I hunted with PH Nixon Dzingai owner of SSG Safaris out of Chiredzi, Zimbabwe.


He has a great camp and crew in the Malapati hunting area and Sengwe Communal land bordering the Gona re Zhou National Park. Gona Re Zhou means "Home of Elephant" and that is the TRUTH! This exportable trophy elephant hunt came up on short notice so it was a bit of a scramble to get organized in just a couple weeks. Sometimes it pays off to jump on good opportunities such as this one. I also opted to add 6 hunting days to my trip so I could take Nyati, Ingwe, and antelope.

Bryan Pettet(Youkon Delta) furnished me with some GS Custom .416 FN solids which I had like 2 days to load and test before the flight. I use Swift A-Frame 400gr softs in .416 and Speer GS 285gr .375HH bullets.

I used Kathi Klimes of Wild Travel to book my flights. Kathi always does an excellent job and does the extra effort when needed. I flew Delta. Rifles made it fine but second box with ammo never did. Picked it up in Harare the day I returned to US. That is one good reason to use calibers which are readily available such as my .416 rem and .375H&H. I also pack basics such as binoculars, boots, shorts, Hanes, socks, shirt, camera, toothbrush, alarm clock, etc. so I can get by for the trip if needed.


On arrival Nixon said a lion was killing communal cattle and asked if I had an interest. I jumped at the chance so he had the guys start baiting for Lion and Leopard.

Elephant was the priority so we were off the first morning. We saw one bull at a distance heading over a ridge so we took off to try to get in front of him. Never saw that one but did get into a herd of cows we watched for a bit. One was peacefully on it's side sleeping which was interesting. We watched to others in the draw feeding at about 70yds.

Next day we were below a reservoir dam where the draw had green grass, shade, water and wallows. We picked up some fresh spoor of two bulls so started the track. In about a mile we heard one sound out front. The spoor lead us up the hill towards the top of the ridge. I was very surprised how steep and rocky the terrain was that the elephants were in. Just before the the crest we saw some bright steaming dung. Another 20 yards and there were the two bulls. One facing directly away and the other facing right. Peter put up the sticks which I laid my Winchester M70 on and braced for the shot. The first shot shattered bone and the bull went into the trees along the ridge top. We sprinted up the hill. I followed the tracker through the trees where about 60 yards from the initial shot the bull stood looking away. He wheeled around at us with his ears flared...I took aim at 25 yards for the spot I remembered in my "Perfect Shot" book then squeezed the trigger. The bull sat back on his ass at the impact then crashed down in the front. On his belly, I put one from the side in his ear then he tipped over on his left side eyes rolling with heavy breaths. A couple more for the coupe de gras and he lay still. Nixon said "Let's go" and I said "Hey...I want pictures" since I always carry my Olympus Stylus 850 digital in my pocket. He agreed to some but stated that other elephants might come to rescue their friend. We had walked a couple hundred yards when I saw a bull run to the right into trees head. We walked another 50 then just before entering a group of trees the tracker came back fast and everyone scattered. There was a bull waiting for us right there to get into the Mopanes. Some yelling along with gunshots from the Game Scout's AK-47 convinced the bull to move off.




The next morning when we arrived at the bull there were already about 30 guys waiting. I was really surprised to see them since it was about six miles from the closet hut. We took more photos then the guys got organized to start skinning and butchering.

More people straggled in all day as the process continued. Meat was cut up to be placed in piles on branches. Hours later the meat was ready to be distributed. An organized single file line was made. Men first, since they did the work, each chose one of the larger chunks. A small scuffle broke out at one point which the Game Scout put a halt to quickly. Those people are hungry! The women and kids were next who each received a smaller portion. The line went through 3 times. Twice for meat and once for guts and bones.

In the end the only evidence that there was a bull elephant there before was the contents of the stomach. Every piece of meat and bone was taken. It was something to down the elephant and yet another experience to watch it disappear!

I was very impressed with how neat and well maintained the dwellings were. Thatched, painted and yards swept clean.

The people waved constantly and always smiling seeming like cheerful people. I enjoyed the carts beng pulled by docile donkeys and cattle.

There were also many gardens with wells for watering them. Women packed water and belonging on their heads to travel to and from homes.

Next on the agenda was Nyati. I had shot one before now and wanted an old Duggaboy bull. Found this one with heavy rippled bosses and worn off horns. He's not pretty but he sure was old. He only had two top molars on the right side so he wouldn't have lasted much longer.


Look at those ragged ears. He was an old campaigner!



