HUNT SUMMARY

Trip Dates:
September 16 – October 1, 2008
Location of Hunt:
Country - Zimbabwe
Area - Matetsi Unit 5

My mission on this hunt was the following animals:
Cape Buffalo, Sable, Tuskless Elephant, Waterbuck, Giraffe, Zebra, Hyena

Animals Successfully Hunted:
2 Cape Buffalo, Sable, Giraffe, and Zebra
Other Game Seen:
Lion, Elephant, Crocodile, Bushbuck, Kudu, Warthog, Impala, Duiker, Baboon

Rifle and gear:
Blaser R93 Attaché chambered in 375 H&H Magnum
Leica Ultravid 10X32 Binoculars
Iridium Satellite Phone http://www.outfittersatellite.com
Ammo: Reloads using the 300 grain Barnes TSX bullet and 67 grains of RL15.

Outfitter Information:
Africa Hunting Safaris, Inc.
Ron Oliver
234 W. Bandera Rd., #310
Boerne, TX 78006
Phone: (830) 336-3345
Website: http://web.mac.com/africahs/iWeb/africahs/home.html

Insurance Information:
I used Sportsman's Insurance Agency ( http://www.siai.net ) to insure against lost or stolen gear, and I used MedjetAssist ( http://www.medjetassist.com ) for Medical Evacuation.

Background:
This was my second trip to Africa. My first trip was to Namibia in 2006. This trip was originally booked as a Buffalo / Sable hunt, but when I got to camp I was informed that there was one Tuskless Elephant left on quota due to a cancelation. As a result I jumped on it and added Tuskless Elephant to my list.

Matetsi Unit Five:


Matetsi Unit 5 covers approximately 225 squire miles and has 30 miles of open border with Hwange National Park. The terrain is very hilly and covered with Mopane woodland. What makes this area so attractive to game is it has three rivers flowing through it annually which draws large herds of buffalo, elephant and plains game from the park during the dry season.

Travel Summary:
I used Melanie Brown at Gracy Travel ( http://www.gracytravel.com ) for making my arrangements. Melanie did a wonderful job and I would recommend her to anyone.

I was originally supposed to fly out of Houston on Sunday September 14th bound for Atlanta, but due to Hurricane Ike my flight was cancelled. Friday night my wife and I rode out the storm here in Houston, and late the next day (Saturday) we were able to drive to New Orleans where she was able to stay with family and I could catch a flight to Atlanta on Sunday.


After arriving in Atlanta I was able to resume my original itinerary which had me flying to Johannesburg, staying over night in Johannesburg at the Afton Guest House ( http://www.aftonguesthouse.com ), and flying in to Vic Falls the next day. I flew Delta from New Orleans to Johannesburg, and South African Air from Johannesburg to Vic Falls.



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I was met at the air port by my PH, and we did quick tour of the falls on our way out of town.










Lay-by on the main road leading out of Victoria Falls.




When we arrived at camp we went to the range and checked my rifle. The camp was amazing!


This was my hut.


Inside my hut.


Dining area and bar.


Inside the dining area and bar.

This cheetah was sitting in the dining area. My PH said that it had been confiscated at the South African border by Parks and Wildlife years ago.






You could see for miles from camp.


The food was absolutely amazing, and this is the stove from which it came. The cook made fresh bread every day in this oven.


This was the camp iron.




My first lion encounter. I saw a lot of lions on this trip.




Nice sunset










This buffalo was taken on the fifth day of the hunt out of a group of Dugga boys




On the eighth day of the hunt we hunted without a break and I managed to get both my sable and the second buffalo within a few hours of each other.


This buffalo was taken out of a herd of around 300 buffalo.


While we were field prepping the second Cape buffalo I took this picture. At first it looks like a sun set, but it was a huge wild fire approaching with great speed. We were able to get the buffalo loaded up and back to camp. After arriving back at camp it wasn’t long before the fire was upon us. What a sight!










The next day we went to survey the damage, and if possible start scouting for Tuskless Elephant.


The fire was still burning the next day.


This Mopane tree was burned through by the fire.


These rocks were under the grass, and it was a constant battle to keep from slipping and falling on them.


This was an old lion kill that we found as a result of the fire.


The wild fire completely burned Matetsi Unit five to the ground. As a result game was extremely scarce and I unfortunately did not get a Tuskless Elephant. Ultimately I think this fire ended up burning all the way to Botswana.


Last sunset

I had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back!

Looks as if you had a great hunt! Thanks for posting.

Being from So. Cal I know a little bit about wild fires!

Daaang! Nice report and great trophies....The folks on this forum are really getting good at this hunting report stuff!

Well done!

JW out

Terrific sable and buffalo. Too bad for the fire or you would have had elephant! Very nice report.

Very informative report. You have shown that an R-93 using Barnes handloads can take game with the best of 'em. Congrats.

Great report.

The photos of Vic falls really make me want to see it someday.

Great report. What an experience.

Great hunt. I hunted there last year. Did you hunt with Eleckson Ndovlou?

Great pics! Wow, that fire was too close for comfort.

Pierce, you really need to work on your timing!

First you are scheduled to leave during a hurricane and then, to add insult to injury, you are nearly caught in a wild fire after you arrive at your destination!

Kidding aside, I remember that another AR member (can't remember who) reported that Matetsi had literally burned up this year and that his outfitter had been forced to move his safari to another area. Now, thanks to your photographs, I see what he meant!

I am glad you were able to get some good hunting in and take such good trophies before the flames came your way. Congrats!

Pierce, excellent report and you have another reason to go back to Matesi and see it green.. Then get the ele..
Is sort of funny almost drown out and then almost burn up...

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Mario:
Great hunt. I hunted there last year. Did you hunt with Eleckson Ndovlou?

Hi Mario - Thanks for the kind words. Yeh Eleckson Ndovlou was my PH. He was very good and quite knowledgeable.

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
Pierce, you really need to work on your timing!

First you are scheduled to leave during a hurricane and then, to add insult to injury, you are nearly caught in a wild fire after you arrive at your destination!

Kidding aside, I remember that another AR member (can't remember who) reported that Matetsi had literally burned up this year and that his outfitter had been forced to move his safari to another area. Now, thanks to your photographs, I see what he meant!

I am glad you were able to get some good hunting in and take such good trophies before the flames came your way. Congrats!

Mrlexma - I have to admit that when I was putting this report together I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that the hunt was bookended by two natural disasters.

That fire was way to close for comfort,congrtulations on some wonderfull trophies,really like the Sable.

Great pictures, looks like a hell of a hunt!

Excellent report and photos, especially the fire photos. Congratulations on a succesful hunt.

Any Matetsi lion photos to post???

Great hunt report. Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
Excellent report and photos, especially the fire photos. Congratulations on a succesful hunt.

Any Matetsi lion photos to post???

Hi Kathi - These are the only two additional photos of lion that I have. They are of a group of lions that we saw after the fire. We saw several lions post fire, but I was ether to slow with the camera or was without the camera.

Yes me too I saw many lions in the Unit 5. Eleckson said ther'are 5 prides for about 25. When they will open the lion hunt is the right place for a big male

Thanks for posting the lion photos. Not much cover to hide in anymore.

I finally got my trophies home, and it was well worth the wait.

Wonderful trophies!