SOUTH AFRICA: MOZAMBIQUE: Off To Southern Africa With KMG & TMS & PPS

[MT Griz]

Outstanding trophy and adventure! Truly a hunt of a lifetime that you will want to do again. Now I can blame Brickburn for wanting to hunt a sable in Mozambique! Well done and thanks for sharing your hunt with us!

 

[BRICKBURN]

.............Now I can blame Brickburn for wanting to hunt a sable in Mozambique! ...........

One thing I have found with my reports is that I get blamed for a whole lot of wildlife in Africa being hunted.
Leopard and Cheetah in Namibia seem to have taken it on the chin.

My bet is the Bushbuck in the Eastern Cape with Marius are going to be getting some pressure now and never mind these Sable in Moz.

No one else is nuts enough to chase Vaalies my way, so they are safe.

Thanks for the congrats. I am not done with this little adventure yet.....

 

[siml]

Thanks for the congrats. I am not done with this little adventure yet.....

OOOOOOOPS.......

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Great trophies and read so far!

 

[UKHunter]

Well done all concerned.

My list of places to hunt, people to hunt with and the animals I wish to hunt just keep getting longer

 

[siml]

Not wanting to take any fire out of @BRICKBURN report, about 10 minutes before the bachelor herd, we were on another herd of about 40 sable, but the mopani bees beat us on that one....Wayne got an evil glance from me and soon sorta learned how to handle them.

I would like to say something about @BRICKBURN , this to me summed up the person I was hunting with, after we recovered the sable, time for the hand shakes and congrats, Wayne was shaking like a leaf, he was appreciating the moment.....showed me a person who truly loves to hunt, he was shaking from pure enjoyment. This is what I love and appreciate about being able to guide hunters. Wonderful memory is banked...

 

[Nyati]

Congrats Wayne, you really worked hard for that beauty

 

[garyleach]

Congrates!!

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Beautiful Sable Wayne! One of my favorite antelope in Africa and a great addition to your expanding trophy room. Your hunt report does not disappoint either.

 

[Wheels]

Beautiful sable Wayne. Congratulations.

On the leopard follow up, I can't make out the light saber. What is it?

 

[Warbird782]

Congrats on a very nice sable!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Beautiful sable Wayne. Congratulations.

On the leopard follow up, I can't make out the light saber. What is it?

It is an LED light of some sort in a line. It throws quite a bit of blue light. Interesting contraption. Beats a flash light for throwing light.

 

[Warbird782]

I have never heard of mopani bees before. Must be wicked little buggers.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Not wanting to take any fire out of @BRICKBURN report, about 10 minutes before the bachelor herd, we were on another herd of about 40 sable, but the mopani bees beat us on that one....Wayne got an evil glance from me and soon sorta learned how to handle them.

Thanks Simon. I forgot about those little pests.
Having never encountered that many of those pesky little devils I just started to swat at them.

It must have looked like someone tapping out Morse code with flash cards. Really helpful for sneaking up on a herd of wary beasts.

I am not sure if wearing glasses was a help of hinderance.
Getting those little monsters in your eyes was a true pain in the ass. Instantly blinded.
I know why people take head nets.

When you are in the Bakkie and there is a slight breeze on you, you do not feel like you are sweating and hot.
When you stop, and then start to walk that is another thing altogether. Instant attractant to these thirsty little bugs.

I would like to say something about @BRICKBURN , this to me summed up the person I was hunting with, after we recovered the sable, time for the hand shakes and congrats, Wayne was shaking like a leaf, he was appreciating the moment.....showed me a person who truly loves to hunt, he was shaking from pure enjoyment. This is what I love and appreciate about being able to guide hunters. Wonderful memory is banked...

Really good observation Simon.
I was truly enjoying the moment with people who truly understood what had taken place and just how special that animal was.

I have some incredible pictures of the Leopard follow up that I will share later. I do not want to detract from anyone else's stories.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I have never heard of mopani bees before. Must be wicked little buggers.

They do not sting. They are just after moisture and they are annoying.

 

[siml]

Looking forward to your leopard pics.....packed and heading out the door, flying to Malawi, then stock up on supplies. Will be in camp tomorrow, for the start of the elephant season.

 

[Royal27]

Having never encountered that many of those pesky little devils I just started to swat at them.

And when you swat them and kill the first one, you're doomed.... Every Mopani bee for miles then wants to come and spend time driving you slowly insane. They love getting in your eyes, ears, nose....

In Zim i was totally happy to take a nap with my head about 18 inches away from smoldering elephant dung as this was the only thing that kept the bees at bay!

