JOHunts
AH member
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2017
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 47
- Location
- California
- Media
- 34
- Articles
- 1
- Member of
- SCI
- Hunted
- United States, Canada, Poland, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina, New Zealand
My date with Chui
By: John Olivas, Bwana
December 7, 2021
By: John Olivas, Bwana
December 7, 2021
I’ve now hunted Tanzania twice, but only once in person.
Let me explain; I first hunted Tanzania (Tanganyika) when I joined Robert C. Ruark and the legendary Harry Selby (PH) while reading the “Horn of the Hunter-A story of an African Safari.” Since childhood, I have fantasized about the ‘Old Days’ of Safari that were rugged, wild and unspoiled by civilization. This is best described in the Horn of the Hunter: “Deep in the guts of most men is buried the involuntary response to the hunter’s horn, a prickle of the nape hairs, an acceleration of the pulse, an atavistic memory of his fathers, who killed first with stone, and then with club, and then with spear, and then with bow, and then with gun, and finally with formulae.”
My Safari took 3 years to plan and save for, with one of those years taken by COVID-19. This Wilderness Safari is a technical undertaking, but not if you have the right team and ‘formulae’. My Outfitter was Spear Safaris, whom is affiliated with Old Nyika Safaris LTD, owned by Mike and Helen Angelides based in Arusha. They expertly navigated the Bureaucracy, Red-tape, and the myriad of Permits and Licensing to make it happen. Also, they hold the license on the wilderness concessions known as Lukwati North, Chunya Lukawati and Chunya Msami, which comprises 1.5 million acres divided into 3 hunting blocks. It is un-tamed, un-spoiled and remote. To illustrate, the closest native village is a 3 hour drive from the outside boundary of one of the blocks. The team that hauled in our camp supplies took two weeks as their truck caravan was hampered by rain and mud. Now dryer, the trip from town would take two days if you hustled. For my companion hunter, Dennis Slater, and I to get into camp it took a two hour Bush plane flight followed by a 3 hour Cruiser ride chased the whole way by Tsetse Flies (which are Omnipresent).
I also chose the right man for the job, my PH Ernest Dyason of Spear Safaris from the RSA. He is a legend in his own right and known as a Leopard (Chui) specialist. Between Dennis and I we have hunted with him 6 times as far north as Burkina Faso and as far south as the RSA and as far West as California.
We also had the right team in camp. I had 16 individuals on my staff that included 2 skinners, 3 Chefs, Tent Steward, Water Porter, Waiter and Camp manager. On the truck each day there were 7 people. Myself, Dennis, Ernest, two trackers (Charles/Samuel), Driver (Goodluck) and Game Scout/Warden (Mary). There was also a Poacher interdiction team in the area, but we didn’t see them much.
This concession has a quota of 8 leopards. During this season there were only 2 harvested because of the lack of Hunters, due to the pandemic. The first was taken in 19 days and mine took 2 days. How? You ask. I was lucky enough to arrive in the concession after a Lion (Simba) hunter was there. After his hunt the team was instructed to move his baits up into the trees and we were Leopard hunting before my arrival. Interestingly, after my Chui was harvested, we lowered the baits and were Hyena (Fisi) hunting.
We only hunted ‘half days’ which are Sun-up to Sun-down. The typical day consisted of +/- 150 kilometers of travel where we hunted for plains game for Bait and Camp meat (a lot of mouths to feed) on the way to check game cameras. From the start we had 4 mature Tom Leopards on Bait/Camera, but only one that did any feeding during the daytime. Unlike on private lands in Zimbabwe where you can hunt at night, Tanzania only allows a Leopard to be taken in daylight. So, we decided to build a blind and give him a shot the next morning. This Chui, that I hoped to be mine, was not as large as the others, but seemed to have more maturity and scars from fighting. His shoulders were stocky and his snout was shorter, but without seeing his teeth we couldn’t know for sure.
My Date
This morning was my Date with Chui. His part in this relationship is being on the same bait for more than 10 days and being one of the only Tom leopards in the area that fed during the day.
It was a 2-hour drive out in the dark, the Blind was built yesterday. Sitting there with my thoughts, bouncing along I was getting very emotional about my part in the relationship. Had I practiced enough times in my head and on the range to do what I had to do? I Practiced the shot every day for 3 years knowing I need to pick a spot, a ‘Rosette’ and stay on it. Aim small miss small!
Upon arrival, it took 15 seconds to get into the blind even though it was completely dark. I laid the gun across the rest just like I practiced the afternoon before. When I was practicing the day before I memorized every limb, leaf and stalk of grass.
I picked up my gun and I looked down range with my scope just to make sure it was clear and was mortified that nothing looked familiar. Then I made a mistake. After having my scope zoom and parallax focused on 8.5 power, I screwed it back to 4 power in order to gather more light and it didn't help. I decided to leave the gun alone and not have a wiggling protrusion from my porthole.
Our next job was to sit there for the next hour waiting for light and not making any sound that sounded foreign. This was very difficult as we were breathing the Dust that we kicked-up when entering the enclosure. Occasionally Dennis and Ernest would look downrange through their portholes with their binoculars and say that they couldn't see anything. As the light came up, I looked down Range for the 73 yards with my naked eye and couldn't make out anything other than it appeared that the bait was moving in the wind (there was no wind).
