ZIMBABWE: March 2023 Amadundamela Forest Reserve Management Elephant Bull Hunt With CMS Safaris

[Mike B. 216]

Great well written story. I am glad everyone is OK.

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

Fantastic hunt! Thanks for sharing. Any stories from the recovery and community impact of the meat? I’m headed to Sidinda in 6 weeks for a similar non trophy bull hunt and am looking forward to the post-hunt impacts.

 

[Edge]

Dangerous game…well done!
Good to have you here to tell the story (and no one in the hunting party was injured).

 

[elephantmaster29]

How exciting, Congratulations on you elephant hunt!

 

[medvedhunting]

talent for history and pictures glad it end well.

 

[K-man]

So glad the outcome wasn't worse! Excellent write-up of the story, thank you for posting it. If not too late, some outfitters and P.H. have been able to make aluminum castings of the foot. Easy to bring home and of course no import problems. They start with a plaster cast of the foot then melt aluminum cans to pour into the plaster.

 

[cls]

Great story of an exciting hunt. Thanks for posting. Congratulations.

 

[geoff rath]

A truly eye-opening hunt, and hunt report. That is walking the fine line of Afrikan D/G hunting; congratulations!!

 

[BRICKBURN]

..........................

Criton steps up, looks me fiercely in the eyes, takes my hand, and says “Well done sir!”

Quiet, reserved Nyati smiles and gives me a big hug! He too says “Well done sir, that was very serious!”

Criton adds, “Very serious! I thought you and Alan were dead men, squished, - maybe us too!”

.........

Guy, Those are some serious trophies right there.

Congratulations on the hunt of a lifetime. Great tale told well. Thanks.

 

[VertigoBE]

Waidmannsheil @Longwalker ! An amazing adventure and I'm glad everyone walked away okay. That is a huge trophy bull in my book. Age and caracter are much more important than poundage!

With retrospect, what would you have done differently? Tried to get your own rifle with you?

Very well done and excellently written too,

V.

 

[PARA45]

Wow, what an amazing adventure, congratulations to all. Glad everyone was ok and walked away to hunt another day. Please post more pictures.

Are you planning on making replicas of the tusks to bring home?

 

[Tucketed]

Great write up. Enjoyed and thanks for taking us along. Yep, dangerous game. Congratulations

 

[Longwalker]

Fantastic hunt! Thanks for sharing. Any stories from the recovery and community impact of the meat? I’m headed to Sidinda in 6 weeks for a similar non trophy bull hunt and am looking forward to the post-hunt impacts.

About the meat, a subject almost as dear to me as hunting itself... this is how we did it
Bring a dozen helpers. Lots of axes, knives, and a tractor with a trailer. Cut a trail in from the nearest place that is possible to drive to (the power cutline)
Start by skinning the top side into three panels. Save the skin for processing into leather later. Debone. Place chunks on the trailer or on chunks of hide to keep them "clean". Flip carcass using a truck and ropes, repeat. Six hours later, voilà!

A trailer full of three tonnes of meat and nothing but bones left in the bush. The bones will also be hauled out after the vultures are done picking them clean.
Fresh meat may be cooked on the spot, as we did for our lunch and as did an old forestry tracker who looked hungry and underfed, may be made into a stew, like we did for our supper in camp, or processed into sun-dried meat strips as most of the three tonnes was.
The meat is coarse, kinda like tough beef. Tasted good. Although some cuts are said to be "gamey", I think that's just because of the normally primitive butchering conditions. The bottom side of the carcass collected blood over night since we couldn't field dress or bleed the carcass, so the bottom side cuts might not be as good for fresh meat. It was almost all processed into skinny sun dried strips but we didn't eat any of that. The kebabs we had, cooked on the spot were excellent! And a stew we ate the next day was as good as any other stew I suppose. It was tender but don't know how long it was cooked. The heart, although as big as a 20L pail, was fine grained and delicious. I thought it might be coarse, but it had the same texture as beef or elk.
Each worker gets a share, weighed out on a scale. We delivered half of the meat to the other forestry camp nearby, where the same drying and distribution system occurred.
After the week we spent at the camp, we dropped off some of the Amadundamela forestry workers at their local villages. They were packing big potato sacks full of dried meat, and were very pleased to share with their family and friends.

 

[Longwalker]

Answering questions:
Bringing my own rifle was not an option. Besides being illegal for me, a Canadian, it would be impractical with our pre-hunt travel and multiple airport stops. The borrowed rifle was OK. One pleasant surprise was that Alan had fitted the M70 Winchester with a Scandinavian "winter knob" on the bolt. That made the bolt much easier and faster to "palm" while reloading quickly.

About trophies, I don't need any more trophies in my little house. I hunt for the experience. My wife and I were gifted wrist bangels Criton made of the tail hairs, which are a nice keepsake. .................... I kept the bullet that I used to make the brain shot, dug out from under the shoulder blade. The Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer solid could be loaded and shot again.

The real trophy for me is the memories. Hunting well, and earning the respect of the trackers and PH, and properly using the meat. That's enough. Waidmannsdank!

 

[yhc]

Very well done @Longwalker. Congratulations.

 

[7mmFan]

awesome story and experience! thank you for sharing!

 

[Aaron N]

I nearly shat my pants reading that, I can only imagine how you felt!

Congratulations on a great trip, keeping your cool under pressure, and making a lifelong memory with your wife. I’m glad everyone walked away unscathed (nearly).

 

[Powdermaker]

Guy, you are one of the quickest shots on game that I have ever seen; I never thought you would be putting that skill to use on a charging bull elephant!
Your writing skills are pretty darn good too.
I'm glad you were able to make your dream hunt a reality and that you and Monique made it home safe and sound.
Waidmannsheil!

 

[DieJager]

That gets your blood pumping. Exciting story, glad you survived and shared it with us.

 

[Nyati]

A fantastic experience, congrats