Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 20 Days to Zambia!

Absolutely fantastic, hope they keep tearing it up.

Rumors of lion on bait and a firefight with a hippo...

You can say that again........

OK you bunch of ornery bastids, I'm back! Fantastic trip, and cannot say enough superlative things about the huge concession, diversity of game, and numbers. Rather than start with "I boarded the plane in ATL and flew for 30 days and 30 nights (it seemed)". Let's get right to it.

About the third evening, I was sitting around the fire having a cold one, and overlooking the Luangwa River, from our camp up on a short bluff that faces the North Luangwa National Park side of the river. This is possibly the most picturesque setting I've ever hunted in Africa, with the camp nestled in the riverine thickets that run along the banks. Filled with hippos, and some big nasty crocs, the river bed there is probably 400 yards wide, but during this time of year, the water flow is down to a channel 4'-8' deep and 100 yards wide, with pools here and there.

I've known my PH, Johnny Duplooy since probably about 1992, when I first hunted with him. Our families have become friends and we see them annually during the convention season, so this is a relaxed safari among friends.

"Bwana, we are going to take your hippo proper tomorrow. None of this shoot from the bank. We are going to take our shoes off and wade right in water and take him on his territory. We'll see what that big double of yours can do." That set an interesting scenario, to say the least.

Next day, we drove along the river until we found some big bulls where the water narrows between two sandy flats, one on our side, and the other side of the water's edge is National Park land. No Permiso to shoot over there, and very bad mojo if you shoot and your wounded game happens to run to the far side. We sized up a good bull, and walked right out on the sandy flat to the water's edge. The hippos sunk down leaving only their eyes and ears above the water, giving us eat [bleep] and die looks and making threatening grunts in our general direction. Duplooy took off his shoes and rolled his pant legs up, obtained his Merkel double .470 from Davey his head tracker and told me "Let's go!"

I wear canvas jungle boots, so I kept my shoes on, loaded up my Yale .450 #2 with a pair of hot dog sized shells, soft nose on top and solid under, with 2 more solids locked between my ring and middle finger of my left hand for follow up, and 4 more on my belt. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hatari, Hatari Jr. viewed the events from the Land-cruiser perched on the bank. Johnny and I waded in, not 40 yards from the bull, who to me, was looking more like a locomotive than a mammal at this point. We eased in, and it didn't take much before he let us know we were encroaching on his space. The big bastid turned head on and picked his head up out of the water and took two and half quick steps right at me. I swung the double up, centering the gold bead of the front sight right between his eyes and started to take up the tension on the trigger went the hippo froze.

"Let's make him turn broadside". With that, Johnny took another step and I followed. The hippo lost his nerved and turned to my right exposing his shoulder as his body rose up out of the water. Boom! I cut loose with the 500 grain Woodleigh soft-point and hammered him right behind the shoulder. Both lungs pierced, a spray of blood erupted from both nostrils. Funny thing is, the bull kept going. Damn, these things are tough. Has he rose and fell pushing up a bow wave like a 16' Wellcraft powered by a 80hp Merc, I concentrated on his shoulder and let go with a 500 grain solid. Turns out my target concentration was perfect, but as the bull galloped, his shoulder submerged and I hit the water 3 yards before him. "Low Bwana. Keep shooting!" Johnny screamed. Quick reload and I got two more solids raking forward through he chest. Good shots, the bull flinched, but carried on leaving a wake of scarlet in the water behind him.

Not ready to go down, the damned thing exited the water on our side of the channel and started trotting down the beach. Wham! A solid right in his left hip made him squat, but he kept going. "Run after him! Don't let him back in the water to cross over". So we ran after him. Meanwhile, our audience up in the vehicle is laughing their butts off, initially at us, but then at the goings on across the river in the park. As Johnny and I were running after the bull, there was a vehicle over in the park from the Frankfort Conservatory observing all of this, that is until we started shooting. I'm pretty sure my second shot ricocheted off the water and whistled right past someone's ear, because they mounted their truck and burned rubber getting the hell outta Dodge. Johnny stuck two shots from his .470 in the hippo as I raked the bull again as it turned back into the water and toward the park. Those last two dropped him in his tracks, in about 2' of water, facing the park. The dust cloud from the Frankfort people hauling ass settled over us as the excitement hit its conclusion.

"That was fun, Bwana!" Johnny grinning ear to ear and calling his crew to bring some vehicles to pull this giant out of the water to be quartered and hung for lion bait. As an aside, we took the tail and had it made ossa buca style, and it was as tasty as anything I've had like it a fine Italian restaurant.





These things take some killing. Found my first softpoint and one solid. The soft point took out both lungs and the major plumbing that feds them. So my first shot was lethal, the hippo just didn't know it.

Great story, Jeff! We need more pictures!

Here you go. The Luangwa Valley is home to the Cookson's Wildebeest, in my opinion the most handsome of the homely wildebeest clan. Their brindled coat is a natural camouflage in the mopane forests of this area.

