With this recent Rigby competition, it made me go back and look at the buffalo we took this year in the Bubye. I love to hunt Dugga Boys because of the hunt. Trackers leading you on dry dusty dirty walks through thorn bushes and heat for a glimpse of an ear or shadowy figure in the brush. Then crouching and crawling using muscles you normally don’t use to get into position to shoot, sometimes to be betrayed by the wind, a bird or your own movements.

A few years ago, my good friends John Sharp and David Langerman suggested that on my next hunt I venture to the Bubye to hunt Dugga Boys as this was a great place to find good numbers of these old mature buffalo. It had been several years since I had hunted in Zim and needed to visit friends in Harare. My wife, a non-hunter, wanted to go as long as we visited Victoria Falls. So, we put together a trip starting in the Bubye, through Harare and ending in the Falls. That first Bubye hunt was so enjoyable for my wife that she suggested a family trip once the grandsons were old enough.

This past June we packed everyone up for our big family trip and headed to Zim. One of the cool things about the Bubye is you are enjoying a photo safari as you hunt due to the diversity of game including Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Cheetah and Elephant roaming freely within almost 800,000 acres. The camps are not 5-star luxury photo camps but are very good and the food excellent. The greatest part are the people, including Old School Zimbabwe PH’s, like Dave and John.

Mud Bull


This might be the favorite and the story that even the trackers were talking about for days.

Along about dark just a little before sundowner time, we turned the car west and were working our way back to camp an hour and a half distant. The sun was setting, and Dave and I both noted how difficult it was to see anything to the left of the car as we drove down the dirt track. One of the greatest sounds you hear on hunts, is the rapid tapping on the top of the car indicating something of interest.

Up and into the sun about 200 yards, our trackers Charity and Thomas spotted a bull walking slowly our way. We all quickly jumped out of the truck and quietly loaded up and stalked forward. There was a lot of brush between us and when we were within 25 yards Dave set up the sticks and I immediately got on them. At this point the Bull had stopped near a leaning tree with brush all around. Dave whispered I think he is going to lay down and just like that the Bull went to the ground.

This would have been great to have on camera, but it happened quickly. The Bull was bedded down looking right at us, so just Dave and I were in position. We waited and waited, and the sun was setting right behind the Bull and as it descended making it difficult to focus on a discoloration or feature as my target. We needed the Bull to stand and step a little to our right, so Dave whistled. Nothing.

Not sure who threw the first stick, but the guys behind us crept up after the first whistle and began to throw sticks and rocks. I knew my opportunity would be a very short window once the Bull stood before he gathered steam to take off. There was a window in the brush, and I concentrated on that area.

Not sure if the Bull was going blind and deaf, but he refused to stand or acknowledge our presence. This went on for several minutes. I remember this large stick shaped like a boomerang sailing through the air landing inches from the Bull. With that he stood and turned and a .416 through the front part of the left shoulder the heart and lungs dropped the Bull in his tracks.

As with another Bull we took, this Bull was not near any know watering point and was covered in fresh mud. He was old, likely over 12-13 years old, and based on his actions could have been partially deaf and/or blind. This may have been the old bull that would chase the Anti-Poaching Patrols and had no fear of man. He may have just been tired and was hoping we would walk on by and leave him alone.

Old Herd Bull


All the Bulls except this one was on their own. This Bull was on the fringes of a herd that was spread out over hundreds of yards and on high alert as lions were calling and moving from the eastern part of the herd to the northwest. After crawling and playing hide and seek for a couple hours, we spotted a group of Bulls. After easing up through some wait a bit thorn Dave set up the sticks and we quietly sized up a couple bulls, neither of which were old enough.

At one point they alerted and stood there trying to figure out what we were. There were cows and young bulls spread out everywhere in front of us then this ancient bull came out from behind a bush. He lowered his head and horned the youngsters out of the way, then stepped forward and fronted us as he looked as if he was ready to charge.

One shot in the chest and the bull whirled and ran through the brush with the others. Blood was clearly pouring out, so we followed through the brush and as we emerged from the bushes, we stood face to face with the herd and the bull somewhere in their midst. Either Charity or Tom shouted and off they ran leaving this bull behind.

Trophy Bull


This was one of many trophy Bulls we came across and while we were hunting hard for a scrum cap or the elusive monster that had been seen on a previous hunt, one does not pass up such a trophy. We had just checked a series of water holes and had turned around on the same road to head to another area when we spotted this Bull up the road several hundred yards.

