A far better shot.

The below are some shots I like. My client on this safari took one of about everything available on the Luangwa portion of the safari but is not interested in doing a report.


Cheeky bull in Hwange with Terry Anders


Terry puts alot of effort into making his mobile photo camp appealing.


Shot a couple of these with Terry. 300 NF from the 375 WBY whistled through this zebra and dropped it on the spot.


My largest impala.


This was a very interesting hunt and the hyena is toad.


The one I turned down!!!!!!!!!!


Which one?


The S.S. HIPPO FINDER. Note high tech sonar wand.


A hippo is a group effort.


My fourth hippo.


She was not happy to see us.


This dambo was just cover in impala.


The Luangwa is full of these guys. This is one of 34 crocs on or near the bait when I shot this one.


Not many great blooms in the Luangwa but I did find these.


This is how not to do it. There were three bulls moving across our front. They were changing positions in and out of the trees but I thought I was on the right bull. Wrong! Dropped this kinda soft bull right in his tracks.


One of the herds of buffalo we saw along the Luangwa. This area may have some of the easiest buffalo hunting I've ever seen. A hunter here has to be ready to shoot at longer range here though. The buffalo may be in the thick riverine but if they are in the cathedral mopane you often just can't get close.


Sunset on the Luangwa.


With the major goals of our safari out of the way we shot quite a few of these in the last few days on the Luangwa.


I wonder if I'm the only hunter to recieve a Fed Ex that far up the Luangwa?


The Fed Ex contained 2 beautuful safari shirts straight from London. Kiri/Fallow Buck here on AR has started up a safari gear line and had said he would send me a couple of the first run of shirts to see what I thought of them. We had a miscommunication on dates and I did not receive the shirts before I left for safari. Kiri was determined to keep his word and one evening a Muchinga staff member delivered the package. I was blown away.

The workmanship in the shirts is superb and it is obvious that Kiri took the advise that AR mmebers gave earlier this year when he asked for suggestions on safari shirts. If your lookng for the very best you'll go far to find a better shirt.


Termite mounds we saw as we entered Royal Kafue. We called it the "Family Gathering".


Crawshay's waterbuck on the first morning in the Kafue. In five days we saw about 8 bulls and they all seemed to be about this size.


Flame tree?


Edible.


Pretty nice reedbuck with Andrew Baldry.


Sunset over the Kafue river from the Royal Kafue camp.



These little fellas were all along the Kafue


There is about a 16" bushbuck on the termite mound that thinks he's hiding.

I had thought and I said here I would not post a pic of any lion I ever shot. In retrospect that probably is a little chicken shit so here he is. He's not the heavy maned monster that you might find in some other places but he's a pretty good Luangwa lion. In fact I think Johnny Du Plooy was more excited about this lion than I was. This lion is very grey and has broken incisors top and bottom as well as chipped other teeth. In my mind he is not an ancient lion but mature and I'm happy with him.

I discussed with Johnny what I was looking for before the hunt and I think we got on the same page. We passed on a big lion with a pride and a couple of lions that obviously had little mane evidenced by the hair left on the bait.

On day 11 if I remember correctly we had a very promising hit on our farthest bait from the Luangwa. We refreshed the bait by adding an impala and built a machan just 33 yards away. By about 4 pm we were settled into the Machan. As that magic time came just as the shadows are getting very long Sadie heard the lion coming through the long grass. As the lion was coming in left to right I couldn't see a thing but Johnny could see him and gave me the thumbs up. Now I could finally see the lion and he offered that perfect broadside shot. The Trijicon's amber triangle glowed on the lion and a 300 gr Northfork went through his shoulders. All Hell broke loose for a few seconds as the lion cartwheeled, roared and took off to the left. In another few moments we heard the lion moan four times with each moan sounding weaker than the last. Johnny was not convinced that this was a good sign but both Sadie and I were pretty sure the lion was dead in the river bed just behind the bait.

Johnny erring on the side of caution called in the Cruiser. He wanted to check out the 3'-4' grass to the left of the bait as he thought the lion might be there and possibly just wounded. Let me tell you here that bunda bashing in a Cruiser looking for a lion in the dark is an experience that will let you know you are alive. In just a few seconds you realize just how difficult it will be to kill the lion if he comes for the vehicle. Luckily we didn't have to find out. After Johnny was convinced the lion was not in the grass we went back to the bait and walked down the 20 feet to the river. There was my lion stone dead not 25 yards from the bait. He had made about 3 bounds out into the sand with his wrecked heart and broken left shoulder.

I'd like to thank Johnny for a great safari and to say that Johnny is a cat fundi in my book. I also want people to know that the Nyaminga concession where we hunted is a fuckin' zoo.

I don't know if and when I can get to a full report as 6 weeks away has put me far behind the 8 Ball but I knew that a few people were specifically wondering about the lion so I wanted to get something up about it.

I do want to briefly mention that my 11 days with Terry Anders went very well and I'm even more convinced now than at any time that he is going to be a top operator in Zim. Even under the incredibly difficult conditions he faced this year after losing Savuli his main safari area he was still able to put on good safaris for all my clients. Ravenr is with him now. He has shot two buffalo one a monster and now is trying for a sable.

Andrew Baldry put on an excellent short safari for us on his Royal Kafue area after we left the Luangwa. The area holds great potential and is quite good now. If I had not taken most of the species available there already I could have filled the hunting vehicle on a couple of days. I'd have no hesitation sending anyone there. The game is there particularly specialties like sable and roan plus the area is very scenic and cooler than the Luangwa.

Back to e-mails.

Mark

Nice Cat Mark!!

Cheers
Jim

Looks like a very nice lion. Looking forward to read the full report.

Thanks Mark....I shoulda been there!

Congratulations on a great lion lion Mark! Sounds like a classic hunt.

Well done Mark!!

A proper healthy and strong lion taken in a proper, classic, sporting way! Congratulations on your trophy!

Congratulations, Mark, on a very nice lion!!! I look forward to the report on the rest of your safari.

Best Regards, Darin

A dream for sure! Congrats Mark

Well done Mark! If I had to bet on any outfitter producing a cat, I'd be pretty confident pushing my money out on the table with Johnny DuPlooy by my side. And Nyaminga is one of my favorite concessions in Africa.

By the way, Machans do work! I hunted out of one a couple of evenings this past hunt.

Congrats Mark. Very nice Lion!!

You can't say anything to that except, great LION.
Hats off to you!

You did very well! Congratulations!!!

That's one fine pussy gato! Congrats.

Good for you Mark!

Very well done Mark. I am looking forward to the full report.

Congratulations Mark, well done.

I like to think of this photo as "the ghost and darkness". I'll let the viewer decide which one is which. Both are mature males with admirable manes, and both have spent their lives wandering the bush.
Well done Bwana

Nice lion Mark. He certainly has a full beard if not a full main. Was he wearing the glasses when you shot him? Since when do lions where green shirts?

huge congrats Mark!

Well done

Congrats Mark - a proper lion for sure.

Congrats Mark.

did you get a crawshays??

Butch,

I did. They are quite common in the Kafue but I didn't shoot or see one like the one you took in Tondwa.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Butch,

I did. They are quite common in the Kafue but I didn't shoot or see one like the one you took in Tondwa.

Mark

How about a picture or are you planning a separate report from Royal Kafue?

Good to hear Sadie was in the blind with you. After a frightful night in a leopard ground blind Jane won't venture out after dark. Also nice to have someone that can hear in the blind. Good job on a great lion.

Congrats. Any other pics you could share?

Guys,

When I get the pix all down loaded and get a chance to go over them I'll post a few more.

Mark

Ok! Pix added.

I should say something here about guns and loads. I had previously used a load in my '06 with the 180 TSX and it worked well but I thought it gave few DRT outcomes on medium size game. This year I used the 165 TSX at about 2840 fps. Wow! I killed 13 animals with 16 shots 10 being DRT, 2 needing a finisher and one miss on a running impala that didn't know he was dead. I recovered not one bullet. All where complete pass throughs. I think this may be the best all around load I've used in the '06. The two impala that actually ran after the shot did leave a pretty good blood trail. Not a hosepipe but a good followable trail.

The North Fork bullet was new to me in the 375 WBY. It seemed to hit the heavier game hard and at 2765 fps it should. I recovered only one bullet and that from the lion which was a surprise to me. I don't like the deformation of the exposed lead at the NF's nose but the game didn't seem to notice.

Nice pictures Mark. Thanks for sharing.

Nice lion Mark!

That reedbuck is pretty nice too.

Looks like a good time, congrats on the trophies! Enjoying the pictures too.

Congrats Mark, good for you!

That is an AWESOME lion Mark! Good for you buddy...

Great to see the pictures Mark! Thanks for posting. Congrats on a great Lion. Must have been a wicked adventure to see and hunt so many different areas in one trip. I bet you were happy to get home....

Great photos Mark. Fed Ex on the Luangwa? Very cool.

Folks,

Thanks all for the nice comments and kind words.


Bryce,

We were in the bush long enough that we had no regrets about leaving. Central London was quite a contrast directly after though.

SBT,

Yeah! I thought the Fed Ex was pretty amazing and an effort at extraordinary service on Kiri's part.

Mark

Nice trophies Mark - Congrats!! AIU