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It's not often that lightning strikes twice on the same safari but that is exactly what happened on my recent Zimbabwean adventure with Buzz Charlton and Peter Barnard.

We were hunting on the Save Conservancy, the Hammond and Mkasine blocks for those of you who have been to that "Garden of Eden" in the Zim lowveldt, in June, 2005. This hunt was my ninth trip over to the Dark Continent and I had my Dad and first-timer buddy, John Hoffman with me. This was originally scheduled as a 2x1 buff hunt for me and another friend and a 2x1 plainsgame hunt for John and Dad, however, when work got in the way of pleasure and Steve, my buff hunting buddy, had to cancel on us, we decided to make it a 3x2 plainsgame hunt for all. Saved me the expensive charters to catch up with everyone and simplified things greatly. Once in camp, Buzz checked on the availablity of a buff on quota but they had all been spoken for. No problem, plainsgame is a no pressure fun hunt.

The hunting was great and we never saw many of the shortages and strife you hear about in Zim. We did see war vets and squatters on some areas of the Conservancy but were told Mugabe was going to push them out. Remember safari areas bring in precious forex so Bad Bob is concerned with this flow of U.S. $$$$ and limits the activity in some areas.

On the third morning of the hunt, Peter Barnard, John's PH and John saw an old buffalo bull lying in a pool of the Mkwasine River. As they approached he pulled his thin frame out of the water and gave them that stare buff are so famous for! They could tell the old boy had been hurt in some way and was not doing well, but did not have permission to shoot. The game scout with them was unsure if the bull should be shot or not, so they watched him make his way into the thick reeds that bordered the river and disappear.

That night George Hulme, the Block Manager, on hearing of the buff's condition, gave us the "thumbs up" to shoot the old boy if we saw him again. However, finding the bull in a 1,000,000 acre conservancy was like finding a needle in a haystack. And in the condition he was in he was certainly fair game for the lions we heard roaring from camp each night...

Dad was hunting for a big kudu we had seen the last two days in a certain bend of the river, but we always crossed just as he finished watering and was leaving. On the 5th afternoon, Buzz built a leopard blind that would give Dad an easy 100 yard shot at the bull and they left camp right after lunch to set up and wait for him to show. The rest of us were going to take it easy and leave camp at 3:00 to make our way past them and into the Mkwasine block for bushbuck.

We left camp at the appointed hour and made our way to the Mkwasine. To get there we had a sandy crossing we needed to make across the Mkwasine River just 300 yards from where Dad and Buzz were sitting in their blind. As we crossed the river, Peter glanced to the left and jammed on his brakes. 100 yards away was a buff, lying in a pool in the river! A quick check with the binos confirmed it was our boy! Since I had shot several buff before, I handed John my .375 H&H and made sure he had a 300 grain solid up the spout. Peter was kind enough to hand me his .416 RM and told me to shoot backup.

Meshack, Peter's tracker led us up the bank slightly into the reeds to get us closer to the bull. As we emerged at the edge of the reeds about 50 yards away the bull stood and began to walk toward us. Peter set the sticks up and John was on the bull immediately. The bull was facing us and John, not wanting to screw the shot up, began whispering "where do I shoot him?". I whispered, "just under the chin." Suddenly the bull had enough and turned to leave. As he turned broadside, john shot, nailing him in the shoulder. The bull bucked at the impact but, still on his feet, headed for the reeds. Not wanting to contend with a bull in thick cover, I aimed and fired the .416 at the bull's shoulder. Three more steps and the bull collapsed, rolling all four legs up into the river.

He was dead when we got to him. After pulling him out of the water...which was quite a feat...we saw his scrotum had been clawed and was infected. The fever he had probably led him to lie in the river. Shooting the old boy was the humane thing to do. We had a great hunt and adventure but shooting that buff for free was icing on the cake...lightning did strike twice when we found that old bull in the Save Coservancy a second time!

And Dad, Buzz and the big kudu...he was a no show, I have no idea why...could it have been the commotion going on just down river? Oh well, you can always find another kudu...after all, how many times do you find a needle in a haystack?

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"I do not believe there are many more impressive sights than a city man's first glimpse at a live maned lion loose on a plain in strange country."
-Robert Ruark

Edited by bwanamrm (01/08/05 04:07 AM)