Last Friday I got back from my first safari where I went to Zimbabwe and hunted with HHK Safaris. I first flew commercially into Bulawayo where I was met by one of HHK's pilots who flew me to Chirisa in his Beechcraft. I was to hunt there until I got my buffalo.
My PH was Howard Hunter, a super nice guy that is as known in the region for his abilities to catch and relocate game for various landowners and countries (uses helicopters and other funneling pens to herd and catch all sorts of game as is needed by various organizations) as he is his hunting prowess. Howard is a certified SCI scorer, a talent that was used over and over again as we hunted and considered which animals we might take.
As it worked out, each of the species I took, except for my impalas, will make the the SCI record book (excluding the zebras whick needed just a few more stripes!). We saw an impala that would have made it but, uh, well, I missed it. ;-)
As for my buff hunt, after pursuing some great animals for almost 5 days and having many near misses that were frequently caused by swirling winds, we finally found a great buff that I wanted to take. His gross score was 103 1/2, qualifying for SCI. Here's a picture of the old bull taken on September 30th that I shot with my .375:

After getting the buff, the next morning we packed up and began the 8-9 hour drive down to the Lemco Ranch. It would be here that I would try to accumulate a variety of plains game. On the first day of hunting there, Oct 2nd, I took my first impala, a zebra, and a tsessebe. The impala's gross score was 51 1/2 and the tsessebe had a SCI record book score of 45 inches. Shot each of them with my .300 win mag.
Here are some pics of them:



On Oct 3rd we hunted all day for a sable with no luck. The next day we saw 2 nice kudu bulls and tracked them all morning. Finally we got up on them near mid-day. The one I decided to shoot figured out something was wrong and leaped from where he had been feeding to face me. He then stared at me and began a barking tirade that was fierce! I finally shot him with my .375 as he faced me. The bullet went through his neck and traveled down his spinal cord. Needless to say, he dropped in his tracks.

Later that same day, Oct 4th, I shot this wart hog with my .300:

On the way to hunt sable on the 5th, I shot my second zebra with my .375 as my younger brother had an order in for one. Afterwards, we went back after sable. Did see some that were only about 36" as well as a monster of around 43" in an area of Lemco that had used up it's quota. But I wanted one at least 40" and in the area that still had quota the sable were scarce. Did see 2 leopards while riding around that day, a daytime event my PH said he had only seem once before all season.
On the 6th, we looked for eland and waterbuck but didn't get any of them though came close on a waterbuck. Giraffes were everywhere and were certainly fun to watch. I decided early in the hunt that I wouldn't shoot one as it truly seemed too easy, not to mention the fact that I wasn't sure where I would put one if I did!
On the 7th we pursued elands again. In the morning, however, I shot my second impala. He was better than the first, but about an inch short for SCI.
Late in the afternoon we saw some eland at a distance and I popped one with my .375 at about 160 yards. He leaped in the air as my bullet struck slightly behind his shoulder while he was quartering away. We ran towards where he was and saw him walking slowing away from us. My second bullet broke his tail as it ripped up his back side, sending him into the brush and leaving intermittent drops of blood for us to follow. The drops were small and after a while seemed to get more random. I started worrying. Then one of my trackers spotted him through the brush and I followed his point with a killing shot through the lungs. The eland was huge with horns of 38 3/8 and a gross scored 101 5/8. It will be enough to make the grand eland SCI record book.


On my last day of hunting, Oct 8th, we again looked for that sable but had no luck. I did take a wildebeest with my .375 my last afternoon, which will make the book with its gross score of 75". It was no consolation for a sable, but a nice a way to finish my hunt nevertheless.

My trip was a fun way to begin what I hope are years of African adventures. I learned so very much about the nature of the way they hunt there, the follies of the Zimbabwe economy, and the mystical pleasures of 2 weeks in the African bush. My next trip to Africa won't be until I go to Tanzania in 2005. I've now got the bug and can't wait for that next trip to arrive!

[ 10-16-2003, 01:36: Message edited by: Spring ]

A great report - and lovely photographs - Nice to see so much care taken in the composition. Thanks for posting! Ian

Spring, well done!!
Looks like you had a wonderfull hunt and took some very nice trophies.
Thanks for sharing the story and the pics!

Spring,

Good for you! Looks like you had a great time with HHK. I think that your experience is the norm with them.

Spring,

Glad to see you're back! Excellent story and trophies!

Spring,
Looks like you had a great time. Those eland and buf sure are hard to kill! And Africa does have a way of getting under your skin.
Blacktailer

Spring,

Congratulations on a great hunt. Thanks for the report.

Regards,

Terry

Spring,
Congratulations on such a great trip. Excellent trophies. Thanks for the report.

Great hunt spring, you are very lucky indeed. You always come home one animal short just to justify the trip back...

Congratulations, Spring and welcome to the club. Excellent trophies all, especially the eland. I took my first eland on the Lemco in 1994 and it remains one of my favorite trophies to this day.
The Lemco is fine game country and is also where I started my African hunting career. Hope to make it back one day to see how it has changed in the last 10 years.

NICE trophies and a nice Blaser! Walter would be proud!

Best,

JohnTheGreek

Thanks, John, and yes, I do love my Blaser. I've had it for about 2 1/2 years and just added the .375 to my assortment of barrels last spring. Also added the kickstop that Blaser offers for heavier calibers to give that extra 10 oz of weight. It shoots my .300 grain .375 bullets very smoothly with incredible accuracy.
My Blaser surely seemed to be a favorite with other PH's I met, including Richard Cooke, a Zim PH that uses his with a .416 barrel exclusively.
Since our rifle season for deer opens this coming Saturday, mine will switch to being a .270 for the next 3 months.

[ 10-16-2003, 00:44: Message edited by: Spring ]

Here are a couple more pictures from my trip: