ZAMBIA: Ntengu Safaris Hunt Report

[Scott CWO]

I’m not sure why some pictures are loading sideways but Wayne is working on it.

 

[Doug3006]

Thanks for highlighting an outfitter in Zambia that’s new to me. I‘m starting to think about another trip there and I’ll keep Ntegu in mind. I really appreciate their rehabilitation efforts. Sounds like the kind of outfit I like!

 

[Scott CWO]

I’m not sure why some pics loading sideways but @BRICKBURN is working on it

 

[cpr0312]

Nice lechwe, congrats!

 

[Red Leg]

I’m not sure why some pictures are loading sideways but Wayne is working on it.

Not very quickly however! Amazing serval and very nice lechwe.

 

[Osama Mahdi]

I live in a state bordering SD. I wish on day our path crossed and hear some of your adventures from you personally and see your trophies. Well done Sir!

 

[Scott CWO]

I live in a state bordering SD. I wish on day our path crossed and hear some of your adventures from you personally and see your trophies. Well done Sir!

I live in Colorado but get back to SD a couple times a year. Send me a PM sometime and thanks!

 

[Scott CWO]

July 30 continued - After lunch, we headed west looking for roan and sable along the many dambos. The roan like the wide open dambo and plains areas. Sable are found just about everywhere in the dambos and the forests in between. The swamps are sitatunga habitat with puku and lechwe along the edges.

Just before dark we arrived at the area called the Luama dambo, where we had stalked the wide sable the evening before. I spotted him and the same other bull. They were feeding and had not seen us yet. Fico and I backtracked on foot and made a flanking move inside the forest with the wind in our favor. It was impossible to be quiet with all the dry leaves and grass and the sable heard us coming and started walking off. They got into some high grass and were heading for the forest to our right. Fico said we should shoot the wide bull and that he should be about 47” long. The bulls were in high grass and we could only see the top half of their bodies. They were just about to disappear into the forest when I shot. The sable dropped and was spined. I ran up and finished him in the vitals. It took a while for the trackers to bring the cruiser through the trees and termite mounds so the pictures were taken just at dark. We also had to move him to get good pictures. Fico said the bull is the widest bull he’s ever guided. I was happy to hear that fact. Later, we taped him at 47 2/8” by 46 3/8” long. Wow!

 

[Tucketed]

Wow, tremendous start! Beautiful creatures

 

[cpr0312]

That sable

 

[Buck51]

Outstanding!!!!!!!!

 

[Scott CWO]

July 31 - Left camp at 4:30am and headed to the big tree machan on the Busanga Swamp. Nothing there so after a while, we walked the edge of the swamp. Nothing moving. Noticed some illegal fishermen out in the swamp. Stopped at the anti-poaching scout camp for tea. Then drove into the plains along the park boundary as we did when we got the lechwe earlier. The biggest puku were still in the park so we left after glassing several herds. Worked our way back towards camp for lunch but didn’t see anything too special. After lunch at camp, we drove through a lot of open areas looking for roan but only saw a few sable. Slow day.

August 1 - My dad joined us this morning for our 4:30am drive up to the Busanga Swamp. I was in back with the trackers. Hiked to a new termite mound to glass. Nothing. We walked the swamp edge and found a burn that extended out into the swamp. Fico decided to build a machan in a tree there for a future sit.

After the machan project, we checked the puku herds in the plains bordering the swamp once again but the two big puku bulls were still in the park. We left and drove through some big open country looking for roan. We found a group of 27! Roan are incredibly wary. They are like a white-tailed deer and the sable are more like a mule deer. Sable are much easier to stalk here. We kept a termite mound between us and the roan at all times but they are still always looking around. Once they see even a glimpse of something out of place, they stare at you forever! We closed to about 400 yards but the bull with the herd was too small. Hiked back to the cruiser and had lunch under a tree. After lunch we saw the usual hartebeest, sable, wildebeest, etc… but no more roan.

 

[Scott CWO]

August 2 - Left at the usual sitatunga time of 4:30am. This time, we headed to the very first machan we built on July 28th. Ben, Pico’s 18 year-old son came along. Saw no sitatunga but did see a male and female reedbuck. Earlier in this report I forgot to mention reedbuck and waterbuck sightings but they are fairly common as well. I already have a big reedbuck from Mozambique so I didn’t hunt them on this trip but there are big ones here. There are also impala but they are small.

We were just about to leave the machan when a big hyaena stepped out of the swamp on my side where I was watching. I nudged Fico because hyaena was on my list. He said to shoot as it was big. It was an easy shot at 80 yards. I’ve never had the chance to shoot a hyaena on my other safaris so I was very pleased!

 

[meigsbucks]

Great recap so far. That Sable is out of this world! Can’t wait for the rest of the story.

 

[Scott CWO]

August 2 continued - After hyaena pictures, we checked some likely roan areas and found a group of 13 roan. After a hike to get closer, we determined that the bull with them was too young. Worked our way back towards camp for lunch.

