Location: Lake Rukwa Game Reserve - Western Tanzania

Outfitter: Ryan Shallom / Greenleaf Tanzania

PH's: Ryan Shallom & Rodrick Mwanza (Rodrick and I took the TZ - PH exam together in 2010)

Date: August 1 - 21, 2014

Hunters: Aaron Neilson / Cameron Hanes / Richard Baca

Cameraman: Jeremiah Bennett (as usual)

Weapons: Aaron & Richard - .416 Ruger, .577NE / Cameron - Hoyt Carbon Spider

Species: Hoping for them all, coming away with some


Just returned Saturday night from a fabulous safari to western Tanzania! The Lake Rukwa Game Reserve is a special place, that's for sure. Just over 900,000 acres of wild/pristine Africa - loaded with game, and of course the dreaded tsetsee fly too!! If we could just get rid of those damn things, I would move to this place and become Ryan's new camp manager I'm willing to work for lion hunts, I don't think that's too much to ask??

My primary target as usual, the "King", but along the way we managed to have a great hunt - and share some laughs with several guys I consider great friends. It was of course not easy considering we had a couple of hunters, one hunting strictly with a bow - and all while trying to film for television. Regardless of the difficulties we pulled out some great trophies, managed to get some great footage - and everyone got home safely!!!

My traveling / hunting partners, and myself - waiting to depart Amsterdam on July 30th.


What do we generally do when starting off on a 21 Day Lion hunt - shoot bait!!!! Hippo makes good bait!!! This was my 9th hippo I have shot, so let me ask you this. Do you think it would be hard to completely miss a 5,000lb animal at 60 yards, with a scoped rifle, while resting on the sticks? Ya, me too!!! Let's just say the bull died instantly from a single shot to the head, but I fired at him twice




This hunt was not my best shooting performance ever! For the first time since 2003, I wounded / lost an animal. Totally my fault, as I knew better than to shoot at a big eland bull at 210 yards, facing directly at me. I even told Ryan as he suggested I shoot him facing me, that I was not comfortable doing so, and we should wait for a broadside shot at that distance on such a big animal. Well, whatever you do - DON'T listen to your own advice. Just go off half-cocked and completely stuff it up. Sometimes over-confidence is not a good thing.

What do you do when you see a 45.5" x 46" sable on day two, you quickly take off after him!!! I didn't plan to shoot another sable, but when I saw this one - I was off like a shot. I knew instantly he was 45" plus - sorry Chris, he should have been yours buddy.




No African safari would be complete without some cool scenery/wildlife pics.








The greatest thing for me on this hunt was sharing it with my two friends/hunting partners - Richard Baca and Cameron Hanes. Richard was a first timer to Africa, where as Cameron had hunted S.A. once before, but this was his first time to wild Africa. I had more fun, and got more satisfaction out of helping and seeing these two guys experience things they never thought possible. I was proud of their accomplishments, and in particular Cameron's buffalo with his bow was a special moment for us all!!!










With over 30 stings to his face, Richard also learned what happens when the tracker starts chopping on the tree which is hosting a hive of killer bees!


Cape Buffalo with a bow - truly awesome!!!




BUFFALO! Is there really anything more fun to hunt than the Cape Buffalo? I think not!!! I was again fortunate to shoot several on this hunt, as is often customary in Tanzania. Ryan and Rodrick were kind enough to stay close to me, but let me also do my own thing if you will. It was a great time, and we came away with several good bulls to show for it. I saw 3 other bulls in particular that were well over 40". Unfortunately, they were not in the cards for us, damn!






SIMBA! My favorite, he'll always be my favorite - and I hope to hunt him many more times. Whether or not that will be possible, who knows? But I will keep trying, that's for sure.

This was a fabulous experience. Getting to see a lioness with her fresh kill, that doesn't happen everyday!




Note to self! Do not try to drive (on the road mind you) past a lioness with very young cubs. She doesn't seem to find the humor in that.




