26 August 2011, 02:18
Tim HeraldPhoto Heavy Final Report from Niassa Block B - Mozambique
Dates: Aug 8-25 including travelOutfitter: Kambako Safaris- Jumbo Moore
PH: Stu Taylor
Guns/Ammo/Optics: TC Custom ICON .458 Win, Nikon 1.5x6 Monarch Gold
Scope, Winchester Safari 500 gr Nosler Partitions and Nosler Solids
TC ICON .300 Win. , Nikon 4x16x50 Monarch Scope, Winchester 180 gr
Nosler E-tip
Travel: Delta Biz Class to Joburg – Overnight African Sky Guesthouse – SAA to
Pemba, Moz. – Charter to camp
Travel Agent – Steve Turner Travel With Guns
Misc Gear: DL Covert Trail cams for leopards, BogPod shooting sticks, Cabela’s
Safari/Fishing Shirts, Russell and Cabela’s boots, Texas Hunt Co. Ammo Belt
and Gaiters, Tuff Pak Gun Case and Cabela’s Duffle
I will preface this report to say that like last year, I am going to try to write it “real time” as things are happening instead of all after the safari is over. After re-reading last year’s rollercoaster with leopard hunting, I felt that some of the real emotion and ups and downs come through when reports are written on the fly, so I’ll try it again. Everything may not be written in the proper tense throughout, but it will be as real as I can possibly make it.
This trip began about a year ago when Jumbo Moore and I decided to work together to promote Kambako Safaris on TV and to make them one of our Magnum Hunt Club Preferred Outfitters. I chose Niassa and Kambako because of their reputation and the fact that Niassa seems to be a real wild jewel, and those who have hunted it say it is life stepping back into old East Africa. The fact that Jumbo and company are very successful on cats also weighed in for me personally.
We finalized our plans at the 2011 SCI Convention in Reno, I met some of Kambako’s PHs, and all was set. My friend Jim Bevins would be joining me, along with Magnum Hunt Club members, Harry Pangle and Oscar Arnoldson from the DC area. This is Oscar’s first safari, and he wants to take a buff with his father’s double rifle, which I think is pretty cool. Everyone is hunting buff, I am also hunting leopard, sable, and PG. Jim is hunting buff, leopard, croc and PG, Harry has buff, leopard and PG, and Oscar is buff and PG. We have a lot of tags to fill in 13 days.
Preparation wasn’t too bad. I had a new Hogue stock built for my .458, so that was just a matter of zeroing back in, and I tweaked the .300 with the E-tip ammo. They are all set. I worked out a ton over the summer, though I don’t really see this hunt as being super strenuous, it will help with other hunts this fall, and I do feel really good. I have been in the gym 6-7 days a week doing a lot of cardio every day, and most of the summer light weight work. The last two weeks before the trip I went all cardio and averaged about 7 miles/day of heavy hills on the elliptical machine, and a couple successive days, I did 12.5 and 11.5 miles, just to push it a little. Three days before flying out, I weighed in at less than I have in 15+ years, and I feel like I am ready to roll.
The day we left started out pretty rough. Jim met me at my house, we drove to the airport, and just as I was rolling to the curb, Delta calls to tell me the plane is delayed. We had a 3.5 hour layover in ATL, so no big deal on the hour and a half delay, but of course that delay grew to over 2 hours. The pressure built at that point. We made it to the plane in ATL in plenty of time, but as I am writing this on the flight over, I have no idea if our bags will make it. If not, it is a real mess as there is only a flight into Pemba, Moz. About every 3-4 days, so we would be without our gear for quite a while. We also sat on the runway in ATL for two hours before takeoff, so it will be doubly bad if the bags don’t arrive. I have a good feeling about it and think all will be fine.
African Sky
Day 1: (arrival)
We made it to Kambako's camp this afternoon on a Navajo, and though we did have some airline trouble off and on, we arrived with all of our bags. The stay at African Sky was just wonderful, and upon shooting the rifles, they all seem to be spot on.
There are a few cats feeding already, as 3 of us are hunting leopard, and the area looks good. They have been burning quite a bit, but just by flying over, the place is gorgeous. I can't even describe the camp itself; wonderful place with incredible view. I am writing this about 2:45 AM as I was awakened by a noise outside my mesh. When I looked out, it was BULLY, the local bull hippo grazing just a few steps away. We are all to hit the road early this morning to see what the day brings us. This is a special place...
