ZIMBABWE: Charlton McCallum Safaris Oct 2021

[375Fox]

I’m sitting in Harare now after just completing a really great safari. Here is a quick summary. Full report and photos to follow once I return home.

Outfitter: Charlton McCallum Safaris
PH: Alan Shearing
Concession: Dande East

Hunt Dates: Sept 21-Oct 6 2021
Arrive Sept 20 and Depart Oct 8

Rifle: 375 H&H Sako 85 with 1.5-5 Leupold
Ammo: Federal Premium Safari 300 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claws and 406 ammo 300 gr Woodleigh Protected Points

Game Taken: Buffalo, Sable, Roan, 2 kudu, impala, bushbuck, 3 hyena, eland

Game Seen: Buffalo, baboons, bushbuck, bushpig, duiker, eland, grysbok, hyena, impala, roan, jackal, kudu, sable, warthog

Addition game animals seen on trail camera: Elephant, Civet, porcupine, serval, honey badger

 

[BourbonTrail]

Congrats!

 

[gillettehunter]

Looking forward to your full report. Sounds like you did very well.
Bruce

 

[WAB]

Wow, I can’t wait to read this report!

 

[Andrew Short]

Ready for your report!

 

[Randy F]

 

[Tra3]

That is a big eland track! Did you track that same bull and get it? I’m looking forward to reading the report.

 

[375Fox]

You’ll get a better report once I get home to a computer. I like the threat though! I’ve thought the same on many slow reports.

 

[VertigoBE]

Woohoo!!! Another report! Looking forward to it clock is ticking

 

[Doug3006]

Great start! Alan is a super PH and an all around good guy. I can’t wait to hear more about your hunt in the East.

 

[cpr0312]

Wow, what a list! Cant wait for the report!

 

[WAB]

Wow, what a list! Cant wait for the report!

Yes, quite an accomplishment in Dande!

 

[Jeff505]

I’m sitting in Harare now after just completing a really great safari. Here is a quick summary. Full report and photos to follow once I return home.

Outfitter: Charlton McCallum Safaris
PH: Alan Shearing
Concession: Dande East

Hunt Dates: Sept 21-Oct 6 2021
Arrive Sept 20 and Depart Oct 8

Rifle: 375 H&H Sako 85 with 1.5-5 Leupold
Ammo: Federal Premium Safari 300 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claws and 406 ammo 300 gr Woodleigh Protected Points

Game Taken: Buffalo, Sable, Roan, 2 kudu, impala, bushbuck, 3 hyena, eland

Game Seen: Buffalo, baboons, bushbuck, bushpig, duiker, eland, grysbok, hyena, impala, roan, jackal, kudu, sable, warthog

Addition game animals seen on trail camera: Elephant, Civet, porcupine, serval, honey badger

View attachment 429217View attachment 429218

That’s an impressive list of creatures for the area, I look forward to the report.

 

[jacques smith]

Well u ought to be about ready— get on with it—- buzz runs a great camp

 

[375Fox]

Well u ought to be about ready— get on with it—- buzz runs a great camp

Waiting on one more flight to get home. My gun and bag did arrive back in USA which is always a relief to see.

 

[375Fox]

I’m going to write this report in a couple sections. First few sections will be focused on the day by day hunting. Then a few sections to clarify and discuss some additional topics I think will add to the report.

 

[375Fox]

Sept 20 Day 0 - Land in Harare on Ethiopian flight. I’m met by an expediter immediately off the plane inside the airport who takes me to the front of every line. CMS has sent me all forms needed to be filled out prior to landing, so this goes very quickly. I am given my visa and proceed to baggage claim. I’m met by my charter pilots in baggage claim and we wait on my firearm and bag. Both arrive and I’m given my firearm permit no problems. We proceed to the small charter plane. I think from time I land in Harare to time I’m sitting in charter plane is maybe 45 minutes. This was a very smooth process. It’s a 1 hour flight to the airstrip on Dande East. We land no issues and within 2.5 hours of landing in Harare (maybe less) I’m at camp. I decided on charter to eliminate any problems or anxiety resulting from changing covid restrictions, but being in camp 2.5 hours after landing on a long series of international flights was really where it showed it’s value. Alan and crew were there to meet me on the airstrip. I met Alan at DSC in January 2020, after introductions to crew, we head 5 minutes to camp. Camp is really nice. I get settled in and take a quick nap. Just before dark, I shoot the rifle off sticks. Two shots touching just slightly low of center at 50 yards, perfect. Me and Alan discuss expectations and plan for the hunt. I’m glad I met Alan at DSC when booking this hunt because I already know who I’m dealing with and we share a lot of same goals. We eat dinner and I get some sleep before hunt starts tomorrow.