Now for the good stuff, Male Lions!!! As we all know, Lion hunting / conservation practices have changed alot over the past few years. I myself have been very voiceful in getting the hunting community to be more aware of what lions they take, and how they determine a "shooter". Lake Rukwa has no shortage of lions, but the "right" lion is always the question.

This was the first lion we got on bait. He was so frequent in daylight hours that killing him would have been a fore-gone conclusion. But he was obviously a maximum of 4 yrs old, and shooting him was never seriously considered. I would like to see him in 2 more years though.






This 2nd lion was a bit more of an interesting looking charcter, but we quickly determined he was at most - 5 yrs old and definitely not fully mature yet. I have no doubt we could have taken him too, but we never even tried. It was awesome to see him though, and I was very happy with our decision to not shoot him.




The 3rd lion pictured here was a bit more sly. Regardless, we are confident he's 4 yrs old - and most definitely not a taker.




The 4th lion! This one hurt!! We have some decent film of him, but unfortunately no good pics - as Jeremiah was busy filming rather than taking pics. I know this pic is poor, but trust me - this lion is a beauty!!! No doubt he is 6 yrs old IMO, and a fabulous trophy. He does not have the greatest mane I have ever seen, but very acceptable none the less. He was big, scarred up, black legged, sagging jowels, black nose - everything you want in a big male lion. The problem - he was a daddy! Daddy to 6 cubs we could clearly see. 3 of them were probably 4-5 months old, and the other 3 were babies. Maybe 8 - 10 weeks old, and cute as hell. So obviously, he was off limits - period! Shooting him was also a foregone conclusion, but we simply left him alone.


That's lion huntin, at least to me it is! I accept the good with the bad, and I know the lion is better for it. I'll be back again, maybe next time luck will be on my side.

As we part ways in Amsterdam, we get a last pic together!!!


Thanks to Ryan Shallom / Greenleaf Tanzania, you did a great job buddy!!! I hope you all are having a great hunting season!!!!

A few more pics added to the story!!!






I may not have shot my 14th Lion in Tanzania, but I got one on my arm instead.

Nice hunt report, some great pictures but dang, what a motley crue!!!
Sounds and looks like you had a great trip.
Congratulations!

Awesome. I'm sure there are a few more stories in there we'd love to hear.

Great report Aaron i am glad you got the Sable next time i will have to shoot better. The area is pretty amazing and Ryan runs a great camp
Chris

Great hunt! Thanks for the report. Another goal for me to set.

Great hunt and photos.

Sounds like you had great companions. They look like they could dog a buff as a team!

Did you fly into Mbeya and drive or directly from Dar?

Cheers, Chris

quote:

Originally posted by cnm123:
Great report Aaron i am glad you got the Sable next time i will have to shoot better. The area is pretty amazing and Ryan runs a great camp
Chris

Next time bro!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Rockdoc:
Great hunt and photos.

Sounds like you had great companions. They look like they could dog a buff as a team!

Did you fly into Mbeya and drive or directly from Dar?

Cheers, Chris

We flew to Mbeya and drove to camp from there.

Thanks Aaron. I have been to Mbeya a few times but yet to see the new airport.

Great report. What was the weather like there? Temp wise?

Cheers, Chris

Looks like the "T" flys have you boys all swollen up

Great pics and stories. Thanks for sharing.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockdoc:
Thanks Aaron. I have been to Mbeya a few times but yet to see the new airport.

Great report. What was the weather like there? Temp wise?

Cheers, Chris

Hot/dry of course. I would say high's in the 90's, very comfortable in the morning/evening time.

quote:

Originally posted by Safari James:
Looks like the "T" flys have you boys all swollen up

Great pics and stories. Thanks for sharing.

I believe that's a fact!

Awesome outstanding sable among some awesome other trophies.

Mike

Beautiful, Aaron! Gorgeous animals.

Awesome story and trophies - thanks for sharing Aaron!

Was next door last year and will be again next year. This is an incredible place. More cats than you could ever encounter in any other wild place. The origin of our ancestors are here at the bottom of the Rift and you can see the remains of ancient camps; caves (I'm going in next year).

