MOZAMBIQUE: 15 Day Hunt Report With Zambeze Delta Safaris In Coutada 11

[Seavas]

Wow what an epic safari! Those warthog are incredible!

I sat next to Bredger on the ATL-JNB flight my last trip over. Nice guy and he had some great stories.

 

[Madhatter]

Wow what an epic safari! Those warthog are incredible!

I sat next to Bredger on the ATL-JNB flight my last trip over. Nice guy and he had some great stories.

Thats Awesome! Hope I didnt keep you up the entire flight.
Small world

 

[Madhatter]

Thank you @PARA45 , I greatly appreciate your comments throughout! We still have some cool stuff to go and then I'll tie it all up at the end. I have enjoyed writing the report and it brings back such fond memories every time I sit down at the computer. PH Bredger Thomason, aka @Madhatter has been following the thread as well and says it all played out exactly as described and feels like he is right there doing it all over again, just like groundhog day! I couldn't ask for much more than that.

oh yeah! I'm so looking forward to the next Safari.

 

[AZDAVE]

They have some really nice warthogs there. Sometimes having the memory of the one missed and still out there draws a hunter back time after time. I would say Ian bonded with the 9.3. It is special having your birthday in Africa, my wife celebrated hers in 2025 and I did in 2021, it is like a big family party where everyone even the black sheep cousins show up. They truly went all out for Ian congratz and Qudo's to the outfitter for making it happen.

 

[Seavas]

Thats Awesome! Hope I didnt keep you up the entire flight.
Small world

Nah I couldn't really sleep much after your venomous snake stories!

 

[PARA45]

Nah I couldn't really sleep much after your venomous snake stories

Oh please, share those stories if you can.

 

[Seavas]

Oh please, share those stories if you can.

I try to rid my mind of that type of information quickly, so I am not worrying about it on my hunt!

But when one is making a stalk on a warm sunny day in Africa, crawling on hands and knees through waist high grass with the rocky ground dotted with critter holes of all sizes, it becomes difficult to focus on the herd of wildebeest ahead of you when your mind starts to gravitate to what the PH said to you on the plane. What was it he said about mambas? ...or was it puff adders? Or cobras?...

It made me appreciate the mental fortitude PHs like Bredger must have in order deal with that on a daily basis for half the year!

 

[Green Chile]

Somehow I missed this great hunt report! I just read it through in one read, which was a great luxury not to have to wait for each installment. I made notes as I read to come back and reply with a few posts at the end.

First of all, I really like the way you wrote your hunt report…educational and entertaining. I know that takes a lot of work to get it captured and delivered to that end.

For anyone who has been through the painful process of watching bullets counted...and recounted...and bosses called in to count...and manuals consulted...and the same questions over and over again...it's very annoying but it's very important not to lose your patience. I just amuse myself by reading their safety posters on the wall...or saying serenity now to myself...or saying it won't be long and you will be back in Africa camp again! My Lord, it's painful to go through it. If you haven't, then count yourself lucky!

 

[Green Chile]

I always love seeing camp photos and it's one of the most helpful things we can include in our hunt reports. People need to get a sense of what the setup is like. Showers for every tent? Wow! I was impressed with that.

Duikers in camp? How cool is that?? Every camp seems to have something special. I’m used to seeing nyala babies, etc but red duikers??? Geez. I hope you don’t regret that…not shooting in camp of course but I’m going to Moz in a couple of years to get a leopard and a few T10 that are just hard to find in other places. Moz is known for them. I don't know friend...that's a tough call to leave them.

 

[Green Chile]

I'm very jealous of your lion experience. I have had the pleasure of darting rhinos but assisting in the cat collaring is amazing. What a cool experience for both of you! That was a real special experience that VERY few have experienced.

You both took some really fine animals. I loved that stunning zebra...and to see your son take his first buffalo...fantastic.

I'm amazed at how many bush pigs you saw in the daytime…that place is loaded with them.

You got into more pigs on this hunt than anyone that I can remember. Warthog City is the truth! I don’t have personal luck on warthogs but getting into a place like Coutada 11 sounds like the odds go way up! I also liked that you wrote about the one that got away. Many of us have a version of that from somewhere. There is a buff in the Waterburg mountains that haunts me still!

 

[Green Chile]

I had heard of the Altama Maritime shoes but your report convinces me to get a pair for camp use and any water stalks. I just spent several days in Argentina using wet leather Russell boots and my feet turned orange! They take a day to dry out also and those Altima's sound like the perfect shoe for camp and wet stalks like the swamp buff live in. That gear report certainly helps me and others no doubt.

I REALLY appreciate how you wrote the story on your nyala. You were fortunate to have a good ending. Stuff like that happens and we should be honest to share that with others and hope it helps someone avoid doing that themselves.

I also like that you wrote details on watching meat get distributed. That is one of my favorite parts of hunting in Africa. I’ve hunted in countries where some of the meat got left in the field and that always seemed wrong to me. I love the way this works out in Africa and it’s a big credit to the operators there to get this meat turned over to locals.

I also really enjoyed your photos of meals there and the birthday celebration. The food in Africa hunt camps is so interesting and I always look forward to it. Those photos of bacon cherry bombs, nyala sausage rolls, hartebeest strips, etc…fantastic! Wow.

So having come home...what is your son saying about the future of hunting? More plans being made? The time and investment you made with him is admirable. Dad of the year award?

 

[Ku-winda]

Thanks for the kind words and the feedback @Green Chile ; greatly appreciated! I think all of our collective hunts have so many parallels that when you put them side by side, the only thing that changes is the place and the animals - they all have triumphs (hopefully), but sooner or later a failure is sure to slip in there somewhere, and God forbid, a tragedy. Like you said though, you just have to learn from it to ensure it doesn't happen again. The nyala story was a self inflicted wound - it was hurry up and wait forever and then I had to take a quick shot and forgot my hold. All is well that ends well though and I was very fortunate on that one. In regards to the big warthog, he had become my Moby Dick, almost to the point of obsession. I had that one lone opportunity towards the end of the safari and didn't execute in the moment of truth, but just makes me more determined next time. In regards to the duikers, they were everywhere on Coutada 11 - red (which I thought were just stunning), the blue and the grey along with suni. I actually don't regret not shooting one, but certainly enjoyed seeing them in forests along the sandy roads every day. Between the different varieties, I'm guessing we would see a minimum of 20 or so a day and we really weren't even looking for them. Mark was telling me how they caught a poacher back in the day and he had like 50 of the T10, so you know they are plentiful. Many thanks again for the input!

 

[Smitty]

I, too, just found your report today! In my humble opinion, it is the perfect hunt report. I loved every detail. Thank you very much.

 

[Ku-winda]

I, too, just found your report today! In my humble opinion, it is the perfect hunt report. I loved every detail. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much @Smitty - that means a great deal to me. I tried to capture the true essence of the hunt - the highs, the lows and the emotions that you go through on a fifteen day hunt. As @Green Chile mentioned above and again in his adventures in Argentina, you hope you can write a report that not only tells it exactly like it is, but at least leaves the reader with some takeaway, whether it be gear or otherwise, that might make their hunt more successful. I'm getting near the end and will wrap it up soon with a summary and some final takeaways. Thank you again for reaching out and your comments - I'm so glad you enjoyed!

 

[PARA45]

Please tell me this report is not over yet.

 

[Ku-winda]

Please tell me this report is not over yet.

Not done yet, but getting close. Will finish up the hunt and then do a summary with my takeaways. Appreciate you tuning in!