I returned last Monday from my first Safari. It surpassed every expectation and even my imagination. I booked one Safari and ended up having a very different Safari, altered on the fly to meet my evolving wishes. Roger Whittall and PH Richard Tabor were very accomodating.

Just 10 days before my scheduled departure I emailed and asked about elephant possibilities. (it was ErikD's hunt report on his tuskless cow hunt that tipped me over the edge.) The safari ended up revolving around elephant hunting. There were some trade offs we made that probably cost opportunities with some game but it was the elephants that got me going. In addition Richard informed me that there was a lion quota that had gone unfilled and asked if I was interested. I was and we gave that a go too.

Original animals to be hunted:
This safari was setup as a two Buff, Leopard, Sable and plains game hunt.

Actual animals hunted included all of the above plus lion, hyhena and elephants.

Animals taken:
Two tuskless cow elephants
Three cape buffalo,(two bulls and a cow)
Hyhena
Two bushbuck,(one Chobie, one Southern)
Six Impala,(mostly for bait)
Waterbuck
Eland
Kudu
Wildebeast
Zebra

Interesting animals seen include 19 Lions, four of which were males but none old enough to be a shooter. Roan, to my eye the most beautiful of the antelope. Black Rhino. Nyala, tied with the roan for most beautiful. We also had a run in with a honey badger in the dark one morning on our way to a hihena bait. This encounter had Richard more worried than any of our close shaves with elephants.

Terry Carr has kindly agreed to insert my photos into this report as soon as I can email them to him, so please bear with any delay.

Booking agent:
Jack Atcheson and Sons. This Safari was set up by Keith Atcheson. Keith gave me many options but strongly suggested hunting with Roger Whittall's group for a first timer since Roger's operation isn't too big and yet isn't too small either. Originally I was shooting for an earlier date but a three week fishing trip that took me out of regular communications cost me the earlier date. On Keith's advice, after a discussion of the pros and cons of a late season hunt I booked the hunt. Every sugestion Keith made, or prediction or advice given turned out true, correct and spot on. Keith really offered excellent advice and help for this hunt.

The team:
PH: Richard Tabor
Trackers: Pearson and Tiengwa
Gamescout: Richard for that part of the Safari in Chewore, Zambezi Valley

Hunt dates:
Oct 6 through Oct 22 with one of those days being a travel day.

Hunt location:
Chewore South in the Zambezi Valley from Oct 6 till midday Oct 16. Roger Whittall's Humani Ranch in the Save Conservancy from midday Oct 17 till Oct 22. There was also one breif change of venue on the way back from Humani to Harari that I'll mention in the body of the post.

Travel and setup:
Kathi at Wild Travel set up the travel arrangement from Dulles to Harrari and back. All went smoothly. Optima did a good job ensuring that my duffle made the connection in Jo'Burg and in ensuring that my rifle case was with the security folks awaiting loading as well. This was important since I'm left handed.

I arrived in Harari beat but with all of my gear. I was met at the airport by Richard Tabor and we had a couple of beers. Then off to a Bed and Breafast (and dinner too) run by Georgie Smith a friend of the Whittalls. A shower, a good dinner and lights out. Next morning, the 5th, Richard with Pearson and Tiengwa picked me up and we're off the long way to Chewore. We needed to stop at a Parks office near Mana Pools to renew permits. This is the only evening we were in camp before dark, for proper sundowners, while we were in Chewore.

Rifles and ammo:
I took two rifles with me. A Marcel Thys double in 458wm. With this rifle I took the two elephants, the three buffalo and a zebra. I brought 24 500grain Woodleigh solids and six 500gr Woodleigh softs loaded by JJ at Champlins for my rifle.

The second rifle was a left hand Dakota 76 Safari in 375H&H and with it I shot all of the other game. I brought 50 Federal 300gr Trophy Bonded Bearclaw softs and twenty Woodleigh 300gr solids again loaded by JJ.

Richard preferred the use of only solids on Buff and of course on elephant. The big solids worked just fine. On buff calibre entrances were the norm. If a bullet exited it was a calibre size hole. No pass through on front on shot but an exit on broadside shots and on a hard quartering away shot with an entrance behind the last rib and the exit just forward of the offside shoulder. No exit on two through the spine insurance shots.

On Elephants Woodleighs exited on a side brain shot and also on a frontal brain shot.

The 500gr Woodleigh solids which were recovered were all perfect with just a bit of lead pushed out the rear. The Bearclaws recovered were also perfect, looking just like the ones in the ads.

Day 1, Oct 6:

At first light we went to the range and checked rifles. All seemed well. We came across fresh buff spore not too far from the range and we followed. The wind is swirling and we try maybe six or seven aproaches, all in vain. I had worked on getting off the first shot quickly but I really wasn't quick enough and several oportunities were lost.

We then began checking springs for leapard tracks and fresh buff tracks. We found two springs with female tracks and one with male tracks, no really interesting buff tracks.

On the way back to camp for lunch we snuck up on a spring hoping to find impala. We did. I was told to shoot as many as possible for bait. Well, one would have been nice. Off the sticks, I missed with five rounds from 70yds to 140yds. Each shot was high. I'm no fine shot but this performance was pitiful. At my request we went to an area where we could hang a target. At about 140 yds, off the sticks, my group was about five or six inches and centered. Uh.. its not the rifle...uh... That evening looking back I believed I rested the barrel, on the sling, on the sticks instead of the forearm on the sticks. Anyway, thats my story and I'm sticking to it. Don't make this mistake yourself, its just so dumb. This spring was renamed John's Spring. Referred to afterwards as..."you know, John's Spring, where you missed all those impala..."

We were looking at loosing a day of leopard baitng when on the way to camp we came down the bank of the Angwa River which is dry and which separates Chewore and Dande. We stopped to glass some waterbuck and kudu. A heard of buff on the far side came boiling over the bank maybe a half mile across from us and was making fast for our side of the river. We sprinted from the truck and ran for the cover of a lonesome tree in the sand near the bank on our side a couple of hundred yards up river from the truck. Waiting here we stepped out when the herd was thirty yards away and I took a frontal shot on an old cow that about twenty yards away and was the furthest animal on the left of the heard as we looked at it. She turned at the shot to our right to join up with the rest of the heard and I fired the second barrel into her right shoulder. She went down on the second shot. At Richard's direction I gave her an insurance shot between her front legs, but it really wasn't neccesary. She had a 45 calibre stream of blood spruting out the front of her chest and she was done for. My first blood in Africa. Not too long after that a truck comes over the bank on the Dande side and a couple of guys walk across. Its two Aprentice PH's from Dande South who are digging waterholes in the river. We thank them for the oportunity to shoot our bait. Better lucky than good?

We spend the afternoon hanging baits. On the way home Richard the gamescout asked that I shoot his ration impala if the oportunity should come up. It does and I shoot him one at sixty or seventy yard. There is brush covering the heart so I shoot her a bit farther forward and get the rare bang-flop, which is nice. The 375 passes infront of her forelegs and does suprisingly litle damage to the meat. Richard is pleased.

Day 2, Oct 7:
We check baits this morning. One bait has had a female feed a little. Nothing more.

On the cicuit we see a herd of about ten elephants about a mile away on a hillside. One has no tusks showing on the side we can see. They cross the hill and we are off. Cresting the hill where we saw them, I see a herd of about the same side about a mile and a half away on another hillside and I'm thinking, "geez these elephant sure can cover some distance." Over the next hill and there are the elephants we first saw. We backtrack and move downwind to cross behind and come up on the oposite side. We get within thirty yards and find that our tuskless has a bit of ivory on the other side. We head on to look at the other herd we'd seen a mile and a half off. Over the next hill and yet another herd. This goes on for three hours, with us backtracking to get the wind and aproaching. We looked at five herds that morning. The last had a tuskless but Richard said she was too young. This was a great day. I'm already hooked on elephants.

We check springs that afternoon but nothing interesting. We put out the buff ribcage for hyhena, too.

Day 3, Oct 8:

We get out before first light and sit on the hyhena bait till dawn. We see nothing and the bait is intact. We make our bait checking circuit.

On the way home we round a corner and wake up two buff. They look good to Richard. They run off in broken, hilly ground. We follow their tracks and jump them again. They have started working downwind so we begin to use the broken ground to try to get abreast of them, circling the small rocky hills to our left. We do this and we come abreast of them but they spot us and take off again between two rocky hills. We sprint across the shoulder of one of the hills and the buff are right there. One has a broken horn the other is obviously nice, even to me the neophite. Richard tells me to take him and huffing and puffing I take the shot. He bolts to the left and I try to give him the second barrel but I tried to dodge trees. I should have ingnored the trees and just swung through properly.

Richard asked how the shots felt and I tell him, "good, I think." I have to say that thats a pretty poor answer. They should have felt great, or I shouldn't have taken the shot. I know I hit him with the first shot, and well I think. Blood confirms the hit, but it is dark. We track for a couple of hundred yards and the blood tapers out. i'm worried now.

Its noon and Richard calls a temporary halt to the effort. We are low on water and the buff are together heading downwind. Its shaping up to be a long follow up. We go back to the truck and on to camp. We grap a quick bite and plenty of water. This gives me the oportunity to replay the shot in my head. Two things become clearer, first, the buff wasn't perfectly broadside which was my first impression, he was quartering to me some, second, I was shooting for just behind his foreleg. Together this spells gutshot and trouble. By one we are back to the last blood.

