TANZANIA: Splitting a Full Bag In Tanzania

[AES]

Anxiously awaiting the next installment!

 

[Scott CWO]

On the morning of November 12th, we headed north. Matteo spotted a klipspringer male standing on a rock as we drove by a kopje. We stopped to have a look. They are not on quota but it was fun to see one. We saw a herd of buffalo inside the park. We continued north and saw two separate female hyenas. Females of any species in Tanzania are off limits by law. Before reaching the end of the concession, we turned back south on a different road due to the mud. We hadn’t gone far when we spotted what appeared to be a lone hyena male. Jim, Mike and Matteo stalked it unseen to 200 yards. Mike had earlier determined it was a male. Jim dropped it with his rifle. At the shot, another hyena jumped up out of some high grass near the dead hyena and bolted.

After dropping the hyena off at the skinning shed, we headed south to check the leopard bait by the kopje. Just before we reached the kopje, Matteo spotted a big male leopard track on the road. We stopped to check it out. We hoped it was headed towards the bait but when we got to the bait, the camera revealed a female had been feeding but not a male. We hung half of my topi in hopes that the big male would join the female on the bait or claim it for himself. We then drove around to the other side of the kopje and hung the other half of my topi, a bit closer to the leopard track we had just seen.

 

[Scott CWO]

After freshening the kopje baits, we decided head south because Mike thought it might be dryer down that way. We hoped to see some elephants and maybe lions. We drove all the way down to the southern boundary area. Wow, such a beautiful area with bigger trees and beautiful river country. Mike pointed out a couple areas where past clients had shot big lions. We saw lots of elephant bulls but nothing quite big enough. We also saw a couple big cow/calf herds. We also looked for a big impala that Mike had seen with the Russian but didn’t see it. We also saw some dagga boys but nothing around 40” or bigger.

Later on the way back north, we saw a buffalo herd with a couple wide hard-bossed bulls so Mike, Matteo, Issa, Maponas and I went after them. Mike said it would be a great area to put up a lion bait if we got a buffalo. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a shot before the rain started pouring and obliterated their tracks. We hunted our way back towards camp but didn’t see anything of interest.

One of over 200 elephant bulls we saw on the trip.

 

[Scott CWO]

On November 13th, we left camp early to look for lions and whatever else and came upon a herd of buffalo. We saw a wide bull with them. Mike said it would be a good area to kill a buffalo to use for lion baits in this area so Mike, Matteo and I followed them on foot as they were not spooked. After about a kilometer, we caught up to them and could see the wide bull of about 41” or so. We snuck up closer to 150 yards with the bull facing us. Mike said to take him so I got on the sticks and took the shot. The buffalo was hit hard and turned to run but faltered and went down. I walked up on him and paid the insurance. Turns out he was just over 40” wide but still a bit soft. After pictures, we hung half the buffalo right there for lion bait and then we dragged the rest of it to another spot a few miles away for another bait where one of the trackers had seen a big dark-maned lion traveling with another nice lion and a pride.

We then drove south to look for elephants and found several bulls but nothing over 60 pounds.

We worked our way towards the kopje leopard bait. It was hit again and this time by the big male and not the female! We built a blind with a perfect rest for Jim’s 375 JDJ and returned to camp for lunch.

After lunch, Mike, Jim and the trackers moved half of the topi to the bait where the blind was built. Mike and Jim settled into the blind at 4:50pm and the trackers drove away. Just 22 minutes later, the big male showed up at 5:12pm like a ghost out of the kopje rocks. Jim and Mike saw it at the same time. Jim aimed but told Mike he was worried about a tree limb in front of the leopard. Mike told him too shoot because the limb was small and very close to the leopard. Jim took the shot and missed the limb, hitting the leopard perfectly! The leopard immediately dropped onto the big tree branch it was standing on and died without even falling! Mike said it was the first leopard he had ever seen that didn’t fall out of the tree once dead. At first Jim and Mike didn’t know it was dead but it was limp and not moving. After a few moments, it finally fell out of the tree and didn’t move once it finally hit the ground. It was a beautiful leopard and we were all very happy for Jim! The first of the big three species was in the salt. Would we get the other two - lion and elephant? We sure hoped so!

