HUNT SUMMARY

Background:
A good friend and I hunted Zimbabwe this April. I hunted tuskless elephant for the first seven days then joined my friend for the last seven days of his leopard-buffalo safari. This was my third safari. I have previously hunted in Tanzania and Zimbabwe for trophy elephant, buff and plaingame. This was my friend’s first safari.

This post details my friend’s leopard hunt in Chewore North. Please see thread titled “Zim Safari 08: Part I†for the first half of this report.

Trip Dates:
April 17-30, 2008

Location of Hunt:
Chewore North Safari Area, Zimbabwe

The Chewore North area is situated in the Lower Zambezi Valley and is bounded by the Zambezi River (border with Zambia), the Sapi Safari area and Dande Communal Area. It is approximately 375,000 HA (1 million acres) in extent and is divided into 2 areas (North & South). The Chewore North is an area of beautiful but rugged terrain with mountains and valleys with several sand rivers running through the area.

Animals Killed:
Chewore North: leopard, zebra, klipspringer, trophy impala, bait impala, cow waterbuck (bait)

Animals Hunted but not Killed:
Chewore North: buffalo, kudu, warthog, waterbuck

Other Game Seen:
Chewore North: elephant, lion, buffalo, waterbuck, bushbuck, hippo, crock

Outfitter Information:
Chewore North
Chipitani Safaris / Andy Hunter
P.H. Andy Hunter
P.O. Box WGT 465
Harare, Zimbabwe
+263 4 305 609
email: chipitani@zol.co.zw
website: www.trophysafaris.com

Travel Summary:
South African Airlines (Dulles / Johannasberg / Harare)
Booked via Gracy Travel ($2500 USD)
Website: www.gracytravel.com
Harare / Camp via. Air charter

Rifles Used:
Leopard: Ruger RSM .375H&H and .416Rigby. Leopard was shot with .375 A-Squared Lion Load, recent factory load.

Hunt Summary: Leopard/Buff
On day seven I transferred by truck from Dande South where I had hunted tuskless elephant to Chewore North. The drive was uneventful, no roadblocks, no problems.

Andy and my friend Lowell filled me in on the status of his safari when I arrived. They had at least six leopards working in several trees!!! They had been sitting on active trees for the previous six mornings and evenings. Chewore North is a Safari, as opposed to “CAMPFIRE†or communal area so shooting at night is not allowed. Unfortunately while females were feeding in broad daylight they had yet to positively identify a male in good shooting light. Lowell was kind enough to allow me to set in the blind one evening and I was able to watch a female leopard in the tree for nearly an hour. It was a great thrill!

My hats off to Andy, who would not consider shooting a leopard until he was absolutely sure that it was a mature male. Eventually Andy baited a leopard just off the Zambezi with and enormous footprint. Apparently he had been feeding this cat for three years but had never sat for him. It was a great set-up, short 50yd downhill shot with an open sandy beach area between the blind and bait. In addition, there was a fairly large island just behind the blind in the middle of the river that provided covering noise as the water of the Zambezi flowed past it.

Lowell shot this great cat on the evening of day 10. It was a wonderfully old leopard with a broken lower canine and a chewed off ear. It has a lovely dark pelt, all together the trophy of a lifetime. That’s Lowell on the left and your respondent on the right.

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After the leopard was in the salt we concentrated on buffalo. The buff hunting proved to be tough. The one herd that was in the area was staying in the jess along the Zambezi in the “no hunting†area. Apparently the concession holders have set aside the area near camp as a no-shooting zone so that non-hunting guests can photograph game animals near camp. This did pose a bit of a problem with the buff, however, as they tended to feed out at night then return to the safe area before daylight. Unfortunately, they ultimately eluded us and Lowell did not kill a buff.

Hats off to Andy again as he took us to darn near every spring and water point in the concession. I must say he knows the area like the back of his hand. One day we were checking a spring along the Chewore River escarpment in a very difficult to reach part of the concession. We had stopped at a lovely overlook point and Andy mentioned to me that there probably had not been a party of hunters in the area for over two years. Not ten minutes later as we approached the spring we had contact with a group of what turned out to be Zambian elephant poachers. The photos below are of some of the stuff that they dropped when they fled. This included blankets, pots and pans, about 50lb of corn meal, a bag of over 100rd.s of ammo ect. We hiked out and Andy was able to alert the local authorities who dispatched an anti-poaching patrol, shown taking off after the poachers in the third photo, below.

I've added a few more pic.s for fun, an young bull ele we ran into in some thick stuff, wild dogs, puff adder run over by the truck, baobab that had fallen over due to ele dammage! (that's Andy in front), and the game scout showing a whole new use for the AK-47...

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Notes on Malaria Meds:
I used Mefloquine this trip and had absolutely no problems. I have used Malarone previously and had stomach problems. Two other hunters in camp were on Doxycycline. Both had serious trouble with side effects and stopped taking it after a few days. Side effects included sensitivity to the sun and stomach problems.

FINAL COMMENTS
Chewore North is an extremely large, fantastically scenic area. The main camp is comfortable to the point of being almost “too niceâ€. The quality and quantity of food was outstanding. The level of service was the best that I have experienced on safari.

Andy Hunter arranged every aspect of the safari including domestic travel and lodging before the safari. Every detail was handled in an extremely professional and efficient way. Communications with Andy before and after the safari have been timely and accurate.

One of the most important ingredients for success on a safari is a PH that knows the area that you are hunting in. Andy worked for Zim Parks for many years and was the Senior Warden in charge of Chewore before leaving to become a full time P.H. It was very obvious that Andy knows every square inch of Chewore. I have never before seen the P.H. showing the location of springs to the trackers and game scout!

All in all I cannot recommend both Andy and Chewore highly enough. If your looking for a first class safari in a great area you could hardly do better.

Brett

congratulations on a great trip >

Thanks for the report and the pictures. Congratulations.

Brett,
Very nice. Excellent photos, would love to see them in a larger size. Congratulations on a wonderful trip.

Great report and pictures. 'Hope Andy shared some of his famous jokes with you.

Thanks guys!

Cazador, foul is more like it...

Brett