TANZANIA: Bullet Safaris - August 2022 - Return To Rungwa

[M Whitley]

My apologies to all my fellow AH members. This hunt report is almost a year late but better late than never, right?

8/3/2022:

Departing St. Louis at 5:45 pm headed to Ft. Worth to catch the 10:55 pm departure to Doha on Qatar airlines. 4-hour layover in Doha, then a 2:00 am flight on Qatar to Kilimanjaro. Arrival at 7:35 am on 8/5/22, I have a day room in Arusha for 8/5/22, bush plane departs 8/6/22 to take myself and Chris, another client into Rungwa Game Reserve. I hunted out of this same camp in October of 2020 when the rest of the world was locked down Tanzania was open for tourism, no restrictions. This allowed me to hunt my leopard a year earlier than expected and it was an amazing safari that I still think of daily.

The hunt report is on AH for those of you that are interested, Nathan Askew’s army had us pivoting from fly camp to fly camp in what felt like a 14-day blur of hunting across the entire continent, LOL.

A little delay leaving STL due to weather, I should still make the Qatar flight to Doha. Not a lot of time to spare but doable. Upon arrival and check in at the Qatar gate in Ft. Worth there seems to be an issue. My covid test does not have a QR code… which Tanzania is requiring (but I would bet my safari no one is checking it in TZ).

I’ll make a long aggravating story short… My request was denied to check all 360+ passengers for a QR code by Qatar Airlines management in Ft. Worth. Additionally, my “privileges” to fly Qatar Airlines not only this flight, but for the remainder of my existence were threatened when I asked to see verification that all passengers and crew were vaccinated and have QR codes on their tests.

A rather docile Qatar manager pulled me to the side and spoke politely but frankly “Sir, you have now offended all the Qatar employees here tonight. I think your best option is to get a room at the Hotel here in the airport, I will show you tonight where the to get a test with a QR code in the terminal tomorrow, and I will move your ticket to tomorrow night. If you do not agree to this, we will have to take other action as an airline.”

Considering my love for Safari I obliged with the level headed manager. At this moment I realized that I was growing older in my submission to rational thinking. The manager would be back tomorrow at 3 pm. I made my way to the hotel in the FTW terminal, notified the @Bullet Safaris Team via email that there was a misunderstanding but I would be on the 8/4/22 departure.

8/4/2022-8/5/2022:
I laid around the hotel in FTW airport, got a negative covid test with a QR code printed on it, and was bored out of my mind all day. The level headed manager arrived at 3pm just as he promised, retrieved my guns from his office. And even checked me in for the flight and tagged my luggage in my very own line at the terminal himself. (I think he was scared of the wrath if his staff questioned any of my paperwork for the firearms or my covid test)

I boarded the flight and the rest of the travel was very boring in comparison.

8/6/2022:
I arrived in Kilimanjaro (no one even looked at the QR code, shocker!) was met by the Bullet Safaris team, and taken to pick up Chris from his hotel in Arusha so we could get to the charter flight on time. At this point I’m just happy to be back in Tanzania. Excited to be chasing buffalo for the next 10 days or so.

Charter flight in and Askew’s army is there to meet us, drives us to camp and we settle in. The camp looks exactly the same as it did in 2020. I know they take it down every season and move it out of Rungwa however they are amazing at putting it back up in a way that makes it look like it is in the exact same spot, every tent, fence, and trail rock. Amazing.

I get my gear unpacked in my tent and we go test the rifles out before dinner. I brought my 375 H&H bolt action built by Horizon Firearms as well as my Merkel 375 H&H double rifle. Beyond happy to be back in what feels like the middle of nowhere.

8/7/2022:
“Good morning, Sir” I hear Nisari say from the front porch of my safari tent. I answer back “Morning” which is me giving him permission to enter in an unspoken way, he sets my cup of black coffee on the night stand and carefully grabs my gear and gun cases to take down to the dining hall for me. Man did I miss the East African Safari experience.

I drink that cup of coffee as I get dressed, double check my clothes and gear I have with me. I head to the dining hall. The boys here remember, I drink coffee black and they make me a “dashboard” (a breakfast sandwich egg, bacon, cheese on white bread that sits on the dash of the truck for later in the morning) We are delayed an hour or so this morning leaving as my game scout is not here… apparently there was some delay in him getting to the closest village (4+/- hours via truck).