Tiengwa is the better tracker of the two but Pearson has the eyes. When the buff are together Tiengwa leads, when the tracks split each follows a bull. These guys were able to track at a pace just short of a jog. This is our pace for the afternoon. Three or four times the tracks became confused with those of another group or herd. Eventually Tiengwa or Pearson would sort it out or one of them would go forward and take a look perpendicular to the direction the bulls had been taking. Eventually he would cross one then the other of our two bulls tracks. When we spread out I stuck with Pearson to give him what cover I could. And Richard reminded me to keep my eyes up and open and on the lookout for the bull, not track. We got close once and Richard warned me. But the bulls jumped out of sight and silently, leaving only tracks of their hasty departure.

We drank some water after an hour and a half while Pearson and Tiengwa sorted the tracks from another herd and that was welcome.

To be continued - need to take my kids trick or treating.

Sounds like you had a great trip -- please post some pictures when you get a chance.

JpK,

Welcome back and looking forward to the rest of the safari..well written..


Mike

Congratulations. We look forward to the rest of the story and the pictures.

Pretty amazing stuff for a first safari

Great Post! I hope to see Chewore someday.

Sounds like it was an action-packed good time. Congrats.

To resume,

We continue on the tracks for another hour and a half. It is now four pm. Richard tells me the bulls are probably heading for water and that there are a couple of springs several miles ahead of us.

As we walk/jog a frankolin jumps out of some brush to our left. I whirl a round with my double pointing at the noise. Even as I do this I realize what the noise is but the reaction is there. Richard the gamesout is behind me and I turn, chuckling at myself. He too is laughing and turned with his AK pointing at the noise. We chuckle together.

Thirty minutes later we are walking on a sloping rock shelf when I see two buff move twenty yards to our left ad the same ahead, off our track. One moves off and I loose him in the brush. The other stands from a hidden spring and waits. I beleive he was waiting for the first of our party to come abreast of him. Ten more yards would have done it. But I see him and so does Richard the gamescout. a couple of loud, urgent, "PSSST" get Richard the PH's attention. I point and I assume Richard the gamescout is pointing too. Richard the PH cannot see the bull through the brush and runs to his left to better see. I run left and forward too. I've got the clear view, Richard's view is obscured. We pause since our veiw of the horns only shows the good side of both. The one bull we now see turns his head enough for us to see that both sides are intact. Richard mounts his double 470 and I do the same with my double. I've got a clear shot and take it and the follow on shot too. Richard, I learn later, is shooting at a black shape in the bush. On my second shot the bull drops and I tell Richard the same. He is reloading on the run and I do the same. We round the bull on the right and I've got a quartering going away angle. Richard tells me to shoot again and I do. The first of this pair is through the backbone at a shallow angle; the second, after running forward more, is behind the last rib and exits in front of the off shoulder. He is definitely done for. Still, we approach causiously and Richard tells me to put another through his shoulder from five yards. I do so and there is no reaction.

I am tremendously relieved that this is over, the bull dead and noone the worse for wear. I go to shake first Tiengwa's hand and it turns to an embrace, same with Pearson and then Richard the gamescout.

I should have either made the first shot or held off. Still the job is done and the relief of making good is overwhelming.

To be continued.

Great report! I suspect that your Marcel Thys is going to get a few more elephants under its belt!

Congratulations on a great hunt. Another elephant hunter joins the ranks.

Please hurry back for the resumption of the report! Thanks for sharing.

What a great trip! I hope you get the pictures up soon!

Resuming again,

This evening Richard complements me on keeping the day's fast pace. He tells me that virtually all other clients would have asked to slow the pace, needed more water breaks and some rest breaks too. I laugh, he looks at me quizically and I tell him he'd have heard the thud of me dropping in my tracks before I'd have asked for a rest or to slow down. Hell, I got us into the mess and I wasn't going make it worse than it already was. He chuckles. We are getting to know one another and it is turning out well.

Richard is a very quiet guy. A bit shy, even awkward, in town but truly in his element in the bush. Confident and sure. On our long circiuts there is little banter. Richard answers questions and asks a few. Speaks when he has something worth saying. Three hours of walking makes for ten or twelve words spoken.

I ask about client fitness and he tells me I'm the second fitest client he has had this year. The fittest, a fellow from Texas, was far fitter though. I worked out from two to four days a week for six months to get fit for this trip. Still it seemed that events were conspiring to keep me from my fittest. Too many family and travel obligations. Finally, just two weeks before my departure and I was beginning to shed some real weight, just entering ketosis, and my father-in-law passed away. I went on this safari fifteen pounds heavier than I would have like too, but fit under the gut.

I quiz Richard and tell him not to BS me and he swears its the truth. I find that my fitness is adequate but only just so. This does not speak well of the bulk of clients. I'm 44 and the only real difficulty I had was when we were going downhill in rough or broken ground. Then my age and the sports I played in my youth came to be known through my creaking knees and ankles. Uphill was fine, flat or smooth ground rare but welcome.

Day 4, Oct 9:

We are up early again to check out our hyeana bait. Again nothing though we did see several civets around the bait. No signs of larger predators. We move the bait to another area.

We make our bait checking circuit. Our circuit is growing as we hang aditional baits. We a striking out on some of our baits. We're getting only two or at most three days out of a bait before its too rotten. Cat hunting involves alot of truck time and patience. It can be frustrating when its not going your way.

This morning on our circiut I actually spot a waterbuck about a half mile distant. This is one of only about ten times I actually see an animal of intrest first. Richard glasses it and we try a stalk. He eludes us after a half hour and we can't find him.

After lunch we head to a spring and find fresh buff spoor. We begin to track. After a short while we come over a hill and there is a dry creek bed. Spread out in the creek bed are about a dozen elephants, from fifty to a hundred and fifty yards to our right. One is tuskless. She is maybe a hundred yards up the creek bed from us and not queite the middle elephant. The dry creek has a rock outcropping on our side about ten feet off the sand running parrelel and tapering to just a couple of feet above the sand. The elephants are moving slowly toward us and the wind is favorable. We switch game plans.

We move back into the brush and parallel the rock til we are nearly abreast the tuskless. We ease out to the edge of the rock. We're eight feet above the sand here. We are in the shade, the elephants in the sun and this helps us. We are 25yds from our tuskless and she begins to turn to her left which is toward us, taking away the side brain shot but not giving us the frontal shot either. We wait and another couple of yard and she turns back to her right to parralel the rock and opening up the side brain shot. Richard tells me to take the shot when she is at right angles to us. She takes another step and I shoot.

I wish I could say that she dropped to the shot but she did not. Her head went up and her rear down as her rear legs collapsed under her. This seemed to happen in slow motion. As soon as her rear hit the sand, though, she righted herself and whirled 180* and this surely wasn't in slow motion. In the mean time I had opened my rifle and was caught reloading my right barrel. You can ask me what the hell I was doing reloading, I have asked myself this question a thousand times and can give no answer. As she passed fifteen yard in front of us Richard shot her twice in the heart/lung area with his 470. This did not slow her in the least. I had a nearly going away shot and I tried to spine her, no reaction to this shot so I tried the pelvis shot, again no rection.

We are off and running along the rock shelf as it tapers toward the sand. Richard shoots twice more for the heart and she still shows no reaction. As I run by Richard she turns to angle up the bank on our side of the creek about thirty yards from me. As she does so I can see the behind the ear to the brain shot open for me and I take it. This sets her on her hind again and I'm still running along the rock shelf but its only a foot or two off the sand now. She is up again but the angle opens for another side brain shot. Richard is beside me and tells me to brain her. This time the shot is true and she colapses, dead. We hop off the ledge and cross her rear, moving forward. Richard tells me to give her the insurance shot in the ear hole. I do so and there is no reaction.

This was, after the birth of my two children, the most intense experience of my life. Total elapsed time couldn't have been more than fifteen seconds tops. We had sprinted maybe sixty yards down the rock ledge but it seemed like so many feet. Once I realized my error in the midst of reloading time seemed to move slowly, like in slow motion. Every moment, every action or reaction, mine or Richard's, from that realization til the insurance shot is engraved in my mind.

The two Richards and I stayed with the elephant while Tiengwa and Pearson went for the truck and to call for the recovery team and truck. when we sorted out the shots we discovered that I hadn't allowed enough for our height on the first shot and the shot passed under her brain. My second shot had missed the spine by two or three inches. For this Richard was greatful. According to Richard, this shot cuases the elephant to raise quite a ruccus and is likely to cause trouble with the other elephants. The pelvis shot was where I was shooting but I had the height wrong and was shooting too low. Richard's four shots were in the heart/lung area. My shot for the brain from behind her ear passed under her brain. This bullet was recovered in the zygomatic arch on the off side and was in perfect shape. My fatal shot was an inch behind her ear hole, angling slightly forward and exiting.

After photos it took the recovery team of eight or nine guys two and a half hours to leave nothing but a stain and we were heading back to camp.

Day 5, Oct 10:

We traveled our bait circuit this morning and not much was happening. Our hyeana bait which we'd moved had been hit.

At camp for lunch we got the go ahead from Roger to try for the lion. Roger had been on a fishing trip to Mozambique and noone was willing to give us the final go ahead on the lion without his confirmation. We were pleased to have the ok since we'd been hearing lions every night and had seen some promising tracks.

We spend the afternoon hanging lion baits and new leopard baits.

We end the evening sitting on our hyeana bait. We can hear them but we also hear a lion close. As its getting dark, Richard calls for us to leave, before we spook either in a retreat in the dark and accidentally shut down this active bait.

Day 6, Oct 11:

We're off before first light to see whats on our hyena bait. On our way in, in the dark, we have a stand off with a honey badger. Richard is catious of this critter and we wait. It does not move off. We can't really detour off our swept and marked path. After five minutes, with him still humming at us we ease by. We both had our rifle trained on him, aparently they can be viscious and tend to go for a guys reason for being too. Its getting light as we ease into our blind. Without binos I can't see anything but i can hear the bone crunching. Afew minutes more and Richard motions me to ease my rifle over the edge of out makeshift blind. With my eyes I can now make out four or five shapes. One is to the left of the bait and in perfect silouette. Through the scope I can see just enough to line up the bold portion of the reticle on his back, belly and front and estimate where the center is. I fire once and hyenas are running everywhere. Several pass only feet from us. I keep my eyes on the one I shot and then loose him.

