Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Just Back From Zimbabwe

I finished my buffalo hunt with Lin Stanton. I spent 8 days at the Mibizi Camp on the Mwonesi River, Nuanetsi. I saw tons of game to include eland, kudu, wildebeast, warthogs, baboon, nyala, giraffe, elephant, duiker, steenbok, impala, zebra, bushbuck, bushpig, crocodile, and waterbuck.

I also saw a cheetah, honey badgers, jackals, bat-eared foxes, and a mongoose. We saw fresh lion tracks and leopard tracks, but didn't see the cats themselves.

I wanted a big buffalo, and we hunted hard for 6 days. Everyday, we would follow tracks. We got into buffalo everyday. On the first day, I turned down a 38" buff. On the second day, we tracked and caught up with a 41" buff, but the PH felt it was a little too young, and the boss too soft. On the 5th day we followed some bulls for almost 9 hours. I was totally zonked, by the time we finally got within shooting range. A bushpig rushed by at about 6 feet and I totally ignored it I was so tired. By the time I managed to get into positon, it was too dark to shoot. These group of buffalo contained a 45" and a 42" buff. The 45" was too young to shoot, but the PH wanted me to shoot the 42" buff, but I just couldn't get into position in time. So goes hunting when you are an old man.

The next day we tracked some bulls for about 5 hours. Unfortunately the wind changed just as we got close to where they were bedded down and they took off at a run. We decided to call it a day and head back to camp. On the 2 hour drive back to camp, we spotted a small herd of buffalo in some trees. The PH stopped and glassed them. He thought one would go 38", so we quietly moved into range. The wind was in our favor and I shot the biggest bull at about 25 yards. The bull ran off about 30 yards leaving a blood trail that even I could follow without difficulty. We found the bull lying down and I shot once more, finishing the buff. My first shot was perfect, and the 400 gr Swift A-frame had entered about 1/3 up the body centered on the front leg. The second shot, a Barnes 400 gr solid, was halfway up the body and perfectly centered over my first shot.

Although not as big as I originally wanted, I was more than happy with the buff (turned out to be 36" with a nice boss) as my arthritic hip was giving me fits from all the walking.

Lin and his crew were fantastic, and I would love to hunt with them again (but first I need to get my hip replaced).

It had been 13 years since I last hunted Zim, but I plan on returning a lot sooner next time.

I stayed at The Afton House in Jo'burg, two nights on arrival, and one night on departure, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the rooms, service, and companionship of the staff and fellow hunters. The $100.00 for the pre-approved SAPS firearm permit was money well spent.

BH63