Chukardogs
AH member
So this all started, like most of us I imagine, with a dream about hunting in Africa. Almost 20 years ago I was able to bowhunt South Africa and that fed the dream. Life, finances, and all that non-sense got in the way of pursuing the dream. However, a year and a half ago I started to get serious about pursuing this Africa thing. I wanted to hunt a cape buffalo in a wild place. I did my research and settled on the Niassa Reserve in Mozambique. I sent an email to Jaco asking a few questions and said I would try and make it to Dallas. So I booked a last minute flight to Dallas to go and talk to the guys from @KWALATA SAFARIS. I walked past their booth a couple times in order to convince myself that I am going to do this. As I entered the booth AJ approached me and we started a conversation. About three minutes in I was ready to hand over the envelope. AJ asked if I was thinking about 2024 or 2025. I said, "What do you have for 2023?" Shortly thereafter papers were signed and my wife and I were on the books for October 2-12th.
My wife, Katherien, is a non hunter, but she is always game for an adventure. I knew it was going to be hot and full of insects that like to leave marks. So I was a little concerned if she would have a good time. She had the time of her life! AJ and everyone at camp took the time and effort to ensure that she would have an unforgettable experience. They could not have done any better.
I had Marcus Hall from AVA Travel arrange flights and lodging. He did a great job and we had no issues with the travel. We flew from Reno, NV to Atlanta and then Delta to Johannesburg. I used Rifle Permits to assist with my rifle. It was well worth the money. Overnight at City Lodge and then Airlink to Pemba. Cameron, the charter pilot was on our flight to Pemba along with Mark, a fellow AH member, who would be hunting the same time as us.
We arrived at Litulli camp and checked the rifles. I shanked the first shot but made up for it with my second. Then it was time to get ready for the following day.
DAY 1
The first day we started out looking for buffalo tracks. The crew consisted of AJ (PH), Timodjo (Tracker), Sofu (Water Carrier), Katherien, and myself. We picked up the tracks of two bulls and followed for roughly two miles. Watching Timodjo work was unreal. He read the ground like I read a book and it was fascinating. The bulls laid down two different times and just kept feeding. We quit that track when it became apparent that they were not going to stop anytime soon. Right before dark we saw a bull eland and tried to make a move but darkness foiled that one. Dinner was three courses and was excellent. Every meal was fantastic. A night cap and it was off to bed for an early wake up.
DAY 2
4 a.m. wake up this morning and after coffee and a light breakfast we were out of camp by 4:30. About 15 minutes into the drive we started seeing bushpigs. I wanted a bushpig. If you want a bushpig in the daylight and not over bait then this is the place. We saw well over a 100 during the entire trip. We stopped and put in a stalk that did not pan out. Another 5 minutes down the road and more bushpigs. Timodjo led the way for a few minutes until it was time to close the last bit of ground. After a few minutes of looking them over AJ set up the sticks at roughly 40 yards from the pigs. He indicated a particular old boar and asked, "Do you see him?" I did, one shot and 30 yards past where he was initially feeding I had my hands on my first animal in Mozambique. A fine old boar. Man, was I thrilled! After pictures, we carried him to the side of the road and covered him with green branches. AJ arranged for some camp staff to come pick him up so we could continue our day.
Right around lunch time we cut the tracks of three bulls. AJ asked Timodjo and Sofu to go take a look at them and see what was going on with them. AJ set up for lunch and we had a couple of hammocks for a snooze. About twenty minutes after the guys left here they come carrying three shovels. They had interrupted three illegal gold miners digging in the river. The culprits ran away sans shovels. So off they went again to check out the tracks. After awhile they came back and reported they had seen the three bulls who were feeding and all were the kind of bulls we were looking for. Thirty minutes into the track Timodjo freezes like one of my pointers back home. AJ pulls up his binos. Then I see the bulls-my first truly wild African cape buffalo! The wind is not good. I do not have to speak-no one speaks. Head nods, puff bottle puffs, eye and finger movements. A curving hand gesture and we are going to circle and get the wind in our favor. The movement of our group is done. The bulls were originally to our right front in the brush and bamboo. After moving they should be somewhere to our front or front left. After creeping along for ten minutes we see part of a bull at 60 yards, directly ahead through the bamboo. He walks off and is replaced by another bull. I have my knees on the ground and am sitting on my feet. The sticks are stood up low to the ground maybe three feet high in a bi-pod orientation. AJ is on my right holding one side of the sticks, the other is slipping so Timodjo anchors it. The rifle goes up. I cannot really see the bulls head through the bamboo. I can see his chest and legs. AJ explains the slight quarter and instructs me to put it just inside of his left leg-but not too much. "If you are comfortable to take the shot then go ahead, if not it is okay." says AJ. I look him in the eye and say, "Just give me a minute to get my s@%* togther." The bull knows something is up. AJ proceeds to bawl at him to keep his attention, after two or three bawls I am ready. I see the shot, I see where he wants the bullet-okay here goes. I'm thinking, 'Is it perfect, ideal, not really but it is also not horrible. He is close, the rest is good and if the bullet goes where the crosshairs are settled then this will work.' Okay squeeze-BOOM. I am bounced out of the scope and I think, 'Did it feel good? I honestly don't know, I know it did not feel crappy.' AJ took all of the noise and blast a 70 year old Winchester Model 70 in .375 H&H can give and did not see the reaction. Timodjo gestures that the bulls left leg hunched up. I understand the what this means. I am thinking, "Please don't let that bullet have gone through the armpit and down the outside of the body." The bull went to our left through the bamboo. The bamboo is in patches so not horribly thick. AJ and Timodjo are on his tracks with me right there. AJ tells Katherien, "Okay, you must stay right together with us." He then asks, "John is your scope turned down?" "Yup", I reply having already turned the Leupold down to 1.5 and replaced the missing round. We start picking our way forward. We moved 50-60 yards. The whole time I am thinking 'Please do not let me have screwed this up'. All of a sudden Timodjo sees something. He points and turns with a giant smile on his face. I peek around Timodjo and see a leg kicking out sideways. He is down on his side. Holy S!%$, I just killed my first cape buffalo. We ease up so I can put in a finishing round, which I do. I ask, "Should I put in one more?" "Sure, same spot", says AJ. With that he is finished. Hugging, cheers, hand shakes and pure raw emotion are going around. A tear or two might have leaked out of my sweat filled eye. It was unreal. I cannot remember when the thought of hunting buffalo began, but it has been burning for a long time. A road was "choppy-choppied" to the bull and he was loaded into the back of the cruiser. Man, what a day!
I will continue with the rest in the following days.
My wife, Katherien, is a non hunter, but she is always game for an adventure. I knew it was going to be hot and full of insects that like to leave marks. So I was a little concerned if she would have a good time. She had the time of her life! AJ and everyone at camp took the time and effort to ensure that she would have an unforgettable experience. They could not have done any better.
I had Marcus Hall from AVA Travel arrange flights and lodging. He did a great job and we had no issues with the travel. We flew from Reno, NV to Atlanta and then Delta to Johannesburg. I used Rifle Permits to assist with my rifle. It was well worth the money. Overnight at City Lodge and then Airlink to Pemba. Cameron, the charter pilot was on our flight to Pemba along with Mark, a fellow AH member, who would be hunting the same time as us.
We arrived at Litulli camp and checked the rifles. I shanked the first shot but made up for it with my second. Then it was time to get ready for the following day.
DAY 1
The first day we started out looking for buffalo tracks. The crew consisted of AJ (PH), Timodjo (Tracker), Sofu (Water Carrier), Katherien, and myself. We picked up the tracks of two bulls and followed for roughly two miles. Watching Timodjo work was unreal. He read the ground like I read a book and it was fascinating. The bulls laid down two different times and just kept feeding. We quit that track when it became apparent that they were not going to stop anytime soon. Right before dark we saw a bull eland and tried to make a move but darkness foiled that one. Dinner was three courses and was excellent. Every meal was fantastic. A night cap and it was off to bed for an early wake up.
