Hi guys just back from Zim.

Yet again I hunted with Doma Safaris. All in all it was a continuing story of my previous stays there, so I proudly present you the third part of trilogy that started last year:

DOMA - part 1 - May 2009

DOMA - part 2 - December 2009

PH: Gordon Duncan
Rifle: Merkel double in 9,3x74R with GSFN 265gr FN solids and factory RWS 293gr TUG.
Flight: Ljubljana - Munich - Johannesburg - Harare and return same just via Frankfurt instead of Munich

The following is just an excerpt from diary. Some minor changes and adaptations might occur later so stay tuned, but rough as it is I put it up.

16.11.2010

Flight went perfect. Baggage showed up.
Gordon is very optimistic about our hunt and knows about one very old…will see, but sounds promising.
Weather is great and tho there were some minor rains (2 inches) time ago - it only helped because there is a short green grass springing up.

17.11.2010



Had a breakfast at Miller's, saw Richard Harland passing.

Picked up a Land Cruiser at mechanic and head for Doma.



Stopped at Chinhoy and Lion's Den.



Closing in on Doma - Chechenini Ridge seen in the distance





Arrived to Doma, had a pleasant evening off and settled in.

18.11.2010



We were off at 4.15, headed to Maninga (upper area), looking for Buff. Found some older (2 days old) tracks first and later on a fresh spoor of a single Dagga Boy, however lost it inside tracks of other Buff – guys do know of that particular Boy and he might surface later on. They tracked him on a couple of previous hunts but couldn’t even see him).

Saw a couple of Duikers, an Oribi and a female Bushbuck.



Oribi

I still feel some pain in my lower spine (from the flight I guess) and since I haven't slept perfect (woke up a couple of times during the night) I still feel rather tired and sleepy but I guess all this will pass once I will be dialed in and a genuine tiredness from all day long following tracks will kick inn resulting in righteous sleep of a dead each evening.
Yesterday some clouds formed and we expected some rain but till morning they were all gone - warm clear morning - Right after 7 a.m. is HOT!
Venus is seen rising above lake and Moon is getting full.



Drove around in the afternoon, saw a group of Waterbuck, behind the airstrip.



19.11.2010

Left for Maninga at 4.30, still full dark, but already very warm, probably 20C+.



Tracks of solitary Daga Boy found, but jumped only at 9.30, temps already well over 30.

Tracked him for 2 and 1/2 hours: 216m ascent, 180m descent all together with return - sum time 3hrs 11min.



Buff smelled us when bedded down in a patch of Jesse and bolted.

Deadly hot on return.

Scout that was staying at vehicle saw it passing not 100m from parked cruiser.
Saw 3 Zebra at Shumba Spring.



20.11.2010

Woke up at 3.30 and headed for Maninga. We reached the place at first light. Weather is overcast with lighntnings seen farther north. Checked a couple of points until we found the track of the Buff from yesterday - again at Shumba Spring.



Shumba Spring



Contenders

Started to follow at app 8.00. Tracked for half an hour when we lost track and it started to rain.



Waiting

Guys needed 1 hour to sort it out, however it turned up that his track merged with tracks of the herd. So to figure it out we looped around on the banks of a river nearby.



Beautiful place, secret, hidden with permanent water, mud holes...haven for Buffalo and Elephant.





When we came around almost full time we found herd tracks much fresher now leaving the area. So without any better idea (no clear sign that Dagga Boy left the group) we followed.

Tracks leaded us through walleys and hills, close to the place where scouts from national parks shot a poacher last week. Sad remains still visible - burned remnants of his rucksack next to a patch of dried blood, everything covered briefly with some branches.

Anyway, tracks going through valley and then up the ridge. Group rested a couple of times and moved on. With weather being overcast therefore rather cool Buffalo continued to graze well into a day. Tracks were getting fresher by every minute now and eventually we cought up with tem at thr end of a walley. To get a better viewing point we circled around the slope on the right. That brought us to 130 m from the herd.