The game scout delay is short, probably an hour or so. We travel a lot on the truck today, we see tons of game. We did a short stalk on a small herd of buffalo however there were no mature bulls in the group that had made a temporary home under an Acasia tree eating the pods as they fell. We arrived back at camp, had some drinks around the fire and an amazing dinner that it is hard to believe was made in the bush with a fire and some pans. That chef of Nathan’s is one of a kind.

 

[M Whitley]

8/8/2022:
“Good morning, Sir” Nsari wakes me from my sleep, “Morning” I reply. This day starts like every day in Nathan’s camp. The reliable staff delivering my black coffee, and taking my pack and guns to the dining hall. If I could stay in one moment, one place, forever, it would be this one. I am certain I was simply born 100 years too late.

We track buffalo today; they travel into the national park across the dry river. We are forced to abandon the tracking. We see lots of game from the truck, particularly elephants. I was here in 2020 and we saw maybe 3-4 elephants the entire two weeks. We have seen elephants both days so far and in large groups, I ask the boys and they say there are many more elephants this year than past years. Nathan says the ivory grows thin in this part of the country. We did see one bull, not sure which day but towards the end of my safari that they said would go around 40 lbs. or so. Lots of cows, young bulls, and calves in large groups. Beautiful animals and I am excited that I will one day hunt a big old bull elsewhere.

Askew’s army has built a BBQ pit by the dining hall. Tonight, Nathan has the chef cook for us in the BBQ pit, he makes a buffalo tenderloin that is amazing.

8/9/2022:
This morning starts the same however we are headed to a different part of the hunting area, further away but Thabit (my PH as Nathan is hunting for lion) says there were good buffalo numbers there last week.

The trackers stop the truck around 10:45 am when they see fresh tracks from a buffalo herd across the road. After determining they are fresh enough, we all start on the track. The herd is covering some ground, through thick and open areas we follow the trackers. Which never cease to amaze me, some of the most talented men I have met. It’s a steady walk with a water break or two for 3.5 hours before we close in on the back of the herd, they are moving to our right and away from our position. As we flank them, I have the scoped 375 and one of the boys has the double rifle in the event we are going to get in close enough.

We get to about 70 yards and are looking over the herd when Thabit tells me “Mark, there is a mature bull second from the back of the herd”. I get on the sticks and on the scope, I see the bull who is stopped facing my right broadside. I confirm which animal with Thabit one more time, he confirms and I squeeze the trigger sending the 300 grain Nosler. The first shot is good, on the shoulder. We instantly move in a quick jog as one unit forward and to the right about 20 yards, in the same direction the bull is moving, we have closed our distance to about 50 yards now. During this move somehow Thabit, myself, and one of the boys have communicated with or without words I cannot recall to swap rifles with me.

I get the double rifle on the sticks as the bull is stopped now 50 yards again facing right, broadside to me. I squeeze and send a 300-grain solid into the same shoulder that took the 300-grain soft. The bull reacts as though he is hit hard again and turns facing left broadside now. I have reloaded the spent barrel out of unconscious habit and shoulder the double free hand. The third round finds its mark on the left side of the buffalo, on the crease of the shoulder, not directly on it as I would have liked. The buffalo reacts hit to the shot but amazingly stands in the same place. That’s three 300 grain bullets through the vitals and this animal stands still. I place the second barrel shot almost instantly in the same spot, at the sound of the 4th bullet finding its mark the buffalo’s legs buckle and he falls to his death. A great celebration takes place, and we slowly approach the bull. He is confirmed expired and what a site, we are able to move him around a little for some pictures.

At this point we are so far from the truck that the hand-held radio cannot reach it. The boys unload what sandwiches, snacks, and bottles of water they have in their packs. Thabit tells them to walk to the truck and cut a road back to get to us and the buffalo. This is at 2:45 pm when the boys take off for the truck. Thabit and I have lunch in the shade, discuss buffalo hunting and take a nap awaiting the boy’s return. The boys return around 4:15 pm with the truck and another Bullet Safaris truck following our truck. Apparently, the Bullet Safaris bait truck heard the boys on the radio and were in desperate need of bait as they had many lion and leopard baits that were being actively hit in the area. 2 trucks and about 8-10 boys make for short work of one buffalo to cape/butcher. We were out of there rather quickly! Our truck headed back to camp with the buffalo caped out, and some tenderloins. The bait truck with the rest of the buffalo to run baits that were in need of replenishment.

