MOZAMBIQUE: Western Safaris 2023

[7mmFan]

great report thus far! thanks for sharing!

 

[Hank2211]

A few days later, we found what appeared to be male lion tracks which appeared at least reasonably large and quite fresh. While our trackers followed the tracks, we decided to drive around the area and see if they had crossed the road. Before long we saw vultures circling overhead and decided to have a look at what interested them. It wasn’t long before we came upon a pair of young male lions feasting on a fresh kill. It was around 9 am, so once they saw us, they moved off, not particularly quickly, but with purpose. We walked into the brush and found a freshly killed Lichtenstein’s hartebeest . . . a male with a good set of horns on him. It pretty quickly became clear why this particular animal had fallen prey to the lions - his right front foot had recently been severed, just above the hoof. Clearly, the work of a gin trap. Even though the poachers who’d placed the trap might not have been targeting hartebeest, they had cost Western Safaris the trophy fee on that animal, as surely as if they’d killed it themselves. This says nothing about the pain and suffering they also caused the animal, but it must have been horrific.

While we were looking for these lions, it was clear that the Coutada not far from us was on fire. The time for burning here is generally in late July apparently, when the grass is high and dry, but not so dry that fires will burn out of control. It’s unusual to see a fire in September, I’m told. We came across a group grading a road, and they told us the fire was started intentionally, but a wind came up and it’s jumped a road and is now out of control. The purpose of the grading was to create a fire break. We wished them well and drove into the fire. It reminds me of the past few months in Western Canada, when you would wake up thinking your home is on fire, and then realizing it’s “only” wildfires. There is one good thing which comes out of this. Our trackers find a cane rat, a (quite) substantial rodent, which wasn’t able to escape the fire and apparently will make a fine dinner. For them. We also see tortoises which were unable to escape, moving a little too slowly to escape flames, and they are well roasted. A shame.

While the two male lions which had been at the recent kill were too young, we hadn’t seen the owner of the third set of tracks. We decided to come back closer to last light and walk in to see if he might have come back. We arrived back at the kill at around 5:50 pm, and the two males were back, but there was no sign, or new tracks, of the third lion. He may have been on his own rather than with these two.

The next morning, we went back to the two lions which we had left feeding on the hartebeest; based on the camera data they had left around 6.30 am after finishing the kill. A quick inspection of the hartebeest showed there was virtually nothing left. One for the vultures. There are those who say that after a big meal, lions will lie around for some days. We saw this pair around 8 am chasing buffalo. Clearly, they hadn’t gotten the message.

A few days later, as we left camp for our afternoon hunt, we again saw smoke in the distance, and assumed it was either the older fire not yet out, or smoldering remains. As it grew dark though, it was clear that this was a new fire, and it was on our portion of the Coutada. We went to investigate and we were right. The area around a buffalo boma (where newly introduced buffalo are kept for a time to ensure they are disease free and to habituate) was in flames, and a scout camp had burned to the ground. The fence around the boma was also in flames. There really wasn’t anything we could do about this but James was clear that this fire had to have been set by a local village . . . and that there would be consequences.

This used to be a scout camp

We’d been hunting for a couple of weeks now and I noticed that newer tsetse bites were starting to induce swelling. Interesting and obvious swelling. I had a bite on the back of my left hand, and the entire hand was swollen to the point I couldn’t see the blood vessels there. And I had a swollen arm. No pain, just itching and swelling. I was pleased I’d thought to bring oral antihistamines with me. Cortisone cream wasn’t helping.

After a fruitless couple of days of lion hunting, we decided to try our hand at suni. There are a number of ways to hunt suni, all of which begin with going to where the suni are (!). They like reasonably open sand forest, and you can tell they’re present by droppings and, especially, middens. Once you’re in a suni area, you can walk slowly and hope to see a suni before it sees you, you can sit in a blind and hope to see a suni, or you can try calling suni. In some areas where suni are as common as rats, such as Coutada 11, I’m told walking with a .22 Hornet is the best approach, and you often get your pick of targets. We had suni, but apparently not in those numbers. (I did see some pictures which Zambezi Delta Safaris sent over of a suni they had recently shot, which may be a new world record.) Here, we decided to try calling suni.

