ZIMBABWE: Chirundu, Zimbabwe: (Wet) Dreams On The Zambezi River

wildwilderness said:

It was Qatar in 2023 The flight got to Seattle at 12:30 ish (maybe arrived a bit late) and the Qatar flight left at 5:10pm

By the time my flight taxied and got bags out, it was closer to 1:30 or 2 pm when I was trying to check into and informed of the time policy.

Pretty ridiculous and I could tell the agent had no idea about firearms. I had booked those flight through Jennifer at Travel Express.

That was just the start of the whole fiasco- and the criminal operator and no PH or much game and no trophies… but that’s a different story

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Qatar has gotten easy with guns, and even their required pre-approval is recently streamlined and completed via their website directly vs having to e-mail special services desk. I was booked to fly Qatar this past April since from Alaska it’s the easiest and quickest way I have found to Zim, but with Iran issues kicking off, I swapped to Delta. When my trip had a surprise stop over to Botswana for several additional days, and Delta wanted twice the price of my refundable ticket to even change the Airlink portion, thinks seemed settled enough with Iran that I just canceled the back end and took Qatar home in earlier part of May.

Qatar does have a firearm pre-approval policy now, and it cannot be a mixed itinerary (sadly no more booking through Alaska Air), but the pre-approval was received within a day. When I booked my airfare for this October, also submitted the same pre-approval request through the website and had the notification within a couple-few hours.

Think the last three times I flew Qatar with firearms out of Seattle for Africa (twice to Zim and once South Africa) I always showed up to the ticket counter 1.5-2.5hr before departure…albeit those were all in 2025 and 2026.

They are worth considering today if you live on the west coast. You get a nice layover to actually sleep/shower or walk around Doha Airport, and arrive in the morning. So you skip 1-2 flights reaching Atlanta, skip South African rifle permits, and skip the overnight in JoBurg. Just gamble middle strikes and general Middle East unrest presently.

deewayne2003 said:

Excellent write up, love how you used the word interloper.

I had my first Safari booked for July 2024 in the Omay and months after I payed the deposit an interloper posted on this forum that they now owned rights to Omay for 2024 and anyone with hunts booked should contact the interloper to make arrangements.

Long story short it ended up in court and D&Y won and I hunted the Omay as planned.

Johnny Russel was in camp and I agree with your statements he seems to be an all around great person; sadly he told me by WhatsApp that a client dropped his rifle a while back and put a crack in the stock of his .500J and I wonder if he got that taken care of?

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He’s rockin the 500J again, repaired at least. He was working on having another stock made, but had the existing one repaired to use in the meantime. It was working and holding up nicely at least when we were in Omay South end of April. Know he was loading more 500J just a few weeks ago, so sounded like it’s still in the game.

wildwilderness said:

I was at a family reunion when my friend Brady messaged that there was a great offer here and sent me the link-

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Arent we all the same?

When I saw that offer I sent it to all my friends aspiring to go to africa.
I am travelling now to other destination and could not take this.

This proved me one thing.
Those people whom I sent could afford it of course. So not going is not about money.

Going to Africa is about mindset, and being mentally ready to go.

I am following!

Good shooting!

Wildwillalaska said:

He’s rockin the 500J again, repaired at least. He was working on having another stock made, but had the existing one repaired to use in the meantime. It was working and holding up nicely at least when we were in Omay South end of April. Know he was loading more 500J just a few weeks ago, so sounded like it’s still in the game.

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That is correct- And as a spoiler he was glad he never had to fire it on this safari due to my good shooting and patient shot selection

Johnny says he has the 500J as his stopper since he can’t afford a double- maybe someone going to Zim with a few nice doubles might donate one down the line

500 J and 416 T- Both nice compact cartridges, I like it

Wildwillalaska said:

Huge congrats! I had failed to recognize you are a fellow Alaskan. What part of the state?

I saw a little of what appeared like an amazing safari, so cannot wait to read and see the days unfold.

I hope you enjoyed hunting with Johny. While every single one of the Dalton & York team is especially skilled and solid gents in and out of camp, I really think Johny is one of the kindest and most genuine folks I have met in a long time. We've shared camp a couple times and shared way too many drinks in Nashville, but have not hunted together...yet. As long as things hold, we are set for a fun couple/few weeks in October...which cannot get here soon enough.

As a sheep hunter you'll understand, that I did get some seriously needed distraction when Idaho WSF called to notify me that an Alaskan had won their state-wide governor's bighorn tag, which this year included Unit 11, Hells Canyon, so I now at least have a last-minute dream hunt to help pass the time until Zimbabwe.