The bush was extremely thick this year in the Bubye and this made tracking single Bulls very difficult. There were at least a dozen stalks on single Bulls spotted from the vehicle that simply vanished into the thick brush. Nothing is ever shot from the vehicle but as with other large areas the use of the hunting vehicle allows one to cover large distances in search of your quarry.

The walk had a pucker factor to it as less than 15 minutes earlier the car was mock charged by a lion where we started our stalk. Seems we might have woken him as he slept in the brush and the car rattled him. We were fortunate that there was a tree in the middle of the road not far from the Bull. Every time the Bull lowered his head we moved quickly and closer to the tree where we took the time to decide was this the right one to take or not.

This Bull didn’t travel 25 yards and was done. He was faced away from us and we came in through the trees behind and along the back of the still Bull. Charity and Thomas came up and were all smiles, another one they wouldn’t have to follow into the brush when the Bull let out its final breath. Shoot Shoot Shoot Charity yelled so I put another one between the shoulder blades.

Plains Game Bull


My grandson asked how old he must be to go buffalo hunting and I set the age at 13. Two years distant and on this his first trip to Africa, he would only be able to participate in plains game hunts. This was supposed to a day of plains game hunting with his Grandfather along with his Uncle and his Girlfriend.

This bull had just taken a midday mud bath and was ambling along when Thomas called out. Not having much time, I jumped from the vehicle and pulled a shell from the belt holder. As I dropped it in, I realized it was a solid versus a soft. It was too late to make a change and David heard me cuss as I closed the bolt. The wind and sun were in our favor, but there would be no time for sticks.

Hidden behind some thick bushes we stepped around and forward the solid whistled through both lungs. As pre planned in the event there was no solid whack, David placed a .458 round in and then I put a Texas heart shot as he ran through the bushes. There was no death bellow or crash and the guys heard the Buffalo go a short distance and knew he was standing somewhere close by in the bushes.

Before I hunted with Dave, I followed a couple wounded Buffalo and don’t like it one bit and was not looking forward to this stalk. This wasn’t in the plans and even with spectator’s safe back in the car not ideal. We started to formulate a plan when my Grandson heard a thump. Papa he said, the Buffalo fell over and Blythe and Thomas confirmed. Around the first set of bushes pointed in our direction the Buffalo died waiting on us.

River Bull


My son-in-law wanted a Buffalo and he struggled to the point he was ready to give up. It wasn’t for lack of Buffalo, it was just difficult for him as with many first timers. On the next to last day the trackers spotted a Bull foraging on the far side of the river, which is nothing but a wide expanse of sand during their winter months. As luck would have it one lone tree stood about 75 yards from the far bank and all we had to do is make it 200 yards to that tree.

We went along the cover of the near bank until we had the tree between us and the Bull. From a distance the sand in the river looks flat, but there are dried channels which offered some cover so the five of us were able to creep single file to the base of the tree. When the bull turned away up went the sticks. These older buffalo seem to be hard of hearing and their eyesight is very poor. When he turned, I can’t imagine he didn’t see the shooter or hear the click of the safety.

I like a .416 but a .375 in the right place works very well. An insurance shot is always good unless you know for certain that Buffalo is stone dead. A few days prior a hunter in a distant camp put 5 shots into one and the PH added four .470 rounds to finish a Bull. Even though the first shot did the job we made sure there would be no follow up in the thick brush.

Dugga Boys

This hunt was primarily for old ancient Dugga boys with a preference towards a scrum cap or broken horn Buffalo. I must admit I wasn’t going pass up a 45-inch Buffalo and there are some there that may be close to that number if not over. The other groups saw some in the 43-inch range and we took one at 42. Every bull was old a minimum of 12 or 13 years old.

Some of our stalks/encounters were much easier than they should have been, but then we did wear out some shoe leather and put the time and effort in over many long days and we were rewarded. In 21 the brush was so thick tracking was very difficult, so we initially tried looking for small bachelor groups. In the end all but one of the Buffalo we took was on its own.

The Bubye is a great place to take the family, first time African hunters and returning hunters, especially those looking for Dugga Boys. Great camps, staff, Ph’s and lots of area to hunt. This was my second trip to the Bubye and whether it is the conservancy, luck or the efforts of Dave and John, I have seen more Dugga boys in the Bubye than either the Nyakasanga, Save, Selous or the Niassa.

Great report!

Did you see many elephants? Any big tuskers?

Bulls everyday but nothing really large. Some groups of cows and young. Bulls are chilled and we got up close.

