Our hunt was with Vaughn Fulton Safaris starting July 22nd. The hunt was described as a Traditional Authority non-trophy hunt. The dates were set to provide the meat for the big annual feast held in the Ngoma area. While looking forward to hunting with and getting to know Vaughn, we were notified just before leaving that we would have a different PH. He was Fred Bezuidenhout, a free lance PH who I’ve had the pleasure of hunting with before on a plains game hunt. Fred had tempted me then on elephant and I’ve dreamed of it for the last 5 years, so it worked out neat that we would be hunting with him.
The Caprivi area appears to have little game other than elephant. The local population seems to be on the increase and we saw no other game than birds. The elephants have eaten themselves out of food in nearby Botswana so have adapted to living in close proximity to people. The camp sat 400 yards from the Chobe river which is the Botswana boundry and a park at that, so there were lots of animals to see on the other side of the river. In my 7 safaris this was easily the nicest viewing from camp I have seen. During the week we saw huge waterbuck, the biggest warthog I’ve ever seen, large herds of zebra, impala and buffalo. There were also hippo, crocks, monitor lizards, Kudu, Giraffe and a few dozen species of birds.
Tons of elephants and they were seen driving into camp and could be heard every night. They would sometimes feed on the trees around camp. Since it was a non-trophy hunt we didn’t have to be too selective in our search. A nice looking and very tall bull with a broken tusk was spotted the first morning. Turned out to be about 25lbs and 35lbs, a little over the 30lb limit but close enough. He wasn’t too far off the trophy tusks in camp.

I was using my 606 Mammoth rifle introduced two years ago. It’s pushing an 850-gr brass solid at 2200 fps. I now have over 600 rounds through it and it shoots like a dream. John packed Mammoth rifle #2 in his gun case as a backup in case my rifle was lost or damaged in transit. This Airline has a reputation of late luggage but ours all showed up on time. I had studied my perfect shot book and watched my Buz Charlton Video till they were both memorized. I thought I knew exactly where to find the brain but Murphy was in attendance.
We got to 35 yards and the top of my bull’s head was visible over the thorn bushes. He was just swinging to leave when I fired for between the arches. John was to immediately shoot for the lungs and he did as planned. Though I hit right where I wanted I later could see that I used the bumps behind the eyes as reference rather than the argomatic arches. The Buz Charlton Video warned against shooting high but I overdid it. At the shot I was surprised he didn’t drop. Immediately reloading I fired again at the ear hole as he turned. That shot hit right where I was looking but was a few inches under the actual hole as well. My third shot was for the spine as the hips were below the brush line. It was about 4 inches to the left and had no apparent effect. Meanwhile John had fired again into the shoulder and his 375 300 gr Trophy Bonded Sledghammer solid actually broke the shoulder bone.
At this point Fred said to sit tight and listen as the 20 other elephant were stampeding around and trumpeting. Fortunately none came our way and after a minute or so it was apparent they were all moving away. My bull was just a few yards from where he had started and behind some thick thorn bush. I approached behind him and he swing around to face me. He seemed to take a lunge toward me and I fired dropping him at 5 yards. That was a thrilling moment. I felt badly at screwing up my other shots but it could have been worse for the old boy.
I’ve read how people feel at the killing of such a magnificent beast and must admit I felt it too, a mixture of regret and awe.
The next day we did find two zebra on our side of the river and John collected his. We saw no other game on our side the rest of the week. As we had flown in, we were stuck for the week as they fly there only on Mondays. It was spent our time fishing in the Chobe for Barbel (catfish) and watching the abundant game across the river from camp. We also made two trips to a fishing lodge to hit the Zambezi for tigerfish, which is only about 30 miles away. That was fun. We did get to meet Vaughn as he spent one night in camp with his other hunters. Vaughn seems like a great guy to hunt with.
Observations on this hunt. It is by far the cheapest bull hunt I’ve seen without having to go to Zimbabwe. This is also a great opportunity to hunt elephant for those who can’t hike the many miles a day that is usually needed to find a trophy bull. Though I was prepared for the walking I didn’t mind the short hunt as my knee has kept me hobbling for the last year after messing it up on a bear hunt last year. Consider the Caprivi area (not Caprivi Strip) primarily an elephant area and don’t expect much plains game. While you see them across the river they just didn’t cross, at least while we were there. There were buffalo right in camp some nights but would usually be across the river by dawn. Poor Vaughn has to pay for some buffalo permits to keep the concession even though they can’t really be hunted.
I would recommend driving into camp rather than flying from Windhoek. The flight is $600 and you’ll blow a day each way flying anyways. By driving you might also be able to arrange some plainsgame hunting on Vaughns other concessions or one of the many hunting farms. This would need to be discussed with Vaughn ahead of time.
Lastly I think Air Namibia is an awful airline, at least compared to the others I’ve had experience with. The flight up to Katima was delayed from 7:00am to 3:00 PM and was an uncomfortable 20-seat prop plane. Our Air Namibia flights all involved extra check in time. Each stop required a 2-3 hour wait in line to check in, only once-from Sacramento to Chicago did we have the boarding pass for the next flight.
We had routed through Frankfurt in order to make use of a day room. That turned out to be $150 Euros and we would have had to be out of the room by 7:00 PM, our flight left at 10:30pm. That would have worked out had we gotten the room as the wait to check in was 3 hours. To top it all off it was Saturday and the gun shops were all closed according to the only cab driver we could find who spoke English.
Leaving Windhoek our luggage was checked only to Dulles airport in Washington DC. No problems with customs but the airline made us take the rifles back to the starting point for re-check in. Our 4 ½ hour layover was only 5 minutes longer than we needed to make our last flight. I have learned to take these kinds of problems with a grain of salt but thought I had things well planned this time. I guess it’s just the nature of international travel.
In Windhoek I can attest to going to Joes Beer House, it is a great restaurant. Across the street is “Old Portugal†and it is every bit as nice. Better even if you want some quiet time with your companion.
Vaughn does trophy hunts in this area and it’s a good deal. You probably wouldn’t shoot one the first day so would get plenty of walking in looking for a big one.
This TA hunt made it possible for me to experience this unique animal. I consider the experience my trophy and could care less about ivory to dust so it was perfect for me. Overall I had a great time as always.

