Update on Zimbabwe

I just returned from a month of visiting and hunting around Africa. The bulk of my time was spent in Zimbabwe where we participated in Buffalo and plains game safaris in the Matetsi Safari area as well as the Save Valley Conservancy in the south. Zimbabwe has adopted the US dollar as its currency and the positive difference within the country is remarkable. While travelling the five hundred plus miles from Victoria Falls to the Cheredzi area we experienced no problems in regards to purchasing fuel and the grocery store we stopped at had fully stocked shelves. These are welcome sights after the shortages of fuel and food we've witnessed in previous trips. A few years ago when I was last in Victoria Falls I was one of the few tourists in the hotel. On this trip the Victoria Falls hotel was busy with tourists as was the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge located just a few miles away. We have planned several safaris for 2011 to Zimbabwe and I am looking forward to taking my seventeen year old daughter on her first trip to Africa where we will be hunting in Zimbabwe next April.

Bob Erickson and PH Hilton Nichols in front of the

Victoria Falls Hotel

Crossing the Matetsi River

Cape Buffalo with Handgun

Mike Murphy of Maine has hunted with handguns for over thirty years and fulfilled his dream of taking Cape Buffalo with a handgun. Mike took a beautiful bull as  well as a cow buffalo bringing his dream to fruition.

Mike was hunting with an SSK Thompson Contender in 45-70. He was using hand loads consisting of 500 grain Hornady DGX and DGS bullets. His load was pushing the 500 grain bullets at around 1450 fps. From six rounds fired on the two buff only two bullets were recovered with the rest going through the buffs. Mike tried the solids as well as the expanding bullets and at the lower velocities the expanding bullets failed to expand and acted like solids. Mike is planning on raising the bar and returning to hunt elephant in the near future, again with his handgun.

For a few of you that saw my postings on the  hunting forums you know I was somewhat skeptical about the abilities of the 45-70 in a handgun. For the fans of the 45-70 or similar handguns, I humbly apologize. In the hands of a skilled marksman this caliber and handgun combination is lethal.

Well done Mike!

Mike Murphy with nice Handgun Buff

Mike and Tim with second handgun buff

Matetsi area Safari

The first ten days of my time in Africa was spent in the Matetsi Safari area. We were there hunting cape buffalo as well as plains game with Bob Erickson of Maine.

For you gun aficionados Bob had purchased one of the new Sabatti doubles in .500 Nitro that Cabelas is marketing. The fit and finish of the gun is remarkable for the money and performed flawlessly during the safari. It seems to be a few pounds lighter than most doubles I have seen in similar calibers so recoil was a little heavy. With the exception of weight this double is a winner. Bob took his impala and kudu both at well over two hundred yards with single well placed shots. His 30-06 was loaded with 180 gr. Barnes TSX bullets provided by Precise Ammunition out of Atlanta, Georgia. Thanks for the ammo Alan!

Bob took a nice Buff, a Kudu that came in at a respectable 58" and Impala. We spent a lot of time looking for other plains game but early burns had not been done and the high grass made spotting game difficult.

While in the Matetsi area we saw large herds of buffalo, numbering in the hundreds. Elephant were in abundance but only spotted a few bulls that may go over fifty pounds. This was my third safari to this area and has in the past been a great area for sable and waterbuck. This is still seemingly the case. We saw many sable and waterbuck almost everyday in addition to other game.

Buffalo Bull taken with .500 Nitro Sabatti

Bob and PH Hilton Nichols with 58" Kudu

Angola

While in the Save Conservancy I had the opportunity to visit with Roger Whittal. Roger has been in the safari business for over forty years and needs no introduction. He spoke with me at length about his securing several hundred thousand acres of hunting concessions in Angola. This area starts just North of the Caprivi strip of Namibia and goes north from there. Roger is working with the Angolan government writing game laws, assisting in paperwork for CITES, gun importation and all of the other logistics that go into hunting and transporting game in another country. The camps are ready to go and Roger is optimistic about offering hunts in Angola in 2011. This area has not been hunted for several years and Roger indicates that there is an abundance of game and trophy quality seems to be good. Roger made it clear that the first few hunters into this area should be adventurers and explorers at heart. This could be an opportunity to be one of the first to hunt in an area that has been closed for several years. Give us a call regarding getting on the waiting list for a safari.

Steve and Steve with nice Dugga Boy

Beautiful Impala Steve!

Mozambique

The half a million acre area managed and being developed by the Duckworth family who own Mokore Safaris is continuing to develop into a prime safari destination in Africa. The area holds large herds of buffalo, migratory lion and plainsgame. The real appeal to this area at this time is the numbers and trophy quality of the plains game. For someone wanting a plains game safari with the possibility of some real high scoring trophies this is the place. We have no doubt we will hear of some new top ten record book trophies coming out of this area in the next few years. Even though this area holds a lot of buffalo they are widely dispersed over this vast area. We are offering plains game hunts with the option of upgrading to the buffalo daily rate if you spot a bull that you want to take. I was in Mokore camp in Zimbabwe when a client came in with Neil Duckworth who had taken a whopping "49 inch Cape buffalo. That's about as good as it gets anywhere in Africa.

Mokore Safaris area is home to the largest Baobab tree in Zimbabwe