Mozambique Tales Of Boomslang Snakes, Man-eating Crocodiles & Angry Buffalo 2013-2014

[Scott CWO]

Now, like I said, this isn't the biggest leopard and not nearly as big as some posted here on AH. Being a wet, water-soaked cat without the dry, more fluffy hair also makes him look a bit smaller. Nonetheless, I was very pleased and the full-body mount turned out great!

 

[Scott CWO]

Fantastic shooting.

It's unfortunate he is no longer with us.

Yes, for sure! I miss talking with him.

Cosimo and Jamie told me another story about a black mamba. They were tracking buffalo and suddenly, a black mamba rose up high right in front of Cosimo. Cosimo froze and Jamie shouldered his .458 Lott and shot the mamba offhand in the head and killed it. Incredible!

 

[Frederik]

Its a good leopard to be proud of.
That Lichtenstein alos looks great.

 

[Scott CWO]

Now that the leopard was in the salt, we turned our attention to buffalo, Roosevelt sable and more plains game. The bush was still quite thick but the grass was turning brown and the trackers started a lot of grass fires as we were traveling about. They had already burned some areas before I arrived but had much more to do. We tracked buffalo, looked for sable and also hunted the thick areas along the Ruvuma River for bushbuck. We saw lots of game and some nice bushbuck but the bushbuck spooked a couple times before I could get a shot.

The huge area was very wild and undeveloped. There were only two roads, one that paralleled the river east/west and another that paralleled a dry riverbed running north/south. Jaime had just bought a bulldozer to make some more roads and it was parked at camp but he hadn't had the chance to build more roads yet. Jamie had learned a lot about the area from flying his ultralight aircraft around and had a plan on where to put more roads.

At times, we would just leave the road and drive across country looking for game and weaving in and out and around the trees and through openings in the forest. I loved this way of getting to remote areas. One day, Jamie said we would drive off the road through an area where he usually would find a good number of sable. Jamie was driving the Cruiser from the right front seat and Wendy was in the other front seat. I was sitting in the back of the Cruiser on the elevated seat just behind Jamie with Cosimo and another tracker to my left. Jamie had removed the roof of the cab so it was open and we could communicate with him easily. At times, the trackers and I had to duck under oncoming tree branches. On one such occasion, we were approaching a branch on my side of the Cruiser so I bent forward and down to get under the branch. Cosimo and the other tracker leaned over to their left but they spotted a snake on the branch just as I ducked under it and yelled, "Cobra, cobra, cobra!"

Now as you might already know, Mozambique was once a Portuguese colony and Portuguese is the language most commonly used. I don't speak Portuguese so anytime we saw a snake of any kind, the trackers would call it a "cobra." Jamie heard the commotion in the back of the Cruiser but wasn't sure what was going on so he stopped the Crusier under the branch, thinking that perhaps we had spotted an animal to hunt. We stopped with the branch and snake directly above my head and neck! I quickly yelled, "No. It's a snake! Go! Go! Go!" Jamie let out the clutch quickly and we drove out from under the branch and stopped about 20 feet away and looked back. The trackers pointed out the green snake and said it previously had it's mouth wide open just above my head and, "Was very angry!" Jamie identified the snake as a Boomslang, a very poisonous tree snake that had to open it's mouth to about 180 degrees to bite because it's fangs are set further back in its mouth than other snakes. He said a lot of people that are bit do not think they received any poison because it is slow acting, compared to most other snakes. The poison can kill you about a day later when you hemorrhage from your mouth, eyes, nose and bowels when your blood breaks down and thins out from the poison and you bleed out. He said the nearest anti-venom was likely in South Africa. Yikes! I had a few more drinks around the campfire that night!

