PH: Thor Kirchner
Safari Company: Ivory Safaris, Ltd/Jeff Rann
Tackers: Mr. Sugar, Sadik
Helpers: Vincent, James
Game Scout: Timothy
Area Hunted: Chikwa GMA, Luangwa Valley, Zambia
Terrain: Mopane and Miombo Woodlands
Rifles: Winchester Model 70 .375 H&H, Browning X-Bolt .300 WSM
Dates: October 12 – 23, 2017

This hunt had its start over a year earlier when I booked a buffalo hunt in Limpopo, RSA with a great PH that I had hunted with before. The hunt took place in mid-May 2016 on a 50,000 concession with a good herd of buffalo and a realistic opportunity of shooting a 40” bull. While a “proper” buff hunt, lady luck was not on our side and we continually ran into obstacles – part of the concession was in the Waterberg Mountains (guess where the buff were), it had rained the day before we arrived, it was hot, it was a full moon, it was the first hunt of the year, etc., etc. and all of this led to the buffalo feeding in the valleys at night and heading up into the mountains at daybreak into some of the nastiest stuff you would ever want to crawl through. Needless to say, 7 days and 52 miles later I had only two opportunities at mediocre bulls. Not one to be beat, it was time to double down. After a couple of conversations with my friend Larry Shores and Larry making a couple of calls on my behalf, Larry said that I may want to consider Zambia as it was an up and coming place for big bulls. So, the research started and contacts were made and in May 2017 I got an email from Thor Kirchner that a late season hunt was available in the Chikwa GMA and he would be my PH. Thor said Chikwa was a good GMA with a good chance at a big bull. My friend, Mark, would join me for his first hunt to Africa and Thor had arranged for Davin Goldstone to be his PH. The hunt was on.

On October 12, we left Orlando, went through Dubai on Emirates and landed in Lusaka around 2 PM the next day. We overnighted in Lusaka, flying to Mfuwe the next day. From Mfuwe, it was a 7 hour cross country dirt road trek to Chikwa that I would liken to the enduro version of the Cannon Ball run. While there was a charter flight option to the Chikwa airstrip the $7k price tag could be better spent in other ways and frankly I was looking forward to the windshield time with Thor. We arrived in camp around 7 PM that night.

Day 1 – Started a little later than normal with checking the rifles. Nothing drives me more crazy than to haul your rifles thousands of miles, across several airlines who couldn’t give a crap, only to show up in a camp and have to “check” your rifles using the hood of a truck with a couple of wadded up jackets as a rest and a knot on a tree trunk as a target. Thor was one of the first guys I have hunted with that was truly prepared with a paper target and sand bags. A couple adjustments to the 375 and we were off to harvest a buffalo. We had gone less than a half mile and ran across a small herd of Cookson Wildebeest, with a very nice bull – even to my untrained eye – that just stared us down. I could tell Thor was having second thoughts about starting with a buffalo, but buffalo hunting was what we had come to do so off we went. A couple of miles later we cut the tracks of several bulls and we hit the ground. Mr. Sugar leading the way, followed by Sadik, Thor and myself, with Timothy the game scout bringing up the rear. An hour or so later we caught up with the bulls who had already laid down for the day. At about 40 yards we had the potential for a brush covered shot at mid-30’s bull but they winded us with no time to spare and off they went. When they ran I could see that there were a couple of good bulls in the group and one appeared to be 40”+. We caught up with them an hour later when Mr. Sugar’s 6th sense kicked in – he knew we were close but did not know exactly where they were – it was uncanny how he knew. As expected, they were in some thick stuff and saw us about the same time we saw them and off they went. Thirty minutes or so later we caught up with them again and this time they were waiting for us with no chance at a shot. By now in was 11 AM, we had logged over 8 miles, it was getting hot and we decided to head to the truck. Thor said we would hunt plains game in the afternoon and get an early start on the buffalo in the morning. The plan was try to catch up with the buffalo before they laid down for the day with eyes watching their back trail. That afternoon found us following the river to the south. Puku, waterbuck and a Cookson wildebeest were on my list of wants if we ran across an exceptional trophy. After a long drive and a run in with some locals fishing where they shouldn’t be it was almost dark so we turned to head back when Thor spotted a great puku. After a short stalk in some long grass I managed to totally botch a shot at the puku with my .375 and after little blood and fading light we decided we would resume the search the next day. Needless to say I was kicking myself.