That evening we went out along a dry river bed which had a few mud holes and springs containing water. Looking for bushbuck, bush pig or whatever. We came upon a pool with a buffalo rolling in the water and mud! Then we saw two more. One dandy, so Nixon told me to shoot it when they walked from behind the dirt mound. I was ready on the sticks when he stepped out. 400gr Swift broke the shoulder at 30 yards and he took off with me in pursuit. As I got to the small Mopanes a bull faced me head on but I wasn't sure it was the right one. I didn't want to be chasing two I held my shot. When he wheeled to the right to flee I saw the swinging leg. Fired a shot into center mass as the buff disappeared again from sight. As I chased him I was filling my magazine so as not to be caught empty. GS Custom FN solids were coming up next. I went into the trees where I saw the bull standing broadside at 15 yards. I put one into his right ribs but he never twitched so I fired again with the same results. Then he ran again so I put another in him at 25 yards straight from back to front. Reloading as moving in, I saw him go down in the thicket. I walked to 10 yards and put another through the lungs as he gasped for air. Then another for good measure. This bull gave me the respect that buffalo deserve for being tough. He is a bull with 43" horns. I didn't plan on taking two but I wasn't passing up opportunities like this!


Next day found us looking for Nyala. I had hoped to see some but wasn't sure if I would. We came up on this bull in the Mopanes following a couple cows. Rifle on Nixon's shoulder and he was down for photos. I was really tickled to get a Nyala. I had told Nixon I didn't want to shoot small animals but I would be well satisfied with good, mature representative trophies. I left my tape measure at home. For some guys they only ruin hunts.


I saw all sorts of interesting birds and creatures. Here are a few.


We had a cobra slipping around the dining area one afternoon. The guys got after it with a rake to start with then when it crawled into a crack in the tree they switched to a lonf slender stick. The darn thing was poking it's head out of the crack spitting venom every so often. I had heard of "spitting cobras" and now I have seen one firsthand! After the first "spit" I told them to go get the shotgun out of the cruiser. The reply was "good idea!". #8 shot from the 12ga made short work of the cobra. Of course I HAD to get a photo!


One antelope I really loved seeing other guys get was Bushbuck. I'd like to get all of the varieties. I always thought they were interesting animals so I really wanted one. After chasing them around a couple days I got this sneaky guy. I think he's a dandy! .416 is good bushbuck medicine too!


I shot a few Impala for leopard baits. They are classic Africa and I enjoy watching them run and leap and twist. Saw some good warthogs but didn't need to get one on this trip. One female had tusks which fully encircled her snout. She was a hefty broad too.


Well sometimes the stars align and you need to be quick to make the right decision. Hesitate and you regret. Such is the case with my next animal. I almost felt like Noah collecting animals by two's. Snap decision Nyala which I, who had only seen a couple before, chose in an instant to take this old boy. Although I'm not big on tapes he is 30.5". I'll be proud to display this one!


I took this Burchell Zebra. He got laid out flat in his tracks by the .416 rem. Just quivering like he was plugged into an outlet!


We had five Leopards strike baits. Two big males and three females. I muffed an opportunity on one of them due to miscommunication and the other split in an instant and never returned. There were some beautiful bait areas that had ALL that any Leopard could ask for.


Never had a lion hit a bait but this cow buffalo got killed 75 yards from out bait in a little wash. We saw the vultures about day 15 so walked around the hill to find this buff. I wish we had seen it earlier so we could have sat on it. The track of the lion was huge where it drank just an hour or so before. We saw a few few different sets of lion tracks and actually had one at the skinning shed making a racket one night. A guy can't be lucky all of the time.


I had an apatite for some Guinea a couple nights so we hunted them a bit. It was a real hoot with the guys fetching the birds I downed with the Remington 870 riot gun. Yeah...when you shoot big guns you take the chance of getting bit. Gives me something else to remember the trip by.


Well it really was a special experience. Loved every minute of it sharing times with great people. I have plans to return already. If anyone wants to go on a similar hunt, Nixon has elephant, buffalo and other animals available for this year. I saw two larger Nyati than I took. He has some bruisers there! I saw lots or waterbuck, several more Nyala bulls, blue wildebeest, hyenas, etc. The animals were not very spooky and seemed pretty calm like there was little pressure on them. They let you get a look at them so I think poaching is not a big problem. PM me if you would like information.

My tusks are 57 pounds for the long one and 55 pounds for the broken one. I figure it had about 18" broken off. I have two nice bracelets from the tail hairs the tracker tied up for me. Great memories of a great hunt!

Wow!! Great elephant, buff, nyala, and the rest. What a trip!

Awesome Report and hunt.

Congratulations on all the trophies

Incredible Hunt!

Congratulations.

Thanks for the report and photos.

Hugh

Fantastic! Great animals and photos. Hope you have no problems getting your trophies home as this seems the only real downside to Zim at the moment.

Bobby,

I could not be happier for you. Congratulations on a great safari. Nice trophies and the nyala is a toad.

Mark

Congratulations!!!! Great elephant and buffalo.

Enjoyed the photos and report.

That just sounded liked one fun hunt....hope to be able to do something like that one day!!

Dukxdog:

Well done! Certainly a much better safari than the fiasco in TZ last year.

How did you hear about this hunt and PH? I assume (probably should not do that) that you did not use the same booking agent as that hunt.

Great hunt report.

RCG

Very well done, great animals!

Wow...looks like an awesome hunt!

Congratulations.

I am booked in that area for elephant in 2010 with Zambezi hunters. Hopefully, I'll score too.

TJB

Congrats on the great bull ele and great hunt!!

Love the rifle too! Those late model Safari Expresses are put together right.

Happy trails!

Great report and trophies! I love that first buff, he is indeed an old hoss

John

Well done Bobby......

I know a lot of people might disagree, but that Nyala is one of the better trophies you will EVER take in Africa!!!

All the animals are nice, well done!

Those Mopanie trees are something special to hunt in, are they not?

www.infinito-safaris.com

Well done! Very nice trophies, and a good time.

Congrats on your safari!

It must have been especially gratifying for you to have such success after your difficulties last year in Tanzania.

Bobby, a great report from an area that I have long been interested in. Hey, it's the country that Richard Harland spent so much time in.

Glad the bullets helped you out. Do you mind if we post the photos of that femur bone?

Wow, super safari! Love the ellie and the first buff bull... I like the gnarly, old warriors the best. Looks like you cleaned up on excess quota... excellent!

A great report and wonderful pictures. What an experience!

Great first buff and second nyala! When I get the chance to chase buff, I'll be looking for your first buff's carbon copy.

Congrats again,

Great report and pics. Congratulations on a wonderful hunt.

Great looking ele and love that old timer buff bull!!! Looks like a great safari all the way 'round!

That was an awesome trip....congrats! I like the way you think...older, past their prime representative trophies. In my mind, Africa is no place for a tape measure...but that's just me. I'll second what Mark said....that nyala is VERY nice.

Good post.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI
DSC

Congrats on an outstanding safari! Exceptional trophies too.
David

Bobby,

Great report! Sounds like a fantastic safari. Would you please PM me with your phone number, I'd like to talk. If the economy doesn't fall apart, I'm about to put down a deposit.

WOW!!! WOW!!! and I thought hunting in Zim was over. CONGRATS!

Nice job Dukxdog!! I really like your old buff, talk about character. Well done and congratulations!!

John

great safari! malapati sound to be a great area for elephant.

Great pitcs, and super trophies. Very impressive ivory, and the pict w/the people lined up says it all (one of these days I hope to experience this). I love the old buff, and that is a great nyala...full mount perhaps?

It's nice to read a report about one of the areas that does not get as much press as some.

Thanks!

I'm posting these with Bobby's permission. This is the GS FN solid that broke the femur. One of the .416 Trophy Bonded Sledgehammers he used on this hunt broke in half.

Great Hunt,

Glad all went according to plan,

Bobby,
I'm glad you had a great hunt; your reports have been informative and interesting. Thanks again for doing this.

Thanks for the report. Even w/ the short notice, it looks like you were well prepared, good job, great trophys.

Enjoyed the report. I hunted the Malapati with Nixon in '04, for 12 days, and enjoyed the area immensely. Some of the same pics., (large baobab, and the bait tree in the canyon bottom. Also recognized Joe, and the smaller guy who was in your guinea picture was also with us. Thanks for bringing back memories!

Outstanding report and super photos. Thanks for the added inspiration for the next hunt.
Frank

Nice hunt.Inspiring!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by yukon delta:
...One of the .416 Trophy Bonded Sledgehammers he used on this hunt broke in half...

Dukxdog,

Well done, all around.

Bryan mentioned a TBSH that tried the old "divide and conquer" trick (quoted from above). Was it one of the new Speers or some original Jack Carters?

I ask because I'm curous about performance of the new TBSHs. I've never complained about the performance of the originals, 'cause I've never recovered one of the things! I'm wary of the Speers though...

In truth, the issue is largely moot as my stock of original TBSHs is almost down to single digits, and GSFNs are on deck for a March appointment with a bull ele with (hopefully) big teeth and a bum leg!

Congrats on a wonderful hunt, a lifetime of memories and some fine trophies!

Mark

Here are photos of some of the .416 bullets that I used. The solids were recovered from the elephant and the softs are from buffalo.

Left to right: two Swift A-Frame 400gr, two GS Custom 380gr FN, two Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer 400gr(tungsten core)

I think the left bullet was one I shot lenghtways back to front of the buff as he ran off at 30yds. The right bullet was shot broadside in the shoulder standing at 15yds. I was very surprised to see the front of the bullet gone and the back half compressed as it is. I think possibly the velocity(2400fps) at such close range was a factor here hitting heavy bone. A good reason to use solids for follow up shots at least.

In this photo the left bullet was recovered from a frontal brain shot on the elephant. The bull sat back on his ass then collapsed forward. The right bullet shattered the right femur bone as in the photos Yukon Delta posted.

I was surprised to see the Sledgehammer break in half at the cannelure. These were both finishing shots for the elephant. They were Federal factory loaded ammo.
These are all Premium Quality bullets. It goes to show that bullets do things that we might not expect. I found this very interesting and I learned some things for my bullet selection on the next hunts.

For elephant only, what would you use next time?

EXcellent Hunt and Report,Thankyou!