Ivory Trails Safaris
Hunt dates were October 1 -10 2013 in Chirisa Safari Area located in the Western Part of Zimbabwe just south of the Zambezi River.
PH Phillip Smythe who I met with and booked this hunt with two years ago in Las Vegas at the SCI Convention.
Booking Agent Aaron Neilson Global Hunting Resources
Rifle Winchester Model 70 375 HH
 
Phillip runs an outstanding camp located on the Sengwa River in the south western part of his hunting concession. On this hunt my main animal of interest was Cape Buffalo.  I also expressed interest in several plains game species prior to arrival.  Just a reminder that this is a no fence area and you are hunting animals in their free range environment in the wilds of Africa.  This area offers 4 out of the big five animals.  I saw on this hunt numerous elephant everyday.  Phillip is allowed to harvest animals on a strict quota system set forth by the head park ranger in this district.

During October the weather is very hot and water is quite sparse.  We would travel to the known water springs throughout the are and look for fresh buffalo sign to start and track for the days hunt.  Walks would be as brief as 1 hour before catching up with the buffalo or as long as walking all day and never catching up with them. I suffered on this hunt. Living in Alaska the hottest day I saw in 2013 was a bombing 77 degrees. At Chirisa I was sweating like a whore in church. After about 2-3 days my body adjusted I forced hydrated myself making myself drink as much fluids as possible hunting was very comfortable.

Day 1. Went to the parks office filling out paperwork and getting a park ranger who would accompany me on this hunt.  The first day we stalked in to about 50 yards of a group of a dozen buffalo.  One nice solid top bull but according to Phillip he was " a rat ".  nothing worth shooting on day 1 a bull well past his prime.

Day 2. We got on fresh buffalo sign and an hour later were on the group.  we stalked with in 80 yards of the heard as they laid down chewing their cuds.  we could see two nice bulls but long story short they got up and moved off prior to having the chance at a good shot. They never stopped and after an hour of following tracks we called it quits due the intense mid day sun.

Day 3-6 The next four days was tracking tracking tracking.  We got close to buffalo everyday but we were never able to have a decent shot at a decent buffalo before they spooked off. Phillip asked me how I wanted to hunt. I basically told him I did not want to go back to camp until after sun down. We would spend our hot afternoons looking for shade and watching water sources. I saw a vast amount of game and had ample opportunities to shoot zebra, impala, wart hog, bush buck, baboon, the list goes on and on but my sights were set on buffalo. On Day 5 we stumbled upon a group of 4-5 elephants and one was a HUGE tusk less cow. It was hard to do but I passed her up too. However during the entire hunt I was looking for a good Kudu bull too.

Day 7.  Going to check water and ran into a group of 4 Kudu bulls first thing in the morning.  Was able to stalk with in 180 yards and shot a nice 50" bull off the sticks. This Kudu showed no signs of being hit and never lost a drop of blood.  It wasn't until we saw three of the four bulls appear on the opposite river bank that we knew we had the big bull down.  One shot one Kudu.

/Users/JohnRhyshek/Pictures/iPhoto Library.photolibrary/Masters/2013/10/13/20131013-153048/DSC00362.JPG

Day 8 we got onto a group of Buffalo early in the morning.  I was on the sticks as they were feeding in front of me at about 80 yards. As soon as Phillip saw a nice bull present himself to us he told be to go ahead and take the shot.  I hit the Buffalo good and he went about 80 yards before piling up.  I was very happy to have connected on my first African Cape Buffalo.  As we approached the bull Phillip had me shoot the Bull two more times to ensure he was finished.  Cant ever be to sure as we all know...its the dead ones that will kill you.

/Users/JohnRhyshek/Pictures/iPhoto Library.photolibrary/Masters/2013/10/13/20131013-153048/DSC00436.JPG

Day 9 and 10 involved shooting game birds, taking photos and enjoying myself.