 

[Woodcarver]

Beautiful leopard! Thanks for bring us along on your adventure!

 

[Altitude sickness]

What a cat ! Congrats to Jim for a great pistol shot

Sounds like Mike should check into a Sherp vehicle

 

[375Fox]

After placing half the lion baits in areas off the roads, we returned to the road. Unfortunately, we promptly got really stuck in an extended low spot on the road. The Cruiser was buried to the axles and frame. Even the winch wouldn’t budge it. The trackers jacked up all four wheels and placed the traction mats underneath but as soon as the Cruiser drove off the mats, it was stuck again. This repeated itself several times. Meanwhile, we four tourists were sitting in a dry spot in the folding chairs we carried in the Cruiser for use at lunch. Then during all this tedious effort, the fan belt snapped and we were then still stuck with a disabled vehicle. It was well after dark. Mike came to me and said that he and a couple of the trackers were going to hike about a mile to a nearby ridge to get cell service and call the camp and have another Cruiser sent our way. Lion were already roaring in the distance so I told him to take his Rigby .416 just in case. He agreed with my thinking and I retrieved my .458 Lott and went back to sit with Wendy, Cindy and Jim. It lightly rained on us as we sat in our rain gear in the dark, serenaded by lions and hyenas.

Mike and the trackers returned. They had successfully reached the camp by phone and radio and said help was on the way. With all the new mud from the earlier downpour, I knew the rescue Cruiser would also get stuck a few times on the way to us. I figured we were in for a long night in the bush. Meanwhile, the trackers moved us about 100 yards to a sit around a tree stump, which they were able to ignite for a fire. Other damp logs were added and we eventually had a decent fire. The trackers then cut up some buffalo meat and brought a folding grate to cook some buffalo meat for everyone. The old bull was tasty but tough. We also ate what little food was left in the lunch box. Many a story was told and then we dozed off and got a bit of sleep now and again. I must say, the gals were real troopers and nobody really complained as there was nothing more anyone could do and everyone had worked very hard trying to get the Cruiser out.
View attachment 575137

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The picture above is of another time we got stuck and doesn’t compare to how badly we were stuck on this first night of the safari.

Finally, about 4am, the other Cruiser arrived. We packed back up and headed towards camp. We got back to camp at 5:30am, after getting temporarily stuck a couple more times on the way back. We showered and went bed. Quite an adventurous first day, don’t you think?

Really enjoying your report. I think this is my favorite post so far though. Doesn’t get more authentic than being stuck in the mud huddled around a fire in the rain and dark eating buffalo you just killed.

 

[375Fox]

After dropping the gazelle off at the skinning shed, we checked a leopard bait that was close to camp. The baits were hung during the safari right before ours by Mike and his Russian client, a friend of Putin. The Russian hunted elephant, leopard, buffalo and plains game and got everything he came to hunt. It was interesting to hear the views the Russian had expressed to Mike about the world topics of the day.

The fresher of the two baits in the tree was almost totally consumed by a female leopard but Mike said she had been accompanied by a large male leopard earlier so we would continue to feed her in hopes that the big male would show up on the camera as well.
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We continued south to look for more game. The migration seemed to be in full force. Wildebeest, Grant’s zebra and topi were everywhere. The herds were very large and the ground was covered with tracks - like superhighways of tracks. It was incredible to see and the gals were enjoying it as well.

This would be a good time to talk about Jim and his firearms. Jim is a dedicated handgun hunter. He took his 10’ brown bear with me with a handgun. He’s also taken moose and deer with me with a handgun. He will use a rifle when conditions require it but prefers to use a handgun. He can shoot a handgun more accurately than most people can shoot a rifle. Mike was quite impressed. The owner of Bushman, Talal Abood, owns several businesses in Tanzania and is connected quite well. He and his office staff were able to get special handgun firearms permits for Jim so he could bring and hunt with two handguns. The handguns were a Thompson Contender in 375 JDJ and a Smith & Wesson 500 revolver. Jim also brought a 7mm PRC rifle. By the way, I do have Jim’s permission to post his pictures.