 

[Altitude sickness]

No wonder the staff at FTW was intimidated,
Even standing behind the bull you don’t look small :>)))

 

[DLSJR]

Looking forward to the rest of your report, as I leave for the Selous in 3 weeks and your report is just the medicine I need right now. Thabit is a good guy, I met him in Mlele in 2021.

 

[M Whitley]

Looking forward to the rest of your report, as I leave for the Selous in 3 weeks and your report is just the medicine I need right now. Thabit is a good guy, I met him in Mlele in 2021.

Nice! I think the 3-4 week mark before is the worst! You’re ready but it’s too early to pack! So far away yet so close! Good luck in the Selous.

 

[mikecatt13]

Look forward to the rest of the story!

Hope you are doing well!

 

[M Whitley]

Look forward to the rest of the story!

Hope you are doing well!

Thanks Mike, just chasing the next adventure. Hope you all are doing good also.

 

[M Whitley]

8/10/2022:
Today starts the same and my soul is happy. We spot some zebra from the truck and make our stalk, couple hundred yards with the wind in our favor and cover to conceal us. We get to 100 yards of the Zebra and the old stallion presents a broadside shot. The scoped 375 finds it’s mark and the stallion only ran about 30 yards before expiring. We get pictures and venture back to camp, checking a leopard bait or two for Nathan along the way.

Which all seem to be hit… When I was hunting leopard here in 2020, we had something like 14 or 15 different leopards on bait during my safari with 3-4 large mature males in the that count. It’s like there are leopard and lion all over this hunting area, amazing. We eat lunch in camp and relax for a few hours, the plan is to take a drive this afternoon and look for some antelope or another zebra. I ask if we can go by the tree where I shot my leopard in 2020 to get the GPS coordinates. I’ll explain why later in my report.

We do see some Zebra but no stallion in the groups we saw.

 

[M Whitley]

8/11/2022:
Right out of camp we drive a short distance and spot a group of zebras with an old beat-up stallion in it, we make our stalk and have to reposition several times on the herd as the stallion offered no shot and they would move on us. The stallion offered a shot finally around 150 yards and quartering towards us slightly. I don’t like this angle but felt comfortable with the scoped 375, I squeezed the trigger and the shot was good. Not perfect, I wish it was an inch or so the other way but it was fatal. We caught up to the stallion and as we did, he took one more shot to finish him off.

This stallion was a warrior, missing the bottom of his tail, assumed it was from the lion that also scarred up his hind quarters. He had a scarred-up face and muzzle, a split ear, and a healed over missing piece of his other hind quarter. If this guy could talk, I bet he had some real survival stories. We loaded him and went back to camp, again checking a bait or two along the way. We went out earlier in the afternoon and looked for buffalo sign as we checked a few leopard baits for Nathan. The scenery here is amazing, and the chef that night made some kind of vegetable stack… which I would have been comfortable paying a hefty bill for in the states. Some of the best meals I have had in Bullet Safaris bush camps, hours from electricity!

 

[M Whitley]

8/12/2022
This morning starts the same and we head out of the camp, not long probably 30 minutes and the trackers hop off the truck and they are excited as they have fresh tracks and buffalo sign in the road form early this morning. Everyone loads up their gear, some food, and bottled water to head out on the tracks. The herd is large and the tracks fresh we are moving at a steady pace, a fast-paced walk for about 1.5 hours when we catch up to the herd.

We did stop once for about 10 minutes as there were 4 elephants crossing right to left across the tracks from the herd of buffalo. No one wanted to get too close to the elephant and I think everyone wanted a short break for a drink of water.