They were a group of app. 30 - cows, calves and bulls, of wich all tho big in bodies and horns, looked young with soft bosses. Gordon was looking them over while I tried to take a short vid with my camera.



Eventualy Gordon discovered an old bull in the middle hooking and beating a lone bush. He pointed him out and asked me if I could take a shot. Eish it wasn't exactly what I have expected (it was a long shot for scopeless rifle), however knowing how quickly a shifting wind can mess things up I kind agreed on making a try. I have rested the rifle on Gordon's shoulder and waited for a clear situation. At the moment a cow moved in, and they changed positions so I had to leave the rifle and grab my bino’s to look it all over. Our bull was spotted just behind one of the cows, standing broad side looking to the right. In that moment they decided they would be leaving through the slope on the left. Cow cleared and bull turned to the left, quartering to the left and his hind part toward us.

So I took a hasty aim and let one (265gr. GSFN solid) go. Impact was noticed by loud thud on impact with bull staggering and simultaneously turning to the right and took a hasty retreat. We gave a chase up to the ridge but only managed to see them departing through some scrub down the slope.

We checked their path where they have crossed the road and immediately found a blood trail, that looked rather extensive taking in account that it was caused by a solid.



Blood trail

I replenished my ammo pouch from a box that was in my backpack and carried by Joshua this time. Joshua also passed my backpack to Kasirai, since Gordon sent him to fetch a vehicle.

We drank some water and hit the track. Wounded animal was still running with a herd but bleeding profoundly. After 100m or so the tracks parted - bull was getting weak and left the group by turning to the left parallel to the slope, while herd proceeded straight downwards. Additional awareness was applied and we proceeded cautiously. After 200m or so we got to the shallow ditch where we got stuck, looking for the tracks.

We were munching on the spot for 1/2 minute. That was enough to flush a Buffalo that was laying some 40m away under a tree and some scrub - bit above us. I just got a glimpse of him getting up and departing to the right. I immediately gave him right and left. Depart of the buffalo was so sudden that Gordon hasn't even seen the Buff, while trackers thought that it was eventually a cow. I didn't thought so since animal had all the signs of a bull, especially massive neck. I was also feeling good about those 2 shots. So we immediately took chase. We caught up with him after another 200m, just beneath a steep 15m bank. Surprisingly Buffalo didn't take a refuge to the left into scrub, but climbed the bank - it was obviously in big pain since it was making subdued short bellows on the way. Once it got on the top of the bank he was behind a thick bush. Seeing Gordon getting in position on the left, I kneeled and waited if it will appear on the right side. It did, obviously very sick staggering. 2 shots to the neck and head respectively between me and Gordon finished him off. Kasirai applauded and we climbed the bank in haste. Man it was steep so we had to climb it with all fours. Incredible how buff made it up there!







All in all, it took us 5 hours, 56 minutes: 272m ascent, 224m descent.

It was a long day!

25.11.2010

Late wake at 6 am. Had some rain in the morning and weather is overcast. We made a last trip to Maninga. We saw some fresh signs of Bushpigs on the road and began to talk about them.



Lo and behold - not far from there all of a sudden look at them pigs, still roaming around - thanks to the weather I believe.

So we jumped out of the vehicle and went after them. Due to terrain and undergrowth it was a tough one. Once we got to them, they were zigzaging and disappearing between bushes. We just agreed on which one to shoot when it ran out of sight. That game repeated a couple of times and they obviously got tired of it, since they began to run. We made a final attempt of flanking across the ridge and couldn't see any of them anymore. All of a sudden a single big animal appeared below us. Gordon nodded and I quickly delivered a right and since animal jumped the fast left barrel, that knocked the beast down. I used 293gr TUG's - first hit low in a chest would do, but why take any chances so the second hit it in the neck.



Great, great, old, old boar.







How lucky can one get?



Back from a Hill.

