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

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

I think you mentioned in one of your posts that they were interested in finding someone who would try to get all the animals listed. Someone had also said this when the hunt was posted for sale, but there was debate about if that was accurate. Is this correct?

I have really enjoyed reading your report and I'm glad it went to someone on here so we could all hear about how the hunt turned out.

Congrats on the leopard! The head on it looks quite large in that one body length photo even without it zoomed in.
 
Tuesday 11 August 2026, Day 10, hunt day 7


With the late night we left later the next morning as well. At breakfast we did see a group a dagga boys leaving the mud hole by camp. The Elephants use it a lot too on hot days- but the days were getting cooler


We made the rounds to the baits with nothing new. We had discussed a hyena hunt and now that the leopard was in the salt the baits would be repurposed- they were getting nice and stinky too! Perfect for hyena and crocodile.

The river bait still had no leopard but crocodiles tracks. Johnny followed them down and did a Steve Irwin impression


We took one and put it lower down by a nice open spot near a water hole.

While driving back we came across a pack of Wild African Dogs! I have never seen them before and it was so interesting how little they cared about us being there- they didn’t stick around long but took off after some impala



After lunch we did felt the weather starting to change. We hadn’t seen a bull Elephant all morning. As the sun was setting we drove on the flood plain and saw multiple herds of elephants. All over, some even crossing the Zambezi to Zambia. We did see a couple bulls but once again nothing with the size Ivory I was looking for-


End of another day
 
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I think you mentioned in one of your posts that they were interested in finding someone who would try to get all the animals listed. Someone had also said this when the hunt was posted for sale, but there was debate about if that was accurate. Is this correct?

I have really enjoyed reading your report and I'm glad it went to someone on here so we could all hear about how the hunt turned out.

Congrats on the leopard! The head on it looks quite large in that one body length photo even without it zoomed in.
That was correct- Dalton wanted a dedicated hunter to stay the 15 days and attempt the listed quota. They only had 2 hunts in this Chirundu area and that list was allotted for this hunt. The 2nd hunter has Lion instead of leopard (only 1 each on quota) and they also got the 1 Eland quota!

Of course they would not force anyone to just shoot any animal to fill a quota (there are a lot of plains game available and extra hippo and croc) but to make the hunt viable from a business sense that was the expectation.

We were looking for legitimate trophy quality and age on our animals
 
Well done! Beautiful cat.
 
Monday Aug 10, Day 9 hunt Day 6 -evening


And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
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!

Rewatching the hit and fall, it’s crazy how much blood looks to spurt out of the offside as he tries to regain his feet. Haven’t read the aftermath just yet…rewatching the clip after you said shot felt good and folks were keyed up. Hoping to hear he was like 35 yards into the shadows.

Such a splendid write up so far…and must look into the Alchemist after your last two quotes. Actually going to PM you about the trail cams and blind situation. This will be my first attempt at a leopard and not sold on the idea of hours in the blind, but the situation was right to at least give it a try and have other plans if I prove too ADHD to make long sits. I was fine with croc from blind because it was surprisingly a lot of action quickly on the first day and the pace only increased each time.
 
Rewatching the hit and fall, it’s crazy how much blood looks to spurt out of the offside as he tries to regain his feet.
I recorded my screen and watched it frame-by-frame several times through. That was a very dead cat.

@Wildwillalaska excellent shot and a beautiful cat!!
 
I recorded my screen and watched it frame-by-frame several times through. That was a very dead cat.

@Wildwillalaska excellent shot and

I recorded my screen and watched it frame-by-frame several times through. That was a very dead cat.

@Wildwillalaska excellent shot and a beautiful cat!!
Not me, not my shot or cat. The honor belongs to @wildwilderness

Admit our handles are similar and more confusing we are both in Alaska, but don’t know each other or ever even met. Totally agree that he made an excellent shot on a gorgeous cat.

