SOUTH AFRICA: Klaserie Buffalo Hunt

[.50 Express]

Both of my Kiddos recently graduated from college so I wanted to take them on an out of the ordinary trip; something that they will hopefully remember for the rest of their lives. I took them to one of my favorite places in Africa; Klaserie Private Nature Reserve. Klaserie is a private "free-range" reserve located next to Kruger National Park. Klaserie, Kruger, and several other adjoining private reserves have no fences between them and the animals come and go as they please. We saw a host of animals including lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, hippo, crocodile, buffalo, and a myriad of plains game. Even though it was "all about the kids" I just happened to take a big-bore lever gun along for the trip just in case we were attacked by cape buffalo.

This was my 2nd time hunting Klaserie and the second time hunting with Johy Luyt of Duke Safaris. A typical day on this safari consisted of John and I getting up early and hunting buffalo until lunchtime, then heading back to the lodge for lunch with my lazy crew. We would then all head out for a game drive every afternoon until evening when we parked the vehicle at a scenic spot and watched the sun go down while enjoying a "Sundowner." On the morning of day 5, John and I (along with Piet, the Klaserie representative that accompanied us on the hunt) snuck up to a group of bedded dugga boys. After waiting seemingly forever for him to stand, I shot this buffalo at 30 yards or so, facing me, quartering slightly to the left. The bull reacted to the shot well and ran to my left about 30 yards into the bush and stopped. He stood for a few minutes, then lay down and bellowed. We thought he was finished when all of a sudden he jumped up and moved about 20 yards to our right. I was able to get a follow up shot through the brush and I hit him high in his left shoulder. Due to the thick brush, I couldn't see him well enough to shoot again but it was just as well because after a few more minutes he expired.

The Turnbull 45-90 was loaded with 400 grain Lever Gun Solids from Cutting Edge Bullets. The first shot penetrated from the chest and was recovered poking through the hide just in front of his right hind quarter. The recovered bullet had only rifling marks, it looked like it could have been loaded and shot again otherwise. The second bullet was not recovered.

 

[.50 Express]

As you guys know, hunting in Africa is not just about killing animals. I enjoy the entire experience, all of the sights and sounds. I typically take one or 2 animals but get to see hundreds of other animals. At Klaserie, we were able to get up close and personal. Here are a few random photos that I thought some of you might enjoy.

 

[cls]

Very cool trip with your family. Hinting a buffalo is a bonus. Thank you for posting.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Sounds like a Great Trip no one is soon to forget

 

[Nyati]

Congrats for good buff !

Love the pics, specially the hyaena.

 

[WAB]

Awesome trip and proper bull! The bull in my avatar was taken in Klaserie.

 

[.50 Express]

WAB, that's cool! That's a great old bull. I've never been a trophy hunter so my tag was for an old hard boss bull in the smallest bracket in regards to horn spread.

To find an old bull that was "small enough" proved to be quite the challenge! We never even saw buffalo until last light on the evening of day 3. We were able to find that group in the same general area on the morning of day 4. We were able to sneak up close and there were 2 bulls in the group. One bull had the right spread but according to John he was too young. The other bull was an old bull but he was too wide. That's the frustrating part about this hunt; it just seems wrong to hear the words "he's too big" coming from your guide/PH. We found a different group of buffalo, a group of dugga boys, on the morning of day 5. We were able to sneak in close and shoot this one at about 30 yards.

I'm already planning my next trip with Duke Safaris, John wants me to experience Timbavati next time. I'm already booked for Zim next year, so I'm hoping to hunt with John in '26.

Thanks for all your comments guys, I appreciate it.

 

[375Fox]

WAB, that's cool! That's a great old bull. I've never been a trophy hunter so my tag was for an old hard boss bull in the smallest bracket in regards to horn spread.

To find an old bull that was "small enough" proved to be quite the challenge! We never even saw buffalo until last light on the evening of day 3. We were able to find that group in the same general area on the morning of day 4. We were able to sneak up close and there were 2 bulls in the group. One bull had the right spread but according to John he was too young. The other bull was an old bull but he was too wide. That's the frustrating part about this hunt; it just seems wrong to hear the words "he's too big" coming from your guide/PH. We found a different group of buffalo, a group of dugga boys, on the morning of day 5. We were able to sneak in close and shoot this one at about 30 yards.

I'm already planning my next trip with Duke Safaris, John wants me to experience Timbavati next time. I'm already booked for Zim next year, so I'm hoping to hunt with John in '26.

Thanks for all your comments guys, I appreciate it.

Did your PH say if there is a difference in experience between Klaserie and Timbavati? or does he just want you to see a new area? I took a buffalo from an open reserve further north, but it’s a very different area than your photos, much thicker. It held a lot of buffalo but relatively small herds (10-40). I heard Timbavati holds huge herds of buffalo.

 

[WAB]

WAB, that's cool! That's a great old bull. I've never been a trophy hunter so my tag was for an old hard boss bull in the smallest bracket in regards to horn spread.

To find an old bull that was "small enough" proved to be quite the challenge! We never even saw buffalo until last light on the evening of day 3. We were able to find that group in the same general area on the morning of day 4. We were able to sneak up close and there were 2 bulls in the group. One bull had the right spread but according to John he was too young. The other bull was an old bull but he was too wide. That's the frustrating part about this hunt; it just seems wrong to hear the words "he's too big" coming from your guide/PH. We found a different group of buffalo, a group of dugga boys, on the morning of day 5. We were able to sneak in close and shoot this one at about 30 yards.

I'm already planning my next trip with Duke Safaris, John wants me to experience Timbavati next time. I'm already booked for Zim next year, so I'm hoping to hunt with John in '26.

Thanks for all your comments guys, I appreciate it.

Super interesting. Klaserie and
Timbavati use the same gate so I would have assumed that they are pretty similar, but perhaps not. I’m not sure how my PH pulled it off, but we hunted Klaserie at the lowest price point without size restrictions. We were restricted on age. I didn’t find out until after my hunt that that system was even in place.

I’m glad you had such a great hunt.

 

[.50 Express]

Did your PH say if there is a difference in experience between Klaserie and Timbavati? or does he just want you to see a new area? I took a buffalo from an open reserve further north, but it’s a very different area than your photos, much thicker. It held a lot of buffalo but relatively small herds (10-40). I heard Timbavati holds huge herds of buffalo.

Hey 375Fox, I think that it's more about hunting from a more primitive camp (Timbavati) vs. a lodge (Klaserie). I much prefer the primitive camps, but with my crew of non-hunters accompanying me on this trip, I chose to book a lodge in Klaserie. We stayed at Camp Elgin and it was VERY nice.

I would think that the terrain would be very similar. Thanks for your comment, what was the name of the open reserve that you mentioned above?

 

[Goat416]

Congratulations on the buffalo, I have many fond memories of the Klaserie. Hope to make it back sometime in the near future.

 

[.50 Express]

Congrats for good buff !

Love the pics, specially the hyaena.

Nyati, thank you! We were photographing a leopard in a tree at sunset, near the skinning shed at Klaserie. (photo credit goes to John Luyt, he's an awesome photographer in addition to being a wonderful PH)

All of a sudden, the leopard jumped down out of the tree and just casually strolled in front of the Land Cruiser. We then heard hyenas start calling and the leopard high tails it back up the tree!

The hyena in the photo above was the first hyena to show up and it came right up to the truck. As we were driving off, we encountered several hyenas including this pair of juveniles :

It was an awesome encounter! I hope my kiddos understand how lucky they were to get to experience what they experienced on this trip!