ZIMBABWE: My Excellent Adventure In Dande North With Charlton McCallum Safaris

[gillettehunter]

Teddy did have it right. Great bull. Congrats
Bruce

 

[Doug3006]

Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts! Teddy is a man of insight and good judgement. I’m in the Dubai lounge trying to get ready for the long flight back. More to come.

 

[VonJager]

Congratulations!

 

[Gemsbok45]

Very cool!!!!

 

[festuscat]

Doug, great report!
Told ya!
Dean kept me in the loop on your hunt-outstanding!
jack

 

[buck wild]

Fabulous Bull !! Zim is pouring them out this year!

 

[Tanks]

Fabulous Bull !! Zim is pouring them out this year!

Amazing number of hunts with CMS this summer.

 

[Doug3006]

The rest of the story....

Dean, the team and I spent the remaining 9 days looking for a Sable bull. We saw spoor and bumped a couple of herds and several loners, but never got a shot. Jeff did much better in this department with a nice Sable and a huge Kudu.

Dande is a great dangerous game area...less so for plains game. It's important to note that Buzz and Myles represented what they have with 100% accuracy. Plains game numbers aren't super high and the vegetation is thick, making it tougher to hunt plains game. I saw Impala, Zebra, Eland, and Duiker but low numbers and not every day.

Alan and Jeff had spotted an Eland Bull and Cow while glassing from a tall cliff overlooking a riverbed. Jeff already has a great Eland on his wall at home so he didn't care to chase it They told me about it at camp that night. The next day, Dean the guys and I were on that same cliff and the Eland were just where they said they'd be. The cliff was about 200 foot tall and the Eland were 700 yards away. The wind changed and blew from us to them. They immediately jerked their heads up and then took off. GONE! It was impressive to see them nail us from that distance plus the difference in elevation. I would not have thought it possible. We tried to track them, but they had skipped town.

Another really cool thing happened while we were checking pans. The trackers said that they heard a Duiker scream. Just as we started to drive out, they pounded the top of the truck. We jumped out and there lay the Duiker at the side of the two track. It was still kicking and had fang marks on its neck. Obviously a Leopard nailed it just as we were getting ready to leave. The next day, we drove by and the Duiker was gone. That Leopard obviously didn't go very far...and probably watched us until we left.

I give CMS high marks on:

1. The quality of their dangerous game hunts. Good numbers of Buffalo with great genetics. This is totally free range hunting like it has always been in Africa. We saw Elephant several times and fresh tracks every day. Leopard and Lion are there too and we say tracks most days.
2. Their camps. Comfortable and clean...but not fancy. The way I like it.
3. Their PHs and staff. Dean, Alan, and heir teams are first rate. The camp manager, Kay, is highly competent and keeps things running smoothly.
4. Their office staff. Logistics were 100% spot on and communicating with them was a breeze.

 

[375Fox]

That’s too bad on the sable. Were you able to find sable each day at least? They were definitely very upfront at booking that Dande isn’t a plains game area.

 

[Gemsbok45]

30 years ago,yea I know,Sable was a given in the Dande Safari areas. There were even good bulls in the Midlands and as was the case,the Matetsi areas were fantastic.

 

[WAB]

I had an opportunity on a great bull in Dande in 2019. Not really on my radar but they are a beautiful animal.

 

[Nhoro]

That is a real bull-worth his salt ! Congratulations.

 

[Doug3006]

That’s too bad on the sable. Were you able to find sable each day at least? They were definitely very upfront at booking that Dande isn’t a plains game area.

We found fresh tracks virtually every day. However, they are really switched on. They almost always walked with the wind at their back so they scented us well before we could see them. This caused us to bump them every time. The vegetation is also very thick, making it difficult to get a shot before bumping them. My buddy Jeff got one though, so it's doable. The red gods just weren't with me on the Sable. I agree about them being 100% honest in their description of the area.

 

[Swim]

Congrats on an outstanding harvest. Safe travels home........

 

[Nhoro]

30 years ago,yea I know,Sable was a given in the Dande Safari areas. There were even good bulls in the Midlands and as was the case,the Matetsi areas were fantastic.

It is interesting-could be because Sable thrive in the low water areas that are a long distance from water. So extra pans/borehole fed are actually bad for sable. they are replaced by water dependent species.

 

[WAB]

It is interesting-could be because Sable thrive in the low water areas that are a long distance from water. So extra pans/borehole fed are actually bad for sable. they are replaced by water dependent species.

I believe that Dande has suffered from a high level of bush meat poaching that has had a huge impact on plains game numbers. CMS is putting a significant investment in anti-poaching which is slowly turning the tide.

 

[BRICKBURN]

It sounds like you hunted hard and did not have all the luck on your side.
Just keep smiling when that Buffalo trophy is on the wall!

Thanks for sharing your hunting tale.

 

[Gemsbok45]

Spike T’s magical Kingdom is beckoning. I know it is for me!!!!

 

[Jeff505]

Doug filled in all the pertinent info on the trip that applied to travel, accommodations, history, scouting sign and terrain. I will try and color between the lines.

A little more excitement in Harare at the airport. After spending the night at
the Amanzi lodge which included an excellent dinner, many beers, bottles of wine and Makers Mark bourbon we were met the next morning by Buzz for a ride back to Robert Mugabe international. There is a mask order in effect by presidential order, as we all know these mandates can be ignored. The police were not aware of this and asked us to put on our masks. After donning our face covering we were informed that we were under arrest. Buzz was furious ( he was also under arrest) and told this police this is not a good way to welcome tourist to Zimbabwe.
The arresting officer showed compassion and charged us for 2 violations rather then 3. So $40 per violation and we were on our way.

 

[Jeff505]

Doug’s arrest paper work. An arrest record in Zimbabwe. Well worth the $40.