At the shot Tiengwa, Pearson and Richard the gamescout fire up the truck and drive in. Its still to dark to see much but we go to where he was standing. A few minutes later we see him down about thirty yards away. We walk up and one of the guys goes to get the truck. The hyena then picks his head up and we all jumped. Another round into his chest and then one more through his spine and down through his heart. The original shot was on the mark but everything in Africa dies hard.

We go back to camp to drop off the hyena and then back to our bait circiut. it seems we've got meat hanging from half the trees in the consession.

This afternoon we hang more baits. We come across a pride of eight lions at one spring. The male is not around. We hang an elephant quarter and plan to return in the morning.

We also enter the Makanga Valley. Also known as tetse fly valley. We have three baits here and had seen a nice herd of buffalo too. Its here that Richard tells me that cigar smoke keeps the tetses away. I produce one and fire it up and geez it works like a charm in the cab of the truck. Faced with the choice of choking on the smoke or swatting constantly we jointly decide to choke. We are never again without a ten or so cigars in the cab and I light up when the flies become an issue.

Day 7, Oct 12:

Wake up today is 2:00am since we've got a drive to get to our lion bait. We leave by 2:30. When we get to our jump off point we still have a thirty minute walk in. This goes without issue. When we leave the road for the final quarter mile on our swept path Richard has me push the saftey of my 375 to fire. I walk with the rifle pointing rearward. This is our std procedure when sitting for lions or leopards.

There has been no activity at the bait. We're off to the Makanga Valley to check our baits and to find the buffalo if possible.

In the valley we check one bait and then cross the spoor of the buff. We follow. They are not too far in front and we come up on them in a little less than a mile. We had seen one herd in the valley two days ago but this herd seems a lot larger. A couple of hundred animals. We work into the herd and back out and around the herd for two and a half hours. There is one bull that Richard thinks is nice. Great bosses and ok spread too. A couple of times we nearly have him but he never quite offers a shot clear of the rest of the herd.

The wind begins to swirl and we're busted a couple of times. The herd moves off downwind. Richard says, "No plan", which translates to "we're screwed." We give it one more shot, walking then jogging into the middle of the herd. We try to keep an eye on the buff we want but buff are going everywhere. Finally the herd splits into two, a large group and a smaller group of maybe fifteen. Richard glasses the bigger group and our buff is not there. This is good.

The other group is now upwind of us about a half mile away. We follow their tracks and slowly close to forty yards. They are below us in a small hollow. Some are standing some lying. Our buff mills about and is clear two or three times. I could easily make the shot but we decide to wait a bit.

After about a half hour the buff begin to move to rejoin the rest of the herd. They move in single file from our right to our left out of the hollow and begin passing tweny five yard to our left. Our target is either third or fourth in line, we can't tell. From the side he and another bull look the same. As they are both broadside Richard wistles to get them to look. This startles the hell out of me and I jumped a couple of feet straight up. The first bull is obviously our target and just as they are about to bolt and as I'm already pulling the trigger Richard says go for the first one. There is a low bush covering his lower chest so I come up a bit to clear and shoot him in the shoulder halfway up. This shot broke his shoulder and spined him and I shot him again as he fell, sending this shot from high on his left side to low below his shoulder on the off side.

This is it for buff for me. I've shot my two bulls and the cow. Since shooting the elephant we've been trying to come up with an open quota for another but were having trouble chasing them down. there were three available when I first got to Chewore but only the one was Rogers. We continue to try and keep up with the leopard and lion efforts.

This afternoon we go for a long walk in sable country. As we round a bend in a hill with Tiengwa in the lead Richard the PH gives a "psst" and points to five elephants thirty yard ahead and above us. But for the swishing tail of one they were actually hard to make out. Interestingly one is a tuskless. We back out and go around and one gives us a weak bluff, just enough to get Richard to take his rifle off his shoulder and cover our retreat.

I'm carrying my 375 with five softs and feeling pretty inadequate. In the time it would have taken me to switch to solids it would have been too late. This is a lesson I should have taken to heart since later in the trip we had a serious charge that got very dicey and again I was loaded with all softs. Next time I'm in elephant country i'll carry my 375 with a soft on top and solids down even if only after impala or warthog or...

Day 8, oct 13:

We do our bait checking circuit this morning. i actually miss getting up early and sitting on a bait. With the bankers hours I wake up at 4:30 and it seems half the day is gone by dawn.

On our way back after our circuit we run into a pair of lion tracks coming roughly from our hyena bait and following the road to within a half mile of camp before leaving the road. We leave the truck and follow the track. This is a huge rush. After less than a mile the tracks go into some truly impenetrable thorn and conbritum and we leave them with the plan to hang a couple of bait near the camp.

This afternoon we hang baits and take a walk but nothing notable.

Day 9. Oct 14:

This morning we walk the mile to one of our new lion baits. Nothing is there when we first arrive.

As its begining to get light I hear brush moving in the direction of our bait, which is about fifty yards in front and below us on a tree stretching over the dry Angwa River. I see Richard tense up and then hear bones cracking and other feeding sounds. Richard leans down and tells me its not a shooter but to look. I open the gun port to our blind and there is what to me is a huge lion. He is standing on a limb and eating our bait.

We watch for ten or fifteen minutes and the baboons begin to go nuts. Eventually our lion ambles away. This was a really great experience. It wasn't the right lion but if it had been he could have been shot a hundred times over. According to Richard he was a year, maybe two, from being a shooter.

We walked back to camp and have another cup of coffe while Tiengwa and Pearson go to cover the bait to hide it from the voltures. Fifteen minutes later, Tiengwa comes skidding into camp in the Land Cruiser and runs up. A short exchange in Shona and Richard tells me to grab my 375.

Pearson has spotted and followed a nice Chobie Bushbuck. We drive a mile, run a quarter more down to the river and there is Pearson, on his knees, in the middle of the river, pointing and staring at something. We ease the two hundred yards out to him and he tells Richard, in Shona, that he's got his eyes on the bushbuck. Richard fills me in and I look and christ, there is nothing for more than five hundred yards in front of Pearson. Back to the bank we go. The river bends a bit here to the left so we can ease down the sand adjacent to the bank and remain unseen. We do this for four hundred yards or so, then, keeping low, use an undulation in the sand to avoid a full profile. We ease up the undulation and Richard is glassing. He spots the bushbuck and direct me to it. I can't see it till it swishes its tail. then I can make out a bit of glare off his horns. I mount my rifle and loose him. He swishes his tail and I've got him. I can see his head and the front portion of his his back just behind the neck, the rest is obscured. The range is about 90yds. I didn't realise he was standing facing up the bank such that his forelegs were much higher than his rear legs. I guessed where the lung shot would be and pressed the trigger. He jumped but stayed more or less put; his movement made me relize his position though. I had guessed wrong and shot over him. I moved my sight picture forward to where I could see his neck and came down almost a foot. This shot put him down. We ran up and he was in the final throes. This shot was right where I'd have put it if I could have seen the whole of him.

Huge extra effort by Pearson and Tiengwa, and a great job. Pearson must have been on his knees in the sand staring at the bushbuck for more than a half hour total, and Tiengwa was actually breathing hard when he ran into camp.

After this fun we check baits and nothing much is happening.

We park the truck to take a short walk along the river. We see some Impala and we stalk so that I can shoot an Impala for bait. The range is a hundred and fifty yards which is out there for me. I am on a higher bluff on the bank and she is in the sand below. For this shot I went prone. At the shot I hear the bullet strike but the sand blown up by the muzzle blast blows right back into my face and I'm blind. In the confussion of the Impala running in different direction and me clearing my eyes we are not sure where she is. She wobles up the bank and I shoot her again in the center of the chest as she is facing us. The first shot was fine but everything in Africa dies hard.

This afternoon I shoot a too curious implala for bait. Its a fifty yard offhand shot through the shoulder. He goes twenty yards. This is more like at home.

Day 10, Oct 15:

We sit on our lion bait again this morning. The guys have removed a limb to make it more difficult for the too young lion to feed in the hopes that the bigger lion we know is in the area will feed. Nothing there and nothing shows.

On our way out of camp we leave the truck to stalk some inpala in the sand about a half mile away. The closest we can get is two hundred yards. I try the shot, prone again, but shouldn't have. I wound a nice trophy quality ram. Before I can finish him he crosses the river into Dande. We cannot go into Dande without a Dande gamescout. We go back to the truck and drive into Dande headed for Ingwe Safaris' camp. Only the camp staff is there. 500grns is out hunting and the camp manager is out recovering one of Dan's elephants. We are able to make radio contact with the camp manager on one of their canp portables to find out where we have to go to get a gamescout. We help ourselves to a welcome diet coke while we're there. I takes an hour to get the gamescout and what I learn is a typical African deal ensues. We can get the Impala but they get the meat. This is fine by me. I only want to make sure the impala is dead or dies as rapidly and humanely as is now possible. We return and hunt up the impala. There are so many tracks that the tracking is slow. We fan out and the Dande gamescout jumps him. Richard is close and runs and puts him down.

We return to camp and the camp driver has checked baits. Nothing going. We have one last hope for a tuskless here and will find out from one of the other camp whether we can have the quota tommorow.

This afternoon we take a walk along one of the tributaries to the Angwa. As luck would have it we get within 25yds of a really big bushbuck. Lots of game but nothing were after that strikes a fancy.

