Charlton McCallum Safaris
PH Keith Wall
Cameraman Daniel MacDonald
Buffalo & Plains Game (10 days)
Nyakasanga, Hurungwe Safari Area, Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe
August 15-24

Gun:

Myles McCallum's pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .375h&h w/ Trijicon Accupoint 1x6.5

Hunted/Killed:

Buffalo, kudu, zebra, waterbuck, impala, guineas, doves, francolin

Travel:

ATL-JNB on Delta; overnight at Intercontinental; JNB-HRE on Airlink; 210 Cessna from HRE to Chirundu; Boat trip from Chirundu to Camp (about an hour).

I didnt try to take guns this time and simply packed everything in my old filson backpack. Being pure carry-on and renting guns makes the travel one hell of a lot easier.

Overview

This was my second safari. I wanted to hunt with CMS/Keith Wall again in the Valley, so I selected Nyakasanga. Keith Wall is a truly wonderful human and a very fine hunter. I hope I hunt with him every time I go. A close friend joined me for his first safari; and he hunted with PH David Mann - also a great guy and very knowledgeable. We hired Safari Classics to send a camera man for us to "share" so Dan MacDonald rotated between us every day or two. Dan is great guy and I will always request him going forward. He added so much to the hunt and was almost like a second PH.

We had one hell of hunt; and I couldn't be happier. Nyakasanga is an awesome concession. It is full of game. Impalas and elephants are in such prolific numbers that both are somewhat of a pest when tracking buffalo; and the elephant are so numerous as to be really destroying huge tracts of mopane forest and causing other general havoc. That said, it was a pleasure to hunt in and amongst the giants and I learned alot about elephants - even if we didnt hunt them. Other plains game is there in droves. Due to the dry year, it was very open and game seemed to be concentrated on the Zambezi and on water points. Thus, we saw an eye-popping amount of stuff.

One of the best things about the hunt was that we were a group of younger guys. We had Keith, David, me, my friend Jim, and Dan - all of whom were 40 and under. It made for a very relaxed trip with a lot cutting up, etc. It was really fun environment in camp and several of the last days, we hunted as a big group.

The Hunt

Buffalo

Day 1-Day 5

We concentrated on buffalo first. I wanted a big old bull. We passed up buffalo on day one and spent lots of time tracking this way and that. The number of dugga boys on this concession is really something. Only once did we track a "single". Mostly, it was groups of 3-6. They were very switched on and several real bruisers gave us the slip. I wish I kept track of how far we walked, but I'm sure it was 50+ km. We tracked twice clear off the concession and had to turn around. I really enjoyed spending multiple days buffalo hunting. My last safari, I connected on day two - not much experience. This time, we were in it every day for five days. There is nothing like buffalo hunting.

On the morning of day 5, we cut tracks on the road near the river of three dugga boys. We followed <10min and caught them in the clear open around 75yds. I made a bad first shot - hitting low and back. It was completely my fault and personally very disappointing. I did not get a second shot off before he disappeared - also a personal disappointment. Thus began a long hour or so tracking wounded nyati. From the nice open country, this bull headed into the thick jesse - thankfully alone. We caught him close - maybe 15 yds - and Keith, on instinct, shot him to prevent a charge (a decision I fully endorsed). The bull turned and lumbered off. In the following minutes, I shot him two more times and Keith put another one in him as well.

As it turned out, Keith's first shot had passed just right of his face/brain and passed through his right horn, entered and exited the body. I suspect impact of .500 NE bullet in the horn disoriented the bull enough to dissuade him from charging. The bull had his head lowered at the time and the hole is my favorite part of this trophy. I plan to euro mount this bull and have the taxidermist preserve the bullet hole as a reminder to me and anybody who sees it to make damn sure not to screw up the first shot.

Keith was - predictably - unfazed by the whole experience. Tracking a wounded buffalo is not for the faint of heart, but it sure makes you feel better to have Keith Wall as his .500 NE walking in front of you. I know this kind of thing happens to everybody, but I was and still am embarrassed to have screwed up that first very easy shot. It was very, very humbling.