Camp at Kambako
Day 2:
Started out looking for dagga boys, no luck. We did see a really nice bull kudu, and as we moved in final position for a shot, two young bulls ran through him and blew the deal. Our appy, John Wayne, checked our airstrip bait, and the cat had been in about 10 minutes after dark, but this morning, he stayed around the bait the first full 2 hours of daylight.
Mid-day, we moved the bait about 50 yards to a place where we can try to walk in tomorrow morning. We built a grass wall with shooting and filming ports 62 yards away, and the crew cleared us a nice path for about 300 yards. We are set to give him a try in the morning. I just hope he has a leisurely breakfast tomorrow. Going out after lunch today looking for kudu, Niassa wildebeest, etc.
Day 3:
Out the door at 4:15 to do the walk in on the leopard blind. We got to the blind at exactly 5:00, but as we glassed, the cat was not at the bait. My heart sank as I figured this was just more of my terrible leopard luck. We decided to stay an hour or so to see if he would come in, and 15 minutes later, I was watching to the right of the bait, and I saw the cat slipping in.
I pointed him out to Stu, and he told me to stay still and wait. After a few tense minutes, the tom was standing at the base of the bait tree, and then he began to feed. I slipped my .300 TC Icon over the top of the blind and waited on the cue to shoot. It was getting much lighter by the minute, and waiting was tough. The big cat would stand up on his hind legs, eat, sit down for a bit and do it again. Finally Stu told me to shoot when I wanted to, and after waiting about 30 more seconds and confirming with my cameraman that all was good, I placed a 180 grain Winchester E-tip just behind his shoulder. The cat went berserk, attacked the bait and then ran back to the right growling. We could see a huge spot of blood on the offside behind the shoulder, so we felt good.
Shot reaction from trail cam
After waiting half hour, we went after him, and found the magnificent 7 foot leopard piled up about 100 yards away. It was the highlight of my hunting career, and I can’t describe the awe I felt as I lifted the big square spotted head.
After photos and breakfast, we took a drive looking for PG, and saw many sable and other antelope. I was able to shoot a nice bull Litchenstein’s Hartabeest at about 80 yards. We stalked a great 41” sable bull, but passed him as he didn’t have secondary horn growth and was too young by Niassa standards, although he was the herd bull. It was tough to do, but that is the management rule here. We saw a lot more game in the afternoon, but no shots. Two of my 3 camp mates killed nice buff today. Both old hard bossed bulls; one 41” and the other 37”.
Day 4:
We started today out looking for buff sign, but we didn’t find any fresh enough to follow. The rest of the day we checked water sources for possible leads for tomorrow, but came up empty. We stalked a herd of wildebeest and a nice bull kudu, but we never got into position for a shot. Good day in Africa! Back after buff tomorrow. Jimmy killed a nice leopard at 4:40 PM in Nungu. They got it on film in broad daylight. Some guys have the luck. He hunted 1.5 hours to kill a cat, and it took me over 5 years!
Day 5: No luck with buff again today, but we did find a herd of Boheme Zebra, and I was able to squeak a shot through the thick brush. I could only see the triangle on the low shoulder, but put the E-tip right through with a heart/lung shot. Total pass through from the bullet and the Zebra went about 150 yards and piled up.
In the evening we waited on an anthill in a grassy field to see if our dugga boys would come out. David pointed out a snake in the brush, and the next thing I know, I am on the anthill alone. It was a black mamba, and it came right up to where we were. I hustled down, and we moved vantage points!
Day 6: We spent basically all day in the Jess with our five Dugga boys that we have played with for 3 days. We saw them twice, but no shots and left them just before dark. Areala our #2 tracker was struck at twice and hit in the coveralls by a puff adder. We heard him screaming, thought he was down with a lion, and we ran to him to find him grinning about the snake!
Day 7:
Decided to take the day off of buffs as they have kicked our butt. Saw a nice sable, but he was in a herd, so no go.
Then… we get a call about 7:15AM that another PH just saw 2 dugga boys, so we head out about an hour's drive. He marked the spot, so off we go. They headed straight into an absolute riverine jungle on the Lugenda.
We tracked for about 20 minutes, and we jumped them at about 20 yards, but couldn't see them. The wind was bad, so we backed out. We were going to leave, but Stu Taylor said he had a longshot plan. The band of riverine bush tapered down to an opening about 2 miles from the buff, so we went there and setup with the wind in our face.
The trackers kept on the tracks pushing the buff. A bit over an hour later, I heard a noise coming from the brush where we expected them to emerge, and seconds later, here they come steady. I am on the lead bull Stu says take him, but I keep waiting for him to stop. My cameraguy is to the left, and then the buff pass, and cameraman is between me and them. Chaos...I moved cameraman moved and buff are 15 yards.