After lunch, mom and dad joined us to look for more roan, waterbuck, puku, etc…. We found a group of waterbuck and with them was the biggest bull we had seen so far. These are Crawshay defassa waterbuck so their horns are generally smaller than those of the common waterbuck and their rump hide markings are different but they are big animals.

Fico, Mackson, Jackson and I went after the waterbuck. The male was at the back of the herd and stopped in the forest while looking at us. Fico setup the sticks and I got setup but there were a couple branches potentially in the way. Sure enough, the bullet hit a branch and we all saw it happen. The waterbuck all ran off. We flanked them to the right for about a half mile and found them again. I got on the sticks again and just as my brain sent the message to shoot to my finger, the waterbuck took off and I hit him too far back. We saw where the herd ran but never saw the male again so we figured he laid down. We waited for a few minutes but he never came out of the cover that they all ran behind. The females ran through and out the other side without the bull. We carefully circled and we found him bedded. I shot him again and he got up and took off. He ran into the next patch of cover but never exited. We circled again and walked past him. I happened to look back over my shoulder and I saw him hiding behind a downed tree. I turned and quickly shot him. This time, he stayed down. Geez, what a tough bugger! We taped him at a little over 24” which is nice for this subspecies I am told.

After pictures and loading the waterbuck, we continued looking for roan to no avail. Back to camp for dinner. Another great day!

 

[Scott CWO]

August 3 - Up early again and headed to the second new machan we had built overlooking a burn that went out into the swamp. Nothing. The sitatunga were proving a challenge!

We left the machan after a while and again walked the edge of the swamp, glassing as we went. We spotted a half dozen sitatunga along the way but this time, we found a new bull. Fico judged the bull to be about 24” and the bulls average 25”-26” here. I told him I would be happy with 24” and the bull’s horns had a very nice open shape to them instead of some of the narrower configurations you sometimes see. The French hunter in camp just before me shot a 26” bull but very narrow. Fico agreed that the bull had a nice shape and was old with worn down tips. That’s all I needed to hear so I got ready and shot the bull at about 100 yards. He went right down and didn’t move. We thought he was dead but as the trackers were removing their shoes and socks to go get him out of the swamp, he suddenly tried to get up so I shot him again and that did it. The trackers retrieved him while we stood guard for hippos. We had been seeing hippos regularly.

I just love the spiral-horned antelopes and I am ecstatic that I got a decent sitatunga! A dream come true for me. They get bigger here but I could care less. He was old and I got him spot and stalk! We later measured him at 24 1/2” by 23 6/8”

 

[gillettehunter]

Excellent start to your safari. I'm sure getting that Sitatunga and monster sable took a lot of the pressure off. Great to be able to take your parents with you. I tried to take my dad, but waited to long and is now deceased. Congrats!!
Bruce

 

[Scott CWO]

August 3 continued - After dropping off the sitatunga at camp and eating lunch, mom and dad joined and we headed southwest of camp through a dense thicket on our way towards a large open dambo. We saw a lot of sable, including a nice 44-45” bull. Fico mentioned that there was one more sable available on quota if I wanted to take a second sable. He wasn’t trying to get me to shoot this 45” bull but told me if we saw another bull in the upper 40s, that I had that option. He said that the two biggest bulls they have ever taken were both 49” bulls. He was hoping to take a 50” bull sometime soon. With the anti-poaching work, he said it was just a matter of time. With a week left on this safari, would I be the one to get a 50” bull? Time will tell!

Anyway, we later saw a lone bull elephant and a group of 32 sable bulls but they were all young bulls from 35”- 42” and some were still brown, not black. Another interesting thing about sable here is that most of the bigger old bulls are alone or in small groups and not with the cows. The herd bulls are nice but not usually the biggest bulls they take. Fico thinks the old bulls here retire a bit earlier and mature (but a bit younger) bulls take over the herds and push the old bulls out.

We moved on and came across a herd of eland, a rare sight here and only seen about twice a year. No roan sighted this evening. Eland are not on quota here.

 

[Scott CWO]

August 4 - We all left at 5am to drive north to look for buffalo and roan. The pressure of sitatunga was over! We found buffalo tracks and sign but from the day before. We later found the same 13 roan without a big bull. Later, I spotted a lone roan bull so we stalked it. Got to 400 yards and determined it was too young. Where are the mature roan bulls, we wondered? There’s only two on quota in Kansonso and three in Lunda so they aren’t all that many compared to sable, hartebeest, wildebeest, etc… but Fico thought we should have seen a shooter by now and he said we were missing a couple they had seen on earlier hunts. We continued on and saw a lot of other animals but no more roan. Back to camp for lunch. After lunch, not much new spotted.

Finally landing in Denver. Might continue tomorrow but depends on work and family. Hope you’ve enjoyed the report so far and thanks for all the kind words and “likes.”

 

[Scott CWO]

Y

Excellent start to your safari. I'm sure getting that Sitatunga and monster sable took a lot of the pressure off. Great to be able to take your parents with you. I tried to take my dad, but waited to long and is now deceased. Congrats!!
Bruce

Yes, exactly. Thanks so much!