TANZANIA: Northern Masailand Hunt With Kilombero North Safaris

[BourbonTrail]

Stellar Kudu, Mike.

 

[LivingTheDream]

This is how you eat breakfast after your hunt!

 

[wesheltonj]

Great looking lesser.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Day 4

Up at 4:30, skipped breakfast and just had a quick coffee. We had sandwiches packed and we were off to get a Bushbuck. The long drive is kind of nice with the cool air. We get to the hillside just as it is getting light enough to see, and we all spread out along the edge and start scanning. Do to it being a little earlier in the season, it is greener and therefore the plan doesn’t work. We did see a ewe and her young one, it was quickly decided that the hill plan needs to be over and we head to the crater.

The climb this time didn’t seem as bad, but I can honestly say I didn’t want to do the climb. Not sure why, but with the pressure off with the kudu, I seemed to be wanting to have more of a leisurely hunt. But we are there, I am in Tanzania, and I get to hunt in Volcanic crater, for my favorite African Species. So off we went! I learned from Bruce and from my previous day experience, going in the morning it was much wetter and I was soaked. But I had gloves (Thanks Bruce) and gaiters (really snake gaiters, Thanks Zidane) and with the trail being walked multiple times, I think it was getting easier. Also it was a really sunny day, like no clouds sunny, the mist felt pretty good.

Once to the top and before our descent in, we saw a ram way off, and we saw a herd of buffalo on the far side of the crater, and we jumped a bushbuck ewe. Things seemed to be looking up and I was optimistic. We descend into the crater, in the first clearing we jump a pair of Bushbuck the male being super immature and maybe 13 inches. Not going to lie, I was ready to shoot it. I might have said, get the sticks. But Quintin just kept us moving. We sneak around and get to the glassing ridge. Immediately we are spotting bushbuck and spotting rams to boot!

At 560, there is 4 rams coming together (they are coming from all different directions and it is like they are meeting at a bar), 2 are good, one is better than the other. They seem to be having a bit of a territorial discussion, as they came together, feed for a minute and then all went separate ways. One of the good ones walks away and into some high reeds, to never be seen again. The other big one goes 40 yards to the left, and he beds down, we can’t see him but he beds in some off colored grass so it is easy to keep tabs. The one immature one walks directly towards us. Over the course of the next 20 minutes, he gets to 130 yards. At 140 he even steps into this low grass and I have a perfect broadside shot. Oh what could have been.

We are trying to figure out how to get a stalk on the one that is about 540 yards away, when we hear Maasai start praying on the far side of the crater. If nothing else, this will make everything stand up and take a look around. We actually spot two more immature rams and few ewes. The big bushbuck that was bedded has decided he didn’t like noise and is up on his feet and on the move. He is working his way on a diagonal to use, he might have moved 400 yards total but is only 120 yards closer and beds back down at about 440 yards. His mistake was his bed down 20 yards from a yellow flower bush. It is pretty distinct and gave us a great marker. All we had to do was wait for some mist to roll in and drop down into the grass.

The mist rolls in and we drop down, even better Batman says we can take a Buffalo trail and loop around him and get the wind (the wind is swirling) but he says it is a good. So off we go. I also spent a lot of my misguided youth in marsh and I pretty good with navigating tussocks and mud. The buffalo trail though was pretty clutch, as the path puts us at about waist level with the grass. As we are closing distance, 300 yards away from yellow flower, I change my magnification on my scope 9 to 8. We get to 200, 8 to 6…we get to 100, 6 to 5…we get to 50 yards…all the way down to 4. We get to 20 yards from the Yellow flower and I am on full alert. Did he sneak off, our pace is moving like a snail at this point as we scan for him. Did he sneak off in the mist?

We get to the spot, I am lining up the hill with the yellow flower and where we are at. I scan from right to left and think he should be right here where we are standing. It was at this moment, I spotted the tips of his horns not 5 yards from me. He had already let the tracker pass. In one of those rare moments, I didn’t panic and actually had perfectly clarity of the situation. I knew I was about to be shooting off handed and start to swing the rifle up and was taking the safety off. As I start to swing, the bushbuck has decided he has had enough and busts out of grass to run out of there. I acquire him in the sight picture and said to myself time the jump, he can’t zig in a jump. As he jumps at 25 yards, I squeeze the trigger, and I hear the thud almost simultaneously see his ass go flying over his head. He literally flipped ass of head. My immediately concern was I just shot him in the head and have absolutely ruined the cape. I say to Quintin, “I think I shot him in the head”, and he goes “I don’t think so, you should be ok, I think”.

