Mozambique Buffalo Hunt 2015
Safaris de Mozambique
Lake Cohora Bassa, Tete Mozambique
June 23-July 2, 2015
Penyame Camp
Outfitter: Simon Roger
PH: Doug Duckworth (on loan from Mokore)
Travel: Atlanta to JNB, overnight at Africa Sky, JNB to Tete, Charter to Penyame camp


The Penyame river flowing North into lake Cahora Bassa looking at Mount Zumbo and into Zambia and Zimbabwe

This was our second Trip to Africa. My wife and I hunt with a group of friends from college and on this trip there were six others. Our first trip to Africa was to Namibia for plains game with essentially the same group. In the group there were five Buffalo hunters, all on our first cape buffalo hunt.



Day one and the rifles were on. Tracked buffalo without contact. Shot an impala to refill the camp meat locker. Got really stuck crossing the Penyame river to the delight of many on looking locals!



Day two we were in and out of Buffalo all day with many extremely close encounters but no shot. This is the day I became hopelessly addicted to Buffalo hunting! Above is a large Baobab tree with my wife standing to the left of the tree for perspective.



Day three we encounter buffalo early and enter the herd. We find an old bull with a broken horn which Doug encourages me to shoot. I am reluctant, so we swing downwind and around the herd to cut them off. Just as we are getting into position, two bulls step out at 35 yards. I get the go ahead to shoot the bull on the right but he continues to walk quartering towards us. Finally at 20 yards he turns broadside and I shoot him off hand with my .416 Rem. The 400 grain Barnes TSX essentially cuts the heart in half (see picture below) however the bull seems unaware and immediately charges us at the shot! Doug steps out from behind the tree and yells as the bull continues his drive right toward us. As I chamber the second round and acquire the bull, Doug shoots, hitting the bull just above his left eye. The Bull immediately drops and skids to a stop 7 yards from our feet! It was unbelievable how fast that bull covered those 13 yards. It is also unbelievable what they can do with their heart cut in half! I looked at Doug with my adrenaline surging and asked "holy crap, how many times has that happened to you?" and he replied "never on the initial shot!". What an experience for a first buffalo hunt, and what a way to realize how important a really great PH is. Doug even had the courtesy to apologize for shooting the buffalo, to which I replied "are you kidding you probably just saved our lives, I would have been really pissed if you hadn't!"



Buffalo Heart showing damage from the first shot.

Day four was spent hunting bushbuck with my bow. I really wanted to take one with my bow, but when we saw this buck, across a bay at dusk, I couldn't resist and took him with my 7mm WSM at 140 yards.



Day five Doug was kind enough to guide another group member friend of mine, whose PH became very ill (likely malaria). We accompanied them and had several very close calls but no bull. It was great to be hunting buffalo again, even if I wasn't the one shooting!


Inside a Baobab tree

Day six it was my wife's turn, and well, she likes zebra. So that's what we did. She and Doug carried out a long and precisely executed stalk on an old warrior stallion. Watching the hunt was much more fun than if I had done it myself!



Day seven was spent stalking waterbuck with my bow. Had a beautiful buck at 33 yards but he busted me as I drew and trotted off.

Day eight back after waterbuck with the bow. Unfortunately the buck was now with several females and we were busted early, developing into a long unbelievable tracking job across rock by Doug's tracker Solomon. When we finally got back on them they were on to us, thus once again the bow was replaced by the short mag but I had my waterbuck.



Day nine, time to fish! Tried unsuccessfully several times over many days to catch a tiger fish on a fly rod. Fishing was slow due to the cool water temps. Finally caught a 12 pounder on a spinner and what a fight! If I would have caught one on my 8 weight fly rod it would have been a real battle. We also caught several very large Vundu catfish. Check out the teeth on the tiger fish below!!





Day ten we built a blind to bow hunt from. Had several close encounters with impala but the baboons were keeping them incredibly nervous. Had a mature Kudu bull at 31 yards but he wasn't quite big enough at the time. Looking back, I think now I should have shot him! Oh well, now I can bring my bow again next time!

Overall Safari de Mozambique was very good. The accommodations, food and hunting were excellent. There were a few minor hiccups with management and staffing. But overall no deal breakers.

The best part of the hunt however, was having the opportunity to hunt with Doug Duckworth. Doug is a true professional and outstanding human being. His knowledge is exceptional and easy going nature refreshing. We will be looking to book future hunts with Doug and Mokore. Thank you Doug!

More Pictures


Fly fishing (and beer drinking of course) As PH Chris Burton says "These beers aren't going to drink themselves!"










View from the front porch.


Out bow hunting


Frustrated travelers at Tete airport awaiting clearance.

Buffalo taken by other group members





Beer selection!




The whole group. We have been hunting together for 34 years. The absolute best group of friends you could ever have!

It reads great but I couldn't get any of the pictures to open.

Sounds like a great trip! Congratulations.

Just figured out what I did wrong. Pictures are now there!

Great trip!

I am curious about the fish. Did you eat them? Do the locals? Those tigers look mean as hell. Yes, that would've been an exciting fight on a fly rod.

What a great hunt and superb trophies!

Congratulations.A few very nice trophies.Interesting area too.What a Baobab!

Great hunt. Love that tiger!! Fishing is rising on my priority list on my next trips.

We did not eat the tiger fish. From what I gather they are not very good. We did use tiger fillets to catch the vundu catfish which get huge. Many of the catfish we hooked would simply wind themselves up in the reeds and you could not physically pull them out without breaking the line. They do eat the Bream (Tilapia) which as most of you probably know, are very good. The locals eat all the fish and there was a large fishing village nearby. Locals use hand made dugout canoes. I would like to go back later in the year to fly fish for Tigers. They are incredible! There are many great videos of fly fishing for Tigers online.

Much better! Great pictures.

excellent hunt! Congratulations!

Excellent.

Great report!! I often think back on that Kudu that we passed up, end of the day I think we made the right choice. Congrats once again on some great trophies and look forward to hunting with you again in the future

Very nice report on what sounds like a great trip. Fine photos as well.

Congratulations on an awesome hunt!!! Who did you book the hunt with? I did a google search for Safaris de Mozambique without any luck finding them.

I believe they did have a website. I just looked for it now and couldn't find it. Not sure why that is. They do spell it "Safari de Mocambique".

Thanks Doug, can't wait to get back out there!

Thanks for sharing!

Love that you are "MTarcher", took your bow and shot all with a smokepole. My kind of archer!

IM me if you get to Kalispell. Share a pizza at Moose's and talk hunting.

Ski+3

Yes, I have discovered that if you want to shoot things with a bow it is best to leave your rifle at home! But it is so hard to resist when you can really reach out there and touch something with a rifle! But it does make the bow kills all that more special! I will get in touch next time we are up your way. We do get up there quite often, especially in the summer.

Congratulations on a very successful safari. I don't suspect that you had any fun at all

Best regards, D. Nelson

Nice Buff congrats!!! I like that Zebra also.

Well done!

http://www.safarisdemozambique.com/

Found the website using the other spelling. Thanks!!

They don't list any prices on there, or at least I couldn't find them. How did you book the hunt? Do they go to any shows in the US?

I think Wendell still books for Simon so you might contact him. Simon usually comes to DSC and has a booth a SCI. A friend of mine and I did an Oct.-Nov. hunt with him in 2012 and had a great hunt. Lion, buff, and plains game. The place has only improved since then from the hunt reports that I've seen. Fantastic camps as well as great hunting.

We met Simon at SCI and booked directly with him. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.

Congrats on a great hunt!

Congratulations on a great hunt