Hello All:
Just thought I would introduce myself. It's a pleasure to find a friendly (and serious) place to share experiences about hunting in Africa. I look forward to (eventually) meeting everyone through discussion and the forums
Relevant background: As part of my grad studies, I did sustainable conservation and wildlife management research with the CAMPFIRE and ADMADE programs in Zimbabwe and Zambia between 1992 and 2000. As part of that research, I also travelled quite a bit in Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and ZA to document nascent wildlife conservation programs. I didn't spend all of that time in Africa, but probably a total of about 2 1/2 years on the ground.
My hunting experiences were primarily in Zimbabwe, where I knew a lot of people with private land. In and along the Great Dyke: Banket, Muzarabani, Muturoshanga, Mvurwi. I also hunted on a (very few) CAMPFIRE concession areas: The Save Valley, Omay TTL, Rifa, and Zvishavane. My first "Africa" rifle was a Winchester Model 95 that I bought new. I put a Williams peep site on it and had it chambered in 375 Hawk/Scovill. The ammo proved a little hard to source, of course, except when I came back to the states! (if I had known better at the time, I would have done it in 9.3x62) Soon after, I bought a sporterized Lee-Enfield 303, and eventually a CZ550 in 416 Rigby.
Anyway, my hunting experience is as old as dirt and NOT typical of what most people are looking for today. But it was very interesting for me, and I made a lot of friends and wonderful memories. I look forward to reading everyone else's stories and sharing vicariously in their experiences!
Sincerely,
Ken
