Zim 2013 Hunt Report, SSG & Ivory Trails

April 2013, 12 day hunt with SSG. Trophy Elephant, buffalo
Rifle, Verney-Carron 450 Nitro double, Hornady DGS solids
Game taken, elephant & two buffalo.
Malapati Safari & communal areas
Note: If you hunt with Nixon be prepared for long days. He is a machine when it comes to elephant hunting. We hunted all day and then spent the night waiting in fields for crop raiders. Hands down the hardest working PH I have ever been with. Be prepared for 18 hour hunting days

July/Aug 2013, 8 day hunt with Ivory Trails. Tuskless elephant
Rifle, Verney-Carron 375R V-C, handloads with CEB solids.
Game taken, 3 tuskless elephants.
Gowke North Communal area
This was primarily a hunt to try out the Verney-Carron's proprietary 375Rimmed cartridge on large game. A fun hunt, lots of tuskless elephants, took 3 elephants in the first 4 days. One shot kills on all of them, 2 heart shots, and one frontal brain. The CEB's preformed very well. Phil Smythe is a very good PH & fun to hunt with. I would recommend this as a no pressure hunt with a lot of excitement.

Sounds like a great hunt! Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Congratulations Ken! Well done.

Best regards

Nick

Ken,

Sounds like you had good hunts. How about going down to Terminals and give a report on the performance of the bullets.

Sam

Ken

Wow!
Congrats!
We need photos!

Way to go Ken- how about some photos?

Congrats Ken!

PICTURES - Gotta have pictures.

Sounds like fun and work at the same time.
Hunted with Nixon last year. You're absolutely right, that guy has energy for three of us.
I still remember those 18 hr days, one after another. Tough hunts, heat but fun.
Not for " easy does it " for sure.
Hell of a hunt.

Nice one Ken! Pics?

Congrats Ken. Sounds like two too extremely successful trips. And properly done with double guns.

[Very interesting hunt report. The thing that I found most interesting, its brevity. How can someone that can visit and tell interesting stories for hours in person or on the phone write a hunt report that is three sentences long, i.e., we went, we hunted, we killed. I guess if I want the full Ken Buch version I will have to call to get it.

Let me know if I can help you in posting a few pictures.]

Mike is correct, the report was brief. The bottom line is that these were both very good hunts. Both SSG and Ivory Trails being safari operators that I would recommend to someone looking for a Zim hunt.
Pictures.....well I no longer take the number of pics I did 35 years ago when I hunted Africa the first time. But here are some that I liked.

First from the April hunt with SSG


Parks game scout


Local population cutting up the bull, notice the elephant foot sticking out at the bottom of the picture


Everyone looking like "where do we start"


Nixon and myself with the 2nd buffalo


1st buffalo being loaded


Interesting bug


Game scouts well worn Chinese SKS


1st buffalo being field processed


Hornady solid that turned around & was poking through the skin on the far side of the 1st buffalo

Ivory Trails


This was the 3rd tuskless, frontal brain, 12 to 15 yards, no sticks


Shot placement of the elephant above


2nd tuskless, heart shot 25 yards, no sticks


Phil doing a little bullet testing on the head of the 2nd elephant with his new 500 Nitro


Phil & myself with the 2nd elephant


Phil & crew with the 2nd elephant


Just a interesting picture


The first elephant, about 35 yards, Phil wanted me to use sticks


Ladies waiting on meat


Picture of the 375 Verney-Carron


Camp picture


Camp Picture


Game scout with a guinea taken with a shoulder shot using solids at about 30 yards, the breast meat was in perfect condition

Ken,

Fine shooting... Mike

Nice going Ken!

Nice photos Ken - thanks!

Congrats on two great safaris!

In Gokwe North, did you hunt from the camp at Ume River? Do you have any idea about buffalo and leopard population in the area?

I have booked a hunt with Phillip in Gokwe next year, so nice to see pictures from the camp and area


Torbjorn

I was not hunting leopard or buffalo (although I would have considered shooting one or both if it the opportunity had presented itself while out looking for elephants. I did see lots of tracks for both and did bump into small herds of buffalo on several occasions. Since they were not on my primary list we did not follow up looking for a suitable bull.
We also ran into some plains game, including a Kudu, impala, duiker, bushbuck and waterbuck.
We hunted out of the river camp, had elephant & lion, come real close to camp after dark.
I am sure you will have a good hunt with Phil.