I shoot the lead bull, he tears up a steep bank and I shoot again when he hits the top. He didn't flinch either time, and the dust on the 1st shot looked to all of us like I shot over him (at 15 yards)! I am pissed at myself and can't believe it.
We give it 5 minutes and go to look, and half up the hill there is plenty of blood. We follow 100 yards and he is DOA. First shot was a double lung and 2nd was in the gut.
He is a great OLD bull. He doesn’t have much spread, but good solid chipped bosses, and worn tips. The guys estimate him at 12 years. The .458 Nosler Solids went through him like butter, thus no reaction. Now I have 6 days left to find that elusive old sable that isn't in a herd. Got a radio message that Harry got his leopard in Nungu, so all 3 cats are down.
Day 8: After a buffalo party last night, we got a late start. We stalked some Niassa wildebeest, but there was no bull. Not long after we saw a 3 year old male lion off the road and watched him a while. We hadn’t driven 50 yards from him when a big old black-maned lion jumped out in the road and crossed in front of us. He was magnificent.
Ended the day stalking to 75 yards on a lone sable bull, and I thought we were in business. Turned out he had no secondary horn growth, so we passed. You would have shot him anywhere else…Jimmy killed a great old buff today with great drop. So in 8 days all 4 buff and all 3 leopards are in the salt.
Day 9: Sable whipped us again.
Day 10: Decided to go hunt along the riverine area today. I was able to take a nice Johnston’s impala with a good quartering to shot. Hammered his shoulder and out by his hip, and he still went 100 yards. I just can’t believe how tough these African animals are.
Later in the morning, we found a good Crawshay’s Defassa Waterbuck bull with about 15 cows. We stalked, moved, stalked, I got on the sticks at about 150 yards, but he kept the cows between us. We made another move and came out of a patch of jungle to find him at 30 yards, no time for a shot. We kept at it a while and I finally got a hard quartering to shot at about 80 yards. The big TC .458 with Winchester Nosler Partitions smacked him in the shoulder and straight through the middle of the heart, and he bucked up and still dashed 50 yards dead on his feet.
Jim called and wanted us to go with him to shoot a croc around noon. We went to the spot where the big lizard was sunning, but he had gone back in the water. We built a blind and got the area set up in case he comes back tomorrow. We’ll check and try him then.
We had a great sable stalk in the afternoon, but though I had a bull in the crosshairs at 100 yards, he still wasn’t old enough. Tomorrow is our last whole day to hunt. We need a break on the sable…
Day 11: We got a call from Mike Taylor, and he said he marked a spot where he saw a big sable bull. It took an hour to get there, but we soon were on the track in an open forested area burned. Within 10 minutes we jumped the bedded bull, and we stayed on him until 5PM.
Jim got his croc at about 10AM, and it was a monster 14 footer with 6” of tail missing. This is the biggest croc ever taken by Kambako.
Day 12 – This is the last day. We got on smoking hot sable sign of a loan bull just after daylight, but we never quite caught him. He took us on a long hike, in and out of thick and open terrain. We pumped into elephants twice in the thick, but we ended up heading back to camp for lunch. My hunt is over as we need the afternoon to film camp, interviews with PHs, etc. I will be back next year after lion and sable.
Day 13- This day turned out to be a real treat. Jumbo arranged for us to spend a day and night at the beach house in Pemba. The place is absolutely incredible. The water looks like the Carribbean and is just as warm. We snorkled, walked down the beach and found a little “tiki” bar and had a couple drinks. Then we came back and had an incredible meal of fresh crayfish and marlin steaks.
Day 14 – What a sunrise over the Indian Ocean! We are to fly out at 2:30 PM, and just after 11:00 one of the staff walks in with a huge tub of live crayfish. They quickly go into the boil, and Dave, Jim and I have a final meal in Mozambique stuffing ourselves on the local lobster. They can’t come any fresher. Things went well on flight to Joburg, we ran out and visited Jumbo for half an hour and filmed a quick interview with him at the Intercontinental Hotel, and made it back in time for boarding to ATL. I end this about an hour out of Atlanta on the Delta flight.
Final Thoughts…This ranks with a small number of other hunts that I put at the top of all my hunting experiences. The area is truly wild, but the camp is almost too comfortable. The game is very diverse allowing both quality dangerous and plainsgame hunting. The staff was top shelf all the way around, and my PH Stu Taylor is as good as they get. I also believe that this has to be one of the absolute best places in Africa to go for a daylight leopard. I can’t wait to come back in 2012 and 2013.
