that is "longer than his own parts". We are still struggling to descipher this code. But, as Walter usually does to anyone he meets, the whole camp is looking forward to making sure he eats that tail, no matter how big the crocs is.

We went to look at our baits. One has been hit by a leopard, so we replinished it. We chased a few zebra, impala and one warthog. But have not managed to get a shot at any of them. It sems they just disappear from the face of the earth. No sign of them, and the tracks are very difficult to see because of the grass and the rocky ground.

On the way back to camp to check on our crocs again, we saw a herd of kongoni. We stalked them for about a half mile, and again, they seem to have become invissible. Roy and me walked back to the truck, Alan walked ahead to meet us on the road. We got into our truck and drove to pick up Alan. as we got closer to him, he was making signs for us to stop the truck and hurry. He could see a herd of buffalo in the grass about a mile away. Luckily they were upwing of us. We ran after them. It is amazing how fast they move as they feed.. As we got to closure, we saw a large mature bull at the back of the herd. We tried to get a shot at him on several occasions, but somehow a cow gets in the way. After carrying on this way for over a mile, we had a break. He crossed a clearing about 200 yards away. I put a shot in him. He took off and us behind him. We saw him standing after running about 100 yards or so. I put another bullet into him, and as usual with buffalo, he had absolutely no reaction to the bullet. We moved a bit and could only see the top of his head. I put a bullet into the center of his boss, thinking it was probably too high, but, as they were no choice. It had the desired effect and knocked him to the ground. We got closure to him. He was still alive so another bullet was added to finish him off.

We cut him in half and took him back to camp.

We went to look at our croc baits. One had been finished, and a few small lizards were around basking in the sun.

The other one had a battle royal going. We counted at least 27 crocs feeding. Making such a racket. One very large female had half her tail cut off. Several 12 footers were there. One was in the water that looked quite a bit larger. All we could see is his eyes and nose. We tookj some very good video footage of the feeding, and went back to camp.

Spent most of the day putting baits for crocs, and chasing buffalo. We did not see any that we could shoot.

On the way back to camp, I was told to shoot an impala, which I duly did. Roy and myself ride in the front of the truck. Alan in the back. When they see something, they knock, and we stop. Instructions are then passed to us in the front on what to need to be done, and we just have to comply.

As Roy keeps saying "we are on a need to know basis it seems now".

We headed back to camp, and found Nelson back with a kongoni.

quote:

We are using an INMARSAT modem this year, which is supposed to be broadband. But it does not seem to be anywhere near what we were getting from Thuraya last year. So posting photos is a bit of a struggle.

I still find it absolutely amazing that I am sitting in my easy chair in a small town in Canada, reading a report from you, while you are probably still logged into the internet while sitting by a fire (or more probably, enjoying breakfast!) in the middle of no-where Tanzania!!! This technology blows my mind.

Thanks for the report Saeed, and congrats on another buff....still plenty to go though!!

Best of luck on your hunt today, my friend. And please pass on my regards to the crew.

Cheers,
Canuck

Yes.... Technology is certainly grand. I first saw it from my pickup truck on my cellular modem while deeeeep in a cypress swamp.

I'm now commenting from the comfort of my home but could have just as easily replied from the swamp if I'd taken the time.

Please keep all the updates rolling in Saeed. It's almost as much fun as being there...

$bob$

Can't wait for the next installment!

Will Walter get his croc tail? Will Alan toss a 2 foot croc in Walter's bath? Will the kongoni band together and seek revenge against Walter for the emasculation of one of their clan?

Enjoy the rest of your hunt, Saeed. And thanks for sharing!

quote:

As Roy keeps saying "we are on a need to know basis it seems now".

Thanks again for the reports. They help with the post-safari depression.

Sorry about the breaks in posting these reports. We are having a bit of bother getting connections.

Day before yesterday we had our usual daily routine chasing of buffalo for about 10 k or so, and got nowhere. They all seem to feed upwind for an hour or so, then turn downwind. We continue to follow them, just hoping that they might change their direction. And before long, we hear them taking off at full speed, straight downwind.

