ZIMBABWE: 2018 Cast & Blast x2 With Nyamazana Safaris

Jeff and Dana: Day 10, morning.
(Friday, 27/7/2018)


(Oh... that dreadful alarm!)

“C'mon honey. Time to get up...” After hearing about how difficult the climb was to get to the area where we were able to see the Bushbuck, Dana decided to opt out this morning and let us guys put ourselves in peril without her. (Can't say I blame her.) I know it was a difficult decision for her since she is thrilled with the hunting experience and feels the thrill and reward of the kill as much as me. She wants to be there with me.

I go to breakfast which was a quick gobble-and-go as we needed to get up that pile of rock in the predawn light to be ready when the rays of the morning sun show where the Bushbuck are feeding.

Stopping by our room before heading to the truck I gently prod her to come along and let her know she will be missed. The gang is waiting for me in the truck. I make my there and climb in making sure I don't have any spent cartridges on me and that everything is “ready” for another adventure in the bush.

We start driving down the road towards the hill and I start to do some mental 3D imagery of where we are and where we need to be. The road passes between two hills. The downstream side of the dam is on the other side of the hill to the right. I can't help but think traipsing around this hill is awfully time consuming... I look up as we approach the great mound of rock and think to myself, “We can climb that. Why not go straight up and over?” Doing so would put us at an even higher vantage point and be much quicker. I mention it to Mike. He looks at the hill and gives a nod. We turn off the road and onto a trail which led us to the base of the hill. Out we hop and up we go. If I were going to have a heart attack this would be when it would have happened! Yesterday was nothing compared to this near vertical climb. I am quite sure nobody had ever done this before...

We get to the top and everyone stops to breathe (Except for the trackers, Pizza and Tiger. These two guys are remarkable!). I had taken one or two stops already on the way up. And the view was amazing! I was too preoccupied with not dying and looking for our quarry to take photos. Sorry. Looking at the 3D-ish aerial image below you can see the area where we were hunting.
behind dam-1.jpg


To give you an idea of our positions yesterday and this morning please see below:
A – Where we were the day before.
B – Previous Bushbuck sighting.
C – Where we parked this morning.
D – Where crossed over the top.
arial behind dam-3.jpg


While at the top we spotted at least one Bushbuck, maybe two, just behind the dam! We needed to get a little closer so we sneaked down to a large pale boulder (it is just above the “D” in the photo). We could see them clearly – there were in fact two. I had a decent shot and was steady on the sticks while atop the boulder but Mike wanted to get a touch closer. We moved further down to a flatter opening near a dead or leafless tree. From here we watched them waiting for the right opportunity. The distance to the tree-line on the other side was about 300 yards so being steady and having a still target were important.

There were two males and they were engaged in a bit of a dispute. We watched them spar and shove each other around. That was truly something to see just before 7am! Even from so far away, watching not often seen activities of wild animals gives you a kind of “high.” The younger male must have had a lesson taught to him because after a couple minutes he moved to right and into the thicker greenery. Our concentration was on the larger ram to the left. I waited and waited for him to stop moving and get all the way out from behind a small bush. “Wait just another minute,” Mike was saying. There. Now he was in the open. “I've got him...” I said softly to Mike. “Take the shot when you're comfortable.” Even with my Nikon cranked up that Bushbuck was a small target. Steady... Breathe... “BOOM!” The shot rang out and echoed between the hills. He went down but is struggling. “Again!” said Mike. I chambered another round and quickly fired. Miss. He is not going anywhere but we need to get to him quickly.

We scurried down from the hill and across the dam. Coming around through the trees we start looking in the grass. In the photo you can see the large pale boulder up on the hill and the dead tree that I shot from just down and to the left of it.
20180727_072950.jpg


We move a little further into the grass near a bush and there he is. I put another round in him to finish him off. There are two small red dots in the second photo above. One is where I shot from the other is where the Bushbuck was. My longest shot to date.
20180727_072651.jpg


Now that was hunting!

“Lets get this guy over to Dana so she can see him!” said Mike. Little did she know that from where we were up on the hill we could see the window of our room right beside the bed.

Dana was a little surprised when I came into the room but the smile on my face must have given it away. “Did you get him?? I heard three shots!” “Come out and see!” She got dressed appropriately for hunting and came down to where we set him up for photos. Later she said everyone in the camp heard the shots and like an alarm clock, they were up now! Especially with the third “snooze button” shot.

His horns measured about 13.5” and he had seen a number of seasons. He's going on a wall.
20180727_075056.jpg

20180727_075210.jpg
20180727_075135.jpg

Off to the skinning shed again.