DAY 2
4 a.m. wake up this morning and after coffee and a light breakfast we were out of camp by 4:30. About 15 minutes into the drive we started seeing bushpigs. I wanted a bushpig. If you want a bushpig in the daylight and not over bait then this is the place. We saw well over a 100 during the entire trip. We stopped and put in a stalk that did not pan out. Another 5 minutes down the road and more bushpigs. Timodjo led the way for a few minutes until it was time to close the last bit of ground. After a few minutes of looking them over AJ set up the sticks at roughly 40 yards from the pigs. He indicated a particular old boar and asked, "Do you see him?" I did, one shot and 30 yards past where he was initially feeding I had my hands on my first animal in Mozambique. A fine old boar. Man, was I thrilled! After pictures, we carried him to the side of the road and covered him with green branches. AJ arranged for some camp staff to come pick him up so we could continue our day.
Right around lunch time we cut the tracks of three bulls. AJ asked Timodjo and Sofu to go take a look at them and see what was going on with them. AJ set up for lunch and we had a couple of hammocks for a snooze. About twenty minutes after the guys left here they come carrying three shovels. They had interrupted three illegal gold miners digging in the river. The culprits ran away sans shovels. So off they went again to check out the tracks. After awhile they came back and reported they had seen the three bulls who were feeding and all were the kind of bulls we were looking for. Thirty minutes into the track Timodjo freezes like one of my pointers back home. AJ pulls up his binos. Then I see the bulls-my first truly wild African cape buffalo! The wind is not good. I do not have to speak-no one speaks. Head nods, puff bottle puffs, eye and finger movements. A curving hand gesture and we are going to circle and get the wind in our favor. The movement of our group is done. The bulls were originally to our right front in the brush and bamboo. After moving they should be somewhere to our front or front left. After creeping along for ten minutes we see part of a bull at 60 yards, directly ahead through the bamboo. He walks off and is replaced by another bull. I have my knees on the ground and am sitting on my feet. The sticks are stood up low to the ground maybe three feet high in a bi-pod orientation. AJ is on my right holding one side of the sticks, the other is slipping so Timodjo anchors it. The rifle goes up. I cannot really see the bulls head through the bamboo. I can see his chest and legs. AJ explains the slight quarter and instructs me to put it just inside of his left leg-but not too much. "If you are comfortable to take the shot then go ahead, if not it is okay." says AJ. I look him in the eye and say, "Just give me a minute to get my s@%* togther." The bull knows something is up. AJ proceeds to bawl at him to keep his attention, after two or three bawls I am ready. I see the shot, I see where he wants the bullet-okay here goes. I'm thinking, 'Is it perfect, ideal, not really but it is also not horrible. He is close, the rest is good and if the bullet goes where the crosshairs are settled then this will work.' Okay squeeze-BOOM. I am bounced out of the scope and I think, 'Did it feel good? I honestly don't know, I know it did not feel crappy.' AJ took all of the noise and blast a 70 year old Winchester Model 70 in .375 H&H can give and did not see the reaction. Timodjo gestures that the bulls left leg hunched up. I understand the what this means. I am thinking, "Please don't let that bullet have gone through the armpit and down the outside of the body." The bull went to our left through the bamboo. The bamboo is in patches so not horribly thick. AJ and Timodjo are on his tracks with me right there. AJ tells Katherien, "Okay, you must stay right together with us." He then asks, "John is your scope turned down?" "Yup", I reply having already turned the Leupold down to 1.5 and replaced the missing round. We start picking our way forward. We moved 50-60 yards. The whole time I am thinking 'Please do not let me have screwed this up'. All of a sudden Timodjo sees something. He points and turns with a giant smile on his face. I peek around Timodjo and see a leg kicking out sideways. He is down on his side. Holy S!%$, I just killed my first cape buffalo. We ease up so I can put in a finishing round, which I do. I ask, "Should I put in one more?" "Sure, same spot", says AJ. With that he is finished. Hugging, cheers, hand shakes and pure raw emotion are going around. A tear or two might have leaked out of my sweat filled eye. It was unreal. I cannot remember when the thought of hunting buffalo began, but it has been burning for a long time. A road was "choppy-choppied" to the bull and he was loaded into the back of the cruiser. Man, what a day!
I will continue with the rest in the following days.
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