ZAMBIA: Upper Luangwa River - Mwanya Fly Camp - First Safari

[Slickshooter]

Congrats on the critters, especially the buffalo.

 

[Buckums]

Day four and five were full of awesome adventure and several stalks on buffalo and a stalk on kudu but neither panned out. We bumped into my old lone buffalo on day five and he gave us the slip, and once again he gave us the slip on day six. But i did get a nice waterbuck that we earned the hard way. Waterbuck are much bigger than I thought, and don't give up easily. The 9.3x62 did its job, albeit with more effort that expected on a less than perfect quartering to angle from 160 yards.

Below is a pic of the waterbuck I got on day six.

 

[Betterinthebush]

Amazing! Thank you for taking us along.

 

[LWPhunt]

we don't say it enough, thanks for sharing, what a fantastic "short report" congratulations and that is an awesome old bull. way to go.

 

[M48scout]

Sounds like a fantastic trip. Thank you for taking the time to narrate each day with pictures.

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to hunting Upper Lupande this fall. Under 100 days!

 

[Buckums]

I am still playing a lot of catch up after being gone, so going to be quick with details on the kudu stalk, etc. but it took multiple stalks on this group over a few days, and I learned that kudu are called the gray ghost for a reason.. especially the big bulls.... they are slippery, crafty and have a knack for keeping danger at a distance, avoiding trouble and keeping the ladies and small bulls in between you and them! From my experience, be ready for longer shots than on most of the other PG. Early July the bulls in this area have the most beautiful coat and impressive overall condition.

 

[PARA45]

Beautiful bull Kudu! I can't get enough of them. I'll hunt a Kudu every time I visit Africa. Congratulations!

 

[odonata]

@Buckums, Ever since we met back in April, I've been checking your posts on a regular basis knowing that a Zambia hunting report was going to appear one day. It was definitely worth the wait! Thanks for sharing the photos and the experience with the rest of us.

 

[Rare Breed]

Forgive me if already asked but any Tetsee flies? Congratulations on a great hunt and experience!!!!

 

[Buckums]

Forgive me if already asked but any Tetsee flies? Congratulations on a great hunt and experience!!!!

Oh yes....the grass was still very high in a lot of places and in those areas they were brutal especially during the heat of the day. They are tough evil little bastards that I believe to be the seed of Satan himself. That said, I look forward to the next time I get to spend my days swatting and cussing them.

 

[Buckums]

However the more I learn about those God forsaken critter the more I understand their necessity.

 

[SCmackey]

Congrat on a great buffalo

 

[Buckums]

Day 10. Zebra day. Throughout the hunt, we came across a few groups of zebras but surprisingly they weren't as abundant as I had envisioned, and we passed on the few groups we came across as we were on the hunt for other targets, as we assumed it would be fairly easy to find a group later in the hunt. Not that easy. I was set on a mature stallion only, and I didn’t have interest in shooting a mare or young stallion. Finally on the last morning of the hunt we finally got on a group of zebra with a mature stallion, but wait… it was missing its tail! I had always dreamed of bringing home a beautiful zebra rug, so after some discussion despite being the last day of the hunt, we gambled on trying to find another stallion and Mr. No Tail got to see another day. Later that day we came across another group with a proper stallion that gave me a nearly broadside shot at around 150 yards. Like with the waterbuck, the 9.3x62 Swift A Frame did the job, but I somehow missed the heart and double lunged him. While he was lagging some, he took off with the rest of the herd. After some chase, we caught up to within 150 yards or so and I had to anchor him as they were running away then finish him off once I got closer. I will try to do a more comprehensive review of my experience with the 9.3 250gr A Frame, but shooting this bullet at 2550 fps, I was surprised with the lack of expansion on plains game at ranges over 150 yards.

 

[Luminous Ham]

Nice zebra! Looking forward to a more detailed review of the bullet.