Day 11, Oct 16:

We check our baits for the last time. Still nothing happening. Really the only reason we are still in Chewore is the hope we can get another elephant quota. At noon we find that we have struck out on the elephant.

By 1:30 we are on the road back to Harari. I spend the night at Roger's house. its Sunday and the city is pretty much shutdown.Roger's daughter Sara and I grab some take out dinner and I hit the sack early. Pearson and Tiengwa also spend the night at Roger's compound.

Day 12, Oct 17:

Richard picks us up at about 8:00 and we're off for Humani. We hope to resume leopard baiting and really hope to pursuade Roger to let us shoot another elephant.

To be continued

JPK, I've got to get some sleep before WE resume your safari.

To resume yet again,

Day 12, Oct 17:

Having made the drive from Harari to Humani we had a quick late lunch and got settled and unpacked. At about three we are off to hunt plains game.

We still need to talk to Roger about another elephant and to confirm that we're ok to resume leopard baiting. We know we have lost any oportunity for lion or sable with our move from Chewore. These animals are here in Humani but the available allowance has been taken. But our move is motivated by the hope to hunt another elephant.

In chewore it was common to see bushbuck, impala and waterbuck. Occasionally kudu, eland, roan and grysbok. At Humani it was common to everything all the time. It seemed like every corner in the road or bend in a game trail and you would see another species or herd or.... The place was crawling with game; except anywhere near the socalled war vet squatters. Here game was scarce and poaching and snares common. The private gamescouts arrested a poacher or two or three just about every night. We found a couple of snares as well. Still the place is thick with game.

And there are elephants and buff too. The elephants here are agressive and nasty. Often when they see you they come. Fortunately they ussually loose intrest when you've sprinted forty yards and are out of sight. One well known cow charges every hunter or vehicle she sees and its no bluff either. She will even charge the sound of an engine.

Humani is an interesting place and very different from Chewore where there are no human inhabitants except fot the Parks gamescouts, safari camp staff, Ph's and hunters. Here part of the ranch is farm, part warvet occuppied and part, the larger part, reclaimed lowveld. Cattle were removed from the ranch something like 25 years ago and most of it was allowed to retun to a more natural state. Game was allowed to repopulate and extirpated species were reintroduced. The ranch is a part of the Save Conservancy which was nearly a million and a quarter acres. Due to the taking of a couple of farms and the squatters is now just under a million acres.

There is a high fence at the perrimiter of the whole conservancy but no fencing internally, except the fencing around agriculteral areas and that is to keep the game out and the squatters out too. The external fence is as much to keep the poachers out as to keep the game in. It is patroled regularly by the conservancies private gamescouts.

Maybe 100 families of farm workers live at Humani. There is a school for the children and food is both rationed out (in fact, the elephant I ultimately shot at Humani was rationed out) and available to the farm workers at below market costs. The people were happy and warm, waving every time they saw you. But then this was the case with most folks out of the city in Zimbabwe.

There are roughly the same number of squatters who have occupied two of the farms that make up the ranch. These people live a tougher life. No help is available to them and they are trying to farm land that was deemed unproductive near a century ago. Really this is why the land was first used for cattle and then ultimately let go wild. The Gov't has seen the light and is slowly, too slowly, removing the squatters. The squatters are less freindly and this goes both ways. Farm workers don't want them there and certainly, neither does Roger or really anyone. They make up the bulk of poachers arrested, people from outside sneaking in making up the rest. But they are there for now and really thats it.

On our first afternnon at Humani I am struck by the number and diversity of game. This is the place where a plainsgame hunter really needs a versatile rifle. We saw game from the size of duiker to eland and you never knew what you'd see next. Roger pumps water to a number of pans throughout the ranch so not all game is concentrated near the flowing Turgewe River.

It seemed to me that you could avoid the elephants if you chose. If so, then a 30-06 with good 180gr bullets would be a great rifle choice. If I'm wrong and the elephants can't really be avoided then I'd choose a 375 or 9.3 with one soft up the spout and all solids below. My light rifle for this trip is a 375H&H with 300gr softs and solids. I'm no longrange shot. Especially in the conditions there, shooting off sticks or other feild positions and not out af a tree stand with all the time in the world.

I did not feel handicapped in the least with my rifle choice and its trejectory was all I could put to use. A fellow from out west, accustomed to longer ranges, could use a rifle with a flatter trejectory. For me, if an animal is 250yds away there has never been any other choice but to get closer - with the exception of the near benchrest type shooting from some of our tree stands or ground blinds. There was some open ground, and along the river where longer shots would be very reasonable, even nessecary.

On our way out of camp one of the other PH's there, Terry, had mentioned that we might get two animals this afternoon. He wishes us luck and tells us to "whack 'em and stack 'em." I think he is kidding but he is not. Opportunities abound. A hunter with very limited mobility could do very well here.

We drive to an area of the ranch that is not too popular with some of the PH's who have such hunters. The ground here is not much different then Chewore, hills of varying sizes and some broken, rocky ground. Pearson, our eyes, sees kudu maybe 250yds from the track in thick brush. We dismount and begin a stalk. The wind is a problem and is swirling a bit. We are busted a number of times in a thirty minute stalk. A good shot could have had a beautiful 58" kudu with a 225yd shot when the four bulls stop to look back on the far side of an open area, but that shot is beyond me. The bulls elude us.

On the way back to the truck we come across some eland and try to parrelel and then run around a small but steep rocky hill. We almost made it but are spotted by a cow and they don't pause on there way out of there.

Back in the truck to continue our cicuit. We leave the truck for a short walk behind some rocky hills. There are wildebeast on the other side. We get close enough several times but just as I am ready they run off. We try for a half hour but the animals no longer settle down between efforts. This happens fequently over the next several days. Being quick is an important skill for African shooting and its something I need to work on.

On our way back to the truck we come across another group of about ten. Things are promissing but from our rear we are overtaken by four or five zebra who spook the wildebeast.

All this is happening in a time frame so compressed so compressed its just amazing. Nearer camp Pearson gives the familiar tap on the roof and conveys to Richard that he has seen a nice waterbuck behind the brush along the road. We dismount and begin to pick our way through the thorn brush. After maybe fifty yards we bump the waterbuck, there are three or four, and Richard begins to run after them. He ducks through a whole between two thorn bushes and I go to follow. I'm a good bit taller and broader than Richard and he's fitter too. I'm not sure what made me think I would fit but I don't make it through the hole. I am stopped in my tracks with a couple of thorns in one ear and more grabbing my shirt and pants and more yet seizing my free hand. Welcome hands from behind help me unstick myself. Both Tiengwa and Pearson are reaching forward. Richard makes twenty yards before he realizes he is alone. The absolute hillarity of the moment takes hold of me and I begin to luagh uncontrollably as I am finally free. Richard comes back and is standing next to me wondering whats wrong with the nut, I'm sure. I'm on my knees, holding my 375 to keep from falling over with laughter. I can't talk and I've got tears in my eyes, I point at him then the hole then myself and shake my head. All three get what I'm laughing at and we all are laughing now. After a couple of minutes I'm more or less under control and we resume our chase of the waterbuck.

Eventually we round a bush and a nice waterbuck is standing quartering hard away at maybe fifty yards. I take the shot well behind the last rib on his right side to cross to in front of his off shoulder. He is off and so are we, in chase. Rounding another bush I take a hasty THS but the buck runs at the shot and we are off again. Thirty more yard and we come around a large bush and he is on the ground against the bush, head up. I shoot him in the shoulder broadside and he is done.

My original shot was good and the bullet is under the skin at the lower front of his offside shoulder. The THS passed through his left rear ham and broke his left foreleg. The finisher did not exit through the far shoulder. I'm shooting 300gr Trophy Bonded softs from a 375H&H! Wow, waterbuck are tough! Really, everything in Africa dies hard.

We load the waterbuck and we head to the Ranch House to ask Rodger about the leopard and especially to appeal to him to let us hunt another elephant. We all have a drink and chat and Rodger gives us the go ahead. Interestingly, I adress Rodger as, "Mr Whittall", and he doesn't correct me. He reminds me alot of my father who is now 79. Rodger is probably in his early sixties. When he's in the room you know who is in charge. As we part he warns me about the Maritians in camp and their late hours and tendency to plenty of conversationa and drinks to go along. He isn't wrong and I soon find out that I can't, and don't want to, keep up.

Back to camp. We are the last to return. This becomes typical, we're the first to leave and the last to return.

I should mention that, unlike Chewore where we are alone, we have other hunters in camp here. I had breifly met a nice Mexican fellow, Eduardo, who was recovering from a very dificult but very successful elephant hunt in Mozambique and relaxing for a few days before heading home. He'd shot an 80lber and had the healing scares from heavy thorn and brush on his face and arms to show for his efforts, as well as some incredible photos of his elephant. His PH is Guy Whittall, Rodger's son and a nice fellow.

I also met a group of five French Maritians who were very nice folks, in particular the group's patriarch, Patrick, who was a super fellow. Terry, their PH, is a good fellow with a good sense of humor and he and Richard are good freinds and trade barbs.

It seems as though all have had a good afternoon and congratulations are passed around. Eduardo is not really hunting. He has shot a bushbuck and an eland since his return from Mozambique and is really just relaxing and enjoying his last few days in Africa.

After a beer I shower and when return the Maritians are having alot of fun. After dinner I'm ready for the sack but join all for another drink before turning in. When I leave them to turn in there is no sign that they are doing so soon.

Day 13, Oct 18:

We again head for a less popular areas of the ranch. Rodger has asked us to scout a more distant area for elephants and to take a tuskless from this area if possible. On the way we see three young male lions and are able to watch them for ten or fifteen minutes.