James had what his brother, Ed, also a PH, said was a “non-specific” suni call. To me, if it walks like a duck. . . . and more importantly, it sounds like a duck, then it’s a duck call. But what do I know about calling suni?

Apart from the call, we had one new piece of kit. That was a pump action 12 gauge shotgun which Western keeps at camp. Fortunately, the plug was removed, and it held at least 8 shells, so I figured I had a chance.

The area we were in looked good, and there were suni droppings everywhere, as well as impressive middens. We began calling and within minutes . . . had called some very loud birds (although not ducks. I was a bit worried that we'd end up calling an ostrich, but relaxed when they told me there were none around). Eventually, we did see a suni, but it was a female. We moved around a bit, and called for a few hours, and saw another female, but never saw a male suni. I was somewhat encouraged that we were hunting in daylight and I'd likely get a look at the animal before shooting at it. But of course, first we had to find a (male) suni.

We continued to look for lions in the mornings and in the evenings, while looking for suni in the afternoons for the next few days. We called suni on a number of occasions, but now were seeing only duikers and the ubiquitous birds which came to the duck . . . I mean suni, call, regularly.

We did find a spot on the river (called Sable Springs) where we found the carcasses of four kudus, one of which was quite fresh. We put a bait there and re-visited it from time to time, although we never saw a lion there. The only difficulty with the location was that it was more than an hour’s drive from camp . . .

Waterbuck for bait

On our 14th day of hunting, we headed out early to look for lion tracks. We found none, which was a first. The day became hot - very hot (117 deg. on one game cam) - and we decided to take a bit longer rest at lunch. We headed back out at 4 pm to call for suni again and then to look for lion.

The first location we went for suni brought no results after a half hour, which didn’t surprise me because there were no middens in sight. We move some small distance to another location and began calling. Still no middens but within less than a minute, Matteo whispered that he’d seen movement directly in front of us. This was interesting because duikers don’t generally stand still, so the odds favored suni. James then whispered that he could see a suni and that it had horns and nice ones at that. The only problem was that I couldn’t see the suni. I’d left my binos in the truck (lesson there) and couldn’t make anything out in the brush in front of us. James tried to explain exactly where it was, while telling all of us not to move. I was having no luck finding the animal. Dean began to pass me his binos, very slowly, and I raised them to my eyes equally slowly. I then saw what I thought was the suni. Great. But as soon as I gave him the binos back, I couldn’t see the suni again. Oh well. That’s why they invented shotguns.

I aimed where I had seen the suni in the binos, and it immediately ran off. We raced towards the spot where it had been standing, but couldn’t see anything. Suddenly there was movement about 20 yards to our right and James said “shoot.” I didn’t have a shot, but we raced after it again. It had stopped but again began to run away from us and one last shot summersaulted it. We ran up to it, and while it wasn’t quite dead, it wasn’t going anywhere.

And so ended my not always focused but more than 10 year quest for the Tiny Ten. There was a bit of a celebration when we got back to camp that evening - a new bottle of Chivas 18 was opened (and finished - but not by me - can’t stand scotch!), which was quite touching. I’m used to celebrations around certain animals, but I’m not sure sunis generally get that kind of treatment. I was pleased that this one did.

As soon as I can get around to it, I plan to post another thread regarding my quest for the Tiny Ten.

 

[gillettehunter]

Looks like a stud of a Suni! Congratulations
Bruce

 

[Hank2211]

Fortunately, the area isn't seismically active!

With the suni in the bag, we had only the lion and potentially a nyala to worry about. So we took up the usual routine the following day, looking for lion and looking at nyala only if one crossed our path.

At this point, the weather was becoming more than a little warm. Each day was the hottest yet, until the next day, when it was hotter still. Even the breeze, when it blew, was hot. Fortunately, things calmed down at night so sleeping wasn’t difficult.

The lion were certainly out there, but we just weren’t seeing any older males. Apart from the hartebeest kill we had found earlier, we came across a recent kudu kill, with horns in the mid-50s. There are, as I mentioned, a lot of kudu here, but the males with the larger horns seem to be the main target of the lions. James believes it’s because the large-horned kudu have a harder time running through the dense bush than their shorter-horned counterparts. Apparently, the ‘head up horns back’ approach of say, bongo, doesn’t work as well with 50+ inch horns.

With only a couple of hunting days left we were slowly making our way late one morning through the dry river bed when we turned a corner and say a small group of kudu standing around. Dean said “there’s a nyala in there.” They were about 40-50 yards away, and I grabbed my rifle and managed to find the nyala in my scope. The nyala was moving to my left and I was worried he’d start to run, as had been typical of nyala on this hunt. So I decided to take a chance on the moving shot . . . and shot right over his back. We searched the area and tracked the nyala for some distance, but found no blood, and both Dean and the trackers said the shot had been over its back . . . by more than a bit. Unbelievable . . . except that that’s what impatience and forgetting your experience can do to you.

Hunting has a way of reminding me from time to time that it’s best to stay humble.

On our second to last hunting day we still hadn’t given up hope of finding a big lion. On our way out of camp after our siesta we were crossing a dry and sandy riverbed. I was sitting in the front of the truck for a bit of a change, when someone on the back said “nyala.” I must have still been a bit asleep because I just sat there and said, “oh”. James suggested I might get off my butt and try to shoot it, which struck me as a reasonable idea, so I got out and Dean, on the back, handed me my rifle. One of the trackers had already put the sticks out behind the back of the truck, and I put the rifle up . . . only to find that one leg or another of the sticks kept sinking into the sand, and trying to correct just caused a different leg to sink. I decided to rest the rifle only lightly on the sticks . . . and tried to find the nyala. I could see a group of what looked like kudu under a tree some distance away. Dean said he was in that group, and that it was about 230 yards, so I should hold a bit high. I managed to find it in my scope, held a bit high, and took the shot. One of the trackers said “good shot,” which I always like to hear, especially since I had no idea. All of the antelope had scattered, and the sticks were entirely askew in the sand, so I couldn’t see anything.

We drove up to where the nyala had been standing, and tracked for about 10 yards, and there he was. My third or fourth nyala, but the first one in its traditional range (and this one was a bit of a stud as well!). How I could make a 230 yard shot off of wobbly sticks and miss a 40 yard shot off a steady rest is a bit of a mystery, but it’s those kind of mysteries which keep hunting interesting!

We were down to our last day of lion hunting, and I was completely fine without having found a good lion. We’d seen lots of lions, so it bodes well for the future, even if I didn’t get one this time. And, as it turned out, we didn’t find that last day lion we so often hear about!

Western Safaris has a tradition. On the last afternoon of a hunt, you drive to a spot called Sundowner Hill, where you have a sundowner overlooking the concession on all sides. Truly a spectacular view, and a wonderful way to end a superb hunt.

Some further comments to come.

A great spot for a sundowner

 

[gillettehunter]

Very nice Nyala. Glad you were able to get him! Too bad about the lion.....
Bruce

 

[Red Leg]

View attachment 565715
Fortunately, the area isn't seismically active!

With the suni in the bag, we had only the lion and potentially a nyala to worry about. So we took up the usual routine the following day, looking for lion and looking at nyala only if one crossed our path.

At this point, the weather was becoming more than a little warm. Each day was the hottest yet, until the next day, when it was hotter still. Even the breeze, when it blew, was hot. Fortunately, things calmed down at night so sleeping wasn’t difficult.

The lion were certainly out there, but we just weren’t seeing any older males. Apart from the hartebeest kill we had found earlier, we came across a recent kudu kill, with horns in the mid-50s. There are, as I mentioned, a lot of kudu here, but the males with the larger horns seem to be the main target of the lions. James believes it’s because the large-horned kudu have a harder time running through the dense bush than their shorter-horned counterparts. Apparently, the ‘head up horns back’ approach of say, bongo, doesn’t work as well with 50+ inch horns.
View attachment 565716

View attachment 565717

With only a couple of hunting days left we were slowly making our way late one morning through the dry river bed when we turned a corner and say a small group of kudu standing around. Dean said “there’s a nyala in there.” They were about 40-50 yards away, and I grabbed my rifle and managed to find the nyala in my scope. The nyala was moving to my left and I was worried he’d start to run, as had been typical of nyala on this hunt. So I decided to take a chance on the moving shot . . . and shot right over his back. We searched the area and tracked the nyala for some distance, but found no blood, and both Dean and the trackers said the shot had been over its back . . . by more than a bit. Unbelievable . . . except that that’s what impatience and forgetting your experience can do to you.

Hunting has a way of reminding me from time to time that it’s best to stay humble.

On our second to last hunting day we still hadn’t given up hope of finding a big lion. On our way out of camp after our siesta we were crossing a dry and sandy riverbed. I was sitting in the front of the truck for a bit of a change, when someone on the back said “nyala.” I must have still been a bit asleep because I just sat there and said, “oh”. James suggested I might get off my butt and try to shoot it, which struck me as a reasonable idea, so I got out and Dean, on the back, handed me my rifle. One of the trackers had already put the sticks out behind the back of the truck, and I put the rifle up . . . only to find that one leg or another of the sticks kept sinking into the sand, and trying to correct just caused a different leg to sink. I decided to rest the rifle only lightly on the sticks . . . and tried to find the nyala. I could see a group of what looked like kudu under a tree some distance away. Dean said he was in that group, and that it was about 230 yards, so I should hold a bit high. I managed to find it in my scope, held a bit high, and took the shot. One of the trackers said “good shot,” which I always like to hear, especially since I had no idea. All of the antelope had scattered, and the sticks were entirely askew in the sand, so I couldn’t see anything.

We drove up to where the nyala had been standing, and tracked for about 10 yards, and there he was. My third or fourth nyala, but the first one in its traditional range (and this one was a bit of a stud as well!). How I could make a 230 yard shot off of wobbly sticks and miss a 40 yard shot off a steady rest is a bit of a mystery, but it’s those kind of mysteries which keep hunting interesting!

View attachment 565719

We were down to our last day of lion hunting, and I was completely fine without having found a good lion. We’d seen lots of lions, so it bodes well for the future, even if I didn’t get one this time. And, as it turned out, we didn’t find that last day lion we so often hear about!

Western Safaris has a tradition. On the last afternoon of a hunt, you drive to a spot called Sundowner Hill, where you have a sundowner overlooking the concession on all sides. Truly a spectacular view, and a wonderful way to end a superb hunt.

Some further comments to come.
View attachment 565720
A great spot for a sundowner

A proper Nyala. Good on you.

 

[Nyati]

A great hunt, congrats !

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on a nice nyala! Look forward to more!

 

[Hunt anything]

Great report, looking forward to your TT saga.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Thank you for your report! I always enjoy reading them. Congratulations on the Tiny Ten! You have done some cool adventures!

 

[TwoTracks]

Thanks for the great report. Any ideas on what’s next?

 

[BRICKBURN]

Success! All round. We got a good tale (again) and you survived the latest Tsetse assault with very nice trophies punctuating the adventure.

That Suni certainly puts the icing on the quest. Congratulations.

Sadly, with so many young lions wandering about, I'd have bet you'd have found a snow ball by the fire pit before a large Lion would waltz by. I'd have thought the big guys would have run the teenagers off for you. But alas, .....

