Hi folks, I believe the appropriate photos have been uploaded to Photobucket, so here I go.

This hunt was my second african safari and my second hunt with Gary Duckworth and Mokore. In '07 I hunted buffalo and plainsgame and was thrilled to say the least. It was a short two weeks after my return home in '07 that I called my friend Mark Young and asked him to plan a second trip for me since he was so helpful with the first. Mark is an experienced hunter and was and remains a very important source of wise advise when hunting abroad for me. He's also a little sweet on me and that bolsters my tender ego. This trip back to Zimbabwe included my new bride Tina and her daughter Miranda as observers. For the both of them this was the first time in africa and really, both had to apply for a passport for the first time so this trip started their wide ranging vacations with a bang!

So, I brought a Remington 30-06 LH and a .375 H&H of the same make to hunt with this time. I really like my -06 and have taken a fairly diverse amount of game with it so I had images in my head of kudu leopard and bushbuk in the -06's scope. The .375 was of course for the bigger game and was the only rifle I used in '07 and quite adequately at that. I loaded Barnes bullets for both and remain very impressed with their performance.

We flew the British Airways route; Dillingham/ Anchorage/Seattle/ Heathrow/ Johannesburg/ Harare and don't think I'll do that next time. I think saving a day and flying direct to Johannesburg is worth the hazard of my Remington rifles not showing in camp. Case in point. Gary Duckworth had several rifles for rent there on Mokore and said I'd have my choice if need be. Upon our arrival in Johannesburg we were met by Bruce of Gracy Travel and as others in addition to myself have experienced previously, Bruce makes the gun paperwork and flight transfer a non issue. I highly recommend Gracy Travel and I would insist on meeting Bruce were I traveling thru Johannesburg. In the terminal in Harare we were met by the charter pilot that was as helpful as Bruce in the gun and visa paperwork. Especially when traveling with my "Two Princesses," it is very reassuring to have the assistance of knowledgable locals. The charter flight to Mokore is about an hour and a half and Gary was waiting for us all at the airstrip when we landed.


Mokore remains a lovely camp. Berttie and Barrie Duckworth maintain a five star operation.





That same afternoon Gary suggested we sight in and get checking some leopard baits he'd already hung. If you read this, thanks much to the unknown hunter before me that had a pass thru with one bullet on three zebra!

Well, it wasn't quite the first hunting day for us and so we didn't come up with much on the baits. August 1st rolled around on the other hand and sure enough, we found sign of a good tom feeding on one of our baits and set up the blind right then and there to stay in that night. Since there were so many of us, Gary opted for the "sit back" set up where we would wait a matter of a couple of hundred yards away from the bait and then after the tom was feeding on the bait he and I would creep in to the closer blind for the shot. All four of us spent 14 hours in the set back blind and the tom didn't come back.


Day two is August 2nd and Gary spots a nice bushbuk several hundred yards away. We jumped at the opportunity and Gary and I crept in for a poke at him. The ram and ewe were down in the middle of Mokore river in some heavy reeds about 175 yards away, he facing the same way we were but his head turned looking over his shoulder right at us. Gary tells me, "You'd better hurry, don't shoot if you don't think you can make it, you'd better hurry, don't shoot if you don't think you can make it, you'd better hurry, don't shoot if you don't think you can,....." BANG! The -06 goes off and the ram crumples. The trackers come up from behind us, we remove our shoes at the rivers edge and cross the near freezing to Gary, (probably 50 f) water and find the ram after a little looking piled up where he last stood. I was and still am estatic. The 180g TSX stopped under the skin on the far side and was a perfect mushroom but the bullet was lost in transit so sorry, I can't provide a photo.


I hadn't had the opportunity to take a bushbuk in '07 inspite of hunting for them quite hard and am very happy to have been allowed to take this beautiful creature.


Edited to note that this reputed to be 16" bushbuk was photographed just below the deck in camp. Bushbuk and as you can see good ones are everywhere on Mokore.

In the afternoon we took a zebra for bait.



As it was all I had in the rifle I shot him with a solid out of my .375 and he ofcourse went a very short distance and ran out of air and blood. Fresh bait for the leopard and a pedestal mount for the home here in Dillingham to add to the two rugs from the last trip.

August 3rd was an un eventful bait checking day but the 4th of August gave us a klipspringer. I certainly like those little guys but as I now have two for the house I'm not sure what I could do with any more. Mokore has a ton of them and those we stopped to seriously look at including the two I have taken appear to all be better than 3 1/2".

