Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Zim ele hunt in the Save

Sorry for the repost for those who frequent the other forums.....



Where: Humani and ARDA ranches Save Conservancy
PH: Butch Coaton
Tracker: Ringi
Rifles: Heym 89 B 500 Nitro. Barnes solids 570 gr, 95 gr RL 15 // Swift A frame 570 gr, 95 gr RL 15
Pre War Mod 70 .375 H&H. Swift A frames 300 gr, 65 gr RL 15 // CEB solids 300 gr, 65 gr RL 15



I first met Butch Hunting lion in the Save on Sango in September of 2018. We decided to make plans to hunt ele on Humani, but since it was September and the '19 quota was spoken for, we decided on April of '20. Well......that got postponed to September...........and that got postponed to this April. Flew Emirates to Harare without incident - see my previous post on COVID tests, etc. (FYI Emirates has limited the flights to/from Houston and replaced many A380s with a 777-200 with only Business Class to Dubai. Also, pay attention your layovers as not all flights will coordinate with a same day connection.) Butch arranged for a meet & greet/driver who met me at the gate and walked me through the health inspector, immigration and the police for the gun/ammo permit and then to/from the airport to Ballantyne's B&B. Flew out the next morning, got to Humani by lunch, unpacked and sighted in my two rifles that afternoon. That evening I did two things which I had never done before on any hunting trip: 1. I smoked a cigar without having drawn any blood and 2. We discussed what we will hunt next.

Day 1. Next morning we drove down to ARDA (one of Guy's concessions) where we were to start our hunt. On the drive down, Butch asked me what I wanted to shoot as we hadn't really discussed expectations, etc. I told him I don't really care about the Ivory as I can't take it back, if anything I was more upset that I can't make cowboy boots out of the skin. I just wanted to shoot a big old bull. Not a few minutes later we got the tap tap tap on the Cruiser roof and we stopped. Turned out to be a young bull (40 pounder or so) on the side of the road. He crossed the road behind us and we decided to follow him as he was sure to bring us to some other bulls. Sure enough after tracking through the jess for half an hour we first heard the trumpets of a herd of cows/calves telling him to piss off. Eventually we tracked him to a group of 10 bulls where we saw a big bodied old bull (in musth) with some nice thick tusks. We tracked that old bull to the river-rind forest edge of the gomboy river. As we got to within 15 yards a young bull who was walking a few yards from our left flank got between us and the old bull. He started to stutter step and bobble head us. Butch motioned me to stand behind him as the young bull mock charged to within 5 yards and then juked and jived. And again. After the second mock charge again to within 5 yards, I stepped beside Butch and put my right thumb on the safety. He mock charged us a third time and Butch stopped him again. We then slowly backed out and that [bleep] followed us for 20 yards before he turned away. Fortunately, Butch never had to holler and was able to stop the mock charges simply with hand movements. As such the other bulls weren't spooked away. Actually, this commotion just cleared away the bull that was behind us and the two on our right flank. To our amazement, the old bull we were pursuing hadn't moved and was right in front of us. We got to within 15 yards again and just as he saw us and put his head down Butch said "shoot him between the eyes." He dropped on the spot, Butch told me to put another one in his head, reload and then put 2 in his shoulder (undoubtedly not only a response to Phillip Smythe's death just a few miles away but also due to another local villager who was killed by an ele the prievious month). I was ecstatic- a big old bull with nice thick tusks which went 46 & 44 lbs (so I didn't ring the 50 lb $$$ bell). Guy Whittall was really pleased to see we went for an old bull as well. Just a fantastic stalk and what a wonderful animal....




Day 2. Taking care of the ele. Around the fire that night, Butch asked if I'd like to try to use the double on a buffalo- he said we could take both rifles if we weren't able to get close. I said "sure, why not!"

Day 3. Next we turned our attention to buffalo. They had a prolific rainy season and buffalo sign was lacking due to the many small unknown pockets & pans of water out in the bush. The animals knew where these were and thus didn't need to go to the established water holes, so we actually had a difficult time finding buffalo sign. Cruising roads we saw a nice wart hog- Ringi had taken out the 3-7-5, but Butch said- "No. Ringi get the 2 pipe...." We made a stalk, but were never able to get off a shot. That was the last time the 3 - 7 - 5 saw daylight.