Onward.

 

[Borderer]

I had a week with Ed and James a year ago. It was absolutely brilliant. Hard to fault Coutada 9. The countryside is amazing and the two brothers fantastic company. I don’t think I have ever laughed as much.

 

[Hank2211]

Wrap up time

Another bait . . . and one more . . .

I need to say a few words about poaching. Most of the coutadas in Mozambique were decimated in the civil war (1977 - 1992) which raged after the Portuguese left. Something akin to the civil war, but at a low simmer rather than a furious boil, ran from about 2013-18, ended by a peace treaty signed in 2019. During that time, Mozambique’s wild game population was hammered, both as an unintended consequence of the troubles as well as a result of rampant killing of game for food to supply troops. During these years, bush meat poaching also soared as people tried to feed their families. One result of all of this was that poaching - for food - became relatively normalized.

A spike camp for game scouts

The Mozambique government has taken a number of steps to try to control this problem, including enhanced law enforcement. But perhaps the most important step the Government has taken is to award the hunting rights on the coutadas for longer periods than is common in other parts of Africa. Western Safaris, for example, has 10 years remaining on their current concession, and new awards are generally for 15 years. We should all applaud this - longer terms allow operators to invest in their operations rather than try to get as much game as they can in the 5 (or fewer) years the concession is available. Equally, these longer terms incentivize operators to control poaching as much as they can.

Western Safaris runs a professional anti-poaching team, consisting of three ‘sticks’ of four-scout teams who live in the bush for a week at a time. New areas are patrolled on a daily basis, and scouts are paid bonuses for poachers caught and traps recovered. We saw game scouts on a regular basis, although this may be because we were looking for them to some extent for information on the presence of lions, but nevertheless, their presence has an impact.

Unfortunately, there is a limit to what operators can do, and poachers are nothing if not inventive. In this part of Mozambique, at least, poaching is for the bush meat trade, so poachers are generally unarmed. Gin traps are used much more than snares, and present much more of a danger to hunters than do snares. We came across a group of scouts who had captured a poacher one afternoon and were preparing to deliver him to the police in the local village. He’d been one of a group of four. I was told the police would likely beat the names of his friends out of him. (I think if I was told I’d be beaten until I talked, I would just offer to skip the beating and go straight to the talking, but who knows in this case?).

Some of the supplies found with the poacher . . . traps and drag sticks to slow animals down . . .

Some of the gin traps are quite substantial . . .

And our poacher. The newest thing on him is the handcuffs.

Now, back to the travel for a moment. There was one interesting episode on my return. I had obtained a transit permit for my firearm through South Africa, as is required. The permit worked both ways - going and returning. But a few months ago, after I’d applied for the permit through AfricaSky, Qatar changed the flights to Doha from JNB, with the result that I had to stay the night in South Africa and leave the following day. Not a huge deal - I was actually fine with spending a night in a hotel room on my way back and getting all cleaned up. But the South African police were confused when I went to fetch my rife and showed the transit permit. The officer (correctly, I think) said if you’re spending a night in South Africa, you can’t use a transit permit, you need a regular permit. We appeared all confused, and said we’d supplied all of the paper, and this is what they gave us, and he finally said, “fine but that’s not how it should go." So in the end it wasn’t a problem (and no payments were involved), but it could have been.

A few final words on Mozambique and Western Safaris. Mozambique is probably the closest you will get to the ‘olde time” hunting experience in southern Africa. You are in vast open spaces with communication only at camp via satellite. There are no fences. That said, Western Safaris practices a high level of ethical hunting as, I believe, most operators in Mozambique do. So it’s not the “wild west” in the sense that you can get away with bad practices which appeals to me, it’s that it’s my own (and Western’s) sense of ethical hunting which sets the tone. I like that.

