Dates: 12th – 18th May 2013
Johan Hermann Safaris
Mthimkulu Concession: Limpopo, South Africa
PH: Johan Hermann

Returning to hunt with Johan in May of 2013 marked 3 and a half years since I last hunted his great area with him. We had often talked about a return hunt but for a myriad of reasons it had taken me this long to come back. Arriving in Phalaborwa after the short hop from Joburg it was fantastic to see Johan’s beautiful wife Natasha and the kids again. After an awesome lunch at a local restaurant we headed out to Mthimkulu. The one hour drive went very quickly as we caught up and talked about “the plan”. On licence I had an Elephant and two Buffalo. Our time was tight as I only had 6 days before I need to get back to my day job.
Driving into Mthimkulu I could not believe the difference in the vegetation from my previous trip. Three good rainy seasons and it being early in the season…it was thick thick Mopani….no leaf drop yet. This was going to be fun hunting up close and personal. We checked the zero on the 416 Rigby. I was shooting the 400gn South African made Titan bullets. One shot in the bullseye was all it took.

Our 2009 two Buffalo hunt lives on for both Johan and I as an incredible hunt and memories forever. It was going to be very difficult to better this time. At that time I was the first to hunt Mthimkulu with Johan and we hunted hot and hard in September. It was dusty and there were no leaves on the Mopani and the visibility was good. Diana was smiling on us then and the two Buffalo bulls I took are still the biggest Johan has taken from Mthimkulu. Coupled with a huge Nyala and Kudu it was with very fond memories we pulled into camp and settled into some cold drinks and a warm fire.

My first bull of 2009. 47.5”. 20” bosses. Monster Dagga Boy.


On my wall.

My second bull from 2009 with Johan and Ronnie McFarlane. 48.5".



31" Nyala from 2009.

Full body mount.

2009 Kudu.


Day 1 saw us up and away at 6am. The team was Freddie (Lead Tracker), Elias (Skinner and assistant tracker) and Niku (Game Scout). We needed to drive the roads and check for fresh Elephant sign while at the same time getting our tracks down. Early on we put in a long stalk on a beautiful looking lone dugga boy but the wind was flaky by mid-morning and he ended up busting us and staying ahead of us on the wind. With visibility down to 20 meters it was pointless to continue and we called it off. After lunch we cut fresh Ele tracks and within an hour of getting on the ground we got a brief look at the bull. Once again the wind was not our friend and despite our best efforts we ran out of time in trying to get a better look at him. Johan said he only really saw his left tusk briefly and he thought it was mid 50 lb. Great day.

Day 2: By 7am we were playing with a large herd of Buffalo in the thick stuff. Very exciting and got on the sticks a couple of times with glimpses of some big bulls ….but just way too hard with all the eyes and ears. After 10 miles and 3 hours we left them alone. Soon after resuming hunting we bumped a lone dugga boy. I got a glimpse of him as he made off and knew instantly he was a shooter. He was not huge …but he was old and crusty and exactly what I was looking for!! Johan was not as convinced, but soon after I was on the sticks telling Johan I was going to shoot….the bull ran 30 yards and collapsed. The death bellow as we walked in to pay the insurance was nice!


Johan and I with our old bull.




After a late lunch back at camp we hunted a different location and saw two HUGE Waterbuck (not on licence!) on the banks of the Letaba River. Right on dusk we came across a herd of Buffalo and in the dying minutes of light saw a massive bull in the herd from about 500 meters away. No doubt this bull was in the 45” range with incredible bosses and deep drop. We had no shooting light and we could do nothing but plan to come back in the morning.


Day 3 at dawn we were back where we saw the huge bull at dark the night before. No Buffalo! About 10am we cut a fresh Ele bull track on the road. It was about 23” and we got on the track straight away. In a very short time , with the mid morning wind all over the place, the bull got a full nosefull of our scent from 20 metres and got out of Dodge. Johan got a brief glimpse and thought he was worth following up but after a full day of tracking, despite Freddie going at pace and showing incredible skills, we never got another look at him. The big ones are not stupid! Perhaps if he had not got such a good smell of us from so close we may have caught him?