Not too long after this we see a black rhino about a hundred yards off the road. We leave the truck and without rifles we aproach to within forty yards. He knows we're there and Richard says no closer. I ask why and Richard says he'll charge and we're as far from the truck as we could make it back safely. To me thats a damn good reason. I take some photos and after ten minutes or so we head back.

We are finding no fresh elephant sign in this section of the ranch. We see and stalk more kudu, but cannot get close enough. We cross fresh eland tracks and follow but it is a good size herd with many cows and the bull is nothing special. We might have continued on for him but the cows were sharp and we were spotted several times. We continue to look for fresh elephant sign but find none. We have shot nothing but it has been a great morning and we're off to camp.

This afternoon we hang leopard baits. We hang four including one where PH Butch Coaton had had a male feeding that they never got a shot on. During our circuit we cross the Turgewe River, which is beautiful. On our way back to the other side Pearson taps the cab roof. He has seen a nice bushbuck across the river and about 500yds downriver.

We glass from the top of the truck and then we are off. There is plenty of thick green brush along the river and we stay behind this till we are nearly opposite the bush buck. Then staying behind the diminishing cover we get to the sand. There is a fold in the sand twenty yards out and maybe three feet high on our side and running roughly parrellel to the currently diminished flow. We stay low and come to the base. Then we crawl up toward the crest. I go prone for the shot. I think I can see the whole of the other bank. Richard is kneeling but low and glassing. He tells me the bushbuck is a shooter and to find him at the base of the tree where we'd seen him while glassing from the truck. For the life of me, I can't find him either through the scope or with my naked eyes. He should be 160yds out, I should be able to see him but I cannot. We confirm the tree again but still I can't see him. Richard anounces that he is moving but I just can't find him. Finally he heads up the bank and into my view. He had benn hidden from my veiw by rise with some vegetation about halfway across. He is facing up the bank away from me. I have a shot which will enter his back just forward of his hindquarters and exit low in the center of his chest. I take the shot and hear the bullet strike and he is down. Through the scope I saw his rear legs give way and I know the shot is centered. I know he is done for but Richard tells me to reload and I do. We watch for a few moment but he is finished. We walk to the edge of the water and Pearson and Tiengwa take their shoes off and retreive him. He is beautiful, though as Murphy knows we'll see bigger now that we have him.

We continue on to hang baits. On our circuit we see one lioness and four cubs high atop a rocky hill. i needed binoculars to make them out but Pearson has found them without the help. We later see another lioness and a couple of cubs as well. These are known to the guys and are regularly see atop a particular rock outcropping.

After the last bait is hung we walk behind the same rocky hill where the wildebeast had led us on a merry chase yesterday. Again we are made and repeated attempr on different herds prove futile. Again zebra startle the wildebeast just as things are shaping up. Darkness is aproaching and we head back to the truck. On the way back to camp Pearson spots a herd of wildebeast about three hundred yards from the track. We are not hopeful but we head on to make an approach. As we get nearer Richard glasses them and likes one of the bulls. This herd is small at eight or ten and all bulls. There is not much cover and we make a pretty direct approach using a really sparse bush as cover. The herd runs off, but as has been their habit they don't run too far. They have run behind some thin cover and we use the oportunity to make a half cicle to come up behind a bit thicker bush at seventy yards. The bulls are looking back toward where we were when we spooked them. We ease out from behind the bush and Richard sets up the sticks. For once the wildebeast have no idea we are there. I get the rifle on the sticks and wait for the bull we want to step from behind the thin cover, which ends just to our left as we look at the bulls. The bulls move out from behind the cover but we need to wai til our bull is clear of the others. This seems to take forever but finally he steps clear and I take a broadside heart shot. We hear the bullet and I'm confident in the shot but the bull bolts away and to our left. He seems to be going really strong and I become concerned. I don't see him drop in the falling light but Richard does and shakes my hand. I'm not so sure but as we approach I see him and he is dead. The shot was good and the bullet is under the skin low and just in front of the off shoulder, haveing traversed from just behind the onside foreleg and wrecking the heart. Again, I'm shooting 300gr Trophy Bonded softs out of a 375H&H! Wildebeast are really tough too!

We head back to camp and are the last to return. Patrick the patriarch of the Maritians has a party in celebration of Eduardo's elephant planned for tonight. Its already in full swing when we get back. Rodger is there as are a number of other PH's and some of their wives. Richard hands me a beer and we join in. I'm having a great time and need another beer. I walk to the fridge and ask Richard if he's ready for another one. This sets off howles of protest and laughter, with Terry telling Richard that he has trained me well to be getting my PH a beer! I respond that I'm not too old or too fat, yet, to fetch my own beer or one for a fellow so deseving as Richard. This sets of more howles and protest. We are having a great time. I don't recall whether I had dinner or not that evening. I know the party ended in Patricks chalet with seventy some odd Patrick comparing his amazing near six pack abs with Guy Whittall's not shabby Tewnty something abs. I was tempted but out of my league in both cases. I showered holding on to the wall, then crawled into bed.

To be continued.

You are killing me!!!!!!

Keep writing, drink more coffee, keep writing..................

Sorry this is taking so long. Twice today I've been punted by Comcast and or aol and both times lost a big chunk of my report.

Still, I am having fun doing this and reliving my safari as I write.

JPK

Excuses, excuses --write, write, write!!!!!

Your story is a dandy!!!

Having lost this installment of my report twice today to internet disconnection; I continue - but will post in smaller chunks to limit my losses.

Day 14, Oct 19:

I am up at the "Humani normal time" of 4:30 but today I'm a little slow. A quick shower helps but I'm still fuzzy.

At the mess chalet Richard is looking like I feel. It seems we are the only ones moving this morning. Breakfast is the normal piece of toast, fallowed by malarone, washed down by a cup of coffee and finished with two welcome glasses of ice water.

As its just getting light we head for the truck. As we're heading out I suggest to Richard that this morning would be a great morning to check our leopard and then go for a long walk for plains game, away from the elephants. Maybe look for an elephant this afternoon. He chuckles and agrees.

We check our leopard baits and nothing is happening on this front. We drive to a "corner" of the ranch and Richard tells me we can have a decent walk checking out four or five pans that have water pumped to them. We head cross country. The terrain is flat here and that is a good thing this morning. We visit each pan in succession, checking for tracks while we are at each.

On our way toward the last one, one of the trackers peels off to get the truck to meet us ahead. He is soon back with a report of eland behind us. We backtrack a bit and there are the eland. They are moving more or less parrallel to our course. This herd is big, with maybe twenty animals. Two I see are bulls. One is young but with long horns, the better is a large older "blue" bull with shorter worn horns. The terrain is flat and open with thin leafless trees and little brush, and that is barren too. Rather than a difficult and probably fruitless stalk, Richard suggest we get ahead of them. Its apparent to him that they are heading to the same pan we are. The eland are moving slowly and catiously and this gives us time to get well ahead. We take cover behind a termite mound with some green brush. Its seventy five yards from the edge of the pan.

Richard warns me to make sure of my shot, telling me that eland can take a pounding and go forever with a poorly placed bullet. This warning sinks in since he has not warned me before, even with any of the buff or the elephant. We see the eland aproach from about 150 yds. They have made a quarter or half circle since they approach from a direction different from where we last saw them.

I am prone on the termite mound and twist around to be able to shoot. As the bid bull approaches I have several opportunities to shoot but since he is angleing closer I wait. At 100yds I have a great opportunity and begin to take it. Before I squeze the trigger I pull my head back and check for brush in front of my rifle. Good thing since there are a couple of branches infront of my barrel. Using my elbows and toes I make it a foot up the mound. the bull is still in front and 75yds away. He is broadside as he moves from sparse cover to sparse cover and I line up the shot and again check the brush in front. I'm afraid to go as low as a good high heart shot because of the brush in front. Then the bull turns and is quartering hard to me, almost front on. i'm thinking that a high shot is ok here. The shot will take out major arteries and his windpipe and damage both lungs on the interior, maybe spine him. I take the shot and the bull shudders and slowly falls over. He doesn't even twitch again and by the time we get to him he is dead. One of the trackers leaves to get the truck. We take some photos and its a great morning.

We head back to camp and arrive a little early for lunch. Its about 10:30 and some of the other hunters are just getting off. The walk has done some good but I head off for a much needed nap. I skipped lunch and met Richard at our agreed 2:00 thinking how much more relaxed the schedule was at Humani compared to Chewore.

Continueing with the afternoon of Day 14:

This afternoon both Richard and I are back to normal. We are looking for fresh elephant sign. In our circuit we find day old sign a couple of times but nothing fresh. As afternoon turn to evening we find fresh sign. The elephants are heading for the river and water. We head on knowing that this is where we will start tommorow. The track takes a bend toward the river and Tiengwa taps the roof. There are elephant in the river just shy of a mile down river. We grab our rifles and head down river along the bank. Its really getting too late to begin this so we move to the center of the sand and continue toward the elephant. What we see is an elephant convention. There are about six or seven bulls on the left bank of the river and in the sand on that side. A couple are having a shoving match. Now I understand why their heads are so much larger that the cows. There seems to be two herds of cows too. One herd of about fifteen including young is on the sand toward the right bank. Another herd is on the right bank feeding in the green trees and brush running along the river. We can't get an accurate count of these but upward of a dozen would be a fair guess. We move closer but are cautious about being flanked by the elephants feeding on the right. I shoulder my rifle to check the visibility of the sights. If the shot had been right there, right now it would be fine, but even a few more minutes and its too dark. We watch the elephants as the light fails and then retreat to the truck.

It has been another great day. I have got to tell you that taking a walk for elephant with an elephant capable rifle, and the intention of hunting an elephant, and no matter how remote the chance of shooting, just has an effect on me that I cannot adequately describe.