Cannot wait to hear more, and honestly if we ever end up in similar area, maybe share a coffee/beer.

Cheers,
Will

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OMGOSH CONGRATS!

August 8, 2026 Day 7- Morning: hunting again!

-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist (one of the best books ever!)

We started the day off agin with checking baits- the great news is our shitty bait was hit again by the mature male!

The bad news was the Trail camera didn’t work. This posed a problem in Johnnys mind- we didn’t know what time it came and went and how long it was there. Also he wanted confirmation of its age and trophy quality. And more importantly they have a really ingenious setup with a bright white light on the camera for full color video which doubles as a spotlight for the actual shooting if and when that happens.

Testing the bright light on the Cat and its reactions, and getting it used to it was the best practices course forward.

Part of me felt anxious- the cat had showed twice, and I was ready to sit that evening and get this cat in the bag!

Of course I was going to listen to the Professional- but I did give my advice to run 2 cameras like I always do on my bear baits in Alaska! And new batteries and new SD card (which seemed to be the culprit)

I had hope it would come again when we needed it and Johnny was confident. The quote above was in my mind. He said he just kept a leopard on bait for 9 days for his PH friend Gareth to hunt so we had time on this cat. Also I think he wanted to give time in case a mature cat hit another bait, he always wants the older animal.

No leopard on the river bait- just another visitor-


At the Tamarind bait the same female was there

And the farther Mopane bait there was a younger skinnier male with a wound on its back. It was probably the one we saw in person the day before.

Between baits Johnny could sensed my trigger finger may have been a little itchy, and finally said hey there is a good impala!

Now as mentioned we would see 100s a day and Johnny not really noticed. I would always comment that one looks nice and we would keep driving with work to do. There was one caveat on the first day- I saw a great one and Johnny had to double take and said yes it is and we were off- bad luck as the only time it stopped was in a bush with only is cool horns showing. We did continuously look for him in the area every day but as of yet hadn’t found it.

Also as mentioned I personally had never killed a common impala! This was my 8th safari- So we got out and played a quick spot and stalk game and made a good shot on a nice wide ram- 22.5”




And finally getting some blood on the dry ground again! My friend Jeff lives hunting impala and he said he would shoot every one over 21”- well that would be a lot here since every day we would se multiples over 21”

And the way back to lunch we stopped at the big Pumphouse and got a view of the area. It was 600 yds across the Zambezi there.

Aug 8, Day 7, but Hunting Day 4- Mid-Day

We would were getting into a routine and checking certain areas. Elephants would move through randomly, but usually never stay more than a day or two. So every time we saw one we tried to get a look to see if it was worth chasing. Lots of younger Bulls, and a number of management Bulls- older but small Ivory less than 30# Would be a great option there if they ever get the quota for a management tag.

Also Tuskless- we saw another one. We discussed again but Johnny said let’s not as it would detract from the real safari and chances at the trophies more important.

We did see a big bodied lone bull that Johnny said needed a closer look. Uncanny how they know where to drive and how to navigate the bunch from a completely different angle to come in from downwind- nice to get after them. But it wasn’t what we wanted at this point.


We would also check the river front for crocs- seen a lot but so hard to judge with lnot much to compare. We would see a big herd of waterbuck daily but the 2 big shooter bulls never would cross to the hunting area. A number of smaller ones


We also ran into the buffalo herd again. Nothing new and Johnny says they don’t prefer to hunt the herds . Don’t want to pressure or disturb it and the good bulls are generally always hanging with other dagga boys

Aug 8, Day 7, hunting day 4 evening-

Once the heat of the day passes we went out to check movement- animals headed to water or feeding. With our increased activity on the property I was a bit concerned that some animals would move away from the roads and track we were driving.

We had seen the group of 3 dagga boys from the first day twice so far and given chase without a shot fired. “But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time”

As we cut down a less used road the trackers tapped on the roof and said Nyati!

We caught the Buffs just getting up for the evening. We passed them by and got the wind right. Loading the rifles up I was hoping 3rd time the charm-


We looped back to where we last seen them and they were gone. To keep the wind right we couldn’t follow directly on the tracks and spoor but the guys always have the instinct of where they were going.

