Bullthrower338
AH ambassador
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2014
- Messages
- 5,708
- Reaction score
- 16,578
- Location
- Houston, Texas and Alder, MT
- Media
- 189
- Member of
- Life Member Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, NRA, Huntin' Fool, DSC and Pope and Young Club
- Hunted
- USA, Mexico, Canada, RSA, Australia NT, Zimbabwe
So many times in life it seems that you spend money on something or anticipate how great something will be only to feel that you could have done better or made a different choice and got a bit more bang for your hard earned buck. This trip was definitely not one of those times. My expectations were far exceeded on this hunt, here are the details and it may take a few days to complete.
I have wanted to hunt Cape buffalo since I first read Ruarks Horn of the Hunter, I devoured books on the subject from the sixth grade on and still can’t get enough!
I have had the means to do a buff hunt for a long time but I wanted a perfect hunt, my way and with a double rifle.
Had Tim @tarbe not asked me to join him on a hunt with John Sharp in the BVC, I may very well still might be trying to figure out where I would hunt. As it was we booked our hunt with John and Dave Langerman for August 14-26th and paid deposits at DSC.
Tim and I had spent almost every weekend for the better part of a year at the range, working up loads, checking velocities, doing reload drills, in some cases one of us changing DG rifles like underwear! We burned a lot of powder and placed a bunch of lead into the backstop. I’m sure that we probably pounded what little bit of good sense we had in our heads with the religious diet of recoil we were feeding our selves. But knowing that it was going to all boil down to one shot that if placed correctly would end up with a smile and a handshake from a happy PH, poor placement and we would needlessly place that PH into harms way as he cleaned up my mess. I prayed nightly before and during the hunt to guide my bullet where the ivory bead met the black shoulder.
I had purchased a Merkel 470 NE for Buffalo and shot it well. I had excellent luck with factory Federal Premium 500 grain Trophy Bonded and a load I worked up with A-Frames. I was content until Tim bought a Searcy 470! Instant wood envy set in! Somehow in the flurry of gun trading I end up selling the Merkel and work out a deal with Tim on the Searcy! My A-Frame load shot perfectly in it as well so I was in business hunting buff with the Searcy!
Three weeks before the hunt we make a range trip. I want to do some shooting at 50 yard range just to shoot some groups. We place two targets up side by side, I shoot a right and a left at the right target. Tim says you are about 8” to the right and high. Well this is odd because I’ve shot plenty at 50 yards and it shoots about top of the bull 2-1/2” apart. I look through the spotter and find Tim was correct, right where he said only I wasn’t shooting at the left target!!!
Panic Now? Not Yet! Call Butch Searcy before panicking! Sent an urgent email to Butch letting him know that the top rib had separated and the wedge was loose! Butch sent a reply back within an hour on a Sunday telling me to overnight the gun to him and he would get on it.
Gun was back in my hands within a week! Re-regulated and reblued, back in business!
One more trip to the range and all is good, confidence back, ready to hunt. Went home and cleaned the gun, all is good. Two days before wheels up, I’m going to fire a couple rounds to foul the bore before I pack the rifles into the TuffPak, front trigger BOOM rear trigger NOTHING! PANIC NOW! Call Butch, Call Tim, a lot late to change guns now, not for lack of DG rifles but lack of time and I want to hunt with the double. I try Butch’s suggestions to no avail, I am thinking broken firing pin! One last idea, I blast the living hell out out of the action with cleaner and blow it out and repeat the process a couple more times. Still nothing! So I’m my experience in the construction industry if it doesn’t work hit it harder. I slammed the butt on the bench, broke the action dropped a couple snap caps in and Shazam workin! Called Tim back and test fired both barrels with him and Kathy on the phone. Fired another 10 rounds and all was fine. I’m thinking it was just full of trash. Will ship the gun back for a going through soon but at least I’m hunting with the 470 again!
We depart Houston on the 12th and everything goes smoothly for me, I will let Tim tell his side of the story.lol
Uneventful flight to Atlanta, good flight on Delta 200 to Johannesburg and a great meal at Africa Sky and a good nights rest after a bottle of wine and a few Castles, finally back in Africa! Life is good, one more flight in the morning to Bulawayo and on to camp.
John was waiting for us on the tarmac when our SAA flight landed, got our luggage(Tim has additional story) cleared customs and off to camp.
I load up with Dave and off for our 4 hour drive to Nengo Camp in the BVC!
We arrived close to sunset and put up our gear. The accommodation was wonderful, large chalet over looking the water! Definitely a great operation with great staff that attended to anything needed. Tongi the camp boss was a pleasure to be around and was very eager to keep us pleased. Although when you have a couple guys that are used to a spike camp on an elk hunt being normal and think that a wall tent is upper crust, we aren’t to hard to keep happy in a place like this!
Dining area at Nengo Camp.
We are warned that the drought has made the area difficult to hunt but we’re also told that they had just shot a 49” bull recently! I wanted to put Langerman at ease and let him know that my expectations were not nearly that high and I would be plenty happy with a solid 46 inch bull.