I find the Luangwa area very unique when I compare it to RSA, Zim, Tanz, Cameroon, or even other areas of Zambia I've hunted. First of all, the soil is not rocky. Very sandy nearly the river, and then that black cotton clay soil in the mopane stands. The mopane forests reminds me of a giant pecan grove, with the branching 30' tall hardwoods spaced 20'- 30' apart. They don't have nuts, but folks from the South know what a pecan grove looks like. Image miles of this, with little underbrush at all. Area is teaming with impala, waterbuck, puku, elephant, and wildebeest. The buffalo like the more open area near the sparse settlements where they feed on cotton and maize. This black cotton soil is slimy mess in the rainy season, bogging down any vehicle that dares to traverse, and then baking concrete hard in the sun of the dry season, pock market by foot deep elephant and hippo footprints that make walking over a patch of that similar to dodging craters on-the moon on a small scale. Ankle twister for sure. The river is lined with a riverine thicket that are favored by bushbuck and kudu, which were abundant, but no trophy male kudu was spotted. Duplooy has 3300± sq kms, with 70 kms of river front land in his concession. It is a big chunk of land.

Found this Cookson's in a semi open plain dotted with trees and drilled him with my trust 9.3 x 62 and a 250 grain TSX. that rifle is like a magic wand. Killing power defies the very manageable recoil. My 16 year old son had never shot it before this trip and went all Carlos Hathcock with it - one shot, one kill. I was very proud of the way he set up his shots and he excellent marksmanship. The little creep (will, 6' 1 is little these days) took great satisfaction in that most of his kills were bang-flops while mine would go 30 yards or so. That all came to a stop by the end of the hunt, but that's another story.

What are you going to do with the hippo? Tusk display, etc? The boy did shoot a dandy of a buffler, too!

Mount the hippo tusks. Considered bringing home the skull and putting a glass top on it for a table, but at some point, you run out of room at home.

Say, Jorge. Remember the cactus camo pattern shirts I picked up in Uvalde, Tx? I found those microfiber shirts and the camo was supurb for Africa.
My fears about cold were unfounded. First couple of days were very pleasant. Low 80's mid day, 50s at night. Then it warmed up to 90ºf+ midday and 60's at night.

I remember you buying those shirts!

All right. Good job.

This is just fantastic Jeff. Excellent job of putting us right into the action with you. Sounds like a phenomenal trip, all you expected and maybe even more? Even better the family was there with you. Thanks.

I really enjoy hunting bushbuck, partly because they are more shy and secretive than other herd animals, prefer thickets, and are very attractive spiral horned antelope. They are not a cinch to get on any safari. I took one on my first trip to Zambia 25+ years ago, and it was a very nice Chobe with exceptional horns. Got the horns and cape back to the US and we discovered that the cape was ruined and could not be tanned. It seems there was a problem with the salt available in Zambia at that time in which it had a high mineral content of - if I recall correctly-magnesium which made the salted skin stiff and unworkable. That was a disappointment, but I figures "no sweat, I'll go back and get another sometime soon." Then I got married....and had kids....and went to other countries. I have been to Zambia since, but no bushbuck! This time, I wanted to correct that, and this area has a very healthy population of them tot he point were we would see at least one or two each day. Not all were trophies obviously, but they were around.

As mentioned before, this concession is very large. A 3 hour drive from came put us in an area a bit more open than the riverine thickets by the river or the mopane forests. More open plain dotted with trees, and even an area with volcanic rock and boiling hot springs, sulphur springs, and even palm trees and palmettos. It was there, standing in the shade of a tree we spotted this bushbuck. Right at 200 yards off sticks, the 9.3 dropped him on the spot. I will probably mount the better of the two sets of horns with the cape and have a hybrid of memories on the wall with this one.

It was as enjoyable on a number of levels as any trip I've ever made. Obviously, hunting with a PH I've known for years that is a friend makes things comfortable, it makes the conversation easy, and the whole safari a relaxed affair for both sides. Expectations are known, personalities are known, and Johnny got to share his enthusiasm for this concession as we compared and contrasted it to other areas we've hunted.

For you: Note the Franklin batting gloves.
Great for protecting against the slight morning chill, picking through all the thorn brush, and thwarting the Tsetse.

Full mount on the Bushbuck I hope!

Naw, although it would do it justice, full mounts like the bongo take up space rather quickly.

Bug Protection

I survived with hardly a nibble off my hide in an area with water and plenty of tsetse. Combo of
Deep Woods OFF - (DEET) really deterred the mosquitos and the tsetse.
Permethrin on the clothes
Long pants and long sleeve shirt (most of the time) I did go with shorts and a short sleeve shirt some hot afternoons. The sprays worked.
I wear baseball batting gloves for a number of reasons. First, keeps the tsetse from chomping on the backs of my hands. Got ate in Zambia the first trip years ago and in Cameroon the first time, and came up with this combo and it works. Gloves also protect the hands when you are filtering through the thorn bush AND even on the back of the vehicle when you are also deflecting low hanging branches from your face.

The one morning I forgot to spray the skin with DWO, I did get some bites. I did not forget after that!
My father used get a horrible reaction to Tsetse bites. He'd get nasty inflammation and localized swell tot he point where I'd sock him with some I.M. Benadryl to calm it down. Needless to say that was at night, he slept well. He was often too hard headed to spray and reapply after lunch and siesta, thereby becoming Hemingway's Moveable Feast for the little blood suckers.

Nice bushbuck. They are a favorite of mine to hunt as well. Come February I will be hunting the harnessed bushbuck of Burkina Faso and they really do justify a full body mount.

Fantastic trip!

thanks for the details and pictures. Looking forward to more.