Pretty soon we caught movement in the bush ahead. We crawled to an opening as the first buff was crossing. Johnny was glassing quickly to find the biggest one (I wasn’t seasoned enough to shoot the ugly rat yet) The last one had the mass and boss

Johnny wanted to get closer just to make the shot easier - but as the buff was moving left into the shooting lane we saw a flicker as an impala ram was coming from the other direction!

Not wanting spook the impala we couldn’t close the distance. Johnny quickly put up the sticks. I got on them as the impala snapped to attention. I got the buff in the scope and accidentally zoomed out! No time to adjust as one more step and the buff would be behind a bush again.

I felt the impala staring at me as the accupoint dot covered the buffs shoulder. I squeezed the trigger and the buffed lunged forward. Johnny said you got him: as I racked another shell.

We heard the brush cracking and the nyati started bellowing and coughing 10 seconds later! With the sun setting we moved up to where it was when we shot. Johnny said that we will put in another insurance shot-

A cautious twenty paces and we saw the other two Buffalo toss their heads and thunder off leaving a black form on the ground. A shot to the back and no movement. Buffalo down! And with great effect


Chiedza the tracker was impressed with the shot! Johnny was overly impressed with the bullet performance! This was the first time we had seen the effects of the Cutting Edge Safari Raptor to the lungs. There was no exit, so safe for shooting a buff in a group as well. I had hit a bit forward in the shoulder and mid body.


Johnny said he has never seen so much blood from a buffalo with one shot!


An excellent PH! (A far cry from my last Zim Safari where the PH was yelling from the truck cab to Shoot Shoot shoot! As he drove towards a group of buff with me up top with my rifle and tracker. I was asking which one? and him yelling any one )

A happy crew!



We had ended up referring to him as Pretty Boy! And third time the charm. Such nice bosses and carried the mass



Always meet how efficient the team is

We all slept well that night!

Love the bosses!

Great looking bull!

I also want to hear the full story of the PH yelling shoot as he drive the truck. Sounds like a quite a rodeo.

Russ16 said:

Great looking bull!

I also want to hear the full story of the PH yelling shoot as he drive the truck. Sounds like a quite a rodeo.

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Haha, that was last year 2025- An Operator PH who does post here on AHF for entry level Ele and buff hunts. Not the best people skills, and if you are familiar with counseling and psychology he is well on the covert narcissistic personality spectrum

We did hunt hard and do everything legal (albeit maybe not the proper way) to get a buffalo after not see any for the first half of the hunt and a 20# Ele the second to last day of a 10 day hunt)

Fortunately despite the personality conflict he was thoroughly competent in his operation. That was unlike my first Zimbabwe safari in 2023 with a criminal lying completely incompetent operator with no PH license who I hear is now in hiding from people who he owes money.

But those are stories for another day! The effect on this Safari though is how Amazing Zimbabwe can be and how nice a great PH can be- it really makes all the difference in a hunt who you are with most of the day and a great Positive team you like and respect will make any safari a success

Congratulations on a beautiful buff. Johnny is a prince of a guy. My son and I had a long conversation with him at DSC.

I'm guessing that you're happy with the Taylor?

Sunday Aug 9, Day 8, hunt day 5-

I noticed some discrepancies on my trail cameras as they cross the night and different days- so the leopard and camera malfunctions were a day later than mentioned and I’ll have to sort it out.


The sunrise in the morning is nice too but not quite as much as the sunsets

We checked the cameras and one was broken by the Elephants! The one with the mature cat- this put us behind again!! Getting frustrated on leopards - but Johnny was more concerned for his cameras than the leopard being an issue- he was pretty confident we had a committed cat and with him marking the bait said he would stick around!

The river bait had no leopard but 3 lions messing around-


Good thing they aren’t good climbers and steal the bait



And for reference the bait is pretty high up there!



Also the female feeding pretty neat to see


And the Mopane bait had a nice elephant as well as the young male Leo


I also was getting updates from a friend on a safari in The Eastern cape of South Africa and sent these pictures! Crazy his PHs had never been in snow



There was a pilot who spent a night at the lodge due to charter schedules and he warned us saying that weather was heading to Zim in a couple days-

Sunday Aug 9, Day 8, hunt day 5 afternoon-

Heading out for the evening we saw 2 warthogs just before the Pumphouse- Once again I have never killed a warthog! We got out and tried to work the angles as the warthog made into the thicker bush. A couple times I had him in the scope and brush everywhere. I had him what I thought quarter away and maybe a window? But not really- Johnny said if you want to try go ahead-

I shot and it disappeared- we found tracks and NO blood. We followed and it looked like I missed? They said it didn’t look wounded, has stood around and walked off - I guess I can’t make every shot! And we are blaming it on a deflection!