Well done!

Excellent! Having just returned only a month ago, everything is still fresh in my memory, and I was right there with you... thanks for the trip back!

That's a very nice old bull. And the bushpig is great! As Gordon probably told you, I've been mad at them for a long time and unable to connect.

Congratulations!

Well done sir, two nice dugga boys there.

primoz

welcome home, and thank you for the report.

great buff and i really envy you that bush pig

peter

Very nice trophies
Congratulations!

Outstanding! Congratulations!

congratulations mate.
I just love hearing of your classic wanderings.

Awesome.

Mouse
Sorry to have missed you on your trip. I didnt know you were at Gords house on the Exciting Sunday evening he had.

Cant wait for the updates Buffalo, Bushpig, Batchelor party,...............sounds like you had a event packed trip.....fill us in on ALL the details. See you next time

Thanks Guys - the pleasure is all mine!

Chris I know what you mean and I am realy greatfull for the luck I had & I am sure you will connect sooner or later.
To make it even more ironic - Bushpig was shot only 500m from the place you got your Sable...

Frosty I believe some things are better untold .

Tho - I'd just mention a side trip that we made after the hunt as a venting off - might be as well a good thing before the hunt as a building up - if there is time I'd highly recommend it.

Anyway we decided to go to Kariba Lake, so instead of turning at Lion's Den to the left (Harare) we made a right turn toward Kariba.
Road was going through Karoi and on through Makuti.



We passed a hole near the road, that was used by terrorists back in the Bush War.



From here they used to ambush and snipe vehicles on the Kariba - Harare road.

Anyway, we descended to the Valley and got to Kariba Heights that overlook the East Kariba Basin.





Memorial to Operation Noah on Kariba Heights



At Kariba we rented a boat house and crossed the Lake to camp a night at the Kariba flood plains that belong to Matusadona N.P.



Plan



Flood plains

Place is crowded with animals especially Hippo, Ele, Impala, Croc...













We spent the night shored in the Park and it was great with all the sounds and smells of Lake/Bush...

Next morning we made a short trip to Spurwing Island nearby. Our first plan was to spend a night there but since guys were booked full at the moment we changed the plan to remain on the boat for another night. Tho "Spurwing guys" were very friendly and offered us a visit to Sanyati Gorge.



Entering the Gorge





Gorge itself - hard to imagine but Elephant climb those slopes with surprising regularity.







Fish poachers - as soon as they spotted us they rowed for the shore and climbed the banks.



And one of their boats - since there were rotten fish and other stuff in there - toothbrush, knife...guy was probably taken by Croc...



A fishing rig on Kariba, looks like one of those things from the movie Waterworld

At the end we visited the Dam itself that holds everything up.




And I payed a tribute to Nyami Nyami.



Zambezi below the Dam - as it once was



It all ended waaay too soon.

Great story and trophies. Thanks for posting!

Awesome report and pics!

Thanks for sharing the story and great pictures.

Very interesting read, thanks.

Thank You Gentlemen!

Just some additional notes on loads, hits...

As said I was using 265gr GS FN solids going 2350fps.
Here is a pic of initial hit. Got the angle right, just too low. If that hit would be at least 2-3" higher (10 would be perfect) I guess I'd save a shot or two and be back in camp 1/2 hour earlier...



Anyway, remarkably bullet did its job great - penetrated straight (exit was between the front legs, just on the right side where neck meets the chest - infront of right front leg). Flat Nose design made sure that bleeding was abundant and blood trail was in form of constant drops or where it stoped in form of a small pool. It only lessened some from the bed on.

I guess the goings on that bed are worth to mention...eventually guys were in a ditch a couple of meters infront and below of me, concentrating on a ground spoor, while I was looking further around. I don't know how to describe it, but somehow I knew that Buff is somewhere very near. So when Buff pulled out I was on him instantly. At first moment I recall a pic of Buff quartering away pulling himself up on his front legs - that was when I shot it with right (see pic - entry infront of his left thigh), when I gave him the left barrel he was already disappearing straight away (see pic - entry on his right thigh), before leaning to the right.



