Folks,

I'm posting a report for Brent and his Dad Mike who had a great family adventure with the Duckworths.

Enjoy!

Mark









Outfitter: Mokore Safaris
Concession: Sengwa, North Central Zimbabwe
Dates: Early September 2019.
Booking Agent: Mark’s Exclusive Adventure’s, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Travel Agent: Gracy Travel, Texas - Joberg
PH’s: Doug Duckworth, Ian Rutledge assisted by Sengwa Camp Manager/Apprentice Tristan
Trackers: Solomon and Luke
Drivers: Gumi and Keynos
Rifles: Winchester Model 70 scoped with Leupold, chambered in .375 HH, firing 300 gr Barnes. Winchester Model 70 scoped with Leupold, chambered in .416 REM, firing 400 gr Swift A-Frames.

Background:
My brother, sister in-law, and myself, had a fabulous plains game safari in 2016 with Mokore, Mozambique C9 camp, in 2016. We hunted with Doug Duckworth and Fabian Fellner and everything went fabulous. Towards the end of that safari, we got a chance to do a little buffalo tracking and photography, on their small herd. It was a great way to get a taste of the buffalo experience. I’ll never forget the sights, smells, and exhilaration of tracking those buffalo. Therefore it was logical step up to big bores, to include buffalo on our next safari. Mokore offers a non-trophy buffalo hunt at their Sengwa Zimbabwe concession, and it seemed to be the perfect choice for us to make. This safari was originally setup as a 2 on 2, non-trophy buffalo + plains game. My brother, and his wife, would be hunting with one PH, and I would be hunting with another PH. But job circumstances changed with my brother about 5 months prior to departure, so my father was called up to fill the open spot. My dad had been to Namibia on a plains game safari about 10 years ago. Like me, this would be his second safari, and first buffalo hunt.

Preparation:

My dad and I were both using borrowed rifles, from my brother. We both own, and are quite experienced with rifle shooting small and medium bores. But this was our first experience shooting big bores. Obviously some initiation was required. Confirming zero on the rifles was punishing, and I hated every shot. But once that process was over, and we got to shooting and practicing on sticks, things become a little more natural. But of course you have to swallow hard when $7 worth of lead and copper flies down the range every time you pull the trigger to practice. So dry firing greatly supplemented our practice routine, and we both felt very comfortable off sticks, out to 150 yards prior to our safari. I also spent a lot of time plinking cans with .22, and I think that can be a very valuable way to get practice time, without ruining your pocket book, shoulder bones, and scrambling your brain.
Travel:
My dad and I live close together in a northern state, so we traveled together on Delta from Minneapolis, to Atlanta, and onto Joberg. First Class or Business Class isn’t really an option for my middle class bank account. Economy class, of course, was cramped and uncomfortable in the back of the plane, but you just have to make the most of it and understand what’s waiting on the other side. It is trendy to bash air travel these days, but I take the opposite approach. Buy the ticket, expect the worse, and 99% of the time it goes just fine, even in Economy. I don’t need umbrellas in my mixed drinks, to feel like I had a good flight. Call me “easily pleased”, but I was just happy to arrive safely, with all of our bags, and on-time. While in Joberg, we overnighted at City Lodge, after easily passing through SAPS with Bruce, our Gracy escort. City Lodge is a very convenient and comfortable stay, with a really good breakfast buffet waiting for you in the morning. From Joberg we traveled up to Victoria Falls on SAA; and again no problems with flight, immigration, customs, or collecting rifles. Road travel from Victoria Falls to Sengwa, was by Land Cruiser. About half of the 6 hour trip is on tar road, and half the trip is on a lengthy, exciting, motocross track. Our exit from Zimbabwe was road transfer from Sengwa to Harare. SAA back to Joberg, connecting up with Delta back to Atlanta, and home to Minneapolis. No hassles with rifles, road blocks, airport security, ticketing agents, TSA, or anybody else for that matter. We were happy to have been dealt a good hand by Gracy, and things flowed very smoothly. Note: SAA had announced a rifle surcharge in 2019, but our tickets were bought before the announcement. So no surcharge assessed on our first SAA flight. But Tristian, our driver from Sengwa camp to Harare, warned us that his previous client had not been able to talk through the surcharge, and we should expect to pay. So I obligated and paid the SAA surcharge, and didn’t bother the hassle to contend it.

