ZAMBIA: North-Western Zambia

Piet-Vis

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I recently had the opportunity to hunt in the Brachystegia forest of North-Western Zambia, in one of the most unspoilt areas I have visited in Central Africa. I am a local meat or Biltong hunter, and my expectations and requirements differ from those of the average Safari hunter visiting Africa. We do share the need or love of areas that are uninhabited by people and the appreciation of fine trophies when I see one.

The Lunda people inhabit the tiny slither of land where Zambia, the DRC, and Angola meet. The Chief of the Lunda is a white man called Peter Fisher, who is fascinating and worth sharing a campfire with.

I recently had the pleasure of hunting for non-trophy Eland and Sable to fill up my larder on some of Peter’s land. Much of Central Africa is degrading at an incredible pace due to human activities, and I am happy to report that it seems as if time is standing still in that part of the world.

I hunted on Nkwaji Wildlife Reserve, a substantial piece of land that goes right up to the Congo Border. There are quite a few interesting species—some of the forest Duikers, Sitatunga, Western Kudu, Black and Kafue Lechwe, and Harnessed Bushbuck. It is a hunting experience far removed from the usual Bushveld hunting experience that a Biltong hunter like myself is used to.

I managed to bag a wily Livingston Eland bull after a game of cat and mouse in an open area. The bull was nice and fat, not too old - great venison.

Hunting the Sable was more challenging. Western Zambian bulls are simmering black, almost like Friesen horses, with distinct facial markings. I had significant challenges finding a suitable bull, not due to the shortage of mature bulls but the lack of anything below 40”. My Wife made it very clear that any errors in judgment on my behalf and the associated trophy fee would be severely frowned upon.

Crawling on all fours, and judging horn size (I hunted with a scout, so the responsibility was mine) through thick tree trunks are some of my most memorable hunting yet. I had several bulls in the mid-forties in my bino’s. I am sure some bulls will approach the 50s as well. On the last day of my hunt, I found a younger bull (he still had rufous in his coat) with 37.5” horns. A “small one” according to my scout.

North-Western Zambia is very special, and I have already booked my hunt for next year. Areas like these need support from trophy hunters, and I would highly recommend thinking of that area if you are either thinking of a forest hunt or are looking for a giant sable trophy.

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Thanks for sharing your experience :D Cheers:
 
This is a new area to me as I have never heard of it.It sounds like a very interesting area to consider a hunt.
 
Very cool, what put that location on your radar?
 
Interesting hunt and description of the area. Thanks for posting.

There use to be some marketing for Peter Fisher on a different fenced reserve called Nchila. I haven’t seen mention of him or that area in a while. What duiker species are present? I’d think yelllow back duiker would be a major draw. I’m fairly certain it’s still chobe bushbuck there though. If it was harnessed bushbuck it would be a major draw as well but they occur further north and are much smaller in body size. Do you have any photos of their bushbuck you could add? I’d be very interested to see.
 
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Interesting hunt and description of the area. Thanks for posting.

There use to be some marketing for Peter Fisher on a different fenced reserve called Nchila. I haven’t seen mention of him or that area in a while. What duiker species are present? I’d think yelllow back duiker would be a major draw. I’m fairly certain it’s still chobe bushbuck there though. If it was harnessed bushbuck it would be a major draw as well but they occur further north and are much smaller in body size. Do you have any photos of their bushbuck you could add? I’d be very interested to see.
It is the same person. Nchila is one of their properties.
I saw Bushbuck but did not take time to study them as I was working hard to get that sable. I've not made up my mind about the subspecies (according to Peter, it's Harnessed), as I am a lumper rather than a splitter. I saw a Blue Duiker and a few other small duiker pointed out as Angolan Bush Duiker. There are Yellow-Backed Duiker on the property as well. Hunting Duiker in that forest would be a terrific challenge!
 
Interesting hunt and description of the area. Thanks for posting.

There use to be some marketing for Peter Fisher on a different fenced reserve called Nchila. I haven’t seen mention of him or that area in a while. What duiker species are present? I’d think yelllow back duiker would be a major draw. I’m fairly certain it’s still chobe bushbuck there though. If it was harnessed bushbuck it would be a major draw as well but they occur further north and are much smaller in body size. Do you have any photos of their bushbuck you could add? I’d be very interested to see.
Just to add:

I looked the place up, and Ron Spomer actually had an article about Peter Fisher:

 

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Congrats and thanks for sharing!
 
