Here we go. First hour of the trip and the drama has already started. My cameraguy is coming from MT, and he got delayed in Salt Lake. He may not make the flight as he is now on a 45 minute connection - and I can't imagine his bags will make it. Big problem being that there is only a flight from JNB to Pemba every 5 days, and I am on a 12 day hunt. Ozhunter may get drafted as a cameraman for a while . Oh well - TIA in this instance means This Is America!!!

Next report should be from African Sky. Cheers...

Tim: I am so sorry to hear this, but it sounds to me like you are approaching it with the right attitude!
My first trip to Africa was in '97'. Each and every year since then was perfect. -0- problems. Then came 2009....2010....2012. In every case it was TIA......THIS IS AMERICA - and OUR airline personel, coupled with TSA. I truly do not know WHO is worse!
Delta, United.....or TSA????
In 2009........the rifles did not make the connection. Delta's fault.
In 2010........my video camera, which I was to video multiple other hunters hunts was destroyed by TSA.
In 2012........my luggage (which contained my ammo), did not make the connection to Africa. United's fault.
In every situation, for guys like us, there is no other choice......we smile.....be gentlemen.....and temporarly become Zimbabweans.....and MAKE A PLAN!
You will be surprized what your cameraman can do with a good 35mm shooting over the shoulder shots as you shoot. No it is NOT video, but I bet you we look at the over-the-shoulder photos 10 to 1 over the video.
I do not know who your PH is, but unless I miss my guess, you just watch him, AND HOW THOSE GUYS REALLY STEP UP TO THE PLATE WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN. Those good PH's didn't get that way by letting you swing in the wind. If WE cannot make a plan........they usually will!!
GOOD HUNTING......CHEERS.

Sorry to hear that tim, i hope it all works out.

Zach and i will be rooting for you and the guys.

Good luck tim, I am sure things will work out,You always seem to get it done.

Tim, As my wife and I say make a plan.

Mike

Alrighty...at AFrican Sky Guest House. Wonderful service and meal as usual. Charl (Infinito) came over and had dinner with us, and we are about ready for bed. Jesse, my cameraman, made the flight with his cameras, but his bags did not make the connection. We are short our wireless mic.s and tripod, and his clothes, etc. It should all be 2 days late we hope. trying to make a plan...oh well. we will do what we can. We are in Africa, and should be in Niassa for dinner tomorrow night...cheers...

Good luck. I feel your pain, my last trip was without rifles or duffel bags for 8 days. Be safe and enjoy.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Herald:
Alrighty...at AFrican Sky Guest House. Wonderful service and meal as usual. Charl (Infinito) came over and had dinner with us, and we are about ready for bed. Jesse, my cameraman, made the flight with his cameras, but his bags did not make the connection. We are short our wireless mic.s and tripod, and his clothes, etc. It should all be 2 days late we hope. trying to make a plan...oh well. we will do what we can. We are in Africa, and should be in Niassa for dinner tomorrow night...cheers...

Enjoy your time. I know you're working but at least you're in Africa.

Cheers
Jim

Tim,

Remember it is better to be in Africa without your luggage then to be in the US with it!



465H&H

quote:

Originally posted by 465H&H:
Tim,

Remember it is better to be in Africa without your luggage then to be in the US with it!



465H&H

Boy, isn't that ever the truth!

Got to camp this evening. All guns on, but cameraman still has no bag. Stu says we had a lion hit last night, so he put up a camera today, and we will check in the morning. He feels it is one or two cats, so a decent chance there is a male. Hopefully it is one old enough and we can sit tomorrow afternoon. Jim Bevins will hunt hippo tomorrow and hopefully get me some more bait! I am off to bed now as I only got 3 hours sleep last night. I need to fix that before we start hunting. Cheers for now...TH

Have a great hunt- will be checking in.

Let the games begin!

Good Luck!!

Missed you @ Africa Sky by one night

Good luck!

What a day to start. We have a lion that has hit 2 nights in a row. We are going to check cam tomorrow and try to determine more about age. He is huge body, but we just can't tell age from last night's photos. We may sit tomorrow.

Late afternoon, we went for a walk to look for a sable we chased for a week last year. We found tracks in a river, followed up, and finally after a long while, Davy stopped dead and pointed in the thick. Sticks up, Stu said shoot - and bam...I now have a 41" Roosevelt Sable. Only about a 75 yards...and I couldn't be happier. Everyone got something today - Mike StJean got a bushpig, Farrell Holyoak got a nice waterbuck, and Jim Bevins got a very nice bushbuck...off to celebrate...

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Herald:
What a day to start. We have a lion that has hit 2 nights in a row. We are going to check cam tomorrow and try to determine more about age. He is huge body, but we just can't tell age from last night's photos. We may sit tomorrow.