Day 4. On the way to hunt buffalo we spotted a bushbuck off the road. Got out but he had disappeared into the scrub brush. Saw buffalo sign on the road. Walked around, but nothing.

Day 5. Saw some tracks, went for a walk. Eventually we spotted a herd within the mopane scrub and made our downwind Rommel flanking maneuver. Got amongst the herd and started to glass but we were made by a cow who alerted the herd and off they went.

Day 6. As we were crossing the Turgway we spotted a herd on the opposite bank. We drove on the road past where they were, got out the 2pipe and made a plan to get around them and work our way back in the reeds. As we got close we saw a couple-three dugga boys across the river feeding and then laying down in the water. We waited thinking they'd cross over to join the heard but the opposite happened- the herd crossed to the other side of the river. We then made a plan to drive ahead of them and wait on the other side. Just after we crossed, we spotted them in the scrub brush. We drove downwind, got out and approached the herd. Just as we got amongst the buffalo, Butch and a cow got into a staring contest which lasted what seemed like hours. While those lovebirds were gazing into each other's eyes, I spotted a bull to the left and pointed. Butch slowly got out the sticks and motioned. I got the double on the sticks. He said "don't shoot" as he turned to glass the bull. To our amazement she didn't make a sound at the movements. He glassed. "He's a shooter.......wait til he gets out from behind that bush.....Shoot him!" I pulled the trigger. At 40 yards that 500 just dropped him like a sack of bricks. Our tracker Ringi let out a cheer of excitement and was grinning ear to ear at the power of that 500. Around the campfire that night Butch asked me if I'd like to try to shoot everything with the double- make it a 2pipe safari...."sure, why not?"



Day 7. Next day we targeted Kudu. I had not yet shot a Kudu- when I went to Namibia they had that anthrax blight and on Sango I never had an opportunity. We were driving in the river-rind forrest/jungle when we spotted a couple of kudu cows. Knowing the bulls were near, we stopped and got prepared to stalk. Butch told Ringi to get the 2pipe out and then we swapped positions in order for Ringi to drive the Cruiser (with the game scout up front) so Butch and I could do a rolling bailout. Sure enough, we spotted a couple of bulls a short distance down the road. The cruiser slowed behind a bush. Seamlessly, we bailed out and the cruiser continued on down the road. It worked as planned. The bulls did not see us and watched as the cruiser left & did not turn and trot away. We began our stalk and made it behind a bush within 70 yards. We moved to the side of the bush, put up the sticks- but damned- they spooked and trotted off. As we were lamenting this, we spotted another trailing bull walking up the same game trail. We stayed there motionless as he walked behind a couple of mopane trunks. Butch said "get ready. He's coming out of those trees. Shoot him when you see him." I squeezed the trigger at 80 yards and like the buff, he dropped on the spot. Butch told Ringi how the 500 dropped him and Ringi just grinned. Later on that day, we spotted a couple of nice impalas. Got out but they scampered away.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kUGEKA]

Day 8. Trifecta Day. We decided we would go after some blue wildebeest. Driving out of the acacia forrest along the savannah brush, we spotted a group of wildebeest bulls. Ringi got the 2pipe out, we got downwind and we made a stalk to within 45 yards. I pulled the trigger and hit him a bit forward but still double lunged him. We had a great blood trail, which we followed and then dropped him as he stood wobbling under a small mopane. Tough bastards!



We dropped the meat off and made a quick dash just before lunch to where we had seen the impala the previous day. Sure enough we saw that nice one again. Ringi got the 2pipe out and we made our stalk. I pulled the trigger at 90 yards but shot him a little behind the shoulder. Fortunately the hit was not that far off the mark and we had plenty of both ground and air spoor. Slowly and methodically we tracked him down and the 2pipe got another notch on its belt.



To complete the trifecta we were cruising the roads that afternoon and spotted an old bushbuck just ahead, slowly walking across the road and laying down in the scrub brush to the left. We stopped and Ringi got out the 2pipe and we were able to stalk to within 15 yards. Butch put up the sticks, I had my sights on the dark, barely visible torso for a while, waiting, when he said "I'll throw a rock to get him up. Get ready..." Well, that peaceful, calm 15 yard chip shot turned into a frantic mad dash after him as he ran towards the mopane forest. As luck would have it, he stopped and turned broadside to look at us. Butch put up the sticks, said "just squeeze the trigger......" At 110 yards I did. All I saw was the dust the bullet had made after it passed through the bushbuck. Then everything became a blur.......Ringi said in his shona accent: "Miss." Me: "[bleep]!" Butch: "Reload. C'mon, let's go. Ringi get the vehicle..." He looked at Butch in confusion and Butch and I started running....after 20 yards, Butch turned around with a huge grin on his face "Great shot!" Me: "what the [bleep]?!?!?!?!?!?" Sure enough Butch had seen the bushbuck drop. Ringi only saw the dust and some impala off in the distance starting to run. I saw nothing...........until we came upon the dead bushbuck. Trifecta complete.