The 5th and 6th of August were mostly un eventful, more bait checking and buffalo tracking. Miranda had indicated and interest in doing a little hunting just a few days before our departure and Gary was very helpful. Un fortunately a zebra stallion took a step just as she was squeezing the trigger With Gary at her side and we lost it. We followed the zebras light blood trail the rest of the day and it never showed any signs of weakening. The trackers did an outstanding job of following the light trail but he was going strong much past the last we knew him we think. We got close at least twice on small dagga boy groups but all were a bit small, ( 33-38") and in '07 I took a 38 1/2" so I wasn't real wound up about taking a smaller one. Besides, I was having fun tracking buffalo so why get it over with?

Generally we lunched in the field and much appreciated this.


Lunch in camp is lovely but it is also nice to sit in the shade and watch and listen to all around you. This nice bull was near one of our lunch spots and Gary and I moved in to telephoto lens range for pictures.


On our 7th day of the hunt we found our big tom feeding again and Gary opted for the much smaller tent style two man blind. Gary thought he wanted to be as in obtrusive as possible so just having the two of us sit immobile for the night would be the ticket.

Little did he know.

We got in the blind at 4:00pm ready for the long wait. Gary and I both were armed with books for the balance of the afternoon and comfortable pillows, bankets, chairs, food, drink and number 1 bottles. Hmm, I wonder if I'll need anything else?

I'd guess like most, my gut had been rumbling since I arrived. Whether it was the Malarone, change in diet, excitement, water, who knows, but it was true I was a bit,..........un settled, and remain so even this morning. No big deal, just a little gassy and,..............well,...............loose.

On to the blind. Of course both of us nodded off and read until dark. Sure enough around last light a leopard started to call in the area and prowled a semi circle around his bait and our blind. Great! He's here! Or at least some leopard is. The calling stopped about dark and I nodded back off and on.Near 8:00pm the calling started again and grew steadily closer. After maybe ten or 15 minutes of this I felt a little something gurgle.

No big deal, I've been gurgling for 7 days. Huh, another gurgle. Hey that sorta hurts.

In less than 10 minutes and with the cat steadily calling I was sitting hunched over in pain and fear of a loss of control. I spent those short minutes thinking, "I've got it,.........Oh Man!...........I can do it, I can hold it,...............Holy S--t! Whats going on here. Gary noticed my squirming and quietly told me to knock it off! I replied that I was on the verge of having a serious problem and he was less than understanding.

Finally, I told Gary I needed to get out of that bling and right now! He replied, "Your kidding?" (All this time the leopard is still calling,) and I said, "No! Gemme outta here now!" Gary jumped for the zipper, I jumped thru a thorn bush and dropped my shorts less than ten feet from the blind.

In a short moment it was all over. I had nearly instantaneous relief, the leopard stopped calling, Gary realized he'd be sleeping in his own bed with his wife in less than an hour. I cut up my hankerchief for paper buried the,..........uh,...........refuse, and returned to my seat next to Gary in the blind.

Next the puns came out. "Leopard hunt in the Crapper," "Shit Happens," on and on. Eventually we stopped and sat for a little while longer but certainly we knew it was a waste of time. We were busted, the leopard and us all knew it.

August 8th found us back out looking at bait and searching for big dagga boys. A group of impala stopped near us and long enough for Gary and Miranda to get set on the sticks for a shot.

She and her mother and I were estatic! Under Garys guidance Miranda made a perfect shot with the -06 and the fine ram went less than 40 yards I'd guess before capitulating.

Off to bed for now I suppose. This is about the half way point so I'll try to finish shortly.

Nice report, trophies, and photos. Look forward to the additional details. It is nice to have the family along with you to share in the adventure too.

You're a lucky man to get to share that with your beautiful family.

Do you think that the leopard "winded" you?

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
Do you think that the leopard "winded" you?

Scott, as Fjold said, you are a lucky man because you share the trip with your family. About the leopard hunt..well...shit happens...

Best luck next time !!

Thanks for the report

L

Far be it for me to say with any kind of authority but I am under the impression the leopards senses in total were completely offended that evening.

