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

wildwilderness said:

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.

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Was there a reason for not being able to hunt there?

Sabre said:

Was there a reason for not being able to hunt there?

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Not really- They just said it’s “close” - to the airstrip, some fields, a house, etc but really it wasn’t. Landowner wasn’t friendly, never met us or spoke to us. The manager was nice and said he didn’t want to restrict us much since he trusted us to be safe and ethical. So some spots he said don’t ask, don’t tell-

Congrats on what’s been an amazing hunt this far

Saturday 15 Aug 2026, Day 14, hunt day 11 morning

Slight improvement in the weather with partly cloudy- the forecast said it might clear that afternoon, and Sunday back to normal clear skies, sunny and warmer.

Morning rounds we found a unique Baobab Succulent tree with spikes going up. Johnny didn’t want to be responsible for me climbing it!


We think it might have been used as a lookout during the wars I didn’t know about- the Rhodesian Bush War that was fought in this very area for 15 years in the 1960s- 70s



Another good sign we saw a few elephant bulls and got a closer look at this guy-


He was nicer but Johnny knew it wasn’t what I was looking for, - maybe 31-34# - for the trophy fee price I had my heart set on a 40+ pounder…

We then scouted out a new croc area- there is a campsite by the pump house and it was occupied for the weekend- Fortunately Johnny happened to know the people there. It is a small world with the tiny white minority in Zimbabwe.

The roads were overgrown and the back bay inlet for “boat parking” was also impassable but made it a haven for crocs. There had been reports of a big croc from the local fishermen and also the campers. Hacking our way in we did see a few on the banks of the inlet. We got to the mouth by the main Zambezi and it looked good.

Our bait could draw from the back slough and also the main current of the Zambezi. To get to the other side of the inlet though we had to cut a connection to the old overgrown road at the side. We spent the rest of the morning doing just that.

Next we packed our blind material across past the campers who were fishing that side. Nice family outing. Everyone was keen on killing crocs! No love lost to locals- most know of someone killed by crocs.

All set we grabbed lunch and “fresh” bait and got ready for the afternoon. Once again I had verified the 416 hitting the bullseye at 45 yds the last time we sat a croc blind.

wildwilderness said:

Yes always depends on which side you are on! Especially for the one who previously had it.

From what I heard it was a videographer (not a Zim PH) who fancies himself as a wanna be hunting celebrity (instead of the clients he is videoing) that got the quota for next year. I suppose to make “content” under his control rather than some other operator calling the “shots”

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Andy from TIA?

Moe324 said:

Andy from TIA?

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You said it I don’t know much about it at all, just generally don’t prefer to watch self promoters.

Getting a PH license in Zim is very rigorous, takes a lot of time (years), effort, skills, and capital. It’s a worthy title. Others just like to pretend they are for the camera!

Saturday 15 Aug 2026, Day 14, hunt day 11 Afternoon


We got back to the new croc blind early afternoon. The sun was out! And had warmed up. Walking in we passed two nice crocs sunning on the opposite side of the Swampy inlet - so hard to tell by themselves how long-

As we got into the blind a nice crocodile was already swimming in the pool nearby. The guys put out the stinking offal and chummed all over. And then they went up their bank to wait on that side.



The key to getting a croc at the right angle is to dig a shallow trench to the bait where they need to come at least 3/4 out of the water. Now a busy bait will get crowded with crocs all over the place but the trench helps with the initial commitment.

Not 5 minutes later a crocodile was cruising eating all the floating rotting bait. He then came to check out the main meal of rotten hippo ribs-


So hard to judge without much reference- and so soon. We waited to see what else would happen. Over the next hour a few more crocodiles showed up. Some females and a male, everything looked smaller compared to that first one! He would chase off the males whenever they got close to him. A very dominant and noticeable bigger specimen. He was missing a chunk of his tail though.

It was much easier to see size with a couple others for reference. I do have to say sitting an active crocodile bait is very entertaining. Neat to watch the interactions, and you don’t have to be that quiet or stealthy. I would highly recommend a proper baited crocodile hunt in a good area with 13’+ crocs available


The clincher was we saw the smaller looking male sneak along the edge of the bait near a female. They both ended up back in the water and started copulating! Wet dreams for sure the big guy was a bit slow on the uptake but as soon as he realized he was a Cuckold he chased off the intruder male like a motorboat!

So if that male was a mature, sexually active specimen impressive enough to get a female to mate with him, then the big guy was truly big.

Johnny said absolutely we need to shoot that croc! Then the waiting game for the perfect shot began. There always seemed to be another in the way, or just the wrong angle or head tilt…

Finally the shot presented-


Once again the CEB Safari Raptor was devastating!


We were stuck in the other side of the inlet and had to get a ride around. Johnny seemed a bit unsure… we knew it was a good croc but - The truth was at that point we didn’t know what we had….

wildwilderness said:

You said it I don’t know much about it at all, just generally don’t prefer to watch self promoters.

Getting a PH license in Zim is very rigorous, takes a lot of time (years), effort, skills, and capital. It’s a worthy title. Others just like to pretend they are for the camera!

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Has he finally passed his Zim PH exam? He had to redo a portion of it several times

Saturday 15 Aug 2026, Day 14, hunt day 11 Follow up


We made it over to the other side of the inlet and put Hands on the Prehistoric Zambezi River Monster!

You can see the blind across the way- so close but Nobody will swim in Hippo and Croc infested waters!


Look closely you can see the neck/spine shot. On a broadside croc with head rested on the ground go to the end of the smile and there is a golf ball sized bump. Aim a couple inches behind that bump and sever the spine!

My 325gr .416 CEB Raptor @2550 did not pass through- based on reaction it hit the thick bone. The backup lung shot did completely pass through with holes on both sides.



The Croc was such a beast we couldn’t move it without the Cruiser! With the setting Sun we had I wanted to get some pictures done in perfect lighting! I joked with Johnny that we waited a couple hours to kill it just to get the Sunset Pictures!




And I’m a dentist so have to pose pulling a tooth!


As we moved around the beast, he kept seeming bigger, thicker, heavier… I had initially paced off thirteen plus but….



And as we had seen from afar he was missing a big chunk of his tail-


As we could tell the size of this thing I re-paced more carefully 14 plus…




A better perspective on the girth of this thing!





Barely fit, had to fold it like a taco!

So how big was the Crocodile? We unfortunately did not have a scale. We did have a short measuring tape but that missing chunk of a tail will always be a mystery-





Not the best photos but were taken in the moment-

Johnny said a full tail generally has a nice long taper to it- he showed me a couple pictures from other big crocs they had killed in the Omay- and added that this Croc was thicker and bigger than the longest one he had killed there! I can claim that it was another personal best for Johnny!

Some Google research said a Nile Crocodile will have between 16-20 “single fin sections in the tail” Our croc only had 10! The last section was 2.5” long but would taper…

We had to put a tape on it and as is with cut tail was over 14’2” … So as a minimum 6 more tail fins would be almost a foot longer! And if he had 10 more tail fins would be well OVER a 15 footer

We will never know for sure, but we do know it’s such an impressive animal!

Incredible Croc!

Great leopard and croc, but....that impala, wow!

Congratulations!

great report, I am glade you had such a fine hunt and some great trophy's, those CEB Raptors sure get the job done, great bullets

Sunday 16 August 2026, Day 15, hunt day 12 morning


I had asked Chiedza the night before “when are we going to shoot an elephant?” he answered: Tomorrow! So I dreamt of chasing elephants that night. That meant today was the day

A clear cool morning promised a nice day. We loaded up as usually and started out on the road to see what may have moved in over the night. With such a small property there is a limited area to look so were dependent on new elephants- we couldn’t just go drive til we found them. With the hotter drier weather they did like to come to the river and pans.

We cut down the dirt track where we had killed the buffalo the week before. The trackers on the high rack tapped on the roof saying elephant we had just passed without noticing. For how big an Elephant is, it never ceases to amaze how they can just disappear in the bush.

Johnny stopped and looked back over his shoulder to where the trackers were pointing, But I saw a big black Bull ahead of us and said: No, you gotta look over at that one!

A quick check with the binos and it definitely was the thickest tusks we had seen. We quickly jumped out and grabbed the rifles. The bull looked good, but the wind didn’t! We were in between the two bulls and the wind was blowing right to the smaller one; and he didn’t like it.

We were closing in on the Black Bull, but his agitated Askari was having none of it. He was tossing his head and trunk and began to move away quickly. The big bull got the message and crossed around us down wind as we watched them disappear into the bush.

Game on! I could tell the team was ready to go and track down an Ele! It was neat to see how the trackers worked to sort out which bull and which way. We caught up to the bulls a couple times but no shot opportunities. Johnny prefers a side brain shot for how instantly and ethically it kills such a majestic animal. It also is fairly straight forward with good landmarks to aim at. A double lung definitely works as I had killed my first bull with one, but it takes longer and is unknown until you found it if it was a good shot. With our small property we didn’t want to take chances of it going off. The frontal brain he says would be only for emergencies as the aim point always moves so dependent on the distance and head inclination. Also a chance to damage ivory.

We continued to track the bulls. We caught up the the smaller guy once crossing another dirt tract but the Shooter bull had already passed further down. It took a bit to work out the tracks but we would always figure it out. It was getting to midday and hot.

At one point following the tracks we came up on a tusk, then a deadhead. I took that as a good Omen!




Immediately after the good omen the trackers hit the ground and froze- the bulls were less than 20 paces and standing in a thick dense clump of trees. No angle for a shot and the wind was gusting and a bit swirly.

We backed out and Johnny said we were going to have to wait them out. They would probably hang in the shade a while then move on. We got comfortable, drank some water and sat down a bit further back where we could barely see their legs.

Sunday 16 August 2026, Day 15, hunt day 12 Afternoon

We did not bring any food with us, and the past week we had been skipping breakfast (always trying to stay in shape and not put on weight) But we did have water. That’s was quite alright because nobody wanted to leave this Ele so close!

Then all of a sudden the bulls moved. With the wind being a bit erratic and the Elephants going into the thicker jesse we did not track them directly but started a bigger loop. We were listening to hear where they were moving crashing bushes etc. and hoping to stay downwind until they came out in an opening.

The plan work! Except we weren’t ready for it! We had been parallel to the block of jesse with a dry creek bed infront of us an open Mopane around. We didn’t hear anything for a bit, so Johnny started walking right out in the open. No sooner that he took 10 steps I caught movement in my peripheral and saw the Black Bull step out of the jesse and look at us. I hissed at Johnny to get his attention, but he too quickly turned around and ran back to us-

This caught the bulls attention and I watched the him whirl away and go back in the thick stuff. Dang, we had actually cut in front of them as hoped but still no dice.

On a side note I sort of purposely did not try to take photos or video during the chase- I guess sort of not to jinx it, and to be focused for the kill shot. If I was going to get a picture of this Bull it would be on the ground! Johnny also was serious- he promised we were going to kill that Bull today!

Once again we looped back, and this time committed to go in and track them. Johnny warned it can be dangerous with limited visibility and close encounters possible.

Once again I was impressed how easy it was for the trackers to differentiate which bull walked where and to stay on it. The sign showed they were calm again and soon thereafter we caught sight of them!

The smaller Askari was in the rear as we closed the gap- there was a shallow depression and the Big Bull was down in it. They both went down to some shade under a big tree and were browsing. We were less than 15 yards from the small bull and probably 25 from the other. He was turning broadside to us - and a dang bush was in the way! We could see the bull so close but still no shot!

Then the smaller Askari bull decided to turn around and mess with a tree facing us! We were stuck- the big bull wandered off. I guess that’s the Askari doing his job!

Once again another waiting game, we couldn’t get around the Askari. Luckily we could intermittently see the Black Bull so we knew he was still around. The day was passing by but we were still in the game.

Then as Elephants do they started walking away again. We picked up the pace and followed as they came out of the jesse and into the open. They even crossed a dirt road and stopped side by side under a tall tree. It was now or never!

We worked the angle and got to 35 yards- not the closest but it was pretty open in front of us. Johnny put up the sticks and got in the binos. My concern was the Black Bull was behind the Askari and in the shadow of the tree- the bright sun we were in made it harder to see into the shadow.

Dark on dark I whispered that I could barely make out any landmarks to aim for- I said I can see the ear and I thinks that’s the ear hole- I can’t see his eye or zygomatic arch …. But pretty sure that the ear hole…

The bulls were starting to shift a bit and the Askari to move forward- Johnny whispered to shoot it in the earhole now!

I clicked off the safety and squeezed the trigger, BAM! and the bull instantly lost its back legs. Johnnys said to put another insurance shot and I hit him mid body. It wasn’t necessary as he fell over on his side. Elephant down!

proper!

Congratulations on a nice bull. Your report has been a great read to follow along. You’ve had one hell of a hunt

Congratulations on what has been an incredibly complete and successful hunt.

Well done, and thanks for sharing it with the rest of us as it has been an absolute blast following your posts and reading each day unfold as it happened.
I'm still reeling at the results you achieved. Incredible.

It must also not go without saying congratulations to an outstanding effort on behalf of the P.H and hunt-crew as well as the camp staff, and behind the scenes management of the outfitter.

Outstanding in every aspect.

Thanks again for sharing your hunt with us.
Much appreciated.

Sunday 16 August 2026, Day 15, hunt day 12 Aftermath-


When an Elephant goes down that’s when the work begins! Luckily this time we didn’t wait til Sunset to shoot the Bull, but we knew its would late by the time we were done.




The 416 Taylor did the job and with pretty wood! The 350 gr CEB Solid hit touching the actual earhole once we had cut the ear off! We found the bullet on the opposite side under the hide, blood bubbling out the other ear.






Doing the honors with Johnnys ivory handle knife. You can see the dark skin on the Bull with white blotches- they said it could be from algae or fungal growth, these Eles spend time in the water and swimmers can get dark because all the dust is washed off, but the moisture can feed the skin condition. For all we know this could have been a Zambian Ele crossing without a visa




Man, there is something about polished Ivory! White gold, very addicting! I want more, and Bigger!


We hadn’t eaten all day and neither had the crew back at the cruiser. Luke was de facto cook and heated up what they had brought- Sudza (cornmeal) and impala stew. They shared with all the workers who showed up to help butcher.


As the cuts came off we also grilled up Elephant kebabs with some fat for everyone who wanted some. The meat was tough but had a good taste, especially with some fat! Everything tastes better when you’re hungry.

Once again the crew was singing a Shona song coming home that night.

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Super write up of a great & successful trip ! Solid leopard & buff but the croc does it for me! Huge. Well done & thank you for taking the time to write it up & post the videos.

Cheers

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