Victoria Falls:

Given that the Sengwa concession was equal distant between Victoria Falls and Harare, we were advised to fly into Victoria Falls and get a tourist “warm up” of Zimbabwe, prior to our hunting dates. We stayed two nights at the Victoria Falls Hotel. Albeit expensive, it definitely lived up to its reputation as being a 5 star Classic, and were happy to have selected it. High Tea on Stanley’s terrace was a highlight, as was the breakfast spread each morning. Of course we toured the water falls, and enjoyed its beauty and splendor- even well into the dry season. Another delight was sunset cruise on the upper Zambezi, where snacks and drinks filled our bellies, while photos of hippos, crocs, and elephant filled up our cameras. We are not thrill seekers, so the bungie jumping, rafting, and helicopter rides were not part of our itinerary. Two days and two nights in “The Falls”, seemed to be just the right amount of transition time from a heavy dose of traveling, to the main event- 8 days on hunting safari.

Sengwa Camp:
Having hunted with Mokore in Mozambique, I had a good feeling for what we were in for at Sengwa. We were not disappointed. The staff was great, the accommodations top notch, food delicious, outstanding hunting, and we couldn’t have been happier. As many people know, the drought in Namibia and west central Zimbabwe was a real thing this season. Previous season’s rain was weak, and you could feel the landscape was stressed out when we got to Zim. But at Sengwa, the animals were healthy, abundant, and thriving. Game was thriving so much, in fact, that the concession had become a large magnet for wire snare poaching. This was a serious and constant battle, especially during the full moon phase of our stay. Tristian, and the rest of the Mokore staff at Sengwa, were battling tooth and nail against the poachers, to keep the concession thriving. While not out nabbing poachers and wrangling up park rangers to assist, Tristian was vital to our safari as road guide, tracker, and spotter. The young man can flat out hunt, and will make a great PH someday.

Buffalo Hunt:
“We are seeking a proper rat”, Ian explained to me on the first morning of my safari. A ‘proper rat’ is affectionately known as a non-trophy buffalo- that the PH’s and game managers are eager to clean out of the gene pool. Not only was I in search of a “proper rat” but I also had an appetite for the full blown experience. I wanted to track buffalo. I wanted to chase buffalo. I wanted to glass for buffalo. I wanted to sweat. I wanted to belly crawl, bum crawl, and knees crawl. I wanted a sunburn on my neck and brow. I wanted to swat mopane flies. I wanted to get into dagga boys. I wanted to mingle with, and sit on some herds. I wanted to smell buffalo. I wanted to step on buffalo dung. I wanted the winds to shift, and foul up a stalk or two. I wanted to hear them rumble through the bush. I wanted to see their dust. I wanted to watch ox peckers, do what they do, on the backs of buffalo. And do all of that, again and again. By day seven, I had gotten all of that and more, as we finally picked out a “proper rat” in a good spot to lay claim. After staring many minutes at a frontal shot, dead into the low eastern sun, he finally turned his silhouette broadside, and accepted a shot to the shoulder. That would be the only shot fired, as he went down, soon after, in the middle of the anxious herd. A “proper rat” belonged to me, and the whole team. I can’t thank Ian, Tristian, Luke and Keynos enough for their hard work and good spirits. I had confidence in them the whole safari, and I’m glad my shooting lived up to their hard work.
Dad and Doug had some buffalo excitement, albeit in a different way. On the very first day, they spotted a group of four dagga boys, one of which would fit the bill in the non-trophy category. After a lengthy time on the sticks, dad’s shot broke as the bull stepped out. Unfortunately, the shot struck a tad low, and they had a leaky buffalo to deal with. Twelve bottles of water, eight hours, and ten miles later, they caught up with that buffalo and ended the ordeal properly. Of course you never want to follow buffalo in that manner, but Doug and Solomon did a fabulous job staying on that single animal, and getting the job done. Not enough can be said that would do justice to their commitment, skill, bravery, and tracking. It was truly an amazing job, by true professionals.