We head back to camp for a beer and dinner and we both hit it early. Tommorow will be a serious day.

JPK,

If you can email me some pics, I will be happy to post them for you.

But PLEASE PLEASE include some pics of your Marcel Thys rifle!

Day 15 Oct20:

I am up at 4:30, really waiting for 4:30 to come. I know that today we will at least be tracking elephants and that has me going. I head over to the mess chalet and I'm the first there. There is a bee hive in a boabab tree next to my chalet and the bees have been atracted to the lights coming on. I've been stung a couple of time each morning. The staff have been trying to solve the issue but with limited success since the bees seem to calm down and then disapear as the light comes up. Today I carried my boots over and put them on in the mess chalet, this works and I don't get stung.

Richard arrives and we have our toast and coffee and are off.

Its just light when we get to the section of the ranch where the elephants had been. Shortly, Pearson or Tiengwa see tracks cross the road and we stop to check them out. The spoor is fresh, from this morning.

We get our rifles and begin to track this cow herd. Twenty, maybe thirty minutes of fast tracking and we catch them. The wind is good and we are able to approach within twenty yards of the nearest cow. Richard sees no tuskless and we retreat. We move cross wind and approach again to see those elphants that were obscured by the thick green vegetaion on out firt approach. No tuskless. We retreat and backtrack across the wind and continue on to the other side to make sure we've seen the whole herd. No tuskless, we've struck out on this herd.

We retreat and then head back to the truck. Just being close is a huge thrill for me and its already a great day.

I should insert here that I have no idea what is in store for me today, just not a clue. The next four hours or so are so intense and both fearful (I'm not sure this is the right word but its the closest I can come at the moment) and exilerating that no words can ever really capture the event. In the end I find that it is a draining event, maintaining the level of intensity and alternating between "fear" and exileration for so long. But it is incredible and I can not wait to experience it again. I only hope I can capture some of the intensity in this report.

Back in the truck we continue down the track along the river and soon more tracks cross the road. We check these out then grab our rifles and we are off again. After thirty minutes or so I see dust ahead in the early morning sunlight. Its clear we are closing on the herd. I call a halt to take a wizz and drink some water thinking that we might be amoungst them for awhile. Little did I know.

Today is already a hot day and I'm not sure how it affected the wind but it is light and swirling some. Might be the thick brush we are in. Sometimes visibility is limited to a few yards, others it opens to twenty, even thrirty yards. Rarely more.

Richard has warned me that we will probably be backing out under duress on occasion and sometimes running as well. The running goes against everything I've ever read which has always repeated the mantra, "stand your ground and shoot your way out". But I trust him and will follow his lead and direction.

We make our first approach to within fifteen yards of the closest elephant. We retreat and move cross wind and approach again. The brush is really thick here and to see the whole herd, about a dozen elephant, will take several approaches from different angles and directions.

This second approach goes well and we are maybe twenty yards from the elephant directly to our front, she is hidden from our view for the most part. Richard is glassing the elephants behind her. It becomes clear that we have been flanked by an elephant to our left and we immediately back out rifles ready. When we are a safe distance Richard wispers that he has seen what he thinks is a tuskless, but that we must check her other side to be sure.

We move cross wind again and make our approach. The suspected tuskless is on this side of the herd and we are close. She is indeed tuskless. We want a side brain shot but its not there, we are waiting for her to turn. This is the first of several times the wind betrays us. We can see nothing but her head when suddenly she trumpets and whirls. When she whirls we loose sight of her behind the screen of bush just to our front. She trumpets again and it is closer. She is coming. I see other elephants turn to look at where we are though it is unlikely that they can see us. Richard tells me to run. I half turn to run while looking over my shoulder and get a shove from Richard. I get the message and turn fully to sprint. Tiengwa and Pearson needed no such encouragement and have a five yard head start. They go different routes and I follow Pearson. By the time Pearson pulls up after maybe thirty or forty yards I am on his heels. He turns and I startle him and we both have huge grins.

For all the world when an elephant trumpets close, in protest and anger, it sounds like the sound track from Jurrasic Park and is not forgotten.

I had asked Richard which of the two trackers were faster when he told me to expect some running and he told me, "Pearson is the greyhound". I figured I'd follow him and try to keep up, letting him set my pace best I could keep up. Pearson is built like a halfback and me like last year's (decade's?) fullback.

We relaxed, if thats the word, and gave the elephants a few minutes to settle down. We go to make our third approach. This goes well but the tuskless is obscured by several elephants and we retreat to go cross wind.

To give the scene some context, the elephants here are agressive. Unlike the elephants in Chewore, they don't run from our scent much, more often coming to you agressively. If they do move off its maybe fifty yards or so. If they see you, especially this tuskless, they come for you. But, when you are again out of sight they stop their charge and return to the rest of the herd. At no time could we see the whole herd and thankfully at no time could more than a couple of elephants see us, and less often know what they were looking at.

The wind swirled and even reversed direction for a time but for the most part we worked in a semi-circle on what should have been the downwind side. When the wind reversed for a time we worked that opposite downwind side. Richard uses a small version of a bottle similar to one of the plastic plumbers' chalk bottles and filled with ash. Both Pearson and Tiengwa had similar bottles. These were in constant use. It seemed if one wasn't checking the wind the other was.

The whole time we were in contact with this herd I don't think we moved more than a mile or two and we were in contact for nearly three hours. The brush varried from thick to really thick. One critical thing to never forget is that an elephant, large as it is, moves silently. We had elephants move dangerously close and threaten our flanks without making a noise. We saw them just as often as we heard them.

We make several more approaches and the swirling wind has us backing out with rifles ready when we suspect that we are being flanked and our avenue of escape in jeopardy. We do some more running too. I am having the time of my life and tell Richard that if we never get the shot its been nothing short of perfect.

On one particularly noteable approach we get within twenty yards of elephants on our right. Richard is looking over a five foot high screen of brush to our right. I am just to his right and a half step behind. Tiengwa is furthest left and a bit forward of Richard, Pearson between Tiengwa and Richard. There is a scrubby ten foot tall tree at a slight left bend in the five foot screen of brush and its between Richard and Pearson who are six feet apart. Richard is looking intently at the elephant to our right, trying to find the tuskless. He and I are standing upright. Pearson and Tiengwa are hunched over staying below the brush. I hear a slight noise just the other side of the brush infront of Pearson and Tiengwa and look over. I see nothing, except for Pearson and Tiengwa rotating their heads upward and upward and their eyes go wide. Pearson goes low and bolts right and behind me and Tiengwa bolts left. I am ready with my rifle but see nothing. I put my hand on Richards shoulder which gives him a start. I point to the left of the tree, still seeing nothing. Richard is agood bit shorter than me and he cranes his head for a look around the tree, he takes half a step left and then he too rotates his head upward and upward. He turns to me and with near silent emphasis says, "John, RUN". I turn and run with Richard right on my heels, somehow I find Pearson now running to my right and I follow. The half back makes a right turn between bushes that is going to give me trouble. I try to pivot off my left foot but have stepped on a palm and I'm skidding. I plant my right foot and use my right hand to keep my balance and make the turn accelerating to catch Pearson as he pulls up. Again I startle him. This is the third time now. We take a breather and we're laughing about our close call. Richard tells me the elephant was at less than ten yards. I notice Pearson and Tiengwa speaking in Shona and nodding to me. I ask Richard what they are saying and he says, "A fair translation would be, 'The fat white guy can really run!'" I break up on that news.

With every approach where we are detected the elphants become more and more agitated and agressive. I'm beginning to think we won't get our shot. We come in on the side of the herd and the tuskless is on this side but behind another elephant that obscures the shot. We back out and cross the wind to come in from the opposite side. We are able to get within fifteen yards of the closest elephant but our tuskless is standing about 25 yards on the otherside of a small clearing. There is no more cover between us and the elephants. Richard motions me back and in a wisper ask if I'm ok with a frontal brain shot. I tell him I'll take the shot he recomends. That will be the shot then. Also as we had previosly discussed, if the elephant does not drop straight down, as she should with a perfect brain shot, Richard will shoot for the heart while I shoot for the imediate kill. This plan had worked for the first elephant.

We reapproach and I've got a hole in the bush and can see the tuskless' head. I'm left of Richard and abreast. She is angled to us and offeres neither the side brain shot nor the frontal shot. Our cover runs out two steps to Richard's right. He eases three steps over. which is one step into the open, and she turns to look at him. I calculate that I need to hit her just below eye level and just a bit to the left of center as I look at her since she is looking at Richard. I take the shot. She shudders and her eyes go blank but she does not collapse. Richard as discussed shoots for her heart. I am a bit suprised she doesn't collapse and go to shoot her with the second barrel. As I do and just before the sear breaks another younger elephant crosses and I have to pull up. The tuskless falls on her side without ever moving. I reload and Richard does as well and we need to run. The other elephants are searching for the source of the noise and the couple I can see clearly are getting close. We run, and this time keep running for a good hundred yards. We pull up in a good size clearing and remain ready, just in case. After ten minutes Richard sends Tiengwa and Pearson for the truck. We wait another twenty minutes and go back to the tuskless. She has not moved a muscle since my first shot.

Still I am a bit disapointed that I missed the perfect shot. Ultimately we come back the next day and cut open her skull. My bullet passed two inches over her brain and knocked her absolutely out cold. John Taylor wasn't all wrong.

For those who have yet to try for their first elephant, I can tell you that what makes the shot tough, even at the close ranges involved, is shooting at the relatively small (compared to the elephant) target that you cannot see. The brain is roughly the size of a rugby ball which is a bit fatter and longer than a football. Something this size is very easy to hit at the short ranges when you can see it. But an elephants head is so big and the brain so deep that you must visualize where the brain is and make the correct allowance for how tall the elephant is, whether its head is up or down, how close you, how high you are are and so on.

