zim safari

I've already replied about my leopard hunts in a previous thread so I figured I would post the pics up of the rest of the animals we shot in zimbabwe and botswana. The PH was grahm mayjer, Rob Timcke, and Peter Dreyer. In all we shot 3 zebra for bait, 1 livingstone eland, 1 sable, 1 croc, 1 bushbuck, several vervet monkeys, several kudu cows (bait), several impala, and about 15 or so baboon. Of the animals we shot I think one could honestly say it would account for about 70 percent of the game we saw. Thats how bad the poaching was on Doddieburn. However, the poaching doesn't seem to affect the leopard as the area is covered with the blacks cattle. One thing that was depressing is that we were unable to hang many baits. Most baits were stolen by poachers and we quickly found that the only thing those damn blacks wouldn't steal was baboon. Those damn blacks even stole my wedding ring from our lodge. Heck one day we were trying to look for a bushbuck by the lake when we noticed a bunch of blacks stretching a 300m net across one of the few existing lakes. When we decided to drag in the net and destroy is the blacks couldn't understand why. we told them with that size of net all the fish would be dead in a matter of days. They couldn't comprehend the fact that animals and fish can all be destroyed in one area and the mentality of the blacks in zimbabwe really sunk in at that point. In my opinion they are a plague on the land and if something isnt done with them the whole of zimbabwe is going to suffer heavily. When talking with the fish poachers we asked if they were catching the fish for food. They said no they were selling them. We asked if they needed money for food. they said no they needed party money. We then told them if they needed food or money to go slaughter some of their own cattle. They quickly replied no that cattle were to precious and were never to be killed. Apparently the only thing cattle are used for is to trade for a wife and to brag to your friends on how many cattle you have. Wow talk about a race incapable of help! Anyways we carried on with our safari and had a great time. I would like to say that the owners of doddieburn ranch are not to be trusted. Every single time a permit was needed I would have to pull the cash out of my pocket and beg them to go to town and get it. In addition we missed about 3 days of hunting due to the fact they refused to purchase fuel for the vehicles. In addition we were also put to the task of shooting animals for food as the personell in charge wouldn't even keep us stocked with food. This is sad because the ranch is only 2 hours away from bulawayo and there were many other towns in the area that had supplies ready on hand to be bought. Anyways Rob Temcke stepped up to the plate and paid for fuel and food out of his own pocket. Rob along with Peter Dreyer and grahm mayjer made sure we had a successful safari and in the end we had an awesome safari so thank you to Rob Temcke, Grahm Mayjer, and Peter Dreyer. I know these guys will not be hunting with this outfit in the future and I plan on keeping contact with them as I now consider them my goto men for zimbabwe hunts in the future. Anyways, following is the slew of pics we took while hunting in the lowveld of zim.

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Jerome, can you help with the pics? Only select pictures will display and the others only have file refrence numbers. Sometimes my pics will display and other times they wont. Help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Tony

Nice kudu. How big was he? And the giraffe?

Was it hunt essential that set this hunt up? Would you use them again? No offense at all but the ranch sounded kind of sketchy.

Originally Posted by TOM

Was it hunt essential that set this hunt up? Would you use them again? No offense at all but the ranch sounded kind of sketchy.

Kinda Sketchy????

I hope they get their cats home given some of the nonsense described.

Sounds like this one almost turned out bad for you.Glad it all worked out in the end though and looking forward to some more pics.

Well done tap. I do have one question though that bears answering. I've seen many people wear Nebraska hats before, and I've also seen plenty of folks wearing OU t-shirts. But never have I seen anybody wear both at the same time, much less own both. What's up with that?

Nice trophies after all Tony! That eland looks really old.
Its a sad situation in Zimbabwe, thats for sure. It want be better before Bob and some of his friends die out.
One thing is for sure, I will never go to Zim, before things have changed. But thats just me.

Congrats again. Nice pics. I think the 1st Eland pic is up fpr the PETA photo of the year! LOL Too bad about the poaching and bad outfit, such a shame.

Looks like through it all you managed to take some decent animals. Congrats!

Tap I'm real glad it worked out for you and your PH's stepped up to bat and saved the day. Good luck on your next adventure. Bob

Just one question

Is All of Zim like this, I mean I have heard now one too many horror stories about hunts there gone sorta bad

The fundamental tenant that I believe that many indigenous people seem to miss is that this is a capital intensive effort and capital, historically, moves to where it is best accommodated thus it seems that Zim may be about to move itself out of that market.

Just in case they all missed the news there is a worldwide recession in progress and as such capital has become more selective not less. I do not believe the hunting community is looking so much to beat down prices but rather concentrates on receiving full value for money spent.

I believe that when you ask those who had a bad experience someplace, they will tell you they will not be going back but rather simply choose another destination

the kudu was 56" and was missing about 2". the giraffe was just plain big. i told everyone i wanted a flat skin but it was caped so i told them to eat the giraffe. yes u nailed the outfitter. one other thing is that we went through a hi fence to shot my wifes croc. upon completion ofthe croc hunt rob temcke pointed out to me that the fence we went through was cemented into the ground and wasnt open in the back as the game scouts had told us. it ended up being a 70m d 70m pen. we were a little dissapointed to have been had like that. i think it speaks yet again to the type of outfit we were with. after talking with the scouts we learned that the wrestler shaun michaels of mcmillan river adventures tv show shot his croc in the same pen last year and that a 14 yr old girl shot another one there after him last year as well. i dont have much respect for those guys running doddieburn ranch.

So Huntessentials claim that they "own all of their hunting areas" isn't quite true then....

Sounds like you made the best of a rough situation. Thanks for the honest report Tony. You have helped all of us.

Well Tony, sounds like you had some issues but it looks to me like it worked out pretty well all in all. Nice animals! Big kudu, 2 leo's, nice bushbuck, monsta impala, crocs. Holy cow! You had a hella of a lot better Zim hunt than my last!

Congrats. Nice bag.

well im not sure what hunt essentials does and does not own. i think they own a 900 ha area in tuli block and have leased/may own a place near kanana named xanagas and they have a wakerstroom farm in SA but it depends on whos invested or not when u look at what huntessentials owns. its a bit confusing to me but the "other" partners trying to make the "other partners" look bad is where i got caught up in the mess. the other problem is that the partners at doddieburn were trying to bring a goldmine operation on line so to say i was not a priority was an understatement. lawrence jr and sr of doddieburn were more concerned with the gold mine. all i know for the future is that if i hunt zimbabwe it will be with rob timcke or peter dreyer. thats all im going to say about the situation as anything more said would be speculation.

Thanks for the hunt report Tony! I love your honest answers. You don't get that everyday. And I appreciate it!

Tap - Adapt, overcome and have fun regardless. Good report. Information that helps us all. I am glad your hunt still was successful.

Hi Tony

Great results from a hunt that you had some problems with. I was not there but it seems like in the end it all came together very well for you. 2 Leopard is awesome man. I just want you to know and everyone else that reads this report from you is that not all of Zimbabwe is as bad as you make it out to be. Some of the things you talk about are pretty harsh , not all the blacks are as you say they are either, and insulting them on the forum certianly does not help things especcially when and you must realize not only "whites" get to read these reports.

You have mentiioned another well known PH as a drunk. Do you honestly think that this report will not make the rounds. You have said quite a bit about some folks who will get to read this I am sure. After all the insults and bad publicity that you have posted, it sure does not help .

Good luck with your next hunt. I have been told before , rather take some time out and wiegh everything up before giving a report in "anger" .

You had a great hunt regardless and many people will agree with me.

Wayne