August 9th,thru the 12th Gary and I sat on working baits two more times. Both evenings we were after the same tom in the same area but had of course left the site of the "leopard blind incident," These four days we spent checking the baits in the morning and then tracking in the day and afternoon. We all got on at least four more groups of dagga boys and hunted the local herds twice. One evening we paralleled a herd for close to a half hour. Gary and I decided to move ahead and try to pinch them off and look for a good bull up front. The gamble worked and a herd of about 120 walked right into us in thinner cover. We could see all of them from their ankles to their horn tips as the fed right to our toes. Well, maybe not to our toes. They did catch on that something was a miss at around 30 yards and after a good long moment of wondering what the heck we were they pounded off. Gary and I had plenty of time to look for a good bull but there appeared to be nothing but soft bosses in our view. The Princesses loved buffalo hunting but were a bit nervous about being left behind with the trackers who carried no guns when Gary and I moved up to look for a good one.


Each time we got close Gary could find a hard boss bull in there somewhere but as I was looking for something better than the 38 1/2" from last time we kept looking.


This dagga boy was about ten yards away and chewing his cud quite peacefully. The brownish blur in the fore ground is Garys shoe. This bull and his running buddy were both hard bossed but Gary thought were in the mid 30"'s. We passed for now. Miranda was able to take a few birds including francolin and the fowl.


The morning of the 13th we got out of the leopard blind to find a group of wildebeest and eland at the water hole we had the bait hung. Gary found a bull he thought was very nice and I ended up with a 28" wildebeest. The -06 and Barnes bullets make quite a pair.

At this point I told Gary that I felt like the Princesses and I had our fill of leopard hunting. The Princesses certainly didn't fly all the way to The Save to sit in camp every afternoon and evening and I was feeling like this fellow was on to us and giving up hunting him in order to move on to other venue's seemed a wise choice. Gary understandably wasn't quite so ready to concede so he suggested we go hunt buffalo and the rest while he has one of the camp staff check baits. Seems reasonable.

We took the wildebeest back to camp and picked up the Princesses to head out looking for buffalo. Gary's brother Neil Duckworth had seen some dugga boy tracks earlier that morning and let us know via radio where to look. We cut the tracks in some fairly open cover and started off. Oddly enough the cover continued to open up as we tracked and in less than 15 minutes on the trail Jeff and Churu stopped and knelt down, looking forward, obviously at our buffalo. Even for a client as inept as myself it was easy to see the outline of one buffalo in the sparse cover about 100 yards away. The trackers and girls stayed back while Gary and I butt scooted forward another 25 yards or so for a closer look. We stopped near a tree but in the relatively wide open where Gary could get a look at the horns. The one he could see clearly was hard bossed but he thought no more than mid 30's" After a few moments he got up and turned to look at us. I asked Gary in a whisper, "What do you think?" He replied, "I think we're running out of time." With that I re arranged the shooting sticks slightly, Gary rolled off to the right and plugged his ears, (we were along side each other,) I held dead on at the base of the neck as he still faced us and squeezed.

At the shot he humped up quite well and pounded away with his running buddy into some nearby mopani scrub. Most of the mopani was no taller than I suppose 8' but was growing fairly dense so seeing in or thru it was not possible. I did take my feet and pound a solid at him as he left but it was an obvious miss. The six of us gathered back together and waited only a few moments before the death bellow started. More great african music as far as I was concerned.

After a few more minutes the trackers led off with Gary, myself and the Princesses in tow. Chiru's un believable binocular vision spotted our down bull with his compadre standing watch over him in the mopani. We threw sticks and rocks from a safe distance, hollered, and the compadre decided it was 5:00pm somewhere and he needed a drink, leaving us with his friend.


Although smaller than what I had been hoping for he was a fine hard boss bull and we'll be proud to have him in our home next to his larger sibling.

I really enjoyed the buffalo hunting this year and think I had an eve better experience than last time if possible just because we hunted longer and had more opportunities. Getting into and passing on herds and groups of dugga boys was a thrill I can't wait to have again.

We delivered the buffalo back to camp and for the later afternoon headed back out to take a stroll and see what we could find. While cruising back along the Mokore river I think, Chiru spotted three bull kudu feeding along the river bank. Even from a distance of better than 250 yards, one was obviously a mature bull, long horns, deep curls and tips pointed forward. Gary and I pushed forward in decent cover to the edge of the river bank and convieniently there was a fork in a tree at just the right height for me to sit and squeeze one off.

