MOZAMBIQUE: Hunt With Tootabi Valley Safaris

[WAB]

I booked a hunt with in Mozambique for cape buffalo in 2014. We were hunting the Mahimba game reserve. My PH on the hunt was "Beans" Du Preez, the owner of Tootabi Valley Safaris. Mahimba is a great hunting area and Beans is the real deal, an old school PH who knows how to hunt. We had an outstanding time, taking buffalo, bush pig, warthog and a great bushbuck on a ten day safari. I am looking forward to hunting cape kudu and bushbuck with Beans out of his lodge in the Eastern cape as soon as time allows. I am not used to hunting with a PH, having grown up in Canada and spent most of my adult life in Wyoming and Alaska hunting on my own. So it is a relief to hunt with a PH who is a real hunter. I'm attaching a few photos.

 

[Royal27]

Congrats!

Love the buff and bushbuck, and especially the color on the bushbuck.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[Erny]

That is a very nice bushbuck. Congrats on a great hunt!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Well done WAB!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats, thanks for posting!

 

[johnnyblues]

Congratulations, love the bushbuck

 

[BRICKBURN]

Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

You go Beans! Well done!

 

[Beans]

@WAB , great to see you here Bill! Thanks for the report and looking forward in hunting together.

Can still remember how we almost ran into that bull where he was bedded down trying to get ahead of the heard.

It would be great if you can tell more of the hunt and share with member your experience with the ammo you used. It would be usefull to members going on dangerous game hunts.

@gizmo had the same experience and he can also comment.

 

[Royal27]

@gizmo had the same experience and he can also comment.

Yikes....

I kmow what ammunition that means....

 

[gizmo]

Well I can tell you Beans @Tootabi Valley Safaris and Andri Fox @Andri Fox Safaris put on one amazing hunt. The two of them paired up to give me the trip of a lifetime and went well above and beyond to see it through. I would recommend anyone to hunt with these two and can garauntee you will have the trip of a lifetime. Here's the links to my hunt reports and the ammunition debacle.
http://www.africahunting.com/threads/south-africa-gizmo-familys-african-safari.23270/#post-204034
http://www.africahunting.com/threads/south-africa-final-installment-gizmo-family-safari.24179/

 

[gizmo]

Yikes....

I kmow what ammunition that means....

Ug, ya DGS and especially DGX.

 

[hunting4sanity]

Great photos of your trophies, thanks for sharing.

 

[Patrick R]

very...very...nice!

 

[daved]

Great report.Thanks for sharing.
Beans is the real deal for sure.

 

[youssefchagoury]

Stunning pictures!!! May i ask what camera and lens were you using?!

 

[uplander01]

Mahimba is awesome, Congrats on your hunt! Hard to find a better bushbuck and sable paradise. That looks like a nice Mahimba bull. For sure Beans is a real deal PH, and in general a helluva guy.

Beans was my PH in fall of 2013 when we booked with JP Klienhans . Beans....You going to be around this fall (2016)? JP mentioned having a second PH there, sounds like we may be the last guys in, we're coming back. May just be Greg and I, buff, bushbuck, and sable, and whatever else we can find.

I'm hoping its not raining 7 out of the 10 days we are there...LOL

Cheers-

Ed

 

[Beans]

@uplander01 , good to see you here Ed. I am going to be there!

No kidding we had plenty of rain an slipping n sliding all over the place.

JP said that you guys are coming back. Can't get that place out of our systems! you just have to go back.

We had a couple of tense moments there in the thick stuff and then the herd turning on us after you got your bull.

Looking forward to it my friend

 

[WAB]

Sorry Beans, I'm not much good at this posting stuff! You are right, I should have shared more detail on the bullets. I was shooting a .458 Lott. It is a shooter, averaging under 1" for 3 shot groups at 100 yards. I made one shot kills on bushpig, bushbuck and warthog at ranges from 80 to 100 yards. However, the story was different on the buff. We almost ran right into him while running to get ahead of a herd. I shot him at between 15 and 25 yards. It took 4 shots. All 4 bullets were DGX (no solids due to the herd situation), and all four went right where they are supposed to. All four bullets were recovered. One completely failed (total jacket separation), the other three had horrible weight retention and performance. Never again!

Almost exactly a year later I was hunting in Klaserie on the border of Kruger. I shot the buff in my cover photo with a frontal quartering shot at 40 yards. The bullet cut the top of the heart in half, shredded the lungs, and was recovered under the hide just ahead of the opposing rear quarter. The recovered bullet is perfectly mushroomed and weighs 495 grains. It is a trophy bonded bearclaw.

When living in Alaska I used Swift A-Frames in my .375 for black and brown bear extensively with excellent results.

Bottom line, based on my experience I highly recommend the Bearclaw and the A-Frame. I will not be using a DGX bullet again other than to shoot off what I have left on the range.

Note: I took all five bullets to SCI last year and took them to both manufacturers. Very interesting conversations. One took multiple pictures, I'll let you guess which one.

 

[Wheels]

Seems they are a low cost provider for a reason.