All those shots, including first one exited between his front legs area. All shots (except initial one - ribs and breastbone) were "soft" (no bones were hit).

What I found amusing is that I don't recall a single thing on working the safety (it is an auto one on my Merkel) nore reloading on the run (extractors)...it all just worked out great...

On data - I cary a wrist watch that has a baro/altimeter and can record a simple log with height differences in time. Gordon (PH) had a GPS with him all the time and made his own records - BTW if anybody cares - Buffalo died exactly at:

16 30 10 1 S
30 06 51 1 E

Thanks for the informative post and congratulations on the success.

Its a good example of a double rifle hunt where the rifle is used the way it is intended to be.

indeed Allen - tho I try to keep a "relationship" with my Merkel at a certain level and we all know it is just a piece of wood and metal...isn't it ?





Oh - BTW - almost forgot - just a heads up - there is a new kid on the block in a form of a magazine that kept me occupied while I was in camp. It is called "Bundu Beat" and it is a fine piece of work. If you are a Zimbofeel therefore like Zim and Zimbos and would like to keep up with things going on there I believe you guys would like it. It also shows that guys there are still pretty alive and kicking - anyway see for yourself - here is their site, you will see what I mean :

http://www.bundubeat.com/

And the inaugural issue is free to download here:

http://www.bundubeat.com/issue1/pageflip.html

Now to flush the bloody pics from my previous post - some more pleasant ones:



Hard Currency Change (Ivory chips) - Who needs Fedex?



2010 Doma Buffalo Harvest


Eish! Let me see...





Hard to believe what harsh bush hides - it is a garden out there if you look.

Great report. Congrats!

Mouse: Good show!

Thanks Tim.

Bryan my Man! You should be there to witness it! Things are just keep on getting better and I will never forget you were the first telling me about the Place - I drink to that . M~ust say tho - since I quit smokin I do envy you on a pipe or two, but thanks to that Bourbon Chris left behind ...it speaks not just for Chris but for myself + itself and it would do for you as well

Mouse,

Great report and excellent pix! Nice buffalo and a fantastic bushpig. Pictures of the Gorge made me homesick. It is one of the most fantastic places I've ever been.

Congrats,

Mark

Mark I can't agree more - one can't shake off the feeling that he is just allowed to be there for a tiny moment - then omny present forces take it back...will try and dig some more pics from my other comp tomorrow.

Turned out rather weird - Buffalo, Bushpigs...for those that don't know it yet, Doma used to be The Sable place...I escorted Gordon to Chifuti HQ, where he picked some additional documents for the place - I've met Paul Smith and Andrew Dawson there and was rather stunned, when Paul Smith quoted a record of 60 Sable of 40" + taken in a period of 7 years...speaks volume...place has a huge potential!

Well, Mouse.. I am glad most everyone had good luck this year at Doma; I always said I was a great hunter-never that I was a great finder!

OK - inserted a couple new pics in posts above.

Speaking of finding things - we stumbled upon tracks of a big Croc in almost dry riverbed.



Tracks were smoking fresh, leading under a rock. We all (me and trackers that is) agreed that it is a PH, that should crawl in and flush the lizard out...



But since he had a close encounter with that specie earlier this year that didn't end well, we didn't get any help from him.

Damn - I still believe it was a very bright Idea .

Mouse outstanding shooting and great photos. Love those ancient warriors horns.

Mike

Lovely pics and it looks like a great part of Zimbabwe.

You are welcome guys.

Some more on the time of the year. Interesting how trees come in to green. It all looks like an Autumn in our parts, but actually leaves starting with red, brown and yellow to be green at the end.





Sadly was already late to see it in full down in the Mopane forests of the Valley.