It was early still about 10:30 am or so as we crouched and crawled into position to look the herd over. We were 60 yards or so looking the herd over for what seemed like an eternity when Thabit looked over at me and said “Mark, I don’t see a shooter in this herd. We will keep looking but I haven’t seen a shooter yet.” After another 5-6 minutes of myself, Thabit, and one of the trackers that had bino looking over the herd the tracker got excited when he spoke to Thabit in Swahili. I watched as Thabit turned his attention to the back portion of the herd, which I then did also. As Thabit was whispering where I needed to look with the bino I caught a glimpse. This bull was only visible if he had his head turned and there was no other buffalo in front of him.

Thabit got the sticks up and I put the scoped 375 on them, looking where I knew the bull should be. That place was behind a cow at the moment. When the cow moved off you could see just his head and horns. The rest of the body concealed by the thick bush and slope of the termite mount between us. Thabit and I discussed which bull was the target. Typically, I ask something like “he just turned his head to the left” or “he just twitched his ears” or something to confirm I am on the same animal. As I was watching the bull, he sticks his neck straight out and lip curls towards a cow that was walking past. It was really cool to see, I confirmed the bull to Thabit by the lip curl.

Once the bull stepped forward and presented his shoulder, I sent the 375 soft. It found it’s mark on his shoulder and the entire herd moved at a run, kind of arching around our position to our right. I came off the sticks as I worked the bolt, pushing a solid into the chamber from the magazine. As the bull moved from my left to right, he presented a clear shot which I take free hand as he runs, still to my left not even with me yet at maybe 35 yards. The bull stumbles at the shot as I work the bolt again, he is now about even with me, roughly 25 yards or so. As the bull tries to continue running, he is in slow motion and the herd has pulled ahead of him still moving from to my right. I settle the crosshairs on the shoulder and squeeze, the third-round hits hard as he is about 20 yards, at the shot he rolls head first like a rabbit shot by a 12 gauge. It creates quiet the dust cloud as he flops to his death, and I must say impressed the trackers to quiet the extent. They cheered as though they were in the Dar es Salaam stadium watching a football game as the buffalo rolled to a stop. An insurance shot from the double rifle, as the scoped 375 was empty and time to celebrate!

This bull turned out to be 41 ¼” wide with 13 3/8” boss, I’m not much to track the inches but I knew this bull was a big one. After the boys cut him up and caped him out, we went to camp for lunch and relaxed a bit, we took a drive that afternoon and made a short stalk on a duiker which was a very fun stalk. I took the duiker right before sunset and we had some great pictures.

 

[Altitude sickness]

What a bull ! And exciting shot sequence.

What kind of belt are you using ? How do you position solids and softs in the belt ?

 

[M Whitley]

What a bull ! And exciting shot sequence.

What kind of belt are you using ? How do you position solids and softs in the belt ?

Thank you!

The belt I had made… I wanted the loops a little different than what I could find on the market. It holds ten rounds, I keep 2-3 soft on my right side an empty loop then the remaining are solid. Just my preference on placement of the rounds after hunting use and reloading practice.

 

[npm352]

Awesome report so far. Thanks for posting.

Nathan is a great guy.

 

[M Whitley]

8/13/2022
This morning we ran into Zebra right away, which I have no more of on my license… and we did spot some Lichtenstein hartebeest, one bull in particular who was worth a stalk. We were able to get about 100 yards from the hartebeest and were on the sticks when a grand old sable bull blew our cover and sent the hartebeest out about 60 yards further before they stopped. I was still on the sticks and able to get a shot on the hartebeest bull that was fatal. He ran a short distance and went down in some rather thick cover. As Thabit, myself, and one tracker closed in on where the bull went down in the thick grass, I was furthest to our right-side walking more in a close line yard or so between each of us. The bull shot out in front of me angling away to my right, the shooting sticks with Thabit, the furthest person from me to my left. Thabit said “I’m coming”, my reply as I shouldered the rifle “I got him”. The bull was moving slow as the first shot was fatal but he was making an attempt to run. I shouldered the scoped 375 and shot him in the shoulder quartering away as he ran. The bull nosedived into the red dirt; his hind end continued to drive him like a bulldozer for a few feet before he toppled over. Again, the trackers rejoiced over the running shot as though John Wayne himself was in the camp with them. I could hear the driver and other trackers cheering with joy back at the truck, turns out they had a good view of the finishing shot.