Thanks for sharing the pictures Ken. Looks like a great hunt.

Congrats on an awesome trip!

Having been fortunate enough to spend time with both Nixon and Phil, I can tell you that picked your PHs wisely. Both are great guys and hunters.

Great hunt and pics Ken, thanks! Glad to see the 450NE worked well for you! Did you use any DGXs on the buffal or just solids and if you did, how did they perform for you?

Great report Ken. Well done and congrats on a fine safari!

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:
Great hunt and pics Ken, thanks! Glad to see the 450NE worked well for you! Did you use any DGXs on the buffal or just solids and if you did, how did they perform for you?

Used the 450 with Nixon. He only wanted me using solids. No chance to use any DGX's on this trip.
I have used the DGX in AU last year, 5 buffalo without problems. Also shot a bison with the DGX and had a pass through with a heart/lung shot.
I am aware that the DGX bullet has a mixed reputation but I have never todate had a failure.

Great pictures. Looks like you had a great time. Congratulations

Thanks, Ken!

It looks like fun, thanks for the report.

Jeez!!!
As if I'm not fired up enough already... See, I'm leaving in two days & should be shaking hands again with Nixon by Saturday afternoon..

What camp were you in??? It doesn't look at all familiar..

quote:

Originally posted by Kebco:
I was not hunting leopard or buffalo (although I would have considered shooting one or both if it the opportunity had presented itself while out looking for elephants. I did see lots of tracks for both and did bump into small herds of buffalo on several occasions. Since they were not on my primary list we did not follow up looking for a suitable bull.
We also ran into some plains game, including a Kudu, impala, duiker, bushbuck and waterbuck.
We hunted out of the river camp, had elephant & lion, come real close to camp after dark.
I am sure you will have a good hunt with Phil.

Thanks. That sounds promising


Torbjorn

quote:

Originally posted by MopaneMike:
Jeez!!!
As if I'm not fired up enough already... See, I'm leaving in two days & should be shaking hands again with Nixon by Saturday afternoon..

What camp were you in??? It doesn't look at all familiar..

I did not have any good pictures of Nixon's camp. The pictures of the camp above were at Gowke North

No close calls, charges etc?

Ken
You have me nervous I head over on the 30th and this overweight out of shape hunter will have to keep up with Nixon. Question does Nixon always have you use solids I planned on using my CEB raptors in my 50 B&M and 416 Ruger for buffalo backed by solids. Great report
Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Mississippian:
No close calls, charges etc?

Nothing, and that is OK with me!

quote:

Originally posted by cnm123:
Ken
You have me nervous I head over on the 30th and this overweight out of shape hunter will have to keep up with Nixon. Question does Nixon always have you use solids I planned on using my CEB raptors in my 50 B&M and 416 Ruger for buffalo backed by solids. Great report
Chris

The ground is level or gently rolling so pretty easy walking. Soil was primarily sand so lite weight ankle high boots is what I used. If you are having trouble keeping up let Nixon know so he can adjust.

Nixon wanted me using solids on buffalo and elephant and to leave my softs in camp. I did what he asked but I have in the past killed lots of buffalo with softs.

For people that don't believe that bullets will tumble inside of an animal....the proof is pretty much in the pudding there....great pics!

Congrats Ken. Looks like you had a great time.
I have hunted both camps. I shot my first ele out of that Ume river camp and my best ele with Nixon so your report brings pleasant memories. Thanks for sharing.

Great, informative report, Thanks. I recently hunted buffalo with Barrie Duckworth and he asked that I use only solids as well. The .375 Ruger DGS performed flawlessly.

Thanks for the report, Ken!

Ken, I thought I told you I was 7 foot 4 ... I see no mention of that in here!!

Ken thanks for the fine photos. Fine shooting.

Mike

Congrats Ken, I enjoyed the post and pics.

One word Ken....SPECTACULAR



Congratulations..WOW!!!
IMPRESSIVE!!!


Roland