I then closed my eyes, held my head, and practiced the shot over and over as the lights started to envelop the tree. Ernest said “I think something's there!” I mounted my gun in the way that I practice with 4 resting points for stability, and I looked down my scope. I realized my mistake in touching the scope earlier. I couldn't see anything it was out of focus so as I zoomed back in and adjusted the focus. And like an aberration, the leopard appeared in Focus. He was in the same spot, over the bait silhouetted against the sky with no apparent outline to him. Just a mass of dots dancing in the sky in the shape of a Leopard.
He wasn't leaning over to eat the bait, he had actually pulled the 100 plus pounds of stinky Zebra bait up onto the branch. He was standing on it with both foreclaws and fangs ripping flesh. He was moving constantly! I now realized that every practice shot to date, has been on a 2D stationary target. He settled to swallow a gulp of stinky flesh and at that moment of stillness I squeezed the trigger and sent our mutual fate down range. The sight picture, before the gun rocked me was good. Maybe a little high. I jacked in another round got back on my gun, but my gun smoke had not yet cleared.
Ernest said “I think you got him. I think he fell straight down.” My worst fear was a bad shot and the pursuit of a wounded animal in the tallgrass. He said again, “I think he just fell straight down.” At that moment I remembered to start breathing again and started to hyperventilate and that hyperventilation turned into sobbing. I'm embarrassed to report that we had the video camera running in the blind, you can't see me in the dark, but you can certainly hear me. It was quite an emotional time.
Ernest led the expedition to the tree with his Shot Gun. I call it an expedition because it is hard to walk with one’s knees still shaking. After we approached the tree, my agony turned to my great relief. We found Chui stone cold dead 14 feet directly below where he was feeding from a frontal, quartering high spine shot from my Kimber Mountain Accent in 30-06 and it’s capable Hornady 180 grain TSX. At that moment I collapsed to my knees and could not stand for some time. The team brought me a chair and some hot tea as I regained my composure.
Chui exceeds all my dreams. He was by far the oldest cat from the area, and we predicted him to be 8+ years old. He spread his seed far and wide before he joined me for eternity. As far as Leopards go, he's a nice one. Bigger paw pads than most we tracked. His body is more compact and stockier. Needing to be 1.3 meters from nose tip to base of tail, he measured 1.38. His total length is 6' 8" and although we didn't have a scale, after everyone hugged and kissed him, we estimated his weight at around 150 pounds. Maybe more than Mary, the Game Scout, wanted to lift but she hugged him too, with a little help. We later sent photos of Chui’s teeth to a specialist in Zimbabwe, and he said that he is at least 10 years old. Amazing. The teeth are yellowed, broken and worn. Maybe he had to feed during the day because he couldn’t eat enough at night hampered by bad teeth.
Kabubi, Kabubi!
About halfway back to camp I leaned over to Ernest and said I think I am going to Throw Up. Coming off the adrenalin-high was making me ‘Crash.’ I said such to Dennis when we stopped just before camp. For his part as the Companion hunter, he assumed he would shoot bait and stay out of the way. However, being in the blind he was thrust into the ‘Eye of the hurricane’ of emotion.
The stop, before camp was pre-ordained, but I was oblivious. The team started to decorate the Cruiser with limbs and branches and grass for the Kabubi (Swahili for Celebration) which is a ceremony reserved for the Harvest of a Leopard. I've heard of this but not seen it. We are not only celebrating the Bwana, but everyone in Camp who has a role, and that is everyone! The song they sang said "The Leopard is in the Camp." Of course, they also dressed me for the occasion in Toilet paper. I would describe it as the Multi-bandolero and Dreadlock look.
As the Cruiser approached, we made much noise, honked the horn and sang louder as the staff danced down the lane in our direction. The preferred instrument for the occasion is wooden stick on a plastic jug or metal utensils on pot. If a team member was not musically inclined, they would hold a tree limb in the air as they danced. Everyone danced, including me as I was pulled from the Cruiser. Not being much of a Dancer I tried to bounce and gyrate as I was pulled along. Chui was laid at our feet, and everyone danced, sang and took pictures. To continue the Kabubi into the evening everyone was allotted 2 beers or 2 sodas.
The next morning the Leopard hunt was over, but hunting was not. We spent the next 14 days hunting and finished with 3 old Daga Boys, 2 Lichtenstein Hartebeest, 2 Bush pigs, 2 Wart hogs, a yellow Baboon, an East African Chobe Bushbuck and a huge Roan at 26” while the largest for that area was 24” Also, Dennis got a ‘monster’ Sable at 44”.
When we finished early with the Leopard it opened another ‘Bucket List’ opportunity for me. That was to camp on a River with Hippopotamus. So, we loaded up a ‘spike’ camp and a small team and made the 3.5 hour journey to the Rungwa River. We viewed 30-40 quality Bull Hippo, but the one I settled on was a mature fighter that had been injured by a shot to his forehead and Sinus cavity by a Poacher. While not lethal, he did have trouble holding his breath under water which made him more Cantankerous. My shot was to the brain-cavity, one inch below the ear at 71 yards with my 375 H&H. The 300 gr. Hornady DGX turned out his lights before he submerged that last 4 inches.
I don’t know that I can ever afford an adventure like this in the future for both money, effort and emotions, but I am glad I did it while I am still able. A chance in a lifetime, for sure.
This was my Hunter’s Horn and is perfectly captured by Robert Ruark: “I was beginning to fall into the African way of thinking: That if you properly respect what you are after, and shoot it cleanly and on the animal’s terrain, if you imprison in your mind all the wonder of the day from sky to smell to breeze to flowers—then you have not merely killed an animal. You have lent immortality to a beast you have killed because you loved him and wanted him forever so that you could always recapture the day.” —Use Enough Gun
Last edited by a moderator:
