I had my first Cape buff hunt in Sept. hunting with Scott Guthrie, Zindele Safaris, Zimbabwe. Having hunted plains game in South Africa twice, I had made the decision to rob my piggy bank, bite the big bullet, and go after Cape buffalo.

Scott met me in Bulawayo and we spent the next five hours on the road to Matesti 1 getting to know each other. Upon arrival we were informed that the concession manager had given the bushbuck permit I had paid for to another party the week before. No refund was offered, I would be allowed to substitute an other animal of similar price. Needless to say, neither Scott nor I were happy with this development, I had wanted another bushbuck to go on the wall with my Cape specimen. Sadly, this was just the start of our challenges.

After unpacking at the lodge, I reported to Scott's cottage where we were getting ready to test fire the rifles. This was when we were informed that none of the permits to hunt had been issued and we would not be allowed out of camp except to travel to Victoria Falls. Test firing the rifles was out.

Scott discussed the issue at length with the concession manager who assured him that the permits would be ready shortly or at the latest, the next morning by 10:00. Of course, they weren't. Nor were they ready by 3:00 that afternoon or 10:00 the following morning.

Scott explained why the permits weren't ready and it was not looking like there would be any relief soon. Suffice the say, the concession manager was a bit short on his duties and responsibilities. It should be noted at this point that there was another party of two hunters also in camp who had arrived with a different PH and different outfitter on my arrival day and they were in the same boat: no permits being issued, no refunds being offered. I had noticed that the camp was in poor repair, ceiling fans not working, water not running and the swimming pool appeared to be used as part of the sewage system.

At this point Scott, who had gotten on his cell and made a series of calls, said there were three options: he personally would refund my money and I could cancel the trip, he would arrange for a hunt in another area at HIS expense, or we could stay in camp and hope that somehow the permit mess would sort itself out. Having lost one and a half hunting days at this point, I opted to get the hell out of there and hunt a different area, which we did.

Scott arranged for us to drive back to his home in Bulawayo, get in his plane and fly to the Bubye Conservancy for the remaining seven and a half days of hunting, all at HIS expense.

That, folks, is a professional hunter with ethics and honor.

I spent the next seven and a half days with Scott seeing what Zimbabwe can be. I had up close encounters with dangerous game, shot a gnarly old dagga boy at 30 yards, took an old zebra for the wife's rug, shot a gnarly, old warthog, and an incredible eland after chasing those darn antelope giants around for four days. I fulfilled a dream of shooting sand grouse at dusk in front of a "jeering" squad...(no relief offered to the weak at heart) and paybacks will be hell, Scott.

I will be writing up the details of the hunt and my other experiences in Zimbabwe and on the Chobe River in my blog. Sorry, I just don't want to write them up twice.

What I will say here is Scott Gutherie is an incredible man, a wonderful PH and, most importantly, a good friend. In favor of decorum, I will reserve my opinion of the Matesti 1 concession manager, for now at least.

I'll try to post photos if I can.

A half of a dozen attempts to post a couple of photos with no success. Computer illiteracy should be illegal, I plead the 5th.

Wow, that was incredibly poor treatment in Matetsi 1. Scratch that one off the list for certain!

Sounds like Scott did a great job of making things right. Congratulations on what sounds like a very fun safari.

SO sad to hear of your misfortune at Matesti, I would have been very angry at just the bushbuck permit, but not having permits for anytihng else, and not offering a refund is beyond the pale.

It's a good thing you were hunting with a gentleman of character, and some portion of your hunt was salvaged, albeit not what you had planned on. Hats off to Scott Guthrie for that!

Looking for your pictures, thanks for the report!

Way to roll with the punches. Some serious punches at that!

Matetsi 1...

You, Scott, and BVC...

Looking forward to your report...you made the best of it...good on you brother

We read occasionally about debacles like what happened to you at Matetsi 1 but seldom see a PH who has the resources, step up to handle the situation that well.

A quick search on the net shows about half a dozen companies advertising hunts in Matetsi 1.

First class recovery by Scott. Very impressive.

Another one on my " not to go to " list
Unfortunate but now all of us here on AR know
Great report and great PH with good resources

Damn good decision to head to BVC.

Everything I've heard about the Bubye has been great.

Definitely on my list of places to hunt.

Glad it worked out, I'm sure you had some tense moments and a high level of frustration.

Good job. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and it sounds like you picked the right PH. Congrats.

Glad that it all worked out. The Bubye is an incredible place. I am going back there for the second time next June. Matetsi I should definitely be off the list for anyone. How can you treat a visiting hunter and PH fairly by robbing them of what they had paid for and never got? A full refund should have been in order.

Glad it worked out. Sounds like the PH went above and beyond and is the real deal. Would love to see pics.

Talk about making a silk purse from a sow's ear! Good on you and your PH. What a show of integrity and resourcefulness on his part! if the person(s) who "stole" your bushbuck permit and almost ruined your hunt had .01% of his integrity, they'd get on this forum, apologize to you, and explain WTF happened. The Bubye is indeed a wonderful place.

Sounds like your PH was a great guy and definitely someone I would like to hunt with. While we were in the Omay this past July we heard that Matetsi 1 had hunters booked and that the owner had not paid his fees to the government. I think many PH's have had to scramble to pull off hunts that were originally sold in Matetsi I.

Who is in control of Matesi 1? Hats off to a quality PH and I hope no one else gets taken over by the staff at Matesi.

Mike

Glad you were able to roll with the punches and had a PH who could make a plan B! BVC is as good as it gets in Zim.

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Glad you were able to roll with the punches and had a PH who could make a plan B! BVC is as good as it gets in Zim.

Seconded from me.