Plains Game:
I’ve only been on two safaris, but on a scale of ten, I’d put C9 in Mozambique at 9 or 10 in the plains game category. The diversity and quantity was unbelievable on the C9 in 2016. It would be difficult for me to imagine anything ever coming close to that. So if I had to put a number on Sengwa it would be a 7 or 8. An astonishing level of plains game exists, and I think that anyone just booking for plains game, without buffalo, would have a great safari at Sengwa. I had my hopes on a Waterbuck or Eland or possibly an upper tier Kudo? Zebra, Impala, Reedbuck, or Bushbuck would be next on my wish list. By early September, the Sengwa quota had been used up on Eland, Reedbuck, and Bushbuck; so Waterbuck, Zebra, and Impala would be for me! We were not disappointed with the quality and quantity of these species. Fortunately for us, clean kill, successful hunts, punctuated exciting stalks on each of these animals.

The rest:
Elephant was plentiful, and were seen daily. I can never get enough time looking at elephant. They are amazing animals and always worth the time to watch, at any stage of a safari. Lions were around, and were spotted on a couple of occasions, but not common. Leopard tracks were seen, but no sightings, nor were we expecting so. Crocs are not common, but an isolated pocket of Sengwa springs holds a few, and were observed. We weren’t seeking Kudu, but good hunt could be had, with a few whoppers out there. Warthog wasn’t a focus point, but some were seen, although big trophies seemed rare. As stated above, Bushbuck and Eland were off quota for the season, but I can assuredly tell you that next season’s hunters are setup for some great trophies in 2020! I don’t fashion myself as a hunter of the tiny antelope, but do like to see them. Duiker and Grysbok were observed. An uncommon pair of Black Eagles were spotted on a spectacular pinnacle rock cliff, and we spent a lot of time glassing and photographing them on our last day in the bush. If you ever see a flock of Carmine Bee-eaters, you won’t forget it. They ‘rudely’ interrupted one of our buffalo stalks, and I was happy for it. I never get enough time glassing Violet Breasted Rollers, but enjoyed the time I had. Sand Grouse buzzing in at twilight, were like top gun jet fighters. Of course there were numerous other birds and fauna, all very much interesting in their own context, that Ian and Doug took the time to point out and classify throughout the safari. I’m not sure which I enjoy more, stalking and hunting, or learning and classifying all of the other things in their complex ecosystem. Around the dinner table and in the truck, Ian and I spent a great deal of time discussing my other pursuits. One of my interests is dog training, field trialing, and upland bird hunting with my English Pointer bird dogs. So Ian was chomping at the bit to get a shotgun in my hands to try some wing shooting. So the last day of our safari had us in leisurely pursuit of Francolin and Dove on the wing. I would have loved to have been following a brace of my pointers through the Sengwa bush, but probably would not have enjoyed pulling the thorns out of their feet, at pickup. I got the feeling that Doug would have rather ground swatted some of the Francolin (ha-ha!), but he was good sport and obliged to Ian’s wing shooting plan. A couple of birds fell to a whole box of empty shells, but most importantly laughter and fun was had by all.

Very nice. Excellent report.

We Sengwa is next for me.

I just hope I am not stuck with Doug again

Doug did tell me sengwa has the best quality plains game.

Mike

Well written Brian and well done on some great hunting! Lets hope we can get your brother and Sis out here next!!

Mike - Big people have feelings too!

Doug - thanks for taking such great care of my replacement!

Nice report.

I really like non-trophy buffalo hunts.

Beats me have you can call that first bull non-trophy?????

Thanks for the great photos and story. Well told!

That first bull is wonderful!! Now that is a trophy.

Andrew,

That buffalo is the perfect one for that hunt.

Mark

Way to go Brent, I just saw this!

Greg Gress

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Beats me have you can call that first bull non-trophy?????

. That first bull is the trophy, requardless of the spread.

nice report

Are these bulls exportable?

Definitely exportable.