I'm glad you posted this hunt report. The non-trophy hunts are very interesting to me.

Your experience is a good reminder that bullet placement is key above all other ballistic factors.

Do you have more photos of the camp, etc?

Thanks for the report. Were you in Kisika, Salambala, or some other area?

Very nice bull. Katima Mulilo is a very interesting place. Sounds like you were hunting in the Salambala Conservancy.
What's the difference between Caprivi area and Caprivi Strip?

Congrats!

Definitely Salambala. Although we saw hundreds of zebra, some impala and kudu when we were there. The buff and other critters came over, but generally headed back to Bots by dawn.

Kasika has a good buff herd though.

I met Fred, and enjoyed his company, and I see Martin in your photo too. You were in good hands.

There is no hunting, besides lion, that can compare to elephant hunting.

Again, congrats.

BG - Thanks for the report which is very informative, and congratulations on the ele. Pretty amazing that he did not at least stun with an 850gr round anywhere near the brain, but it goes to show how difficult executing a successful brain shot actually is. But the follow-up at 5-yards, what an experience!

I hunted twice with Fred in 03 in the Caprivi Strip, and enjoyed my time with him very much. His stories of the Rhodesian war are amazing and still with me. Please if you can post a pict of him w/the ele so I can see how he's holding up!

When I was there, Air Namibia was flying daily to Katima, which felt like a true 3rd world airport! Hanging out there for the better part of a day must have been a real treat. But the drive to the Caprivi, I recall Fred saying it is a long one, something like 10-12hrs?