 

[375Fox]

Sept 21 Day 1 - It’s first hunting day after traveling yesterday and Alan hasn’t hunted this area for a couple months. 0500 wake up, 0530 breakfast, and leave camp by 0600. Plan is see what’s around and make plan, going to go a permanent water source from a solar pump south of camp first. We leave camp and an old kudu bull crosses road. I tell Alan let’s get him if he’s an old bull. We stop land cruiser, walk back on road 20 yards, and set up sticks. Kudu bull is 70 yards off the road. I shoot, he runs, we get on his track immediately, and we see his horns fall in brush about 150 yards from the shot. This was a heavily quartering away shot but the 300 gr trophy bonded bear claw did it’s job perfect and stopped in the kudu’s chest. 20 minutes into first hunting day I have a nice old kudu bull down with no interruption to our primary hunting. I didn’t realize we were going to have nearly daily opportunities at mature kudu bulls at this point. This is a really nice old bull, very wide, and measures 48.5 inches. Head back to camp to drop kudu off with skinner and continue on with our original plan.

Continue on to solar water pan (called ka vay vay not sure on spelling) about an hour from camp. Look for tracks. Alan and team find Dugga boy tracks and decide this is something we should follow up. We start on the track couple miles and they swing back to water. The two bulls we started tracking appears to become 8 bulls. They see a lot of sign these buffalo have been living in this area for some time. As we get closer to waterhole, we bump some kudu cows and bulls. Two very nice kudu bulls, but we don’t want to disturb buffalo in this area. Return to waterhole on tracks. Decide to leave this area possibly for tomorrow since we know buffalo are living here without another close water source and check out another permanent waterhole north of camp called Nemwa.

Head back to camp to relax and eat lunch until later in afternoon. Head to nemwa water pan. See 5 dugga boys running on our way to water hole but too late in day to follow up on. Look for tracks around Nemwa. Find a mix of most common plains game but also buffalo and few roan. Continuing to look for tracks, we start to hear a bell. Cattle are coming in to the water. Dande East is a community area, but CMS has an established core area. It’s shaped like a T, looking at square km blocks on map it appears to be around 100k acres. The top of T runs east west along Mozambique border and bottom of T runs north south through camp. There are no villages or cattle in the T. You’ll see a few people pass through the north South part of T on way to villages, but there is not supposed to be cattle, especially in this area on the top of the T where CMS is maintaining water for wildlife. Luckily, this is only area where we would encounter cattle during the hunt. This was still a very productive water pan for us during hunt, but it definitely changed the animals behavior. In 2019 when Alan hunted roan here, there were 3 big roan herds visiting Nemwa, now only a few nocturnal lone bulls. We found the roan herds at other pans without cattle activity. All the common species seemed to continue using this pan, but it definitely seemed to push the roan and sable away. I put up a trail camera I brought before we leave. You can see the look of disgust quite clearly in this photo.

 

[375Fox]

Sept 22 Day 2 - We start day at 0530 after breakfast and head to solar pan south of camp where we followed the 8 buffalo yesterday. Alan and trackers (Maplan and Martin) find tracks right away and decide to follow again. The wind is very strong this morning. We follow the tracks not too far, maybe 2 miles, and bump herd. They run and we get a partial look at them. They appear to be walking with wind now after we bumped them, but luckily they turn. We continue tracking them and Alan spots a buffalo in the thick stuff about 100 yards away. We are really lucky the wind is really blowing today. We move with the wind and it covers our noise in the dry grass and dry leaves. We crawl on our hands and knees to about 50 yards then start scooting in. We get to about 30 yards, but can only see a couple buffalo. Alan stands using a tree and sees a nice bull laying down facing us. He gets sticks set and has me stand. He says when it stands shoot if you have a good shot and if not let it run. I get on sticks and it stands immediately and I shoot, very clearly a broken shoulder. I couldn’t shoot again because of herd (maybe 10 buffalo some bulls and 4 cows without calves). I’m shaking good trying to reload and Alan says we will give it 20 minutes, but then we hear it fall 100 yards away and move in. It’s up, I put in another shot facing away. Then a couple insurance shots into heart lungs. We have a buffalo down 0900 in morning. I really never thought this would be a successful stalk because of the amount of noise with leaves and grass and how thick it was. Bull measures right at 39” and Alan thinks 11 or 12 years old, perfect bull. Attached are photos of bull and Alan looking at herd from about 50 yards. I thought this stalk was never going to work so I might as well get a photo of it!

We head back to camp for lunch and rest until later in afternoon. We check out some pans still holding water along Mozambique border. We find buffalo tracks at most water holes, your normal plains game, and some roan tracks at some water holes. We see some kudu bulls, impala, and duikers and check my camera at Nemwa. Concern at this point is the strong winds and fires. It may badly affect our hunting if they burn the area around our remaining water pans. Luckily our camp manager Alpha and his anti-poaching team gets them put out and they never cross the road. End of day 2, great day.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on the kudu and buff! Looking forward to the rest