Then I told him that as long as we had a great hunt I really could care less about the size as long as he was a mature old bull and hunted properly. Dave would realize after 12 days that I am borderline retarded and pretty much more about having a good time than anything else. I knew the first time I met Dave at DSC that I was going to enjoy hunting with him and over the next two weeks my first impression proved correct and I left with the utmost respect for this man, he will be one of the great PH’s in Africa lore.
Yeah, Yeah, I will get to the hunting shortly!
I have wanted to hunt Cape buffalo since I first read Ruarks Horn of the Hunter, I devoured books on the subject from the sixth grade on and still can’t get enough!
I have had the means to do a buff hunt for a long time but I wanted a perfect hunt, my way and with a double rifle.
Had Tim @tarbe not asked me to join him on a hunt with John Sharp in the BVC, I may very well still might be trying to figure out where I would hunt. As it was we booked our hunt with John and Dave Langerman for August 14-26th and paid deposits at DSC.
Tim and I had spent almost every weekend for the better part of a year at the range, working up loads, checking velocities, doing reload drills, in some cases one of us changing DG rifles like underwear! We burned a lot of powder and placed a bunch of lead into the backstop. I’m sure that we probably pounded what little bit of good sense we had in our heads with the religious diet of recoil we were feeding our selves. But knowing that it was going to all boil down to one shot that if placed correctly would end up with a smile and a handshake from a happy PH, poor placement and we would needlessly place that PH into harms way as he cleaned up my mess. I prayed nightly before and during the hunt to guide my bullet where the ivory bead met the black shoulder.
I had purchased a Merkel 470 NE for Buffalo and shot it well. I had excellent luck with factory Federal Premium 500 grain Trophy Bonded and a load I worked up with A-Frames. I was content until Tim bought a Searcy 470! Instant wood envy set in! Somehow in the flurry of gun trading I end up selling the Merkel and work out a deal with Tim on the Searcy! My A-Frame load shot perfectly in it as well so I was in business hunting buff with the Searcy!
Three weeks before the hunt we make a range trip. I want to do some shooting at 50 yard range just to shoot some groups. We place two targets up side by side, I shoot a right and a left at the right target. Tim says you are about 8” to the right and high. Well this is odd because I’ve shot plenty at 50 yards and it shoots about top of the bull 2-1/2” apart. I look through the spotter and find Tim was correct, right where he said only I wasn’t shooting at the left target!!!
Panic Now? Not Yet! Call Butch Searcy before panicking! Sent an urgent email to Butch letting him know that the top rib had separated and the wedge was loose! Butch sent a reply back within an hour on a Sunday telling me to overnight the gun to him and he would get on it.
Gun was back in my hands within a week! Re-regulated and reblued, back in business!
One more trip to the range and all is good, confidence back, ready to hunt. Went home and cleaned the gun, all is good. Two days before wheels up, I’m going to fire a couple rounds to foul the bore before I pack the rifles into the TuffPak, front trigger BOOM rear trigger NOTHING! PANIC NOW! Call Butch, Call Tim, a lot late to change guns now, not for lack of DG rifles but lack of time and I want to hunt with the double. I try Butch’s suggestions to no avail, I am thinking broken firing pin! One last idea, I blast the living hell out out of the action with cleaner and blow it out and repeat the process a couple more times. Still nothing! So I’m my experience in the construction industry if it doesn’t work hit it harder. I slammed the butt on the bench, broke the action dropped a couple snap caps in and Shazam workin! Called Tim back and test fired both barrels with him and Kathy on the phone. Fired another 10 rounds and all was fine. I’m thinking it was just full of trash. Will ship the gun back for a going through soon but at least I’m hunting with the 470 again!
We depart Houston on the 12th and everything goes smoothly for me, I will let Tim tell his side of the story.lol
Uneventful flight to Atlanta, good flight on Delta 200 to Johannesburg and a great meal at Africa Sky and a good nights rest after a bottle of wine and a few Castles, finally back in Africa! Life is good, one more flight in the morning to Bulawayo and on to camp.
John was waiting for us on the tarmac when our SAA flight landed, got our luggage(Tim has additional story) cleared customs and off to camp.
I load up with Dave and off for our 4 hour drive to Nengo Camp in the BVC!
We arrived close to sunset and put up our gear. The accommodation was wonderful, large chalet over looking the water! Definitely a great operation with great staff that attended to anything needed. Tongi the camp boss was a pleasure to be around and was very eager to keep us pleased. Although when you have a couple guys that are used to a spike camp on an elk hunt being normal and think that a wall tent is upper crust, we aren’t to hard to keep happy in a place like this!
Dining area at Nengo Camp.
We are warned that the drought has made the area difficult to hunt but we’re also told that they had just shot a 49” bull recently! I wanted to put Langerman at ease and let him know that my expectations were not nearly that high and I would be plenty happy with a solid 46 inch bull.
Then I told him that as long as we had a great hunt I really could care less about the size as long as he was a mature old bull and hunted properly. Dave would realize after 12 days that I am borderline retarded and pretty much more about having a good time than anything else. I knew the first time I met Dave at DSC that I was going to enjoy hunting with him and over the next two weeks my first impression proved correct and I left with the utmost respect for this man, he will be one of the great PH’s in Africa lore. Yeah, Yeah, I will get to the hunting shortly!
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