Day 2 – Up at 5 AM and on the road as it started to get light. We had driven a couple of miles past where we found tracks the day before when we were going through a rural village and we cut our first set of tracks. It looked like 3 or 4 bulls. As we were getting ready one of the villagers walked up and told us that the buffalo had come through with in the hour. Off we went. Less than 1,000 meters later we spotted the bulls still up and feeding. After a little jockeying to position ourselves for a good shot we were 40 yards from a 40” hard bossed bull in some thick stuff who was staring us down when Thor looked past that bull about another 60 yards and there was an even bigger bull. Old, wide and worn. “You have got to shoot that bull” Thor explained, but unfortunately, he was broadside, his shoulder covered by a tree and he was staring us down. For almost 5 minutes I looked through my scope waiting for him to make a move (long enough for the sun to rise slightly so that the serious glare in my scope became manageable) and every thirty seconds Thor was whispering “Jesus that is a bloody big bull”. Finally, he turned his head and he took one step forward and I hammered him with a 300 grain Swift A-Frame. Immediately the bulls all bunched up while we ran about 30 yards to get into position for a follow-up. Then the rest of the group hauled ass with my bull left behind and two seconds later he collapsed straight down on all fours. He was done. After a quick insurance shot, I don’t know who was more excited Thor or me. A ‘bull of a lifetime”, “the best bull of the year” and a “proper hunt” is what I kept hearing repeated by Thor in his excitement. What did I know was that I had just achieved my goal of a 40” bull (something my RSA PH said probably could not be done outside RSA) and thank God, I didn’t muff the shot this time. After the guys chopped their way in with the vehicle, took pictures, loaded the bull we were back to camp before 8 AM celebrating with Mosi’s. He was a fine old dugga boy. It was a proper hunt. Mission accomplished.



That afternoon we headed south along the river again to look for my puku. After a big sweeping search involving a half a dozen people at the spot where he was last seen - no luck. No more blood, no vultures, nothing. When we returned to camp we learned that Mark had also harvested his buffalo, a nice 38” big bossed bull that didn’t want to die as it took 7 shots from his custom .375, all in boiler room, to put him down. What an exciting hunt he had. He followed up with a wide 49” kudu late that day. Mark was excited and I was excited for him as you never forget your first kudu. We celebrated at camp that night.

Day 3 – It was time to work on some plains game specific to Zambia so we headed east across the river to a large open area that was at least 1,000 acres covered in long grass and an occasional acacia tree which based on Mark and Davin’s exploits in the previous days, held some herds of Cookson wildebeest. We drove and glassed and drove and glassed and returned that afternoon to do the same. Nothing special and certainly nothing as big as the Day 1 bull. All that riding got me thinking. We were only half way through our hunt, we came here to hunt buffalo, the buffalo hunting was in my book exceptional, and we were one of the last groups of the year to hunt. So I asked Thor if another bull was available on the quota and if so, could he get a license. He said he would try and asked, what size bull would we b shooting for? Not expecting to surpass our prior hunt I asked is another 40” bull with a better curl possible? Thor said we would give it a go and once the license was confirmed, the hunt was on, again.

When we got back to camp at lunch time that day we had a nice surprise. Mark and Davin had headed south that morning along the Luangwa, when they stumbled across an exceptional puku that was laying down and acting odd. At 40 yards it slowly stood up, revealing that it was suffering from a poorly placed .375 two days earlier. One shot from Mark put it out of the misery I created. Hard to believe he lasted two days with his guts oozing out his side. Thank you Mark.



Day 4 – We headed out at daybreak towards the west where we had hunted buffalo on day 1 and 2. We were passing by where we had sighted our rifles in the first morning when word came from the back of the cruiser that wildebeest had been spotted in the open mopane woods ahead. Given the location it had to be the same herd from the first morning with the big bull. We scrambled to get into position as the herd got nervous and started to move off. Thor got us back into the cruiser and repositioned us closer to the herd as they seemed to be tolerant of the vehicle, but finding the bull amongst the other 30 or so animals proved to be somewhat difficult. All of a sudden Thor threw up the sticks and motioned toward an animal that had stopped with his head partially covered by a tree. Confirming that we were both looking at the same animal I sent one down range. At the report of the rifle he was immediately plowing the ground with his front shoulders and 20 yards later he was done. It was 6:30 AM and we were taking pictures, what a great start to the day.



After a trip back to camp we headed out again back on track to find another big buffalo. We had just passed the Chikwa air strip when the trackers spotted a large lone track crossing the road. Off we go again. The tracking job done by Mr. Sugar and Sadik was impressive as it appeared that we were tracking one or two buffalo max. An hour and a half later they spotted a buffalo laying down facing away from us. Thor and I moved into position, which was relatively easy to do given the position of the animal. At 40 yards. Thor studied the animal in his binoculars and was taking an exceptionally long time. When I whispered what was up he dropped his binos and shook his head. “Cow” he said in disgust. Only the second time he had ever had that happen. Oh well, I got to witness an impressive tracking job once again.

Three hours later we had covered quite a bit of ground looking for something to shoot when one of the guys spotted a waterbuck bull in some thick stuff. The bull immediately disappeared so we started to ease in the direction it headed. About 400 yards later we eased out of the thick bush into some long grass along a dry river bed when Thor spotted the bull along with a bunch of cows on the other side of the river. Thor said the bull was a good one and I could tell it certainly was bigger than anything we had seen to date. Unfortunately, the herd had seen us and were wasting no time to vacate the premises. After a short run, Thor threw up the sticks and I locked onto the bull which was moving in the middle of the herd at about a 150+ yards. They cleared a group of trees and I let one fly. He immediately hit the ground but was back up in a split second. I chambered another round and we hauled ass across the river bed. When we got close to the spot where he was when I shot, Thor saw him standing in some brush facing us. Thor confirmed that I hit him again but he was turning right when I shot so we didn’t know exactly where he was hit and he was nowhere to be found when we got to the spot. Sadik and Mr. Sugar started tracking him again finding a decent blood trail at times and at times nothing. He had moved off into the long grass and twice we bumped him. At least 800 yards later a decision was made to let him lay down and we would resume the search in the afternoon as it was now approaching noon and it was hotter than hell. Fortunately, our search had led us back to within 250 yards of the cruiser. As we approached the cruiser we could see a bit of excitement. The guys said the bull had just crossed about 100 yards west of the cruiser and was bleeding from his shoulder and had a broken leg. We grabbed a quick water from the truck and a few more shells and off we went again. We had barely gone 100 yards from where he was last seen when we heard a bunch of thrashing. Running up to the spot we found the bull struggling to get up but he just couldn’t do it. A couple of quick shots to put an end to his struggles and we had our hands on a nice bull. Another impressive tracking job.



We rolled into camp around 1 PM. After a quick lunch, we all decided that we were going to go for dip in the shallow part of the river as it was hotter than usual that day. About 200 yards away on the opposite bank two crocs were fighting over their dinner which just happened to be one of their buddies. The crocs left us alone and the swim was very refreshing.

The smell of death around the skinning shed had started to attract the hyenas and their howls had gotten closer and closer to camp over the last two nights. I did not see them on the list of available animals so I asked Thor what the deal was. He said that as far as he knew they were available so I asked him to work on getting a license. That afternoon we hung the front quarter of a waterbuck with ribs attached as bait. Thor had specifically requested that backbone be attached to the ribs so the hyena would have a harder time tearing it apart. Unfortunately, what we got was the other side without the backbone. Needless to say he was a little upset.

