I think for me the Zambesi sitatunga was the most rewarding. I hunted them briefly on the end of a 21 day safari in Zambia during '98. We moved up to the Bangweulu swamp from the Luangwa at the end of our hunt with just 3 hunting days remaining. The moon was full, swamp full of water and July was obviously not the ideal time for this hunt. We did see some sitatunga, shot black lechwe, oribi and tseesbe. The whole experience whetted my appetite for a return engagament. Also the Bangweulu has to be one of the most beautiful spots in all of Africa.

We returned to Zambia in 2000 with 7 days at the end of our safari dedicated to the sitatunga. This time we would be on the dark of the moon in September. It was a perfect choice.

The first day in the swamp we scouted for a good place to set up our portable blind. I say blind loosly as it was sort of a painter's scaffolding that put you 15 feet in the air and could accommodate 6 people. Jaco Du Plessis (the very one) told us where he had seen a big sitatunga a few days previous but with no trees close by to use for a stand he had not returned. We checked out the spot and found a perfect litte rise to set the scaffolding up on.

The next morning found us in the stand well before light. When the light came we had 360 degree sitatuga that paid no attention to our contraption at all. Early on we saw a couple of bulls in the low 20's but about 7:30 AM what appeared to be a huge bull came out of the payrus and casually walked across our front. The only problem was him being at 565 yards. It's not done but with encouragement from the game scout we climbed down and made a stalk through the reeds. About every 50 yards we would look back and Sadie would give us hand signals from the blind on what the sitatunga was doing. Eventually with Sadie's help we got in front of the bif bull and set up on the sticks. Itworked perfectly and as he stepped in the open at about 150 yards I shot him. At the shot he turned into the really tall grass and vanished. After a short wait and some tense moments we found him with the help of Smart the worlds tallest tracker. The sitatunga measured 28.5 and because the curl was not deep he was impossibly tall.

This was probably the happiest safari crew I have ever seen. Lots of hungs, handshakes, back slapping and kisses all around.

This was an end to a great safari and the only one to date were I was able to take all the animals I wanted and get the trophy quality I desired.

Because of a snafu in 2000 my sitatunga has been in Zambia since it was shot and just now it is on the way to the States. I'm very anxious to get it as the wait and subsequent haggling with ZAWA has been a roller coaster ride of incredible magnitude.

Mark