Late afternoon, we went for a walk to look for a sable we chased for a week last year. We found tracks in a river, followed up, and finally after a long while, Davy stopped dead and pointed in the thick. Sticks up, Stu said shoot - and bam...I now have a 41" Roosevelt Sable. Only about a 75 yards...and I couldn't be happier. Everyone got something today - Mike StJean got a bushpig, Farrell Holyoak got a nice waterbuck, and Jim Bevins got a very nice bushbuck...off to celebrate...

Great job Tim!! Very nice Sable.

Congrats on the sable Tim, it is a beauty!

CONGRATES! Another hurdle finished. Look forward to this "live" thread.

SUPER Roosevelt!

Wonderful sable Tim. Well done!

Great work on the sable Tim - bet you did not think about the luggage as you squeezed on the beautiful sable! Best to ya and and big S. Texas yeeeeeeha to all of ya!

That's a beaut Tim!! Lots of secondary growth which I know is what you were looking for on last year's hunt.

Contrats!!

Well done Tim. Enjoy your hunt.

Tim, what a great start to your hunt. Beautiful sable and congratulations. Good luck throughout the week!

Thanks all. We are going to check out lion again shortly and then make a plan. We may free-bait him and then follow him up, but consensus of PH's is that he is old, so we want to try to see him live.

Yeah Todd, he has 6" of 2ndary growth...just happy to have him.

Very nice OLD Sable Tim! Good luck on the Shumba.

Please give Jumbo and Stu my regards.

Cheers
Brent

Wonderful morning! We started off by seeing an ele from the truck, and we went over to have a closer look. Ended up being a 50+ pound bull with over 4' of ivory sticking out.

Then we went to check out bait - and 2 lions were there. The largest slinked off before we could check him out, but the second stayed around for 30 minutes, and I got these photos at 20 and 30 yards.



He gets the pass, but from trail cams, his buddy is larger, more dense and darker mane. We can't tell a lot about his face as the camera was bumped and angle isn't good.

We moved the bait to a better spot for a walk up tomorrow that is sweet. We have a big rock outcrop at 53 yards over the bait. Stu wants to look at the darker male in person, so hopefully they track the bait and show in the morning...I might just go fishing .

You have more self control than me!!

Hi Tim, congratulations on a great Sable, please say hello to Oz.

Reality check...I didn't catch a single fish and whiffed a great bushbuck this afternoon. Shot right over his back...3:00AM Wakeup and trying to do a walk in on lions in the morning...

Great Sable Tim... Congratulations!

Best of luck with the Lions!

looks like you're having a fantastic time. hope it keeps up. good luck be with you

On last report tonight...Jim Bevins killed a big bull hippo today, so I have lots of bait...

Hope the lion is waiting for you in the morning...

Jim now knows Hippo hunting is much more difficult than Leopard hunting.....took him 2 days!

Good start to the hunt Tim. Waiting patiently on any news of the lion. Did all your gear get there yet.

quote:

Good start to the hunt Tim. Waiting patiently on any news of the lion.

x2!!!

Bag still has not arrived. Tomorrow is last day we can limp along on what we have equipment wise.

That being said, I had a wonderful day of lion hunting. Went to the walk in, and lions were roaring close to bait in dark. It was just an incredible experience walking closer to that sound in dark. Anticipation was high.

We got to our outcrop and settled in at daybreak, and the roaring was LOUD. they were within 200 yards, but after 1.5 hours they didn't show and we left.

We set a blind for the afternoon, and went back at 3:30. We left a whole waterbuck as the 2 have eaten an entire wildebeest and 1/2 a sable in 2 days. 45 minutes after being in blind, the trackers call on radio and told us that the lions went by the truck, so we got out and stalked back. About 5 minutes later, the 2 males began roaring close, but they weren't together. We were in good shape, basically between them.

It was like nothing I have ever experienced, as after a break, one cranked up right on top of us (maybe 50 yards) and in a few seconds, he came trotting by. He was the one we had not looked at well, and he was at 15 yards. Stu told me not to shoot, so I didn't.

They eventually got together, and the roaring continued to escalate. About 15 minutes before dark, we drove the truck toward them, and we eventually spotted them lying up above the bait where they were this morning when we walked in. We got to look at them pretty well, though light was fading. The black maned male is definitely older than the one in my earlier photo, but Stu said he was not completely sure he is 6. He has yellow teeth, but he is not scarred, and his teeth don't appear to be worn down. he got the get out of jail free card, but I would have smoked him in a minute had he given me the go ahead.

He is tawny gray, set in eyes and black nose, but I trust Stu 100%, so no shoot. It was a great day to be around 2 magnificent 4-6 year old lions. We are back to square 1 on lions as no other baits have been hit. We will start checking and refreshing tomorrow.

Mike passed up 2 shots on 37-38" hard bossed buff again (2nd day in a row) - and Farrel took a nice Kudu.

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings...

Tim, Congrats to all hunters.

Mike

Tim....This is fun.Lets do it again tomorrow!