Day 5 - Again we headed out at daybreak for buff. We headed west as we had done in the days before, but this time went much further in search of tracks, probably 15 to 20 miles in total, with no fresh sign. At that point, Thor decided to head to a place roughly 10 miles north of camp to an area where Mark and Davin had been hunting and had seen quite a few buffalo. An hour or so later we arrived in the area which contained a very large village surrounded by a lot of old crops from earlier in the year. Within 15 minutes we had located fresh tracks. Since it was already after 9 AM, Mr. Sugar suggested that there was a road a mile or so deeper into the forest that paralleled the one we were on and recommended that we try to find the tracks crossing that road to save some tracking. Sounded like a good plan to me and he was right because in no time we found tracks crossing that road. Once again we gathered our gear and headed out. Less than an hour later we bumped the bulls who had already bedded down for the day. None looked exceptional so a decision was made to call it a day and we would come back to this area the next morning.

That afternoon found us in the machan overlooking the hyena bait. Mark and Davin had checked the bait earlier in the day and told us at lunch that it had been shredded. Prior to getting into the stand we freshened it up with some 2 day old entrails that were ‘ripe and stinkin’, just the way a hyena likes them, along with another waterbuck quarter. There was relatively thick scrub to our left and there was a low area covered in long grass behind the bait. The plan was to sit until it got dark. About 5 minutes before it got dark when the sun had set and the day was well on its way to darkness, we heard something approach from the left walking quite loudly. When it stopped about 30 to 40 yards out we were left wondering what it was when all of a sudden we knew when we heard the bones start breaking. It was a tell-tale sign that the hyena had arrived. After 5 to 10 minutes of eating scraps from the prior night’s feeding frenzy, the hyena finally decided to approach the bait and by now it was almost dark. When the hyena approached the tree, he never presented a shot. He tried a couple of additional times and the same thing happened. Things were just not right. The last time he got wise. When he ran off into the long grass we could hear him circle back through the scrub and come back to within 10 yards of the machan and circle it until he got our wind. That ended the evening hunt.

Day 6 – We were up a half hour earlier and on the road well before day as it was a solid hour drive to the large village to look for buffalo tracks. Daybreak found us cutting through the village heading out into what was left of their crops and it didn’t take long to find tracks. Once again, we packed up our crew and headed into the bush – Mr. Sugar, Sadik, Thor and myself in that order with the game scout bringing up the rear. The tracking was fairly easy that morning as the ground was powdery and easily gave up that there were several bulls. At some point I motioned to Mr. Sugar with three fingers and he gave me the nod and whispered yes that there were three. Along about 5 or 6 miles and 2 hours in we entered an area that had been burned and did not have a lot of vegetation other than charred sticks. You could tell that things were getting a little squirrely when the trackers started eying the mound below a mahogany tree about 145 yards out and 45 degrees from the track we were headed on. I eased up to the front and Thor and I slipped up another 30 or 40 yards when two bulls got up from under the tree. Thor threw up the sticks and said that the bull on the left met our criteria. Problem was that he and the other bull were both paralleling each other with the shooter bull only a foot ahead of and behind the other bull. Thor suggest that when the opportunity presented itself that I thread a shot underneath the chin of the bull closest to us and into the left front shoulder of the shooter bull both of which were slightly quartering away from us and ready to run. While the target was a big animal the hole was small and the risk of hitting the other animal equal. After what seemed like a minute we were given a gift when the bull closest to us turned his head and chest slightly to look back at the third bull opening the gap up to about 18 inches, and that was all I needed. At the report of the rifle the bulls all hauled ass together and had gone about 75 yards when my bull started to fall behind and finally stopped. I followed up with a solid and he (and we) went another 50 or so yards, and when he stopped again I hammered him again in the shoulder and it was all over. An insurance shot to the brisket as he laid on his side and he was done. Another bull over 40”. Hard to believe.