So we scramble over to the bushbuck. I am still a bit worried that I just messed him up…also worried that he is dead dead and I am not about to get charged. And when I say I flipped him completely around, he is now facing back towards us stone dead. It is probably the luckiest shot I have had in my life. I told my friends, years of messing around with rifles finally paid some dividends. Lots of pictures trying to get the sun right. With the trackers carrying bushbuck, I am carrying more gear. The adrenaline had worn off, and I was not really excited about the climb out. We did it and it really didn’t take long, but I was exhausted. I got to truck and said I would take a beer…well the guy packing the lunch box, packed the beer in Bruce’s truck which no one in Bruce’s truck drinks. Quintin teased me a bit saying how he bet that beer is the coldest beer within 100 miles of Arusha. However, I don’t think that beer could have been any better than the Ice Cold Fanta I had.

At the skinning shed, we measure the Bushbuck and he is exactly 16.

We had a late lunch, changed camps and I was off to reconnect with Bruce. We get to camp and the generator isn’t working so we sat around the camp fire with old school lamps, it was pretty cool. This camp is a tent camp and am just trying to get some clothes dry before I throw them in the dirty clothes. Unpacking would have to wait. Needless to say I slept well. Wake up was going to be later and there was no alarm set.

The mist rolling in the crater

This picture was taken at the exact same time, just looking the other way.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Here is a few more pictures from the Crater...the sunset is Day 3. Even though we were trying to get out of there before it dark you can see why I had to take the picture.

I didn't know it when I took this picture, but dead center is where my Bushbuck bedded down.

 

[Wheels]

Great kudu and bushbuck. Really am enjoying your narrative.

 

[sestoppelman]

Outstanding in all ways! Love the kudu, about as perfect as you can get. Congrats!

 

[JES Adventures]

What a great Safari with spectacular scenery and quality trophies. I need to visit that place one day.

 

[TwoTracks]

What an incredible safari. I’m loving both of your write ups.

 

[buck wild]

Fabulous Kudu and bushbuck !

 

[gillettehunter]

When you look down from above where that bushbuck was bedded you have no clue the grass is almost waist deep. Or for that matter about the grass tussocks that make it so tough walking. That is unless you have a buffalo path to follow. Excellent trophies Mike. We did good. Enjoying your narrative.
Bruce

 

[TennJay]

Great animals and story.

 

[PARA45]

Great report, the kudu & bushbuck are studs. Congrats. Keep it coming, and tell those guys at work to relax, you have a report to write.

 

[cpr0312]

WOW, what a damn nice lesser kudu!!!! Congrats!

 

[cpr0312]

And now seeing the bushbuck!! What a ram, congrats!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

WOW on the Lesser Kudu!
WOW on the shooting!
WOW on the breakfast table & scenery
WOW on the entire hunt and report.
Great job by you and the PH & Outfitter!

 

[LivingTheDream]

Day 5

Wake up was at 6:45. My list is getting shorter. So today is going to mostly let’s see what the area has. Breakfast was eggs, sausage and bacon. The coffee is great here and I enjoyed way too many cups. We immediately see a big Tommie and take note for Bruce. Bruce is actually doing a great job scouting for me and gave me a report on where they are seeing some Impala. Once out there, there is so many Zebras and Wildebeest. Like 1000s upon 1000s of them. Every 100 yards has a small herd. They are mixed in with Grants and Tommies, we even spotted a huge jackal. However, we were mostly riding around telling jokes, stories and half-truths.

We finally spot a Grants that is worth a closer look, we get out and sneak into 150. We look it over and then back out thinking we can do better. We start to drive down the road and look at another bachelor group. Quintin goes, that was a really pretty Grants. I say, I like his shape and he was wide and just seemed like there is something different about it. We keep looking at the bachelor group. Quintin goes, well you know we have looked over 100s of these Grants. I go yeah, I think I like him the best. Quintin goes, yeah let’s go whack him!!

So off we go racing back but circling around to get the wind right. Had to weave around a bit, but got to 150 yards, had to make a quick shot as Tommies kept running in behind him. But at the shot, he dropped right there. The shot was a little further back that I would like but exited dead center on the far shoulder. He actually fell like a brained elephant, back legs dropped and head up before crashing down. I am guessing a pedal, or the shock caught a spinal nerve. Had some Maasai come check us out while we were taking pictures. He was actually bigger than we original thought, as we have him around 24 ½ but he had crazy mass. Back to Camp. He measured 25 6/8 and had 7 ½ inch bases, most bases are 6 ½ so the mass made it a bit deceptive.