Plains Game

As I mentioned, this concession is loaded with plains game. I passed up three kudu bulls on day one. We saw kudu everyday. Impala are everywhere ("Zambezi goats"). We saw a herd of sable one day though they are not on quota. We saw lots of eland, including one huge old bull - that quota was spoken for. We saw lots of waterbuck and bushbuck. Duiker, grysbok, etc. Zebra are abundant. Warthogs at every water hole.

On Day 2 while looking for buffalo tracks, I got a great waterbuck. We saw them moving around a hill from the truck. We got out and went straight up and over the hill. Once we got to the top, we were greeted with an incredible panoramic view of the Zambezi and I was a little distracted just taking in the view. I went up on the sticks and was shooting almost down at the waterbuck which had circled around the hill. Perfect heart shot; and he ran about 50 yds.



The day after the buffalo, Keith and I began really hunting kudu. Around lunchtime we found a small herd of cows/calves and sure enough, right at the back came a good bull. It was about 160 yd shot and he was quartering slightly toward me. I put it point of shoulder/base of neck and he was dead right there.



My wife, who is one the most wonderful, generous, beautiful, and hardworking people on the planet, asked me on my first safari to bring her back a rug. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a zebra on that trip. In Nyakasanga, things are different. Zebra are everywhere. We passed up scores of zebra simply because we were looking at something else. On Day 8, we set out first thing in the morning hunting Zebra. Approximately 25 minutes later, we were headed to the skinning shed with an old stallion in the back. A wonderful trophy cleanly killed.



Day 9, we went out after impala. This was one of the several days we went 2x2+1 cameraman man. We parked the truck and did was walking. We eased up to an open area and I shot one of two rams standing in some shade. It was a 150 yd shot.

image uploading site

Bird Hunting

On my first safari, I was surprised by all the game birds simply flying around the Valley. I hadn't expected that or really even know that to be an option. This time, I came prepared. We shot lots of guineas, francolin, and doves.







The final day we spent just knocking around. We ate full English breakfast, did all the paperwork, did the tip thing with the staff, then got on the boat. That evening, we did steaks on the island in the river and did photos with our trophies nearby. It was very special.



Conclusion

This was an epic safari. I can't overstate how wonderful this concession is. Camp, right on the river, is perfect. Its not "plush" but more than adequate and all that I would expect for a hunt in a truly wild place. Being on the Zambezi (sleeping within feet of the great river) is really special. There is something about that river that I fear has gotten into my blood. The food was great and plentiful. Drinks flowed freely.




Aubie the cook in his kitchen.


Our brave cameraman


Paradise

Post Script: On the long flight home, JNB to ATL, I slept for around 6 hours - which is long for me on a plane. When I awoke, I stood up only to find that my left foot was hurting badly. It felt sort of like planter fasciitis. I sucked it up and got home. By the following day, the pain had migrated to my left calf muscle. My wife, a CRNA, immediately diagnosed me as having a blood clot. Off I went to a vein surgeon who performed a ultrasound and confirmed the suspicion. He told me to rest it and take ibuprofen as it was a "shallow" vein and not serious. I followed up him yesterday for another scan and lo and behold, its worse. So, he's got me on blood thinners. Worse still, he doesnt want me to fly - and I was supposed to be taking my patient bride to Jackson Hole next week....Long story short, wear compression socks and walk around the plane!

Thank you for the report and congrats for your well earned trophies.
I am glad you enjoyed every moment there, that is what we are supoused to do in life, so well done.
Sorry for your vein problem, hope you will have a fast and complete recovery.
By the way... good to have youngs under 40, but not bad at all if you add some oldies, we still have some fun also :-)

Best regards

Thanks for the report and the great photos! Congratulations on the trophies. Good to see you were keeping Keith busy.

Excellent report and great photos.
Thank you for sharing your hunt with us.

JCHB

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Congratulations on your hunt and good that you got the buff! CMS is a superb outfit!

Hope your leg heals up!


Ps. who's shotguns did you use ?

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Two o/u's - one belonging to Buzz and one belonging to David Mann

Congratulations. Looks like a fun and successful hunt!

Nice trophies and great hunt report.

Great report. Well written and honest. Looking forward to my hunt in Nyakasanga in August next year!

Doesn't get much better.

Congrats to you and Keith! Dan the man is an excellent videographer and hunter.