That afternoon we were back in the hyena blind and while the hyena had fed heavily the night before they were a no show. The plan for day 7, our final day, was to get up real early and be in the hyena blind an hour before day, after which we would join Mark and Davin as Mark tried to seal the deal on a warthog.

Day 7 – We were up at 3:30 am and headed to the blind by about 4:15. On the way to the blind, and less than a quarter of a mile away from it, we got into a herd of elephant and cautiously eased our way through. This ultimately was our downfall as the herd eventually moved towards the machan after we were in it. I must say once again it made for quit an interesting sit in the dark. Listening to the herd strip the trees of bark and branches, feeding, as we sat in total darkness intermingled in the top of a tree, was like nothing else I have ever experienced. As the herd moved closer I kept wondering, was our tree next? As you would guess no hyena was going to show with this going on, and they didn’t. Tonight was the final try. Maybe it would happen, and if not, then time spent in the blind so far had been well worth it.



We joined Mark and Davin for breakfast and headed out to join them for a morning hunt. This was the first time Mark and I had gotten to hunt together since arriving, and it was fun just to hang out together as we drove through the bush.

Our final hunt of the safari began around 5 pm when we once again headed to the hyena blind. While the hyena had continued to hit the bait they had gotten smart and only appeared after we were long gone. An hour after our arrival and so far nothing had happened. A few minutes later, off to our left, we once again heard an animal approach, however this time it was ever so faint, giving the appearance of a small animal like a serval cat. About five minutes later the animal once again gave itself away. Thor whispered if I thought what we were hearing was bone breaking and I nodded yes. Our hyena was back, but ever so cautious this time. It took another 30 minutes or so for his stomach to get the best of him and he finally approach the bait, making a fraction of the noise than he had before. Thor whispered to get ready. When the hyena appeared two seconds was all I needed to hammer him with a 180 gr trophy bonded bullet from my 300 WSM. He immediately circled to the left just as he did several times before. We could hear him breathing and then it stopped. Was the deal done or did he recover from a near miss? He had to be dead. Thor called for the crew with the cruiser to come. When they arrived we got down out of the machan only to find no blood. You have got to be kidding me, after all that and I might have missed, I thought to myself. There was no way, I knew that I had hit him right in the shoulder. Thor and I told Mr. Sugar that he sounded like he did a semicircle and was about 50 yards out when we last heard him. Mr. Sugar immediately went out and found him dead as a door nail. The muscle mass of the hyena had prevented the bullet from passing through – incredible! What an exciting final hunt and what an awesome week of hunting it had been!



A Few Observations
Did I say it was hot? Well it was a little on the toasty side a couple of days reaching 43 – 44 C. Being from central Florida the heat was tolerable, but I imagine it would be miserable for someone use to cooler weather. Looking at the weather before and after our hunt this was a little on the high side for mid-October, but not uncommon. Prior to the hunt I asked Thor what the weather would be like and got a one word response. Hot. And he was right.

The camp is a very comfortable tent camp in a beautiful setting on the bank of the Luangwa. There are battery powered lights and other items throughout camp, including Wi-Fi. The food was great and cook the did an amazing job producing what he did on a wood burning stove. My grandmother would have been proud of him. The staff were kind and courteous, but there are entirely too many in my opinion (I believe that the tip list had about 24 people on it?!).

Chikwa is the real Africa, “untamed, beautiful and harsh”. Because of this I doubt my wife would have liked it. As I recall it is approximately 750,000 ac and is one of the smaller GMA’s. It is located along the northern border of the North Luangwa NP which makes it a prime place to hunt.

Ivory Safaris was a pleasure to deal with and we had an open line of communication with Jeff Rann, who was as responsive, or more, than his staff. Their assistance going and coming with customs and the local police was priceless.

As for Thor, I cannot say enough good things. Even though he is only thirty something he is experienced, smart and knows his trade and for this is respected by his peers.

A Word of Thanks
First, I have to thank Larry Shores. Larry is a colleague, mentor and friend of 25+ years. When he knew I set my sights on a big buff he immediately offered the experience of his 20+ safaris and resources to help guide me along the way and was there whenever I had a question or needed assistance. Thanks Larry.