Regards, Bill


Steve, The "Strip" is the narrow section of the Caprivi separating Botswana from Angola. I am not sure if it is being hunted this year (?). The other concessions in the Caprivi are to the east of this, on the "knob". Here is a good map: http://www.orusovo.com/nammap/mapC.htm

Congratulations on your hunt and good to see you made it back! It was a pleasure meeting you in camp Marshall.

I'm still amazed at how well balanced those .606's of yours are!

The drive to the Caprivi is a long trip, not near so if you overnight in Rhundu though. And, the drive UP seems much shorter as the expectation level is still high. The drive back is longer because you know you are leaving. That never seems to be the highlight of the trip!

I'll try to get caught up here and get a report written up of the other Traditional Feast elephant for that time.

Take care, Mark

Hi Mark
It was good to meet you and glad to see you made it back on time. You and your dad looked pretty tired and had a long drive back. Oddly enough the night you left about 200 buffalo crossed the river to our side, but not till after dark. We were thinking seriously about trying for one in the morning but by dawn they were nowhere to be seen. Take care, Marshall

quote:

Originally posted by BiggestGun:
John packed Mammoth rifle #2 in his gun case as a backup in case my rifle was lost or damaged in transit.

John was to immediately shoot for the lungs and he did as planned.

You mentioned Vaughn and Fred. Could this "John" be the "who hit John" that Sheriff Jim Wilson keeps writing about?

I'd also like to know the distinction between the Caprivi area and the Caprivi Strip? I was planning my next trip with

Fulton, but I desire more than elephant and fishing.

Here is a shot of Fred with a tusk just removed from the skull of a previous hunt. Isn't his beard distinguishing?

cool picture!

Justin

I am not the the John that Sheriff Jim refers to, I am a clerk in Marshalls{Biggestguns} gun store, he is my good friend, we planned this trip more than a year before, a grand time was had by both of us. Our hunter Fred B. was tops,I recommend him highly. Thats all for now. J.L.Moffett.

Great hunt and non-trophy elephant... I have never heard of the .606 Mammoth but it is a beautifully built rifle. Congrats on your adventure.

I haven't heard of that caliber either. Tell us more about it and your rifle?

quote:

Originally posted by J.L.Moffett:
I am not the the John that Sheriff Jim refers to, I am a clerk in Marshalls{Biggestguns} gun store, he is my good friend, we planned this trip more than a year before, a grand time was had by both of us. Our hunter Fred B. was tops,I recommend him highly. Thats all for now. J.L.Moffett.

Good to see you on here John

Congrats Marshall! Thanks for the report!

Excellent photos and report ,but ,can you tell more about the 606 you used ,i never heard of it but here the bigger rifles are the 470s used for water buffalos.Juan

A hunt such as you describe appeals to me and I will be in the are hunting plains game next August anyway so can you give us an idea of the cost of your hunt.

I booked this a couple years ago so who knows what the price is now. Check with Wendell Reich. I believe he may be the sole agent for this.

BG, very good report...I consider it a privledge to hunt elephant...One always wonders if there gun is big enough...

Mike

Great hunt BG! Fred is wearing the same shorts in that picture as he was wearing when I first hunted with him in 2004! I wonder what he did with all of tip money I gave him?

John

Congrats! It sounds like a great hunt. Nice bull for a non-trophy hunt.

Amen Retreever. Nice hunt and nice ele!

That's a nice ele BG! Was it a brain shot?

After seeing this hunt post last November I enquired and got all the details. In one week I will be leaving to make the same hunt. Wish me well as this will be my first forray into elephant hunting. I hope the bug does not get me too bad as this could start to get to be an expensive hobby.LOL

Good Luck Eyedoc!!

Great report, appreciate your honesty recording your shots to us, at times it seems that no one misses the brain. Great pics, congratulations!

Dirk

great report. nothing like honesty to sharpen ones skills in the bush

I wish you the best of luck, you will enjoy your self greatly, hunt with care, watch for snakes, look forward to your hunting report. Exscriptos Veratis; J.L.Moffett