While I have my disapointment in not making the perfect shot, it is not overwhelming. I can live with it....at least til next year when I will try again, several times.

Two and ahalf more days of hunting to be continued tommorow, computer gods willing.

500grains,

Terry has agreed to insert the photos when I'm done, which should be tommorow, but thanks for your offer.

There will be some photos of me with the rifle in those, but I was planning on buffing up the stock, which needs it after this trip, and taking some better quality, rifle only, photos for you and anyone else interested. I should have this done by Monday.

If I can send you those for you to post for me that would be great.

JPK

Good reading, looking forward to the pics.

Enjoying the vicarious hunt immensely, but stopped to think when I read

quote:

When we leave the road for the final quarter mile on our swept path Richard has me push the saftey of my 375 to fire.

Personally, I don't care what a PH or anyone else tells me to do, my safety stays on until I'm aiming at something. Too much chance for disaster. Especially carrying, as you state, pointed backwards. Well, here comes a charge! Whip the rifle off your shoulder, and in the process touch by accident the trigger and boom! Now you're down a round and...

No thanks. I don't want to do any hijacking, but from those with experience, is this a common PH request?

Kamo Gari,

That, of course, is your choice.

I did ask why, especially since this hadn't been the case when we were heading to a blind for hyena. His reply was that the slight click of the safety being moved to fire had ruined several lion and leopard hunts for his clients. The rifle was usually carried in my hand too, not on my shoulder, and without a sling because of the noise issue as well. If it wasn't in my hand it was in the crook of my elbow pointing up and back with my hand covering the trigger gaurd. Remember the first rule of firearms safety has always been to make sure your muzzle is pointed in a safe direction. A safety is a mere machanical device subject to human and mechanical failure and never to be relied upon.

JPK

Thanks for the reponse.

Still, not a practice I'll take part in.

Cheers,

KG

Kamo Gari,

FWIW I should add that I tried to move my three position safety forward silently and a couple of different ways too. The best was to pinch it between my first finger and my thumb trying to get alot of the lever between them. It helped but there was still a click from rear position to mid and another going to fire.

At home when I'm close to dear this "squeeze" is what I do and if I'm really close they notice it from time to time. But they ussually look for awhile then settle down.

JPK

Wow, keep it coming. You are good at this!!!

Continueing with Day 15, Oct 20:

I took well over an hour to cut a road to the elephant for the truck and the recovery vehicle, this time a big tractor with a trailer. The guys on the recovery team are very happy since the meat from this elephant will be rationed out to all the ranch workers and their families.

Not so many elephants are shot here at Humani as in Chewore. The process goes slower and we need to stick around for Richard to supervise. While the road is being cut in, Richard, Tiengwa and Pearson start to skin the elephant. This sure isn't like skinning our whitetails, where no more than one, at most two guys, can work without getting in each others way. The hide is so thick and stiff it helps, especially at first, to have one guy pulling on the hide to give another acess with his knife. I pitch in pulling and then grab a knife and join in the skinning. The hide is cut in panels on the exposed side and each panel is removed in turn. All of the meat is removed from this side. Then the elephant is rolled over, this time with the help of the tractor, and the process repeated.

What took two and a half hours in Chewore takes more than three and a half here; this elephant is bigger and the recovery team doesn't have the experience. We leave with the skin on the last side off and the recovery team still removing meat. Tiengwa and Pearson have stashed some choice cuts in the truck and we head back to camp. Tiengwa's brother is the head skinner for the camp and we second Tiengwa to him to help clean and salt the hide, Pearson pitches in while we grab lunch.

We lhave lost most of the afternoon and decide to take Richards shotgun and a couple of boxes of shells, a cooler full of cold beer and sit at a waterhole. We get a late start though and not much is flying. Our challenge is that we must drink a beer for each miss. In my defense I will mention that I'm left handed and Richard's over/under has just a ton of cast off and a tall comb too. Richard tells me he is not so good with a shotgun.

Richard is first up and he misses with both barrels and needs to drink a beer. I can see why he has missed; he mounts the gun too early and he is trying to aim and has stopped his swing. I give him some pointers and then miss a pair of birds myself, uh oh... Well let me just summarize and tell you that Richard takes well to the pointers and is a quick learner. We're having fun and Pearson is either laughing or clapping on the results and running to grab the birds which are mostly doves. I owe three beers to Richard's two and conceed defeat. We put the gun away and knock off some of the beer whatching as some birds come in including a couple of ducks.

There is a party at the Duckworth's home at the ranch next door. There are maybe six families there and Several PH's without their families and a client or two like me. Its a fun party and everyone is very nice. The food is great and there are some interesting game dishes.

I think I have to fly to Reno to defend the honor of all US shotgunners. A PH who's proper name escapes me, but whose nickname is The Giraffe, has been...uh...let me put this as politely as I can...uh...forceful...yes, that will do...in his assertions that not only can any Zimbabwean shoot any rifle better than any American, but that the same applies doubly for any shotgun. My performance earlier with Richard's shotgun only fans his malt beverage fueled ego. I think I am showing significant, and for me, all too rare, restraint, especially since I've had more than a couple of beers too.

He accepted my challange for this winter and I will remind him of it. When he is at the SCI show I think I will meet him and take him shooting, letting him choose, like it were a duel, from one of my pair of Greener sidelock shotguns, before taking to the feild. Of course, both have plenty of cast on for this lefty and should prove an adequate handicap for The Giraffe just in case one is needed.

Day 16, Oct 21:

This morning we head off looking for a Kudu and an Impala too. The impala we see maybe 150yds of the side of the track with a herd of 10 or so females and little in the way of a stalk is required. The females bolt but this ram is curious and just stares back. The shot is about eighty yards and he runs twenty or so and is down. At our approach he strugles to get up and I give him a finisher, just to be sure. We load him and resume or circiut.

In a very open area with little vegetation, Pearson spots a bunch of waterbuck crossing a ten acre or so grass patch to some brush on the right. This patch is unique in that it is the only ground cover we can see at all. The grass is maybe waist to chest high and yellow brown and seems to have grown in a very shallow depression. There is a tree and brush line on the far side of the patch and some pretty open brush to the right. Behind the waterbuck are three kudu bulls. Its really open here but we are six hundred yards from the waterbuck and kudu. We hop out of the truck and jog right, into the thin brush.

Trying to keep at least some brush between us and the kudu we jog forward hoping to cut them off before they get out of the grass and into the brush. We almost made it but we spooked the waterbuck which were infront of the kudu, also heading out of the grass into the brush. This puts the kudu on alert and as we round a bush we'd been using as cover from the waterbuck, we see one of the kudu bulls at seventy five yards in the open and staring at us. Richard sets the sticks but the instant I put my rifle on them he is off. We run maybe fifty yards and can see the kudu pull up behind a bush shy of a hundred yards. To his front, our right, we can make out some combination of the two other kudu and the waterbucks in the increasingly thick brush.

Our kudu has pulled up behind a screen of brush consisting of several bushes together. I can see his head pointing to our right and clear of the right side of the cover. He is in deep shade. if we hadn't seen him stop there I would not have known he was there. Richard sets the sticks and I don't think I've got a shot. I can see several three or four inch branches that screen his heart lung area. The top one runs from high by his back to the left and curves down to the right covering his front leg and his heart too. I took the time to crank the power on my 1.5x5 Luepold up to 5x and double checked. This was taking some time but the kudu thought he was well hidden obviously. He was looking at us but was nearly at a perfect broadside. With the scope at 5x I saw that if I could keep the shot close to the top branch I'd still have a good but highish lung shot.

I took the shot and it felt great. Still though I didn't hear the bullet strike. We walked to the brush and as we approached I looked for any sign the the bullet had struck the branch. There was none. The kudu had taken off angling away and right. We walked to where he'd been standing and found the hoof prints from his bolt. Pearson and Tiengwa had started the truck at the shot and since the terrain was so open could drive just about to where we were. In the meantime we were looking for blood. About fivr yards from where the kudu had been standing I found two minute drops of blood about a foot apart. They were bright pink I and that was great. Tiengwa and Pearson began to track. The ground was hard as concrete so it was a matter of finding the blood. A couple of times they needed to spread out to find the next drop and Richard joined them, I kept looking for the bull. Finally I spotted the shine of his antlers sixty yards further on. He was dead. The shot had been really right on yet and the 300gr TBBC had passed through both lungs but he had still traveled more than a hunderd yards. I don't hunt for the tape measure and I believe that the finest rophy is the one that provides the best hunt, and that trophy is really the memories. Still Richard would measure horns at some point either back at camp or in the field for the records he is suposed to keep. This kudu got his attention. I notice his unusual attention to the horns and ask him whats up. He tells me that this one has got him and he thinks he has misjudged him. I ask why and he tells me that he had judged him to be 54" or 55" and he's pretty sure now that he's off. Hey, he's beautiful to me so its no issue for me whatever he tapes. He gets his tape from the truck and works up one horn. Then he asked Pearson to give him a hand and they remeasure. When they are done done he smiles and says he blew it for sure, the Kudu goes 58 1/2". Even I know that that is an exceptional measurement. But he still just as beautiful as before and hasn't gotten any more beautiful with the realization.

We loaded the kudu and head back to camp. The Maritians have had a good morning and congratulations are shared around. After lunch I grab a short nap.