Day 4 : Soon after leaving camp , on our way to try to get back onto the bull from the day before, we found fresh Elephant Bull tracks on the road. These were big. 24”. Johan quickly decided we needed to go and try to get a look at this bull. One bull soon turned into two and at about 8am after about 5 miles on the track we found ourselves in thick Mopani between the bulls. They were both about 20 meters away from us and knew something was not right. Johan quickly decided that the bull to our “rear” was the better, and no sooner did we move in to a shooting position than he whirled and was gone! About 3 hours and 8 miles later, once again after some incredible tracking by Freddie, Elias and Niku, we were 50 meters from the bull as he fed on young Mopani. We got our act together quickly and made our final approach. A side brain shot from the 416 Rigby and quick backup from Johan’s 470NE and our bull was down. Official weight not done yet but with 17” at the lip and little taper he should be in the early 60lb’s.








We hunted hard for the next two days trying to find that big buffalo. Whilst we saw many great old dugga boys we had a vision of that brute we had seen and held out. We ran out of time …but that just means I need to come back and fill my tag!!

Johan runs a high quality outfit and is a great PH. He is a pleasure to be with in the bush. The quality of the Buffalo and Elephant is unquestionable. My hunt was filmed by Chris Esterhuizen who is the consummate professional. The footage is incredible. We had a ball. Certainly not going to take me 3 and a half years to come back this time!!

BBQ South African Style.

Searing Elephant meat. Yum!

Sand Grouse with chick.

Little Letaba River

No one is going to accuse you of shooting "soft bossed" bulls! Great trophies.

Brilliant. I understand you will be venturing this side with Fairgame later on this year?

Nice buff and ele!

Looks like some very nice country.

Awesome trophies- well done!!

Huge congrats. two very fine trophies!

Great safari. I really like those buffaloe!

Well done Steve

Steve- It looks like you had a great hunt. Hunting Buffalo is great hunting them at Mthimkulu is greater!

Great Elephant man!


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Thank you for sharing this. A great hunt, with some fine results. Love your old buffalo, your report and pictures (wide smile happiness!). You obviously had the finest of times.
Congratulations.
Kind regards
Jytte

Excellent man, excellent!!!

Wonderful animals, congratulations.

quote:

Originally posted by poacher458:
Brilliant. I understand you will be venturing this side with Fairgame later on this year?

Yes, September.
Looking forward to it very much.
Cheers
Steve

Nice old Dugga boy,and Elephant
Congratulations!

excellent animals, all of them. Congrats.

And Johan produces again !! Well done on super trophies!

Flip that 48 inch plus buff was a trophy and a half. Great report.

Steve:

Congrats on a great hunt. Looks like you got a great old buff and ele in a short period of time. Natasha, Johan and Chris are great people. Your report brings back a bunch of good memories.

Congrads on some great animals. Love that Buff bull!

Awesome hunt Steve, fantastic pics.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
Steve- It looks like you had a great hunt. Hunting Buffalo is great hunting them at Mthimkulu is greater!

Great Elephant man!


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Thanks Jeff. I was walking in your footsteps a few times i think!!

WOW!! Great report. You always seem to shoot the monsters. I'm glad your going to Burkina with me. Make sure you don't forget to bring me some of that luck.

Love those beat-up old buffalo!

Well done all around!

You did it right. Well done!

Very nice. Thanks for the report, and really super photos.

All those buffalo look outstanding. Hard to imagine a better looking set of buffalo trophies.

A couple of nice trophies but your first Safari produced some seriously high quality trophies!!!!

Makorokoto and thanks for sharing.

Congratulations on your very nice trophies!

In 2009 you hunted with Ronnie MacFarlane???? I hunted with him in 1996 & 1997 in Botswana when he was associated with Johan Calitz. Do you know what he is doing now?

Sounds like you have a very full hunting schedule. Best of luck! And, again congratulations!

D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Congratulations on your very nice trophies!

In 2009 you hunted with Ronnie MacFarlane???? I hunted with him in 1996 & 1997 in Botswana when he was associated with Johan Calitz. Do you know what he is doing now?

Sounds like you have a very full hunting schedule. Best of luck! And, again congratulations!

D. Nelson

Ronnie has basically stopped hunting. He runs his own photographic safari business in the Delta now. Will PM you his contact details.