The African Hunting Blog

Moz Monster

2009-12-03T08:49:00.003+02:00

Have a look at this elephant bull taken in the Meluco Area of Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique early November by Barry Jacobsen of Bozeman Montana USA. Barry was led to this bull by Jason Van Aarde of Thomkinson African Safaris working with M’tswa Safaris LDA.

His tusks weight in at 77 lbs & 65 lbs and the longest tusk is 7 foot 3 inches in length.

Source: Steve "Shakari" Robinson, Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd via the Accurate Reloading Forum.

Zimbabwe suspends hunting

2009-12-03T08:24:00.001+02:00

Zimbabwe suspends hunting
by Chenai Maramba Wednesday 02 December 2009

HARARE – Zimbabwe has suspended wildlife hunting licences in what sources said was part of efforts to curb poaching that has been on the rise since the start of the year.

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife, in charge of national parks in the country, flighted adverts in the press on Monday warning permit holders currently on hunting sessions to stop hunting with immediate effect.

"National Parks and Wildlife Authority would like to warn the public that all current hunting permits have been suspended with immediate effect to verify them,” the advert said, adding; “All current permit holders are advised to approach the Parks Authority to verify validity of their permits."

National Parks director general Morris Mutsambiwa could not be reached for comment.

However, a senior official with a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) that campaigns against poaching said suspension of permits was aimed at curbing poaching and abuse of hunting permits that has seen the country losing thousands of dollars in potential earnings from trophy hunting.

"National Parks is reacting to numerous reports of poaching, over-hunting of quotas by hunters as well as abuse of permits," said the NGO official who declined to be named for fear of victimisation.

Last month National Parks officials blamed the upsurge in poaching in the country on a cartel of international gangsters they said were funding poachers to kill valuable game such as the rhino that is hunted for its horn.

Zimbabwe is one of four countries in the world that still have significant populations of rhinos. The other three all in Africa are Kenya, Namibia and South Africa.

Wildlife authorities in the country have found it hard to contain poaching in national parks especially after landless villagers began invading – with the government’s tacit approval – white-owned farms in 2000.

There have also been widespread reports of illegal and uncontrolled trophy hunting on former white-owned conservancies now controlled by powerful politicians from President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party.
The government however denies that politicians are illegally hunting game and insists it still has poaching under control. – ZimOnline

44.5" Zambian Sable

2009-11-27T18:33:00.002+02:00

Dave Fulson recently took this exceptional sable bull while hunting with Pete Fisher in Nchila, Zambia.

Source: The Accurate Reloading Forum

Bill Quimby's latest book: SIXTY YEARS A HUNTER

2009-11-27T18:20:00.001+02:00

Bill Quimby's latest book "SIXTY YEARS A HUNTER" has been published by Safari Press.

Bill Quimby is best known as the longtime editor of SCI’s Safari magazine. This position has given Quimby opportunities to hunt on multiple continents for all the game animals found there. In this latest work he tells us of hunts across North and South America; South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other parts of Africa; Spain; Mongolia; and New Zealand. Also included is Quimby’s successful quest to become one of the very few to take all ten of Arizona’s big-game species.

In the foreword for Sixty Years a Hunter, Craig Boddington writes: “Relatively few in our business are equally adept as hunters, writers, and editors. Bill Quimby is one . . . [this] is a fine story of a great life of hunting, writing, and editing.

Further information can be found here on the Safari Press website.

Peter Flack takes a Ssese Island Sitatunga

2009-11-16T11:39:00.001+02:00

Peter Flack returned at the end of August from a successful hunt for Africa's rarest spiral horned antelope, the Ssese Island Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekei sylvestris) on the Ssese Island archipelago in Lake Victoria.

He is only the fifth hunter to hunt these elusive animals since the species has been re-opened for hunting by Uganda Wildlife.

Peter was assisted on his hunt by PH Grant Roodt of Lake Albert Safaris and he managed to get a representative mature sitatunga bull of 20 inches on the third day of his hunt.

Reading Flack's report, it is clear that there is huge degradation of the sitatunga's environment taking place on the islands and the hunting facilities are not yet up to scratch. Once can only hope that this situation improves.

His report written for the African Indaba newsletter can be read here.

Alan Shearing gored by buffalo

2009-11-13T14:51:00.007+02:00

Professional hunter Alan Shearing of Charlton McCallum Safaris is recovering in the Millpark Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa after being gored by a wounded buffalo bull. The incident is related by Buzz Charlton who took over the safari from Alan in his absence, via the Accurate Reloading forum:

"Chad ( Als client) and Al wounded a buff early morning in thick bush. The shot looked good and they both expected to find it dead with in 100 yards or so. However unfortunatly the shot was a little low.

They then followed the old dugga boy for the better part of the day till 3pm where they caught up to it again in quite thick bush. Both Al and Chad shot it and the buff started running paralel to them where upon they both emptied their magazines into the buff.

As bad luck would have it as soon as they both had fired their last rounds the buff stopped and then charged them. The buff was coming directly for Chad who managed get behind a big mopani tree. Al then got the attention of the buff to draw it away from Chad. The buff then went for Al who fell over and was kicking the buffs bosses as it tried to gore him.

Unfortunatly the buff did manage to toss Al but credit to the game scout who managed to put a few shots in the Buff with this AK . Chad then got in the final killing shot. I think the important thing to remember was that this all took only a couple of seconds to play out. It was very unfortunate that the buff ,from running parallel, then charged them just as both Al and Chad finished their last rounds not giving them enough time to reload before it was on them.

I have heard the story from Al, Chad, the trackers and game Scout and from every account everyone involved did everything they could and behaved in a professional manner under extreme circumstances. Had it not been for the fact that Al diverted the buff attention it may well have got Chad and likewise had it not been for Chad and the Game Scout who stood thier ground and managed to shoot the buff off Al it may have been a much worse tale.

Luckily for Al there was a pilot close to camp who diverted and took Al to Harare where he was met by the Mars ambulance. He went into surgery that evening and it was decided that the following moring that Al should go to South Africa where he is now. Rosy and thier two boys, Chad and Kyle are with Al also."

Following some major surgery it seems that Alan is on the road to recovery.

Here follows a photo of the client Chad with the old dagga boy that got hold of Allan. By all accounts it seems that Chad handled himself well in a very difficult situation.

Boddington reminisces Rhodesia

2009-11-12T15:44:00.005+02:00

Craig Boddington has written a great piece for Petersen's Hunting magazine in which he reminisces hunting in then-Rhodesia with Barrie Duckworth.

The article deals less with specific hunts but more with the conditions which the safari industry - and the Rhodesian people - endured through political instability and the Bush War.

Read the full article.

Ivan Carter does it again

2009-11-12T09:26:00.002+02:00

Ivan Carter and Dean Kendall (from Tanzania Bundu Safaris) have guided their client Graham Weiss to a fantastic elephant bull followed by a wide old buffalo bull. These animals were taken in the Lolkisale district in Tanzania.

Here is Graham with his elephant

Dean, Graham and Ivan with the old buffalo bull

and Dean Kendall showing the bull off from the front

The full story as told by Ivan is on the Accurate Reloading forums here

As you will read in Ivan's report above, Graham did not even concern himself with the tusks weights or the spread of the buffalo bull's norns. A true sposrtman.