I also like that by hunting in Mozambique, we’re helping to re-establish the game which once roamed there in vast numbers. I assume many of us are familiar with the work Mark Haldane and the Cabela Foundation are doing with respect to the re-introduction of lion and cheetah in Coutada 11. Haldane has also just begun re-introducing pangolin into Coutada 11. The same thing is happening, to some extent and perhaps with less publicity, throughout the hunting areas in Mozambique, including of course Coutada 9, driven by operators who know what they’re doing and, most importantly, are given the freedom, by and large, to do it. We encourage this by our presence in these areas.

And one last word about Western Safaris. I really enjoyed hunting with James, who is friendly and seemingly stress free. I also enjoyed meeting his father and brother. His father has a seemingly bottomless store of war stories (many of which are actually about war!) and hunting lore. The camp staff are friendly and efficient. The food is, as I mentioned, good and filling. My bed was made by someone who I can only assume was trained by a Marine drill sergeant. Not a ripple in sight! Laundry was well done and folded to within an inch of its life. The camp itself is very comfortable and I fell into an equally comfortable routine very easily. James tells me they have ongoing plans to improve the hunting (re-introducing more game and more indigenous game), as well as the camp (the StarLink is on order, and they are looking into air conditioning (which I don’t really think is necessary, but then I wasn’t there in November). So thanks to the Rosenfels for what they're doing here.

In addition to James Rosenfels and Western Safaris, I also want to thank Dean Stobbs of Dean Stobbs Safaris who booked the hunt (as he has al my hunts), filmed those parts where we gave him the (long!) time he needed to get his camera working (!) and for generally tolerating me.

While three weeks is long, the time went by quickly and while I’m always anxious to get home, I was also sorry to leave. I hope - and expect - to return when I can.

Now I think it’s off to Ethiopia in March 2024!

 

[Hunt anything]

Great summary, I spent quite a bit of time in Coutada 10. The game was thriving and it was good to see the anti poaching team s out and about. I was offered some of the poachers liberated spears to bring home but I declined worried about the legality of it. I probably saw more game on any given day than on some South African game farms. Thanks again for a great report and the flood of memories you brought flooding back.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Thanks for another great trip report. I enjoy the details and style, as always.

Sorry you didn’t bag a lion this go around, but it looked like a great way to spend 3 weeks.

 

[IdahoMo]

What a great report! I particularly found your closing thoughts a great read and good food for thought.

 

[Borderer]

Thank you very much for this report. I could not have written my experience there as well as you have done but Coutada 9 is a really special place and Western Safaris truly deserve all the support they can get.

I enjoyed every minute there and can think of few people I would enjoy a week in the company of more than the Rosenfels family. They and their staff really take all the stress out of what must be a very challenging environment to work in. They made my first trip to Africa something I will never forget.

Their commitment to conservation really is outstanding and the volume of wildlife in Coutada 9 is testament to this.

 

[Wheels]

Enjoyed your report Hank. Congratulations on finishing the Tiny Ten. The suni makes a great capstone. The nyala is definitely special as well.

 

[IdaRam]

Thank you Hank for the wonderful trip report. I enjoyed every bit of it. And a huge congrats on completing your quest for the tiny ten. You certainly finished it with a bang! Well done!
As I read about your C9 escapades and enjoyed the pictures it took me right back to my time spent there, although not with Western Safaris. I think the operators in C9 are some of the best in Africa and the work they are doing to rebuild the game populations, control poaching and showcase the value of true Conservation done right is nothing short of God’s work. I hope their efforts continue to bear fruit for generations. It’s certainly no small undertaking. And the lions are certainly responding well, they seem to be everywhere, but the big old males are truly a hard earned trophy as evidenced by your efforts. I hope you can get back soon for another round. I was fortunate to be there a couple years ago when a very nice gentleman hunting with Mokore got his lion. It took the entire hunt and much hard work, but it was a spectacular old cat with a big body and gorgeous full mane. Just being there was special.
Best of hunters luck to you in the future. I always enjoy your adventures.