MOZAMBIQUE: Great Hunt On Coutada 9!

There’s plenty more to share but one of the important points I want to stress is what a fantastic job the Duckworth’s have done in bringing Coutada 9 back from a depleted area to one of the finest free range, open hunting blocks in Africa. Not just in Mozambique, in all of Wild Africa.

When they started with Coutada 9 it had been heavily poached, mostly with gin traps. It has taken many years and a huge investment of time, effort and money to build back the wildlife populations to where they are today. Part of that effort has involved anti-poaching teams patrolling and removing as many gin traps as possible. Neil told us that, to date, they’ve removed over 15,000 gin traps from Coutada 9. Many of those traps have found their way into concrete pours, both for dams across a few rivers as well as concrete foundations for buildings. Sorta an African version of rebar.


Gin trap, the scourge of Africa’s wildlife


Too often an animal loses a foot or leg in a gin trap.


The storage container is 40 feet long and it’s filled with gin traps and some snares that have been removed from the bush.

I wanted to share this for a couple reasons. First, to show what a massive commitment the Duckworth's have made to conservation with their anti-poaching efforts. And second, to share some good news that’s coming out of this effort…

Both PC and I sit on the Board of Directors of the Mzuri Wildlife Foundation ( Mzuri.org ) and we annually fund over $200,000 in grants to wildlife conservation projects, primarily in Africa and the USA. I was aware of Mokore’s work before we hunted with them, so talked with Neil & Gary about submitting a request for financial support, which PC and I would investigate further while we were there. We’re working together toward funding a conservation grant specific to Mokore’s work on Coutada 9. I expect this grant to fund the purchase of upgraded radios & communications gear for their anti-poaching teams; as well as an infrared drone that can be flown at night to find poacher’s camp and and direct teams on the ground to apprehend them. I’ll share more about this when we have further progress, which will be next spring after our annual ‘Big Event’ fundraiser in Scottsdale, Arizona on March 12-13.
( https://mzuri.org/the-big-event-2027-save-the-date/ ).

Neil & Gary are doing great work and they will have a new partner in conservation starting next year.

DLSJR said:

There’s plenty more to share but one of the important points I want to stress is what a fantastic job the Duckworth’s have done in bringing Coutada 9 back from a depleted area to one of the finest free range, open hunting blocks in Africa. Not just in Mozambique, in all of Wild Africa.

When they started with Coutada 9 it had been heavily poached, mostly with gin traps. It has taken many years and a huge investment of time, effort and money to build back the wildlife populations to where they are today. Part of that effort has involved anti-poaching teams patrolling and removing as many gin traps as possible. Neil told us that, to date, they’ve removed over 15,000 gin traps from Coutada 9. Many of those traps have found their way into concrete pours, both for dams across a few rivers as well as concrete foundations for buildings. Sorta an African version of rebar.


View attachment 806004Gin trap, the scourge of Africa’s wildlife

View attachment 806005
Too often an animal loses a foot or leg in a gin trap.

View attachment 806006
The storage container is 40 feet long and it’s filled with gin traps and some snares that have been removed from the bush.

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It’s amazing how prevalent Gin Traps are in Mozambique. Mark Haldane had the same challenges in Coutada 11. They used to raise money by auctioning them off at SCI & DSC but they to use them in concrete slabs and pours now.

This video was taken by one of the other hunters in camp and he shared it with me. It’s a 3 legged lion that lost his left front paw in a Gintrap Neil dropped some meat off for him as he’s having a tough time with only 3 good legs.

Great Hunt and looking forward to the rest….
Tremendous Buffalo with Neil.

DLSJR said:

This video was taken by one of the other hunters in camp and he shared it with me. It’s a 3 legged lion that lost his left front paw in a Gintrap Neil dropped some meat off for him as he’s having a tough time with only 3 good legs.

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It makes me sick to think that someone would do that to such beautiful animal.

Instead of wasting a bullet on the poachers just make them step into their gin trap and leave them for the hyenas.

AZDAVE said:

Instead of wasting a bullet on the poachers just make them step into their gin trap and leave them for the hyenas.

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I love that idea!

Speaking of bullets for poachers, after I finish this report, I’ll be starting a thread about an anti-poaching program that I played a small part in. It was back in the late 1980’s -from ‘87-89. It was known as Operation Stronghold and focused on elephant and rhino poaching in the Zambezi Valley. It was incredibly successful, so much so that Zim Parks had to shut it down. You’ll find that report well worth reading, I promise.

DLSJR said:

I love that idea!

Speaking of bullets for poachers, after I finish this report, I’ll be starting a thread about an anti-poaching program that I played a small part in. It was back in the late 1980’s -from ‘87-89. It was known as Operation Stronghold and focused on elephant and rhino poaching in the Zambezi Valley. It was incredibly successful, so much so that Zim Parks had to shut it down. You’ll find that report well worth reading, I promise.

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If this is what I think it was, they need to bring it back. Even anti-hunters could probably get on board with it.

Mtn_Infantry said:

If this is what I think it was, they need to bring it back. Even anti-hunters could probably get on board with it.

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I’ll write it up when I finish this hunt report. Suffice it to say you’ll find it fascinating and worth reading. It’s also kinda unbelievable even though it all really happened.

I was involved on the front-end without knowing much about the project. Quite by accident, in the last two years I’ve run into two of the actual participants, neither of whom said much until I asked if they had ever heard of this project and eventually mentioned my small but vital role with it. Once I told them what I had done they really opened up and told me about the project in great detail, because nobody would have known the details I mentioned unless actually involved, because it just wasn’t talked about. They realized I knew about it and appreciated my role, and told me very interesting details. I promise, you’ll all find it interesting.

Now, back to my safari…

DLSJR said:

I’ll write it up when I finish this hunt report. Suffice it to say you’ll find it fascinating and worth reading. It’s also kinda unbelievable even though it all really happened.

I was involved on the front-end without knowing much about the project. Quite by accident, in the last two years I’ve run into two of the actual participants, neither of whom said much until I asked if they had ever heard of this project and eventually mentioned my small but vital role with it. Once I told them what I had done they really opened up and told me about the project in great detail, because nobody would have known the details I mentioned unless actually involved, because it just wasn’t talked about. They realized I knew about it and appreciated my role, and told me very interesting details. I promise, you’ll all find it interesting.

Now, back to my safari…

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Good Luck on the rest of the hunt.
I think we're thinking of the same thing. I believe Blondie, of the BVC was involved in some of it.

On our third day Neil decided that we should go up north to look for a kudu as there were fewer kudu overall but they tended to find larger bulls. I was all for seeing new country, that always interests me; so we headed about 30 kilometers to the north. I was only interested in taking a kudu if we could find something special, a bull north of 55”; so Neil decided we should focus farther north.

The country changed as we went further north. It was hilly and rocky, more thorn bush, lots of Combretum - classic kudu country. At one point we were going down a two-track to another pan and spotted some warthogs near the water. We hadn’t yet found a suitable warthog other than the single tusker, so we were giving them a good deal of attention. Neil commented that one of the pigs in the back had an injured leg and was limping badly. It was another victim of stepping in a Gin Trap. All of a sudden, we heard a grunt right next to the truck on Neil’s side. He looked down and exclaimed “Look at this warthog!” The wartime was laying on the ground next to the truck and couldn’t really move much. He was slowly starving to death as his front & rear left side legs were fine but on the right side his back foot was mangled from a trap and his entire front leg had rotted off right at the shoulder. He’d obviously stepped deep into a large Gin Trap with bigger jaws that would be intended for an Eland or Buffalo, broke his upper leg but gotten loose and the leg had eventually come off. He was pushing himself along with his left legs, suffering and starving. We got out and Neil ended his misery with a 22 LR round, then opened his back with a knife so the vultures could eat him. It was both sad & angering.





Notice how the left foot is normal but right foot is badly mangled from a Gin Trap.


After ending the pigs suffering, we continued onward. We were looking for not only kudu but also an Nyala and Warthog. We still had plenty of time, saw a ton of game this day but finished back at Tandikwe at days end with no shots fired other than the 22 LR.

We saw quite a bit of game up north the day before so Neil decided we’d go back up there again and stay all day, having lunch at their new camp. That’d save the 40’ish mile round trip.

On our way up we walked several of the sand rivers, mainly looking for a kudu or nyala, but there were also quite a few warthogs around as well. When walking up one of the rivers we came upon a large group of pigs that were digging in the sand for water. The holes they were digging were so deep that a pig would completely disappear down in the hole and all we’d see was sand flying out of the hole each time a pig would throw some up.

There was a real good boar in this group and even though he wasn’t as large as the single tusker from day two, he was an excellent pig with two matching tusks. We decided I should take him so I got on the sticks but then had to wait several minutes as he was down in one of the holes and all we could see was what looked like shovel full loads of sand flying out of the hole. Finally, after several minutes spent imitating an excavator, the boar climbed out of the hole. He was probably 75-80 yards away and quartering to me. It was a pretty easy shot and Neil captured the shot on video.


We were both very pleased with this boar.

After shooting the warthog we headed toward the new northern camp for lunch and a siesta. This camp is small, just a couple chalets and an open air dining area with a deck overlooking a large sand river. We dropped the pig off to the resident crew, then unloaded our gear and unpacked lunch. Neil started a small fire in the fire pit while I wandered around and checked out this camp. It was small but nice and comfortable, definitely a nice place to crash for a few hours.


Northern camp dining area. Comfortable and a nice location with lots of game viewing across the river.


‘Chef Duckworth’ tending his fire. Little did I know what he had in store for lunch and boy oh boy was it a great meal. Unbeknownst to me, Neil had the crew pack us a couple eland rump steaks to grill for lunch. I don’t know what the rest of the gang had for lunch that day and didn’t care either. We ate like Kings! These steaks were about 18 oz. Each and Neil grilled them to perfection! A delicious bean salad and some sadza and I was in heaven.

The food at the main camp was very good, plentiful and varied. But the one meal I’ll long remember was this simple lunch at their fly camp, it was a surprise since I figured we’d be eating cold sandwiches from the box and instead had this big, delicious steak.

After that great meal it was time for a nap.

One of the reasons Coutada 9 has such fantastic plains game hunting is that there are very few leopards or hyenas around and no wild dogs. That lack of predators has helped the game populations build up to great levels.

But, there are lions. There is a strong lion population estimated at 80-90 animals. One early morning, I think our 3rd day, we could hear a lion roaring while we were checking a pan. He was probably 300-400 yards away and we paid him no mind. We left the truck near the pan and took off to walk down one of the sand rivers. While we were slowly going down the riverbed, we came to a spot where we could see a lot of vultures up in the trees on the bank above us, close. Neil motioned to be quiet and slid his William Evans 470 off his shoulder, holding it ready in both hands as we snuck past the spot and we proceeded onward without incident. Afterward, Neil commented that there had to be lions on a kill above us and less than 100 yards from where we snuck past them. Those situations are best handled the way we did, quietly and discreetly.

We found lion kills around the area while hunting, including kudu, nyala and sable bulls.


Nice nyala bull killed by lions



And a sable bull.

DLSJR said:

After shooting the warthog we headed toward the new northern camp for lunch and a siesta. This camp is small, just a couple chalets and an open air dining area with a deck overlooking a large sand river. We dropped the pig off to the resident crew, then unloaded our gear and unpacked lunch. Neil started a small fire in the fire pit while I wandered around and checked out this camp. It was small but nice and comfortable, definitely a nice place to crash for a few hours.

View attachment 806234
Northern camp dining area. Comfortable and a nice location with lots of game viewing across the river.

View attachment 806235
‘Chef Duckworth’ tending his fire. Little did I know what he had in store for lunch and boy oh boy was it a great meal. Unbeknownst to me, Neil had the crew pack us a couple eland rump steaks to grill for lunch. I don’t know what the rest of the gang had for lunch that day and didn’t care either. We ate like Kings! These steaks were about 18 oz. Each and Neil grilled them to perfection! A delicious bean salad and some sadza and I was in heaven.
View attachment 806236
The food at the main camp was very good, plentiful and varied. But the one meal I’ll long remember was this simple lunch at their fly camp, it was a surprise since I figured we’d be eating cold sandwiches from the box and instead had this big, delicious steak.

After that great meal it was time for a nap.

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Jeez that Zimbo can braai!

I believe the elephant and lion quotas have both been raised from 1 to 2.

Did you see many elephants?

Safari1 said:

I believe the elephant and lion quotas have both been raised from 1 to 2.

Did you see many elephants?

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We saw a reasonable number of elephants. My buddies saw quite a few more than I did but there was good elephant sign around.

I could be mistaken but I think current quota includes 2 elephant bulls and 1 lion. They’ve applied for a 2nd lion and I believe Vernon Booth, whom I’ve known for many years, is working on that for them. They need 2 on quota as they’ve got more than enough lions.