Funnier yet, a bud, Matt, that I shared Omay South camp with in April is the next hunter at Chirundu going after lion, ele and eland.
 
Not me, not my shot or cat. The honor belongs to @wildwilderness

Admit our handles are similar and more confusing we are both in Alaska, but don’t know each other or ever even met. Totally agree that he made an excellent shot on a gorgeous cat.

Funnier yet, a bud, Matt, that I shared Omay South camp with in April is the next hunter at Chirundu going after lion, ele and eland.

Ah, your friend is the reason @wildwilderness didn't get to shoot his eland. :ROFLMAO:
 
Not me, not my shot or cat. The honor belongs to @wildwilderness

Admit our handles are similar and more confusing we are both in Alaska, but don’t know each other or ever even met. Totally agree that he made an excellent shot on a gorgeous cat.

Funnier yet, a bud, Matt, that I shared Omay South camp with in April is the next hunter at Chirundu going after lion, ele and eland.
Whoops! What’s crazy is either by stupidity, dyslexia, or inattention to detail, I read the entire thing as having been done by you.

Well then congrats @wildwilderness on the beautiful cat!
 
Wednesday 12 Aug ‘26, Day 11 hunt day 8- morning

The weather had definitely turned- overcast at night so it didn’t cool off near as much as before. Increased humidity as well. The days were not as warm though and the cloud cover would block the Sun’s rays.

We drove out as usual. The bait by tamarind camp had a cool video of a lioness chasing that female leopard up the tree! A lioness will climb pretty high up.

A herd of buffalo crossed in front of us by one of the pans, nothing of size or age. Just nice to see a herd of wild buff.


Then we spotted impala! That had become a joke since every time we saw movement it was always a group of impala . They were everywhere.

But this was no ordinary impala- it looked like the one we had seen the first day there. Johnny got excited and we got out. And tried to set up- too many impala and no safe shot without risking wounding another.

We kept after the herd. They would jump and spook like impala do. We kept after them, scanning for the big one. They would calm down and we would close the distance, but thick bush was always in the way.

Multiple times it happened, and the winds were unreliable. But we kept after it. It would seem the herd would split and go different directions but somehow we stayed with them. We had been at it for over an hour- pretty dedicated since normally we wouldn’t spend so much time on an impala! I had been on the sticks a few times with no clear shots and moving impala.

We came out to a semi opening and Johnny confirmed which was the shooter- I quickly got on sticks and saw him moving. Johnny had stepped to the side and apparently lost the ram. I had him in my crosshairs moving from right to left. I followed and when I saw as at his shoulder touched the light trigger.

Boom! -Johnny wasn’t ready for the shot and I apologized for the muzzle brake (I didn’t have time to sight in with out it, and Zim doesn’t allow suppressors) with his ears ringings he looked a bit perplexed and asked what I saw to shoot at? The impala! I was done chasing them and willing to take a higher risk shot!

Neither of us had seen the impact. So we made our way up to he last was. Half way there I saw the telltale white belly hair and pointed. Johnny wondered what I was pointing at- it quickly became apparent as we got up there!



No ground shrinkage! The ram was beautiful and unique in its shape! Long curvy horns!

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I did hit a bit back with the movement of the impala at 100 yds but it was also slight quarter away. Needless to say it was very effective and quite an impressive animal.

I didn’t think this safari would result in my first 2 ever impala, and one that turns out to be Johnnys best ever at 25.5”

Chiedza and Luke did carry it out part way til they could get the cruiser in. We had tracked the impala almost a kilometer in. Sooo much more satisfying to work for a trophy of this caliber than to just shoot it from the truck! Johnny really likes to do it the proper way!

 
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What an impala! I taken half a dozen or so, but nothing like that!
 
Wednesday 12 Aug ‘26, Day 11 hunt day 8- Afternoon

That morning we had checked the Hyena bait- of course it had been hit! A big female, a little fluffy one, and a regular. Also the young male leopard made an appearance as well as lions! So many predators-


I failed to mention that Johnny had seen a hyena come when we were sitting the leopard bait but I couldn’t see and he didn’t want any extra communications, or movement. But the plan was to sit at sunset and use the E-caller to get one in, hopefully quickly with them knowing the bait was there.

Lunch time at the lodge we saw a decent Ele- the only 2 bulls for the day. The first would once again be a decent on for a first timer: 30# ish pounds but not what I wanted.


After lunch we did go out and set up a crocodile bait- we had glassed up some potential targets but they are so hard to judge-


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We didn’t have time or the weather nice enough to feel it was worth sitting that late afternoon. But we put a camera up just to see, and the next day the crocs would be closer.

That afternoon we almost ran over a lion! It was laying in the bushes as we drove by and the trackers hit the roof and said Shumba!

We backed up and saw it moved a couple steps and laid back down- there were two that we could see:


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They were young and messing with our baits! But that’s ok we already had the leopard in the bag. It will be interesting to see how the lion hunt goes for the next guy in October.

We didn’t see much else - impala of course and a few young kudu. There was Kudu on quota but no mature male was seen- Johnny said earlier during the rut in May here was more males around when they were at the airstrip.
 
Wednesday 12 Aug ‘26, Day 11 hunt day 8- evening

We got to the Hyena bait just before sunset and got set up. We lowered the bait down and set a blind around the cruiser. We used it as a portable stand. Johnny said it is way less critical for calling hyenas and we weren’t all that concerned.

I was a bit excited having never seen a spotted Hyena. I had seen a brown hyena on a number of leopard sits in Namibia. Also the style of hunting and less pressure just made it fun.

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Right after dark Johnny hit the e-caller. He went through a number of sounds. I’m not sure what they were but hyenas make some weird noises.

About 10 minutes in Johnny switches to a Hyena- Lion fight. Then we hear a real call! They sure are loud whooping when they are right on you! I got on the rifle and Johnny says it’s a good male- we should take it- he is giving a description where its at but it’s moving all around!

I’m having a hard time in the scope and swing around the bait, Johnny says it ran to the right and motions with his arm. I swing over and see the reflection of its eyes. My illuminated dot is just behind the shoulder- I think directly in the shoulder would be better but the pan head on the tripod isn’t too smooth and I didn’t want to jerk off the vitals or have him run. I knew that shot would work so I touched the trigger-


BAM! He disappears into the night. Once again we load up all the lights we have, I switched to the 416 with a 1x setting and we go look for him. So disorienting in the dark but we find tracks, But no blood.. but keep following and following

A bit further than any of the other kills but there he was! I would say a more forward shot would be better and probably more blood and quicker recovery.

At first look we thought he had a snare around his neck! Not so but he has a deep scar from a snare at one point. He was a great mature male! The females can get up to 20% bigger than males but I was excited to for this guy with character!



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My first Hyena! A fun hunt for sure and slept well that night (with the AC on nice for the option)
 
Thursday 13 Aug ‘26, Day 12, hunt day 9 morning-

Another morning with overcast skies- we went out on rounds and did not see a single Elephant!

We did see a neat sight though on the floodplain late morning. We were looking to see if crocs were out and near the bait. We saw a group of 3 dagga boys walking across the sand- it was the same group Johnny had seen the day before I got there and we hadn’t seen in over a week.

But right past them were two lions! A bunch of commotion ensued and they all ran off, but seemed right out of NatGeo.

We did set up a croc blind and planned to come back in the afternoon when hopefully the sun would come out.

We got back to the lodge early for lunch and went to check out a dead Buffalo- the workers had noticed all the vultures across the big pan. This is what we found-


Was a bit strange, the hyenas and lions never did feed on it. The fear is an anthrax outbreak killed it. But for whatever reason the meat was tainted


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Thursday 13 Aug ‘26, Day 12, hunt day 9 Afternoon


With the cloudy skies we had noticed some animals staying out later. A day earlier we saw a nice warthog out. I had a long shot at it but decided to sneak closer just because . -A female and some young spooked and the wind was not cooperative so he gave us the slip.

Going back to the same place, we spotted the hog feeding by a termite mound. This time alone and the wind in our face. A straight forward stalk and I had him in the crosshairs- I aimed more forward this time and hit him in the point of the shoulder- the warthog dropped instantly!

I had redeemed myself from the previous miss on a deflected shot, and finally bagged my first warthog ever! A nice mature one with a broken tusk!

Luke and Chiedza were excited at the shot and it dropping so fast as they watched from behind


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Nice on the sand to set up pictures. It’s a big part of the safari to get a good photo shoot as well!

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Broken tusk and termite mound. The 160 gr accubond did not exit, but broke the shoulder

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Very pleased with my first warthog!

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Our head Ranger Siyachombe liked posing for photos! He has known Johnny forever and was on Johnnys first ever buffalo hunt as a new PH. This was his last year as they said there was mandatory retirement at 60y. Siyachombe and I share the Same Birth date in November so he is exactly 10 years older than me!
 
Thursday 13 Aug ‘26, Day 12, hunt day 9 Later afternoon

Was a bit later when we headed out to sit the croc blind/bait. Pretty neat set up to get the croc out of the water enough so that it doesn’t make it back in after the shot. Also want it perfectly broadsided for accurate shot placement. Johnny definitely prefers the spine shot- the brain shot will damage skull and is a tiny target. The lungs are way too risky of losing the croc - potentially down river if in the current or ruining the hide if it’s in a pan and takes a while to float

We did see a croc mating on the bank- usually that is done in the water!


And laying out post coitus with a hippo onlooker- much more than a wet dream for that guy!

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We got into the blind and the guys chummed a bunch. Almost immediately crocs started to show up.

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A few small guys quickly came to the bait. Half an hour the action picked up. About an hour in and they were all over the place. A few big females would there. We saw a male move in but wasn’t much bigger.

The was a bit of commotion in the water and crocs were chasing around. Another bigger male with good teeth came in as well, but once again didn’t stand out. Johnny hates judging crocs! I didn’t know any difference but he said a really big one will stand out, and usually act dominant at least to other males (as it was mating season the females might get a pass)

After a couple hours we called it. We don’t think Lover Boy we just saw mating made it in, probably had more exciting things on his mind.

Didn’t see much else going back to camp
 
Friday 14 Aug ‘26, Day 13 hunt day 10

"To determine the precise cost of a safari before the fact is rather like figuring out the length of a piece of string with only one end in sight."
-Peter Hathaway Capstick

I have noticed that every trip has its ups and downs, this day was a down day. In general I am a homebody and don’t like to be gone too long, and 2 weeks was more than enough- usually 10 days gone is my max.

Also up to this point the Safari had been a great success- which means more trophy fees! So much for the “Free Safari” deal I told my wife about!

I honestly would have loved to call it after getting the Leopard since that was my target animal. Going home early from a hunt with a filled tag is my idea of success. I prefer two shorter trips than one long one. So the thought was to bail and use the saved trophy fees to book a big Ele hunt another year….

That’s said, I was committed to the end and Johnny was still optimistic something worth shooting would show up. It’s nice to have a positive PH when things slow down.

The weather was part of the gloom- I do not have a single picture on my phone from this day! Nothing new or of note!

We tried to find a new spot for a croc bait, but we found out the Landowner didn’t want us anywhere near all the pans by the airstrip that had lots of crocs.

We saw only 2 elephants all day, a small kudu and a bushbuck (of course impala) so not much of note.

Definitely a down day
 

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Good morning. I see that you had a Sauer 202 for sale for $3,000. Did you sell it at that price?
I have one for sale as well. I listed it (on here ) at $3,000 as well. Is the price high, low or right where it should be?

Thanks. Alex. [redacted] in case you want to call me to discuss further. I appreciate your time help and support.
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