Great hunt. Thank you for sharing it.

Very nice old bulls.

I LOVE the BVC! Hunted there a number of times. One of my all time favorite places in Zimbabwe and Africa!

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Great report!

Did you see many elephants? Any big tuskers?

They (tuskers) are there.

Well done TNJohn.

Super. You have the proper criteria for buffalo hunting!

Sounds like you had a great hunt!

Multiple good buffalo, family, and friends.

Awesome hunt. You hunted with a legend been John and a legend in the making been Dave. I certainly rate Dave as definitely one of the up and coming top Phs in Zim and we are happy having him guide several of our hunts this year! Great report thanks! Cheers Buzz

Some exceptionally mature buffalo there and thanks for posting your adventures.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Great report!

Did you see many elephants? Any big tuskers?

They (tuskers) are there.

Lane, I remember you telling me they were there. That is why I asked.

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Awesome hunt. You hunted with a legend been John and a legend in the making been Dave. I certainly rate Dave as definitely one of the up and coming top Phs in Zim and we are happy having him guide several of our hunts this year! Great report thanks! Cheers Buzz

Buzz

Dave is looking forward to those hunts especially anything in the Nyakasanga. I first meet him there as an appy 18 years ago. That is his old stomping ground, and he knows it well. He is a wonderful person and exceptionally competent in what he does.

As for John, anyone that has never met or spent time with him is missing out. When the grandsons first met him, their mouths hung open for several minutes as they were awe struck. They thought he was a tall tale I had been telling them. The oldest leaned over and said "he is real". Nothing phony about this man a true gentleman and extraordinary PH.

John

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Great report!

Did you see many elephants? Any big tuskers?

They (tuskers) are there.

Lane, I remember you telling me they were there. That is why I asked.

On a previous hunt we did come across a large bull but on this hunt nothing that impressive. There are some larger Bulls on the property. Ellies are no longer hunted there.

In the Nyakazanga did see serval impressive Bulls but that was some time ago. In Hwange you will get tired of looking at Elephants there are so many.

Good stuff, thanks for posting.

At one time, they had a Non trophy buffalo hunt, were these considered trophy or non trophy. that old of bull are defiantly trophy to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Bama15:
At one time, they had a Non trophy buffalo hunt, were these considered trophy or non trophy. that old of bull are defiantly trophy to me.

All but one of these were non-trophy Bulls. We saw Buffalo every day and one day saw a group of more than 20 Dugga Boys. There was a scrum cap in one of the herds that we tried for early on and later on we just couldn’t find the right group he was in. Outside the camp every night there were three or four feeding. Plenty of opportunities.

Thanks for the report and great pictures. What camp did you hunt out of?

Thank you to everyone for all the positive feedback.

This last hunt was out of Samanyanga. Great place to have put the family. Prior hunt did hunt Nengo and would go back to either camp. We did some running around and visited other camps. Lamulas was interesting with great views of a very active waterhole.

John Sharp seems to like Dyers and some other hunters I talked with liked Fimbiri. I don’t think you could go wrong at any of their camps.

In traditional Zim style the food was excellent, primarily game meat. Grandsons still talking about how much they enjoyed the food. They are very picky eaters and not big on vegetables. That changed.

Thanks for response. I've hunted BVC with John twice and looking to go in July. Samanyanga is open at that time but so far its just me. Since that camp is bigger would be great if an AR member would want share camp with us.

My wife and grandkids loved that camp. They stayed in our chalet with the fireplace.

Definitely find someone else to go with you!

Working on it!

Thx.

Great old bulls, and well-told and interesting story.

Congrats to you for making this happen with your whole family. Those kinds of memories will last forever.

Thanks for sharing the experience.

Good story telling and some real trophies. Be well, Packy.

Great report. Hunting for the old dugga boys is proper.

Awesome Duggar boys! Thanks for the great report!

Thank you all for the great comments that are very much appreciated.

We gave Dave a choice of two of the non-Trophies and these are the two he wanted that best represented to him a real Dugga Boy trophy. These are clean, polished and ready for his wall.

Dream Buffalo!!

Great report and some awesome bulls!

Proper bulls! Well done.

Just got back from Harare. Those skulls look great on Dave's porch. I hope the one that we took looks as good.

From what I heard you two had a great hunt and have thousands of pictures. The Nyakasanga is where I first met Dave 18 years ago. Glad you two got to experience that and Mana Pools.

Congrats. Some fine buffalo there.