No, not that sit and squeeze, that was leopard hunting.

Gary advised the range and at less than 250 there was no need to hold more than a couple of inches high so I gave the trigger of the -06 a little love and watched thru the scope as the kudu humped not nearly as impressively as the buffalo and took off with the other two smaller bulls in hot pursuit. In just a moment the three got into some heavy mid river reeds and then seconds later only two cleared the other side. Hmm, could be really good.

Once again off with the shoes cross the arctic river and after a little more searching than we had for the bushbuk, here lay,...........


A 59" kudu. I am in heaven! Sorry Lord, certainly no blasphemy meant, but that particular creation of your is exceptionally beautiful.

The shot was thru the ribs on the near side and out thru the shoulder on the far side. I didn't go see the vital organs for myself down at the skinning shed but I think it could be safely assumed they were all shredded. I thought a pass thru at that range was exceptional. The blood trail was easy to see and I don't believe he suffered more than moments.

To me the big kudu is a treasured trophy and this one will be highlighted in my home.

August 14th found us checking some baits, ( no tom activity,) and taking a big stink bull. I love looking at these creatures and have wanted to have one in the home for a little while.


I was a little suprised at how tough he was. The first shot was quartering to us and I took him thru the front shoulder with a solid from my .375. Off he went with hardly a hiccup! Holy Cow! I proceeded to unload the rifle into him, reload and unload again with no obvious effect. He got out of sight and I asked Gary something to the effect of "What the hell happened there?" He replied, "They're tough!" No more than 300 yards from where it all started he was piled up and we could smell him long before we saw him. I doubt I'll take another but I am glad we had the oppotunity.

On the 15th I missed an egyptian goose, took some pictures of the hippos and called it a day.


Mokore did not dissapoint. Gary and his family are perfect hosts and the hunting in the Save on Mokore continues to be very good. I'd happily recommend hunting there to anyone looking for a mixed dg/ plains game safari.


Now thats a baobab tree!

Great hunt-report and photos!

Looks like a GREAT hunt!!

Scott,

Nice report. I was back there hunting with you. Good job! AND what are going to do with that giraffe?????? I don't know if you heard Tina this morning when we talked but there is no way you are hunting Bots without the "Princesses".

Mark

Scott, congratulations on your trophies,and a great hunt.

Fabulous trophies and a beautiful family too. I was just north of Makore in June (Sango). Truly great game country in the Save.

Congrats and welcome home.

nice report and congrads....isn't it just such an awesome experience! greaat trophys as well.. I wanted to ask why didn't your leopard blind have a portibale pooper,,,, you could have taken firecrackers but someone would have said you were an un ethihical hunter,,, pooper jokes aside,,,, what a great and wonderfull experience with your family,,, forget the great animals taken... I bet a castle lager you are plannin your next safari! God speed for your next trip over. and you will make the trip.......save more.. shoot more

I certainly thought about not sharing the "Do do story," but thought it was just to funny in a sick sort of way to not share.

We are planning a 2011 elephant hunt in Botswana with Gary Kelly and fist fulls of fire crackers. The big plan is for Gary to sneak up behind the 70#'er, light a bunch off and when the bull spins to see who the wise guy is Gary will point at me and tell the bull, "He did it, he did it, he did it!"

Nice hunt! Thanks for sharing. Good boss on that bull!

jpj3

Congrats,

Awesome report and photos.

Wonderful Kudu, well done seems like you had great time. The "sit back" Leopard setup looks very intrepid.

Intrepid you say.

Leopard hunting with Gary Duckworth and Scott King is,.............well I'm not sure intrepid.

I snore. I snore thru my nose, I snore thru my mouth, I snore.

Thru the nose or mouth doesn't matter, Gary Duckworth has a problem with snoring.

If you will, imagine being thumped, kicked, nudged, and bumped every five to ten minutes for fourteen hours straight by the man you are paying better than $1000.00 per day, just to keep you from sleeping/ snoring.

I have been getting to bed at 10:00pm at the latest and rising no earlier than 5:30am just to make up fpr the sleep deprivation I suffered at the hand of Gary Duckworth.

Had I to do it over again I wouldn't change a thing.

Additionally, has no one noticed the photo of the estimated 16" gargantuan bushbuk I photographed and is still available on Mokore?

Good Lord Men, that ram is immense! Tell me why you aren't booking!

Fantastic pics. Congratulations !!!