Over the last week or so I had been talking to Dana about taking a shot at an animal and she said she would if she could. The problem was my 300 WM would be too much for her. While on the way to the skinning shed we passed my brother and his posse. A short discussion later and Wayne's .22 Hornet was in our truck for Dana to shoot! This would easily take down an Impala or piggie and we were still after them.

We thought about it and decided to head to the airstrip on the property since a variety of animals often visit the wide open space. This would offer Dana a good chance to take an animal. Mike and I ended up stalking some Warthogs that were at the far end of the strip. They were some big females but no boars. This went on for some time and we made our way back to the truck to find Dana some game. While on the way I mentioned to Mike that I had no problem taking a large female Warthog. I thought he was going to go berserk. He thought I only wanted to shoot a boar. Oops...

We press on and after some time Warthogs are spotted on the left. We get out and try sneaking up on them but no luck. Scouting around that area we found these odd logs... no, those aren't logs! Those are Giraffe legs. There wasn't any sign of the rest of the animal – just the legs. I believe there was a giraffe taken a week or three prior and they removed the legs for ease of transport.
20180727_092330.jpg


We continued on without seeing much by way of our quarry and headed back for lunch. The Drummonds, Wayne, and Mike got together and decided to have an evening cookout on top of a great granite slab out in the bush. The lunar eclipse was tonight with the full moon. It should be a terrific show! (Thus my avatar name.)

Jeff and Dana: Day 10, afternoon.
(Friday, 27/7/2018)


After lunch we continued on to find Dana something worth shooting. After all, she stuck with me through thick and thin during my hunting exercises!

On and on we went. We visited the area around a lodge that had recently been struck by lightening and burned down. Judging by what was left I'm sure it was an amazing place! Neither Dana or me took any pics... We did manage to get a pick with our awesome trackers. Tiger, me, Dana, Mike, and Pizza.
20180727_171353.jpg

As you can see in the photo, the sun was getting weary in the sky so we got a move on.

Impala ahead! Mike and I get out to try to sneak up on them. This bunch was having none of it and the delightful females kept blowing their dissatisfaction at us when we got too close. A little further down the road we decide to go after them. Dana! You're with Mike this time! And off they went after the Impala. I was so thrilled for her and followed behind!

These giant ant mounds sure do come in handy!
20180727_173308_Moment1.jpg


Unfortunately, the Impala were too wary and wouldn't stick around for Dana to shoot.
20180727_174019.jpg

20180727_173335.jpg


By now it is getting late in the afternoon and we need to head back to camp and get ready for tonight. As a matter of fact we're running late!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Friday 27 July, Night 10 of Safari - TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE:

The big event for tonight, viewing a Total Lunar Eclipse from on top of a granite mountain with an unobstructed view and without light pollution from any cities! Di had planned this out well with a table of drinks/snacks and a cooler of cold beverages, a cooking fire and another fire for us all to sit around and enjoy as we passed the time watching the full moon disappear behind the earth’s shadow on a crystal-clear night.

Before we left the sun had set, (1st pic) and you turned around and the moon and mars were already bright in the sky (2nd pic).

IMG_1452.JPG


IMG_1456.JPG

The set-up:

IMG_4660.JPG

Beverage and snack table, Michelle had probably already made off with the Simba Chutney chips :sneaky::

IMG_4659.JPG

Tenderloin of beef, marinated bacon strips, sausage and garlic bread (foiled) over the fire.

2f042486-c878-40db-bd3c-d8730a01aeee.JPG

A shot of the moon and Mars rising:

IMG_1458.JPG

During the eclipse, the moon turning red and Mars becoming much brighter:
6675f2a6-22ce-479d-9528-4229ea396d3c.JPG



It was extremely bright out that clear evening, flash wasn't needed (that is a planet above the trucks, Venus?):

IMG_1482.JPG


What a way to finish out our Safari, I am thankful I could share this with my brother, memories that will last us a lifetime, cheers! :D Cheers:

c588f305-8bc2-4c24-ace4-0b4cfaf732d7.JPG


And a big thank you to Di, Wayne @Nyamazana Safaris and Mike @blignaut and all the supporting crew for making this Safari a grand ten days in the Zimbabwe wilderness for myself, my wonderful-understanding-never say NO wife Michelle, my brother Jeff @AfricanEclipse and his beautiful girlfriend Dana!

To my wonderful daughter Hailey who did the proof reading and caught many grammar issues, thank you!