Day 9. I told Butch it'd be nice get a zebra (his nemesis) but let's just pretend I'm not here and to prepare and pre scout/cut roads for his next hunt which would be for leopard. Saw a few zebra, as anticipated, his nemesis seemed to know he was there despite adequate cover and wind.......we never got off a shot.

Day 10. Again, I told Butch after the ele, everything was just icing on the cake. Let's just do more pre scouting and prep work. Sure enough, since we weren't really gunning for one, later that morning we spotted a herd of zebra. We got downwind, made a good stalk and the 2 pipe dropped a stallion at 70 yards. Butch had his 2pipe safari.



It turned out that Day 10 was my last hunting day. Unfortunately due to all the COVID bullshit, my layover in Dubai would have been 27 hrs had I kept my original itinerary. I was able to change that to a 3 hour layover by leaving 2 days early. Everything lined up- I was able to coordinate that with my flight back to Harrare & my driver for the COVID test. Next day I flew out at 0700, was met at domestic & drove into town, got my COVID test, drove around, had my lunch and COVID test result within 2 hours. They weren't allowing people into the airport to wait to check in. The Emirates ticket counter opens at 3:15 so we drove around til then.

Post script: I can't thank enough the people here who put up with me and helped me work up loads and shoot my double well- Todd, Lane, Jorge and Sam: many heartfelt thanks as I couldn't have done this without you. And a re-thanks to Aaron for putting together my lion hunt and get me to hunt my lion with Butch. Butch is a gem. A true PH's PH! There is a reason he won the Zim PH of the year when it was voted upon by the outfitters and the first to win it when it was voted upon by his PH peers. In both of my hunts there were times when he got more excited than I was. I knew he really wanted to make it a 2pipe safari more than me and really wanted to get that zebra that last day. I am so happy I didn't disappoint him.... I'm very fortunate to have hunted with Butch & look forward to more hunts with him, but more so I am very proud to call Butch my friend! The Save Valle Conservancy is just a magical place and just thinking of my two hunts there always swells and waters up my eyes.....

awesome read. How does someone stand still with a elephant charging 5 yds away. Why do they do that and how do you know it isn't for real?

When an elephant tosses his head up high with his ears all the way out and making noise to intimidate you, you respond the same by holding your ground, wave your hands/rifle above your head and yell.

When he tucks in his ears and lowers his head in preparation to ramming you..........

Man, what a cool hunt, AND with a 500 Nitro Double, doesn't get any better, great animals too!............................if you let your mind lag one split second during the work day, i know where it will drift back too, this stuff never leaves one.

Congrats TS, and thanks for the write up and pics.

Congratulations on a great trip, great fun and great report. Lots of very fine memories.

Very good! Thank you for sharing.

great read. thanks

Great tale about a lifetime memory. Hunting in Zim, especially with classical rifles is an unforgettable experience.

I am disappointed to see that hunters, engaged in legal pursuits which are beneficial to African wildlife and the Zimbabwean people, would need to hide their identities.

We are living through a terrible time in America. But complying with the orthodoxy of those who would destroy us only emboldens them.

Enjoyed your story immensely as it transported me to a time and place I may never experience again - sadly.

Great read. I had chills running up and down my spine. I was fortunate enough to make two trips to Africa, one in 2010 and again in 2015. It is a hunt like no other!
Although I did not take either an elephant nor a zebra (personal choices), I could see the sights, hear the sounds and smell the smells. I LOVED IT.
Thank you for sharing your story and bringing back pleasant memories.
donsm70

Thanks for posting. That is a wonderful old buffalo and elephant. I hunted Mokore several years back with the Duckworths and had a blast.

A great read, and even better safari. Congrats and thanks.

Yes thanks for taking the time to post photos and provide the narrative.