/Users/JohnRhyshek/Pictures/iPhoto Library.photolibrary/Masters/2013/10/13/20131013-153048/DSC00157.JPG

/Users/JohnRhyshek/Pictures/iPhoto Library.photolibrary/Masters/2013/10/13/20131013-153048/DSC00223.JPG

/Users/JohnRhyshek/Pictures/iPhoto Library.photolibrary/Masters/2013/10/13/20131013-153048/DSC00291.JPG

/Users/JohnRhyshek/Pictures/iPhoto Library.photolibrary/Masters/2013/10/13/20131013-153048/DSC00325.JPG

Over all I am very pleased with my hunt. The only thing a regret is not having deeper pockets so that I could have capitalized on other game opportunities.


I would be glad to entertain any questions about this trip. phone # 1 907 240 1420

Thanks,

John Rhyshek
King Salmon, Alaska

still trying to figure out the photo uploading thing any help would be appreciated.

there is a tutorial on here somewhere on how to post pictures, just do a search.

congratulations on your hunt. having hunted Zim in mid Oct myself, i know just how hot it can be. if i had known there was an AR member in King Salmon, i would have looked you up and bought you a beer at the only "decent " bar in town when i was there salmon fishing in August last year>

Congratulations on your hunt. Looking forward to the photos when you get them posted.

Hey John 7997,

any problem sleeping during night because of the warm temperatures ?

Asking since I am going on my first buffalo hunt in Zim in October this year ( 29/9-8/10 )

Norwegian, temperature usually drops way down, because it is still dry season.
That was my experience. Hot during the day some days, but nights were always nice and pleasant.
Heading back in October again down SE Zim

Sounds like fun

<a href="http://s871.photobucket.com/user/jrhyshek/media/DSC00362_zpscffc5b5c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab271/jrhyshek/DSC00362_zpscffc5b5c.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC00362_zpscffc5b5c.jpg"/></a>

[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Norwegian:
Hey John 7997,

any problem sleeping during night because of the warm temperatures ?

Asking since I am going on my first buffalo hunt in Zim in October this year ( 29/9-8/10 )[/QUOTE

where i hunted on Lake Kariba( Omay North) it was hotter than hell at night- all night. this was mid Oct. after the first night i had the staff move my bed/mozzie net out onto the porch. luckily, i took a small battery operated fan and a chilly pad. this made it possible to get some sleep. otherwise, forget it. i have a thermometer in my little travel alarm clock. it typically read 87-89F at 2-3 in the morning and was usually about 90-92F at bed time. OF COURSE IT WAS 105-115F DURING THE DAY, so i guess you could say it cooled off at night

quote:

Originally posted by john7997:
<img src="http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab271/jrhyshek/DSC00362_zpscffc5b5c.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC00362_zpscffc5b5c.jpg"/>

Photobucket - Hit the right hand corner of image and select 'get links' then double click on the last option and it will come up 'copied' in yellow. Paste that.

I heard that Chirisa and Chete never even got bid on for hunting use by the business's in Zim. A sad state of affairs if it is the truth.

Nice report old friend!

Great report John, sounds like a great trip. I met you last year at Brooke's Falls, we travelled on the plane together from king salmon to Brooke Falls. I was in King Salmon fishing at Keith O Neil's lodge Bristol Bay Retreat. I was the Aussie you called a dumb ass for not entering that Silver Salmon I showed you that I caught in the local derby.
Well done mate
Tony

If you use photobucket ...

Producing the Highest Quality Custom Wildlife
Visit our Studio Online at:
The Artistry of Wildlife
"2009 World Champions"
"Best in World Combined Artists"
World Taxidermy Championships
" 2010 Michigan State Champion"


Email:
info@artistryofwildlife.com


Visit our studio on Facebook Updates and large galleries to view

dande_jack....i would bet there are about 2,000 to 3,000 head of buffalo in Chirisa...I couldn't imagine someone not wanting to bid on the area.

jdollar.....i am from alaska...sleeping was tough i never went under the covers. but after about 3 days my body adjusted well. 85 at night and 100 during the day in chirisa in mid october

the norweigen....please see the comment i left for dollar

capra.....hey tony good to hear from you...yes it was a fun trip....and yes you would have won over 3,000 dollars US if you would have entered the Silver Salmon Derby. I wanted to cry and i didn't even catch that monster silver

till next time

John

Thanks John - I received your message