At 2:30 or so Richard and I head out to the truck. Richard tells me that Roger has told him that the Maritians want to shoot a couple more zebra then they planned and that this is causing him some quota concerns and that Roger has asked Richard to ask me if I wouldn't mind shooting a zebra at a game farm about two thirds of the way to Harari rather than at Humani. I ask Richard about it and Richards tells me that the game farm is 7000 acres and fenced. He further tells me that the place isn't hunted much and the game a little tame as a result and predicts that I won't like it much. I think about this and decide that as accomodating as Roger has been for me on the much adapted safari that I'll do as requested. My wife had specifically requested that I shoot a zebra if possible and that I have a rug made for her. We joke about going to shoot a rug tommorow.

This afternoon we are after a warthog and we are parralleling the river near where the elephants were hanging out in the river two evenings ago and where we'd picked up our tracks yesterday morning as well. Maybe a hundred yards in front of us a nice looking warthog comes up the bank from the sand below and trots down the road where it turns left away from the river bank. Richard sugest we see if we can find him and if not that we make this a jumping of point for a good walk. We eased up to just before the curve and dismount. I take my 375H&H, loaded with four softs down. As we walk away from the truck I worked the bolt to chamber a round.

Richard is a couple of yards ahead and just as I make the turn I see the legs of a tall elephant walk through a hole in the brush ahead and a little right. The elephants are moving to our left. The elephant can't be more than thirty yards away, next I see a half grown elephant then another tall cow and then a youngster streaming by. I wisper this to Richard just to make sure they have caught his attention. They have since he has pulled up for the elephants to clear out before we continue. i'm closing the distance to Richard and we aren't more than twenty yards from the truck and this is a really good thing. Richard is carying the sticks and Tiengwa, carrying Richard's 470 and ammo belt is just rounding the turn and half way between us and the truck.

Richard is glancing left and looking for the warthog. He starts, then turn toward me and tells me to run to the truck. In Shona he yells for Tiengwa to start the truck on his way. Pearson who had been behind Tiengwa has turned and is running too. As I make the corner I see Tiengwa reach in and turn the key; the trucks fires up. Pearson has climbed in back and is motioning me to hand him my rifle. This I do while telling him that its loaded and has a round chambered. Richard throws the sticks to Tiengwa, hops in and we're accelerating fast in reverse.

To be continued on more time

GOOD GOD MAN, PICTURES!

Continueing for the last time I hope and pictures soon:

We hadn't gone ten feet in reverse and a tusked cow rounds the corner and is coming for us. We are going back as fast as we can and the deisel is screaming, the gears whining. We are right on the edge of the bank of the river with a ten or twelve foot drop to the sand on our right. On our left is really thich bush. We have nowhere to go but staight back.

The elephant is gaining and she is not more than four or five feet from the brush gaurd. The truck is topped out and its not looking good. I glance around the cab wondering where the sheet metal stops and the frame begins and wondering if all the metal work up top is going to be strong enough for when she shoves us over the bank. Richard starts to yell, in Shona, to Pearson and Tiengwa. There is a rifle shot from overhead. This checks the elephant but she's coming again and still only four or five feet from the brushgaurd. There is another shot and this checks her and she pulls up. For the first time she begins to trumpet and her ears flair out and she's shaking her head. We get fifty yards away and manage to pull into a hole in the brush and turn around.

I realize then that my camera is sitting right next to me and I'm kicking myself for not getting some good closeups! We decide that the warthog is safe and take a long cut around where the elephants are to get back to the river. i can see in the shadow of the truck that Pearson is still holding my rifle and Tiengwa is still holding Richard's rifle. Its pretty clear the rifles aren't going in the cases this ride.

When we're past the elephants we've had the run in with, we get out of the truck to go for a good hour and a half walk. Pearson has shot my rifle to stop the elephant and I go to reload then have a better thought. I'm slow getting going and I'm digging around in my ammo box. Richard asks what I'm doing and I tell him I'm getting rid of all the softs but one up the spout and another in my pocket and replacing them with solids. He chuckles and slaps me on the back and says, "Good plan!"

Our walk is pleasant and we see plenty of game but nothing I'm interested in shooting. We come up on an acre pool of water next to one bank of the river and find about a dozen of the farm workers' kids fishing. They've been doing pretty well based on the forked sticks loaded with some type of panfish. Tiengwa speaks in Shona to Richard, who then nods, and Tiengwa tells the kids that they have got to go since its getting to be the time that the elephants will come down to the river for water and tells them we've had a close shave. Richard tells me that they're not suposed to be there but that he and Tiengwa are worried that the elephants will be in poor temper and don't want to see any kids hurt or, more likely, killed. Another mile or so and we meet Pearson with the truck.

I've shot nothing this evening but its been great all the same. When Roger heres about the elephant trouble he asks why we didn't shoot her since apparently she's been alot of trouble. If only we'd have known it was not only ok but encouraged!

Day 17, Oct 22:

We pack up and head out after breakfast. We are going to the game farm and then on to Harare. We joke that today we are going to shoot my wife a rug. I'm not sure how this fenced hunt will go but Roger has been very accomodating to me. I've hunted elephants and shot two though that was not part of the original plan. I've also had the opportunity to hunt a lion and have seen four males, though no shooter and that was not part of the original plan either, and I got to shoot an extra buff for bait. Its been a great trip and I'm willing to help Roger out and the very nice Maritians too. We stalked zebra a couple of times to be close enough to shoot though we didn't find the right stallion without too many scars so I'm comfortable with whatever is in store for me so long as its reasonable.

We pull into the game farm and after passing through the fence I'm happy to report that this is the last we saw of it til our way out. We drove to the lodge and unloaded the truck and had lunch while waiting for our private game scout. We actually had some rain during our lunch. This was the only time in my trip we had more than a breif period of clouds.

After lunch we head for the truck and Richard suggest that I use my "two piper". I grab two softs and add them to my belt. During our drive through the gamefarm looking for zebra we see alot of game. Some I have never seen before and which is not native to the area. We come upon a herd of zebra in an open feild with a small hummock covered with trees and heavy brush. When we stop the truck a couple of hundred yards away the herd is curious. Richard glasses the herd and tells me the Stallion looks good with few scars. When we get out they bolt behind the hummock. We used the hummock as cover and approached to within a couple of yards of the hummock before rounding it. When we round the hummock into sight, the herd takes off but the obvious stallion bolts then pulls up to look at us. He is maybe seventy yards away and almost broadside, slightly quartering away. I take the shot low on shoulder and he drops. I break my rifle and unload the remainig soft and replace it with a solid. I hurry his demise with a shot through the spine and on through his heart. He is done.

The first shot, a soft, had exited and left a one inch hole; the second, a solid, had also exited and left a clibre hole. We load the stallion and take him to the skinning shed.

This has not been the most satisfying hunt of the trip. On the otherhand it wasn't as I had feared. "Shooting my wife a rug" pretty well sums up this zebra.

We head on to Harari and Richard drops me off at the bed and breakfast for a shower. Later he picks me up and we have a good steak dinner. Lights out pretty early. The next morning Richard comes by and then I'm off to the airport for the long trip home.

This was my first safari and I've had an opportunity to try just about everything. I hunted for four of the big five, elephant, cape bufalo, lion and leopard. Rhino are not a hunting possibility in Zimbabwe, but I have been within shooting distance of a black rhino. I shot two of the big five, elephant and buff, and saw a male lion with a rifle in my hands and three more males plus another fifteen lionesses or youngsters and cubs. Got totally skunked by the leopard, though.

I saw plenty of plains game and shot a bunch. I regret passing up the second Southern bushbuck which was huge and wish I'd have had the quota to take an nyala. I'll have to redo the zebra at some point as well and would like to take a Roan and a sable too.

The one hunt that won't wait too long though is elephants. Next year or at the latest '07 I will return for a bull elephant and some more tuskless. 500 grains is right that my double rifle will see more elephants.

I had a fantastic first safari, and one that exposed me to hunting a bunch of different species. I liked it all, loved some of it. I would rate the hunts as elephants first then buff, I enjoyed the cat hunting game and would rate these next, mostly because the payoff would be greatly satidfying, then bushbuck, eland next and all the rest. I was impressed with the hardiness of all african game. A good shot will kill anything but the game dies pretty hard.

Next time I will be lighter and fitter though I was ok this time around. I need to make sure my training takes in more rough and rocky ground too. I need to improve my quickness on the shot oportunity and it would be helpful if I could stretch my shooting range off sticks and other impromtu field positions, and offhand as well.

Probably the most important thing I need to do is take myself and a folding chair, along with a pair of binoculars, down to the zoo and study the elephants. I think if I brought "The Perfect Shot" too it would help.

JPK

JPK

Good show on the safari and one heck of a story. The equal of anything I've read in hunting magazines.

I personally found Chewore South to be be wild and wonderful and a client described the Save as "The Garden of Eden" for hunters. Sounds like that's what you found in both places.

Regards,

Mark

Mark,

Your descriptions of Chewore and the Save are right on. I prefered the wild and wonderful Chewore South, but both were great.

JPK

JPK,

Thank you for the effort you have taken in making such an outstanding report. I'm glad your trip was everything you wished for, and that it has lit the spark of desire to return for many more!

Outstanding - you are a superb storyteller. Thanks for sharing....

Great photos! What kind of camera did you use?

Many thanks to Terry for posting my photos!

JPK

500grains,

I bought a Sony, "Super SteadyShot", 5.1 megapixel with a 12x optical zoom for the trip and to upgrade my selection here too.

I have a good Nikon 35mm SLR and a couple of lenses that I think takes better photos, but this Sony is a lot in a small package and no film hassles. I used the Nikon on a sportfishing boat that I had for really good shots but when I sold the boat I found the camera staying at home due to its size. I stayed away from the bigger interchangable lens digitals for the same reason.

JPK

Thanks for the pictures -- very nice!