We took the hartebeest to meet the Bullet Safaris bait truck a couple hours’ drive through the area. Apparently, they again were in desperate need of bait again. Lions eat a lot. We ate lunch in a dry river bed and took a nap in the shade there for quiet a while. It was hotter today and we were now in the middle of the day, hours from camp. Better to relax here in the shade and hunt our way back to camp later in the day. Which we did and we spotted a young male leopard in a tree on the way back, well the trackers spotted him. I never would have on my own. To see any Leopard in the daylight, not on a bait is an amazing site. We took pictures and watched him until he decided enough was enough. He leaped to the ground from 15 +/- feet up and ran directly away from the truck.

We hunted our way back and spotted an amazing Roosevelt Sable, feeding in the bush 100 yards from the truck. The wind and the cover would have made for a memorable stalk… Sable and Eland however were off limits. The quota in the area depleted by previous clients. I took a great Eland in this same area in 2020. I would have loved to hunt a Sable and we saw a few mature males that were beautiful on this trip. Just not in the cards for this Safari.

 

[M Whitley]

8/14/2022
This morning starts as perfect as the past week has and I couldn’t be more content. My license large animals are either filled or the quote is filled in this area. We make a couple short stalks for dik dik or warthog only to be out maneuvered or they were not the trophy quality we were looking for.

I do shoot a dik dik on a short stalk this morning, it will make a beautiful full body mount for my office.

I enjoy afternoon at camp today, relax. Complete paperwork on my hunting license. Visit with the staff, particularly the skinner and his team. View all the other trophies in the shed, which are impressive!

 

[M Whitley]

8/15/2022
This morning at my request we hunt close to camp, I would love to take a bushbuck or waterbuck on this trip. We spot bushbuck females and make a stalk however there is no male in the group. We also find waterbuck, again no mature male in the groups we find today. We spend several hours in camp today at my request. When I secured dates with Nathan several months ago, I let him know that 2 buffalo was my goal, the other hunted game a bonus. The other client of Nathans that took the charter into Rungwa with me was starting a lion hunt the same time I started my buffalo hunt. Nathan let me know I would be hunting with Thabit (whom I had met in 2020 here) as he would be starting the lion hunt the same day. It actually worked out as both Nathan and his crew needed the additional bait I would provide.

We are going to sit on an old lion bait close to camp the hyenas have taken over this afternoon. I would love to have a spotted hyena mount, very iconic animal. On the way to the blind this afternoon Thabit excitedly stops everything, a warthog which is good for this area is standing back in the bush. We get off the truck, a short stalk and up on the sticks. I fire a shot which is true and the pig takes off at what looked like 100 miles an hour. With a contrail of dust behind him. A short tracking job and we find him expired. My first warthog, not a massive one but I’m proud of this trophy.

I tell Thabit and the boys no need to sit for the hyena, as it is later now. I suggest we go back and celebrate my warthog at camp. My last hunting day is over, we are back at camp and I pack my gear as we leave in the middle of the night to drive to Arusha.

 

[M Whitley]

8/16/2022
The lion hunt has a two more weeks so I am doing the drive out from hunting area to Arusha, there is no charter coming anytime soon. We leave around 2 am. I have done the drive out before… 16/17 hours. Long day and only one flat tire, it is amazing to see the countryside and small villages along the way.

I overnight in Arusha and a flight the next afternoon to Doha. Uneventful and long travel back to the states from Kilimanjaro to Doha then back to Ft. Worth and final arrival in St. Louis. This was my fourth Safari in Africa and I enjoy the flight time back. I update my journal, look over my pictures, and reflect on the latest Safari.

Thank you, Bullet Safaris, Nathan Askew, and the amazing crew. Thabit, trackers, skinners, cooks, drivers, and camp help. This is a real wild safari in wild Africa, just like Roosevelt would have done with better trucks and food!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on the buffalo and other PG! Look forward to the rest!

 

[Nyati]

A great hunt, congrats !

 

[Rafiki]

Thanks for sharing your latest adventure, quite a trip for sure and an interesting read. I was hunting Rungwa for buffalo just after your trip. There are 6 concessions in the Rungwa reserve that I'm aware of; I'm curious of where this hunt took place.