 

[Scott CWO]

About one third of the way through the sixteen day safari, Jamie suggested we pack up and move to a fly camp that was setup many miles to the south along the north/south road. This would put us closer to the middle of the area and further away from the Tanzania border so that we could hunt in every direction, without a border to worry about. That sounded great to me. Wendy said she was fine with tent camping and a mattress on the floor, so off we went. I asked Jamie, if his wonderful chef, Albert, would be coming? He confirmed that Albert would indeed be coming along. This was good news because Albert had been taken from Mozambique to France by a French client and was trained at a French culinary school. Albert's meals were fantastic! Albert was a small man and we joked with him and Jamie that we were going to steal him and pack him up in one of our suitcases when we left. I think Albert thought we were serious because he later approached me and said he really wanted to go with us to the USA and be our personal chef! Here are some pictures of the fly camp and Albert's cooking area there.

 

[Scott CWO]

From the fly camp, we ranged out in every direction and even further down the north/south road. We saw a lot of sable, some eland, buffalo, zebra, small groups of elephant, several lions, etc...

One morning, we were driving along in the dry riverbed that we often used as basically, another road. We came upon a large, single, "dagga boy" track of an old buffalo bull crossing the dry sandy river bottom. It was very fresh and it headed up the river bank and into the high grass. We got geared up and slowly followed with Cosimo in the lead, followed by Jamie, then me, then Wendy and then the other tracker bringing up the rear. Jamie and I were both carrying our .458 Lott rifles. Mine was loaded with 465 grain A-Square softs. It was so thick that I was tempted to remove the Leupold 1x-5 scope but did not.

We had only went a few hundred yards, very slowly, in very tall grass when suddenly, Cosimo spotted the bull as it stood up from it's bed, only about 10 yards away! The grass was so high and thick that I didn't see it immediately until I took another careful step forward. I wasn't expecting it to be so close and luckily we had the wind in our favor. Jamie didn't say a word but gave me a signal to shoot. All I could see was the head as the buffalo faced us head-on and he had his head up high, trying to see what had awakened him. I quickly just put the crosshairs under his jaw where I imagined the top of the neck to be and squeezed the trigger.

Luckily for us, the bullet passed through his neck just under the head and came out the other side after breaking his spine, so he dropped in his bed and started bellowing. Jamie and I quickly flanked him from the left and I shot him again from just a couple yards away, once we located him in the high grass. Wow! What an exciting hunt! A few minutes later, we realized we were even more lucky because this old bull had a very swollen, scratched up scrotum and flank from, perhaps, a lion attack? Jamie said we were VERY luck that that the bull didn't immediately charge when he saw us, due to the injuries! I think you can see the swollen scrotum in the second picture below. The bull was 39" and hard-bossed. A beautiful old bull.

We cut the grass down to get pictures and then brought in the Cruiser to load him up.

 

[Sarg]

Absolutely great write up here & I thank you for it .

Leopard looks very nice to me & I bet hundreds of failed leopard hunters would be thrilled to take him.

Do you know his weight as even a 130lb Cat is a fine trophy ?

 

[Scott CWO]

Absolutely great write up here & I thank you for it .

Leopard looks very nice to me & I bet hundreds of failed leopard hunters would be thrilled to take him.

Do you know his weight as even a 130lb Cat is a fine trophy ?

Thank you. I’m quite happy with the leopard. Not sure it would qualify as a shooter in some areas today with today’s more strict rules on aging but did not have to deal with that then. As for weight, we didn’t have a scale.

 

[PARA45]

Wow, what a great adventure. Beautiful leopard, and great shooting. What a great buffalo story and shooting him so close and surprisingly he didn't charge you guys. If my scrotum was that swollen, I'd be seriously pissed off too.

 

[Scott CWO]

From the fly camp, we ranged out in every direction and even further down the north/south road. We saw a lot of sable, some eland, buffalo, zebra, small groups of elephant, several lions, etc...

One morning, we were driving along in the dry riverbed that we often used as basically, another road. We came upon a large, single, "dagga boy" track of an old buffalo bull crossing the dry sandy river bottom. It was very fresh and it headed up the river bank and into the high grass. We got geared up and slowly followed with Cosimo in the lead, followed by Jamie, then me, then Wendy and then the other tracker bringing up the rear. Jamie and I were both carrying our .458 Lott rifles. Mine was loaded with 465 grain A-Square softs. It was so thick that I was tempted to remove the Leupold 1x-5 scope but did not.