Lots of water, even in the dry season. Next time, I just want to knock around and shoot targets of opporunity.

Last year: Buff, Ele, Leopard,Sable and assorted plains game. Next year, we're just goig to have fun.

Great report Aaron.
Looks like you boys had a blast.
Ryan is a super guy.
Cheers
Steve

Aaron, congratulations on a great safari And what an amazing sable!

Torbjoern

No wonder you are tired! SWEET!

GREAT leopard and phenomenal sable! Nicely done guys!

Congrats!

Nothing like hunting with your family or some good friends. It doesn't get any better than western Tanzania.

well done great hunting.

I hunted that area many years ago with Nicky Blunt. There were lots of buffalo down by the Lake and good Kudu on the escarpment above it. Its a spectacular area.

We fly camped there and it was super, one of my favorite hunts! We were trying for lion, but alas, couldn't keep the leopard off the baits…

Glad y'all had a good trip and am happy to hear the area has held up. That is a testament to Raoul managing it correctly.

Aaron, did you see any cattle herders in the block?

Congrats on a great hunt and report Aaron, it looks like you guys had a blast.

On another note congrats on dropping the pounds and the healthy living. I've been fighting the same battle for years and know how hard it is.

Super hunt and fantastic sable.

Great pics Aaron, congrats to all! One hellofa Sable!

Nice report Aaron

One question..did you see the numbers of buffalo you saw at Lukwati?

quote:

Originally posted by Dahav:
I hunted that area many years ago with Nicky Blunt. There were lots of buffalo down by the Lake and good Kudu on the escarpment above it. Its a spectacular area.

We fly camped there and it was super, one of my favorite hunts! We were trying for lion, but alas, couldn't keep the leopard off the baits…

Glad y'all had a good trip and am happy to hear the area has held up. That is a testament to Raoul managing it correctly.

Aaron, did you see any cattle herders in the block?

We saw cattle, but only close to the border on the concession - down by the lake and right next to the local village.

They've done a good job of getting rid of them down by the lake, as we saw LOTS of game down there!

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Nice report Aaron

One question..did you see the numbers of buffalo you saw at Lukwati?

Well, hard to say. Maybe not quite as many, but certainly we saw ALOT of buffalo.

I added a few more pics too, see above!

Great report. Thanks for sharing.

Great report Aaron, enjoyed the pictures and hearing how things went. Those cubs are awesome!

You were able to outrun the lioness in a Cruiser's reverse gear?? Must have been some white knuckles on the wheel.

Congrats on the Sable.

Aaron,
Great hunt, pictures and story!
john

quote:

Originally posted by d.unger:
Great report Aaron, enjoyed the pictures and hearing how things went. Those cubs are awesome!

You were able to outrun the lioness in a Cruiser's reverse gear?? Must have been some white knuckles on the wheel.

Congrats on the Sable.

Well, we didn't exactly out-run her! She was kind enough to let us get away, but she probably chased us for 200 yards.

Nice job! Looking forward to hearing about it on the hill in a couple months.

Congrats!

Great report and pictures.

Sorry to hear about the Eland I'm sure he was a beauty but that Sable is one to remember and the coat on him is beautiful!!! How did your friend get close enough to shoot that great Kudu with a bow?

Thanks for sharing

Nice hunt Aaron, looks like fun. You and the boyz are sporting some big guns!

Did Richard require any treatment for the bee stings?

quote:

Originally posted by AR MAN:
Sorry to hear about the Eland I'm sure he was a beauty but that Sable is one to remember and the coat on him is beautiful!!! How did your friend get close enough to shoot that great Kudu with a bow?

Thanks for sharing

Just some careful sneaking I guess

quote:

Originally posted by Bill C:
Nice hunt Aaron, looks like fun. You and the boyz are sporting some big guns!

Did Richard require any treatment for the bee stings?

No, he was ok after a couple of hours. Luckily none of us are allergic.

Nice!