 

[BRICKBURN]

If that were steam rising I would be scared.

 

[BRICKBURN]

We got up early again today to get after the Sable. We also dragged along the scatter gun. Grey Wings and Guinea fowl had been taunting me for several days and looked like they might like to share the oven with some fresh bread.

A pocket full of shells and a double trigger scatter gun was going to make life interesting.

It did not take long before we encountered a flock of Guineas. I jumped off and started after them.
The Guineas would not flush. I walked faster. Still no flush, even though I was closing.

Finally, I ran at them. That's all it took. Mass flush and I took one down. Unfortunately, no dogs and a broken winged road runner made the bag a little light.
Damn.

More touring and no Sable as yet and we took a road around the mountain on a previously un taken path (at least by me) and we ran into some Francolin.
I was off in a split second. Took one down and marked it in the long grass. Glad I marked it because they trackers have zero Idea how to find a bird in the grass. They can track but marking is not their forte.

At this point I put the scatter gun away. Enough fun. It was time to chase a Sable.

We quickly ran into some Elephant Apples on the road from the night before.

Soon a stalk was on and I watched as I did not want to be the cause of another Mopane Bee crisis.

Another family group

We were destined to head for the further reaches of the Coutada today and spend the entire day out in the bush.
Sable Fillets over an open fire along the river certainly sounded good to me.

One Francolin in the bag for appetizers for dinner tonight.


We were heading out on roads the the "Road Crew" were to have been maintaining for the last few months. Removing trees, cutting back the grass. Basic maintenance. It did not appear that the crew liked to venture very far from the camp in the furtherance of their duties. The further we got from camp the more trees seemed to be in our way and the road did not appear to be as clearly marked as others we had been traveling the last few days.

Dry creek crossing required significant 4x4 skill to negotiate and when that was not going to make the muster... Preparations were made.

Axes and hoes. No shovels. How you would use a shovel in this hard earth I don't know either.
Abrupt edges removed the first obstacle was passed without much incident.

We made out way to the river.... and everyone went exploring.

A picnic site was determined a fire was lit and soon enough a snooze as called for.
We had a visitor for lunch.

As Simon had noted, Kurt and Martin had headed off on a jaunt down the river. Half a K away the guys smelled the Fillets cooking and mysteriously they appeared.
Damn fine grub the Sable. Good motivation to find more.

Martin brought back some treasures and noted there were plenty more on the river inset into small dams. The apparent target is any fish that lives. In some pools in the river you could see a sheen on the surface. Simon explained that a chemical (poison) of some sort is used to remove the oxygen and thus, fish seem to float. Easy fishing.
Nothing left behind.
I wonder what the country of export is for those chemicals. Maybe has something to do with the road builders in the country. Some country in Asia I think. hmmm.
Also the guys that seem to think chain saws for cutting hard woods without permission is acceptable. Poachers of anything and everything.

One of the times you absolutely know you re in Africa is when you encounter these trees. I always have to take pictures of them.

After our nap we headed out and started the search again.

This time we entered another dry water course and had to do some work for an extraction.....

I would not want to on the road crew.


I was wondering why the trees were not being removed and then it was explained indirectly that it would take a lot of effort to clear on of these trees with a panga. So they burn them.

So the newest, to me, stump clearing method was executed for my edification.

Also a little grass clearing at the same time. The heat becomes pretty intense in a hurry.

Soon we encountered some bones. I thought it might be from a poaching incident. Apparently not. Just left over bones from a previous hunt.

We ended up encountering an Eland and he did not stick around very long. Some Kudu and more Guineas. All were safe though. Sable was on the target list.

No joy today.
But, damn the scenery is great.

This little extra is a tour of the camp.


The automatic Dishwasher and dryer.

The laundry.

The hot water tanks with built in pressure inducers.

Biltong hanging in the Kitchen. So jealous I never got any.

Chief cook and bottle washer with Vera present for direction and supervision of all things relevant to making your stay comfortable.

 

[BRICKBURN]

The garden had been planted a little late, but eventually there are going to be some nice fresh veggies for someone in camp.

This is the Dessert tree. I discovered that I am a fan of Papaya. Never had it before.
As with most fruits ripened on the tree/vine they are awesome.
Ready made in the camp. mmmmm.

(You can keep Guava all to yourself. Not a fan.)

I am a big fan of the wonders that can be done with a clay oven.
Damn fine bread, etc. Fresh made buns daily. For a carb addict this was a treat beyond, beyond.

Last but not least. The true Biltong. I did not ask how Yellow Baboon tasted. No speak the Portuguese and I was not about to give it a go myself.