ZIMBABWE: Glamour Game Safari With Classic African Hunting

I called for an extra hour of sleep on Day 6.

We’re on the back end of the hunt now, with roan and eland left. The problem is that no eland bulls have been seen in the concession all year. Hence, my alternate list (and a bonus impala) being already filled.

The PHs are still feeling good about roan, and we have seen some. Unfortunately, they have either been a monster solitary bull 80 yards across the boundary (see below) or borderline bulls traveling together and wilder than feral pigs in peach orchards.

The herd bull from Day 1 is also missing. Patrolling his territory, maybe?

Nevertheless, the mood seems optimistic on roan and dismal on eland.

I shoot the .338 after the extra hour of sleep and, as suspected, it is dead on balls, so we load up to see what the bush can provide. We see the sable herd sans the bull, but no roan or eland, and the sun sets on Day 6 of 10.

That team certainly deserves respect and glad you kept up with them and got the job done.
I'll not add my Kudu tale for comparison, but suffice to say the similarities are marked.
Congratulations.

Day 7, September 14, began early in the cruiser. I snapped a picture of a nice kudu, but we are not after kudu. We are after glamour!

Two hours later, we encountered a herd of roan.

I take pictures while Matt scans for a possible bull. Minutes go by. I can hear myself telling Matt, “Find him. Find him, Matt.”

Then, we hear excited chatter coming from the trackers. We look behind us, and they are pointing to the right.

And there he is.

He had walked up to see what the cows were looking at. Matt put up the sticks, and I confirmed I was on the right one.

And just like that, after getting bucked off the sable, I climbed back on, put the crosshairs behind his shoulder, and squeezed.

He took off like a shot from a cannon, with Matt telling me he was running dead. Two hundred yards later, he wobbled, circled, and fell.

Congratulations that’s a fine bull!
I love roan, they are magnificent.

Trackers eyes did it again!

We began Day 8 in the cruiser looking for a ghost eland or a monster warthog (yes, warthog; keep reading).

I’ll tell you a secret: I oftentimes think with my wallet and have a calculator in my head. It is not always precise, but I am generally pretty close, and I can honestly tell you with 100% certainty that in Matetsi Unit 2 at the time of my booking, 1 reedbuck + 1 impala + 1 zebra + 1 warthog = precisely 1 eland.

At this point, with no eland bulls in the concession, I know I have $450 in the tank and feel as though I’m playing with house money. Being this close to the finish line, I had long since given my buffalo tag to my buddy. Therefore, I’m saving my final bullet for anything in the impala, duiker, warthog, or grysbok range. Cue God laughing.

Although we did see the warthog of my dreams the day before, Matt thankfully wouldn’t allow me to get distracted. We rode around a bit trying to bump into him again, but my heart was honestly not in it. When my buddy texted me that he’d killed his hyena, we called an audible and decided to visit the Falls. The trackers and scouts asked if they could come, and we said yes. It was infectious seeing their excitement.

We see the Falls, have lunch on the veranda at the Victoria Falls Hotel, and haggle with the locals at the curio shops. All in all, a great day.

Day 9, September 16, like always, began with coffee around the fire.

I feel the pressure is off. If I get the warthog, fine. If I don’t, fine. The PHs ask what else I’m after. I tell them, “Warthog, duiker or grysbok.” “Or monster eland,” they say.

They explain that grysbok are rare, but there is one on quota, and ask if I have solids. I tell them no. They tell me that, in the event of a shot, I should aim center mass, i.e., in the middle of the stomach. That way, if I were to blow one up, I could still get a shoulder mount.

Makes sense to me.

We ride around that morning looking for invisible eland, then head back to camp for lunch.

Just after lunch, we hear a Cruiser coming up the hill toward camp. We assume it is ours, as it is time to go, and the custom is for the team to come pick us up.

About that time, my buddy comes flying into camp, hollering something about an ancient grysbok or a monster grysbok or something. We all pile out of camp, and Darren, who is his PH, briefs us. They have seen one, and he has sent for my scout and my .338.

We load up and head that way. Not long after, we find him.

I put the crosshairs in the center of his body and, although it felt odd, I squeezed. I’ll spare you the particulars, but suffice it to say that after a short rabbit chase, we had him - my first tiny 10 animal.

I’m officially only $50 over budget and done, I tell myself.

But with a day and a quarter left, we’ll take one more ride around the concession this evening. What could possibly go wrong?

I happen to know the end of this story. All I can say is budget smudget. Who needs a budget?

Agreed! I think I know the end too after talking to Darren after my hunt. Very jealous of your Grysbok. We looked but only saw one and it was the last hour as we were chasing a kudu

I also get your ongoing calculator in the head too. I do the same thing. “How much can I go over and remain married?”

bakerb said:

Agreed! I think I know the end too after talking to Darren after my hunt. Very jealous of your Grysbok. We looked but only saw one and it was the last hour as we were chasing a kudu

I also get your ongoing calculator in the head too. I do the same thing. “How much can I go over and remain married?”

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I rationalize an extra trophy fee as being cheaper than another safari! Worked so far.

It’s after 3:30 by the time we drop the grysbok off. Appeasing Matt, I climb back in the cruiser for a quick loop. We head toward Botswana, Matt operating on instinct I suppose. At this point, I’m pretty much the world’s worst client. I’m draining his Starlink as he drives and not even getting out of the cruiser when he stops to take better looks at animals. I have already asked to be driven back to the camp for a frosty beverage.

At 4:28 pm, I text 2 buddies a pic of the grysbok and when they point out that he wasn’t on my kill list, I brag that I’m “only $50 overbudget.”

Exactly 2 minutes later, “Tap, Tap, Tap” on the roof.

“What is it?”

“Eland.”

“Eland?”

“Yes.”

“I’m just going to get out and see if there’s a bull in the herd.”

Matt hops out and climbs up the back of the cruiser with his binoculars.

I’m in the passenger seat thinking, “Please don’t be a bull. Please don’t be a bull,” when I hear my gun case unzipping.

Matt comes back and reports he has seen a bull but can’t tell how big he is. We start following.

Last time I followed eland, I thought I was going to die. Luckily, this time, there are only 2 hours until dark and I’m pretty sure we won’t catch them in time.

We catch them in time.

We see a giant bull, but the herd had seen us and retreats.

We follow.

And follow.

We get to a humongous sea of green grass, a product of the constant burning Classic African Hunting does to benefit the wildlife. The problem is the wind is at our backs.

Matt calls for the cruiser in an attempt to get in front of them.

The cruiser comes and we all pile on.

Within seconds, more tapping on the roof. The team has spotted them downwind. Matt makes a note of their location and flat-out drives the Cruiser like he’s stolen it with the entire Zimbabwe Police Force on our tail. 5–10 minutes later we get to the other side of the sea of green and pile out.

“How much longer?” he asks the scout.

“6:30,” she replies.

We duckwalk in their direction for probably 700 yards. It is frantic and I am out of breath from the exertion. Matt puts up the sticks and at 6:27, with 3 minutes to spare, I get on them.

The bull has gone to the left but turns back to the right and I put it right on his shoulder and squeeze. I’m not sure of the distance, but it seemed like it took 45 seconds for the bullet to get there. I was already looking down the left side of the scope when it hit. I’ll never forget the sound. Like hitting a steel drum with an aluminum baseball bat.

He bucked and took off. Eighty yards later he lay stone dead.

The muscular, solid as steel look of an adult bull eland is truly amazing!

JHT said:

I’m officially only $50 over budget and done, I tell myself.

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Hooked Now said:

I happen to know the end of this story. All I can say is budget smudget. Who needs a budget?

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We all knew when he said this line the budget was toast.

Hunt anything said:

I rationalize an extra trophy fee as being cheaper than another safari! Worked so far.

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I am guilty of this myself. Technically it is true. In reality you would have to choose to not go again to make it pay.

Your Honor, the standard for safari budgetary decisions is "abuse of discretion" - you are at no risk of being overturned on appeal.

SCLawyer said:

Your Honor, the standard for safari budgetary decisions is "abuse of discretion" - you are at no risk of being overturned on appeal.

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There is a lot of precedent already on the books. Hard to fight that.

What a great trip!

That is a tank of a eland

i was in Matetsi2 2 years ago .yes an amazing place with lots of different .animals .very well managed