I’m not home to double check but I believe Craig Boddington has a chapter (Fisher’s Corner?) in one of his decade books about a hunt he did on Nchila or Nkwilla or something as well. It sounded like my kind of adventure.
I like that you were not hunting for inches, but just the opposite!
Thanks for posting
 
Isn’t there some possibility those sable have some genetic influence from Angola’s giant sable?
 

Attachments

I recently had the opportunity to hunt in the Brachystegia forest of North-Western Zambia, in one of the most unspoilt areas I have visited in Central Africa. I am a local meat or Biltong hunter, and my expectations and requirements differ from those of the average Safari hunter visiting Africa. We do share the need or love of areas that are uninhabited by people and the appreciation of fine trophies when I see one.

The Lunda people inhabit the tiny slither of land where Zambia, the DRC, and Angola meet. The Chief of the Lunda is a white man called Peter Fisher, who is fascinating and worth sharing a campfire with.

I recently had the pleasure of hunting for non-trophy Eland and Sable to fill up my larder on some of Peter’s land. Much of Central Africa is degrading at an incredible pace due to human activities, and I am happy to report that it seems as if time is standing still in that part of the world.

I hunted on Nkwaji Wildlife Reserve, a substantial piece of land that goes right up to the Congo Border. There are quite a few interesting species—some of the forest Duikers, Sitatunga, Western Kudu, Black and Kafue Lechwe, and Harnessed Bushbuck. It is a hunting experience far removed from the usual Bushveld hunting experience that a Biltong hunter like myself is used to.

I managed to bag a wily Livingston Eland bull after a game of cat and mouse in an open area. The bull was nice and fat, not too old - great venison.

Hunting the Sable was more challenging. Western Zambian bulls are simmering black, almost like Friesen horses, with distinct facial markings. I had significant challenges finding a suitable bull, not due to the shortage of mature bulls but the lack of anything below 40”. My Wife made it very clear that any errors in judgment on my behalf and the associated trophy fee would be severely frowned upon.

Crawling on all fours, and judging horn size (I hunted with a scout, so the responsibility was mine) through thick tree trunks are some of my most memorable hunting yet. I had several bulls in the mid-forties in my bino’s. I am sure some bulls will approach the 50s as well. On the last day of my hunt, I found a younger bull (he still had rufous in his coat) with 37.5” horns. A “small one” according to my scout.

North-Western Zambia is very special, and I have already booked my hunt for next year. Areas like these need support from trophy hunters, and I would highly recommend thinking of that area if you are either thinking of a forest hunt or are looking for a giant sable trophy.

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View attachment 636973
 
I know alot about Peter's Nchila and Nkwaji Wildlife Reserves if anyone wants to learn more. Nkwaji is the main reserve - it's about 15,000 acres and the other two properties known as Nchila and Kaloku are about 7,500 acres in total. Peter's homebase is on Nchila Wildlife Reserve where his passion to reintroduce wildlife to the area that many believe generally to be the headwaters of the Zambezi began in the early 90s. His ancestors settled there in the late 1800s and the Fisher family has quite a fascinating history in that area. I ended up visiting there several years ago with my wife and kids and it offers an incredible hunting experience for many animals that one would have to hop around via charter to multiple places to hunt but can go to his reserve and hunt an incredible array of hard to find trophies in one place. His sable are definitely some of the biggest in Africa and all with native genetics to the area. It is a great hunting destination to pair with some of the wild concession hunting around Kafue National Park and the Luangwa River Valley or to collect some lechwe, duiker, large sable trophy, or sitatunga. The cape buffalo hunting there is also quite fun and exciting and very comparable to open range areas. I am happy to discuss more about it if anyone is interested.
 

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Franco wrote on rnovi's profile.
Here's the target for the NorthForks - 25yds off a bag, iron sights. Hunting leopards over dogs the range won't be more than that.

Flew in an airshow in Smyrna years ago, beautiful country.

Best regards,

Franco

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