To Thor thanks for working hard to make this hunt a success. All I did was believe in you and pull the trigger. We will hunt together again my friend.

To my friends on AR, thank you. You may not know me but I know you – Saeed, Darin, Andrew, Thierry, Buzz, Mark, Mike, dogcat, David, Phillip, Cal, Lin the list goes on, this hunt was a compilation of bits and pieces of information taken from your experiences and opinions. I cannot thank you enough and this report is my attempt to give something back.

If you have gotten to this point, I owe you an apology for taking up a lot of your time. When Thor asked me if I ever posted my hunts on AR I told him no, but I would this one. He said all I needed to do was post the pictures and they would tell the story, but that would not do the hunt or him justice.

Cheers.

Great report!

Did you see any big herds of buffalo?

What about elephant and lion?

Thanks again

LeGrand,

Great report! The Luangwa is some very good game country. Huge congrats on your successful safari and great trophies. I'd really like to see the pix.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
LeGrand,

Great report! The Luangwa is some very good game country. Huge congrats on your successful safari and great trophies. I'd really like to see the pix.

Mark

Thanks! I am trying to figure out Imgur...any suggestions would be appreciated!

Well done Sam.

I have seen the buffalo pictures. These are indeed serious buffalo. Most go a lifetime without seeing a buffalo like your first buff.

This entire Photobucket issue is a massive pain in the backside. I decided to pay the ransom but the app would not work. I can't get Imgur to work right either. Sorry I can't help.

Great report!

On Imgur, on each photo, hover over it and an arrow will appear in the top right hand corner. Hover over that and then click where it says "get share links", click the copy button on the one that says "Copy: under BBCode (forums)

Go to your post Here and click on edit, Select where you want the photo to go then right click and select "paste". The link will copy there.

Then repeat with other photos.

Great report....
Looking forward to seeing this pictures...
Sounds like a great late season hunt

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
Great report!

On Imgur, on each photo, hover over it and an arrow will appear in the top right hand corner. Hover over that and then click where it says "get share links", click the copy button on the one that says "Copy: under BBCode (forums)

Go to your post Here and click on edit, Select where you want the photo to go then right click and select "paste". The link will copy there.

Then repeat with other photos.

Frank,

You da man,

THANKS!

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Great report!

Did you see any big herds of buffalo?

What about elephant and lion?

Thanks again

Thor and I did not see big herds of buffalo, but Mark and Davin did bump into a herd of 200+ as I recall. Did not see any lion in Chikwa, but did see a lioness stalking impala on the drive from Mfuwe. Saw one small leopard. Did see quite a few elephant including a couple of shooter bulls.

Thanks

Fantastic Zambian safari and some very serious buffalo you took with Thor. Great report.

Buffalo in the Luangwa valley with Thor Kirchner is about as good as it gets.

Well done everybody.

Great report and Wonderful Trophies!!! Congrats

Well done. That first buffalo is really unusual... big drops and melted off boss! And a superb Cookson's wildebeest! Enjoyed the report.

LeGrand;

Excellent report and spectacular trophies. What a buffalo for your first buff hunt. How will you every out do all those trophies.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Very nice!

Well written. That first Buffalo is superb.

A very well narrated report and some excellent specimen.

quote:

I had just achieved my goal of a 40” bull (something my RSA PH said probably could not be done outside RSA)

He hasn't a clue that probably, if not most of the biggest Buffalo are found in Zambia and Northern Tanzania.

Congrats on a great hunt and report! I could look at that sun/river pic for hours.

Well Done! Nice trophies

Absolutely fantastic!! Well done to all involved.

Sam, Thanks for taking your time to write a proper report.

It was great to hunt with you and Mark. Both Davin and I had a fantastic time and we hope we will do it again soon.

Hope the new year will be good to you and your family!

Great Buffalo

Thanks for the report. Great Buff

Great !