Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Back from my Zimbabwe safari... Aug-Sept 2015

Doc & John, I will add warthogs to that mix as well. To me they are just so damned, well, "African" I always have them as a priority and will again!

It's bushbuck for me.

Yeah, JB, I was more than a bit surprised by that myself. "Kudu fever"... I'll have to remember that term!

It's funny how some beasts just grab your imagination. For me, buffalo and eland have always been in that class, and seeing them and hunting them in their element was exactly as I'd expected it to be, only better. Kudu fever was a real surprise to me, and nothing else really grabbed me like kudu did, except for, well, lion.

I had no desire whatever to hunt lion before I went on this trip. Now, after seeing big male lions up close in the bush, and hearing them roar as I drift off to sleep at night, I'm wondering how/when/if I'll ever be able to afford to hunt them.

Doc, of course you realize that you really do Double Plus Ludicrous Suck Don't ya? Well at least you ain't a dentist so you can hunt lions!!

I agree on Warthog!

Nyala for me.

There's nothing like hunting in Africa. I've really enjoyed reading your report, Doc! Congrats on an awesome experience!

Eric

Doc amazing report, pictures and storyline! A big S Texas YEEEHA to you, John, Isaac and the rest of the team! I take it that Khevin, an excellent young tracker who was with John when I was in BVC, is no longer with John? Very nice buff and kudu! Good on you for staying focused in what could have easily become traumatic on both your buff and kudu experiences. Thanks so much for sharing your safari with all of us. John is for certain the consummate PH.

Well DocRocket, I truly hated to read your hunting report and I'll tell you why. I hunted the BVC in 2013 when my scheduled hunt in another area of Zimbabwe was screwed by some government official. My hunt was rescued by the BVC manager, whom I will be indebted to forever. And it is amazing how similar your hunt was to mine and that's why I hated reading about it. I can't get back there and you've just reminded me how incredible it was.

So many things came up as I read your experience with a charging elephant, for example:

"John stopped the car as the bull advanced down the middle of the road toward us. He put the Land Cruiser in reverse gear, but kept his foot on the clutch. He reached into the overhead bin and pulled down his Freedom Arms 454 Casull revolver, which someone posted a pic of here a few weeks ago. He put it out the window and cocked the hammer, and I had to wonder if he really thought that little pistola was going to be of any use in this situation, should things get truly hairy."

Same thing happened to me with my PH. I got a photo as the bull changed his direction after he stopped his charge, didn't think about filming it while it was happening.

You know, there is absolutely no way to describe these hunts accurately, it's like describing the Grand Canyon. Got to see/do it.

I also got an education on the rigors of poaching and the consequences if you get caught. I was introduced to the man in charge of the anti-poaching program but I won't tell you what was said about him. It actually scared me and I've been worked with some really scary men in my work.

I looked at your photos and recognized landmarks. The vegetation, the mopane and the baobob trees, and the dead leaves on the ground make it like stalking on giant corn flakes.

And the numbers and variety of plains game, birds, reptiles, and the baboons. And the kudu were, as you described, incredible.

No, please don't post any more, I'll just lay awake tonight remembering it.

Muygrande: I believe Khevin (whom I hunted with twice, has fallen to the standard African malady and my no longer be with us). DOc?

muygrande, Jorge... Sadly, Khevin passed away earlier this year. Like many (most?) Africans of his race and age, he had HIV. He succumbed to AIDS after the stress of being mauled by a leopard.

uptonogood... wow, that's really something! If the man who saved your hunt is the man I think it was/is, he's truly an amazing individual. And I agree on the anti-poaching guys... I have met several men of that type and class, and they are indeed scary men.

But FWIW, a couple of the PH's I've met, including John Sharp and Lou Halloran as well as a couple others are men unlike anyone you'll meet in America or Europe. These guys are modern-day Alan Quatermains, larger than life. I wouldn't call someone like John scary, exactly, but I know that I would never, ever want to get on his bad side or fight him!

Wow, I did not know about the cat incident, Doc!

[quote=DocRocket]muygrande... Sadly, Kevin passed away earlier this year. Like many (most?) Africans of his race and age, he had HIV. He succumbed to AIDS after the stress of being mauled by a leopard.


Are most of the young men in that area HIV positive and if so is it do to drug use?

My understanding is that HIV is epidemic in black Africans in much of sub-Sahara Africa, and that cheap anti-retroviral drugs are the only thing preventing a massive die-off. Prevalence is almost entirely due to sexual transmission. The sexual promiscuity of these people is well-documented in the public health literature; it's quite an interesting story, medically speaking...

It's written up by one of John's colleague PH's in the latest edition of African Hunting Gazette. Client gut-shot the leopard, PH called John to ask for help, so John and his trackers went into the thick stuff with the first PH and his trackers. Too many people, really. The first PH killed the leopard with a load of buckshot just as it was about to hit Khevin, but the leopard got his claws into the tracker as he died... tore his cheek open, but no serious damage. Despite the relatively minor injuries, he just went steadily downhill after that, I'm told.

So sad to hear and thanks for the info. May Khevin RIP.

Simply outstanding stuff.
Well done, Sir.
Africa is on my list.
Thanks for sharing the adventure.

thanks, Doc

Doc,

Isn't that a dilemma? I hunted Zambia in 2000 for a cat, and my PH and good friend had leopard but allotted the lions in his concession before I booked. No problem, I'll get that the next time, in a few years. Well, it didn't work out that way. Had another kid, Zambia closed and opened and closed and opened concessions and now the cost of lions reserves them for Oil sheiks and dotcom money. Maybe old European money can still grab one, but the rest of us have a problem. Lock stock and lion, such a safari in Tanzania now will set you back at least $75,000. Therefore, no lions in my future.

I'm satisfied listening to them roar at night a few hundred yards from camp, and having them stalk the same buffalo I'm stalking (story for another day).

Doc, you mentioned you bought your boots from a US source? Do you have a link? I'd like to check them out.

Cheers,
Eric

Doc, more amazing writing thanks again

Doc,
One of the finest write-ups ever. You captured the essence of safari and brought back a lot of memories.
Thank you!!!