We had only went a few hundred yards, very slowly, in very tall grass when suddenly, Cosimo spotted the bull as it stood up from it's bed, only about 10 yards away! The grass was so high and thick that I didn't see it immediately until I took another careful step forward. I wasn't expecting it to be so close and luckily we had the wind in our favor. Jamie didn't say a word but gave me a signal to shoot. All I could see was the head as the buffalo faced us head-on and he had his head up high, trying to see what had awakened him. I quickly just put the crosshairs under his jaw where I imagined the top of the neck to be and squeezed the trigger.

Luckily for us, the bullet passed through his neck just under the head and came out the other side after breaking his spine, so he dropped in his bed and started bellowing. Jamie and I quickly flanked him from the left and I shot him again from just a couple yards away, once we located him in the high grass. Wow! What an exciting hunt! A few minutes later, we realized we were even more lucky because this old bull had a very swollen, scratched up scrotum and flank from, perhaps, a lion attack? Jamie said we were VERY luck that that the bull didn't immediately charge when he saw us, due to the injuries! I think you can see the swollen scrotum in the second picture below. The bull was 39" and hard-bossed. A beautiful old bull.

We cut the grass down to get pictures and then brought in the Cruiser to load him up.View attachment 513040View attachment 513041

Actually, I made a mistake here. The bullet went in under the jaw and penetrated the length of the neck and into the upper wither/shoulder area.

 

[MontanaPat]

I have iCloud. It opens my photos to the “For You” section, but that’s the end of progress.

I had to download the video and it puts into your photos folder on an iPhone or computer. Because the original date the video was posted somewhere is from May 2018 I had to scroll back thru my photos to that date range and then found the video in my photos folder. Hope that helps

 

[Dragan N.]

Over the course of the next couple days, I shot baboons for bait, a reedbuck and a Lichtenstein hartebeest. This gave us quite a few baits and we began checking them while looking for buffalo, sable, bushbuck and eland.View attachment 512989View attachment 512990

With a Mrs. like that- you are a very lucky hunter indeed LOL

 

[Scott CWO]

As the safari continued on, we had some chances with sable and eland slip through our fingertips. I could have shot some lesser bulls but we were looking for something above average. In addition, we were hampered a few times by the thick bush. Lots of high grass areas and other areas with fairly thick forest in this area and the burning was not yet complete. Hunting in August would have been better but it is hard for me to get away in August.

Later in the safari, we finally had an opportunity for a big sable. While driving through some partially burned areas, we spotted a group of sable cows along with a big bull. After we passed by them without spooking the herd, we stopped the Cruiser well downwind and cut back through the forest towards them. We worked our way closer to the herd, being careful not to spook them. We finally were able to pick out the bull through the trees and bushes. He was broadside and facing to my right but he had seen something and was looking our way. There was one tree branch that was about as big around as your arm that was partially in the way and crossing diagonally across his vitals. It was now or never because we were busted. I got on the sticks and settled in for a shot. The range was only about 100 yards. I figured I could avoid the branch and get off a shot in the vitals.

At the shot, the sable bull took off and in a couple of seconds, he disappeared, along with the cows. I was bothered that I didn’t see much reaction to the shot because he didn’t seem to be humped up or struggling as he ran out of sight. When we arrived at the spot where the sable had been standing, unfortunately, the 225 grain Swift A-Frame bullet had hit the branch. We found a few drops of blood and began tracking the bull. Problem was, the bull stayed with the herd and the blood was just a drop or two here and there. We kept tracking them for a long time. Finally, they slowed and we could tell we were getting closer. A little way further down the track, the tracks entered a fairly open burned area with much better visibility. The tracks of the herd and bull fanned out a bit wider in the more open area and it appeared that some of them were feeding on the new growth of grass in the burn. Unfortunately, the herd spotted us from a long distance before we saw them and when we looked up from the tracks, they were already taking off. We saw that the bull was still with them and showed no signs of being fatally injured. Dang the luck! We took a short break and followed again. The herd went through some thick areas and again entered a more open, burned area. After a long walk, we spotted them up ahead but they took off again before I could get a shot. Jamie and the trackers then had a conversation that I couldn’t exactly follow but I could tell by the mannerisms and expressions that it was fruitless to continue. Jamie turned to me and said it was the consensus to abort the tracking and head back to the Cruiser. He said the bullet must have deflected and caused some type of a flesh wound. I was sick and felt bad for everyone and my pocketbook. It was a long, quiet walk back to the Cruiser.