At Camp, found out Bruce got a Grants (a proper Grants, not a hybrid one, or a Grants that self identifies a Roberts) and originally, he seemed a think it was in the 24 just under 25 inch range. He is showing me pictures and his ram looks a lot like mine. The shape is way to similar. Quintin and Zidane come back and say you have to come see this. The rams are pretty much identical, length and mass…Identical! Bruce’s had a spot behind the ear, mine by the eye. Other that than, totally twins. We had a good laugh over that. The two were taken probably 10 miles apart from each other.

The afternoon, we went out looking for Impala. Immediately we came up on a herd of elephant and a huge tusker was in the group. Over 70lbs and perfectly symmetrical. We got pictures and then actually got out of the car snuck to 30 yards of him (kind of stupid maybe), but we had the wind. We actually had a young male maybe 20 yards away. It was awesome. There is a drought in Kenya, and it is pushing the elephant into Tanzania. We would pretty much have encounters with them every day.

We did see one impala and gave it chase, it looks like a monster on the hill, but it went over, and we followed it, the one on the other side was only 24 inches or so. I would have figure this one was over 27 at first glance and I wonder if it was the same impala. Just odd and headed back for dinner. Which was Thompson Steak and rice. It should be noted all of the food was fantastic. I am sure I would have put on weight, but we walked a lot (somedays over 25k steps).

 

[LivingTheDream]

Day 6

Woke up at 6 am. I was actually up before the alarm. Breakfast was sausage and eggs, and lots of coffee. The plan is look for Dik Dik, head to the place Bruce and Zidane keep seeing Impala, and then look for a pretty Wildebeest. I don’t really have much of a desire, but if there is one that is exceptional, I will shoot it and there are 1000s to look over. This was pretty much the definition of low pressure.

Step 1 – Find Dik Dik – No luck

Step 2 – Find Impala – No luck

Step 3 – Find a pretty Wildebeest – Well we did glass a bunch, and we saw one that was probably close to 29 or 30 inches, but he was the ugliest Wildebeest I have ever seen. So, I passed. Quintin is concerned that I might hurt the Wildebeest’s feelings with all of my ugly talk. On the way back to camp, we spot a Dik Dik, and off we go. They are nervous and quick and before we know it, he is weaving his way through brush up a hill, giving us no chance and no shot.

Well back for Lunch and to regroup. This afternoon we are going to target Dik Dik. Just Dik Dik and we are going to make it happen, and if we don’t then we will try tomorrow.

We head off around 3:30 pm. About 20 minutes in we spot a pair and before we can get off the truck, we spot another pair, so we do a quick stalk. Wind is wrong and have a Maasai with Cattle come walking through. It is what it is. So back to truck and off we go. Come across 2 females and actually catch them bedded down. No idea where the male was but we got pretty close to them. We keep going and spot a male back in the brush. We go maybe 100 yards, get off the truck and cut in to have the wind in our favor. The sticks are set up and he steps up on an ant hill to look at us. The 300 did its job and I had my Dik Dik.

We took lots of pictures and go some of Kilimanjaro in the background. Cool little animals. This guy measure 3 3/8s and had the secondary old growth. I wasn’t picky on this one but got lucky with a good one. The decision was made to call it early and get a shower before dinner. We didn’t go 100 yards and 2 kudu bulls probably 28 and 27 inches respectively came walking across the road, maybe 75 yards. Really really cool and I left my good camera in camp. I could watch them all day and it not get old. One thing I have noticed about animals is some walk with a certain grace, Kudu when walking almost seem to glide when they walk. Not too dissimilar from their Greater Kudu cousins. I think that adds the gray ghost moniker, because they kind of glide in the brush and are gone.

I meant to note that earlier Bruce got his Tommie, and it is over 15 inches. You can pass on 14 inch Tommies all day long (Rowland Ward is 13). The quality is unreal.

Dinner was a fried rice dish and some birds; we also have Thompson Steak (thanks Bruce), and it was really good. Like cooked perfectly and really good. Overall, it was an early evening. My high priority animals are now complete, and I couldn’t be happier.

Kilimanjaro in the background

 

[LivingTheDream]

Day 7

Up at 5:30 as we are going to get an Impala. Bruce and Zidane keep seeing Impala and telling us their location. I am convinced they are chasing the impala or shooting warning shots at them because we can’t find them. I say that jokingly as we seem to find ewe groups or small young bachelor groups. Nothing of any size. As always, we saw lots of game, including Elephants. In fact, the elephants were crossing the road and seems like there is definitely getting to be more and more of them. If they are already being pushed due to drought conditions, I am not sure what they are going to do in a few months when it is dry. We also saw a good Kudu Bull, maybe 27 to 28 inches. We got pretty close too, maybe 50 yards from him. Overall, it was an uneventful morning, but I feel like this was kind of a reset morning since we had been pushing pretty hard and having a lot of luck.

We did come across a small herd of buffalo, we two old wide cows. We joked that those are your breeders, I mean these cows had to be over 40 inches wide. We watched them for a while. I was told if a 50-inch bull walks out we are going to go shoot it, and I was ok with this plan. However, we didn’t see a bull in the group and eventually they grew sick of our presence and wandered off.

Well, when we were going through brush back at Lake Natron earlier in the week, we/someone pulled the wires to the dash on some of the cover, so we didn’t have any idea of the fuel level. The driver is supposed to fill up the truck every night. On the way back to camp, literally maybe 10 minutes out, we start to sputter. Well, someone didn’t check. I actually laugh about it (others in the truck did not think it was that funny). So, as we sit there, and a call is made to the camp to have them run us out a can of gas a fuel tanker comes driving by. Some words are said, and a few handshakes made and suddenly we have 10L bucket of fuel. We get the fuel in the truck and off we go to the camp. The whole incident cost us all of 13 minutes. For some reason, this felt very African to me. God I love this place.

Lunch was fried rice, and it was good. I am not really capturing how good the food was, but it was excellent. We rode around the afternoon after getting a slightly later start. We saw a ton of Guineas, like a flock of a thousand. Of course, we road into them and got them to fly and got some cool video and photos. It was really a sight to see, 1000s guineas in a full stampede across the field. Watching them go up to roost and come off the roost in the mornings is awesome. I think you could have some amazing wing shooting here.

Dinner was Thompson Kabobs, some Dik Dik and a casserole like dish. I ate way too much tonight, as we are piling up game, the amount of game meat seems to be nonstop. It was an early night.

Below is a small sample of Guineas

 

[LivingTheDream]

Day 8

Up at 4:30…good things happen when you get up at 4:30. We leave in the dark. It is a little too dark so drive around a bit. Once it gets light, we start seeing the usual suspects. The early start did pay off as we immediately find a herd of Impala. It is a decent size group of about 20 to 25 Impala with a few rams in there. We have the wind right and they are completely unaware of us. We sneak in and they feed right into us. We are surrounded with Rams in front of us (maybe 30 yards) and ewes behind and to the right side of us. They are just doing what Impala do and milling around the different bushes and trees, browsing along.

Right when we are in the middle of the Impala (no where to go) I hear the stomach growl of an elephant. This changes things a bit. I am now not so focused on every Ram in the group but more of keeping my head on a Swivel. I haven’t been around elephants much but judging by that growl it was probably only 50 yards away if that. I never did see the group and heard another growl further away less than 5 minutes later. We were in this group for about 30 minutes, and really got to look them over. There was a young one, who had an extremely nonconvention Impala horn shape and he was about 25 inches. There was an old mature one with a lot of mass and he was about 22 and pretty worn down tips. Neither one was what I was looking for. Though both presented multiple shot opportunities. We were able to sneak out and they never knew we were there. It was the perfect stalk, and I enjoyed it immensely.

We saw a few other groups, nothing that really said wow. Saw a 23 incher in with some Grants and saw one with good shape but he was gone in a blink of an eye, and we really didn’t get to look him over carefully (spoiler alert – we eventually did). We were kind of getting frustrated not seeing anything that said wow. So, we shot some birds and decided to look over Wildebeest. We saw a few probably pushing 28 inches, but nothing that seemed pretty. There was a few that almost appeared golden with the sun hitting their back, but they got a pass.

We saw Elephants again, and common duiker, steenboks, and warthogs. Of the Duikers and Steenboks nothing that seemed to be huge. So, they also got a pass.

Lunch was Thompson Steak, and it was perfectly, and I mean perfectly cooked. I ate way too much of it.

The afternoon we went out looking for Impala, and almost immediately hit a group with one that was promising. We put on a stalk and get on the sticks. He looks pretty good, but I am having a bit of trouble getting the scope to focus as I have a close branch. Quintin says he is about 23 to 24 but if you like him, I should shoot him. Well, I can’t get a good picture of his horns. I ask are you sure he is 24 or less, to which the reply was absolutely. So, I passed. We were able to sneak out undetected and I was able to really look him over. This was a good call. He had a traditional Impala shape but was tight and tall. I was hoping for more of that East African wide shape though the wide ones don’t score as well. We drove around and came across the group again and had him walking in the open at 40 yards, again glad I passed. We really didn’t see much else except a good kudu bull, about 29 inches on the way back. We wanted to mark the spot and tell Bruce.

Dinner was a meat sauce and rice dish, and it was spicy and delicious. I loved it. Very middle eastern style. Chocolate Banana Pudding for dessert. Not eating processed food is great and it is amazing how your body responds.