At this point I was only interested in taking an Nyala and a Kudu and really only if we could find something pretty special. I was fine with not shooting anything else unless it was something really good.

We were hunting along the various sand rivers and seeing quite a lot of game including Kudu, Nyala, Impala, Warthogs, Sable, occasional Waterbuck, and random other stuff. There were good numbers of Guinea Fowl and we shot a few for the pot with Neil’s 22 LR.

Our sixth day found us up north again, walking a sand river in search of a big Nyala bull. We were seeing quite a bit of game and at one point we came onto an Nyala bull & cow that were just 35-40 yards from us, feeding in the thick cover along the riverbank. We froze so as to not spook them and spent perhaps five minutes or more watching them till they disappeared. After they left, Neil decided it was a good opportunity to go answer the call of nature, so he grabbed the TP and disappeared back around the river bend behind us. This is a key piece of what happened next.

While Neil was gone, Nhamo and I stayed put and were just watching game wandering and crossing back and forth up ahead of us. There were quite a few Kudu, Impala and a few Nyala moving about but just females and young. No mature bulls. I was watching the show through my Leica Geovids and shooting some distances to see how close my guesses were with just my eyes and then confirming with my binocular’s rangefinder. Some Kudu came out to cross the river and a cow stopped so I guessed 200 yards, hit the rangefinder and got 208 yards.

Neil arrived a few minutes later and we got packed and ready to continue our walk but before we did, a nice Nyala bull stepped out of the cover up ahead and started across the river…

Neil and I were both watching this Nyala bull and while we recognized him as a nice bull, he wasn’t quite what we were looking for so we watched him cross the river and head up into the riverbank cover.

No sooner had this bull disappeared than another bull stepped out and began crossing the river. It took just one quick look through my binoculars to know this was the Nyala we’d been hunting for. He was tall, heavy and had nice shape with tips pointing outward. I slid the rifle from my shoulder while Neil set the sticks in position for my rifle. I knew the distance since I’d been checking the earlier Kudu with my binoculars while Neil was gone.

The bull was walking on the same path as the first bull and there were a number of Impala mixed in around his path. About 3/4 of the way across the river the bull stopped, mostly broadside but quartering away slightly. The only problem was that an Impala was standing between me and the Nyala, in line with my shot.

It only took a brief moment to realize I could shoot just over the top of the Impala and still hit the Nyala well. I settled the Firedot reticle on my .338 Win Mag where I wanted to hit and the Shot broke cleanly. I imagine the Impala felt the air wake of the 225 grain Barnes TTSX as it barely cleared her back.

We clearly heard the bullet hit the bull and he lunged forward toward the riverbank, disappearing into the forest. Neil said “You hit him too far back”. I didn’t expect that as I was very steady and shot where I wanted with what I thought was very clean technique. Neil asked Nhamo and he too said that I hit the bull a way back. We decided to wait a bit in order that the bull might not go far and perhaps we could get in another shot before he took off again. Neil said the shot was a bit long for being off the sticks and I replied it was 210-215 and I thought the shot felt good.

And then something nobody expected happened…

While we were discussing the shot, another Nyala bull walked out completely oblivious to what had just happened. We both threw our binoculars up and what we saw was stunning.

I need to say here, Neil maintains a pretty clean vocabulary with very few profanities ever leaving his mouth. He goes days without an F-bomb leaving his lips. This bull caused him to slip. Neil said “Oh my God, he’s a f*cking giant”. I replied that he had to be 30” but Neil responded “No, he’s at least 31”. Indeed, we were watching the Nyala of a lifetime walk across the river nonchalantly as if nothing had happened just a minute earlier. We looked at each other, wide eyed, and then we both broke out in laughter.

The bull followed the same path as both previous bulls took but when he got to the top of the riverbank he turned and fed along the edge in full view for a while. He was oblivious to us and what had happened right before he stepped out.

The bull eventually fed out of sight and we started toward where we’d last seen the bull I shot. We quickly found blood and as we began heading away from the river the blood got better. It was steady lung blood, so we knew we were OK. We went perhaps a hundred yards into the forest and found a special prize laying in the leaves, tangled in some vegetation.




This bull was everything I’d come hoping to find on Coutada 9. He was heavy, long and has the shape I was looking for.