 

[Scott CWO]

Late in the safari, we were tracking some eland. The herd crossed one of the large, open, sandy, dry riverbeds. As we were crossing the riverbed, we noticed a lone buffalo bull about 300 yards away upriver. It was standing facing away and grazing on the vegetation on the edge of the riverbank. Out of curiosity, Jamie and I looked at him with our binoculars. Jamie said something just didn’t look right with the bull and mentioned that we should go take a look.

We snuck up to about 75 yards from the bull to a cut bank for concealment. Jamie and I studied the bull. Jamie said the bull was an ancient old bull - almost a scrum cap with a broken horn, boss worn smooth and in very poor body condition with a large tumor on its left side. An old warrior that was lucky to have evaded the lions, so far, in this condition! He said it would be a good bull to take for conservation reasons and we would give the meat to the village. This would make the village very happy. I got on the sticks and shot the bull with Jamie’s .458 Lott. The bull went down. We walked up and I put an insurance shot into the bull with my .338WM, just for good measure. You can see in the pictures how old this bull was. Not the prettiest bull but an old trophy dagga boy in most people’s eyes.

 

[Pheroze]

Late in the safari, we were tracking some eland. The herd crossed one of the large, open, sandy, dry riverbeds. As we were crossing the riverbed, we noticed a lone buffalo bull about 300 yards away upriver. It was standing facing away and grazing on the vegetation on the edge of the riverbank. Out of curiosity, Jamie and I looked at him with our binoculars. Jamie said something just didn’t look right with the bull and mentioned that we should go take a look.

View attachment 513210View attachment 513211We snuck up to about 75 yards from the bull to a cut bank for concealment. Jamie and I studied the bull. Jamie said the bull was an ancient old bull - almost a scrum cap with a broken horn, boss worn smooth and in very poor body condition with a large tumor on its left side. An old warrior that was lucky to have evaded the lions, so far, in this condition! He said it would be a good bull to take for conservation reasons and we would give the meat to the village. This would make the village very happy. I got on the sticks and shot the bull with Jamie’s .458 Lott. The bull went down. We walked up and I put an insurance shot into the bull with my .338WM, just for good measure. You can see in the pictures how old this bull was. Not the prettiest bull but an old trophy dagga boy in most people’s eyes.

In my estimation, that is the perfect bull.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Late in the safari, we were tracking some eland. The herd crossed one of the large, open, sandy, dry riverbeds. As we were crossing the riverbed, we noticed a lone buffalo bull about 300 yards away upriver. It was standing facing away and grazing on the vegetation on the edge of the riverbank. Out of curiosity, Jamie and I looked at him with our binoculars. Jamie said something just didn’t look right with the bull and mentioned that we should go take a look.

View attachment 513210View attachment 513211We snuck up to about 75 yards from the bull to a cut bank for concealment. Jamie and I studied the bull. Jamie said the bull was an ancient old bull - almost a scrum cap with a broken horn, boss worn smooth and in very poor body condition with a large tumor on its left side. An old warrior that was lucky to have evaded the lions, so far, in this condition! He said it would be a good bull to take for conservation reasons and we would give the meat to the village. This would make the village very happy. I got on the sticks and shot the bull with Jamie’s .458 Lott. The bull went down. We walked up and I put an insurance shot into the bull with my .338WM, just for good measure. You can see in the pictures how old this bull was. Not the prettiest bull but an old trophy dagga boy in most people’s eyes.

I think it’s a great bull and good to put him out of his misery!

