This is an addition to Hunter's Wife to Be hunt report.

Dates:July 19-28

Travel Agent: Kathi Klimes at Wild Travel-can't say enough good things about Kathi. She is wonderful to work with and knows all the ins and outs of international travel especially with guns. This was about the 8th or 10th trip she has assisted me with and as always she was top shelf all the way.Thanks Kathi.

Outfitter: CM Safaris
PH : Richard Tabor- Folks Rich was as good as it gets and more.He and his trackers were absolutely great.Their practice of tracking and overall bushcraft were nothing short of amazing.Their knowledge of flora and funa were amazing and they truly made a fine hunting team.

Days 1-10: Hunters Wife to Be has a detailed report so mine will be concise.Out of 10 days of hunting we were in/on or behind buffalo everyday except one. Hunters Wife to Be was up on the sticks 5-6 times and each time something just would not work out. The hunting was hard and tough,the jess was thick,dry,noisy and the buffalo were as skiddish as "a bunch of crackheads waiting on an Obama stimulus check". The main reason for the was LIONS. They were on/behind/in front of/on the opposite side of virtually every herd of buffalo we got on. Twice they killed buffalo in front of us.Once we walked up on 2 feeding on a cow they had just killed and we were within 50 feet of the feeding lions.As we transitted the Atlanta airport we met a couple just getting back from Zambia where he had spent 18 days lion hunting and never saw a lion of any kind,talk about irony,in our ten days we probably cold have killed 2-4 lions.Finally on the 10th day at 5:45pm with 15 minutes of fading light left Hunter's Wife to Be got 1 shot a nice dugga boy facing her at about 45-55 yds. with just his head showing above the grass,after a few minutes of looking/debate Rich instructed her to shoot him right between the eyes,she let the safety off took her breath and squeezed but sadlly missed.I knew almost immediately from the look on Rich's face that it was a miss. I did not see the buffalo at the shot but Rich said he simply turned and ran off.A thorough search for blood was done but none was found and it was declared a clean miss.Hutner's Wife to Be was definitely in a funk to say the least but myself,Rich and everyone back in camp(there were 3additional Ph's plus another camp manager in camp due to the large group coming in with Tim Herald when we finish up) cheered her up as best as we could.She trained/practiced hard for an entire year for this moment it just did not work out.I for one was VERY proud of her on the hunt.She did everything ask of her for the entire hunt,she walked everywhere Rich walked ,carried her own gun and never complained or whined one little bit.As I stated earlier this was a tough hunt,Rich admitted it was one of the tougher buffalo hunts he had had in some time and I dare say some guys would have thrown in the towel before day ten but she hung in there like a champ.

CM Safaris- We met everyone except the accountant and one camp manager and let me say each and everyone of the staff at CM is absolutely FIRST RATE. Each has polite,courteous,funny,engaging and professional to the nth degree.Buzz met us for breakfast the morning we chartered out to camp and was everything we had heard and more really a good guy. At the end of the hunt Myles met us at the airport when we chartered back in to Harare. Kirsty took us shopping later that day and then Myles and his wife Oliva took out for dinner that evening. All were super people and a joy to meet and spend time with.

Conclusion: Did we collect one single animal we went after?no. Did we have a wonderful time?yes Would we hunt with CM Safaris again? yes and may even do so as early as Sept.(next month) Did Hunter's Wife to Be enjoy Africa? yes she did and more,she understands why I talk about my hunts and what they mean to me,in essence "she gets it". This was to be the begining of the rest of our lives together and it was a great adventure one of hopefully many more we share together.Hunting Africa is expensive but the memories are priceless when shared with your true love and surrounded by good people.

Good on ya Wes. You will have a hunting partner the rest of your days!

Having my wife there for my trips makes them all the more special and memorable too. While my wife only observes and does not hunt, I'd not consider leaving her at home if at possible. It really changes everything.

Thanks for sharing your story. You shared an experience with your wife to be that most can just dream of.

quote:

Originally posted by wesley timmerman:
Did Hunter's Wife to Be enjoy Africa? yes she did and more,she understands why I talk about my hunts and what they mean to me,in essence "she gets it". This was to be the begining of the rest of our lives together and it was a great adventure one of hopefully many more we share together.Hunting Africa is expensive but the memories are priceless when shared with your true love and surrounded by good people.

Wow! You are a truely lucky man!!!

Brett

quote:

I for one was VERY proud of her on the hunt.

Thanks. <blushing>

Dear Wesley

Good to see you posted a report even though it was not 100% on the trophy wish list.

Good times and memories will living in your mind.
As we know if you hunt it will not always go your way.

It took me 3 trips and 10 years of coming home empty handed to collect an animal. They were hard fun hunts and I remember them more then some of the one's where all animals were collected.

Keep up the good work.

Hope to see you in camp one day.