Hi Freischuetz,

Welcome to the forum...... I know you're gonna enjoy it.

I first hunted the Zambezi Valley about 6 or 8 years ago and although I couldn't and wouldn't claim to know every inch of it. I have hunted a fair amount of it. I also know other PHs who hunt the same(ish) areas..... and no-one gossips like a PH!

Last time I was there we heard 4 long bursts of AK47 gunfire in one night alone and the next day we found a newly ventilated & killed Elephant carcass minus tusks.... actually, minus one tusk. The other was still attached but as Mr Big-Ears had fallen on his side it was impossible to get to the other tusk. There must have been a lot more carcasses we didn't find.

It's only my opinion, but I reckon that most of the poaching is now being done by Zimbabweans who are trying to get away from the troubles in their home country.

I'd also say that the Valley is not really a great hunting destination anymore. There's nothing there that can't be hunted a lot easier and more comfortably elsewhere, and when you compare game populations of the Zambezi Valley to somewhere like Tanzania you realise how much better off you are in somewhere like the Selous. Hell, they don't even attempt to keep people out of the Valley at all. Again compare that to the Selous & other areas of Tanzania where anyone caught inside the reserve and not employed by the safari companies is considered a poacher.