Dande vs. Bubye vs. Save: Where would you hunt buffalo?

[IdahoMo]

I'm in the process of booking my first buffalo hunt. The timing will be May or June of 2025, and will be a 7 day hunt. From my research so far, I've narrowed it down to one of these three areas. Prices are comparable. I've perused the hunting reports here as well as what I could pull up online. All three areas have their pros and cons. With that in mind, what do you think? Where would you hunt?

 

[V.Veritas]

I'll follow up with interest all the answers. I have a buffalo hunt on my mind as well.

 

[WAB]

I have hunted Dande and the Save. I would probably go with Dande for a traditional buffalo hunt. It is more remote and you will work for your Buffalo! You will see more plains game in Save.

I hear great things about Bubye but have not hunted it.

 

[IdahoMo]

@WAB, would you elaborate a bit more on what you think of when you say traditional buffalo hunt? Thanks!

 

[WAB]

@WAB, would you elaborate a bit more on what you think of when you say traditional buffalo hunt? Thanks!

Cut tracks, hopefully early, grab your gear and follow the tracker on the spoor. When you get close, move in working the wind, and sort through looking for a good bull. More often than not the herd busts you and you start all over again. When we hunted Dande we put 100 miles on our boots in rough country. My wife and I both took good bulls.

 

[375Fox]

I can’t make the comparison as I’ve only hunted Dande of the three, but I will say my first buffalo hunt was free range against Kruger and my second buffalo was in Dande. I thought Dande was the much better experience. I’m rebooked for elephant in Dande this year. I think the question to ask yourself is how important plains game is? If a hard tracking hunt for buffalo is your priority I think it will be difficult to go wrong with Dande. If you want to get multiple plains game trophies in addition to your buffalo hunt then Bubye or Save are probably the better area to choose. I really think you should consider August or September though regardless where you pick for better visibility.

 

[Doug3006]

I hunted Dande for Buffalo and can attest to what @WAB describes. It’s a proper Buffalo hunt in a wild area. Plains game can be a bit hard to find. If you want to hunt plains game too, Myles and Buzz have a new area in southern Zim called Sentinel. Maybe you could hunt Dande for a week and tack on a few days in Sentinel?

 

[Sarg]

Well Dande is the only unfenced one & true Wilderness !

I would hunt in any of them myself but others on here don't like fenced areas that have been restocked.

 

[375Fox]

Well Dande is the only unfenced one & true Wilderness !

I would hunt in any of them myself but others on here don't like fenced areas that have been restocked.

I think your comment was written in bad taste. You can correct me if I’m wrong. The hunting in Dande is very wild with established core hunting zones, but it is a communal area with villages. It has 6 of the dangerous 7, but plains game isn’t plentiful in most of it. The big draw there is hunting dangerous game in Zambezi valley. I’m one of the members here who has many concerns about where the game ranch model is going in South Africa, but calling Save Valley or Bubye Valley a fenced stocked area is out of place. The Save is I think 700k acres and the perimeter fence is down in many places since land reform occurred. Bubye Valley is I think 800k acres with a very good perimeter fence. Both have been established since the 1990s and are fully sustainable. Both hold all the big 5. The save has all the dangerous 7. It’s a very different model than the standard 5k-10k acre game farm in Limpopo that requires regular introductions of new animals and has no predators. My decision to hunt dande was not fenced or unfenced. It was a combination of meeting the outfitters at show and pricing. I wanted a hard tracking hunt compared to my first buffalo hunt. The buffalo hunting prices in bubye and the best ranches in save valley are about 40%-50% more on the day rates and higher trophy fees than the communal areas. I’d like to hunt Bubye, Save, and Nuanetsi in the future. The way the fence is used to protect those areas isn’t a concern to me.

 

[Sarg]

I don't care what people want to do or how they want to make it right or wrong in their minds.

Both those areas were Cattle Ranches, one being LEMCO when I was in Zimbabwe back in the day & both areas had restocking programs including predators.

Me I'd love to hunt them all any time, more so now days !

 

[Jeff SN]

I have only hunted dande. It was not for buff but tuskless. Wild country! Matombo camp is the best view you will ever camp! Lots of buff around even when we weren't looking for them. It was a hard hunt, but the best hunt of my life. Buzz and Myles will treat you right! Bottom line though is it's up to you where you go. Hope all goes well whatever you decide. Feel free to PM me for any info needed about my hunt thoughts.

 

[IvW]

BVC You can hunt a trophy buff and a management buff(<35) you could also hunt a lion or management lion.
If you want to add plains game this would alse be the best option......plenty of species and numbers.....

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

All of those areas will give you a top quality buffalo hunt. I would add Nyakasanga into the mix, no local population to bump into.

 

[IdahoMo]

Hey Everyone, thanks much for the replies. @WAB, thanks for the description, that’s exactly what I was thinking. For the fun of the forum, I will follow up with who I end up booking with.

 

[WAB]

Hey Everyone, thanks much for the replies. @WAB, thanks for the description, that’s exactly what I was thinking. For the fun of the forum, I will follow up with who I end up booking with.

Take note of Kevin’s recommendation. When I go back to Zim I will almost certainly hunt Nyakasanga.

 

[IvW]

Cirrect Nyakasanga is a great area in the valley.....last I was there we encountered enough tuskless bitches.....

 

[Tanks]

I have hunted Dande and Nyakasanga. Recommend Nyakasanga though it is a bit more expensive. As @IvW Nyakasanga has tons of tuskless and trophy fee is less.

 

[IvW]

All of those areas will give you a top quality buffalo hunt. I would add Nyakasanga into the mix, no local population to bump into.

For sure I also prefer areas with no locals......

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

I'm in the process of booking my first buffalo hunt. The timing will be May or June of 2025, and will be a 7 day hunt. From my research so far, I've narrowed it down to one of these three areas. Prices are comparable. I've perused the hunting reports here as well as what I could pull up online. All three areas have their pros and cons. With that in mind, what do you think? Where would you hunt?

I basically narrowed my choices down to these 3 as well and ended up deciding on a management bull hunt in the BVC in 2025. It was hard to make the decision though as I also really wanted to hunt the Dande safari area with CMS.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Where does Chewore South compare to these 3 areas. Buffalo, Elephant, leopard and PG