We also started collecting materials to build a blind, cutting poles, for the leopard.

We did see an older Elephant maybe 30# still not what I was looking for at this time or price.

And saw a number of crocs by the air strip pans

We hit the river at sunset



I also have to give a shout out to my wife- after that Europe couples retreat and being more intentional in our relationship she did send Inspo Pics with a new animal print bra and panties- sorry I won’t include the beautiful model ! At least if I don’t get a leopard I’ll have a sexy feline back at home

Monday Aug 10, Day 9 hunt Day 6

As usual went to check the baits and camera and finally full confirmation of the shooter cat and that all the camera and lights were working correctly.


Nothing new showed up on the other cameras so we spent the morning setting up the blind.

We did see another nice impala and gave chase to no avail. We didn’t try too hard though as another would probably show up just as good.

The distance from the blind to the bait was 55 yards. As a confidence booster I took a couple shots with the 7 SAUM at the range and it was hitting the bullseye

Lunch time, then not much else to do til we planned to get into the blind by 4:30.

I had failed to mention on previous days part of checking the baits were to do drags in hopes of spreading the scent out and drawing the leopards in quicker.

Monday Aug 10, Day 9 hunt Day 6 -evening


We got to the blind at 4:30 and got ready for a long sit. I fell right into the habit having hunted from blinds extensively for many archery hunts.

It wasn’t my first time either for leopard! Have spent weeks over the past years waiting out a leopard.


All we could do was wait. I had a brief moment of adrenaline mixed with anxiety as we were finally doing this! I did some deep breathing and quickly calmed down for the long sit.

I crushed an expert game of Sudoku! And was listening to Letters from a Stoic when I sensed Johnny getting tense. We had strict rules on being quiet. The time had passed quickly.

When I looked over his right arm was raised. A few moments later he touched my shoulder and I got on the scope. The flash from the trail camera came on and I could see Mbada!


This is what we saw!

wildwilderness said:

Sunday Aug 9, Day 8, hunt day 5-

I also was getting updates from a friend on a safari in The Eastern cape of South Africa and sent these pictures! Crazy his PHs had never been in snow

View attachment 788662View attachment 788663

There was a pilot who spent a night at the lodge due to charter schedules and he warned us saying that weather was heading to Zim in a couple days-

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Was in RSA and rather glad I wasn't in the East Cape, it was windy and cool, but didn't realize they got that much snow down there.

Monday Aug 10, Day 9 hunt Day 6 -aftermath

We radioed the guys to come. Since we were so close to the lodge they guys were waiting there. The Cruiser pulled up and we got all the lights we had. I switched to the 416 with the 1x setting on the scope

I could sense a generally tension in the air, and everyone was pretty keyed up. I felt good- the shot was as solid as I have ever felt.

We made out way to the bait and I quickly noticed blood on the ground and bushes. My confidence was high. Johnny and the trackers were still very cautious and slow scanning everywhere in-front of us. I was busy looking at the blood trail but everyone else was heads up looking for a tell tale eye reflection of a wounded cat.

Twenty steps around the bushes and the tracker/driver Boniface whispered there he is! Dead! Instantly the tension dissipated and the congratulations started!

What we found-

Next up a photo shoot- All the guys wanted their own pictures with the leopard as well. I had an overwhelming sense of relief that it all worked out, and something I had been working for so long, was finally accomplished.





A very nice mature cat! Not the longest or heaviest but nice stocky and mature.

Everyone was over the moon!

(Except for the new local head of Parks - he was a new guy with no hunting experience and thought we were in the wrong for shooting at night. Johnny was livid he was immediately summoned to his office, but had to play the game. Our head ranger Siyachombe had Johnnys back when they went in but left a bad feelings. So goes the ego driven world of African politics and every big man having to be right. The next day headquarters sent an apology but that makes it worse to the local guy being corrected… oh well)

As we drove to the skinning shed the guys on back were singing the whole way! Traditional songs about the hunt and making it home safely. They say following up on a leopard is serious business and when it’s in the bag they can finally sing!

I didn’t get all the songs but here is a clip-


Such a beautiful animal!

Gorgeous cat! Congratulations.

One thing that York had noticed with the images of the leopard even before we killed it was its sort of “mane” of hairs sticking up on its neck- He told Johnny he had only seen it in this area before

You can see it well once we had it down-



And another shot that makes it look bigger