It's a start



Girls on the way to school - it is a sowing time, that's why a hoe goes along - to do some field work on the way just before the rains...

Thanks for sharing!
Really great report!

That's my buff directly behind yours.

quote:

Originally posted by mouse93:
but thanks to that Bourbon Chris left behind...

Primoz - I'm glad you enjoyed the bourbon, but if there was any left in the bar when we departed, it was completley unintentional!

Hey Mouse
I had a read of the Bundu Beat and certainly agree its a fine mag. I hope they can keep it up running and get lots of people subscribing.

Also good to see you had a good time with Gordie. I know he has worked his butt off to get that area working . We are now getting lots of enquiries about it so hopefully Gord will get his due reward over the next few years

quote:

Originally posted by new_guy:
That's my buff directly behind yours.

Yes I've figured it out. I believe yours should be with you very soon - while on my way out, Gordon was on the phone with Andy, working on things to be done before festive season rolls in.

While mine will probably stay in Camp for time being - I am out of all available space atm - so a Big Guy from Say Bull Bar might get some company:

quote:

Originally posted by new_guy:I'm glad you enjoyed the bourbon, but if there was any left in the bar when we departed, it was completley unintentional!

I bet it was - actualy it was a miracle that bourbon made it, since there were 2 guys between our hunts that burned 24 bottles of scotch in 2 weeks...I feel sick even imagining it ...and still managed to get their Buffs.

quote:

Originally posted by zimFrosty:Also good to see you had a good time with Gordie. I know he has worked his butt off to get that area working . We are now getting lots of enquiries about it so hopefully Gord will get his due reward over the next few years

No wories there man - always good time there - I know him from 06 and we clicked just fine from the very beginning .

On rewarding - yes I sincerely hope so - We've talked it over and Gordon admited that if he'd be in this busines just for a profit he'd probably got another job already. When runing a place like that, one has to love and believe in what he is doing, since all the income is basicaly going back into the place and it is a never ending story... True Project Indeed with long goals in mind.

quote:

Originally posted by mouse93:

I bet it was - actualy it was a miracle that bourbon made it, since there were 2 guys between our hunts that burned 24 bottles of scotch in 2 weeks...

A couple of lightweights, huh?

I guess yes...still shows what an PH should be up to as well!

Well report is finished now. Since I got a couple of question about the camera I was using I guess I'd stress it out some.

All the pics and video were taken with Panasonic Lumix TZ7 camera. I used to carry two cameras before - Pentax Optio pocket one in size of a credit card - nice and handy but with only 3x optical zoom. And a bigger Conica Minolta Z3 with 10x optical zoom. Great camera tho with only 4 MP resolution. Main problem was its size since I had to give it to one of trackers to carry it for me it was not at hand when I needed...

So I gotmyself TZ7 - TZ10 just came out tho with a price difference I opted for TZ7 (TZ10 is improved and gets GPS coordinates for every pic). Camera is slightly bigger than regular pocket one but still gets there, simple to use with 12x optical zoom, VERY wide angle, simple to shoot a HD (720P) video, with results you can see. If that meets your expectations go for one - you won't be sory. Anyway some more samples:



Doma Fish Eagle



Cane rat



Storks



Stone with algae



Tshoko - tiny guy with a huge heart!



Main lodge "Toilet read"



Midday siesta - staring at the ceiling, waiting for a nap to take over



Scouts getting their half - Kasirai giving them a hand



Kasirai - tracker that gets better and better and is "guilty" of all my latest kills



Puma - got it from my Late Old Man and carried it just for the Luck - it obviously worked!



Elephants ...being more/less a "Bovine" guy I guess I am slowly but surely getting there - to actualy hunt one - hum?

Anybody had similar dilema - I mean how do you reach a decision to go for an Elephant?

Thanks for the great writeup and pics! Congrats on a fine safari, fine trophies, and fine memories.

Mouse,
As usual, well done! Excellent report and excellent trophies. And great pictures by the way!