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

wildwilderness said:

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

“Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time”​

-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”

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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.

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wildwilderness said:

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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wildwilderness said:

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.

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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!
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wildwilderness said:

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.

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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.

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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

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

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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.
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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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Huntforever said:

That’s a lot bigger then your yes previous 20lber lol

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