Charlie64
AH senior member
.
An on-land hippo in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia
When I joined this forum a few months ago, one of the members who wrote a welcome note and knows me from another hunting forum, encouraged me to write a hunting report or two and even post some of my past reports. Well a copy / paste of an old report does not seem right to me, however from past experience the northern hemisphere winter months tend to be thin on African hunting reports and tales, so allow me here to rewrite an abridged version of an on-land hippo hunt that I undertook with my wife some years ago in the Luangwa Valley in Zambia, which I hope makes for fun reading.
It was a group hunt and hippo was to be my main animal of choice with a side of puku, bushbuck, impala and some tigerfishing, shared between me an my wife, Anja. I had taken my .450/400 Beesley double with me on this trip and my wife carried her trusty CZ .30-06 with which she has successfully hunted in Europe and Africa for many years. On test shooting the rifles it turned out that my cases were not ejecting from the chambers after firing rendering the double not suitable for a dangerous game hunt. Our PH, Thor, whom I guess many on here may know, was quick to offer me his .500 NE as a suitable alternative for hippo medicine with him carrying his .458 Lott. So we were suitable equipped!
Sir Samuel Baker, a Victorian explorer, wrote " ... there is no animal I dislike more than a hippo." whilst Capstick wrote "To be caught by a hippo is a singularly nasty way to receive your overdose of Africa."
That about sets the scene. I have hunted hippo before and will do so again but will only target them on land, if I have a choice in the matter. Dry land hippo up close with a big bore double counts big time as dangerous game in my opinion, it presents a challenge to the PH and the hunter and if you get it right it`s a great hunt and can be very exciting!
The morning of the hippo hunt we were up at 03:30 and after a quick coffee and a rusk by the still warm ashes of the campfire, Thor (with his .458), Anja (with her .30-06), Vincent the tracker, Georgina, the scout (with her AK) and myself (with Thor`s VC .500 NE) headed out into the darkness after a hippo!
A .500 has a nice feel to it when you are after hippo up close!
After a short drive, Thor stopped the Toyota a short ways from the Luangwa River and we began a very, very slow and very deliberate and focused walk towards the water. With sunrise still half an hour away, it was inky dark and we were just able to make out the moonlight reflection of the worn paths and game tracks in the sand of the river basin. The idea was that we would catch a bull on his return to the water from feeding the night on land. Slowly and silently we made our way towards the river in the darkness.
It is amazing how when you loose one of your senses i.e. sight, that your other senses become more heightened and alert i.e. your hearing and it is even more amazing how loud a hippo snorting at 20 odd meters in the pitch dark sounds! We all froze and in the slowest of motion turned in the direction of the snort.
We stood motionless and totally silent for what seemed like for ever but in reality was likely less then two minutes. Then with a deep snort the hippo shuffled off to the right, away towards the river and we all let out a long slow sigh of relief. We waited a few moments for the dust to settle so to speak and slowly moved forward towards the river.
By now, however, we could just about make out the first hazy light of the pre dawn and we carried on walking to the river, all senses on full alert, we reached the river bank, standing a couple of meters above the water, we could hear returning hippo trotting down the cut paths in the steep bank and splashing into the water, whilst the main pod grunted and snorted some 20 meters away in the middle of the river.
As we crept forward along the high bank, Thor and I both spotted a hippo standing at the waters edge some 4 - 5 meters below us, quartering slightly away, head facing towards the river bank and totally still. We crouched down so as to be out of sight, followed by Anja, Georgina and Vincent.
"He`s big," in a silent whisper.
"Not sure if he`s a bull," in a whisper back.
"He`s big."
"OK, take him if you want to."
And at that, we stood up and sliding onto fire, I put both barrels from Thor`s .500 NE into the hippo`s head and neck whilst Thor followed up with one from his .458. I reloaded the double and managed to put two more rounds into the now running hippo as it raced, splashing into the river. I quickly swapped the double for Anja`s .30-06 and with the scope down to 2, I bedded the rifle onto the sticks that Vincent now had up and I sighted at the ripples where the hippo had been. Other than some agitated grunts and snorts from the rest of the pod everything around us was still. 5 shots in some 15 seconds had broken the peace of another African sunrise but the morning silence returned quickly and we waited and watched.
After a short while, we descended the steep hippo path to the water`s edge and then we began the waiting game.
An elderly fisherman slowly paddled his mokoro over the river towards us, tempted by the prospect of meat. He was quickly joined by 3 other dugouts.
We waited. Thor sent back to camp for egg and bacon rolls and coffee (and more .458 ammo but that is another story) and we waited some more. And then to everyone`s relief, up floated the dead hippo, shot on land to be recovered from the water and the by now assembled fleet of fishermen confirmed it was a big bull hippo! It was then that Thor shook my hand and congratulated me on the hunt, my shooting and our bull hippo!
The fishermen worked the bull to the shallows, laughing and calling to each other as the stood waist and knee deep in crocodile waters, pushing, pulling and rolling the hippo to shore.
The carcass was butchered over the next few hours with the meat being distributed throughout the community and also to the hands that helped.
It was a truly awesome hunt! A first light, dry land hippo, shot from above at some 5 meters without the bull knowing that we were there. I am sure Diana had a hand in it but then again a bit of hunting luck is always a good thing. The walk / stalk in to the riverbank in the near dark focused the mind and the other senses. The bull we took was a great bull to take - big, old, scarred and battled. The meat fed a lot of mouths.
Although the hunt was a few years ago, thanks again to Thor for a most exciting and memorable hippo hunt and for letting me use your double and trusting me to hunt hippo with you in the darkness of the Luangwa Valley!
Ps. As a post script, the whole safari was very `hippoish`- we had hippo in the camp at Munya at night feeding on the lawns, we had hippo around the chalets at Kingfisher Lodge when we were tigerfishing - Anja and I walked around the corner of our chalet one morning and we meet the resident hippo cow at 4 meters! One of the other guests opened her chalet door and we ducked in for safety until the cow had passed! We also had a large cow come drifting by the jetty whilst I was casting flies to the small tilapia down in the reeds along the jetty walkway. The cow hung around for a while, blew some bubbles and moved on.
For me it was a ` imvubu ` safari through and through!
And I do hope that the members here enjoy reading this tale and wish you all a wonderful holiday season!
Charlie
.
An on-land hippo in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia
When I joined this forum a few months ago, one of the members who wrote a welcome note and knows me from another hunting forum, encouraged me to write a hunting report or two and even post some of my past reports. Well a copy / paste of an old report does not seem right to me, however from past experience the northern hemisphere winter months tend to be thin on African hunting reports and tales, so allow me here to rewrite an abridged version of an on-land hippo hunt that I undertook with my wife some years ago in the Luangwa Valley in Zambia, which I hope makes for fun reading.
It was a group hunt and hippo was to be my main animal of choice with a side of puku, bushbuck, impala and some tigerfishing, shared between me an my wife, Anja. I had taken my .450/400 Beesley double with me on this trip and my wife carried her trusty CZ .30-06 with which she has successfully hunted in Europe and Africa for many years. On test shooting the rifles it turned out that my cases were not ejecting from the chambers after firing rendering the double not suitable for a dangerous game hunt. Our PH, Thor, whom I guess many on here may know, was quick to offer me his .500 NE as a suitable alternative for hippo medicine with him carrying his .458 Lott. So we were suitable equipped!
Sir Samuel Baker, a Victorian explorer, wrote " ... there is no animal I dislike more than a hippo." whilst Capstick wrote "To be caught by a hippo is a singularly nasty way to receive your overdose of Africa."
That about sets the scene. I have hunted hippo before and will do so again but will only target them on land, if I have a choice in the matter. Dry land hippo up close with a big bore double counts big time as dangerous game in my opinion, it presents a challenge to the PH and the hunter and if you get it right it`s a great hunt and can be very exciting!
The morning of the hippo hunt we were up at 03:30 and after a quick coffee and a rusk by the still warm ashes of the campfire, Thor (with his .458), Anja (with her .30-06), Vincent the tracker, Georgina, the scout (with her AK) and myself (with Thor`s VC .500 NE) headed out into the darkness after a hippo!
A .500 has a nice feel to it when you are after hippo up close!
After a short drive, Thor stopped the Toyota a short ways from the Luangwa River and we began a very, very slow and very deliberate and focused walk towards the water. With sunrise still half an hour away, it was inky dark and we were just able to make out the moonlight reflection of the worn paths and game tracks in the sand of the river basin. The idea was that we would catch a bull on his return to the water from feeding the night on land. Slowly and silently we made our way towards the river in the darkness.
It is amazing how when you loose one of your senses i.e. sight, that your other senses become more heightened and alert i.e. your hearing and it is even more amazing how loud a hippo snorting at 20 odd meters in the pitch dark sounds! We all froze and in the slowest of motion turned in the direction of the snort.
We stood motionless and totally silent for what seemed like for ever but in reality was likely less then two minutes. Then with a deep snort the hippo shuffled off to the right, away towards the river and we all let out a long slow sigh of relief. We waited a few moments for the dust to settle so to speak and slowly moved forward towards the river.
By now, however, we could just about make out the first hazy light of the pre dawn and we carried on walking to the river, all senses on full alert, we reached the river bank, standing a couple of meters above the water, we could hear returning hippo trotting down the cut paths in the steep bank and splashing into the water, whilst the main pod grunted and snorted some 20 meters away in the middle of the river.
As we crept forward along the high bank, Thor and I both spotted a hippo standing at the waters edge some 4 - 5 meters below us, quartering slightly away, head facing towards the river bank and totally still. We crouched down so as to be out of sight, followed by Anja, Georgina and Vincent.
"He`s big," in a silent whisper.
"Not sure if he`s a bull," in a whisper back.
"He`s big."
"OK, take him if you want to."
And at that, we stood up and sliding onto fire, I put both barrels from Thor`s .500 NE into the hippo`s head and neck whilst Thor followed up with one from his .458. I reloaded the double and managed to put two more rounds into the now running hippo as it raced, splashing into the river. I quickly swapped the double for Anja`s .30-06 and with the scope down to 2, I bedded the rifle onto the sticks that Vincent now had up and I sighted at the ripples where the hippo had been. Other than some agitated grunts and snorts from the rest of the pod everything around us was still. 5 shots in some 15 seconds had broken the peace of another African sunrise but the morning silence returned quickly and we waited and watched.
After a short while, we descended the steep hippo path to the water`s edge and then we began the waiting game.
An elderly fisherman slowly paddled his mokoro over the river towards us, tempted by the prospect of meat. He was quickly joined by 3 other dugouts.
We waited. Thor sent back to camp for egg and bacon rolls and coffee (and more .458 ammo but that is another story) and we waited some more. And then to everyone`s relief, up floated the dead hippo, shot on land to be recovered from the water and the by now assembled fleet of fishermen confirmed it was a big bull hippo! It was then that Thor shook my hand and congratulated me on the hunt, my shooting and our bull hippo!
The fishermen worked the bull to the shallows, laughing and calling to each other as the stood waist and knee deep in crocodile waters, pushing, pulling and rolling the hippo to shore.
The carcass was butchered over the next few hours with the meat being distributed throughout the community and also to the hands that helped.
It was a truly awesome hunt! A first light, dry land hippo, shot from above at some 5 meters without the bull knowing that we were there. I am sure Diana had a hand in it but then again a bit of hunting luck is always a good thing. The walk / stalk in to the riverbank in the near dark focused the mind and the other senses. The bull we took was a great bull to take - big, old, scarred and battled. The meat fed a lot of mouths.
Although the hunt was a few years ago, thanks again to Thor for a most exciting and memorable hippo hunt and for letting me use your double and trusting me to hunt hippo with you in the darkness of the Luangwa Valley!
Ps. As a post script, the whole safari was very `hippoish`- we had hippo in the camp at Munya at night feeding on the lawns, we had hippo around the chalets at Kingfisher Lodge when we were tigerfishing - Anja and I walked around the corner of our chalet one morning and we meet the resident hippo cow at 4 meters! One of the other guests opened her chalet door and we ducked in for safety until the cow had passed! We also had a large cow come drifting by the jetty whilst I was casting flies to the small tilapia down in the reeds along the jetty walkway. The cow hung around for a while, blew some bubbles and moved on.
For me it was a ` imvubu ` safari through and through!
And I do hope that the members here enjoy reading this tale and wish you all a wonderful holiday season!
Charlie
.
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