Ed & Michelle

PS: a little more to come as we haven't gotten to the airport yet, always something in Africa!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Saturday 28 July, Departure/Return to the USA:

Of course it is always hectic when you get in late the night before and haven’t packed diddly squat! We grab a quick bite to eat and settle up the bill with Wayne and there aren’t any surprises. I even offered to pay additional fuel money for all the night hunting that I added just a few weeks from arrival as well as using his shotgun and 22 Hornet, he declined. I also put down a deposit to reserve one of the tags to come back and hunt in June 2020 for Mr Spots!

The plan was to leave around 6:45am for the 3.5 hour drive to Bulawayo airport for our 12:50 departure. We left some additional time in case we ran into any unexpected delays on the road with the elections just two days away. There was a lot of heavy and light truck traffic that morning, some of these guys were slightly overloaded returning with goods from South Africa.


IMG_1496.JPG


We were waved through all the police check-points, made good progress and had enough time to stop and pick up some meat pies from the Indian restaurant. Those of you that have had the privilege of driving or riding in Bulawayo are well aware that the locals do not know how to drive nor do they pay attention when crossing the road!

We get to the airport curb and unload our bags onto a couple of luggage carts and push on into the airport. Hmmm, its awful dark in here. What, no power? Wayne walks in and starts questioning the airport workers, why don’t you have the generator fired up? Off they scurry to get the generator running! It takes 15-20 minutes before it starts and we surmised someone probably stole the diesel fuel. While waiting, I stepped outside and took a pic of the polling instructions. NOTE STEP 2: YOU MUST SHOW VALID NATIONAL ID!!! What a fantastic idea….


IMG_1500.JPG


The generator finally gets rolling and we find our way to the ticket counter. I was concerned since Michelle and I had to buy a new set of tickets and I didn't know if we were going to have to retrieve our guns/bags in J-Burg and re-check them with Delta. We gave our old and new itineraries to the young lady and she worked some magic and was able to check our bags all the way through to Pensacola, she had never heard of the airport code PNS. Small victories!

The weapons verification in Bulawayo is done the old-fashioned way, everything is hand written in a ledger when you arrive and they verify you are in the book when you leave. You also return the Form 20 that was stamped upon your arrival. Jeff’s weapon information wasn’t in the ledger! Wayne arrives and helps get it straightened out, the officer just added it to the ledger, another small victory! A Rhino sculpture in the airport,

IMG_1499.JPG

We proceed through customs and security without issue and are in the waiting area when they retrieve us one at a time to open our gun cases and count our ammo vs the Form 20 and handwritten ledger. You would think they would take us into a back room to do this? Nope. We exited the terminal on the tarmac side like we were heading out to the plane, made a sharp right and were asked to pick out our gun and ammo cases that were stacked up next to everyone’s luggage on a flat cart and take them literally into a maintenance closet! A quick look at the serial numbers and number of rounds remaining and sign the ledger again. No issues and no hassles from anyone.

The flights were uneventful and we returned home without incident! I was able to meet @Shootist43 , @Art Lambart II , @whitetail , @TOBY458 , and Steve Dean while in Atlanta at the firearms check-out line. If I left anyone out I apologize and it was nice to put a face with other hunters from AH!

That about wraps it up folks, hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing up the adventure! If anyone has any questions, let fly or shoot me a PM.

I’ll be writing up another post later this year as I’ll be back in Bubiana chasing Mr Spots for 14 days in October, I couldn’t pass up a discounted cancellation hunt!

Edge & Michelle
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Excellent adventure! Thanks for sharing it and I’m looking forward to your fall adventure for at least a chui! That deal just had so many potential options!
 
I hope your leopard hunt is as successful as this one was. Great report with many awesome pics. Thanks for posting.
Bruce
 
I hope your leopard hunt is as successful as this one was. Great report with many awesome pics. Thanks for posting.
Bruce
 
Great entertainment. Thanks for the effort.
 
Thanks for the great write up guys, it took me a few days to read it all but very well written and fun to read.

And congrats to the 4 of you as well as Wayne and his whole team on such a fantastic hunt and vacation. I'm not keen on the immiediate follow up no matter what on DG hunts but it sure sounds like Wayne can host a great hunt and is not afraid to put in the time and effort.

Sure is great to read a report where you take what Africa gives you on a free hunt:)
 
Thanks for the great write up guys, it took me a few days to read it all but very well written and fun to read.

And congrats to the 4 of you as well as Wayne and his whole team on such a fantastic hunt and vacation. I'm not keen on the immiediate follow up no matter what on DG hunts but it sure sounds like Wayne can host a great hunt and is not afraid to put in the time and effort.

