ZIMBABWE: Review Of A Dream Hunt

[quacker attacker]

Hunt Review:
Location: Sengwa Research Area in Zimbabwe 100,000 acre national park concession
Dates: 8-21-2021 - 9-5-2021
Type of Hunt: Tuskless elephant, buffalo, and plains game
Method of Hunt: Rifle Ruger Hawkeye African .375 Ruger Hornady 300 gr DGS, Hornady 250 gr GMX Leupold VXR 2-7, Ruger M77 3006 Federal Premium 165 gr Barnes Leupold VX2 2-7
Outfitter: Mokore Safaris
PH: Doug Duckworth
Species Hunted: elephant, buffalo, hyena, eland, zebra, waterbuck, warthog, impala, chobe bushbuck
Trophy Quality: excellent
Species seen: elephant, buffalo, leopard, hyena, eland, kudu, zebra, warthog, impala, bushbuck, common reedbuck, duiker, sharpes grysbok, baboon, jackel, bushpig, vervet monkeys, and lots of birds! Active anti-poaching has resulted in really good game numbers and trophy quality, [24 inch impala, 29 inch waterbuck and 14 inch warthog for example].
Lodging: Tented Camp but very comfortable
Food: Excellent! We always request as much wild game as possible on our safaris and we were not disappointed!
Activities: Our focus was on hunting this time. We didn't do any other site seeing but with 100,000 beautiful acres we were site seeing every waking hour!
Travel Methods: We flew Emirates Air from Chicago to Dubai. There was about a 14 hour layover but Emirates comps travelers a hotel room, dinner, and shuttle to and from the airport to the hotel WITHOUT HAVING TO CLAIM LUGGAUGE AND GUNS. Then from Dubai to Lusaka where some passengers were let off and then on to Harare Zimbabwe. We stayed at Mokore's guest house for the night and then opted for road transport, [7 hours to camp], rather than a charter flight. We enjoy seeing more of the country on the drive.
High points: Experiencing multiple elephant charges with one, unfortunately ending in a self defense shooting at 7 paces. Tuskless elephant is definitely my "X" game! Taking my first cape buffalo after 4 or 5 days of careful stalking without being able to close the deal. The beauty of this concession from predawn to post sunset. I will never tire of it!
Low points: By about day 8 elephant activity had really slowed so we switched focus to buffalo. A tuskless elephant is at the very top of my bucket list so there was a little bit of disappointment but very little. We switched to buffalo which is much more than a consolation prize and we had plenty of action chasing tuskless.
Things to improve: Nothing, Mokore was the 9th guided hunt I've done. I've only had one guide I really disliked out of 9. The rest have been very good but Mokore Safaris and Doug Duckworth take it up a notch even from other guides we really like!
Overall rating: 10
Would I recommend to a friend? Only if they take me along! :]

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[TucsonFX4]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. Hopefully you get another chance for a tuskless very soon.

 

[cls]

Congratulations, thanks for posting.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Thank you for posting, sounds like an exciting trip!!

 

[WAB]

The Save is a special place. Thank for for sharing. You’ve brought back many fond memories.

 

[Angelo_orygun]

Great hunt! Looks like a wonderful place. Getting that tuskless will be a good reason for number 10!

I did a 9 hour layover in Dubai on my last trip, no hotel room. I imagine you landed a little more rested than me!

 

[Frederik]

Great animals with a great outfit could elaborate more on the elephant that had to be shot sounds like a good story.

 

[Jörg Krüger]

Thank you for sharing. I would as well love to hear about the elephant charge. Love the Warthog.
Real exciting stuff

 

[quacker attacker]

The Save is a special place. Thank for for sharing. You’ve brought back many fond memories.

This was the Sengwa Research area, not Save.

 

[quacker attacker]

Thank you for sharing. I would as well love to hear about the elephant charge. Love the Warthog.
Real exciting stuff

Very 1st morning we checked a few water holes for tracks then headed to a high overlook. From the overlook we spotted a buffalo that had been badly injured by a snare. Our game scout said the Park department wanted it shot before it could hurt someone so we headed down to take care of it but picked up on fresh elephant tracks. We followed the elephants for a ways but they were at the base of a steep bluff so the wind was swirling. We spooked them twice so then backed out, dispatched the buffalo, and went back to camp for lunch. We picked up their trail again in the afternoon and were following at a fast pace because the sign wasn't getting fresher and we were burning daylight. But then all of the sudden the sign was REAL fresh! We were in thick mopane scrub

when she charged from about 40 yards. There was about a 7 yard opening between her and us. Her head came up just as Doug shot so he stumbled her but she seemed to be getting her feet back under her. She charged from about the 2 o'clock position, creating an angle where it was safe for me to shoot, so when I saw her getting her feet back under her I put one in her head but too far forward. This shot slowed her again and Doug finished her off. She had charged with no hesitation and with speed and ferocity that has to be experienced to be believed! There's a back story that's pretty interesting too. In 2012 we were in Zimbabwe hunting. Tuskless wasn't our focus but our ph had an extra tuskless permit and a herd was coming out of Huwange park to drink in our concession. We got on them 1st thing in the morning and while looking for a tuskless got too close. The lead cow bluff charged twice but the third time was for real and our ph shot her at 4 paces! So the first two times I was close to elephant in the wild we got charged and had to shoot in self defense. My wife says elephants don't like me! I've never felt so alive!

 

[quacker attacker]

Here are the recovered bullets. All of the Barnes bullets weighed 100% except 1 which lost one petal. The 250 GR GMX weight about 170 gr. It was dug out of the buffalo's skull. I was surprised it lost that much of its weight.

 

[Foxi]

Flag tears from heavy bone hits are not unusual.
After all, 2/3 of the remaining weight remained.
The GMX is no longer in production
But the Barnes copies are picture-perfect.

Nice report, thanks for the ride.

 

[rinehart0050]

Great report, congrats on your hunt!

Glad the charge ended well- I've never been charged, only mock charged, and that was exciting enough!

 

[kdenn]

Congratulations. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AZDAVE]

Thank you for sharing, looks and sounds like you had a great adventure. Looks like you have a reason for trip #10.

 

[quacker attacker]

Thank you for sharing, looks and sounds like you had a great adventure. Looks like you have a reason for trip #10.

6 of the trips were to Africa but yes, ready for trip 7 to Africa and maybe the 3rd time will be the charm for tuskless.

 

[quacker attacker]

Flag tears from heavy bone hits are not unusual.
After all, 2/3 of the remaining weight remained.
The GMX is no longer in production
But the Barnes copies are picture-perfect.

Nice report, thanks for the ride.

We've had perfect performance from GMX bullets in 6.5 Creedmoor but none of them hit a buffalo skull!

 

[Nyati]

Congrats on your hunt and thanks for sharing !