 

[Scott CWO]

Our safari with Jamie and Eveline came to a close. It was a very fun trip and we learned a lot. In my time with Jamie, he told me that he had a genetic blood disorder called hemochromatosis. Because of a defect in a gene, the body retains too much iron from iron-rich foods, like red meat and vegetables. Since it’s genetic, there’s no cure and the treatment is to donate blood through phlebotomies. The body then uses the excess iron in the body to make new blood to replace the donated blood. Too much iron damages the soft tissue organs, such as the heart and liver. If undiagnosed and untreated, it can cause liver cancer and heart failure, since the iron overload interferes with the heart beat and damages the liver.

An unfortunate coincidence is that I have hemochromatosis as well and was diagnosed at 40 years of age when I had a blood test for buying life insurance. My iron level was 1589 but normal is 100! Like Jamie, I have donated a lot of blood to my local blood bank and the extra iron doesn’t harm the recipient. People with this disorder are screened yearly for cancer. So far, I am clear. Unfortunately, Jamie got liver cancer from it and wasn’t able to get a new liver. I kept in touch with him to the very end. This disorder has been found to be more prevalent in people of Northern European descent so if you are Danish, Norwegian, German, etc… it would be a good idea to have your iron levels checked the next time you visit your doctor. You have to specifically ask for an iron panel because it’s not checked with regular blood work ups. Mine was discovered due to a high reading of liver enzymes because my liver was being damaged. It took the doctors a while to figure out that it was iron.

I will always have good memories of Jamie and I know he provided a lot of good safaris for many people in both Mozambique and Zambia, where he was from. I know that @spike.t also hunted with Jamie.

Thanks Jamie! I will see you on the other side!

 

[Red Leg]

Now, like I said, this isn't the biggest leopard and not nearly as big as some posted here on AH. Being a wet, water-soaked cat without the dry, more fluffy hair also makes him look a bit smaller. Nonetheless, I was very pleased and the full-body mount turned out great!View attachment 513024View attachment 513025

Love your cat. Mine was similar. It had killed a calf on a neighboring ranch the night before. Nick Nolte told me we had the opportunity to sit it or to keep working the baits which were also being hit. The tracks indicated clearly it was not a large leopard. If I had passed, the rancher would have poisoned the calf carcass and the young leopard would have still died. I was very happy to agree to sitting up for him. To this day, his size is irrelevant to me.

Great narrative about your hunt - thanks.

 

[steve white]

Now, like I said, this isn't the biggest leopard and not nearly as big as some posted here on AH. Being a wet, water-soaked cat without the dry, more fluffy hair also makes him look a bit smaller. Nonetheless, I was very pleased and the full-body mount turned out great!View attachment 513024View attachment 513025

That is EXACTLY the way I envisioned mounting one, only with head tilted a bit more downward...lovely

 

[Scott CWO]

Back to Mozambique 2014

While guiding a long-term client, Craig, in Colorado, he asked if Wendy and I would be interested in going to Mozambique with him and his wife, Janet. Craig wanted a big croc and a leopard. I was definitely interested in a big croc and a sable, since I failed to get a sable with Jamie.

Craig had been researching places to go with a PH named Chris (aka Skippy) who usually goes with Craig wherever Craig hunts in Africa. Skippy comes along to help out and Craig pays him for his time. Skippy also recommends places to go to Craig. Together, they had come up with a plan to hunt croc and leopard on the south side of Lake Cahorra Bassa with Safaris de Mocambique. I did some research of my own and it sounded like a good place to get a big croc and a sable.

I also already had been talking with the Duckworth family of Mokore Safaris about a trip to Coutada 9 with them in Mozambique for nyala, kudu and more plains game. So, a plan was developed for Wendy and I to fly with Craig and Janet to JNB and then on to Harare, where we would then take a drive to the Mozambique border near Lake Cahorra Bassa and then take a boat ride to the SdM camp. After a 14-day safari there, we would charter to Tete and while Wendy, Craig and Janet flew home, I would be picked up in Tete by the Mokore crew and drive to C9 for a 10-day safari. We all booked for July dates.

We all arrived without any issues to the SdM camp. Wow, what a beautiful camp! The buildings and everything were first class. The owner has a construction company so everything was very well done. Definitely the nicest camp I have ever seen.