Sure is great to read a report where you take what Africa gives you on a free hunt:)

Thank you, Bob. The safari was a fantastic time! Even now, almost 4 weeks after the hunt, I can't get my mind out of the bush and my hands often search for my rifle! Neither of us are keen on the idea of shooting game in a fenced in area - too much like shooting "fish in a barrel" and not very sporting. We are used to having to "work" for our trophies so this was perfect for us. :A Thumbs Up:
The terrain was worthy of several more weeks of scouting as there were many, many, more valleys and meadows to watch. Not just one or two more weeks but several! Ah, but time and coin are sometimes not as easy to find.
Glad you enjoyed the reading. We try to give enough details so that you can get a feel for what it was actually like and to some extent, experience a little of what we did.
 
Thank you, Bob. The safari was a fantastic time! Even now, almost 4 weeks after the hunt, I can't get my mind out of the bush and my hands often search for my rifle! Neither of us are keen on the idea of shooting game in a fenced in area - too much like shooting "fish in a barrel" and not very sporting. We are used to having to "work" for our trophies so this was perfect for us. :A Thumbs Up:
The terrain was worthy of several more weeks of scouting as there were many, many, more valleys and meadows to watch. Not just one or two more weeks but several! Ah, but time and coin are sometimes not as easy to find.
Glad you enjoyed the reading. We try to give enough details so that you can get a feel for what it was actually like and to some extent, experience a little of what we did.
Yup, I've had some fun hunts in South Africa but my most memorable was my elephant and buff hunt in Zimbabwe, second was leopard in Mozambique.

Amazing to be hunting way out past the middle of nowhere ;)
 
Damn nice report
It took longer than the hunt
Can’t imagine why those pretty gals hang out with you yahoos
Now you’re going back, you’re killing me in increments. Loved the comment about offering to pay for some extra fuel— I got it!
Just back from Keys and looking forward to some gin and first hand stories. Seriously, nice job
Jacques
 
Appreciate the kind words guys! We had a great hunt and I’m glad it turned out as well as it did for the first Safari for @AfricanEclipse and Dana.

As for the immediate follow-up on dangerous game the terrain, vegetation and property boundaries all came into play and I was good with the plan. Yes, if we had more open area to chase maybe I would re-think the PH follow-up. The one Buff we chased already made $5k for the property owners and is still running around. I would want him down and not suffering the quickest way possible, especially with the vegetation we encountered. There is also the possibility of wounding and the Buff taking out some of the farm workers or patrols, makes you think if you want to be responsible for damage? It’s a tough decision.

I imagine the vegetation and weather (hot) is going to be much different in mid-October, looking forward to a rematch! We will see if they can walk 18 miles without stopping...
 
Damn nice report
It took longer than the hunt
Can’t imagine why those pretty gals hang out with you yahoos
Now you’re going back, you’re killing me in increments. Loved the comment about offering to pay for some extra fuel— I got it!
Just back from Keys and looking forward to some gin and first hand stories. Seriously, nice job
Jacques

Need to get @sierraone and us all together before I leave again in October! We all have some new Africa stories to share since we last got together. :A Gathering:

I’ll fire up the smoker and throw something on it, maybe even edible? :E Shocked:
 
Need to get @sierraone and us all together before I leave again in October! We all have some new Africa stories to share since we last got together. :A Gathering:

I’ll fire up the smoker and throw something on it, maybe even edible? :E Shocked:
I am out of town right now but should be back around 8 September or so. Shouldn't have any trouble making it anytime through about mid October as long as I have a 5 or 6 day notice!
 
Fine report, fine hunt, lots of detail ... you made the most of the entire experience....thanks for bringing us along.....FWB
 
A very big thank you to Edd and Jeff for their kind words and excellent hunt reports. It is always great to have a family group or good friends hunt together and share each days experience around the camp fire or dinner table , I would like to think that all PH’s / operations strive for the same results and that is to have happy clients and especially repeat clients . I look forward to my next hunt with Edd and no doubt it’s going to be a blast ... on a final note I am happy to arrange similar hunts for 2019 for either 2 hunters with their spouses or 1 hunter and their spouse .. for more details please email me direct . Many thanks .

Wayne
 
Excellent adventure! Thanks for sharing it and I’m looking forward to your fall adventure for at least a chui! That deal just had so many potential options!

@jacques smith dropped off a copy of "Chui" by Lou Hallamore & Bruce Woods yesterday, that should get me pumped up even more than I am now! I also ordered the DVD "Hunting the African Elephant" by Charlton MCallum Safaris this weekend...the sickness isn't going away!
 
Great report! Enjoyed all the photos.

We couldn't have picked a better place to relax, explore, hunt and have a grand time. My pleasure on sharing this experience in such a great location!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,619
Messages
1,131,301
Members
92,675
Latest member
jhonmark007
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Impact shots from the last hunt

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
 
Top