We went back to check our croc baits, and found several basking in the sun, including a good candidate of those we wanted. He was in the water, and only his knobly head sticking out. He disappeared as soon as saw him. A few seconds later he popped up again. Alan was having a problem with his video camera - the batteries show they are full, but, as soon as he puts them in the camera they go flat! The croc was moving into deeper water, so a quick shot was called for. I got the mother of all flinches, as I yanked the trigger with the safety on, almost falling off the blind and taking it with me! I managed to get that sorted out, and a 300 grain Walterhog bullet was placed just behind his right eye. The top of his head exploded and landed over 30 feet away on a tree! He got caught by the current, and turned down river, his tail flipping slightly helping him along. I put another bullet in his neck, Alan and ran down a 30 foot cliff and into the river, grabbing the croc by the tail.

We had a bit of a job loading him up in the truck. As the car could not be driven down to the river. We winched him the cliff, and then onto the back of the truck.

We went back to camp, getting there about 5 in the afternoon. We found that Lance had malaria, so his hunters spent the day fishing and relaxing by the river.

Yesterday we followed an elephant for quite a while, seeing glimpses of his tusks as wondered into the bush. Eventually when we got closer, we discovered one tusk might just be legal, and the other was broken from about the middle.

We left him and drove around. Then we climbed one of those mountains, and glassed from the top. We could see several elephants, none of them looked like a good candidate for a follow up.

We drove along, and saw a good kongoni bull and shot him.

We spent yesterday looking for elephants. We have sen more elephants with big tusks this year than we have on the past four hunts combined. Sadly, all seem to be borderline legal, so we have not shot any.

Neslon spent most of the day chasing zebra, again without any success. The wind has been so unpredictable, changing from one direction to another so often Walter says even the animals are confused!

Walter had one of his great BBQs yesterday, which we all enjoyed. I asked him if he had taken his malaria tablet, he said he did not, as he did not want to take them regularly as I do. He wants to confuse the mosquitoes he said by taking them on different days of the week!

Today we are going hunting in the morning, planning to return to camp by lunch time, so our trackers and game scouts can have their shooting contest in the afternoon. This has become a regular event which everyone looks forwards to.

Tomorrow we fly to Dar, to catch our flights back home, so this might be my last report from here.

I will post full details once I am home, with lots of great photos of course.

The hunting has been relatively hard this year, and we have not done as much shooting as we usually do. But, we all had an absolutely great time - Walter does not want to go home yet, saying we should extend our hunt by "a few more days until I am ready to go face my wife".

Saeed, always great to read your reports from your safari..

Mike

Well, you've been knocking kongonis down almost every day. I hope you got the croc shoot on video. I would like to see that...and your flinch too!

I hate to see your safari end. Its been a highlight of the days that you reported to see what happened.

Thanks for your efforts to take us along. We look forward to seeing the pictures.

Saeed,

Thanks for the reports. We await the photos with baited breath.

$bob$

Thanks for the reports, however few they were. PLEASE go back to that type of phone you were using last year as it seems to be more reliable (can't seem to find the name of it in any of the post but I know I saw it somewhere). Am looking forward to your photos as they are always real gems.

Hope the last morning of your hunt was a good one, and that the trackers/game scouts etc have a great time with the competition.

Looking forward to all the stories and photos on your return. Travel safely my friend.

Regards,
Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I got the mother of all flinches, as I yanked the trigger with the safety on, almost falling off the blind and taking it with me!

Now that's funny! I hope it was caught on tape. Might be Walter's revenge.

Saeed

Thank you very much for your time and effort to keep us updated. I enjoyed it very much.

Have a safe trip home.

James

We shot an impala, and as we were having our usual post hunt argument - Walter is the champion of this. Alan was a few yards from us when he started screaming, holding his ear and running.

He passed by a wasp nest, and got stung.

That got me off the hook, and Walter started having a go at Alan. Alan wanted to take his revenge on the wasps. So he got himself a long stick, and wanted to go kill them.

Roy stopped him, saying he should wait until we can get some distance between us and the nest.

I then suggested to Alan to use my rifle and shoot the wasps's nest.

He agreed, and blasted them by having the barrel a few inches from them.

Walter went to inspect the remains: "Fantastic! My Walterhog bullets kill everything from wasps to elephants!"

Later in the morning we shot another impala.

Then we tracked a herd of buffalo for a while, and found them lying down. We glassed them, and could not see any mature bull to shoot, despite remaining with them for over an hour, changing position to see the herd.

We left them in peace, and went back to camp for lunch.

In the afternoon we had our usual shooting contest, and lots of fun was had by all. The participants proving plenty of entertainment.

One got whacked real good with the scope, and we had our highest score ever. Shot by one of the trackers.

He got 46 out of a possible 50.

It is 6.30 in the morning right now. The sun is out, and we are about to have breakfast.

Our plane takes off the airfield about 1 PM, and our flight back to Dubai leaves later in the afternoon.

We had a great hunt, and we are all looking forward to seeing our families, with dates tentatively set for next year's hunt.

We have thousands of photos, and I will post a selection once we are back home.

Hi Saeed
Glad you had such a good time. I must be working too much because your time went by way to quickly. It's hard to believe you are on your way back already.
Take good care,
Dave

Thanks for taking us along on your hunt Saeed.

Looking forward to seeing some of those pictures here.

How big was the croc?

Have a good journey home.

Gerhard

We all will enjoy the report and pics upon your return!

Yes, looking forward to the photos. Sounded like a tough hunt this year.

I'm still laughing about the mother of all flinches.

Well, we made it back home after a very enjoyable time spent with our friends on safari.

I am going to start sorting out through the photos during the next day or two and post at leas some for you to enjoy before I post our hunt report.

Glad you made it home safe and sound! Looking forward to your photos and some more stories.

Regards,
Chris

Glad you all got back safely, and even if the Buff didn't cooperate it still sounds like you had a hoot!!

It seems worthwhile to go to Tanzania just for one of Walters BBQ's!!

Looking forward to the Pics,
FB

Cant wait for Walter's report and your hunt report.

Gerhard

Saeed,
As all the others have said, really enjoyed your hunt reports. Now, if you know a good cartoonist in the UAE, give that person your stories about Walter for material. The cartoonist should have a best-selling series.
Max

How can Walter put on such good BBQ's and not be able to do anything else right?

Here is the first of my Hunt Reports for this year.

Tanzania Safari 2007, Part 1

Great pictures, Saeed! Thanks for sharing the pleasure.

Saeed: Those pictures are just the appetizer, right? Walter almost looks like someone famous with his trim.

Saeed,

Outstanding!

What camera were you using this year?

That really is a great old bull eland, Saeed.

And to think he gave you a second shot at him!

When I think of the times I could have used some of that luck . . .

Thanks for the report and photos.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Manion:
Saeed,

Outstanding!

What camera were you using this year?

Jim,

I had a Canon EOS 40D, with a 70-300mm lense, and a 17-55mm lense. I don't think any of the photoes above are from that camera though.

Those are probably all from the Canon IXUS 860 IS. I had this in my pocket all the time, and I kept clicking away at anything of interest.

Todd apparently was doing the same with his Panasonic which has an 18X zoom. Dwight kept telling him he is taking photos "Saeed style"!

Dwight has a few photos of his own, which I will put in later. He said they are more of a "human interest" nature. You will see what he means when you see the photos.

mrlexma,

In the years I have hunted, I have had a number of occasions where I have missed an animal, and they had the misfortune of giving me a second chance. On many occasions, the animal just jumps and looks back as he hears the shot. The second shot normally puts him in the bag.

quote:

they are more of a "human interest" nature.

Starring Walther as Walther?