Shortly before lunch, Mike and Jim were able to get within handgun range of a nice Grant’s zebra stallion. The migrating herds rarely stop and he made a great walking shot. Grant’s zebra are beautiful albeit a bit smaller than some of the other species of zebra. We also now had some great leopard bait to hang.
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I’m also quite impressed at the camouflage given by the green plaid shirt in this photo. Might be impossible to find better.

 

[Hogpatrol]

@Scott CWO Just catching up on this thread. What an awesome adventure! Thanks for taking us along.

 

[AZDAVE]

Thank you for sharing your adventure with us. It is the little things that cause a lot of effort, but are the things that stay in your memory for life. Getting a cruiser stuck to the floorboards is a special memory that falls into that category. Awesome leopard.

 

[Scott CWO]

On November 14th, we left camp to look for hippos along the rivers near camp. It’s no secret that lion love hippo bait. My friend and PH in Zambia, Fico Vidale, always uses hippos for lion bait. Mike decided that we needed to up our game for lions with a hippo and Jim was only too happy to oblige. Jim really wanted a hippo skull.

None of our lion baits had been hit even though we heard lions often throughout the area and near camp. The lions were also being quite nocturnal and bedding in the thick brushy areas along the rivers during the day. We hadn’t seen any out sunning themselves on the big rocks in the area like they usually do. With the migration ending early, we wanted to keep as many lions around as possible.

Judging hippo and telling males from females can be difficult but the best clue is the shape of the top of the head. Males have a flat head along the top while females have a pronounced bump on top of the head.

In one slow moving turn of the river, we found a nice male hippo with three females. Jim got setup to shoot off the sticks with his S&W 500. The distance was about 50 yards. The male slightly surfaced for a breath of air and Jim took a shot. He hit the water just below the hippo’s head instead of the hippo. Incredibly, the bullet ricocheted and didn’t even hit the hippo. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself. There was no blood or reaction other than the hippo went back under water. None of the hippos seemed to know what happened because they didn’t even spook.

A few minutes later, the bull surfaced again unscathed, confirming our belief that it wasn’t hit. Mike and Jim decided that Jim should switch to his 375 JDJ because it is scoped. Jim got setup again, this time with the 375. A few minutes later, the bull surfaced again and Jim fired. The bull was hit this time and when it submerged, we could see blood in the water. For a few moments, we thought the bull was hit correctly in the brain because nothing much happened.

Then suddenly, the bull erupted up above the surface with blood clearly coming out of the head and it went berserk! This freaked out the cows too and they all were splashing around in chaos! Pandemonium ensued with the bull finally turning away to flee upriver and started heading for the shore. It ran out of the water with Mike exclaiming for Jim to shoot. Jim got another shot off but missed. Wendy and I backed away and returned to the Cruiser because we were unarmed. The Game Scout got worried and when she went to cock her AK-47, she inadvertently dumped out the clip and the ammo scattered out of the clip into the grass! I cannot lie, that made me chuckle a bit!!

Mike and Jim then started running along the riverbank heading upstream after the hippo. There was a big bend in the river. Mike got off two quick shots with his .458 WM double rifle as the hippo was out of the water running away. The hippo went down momentarily but then regained its feet and barreled into the water in the next bend in the river. Mike and the trackers were ahead of Jim and gave chase and found the hippo standing in shallow water and facing them. Mike shot it in the head before it could charge and it was all over! Wow, what a crazy situation and luckily, nobody got hurt. Mike handled it like a pro. Upon further inspection, we found that Jim’s shot hit the bull too low and missed the brain.

 

[Inline6]

Great writeup thanks for making the time to take us along!

 

[WAB]

Wow, crazy rodeo! Glad
everyone was OK!

 

[Scott CWO]

Getting the hippo out of the river turned into quite a challenge. Mike radioed back to camp to have our skinner, Makuti, bring the tractor. Makuti showed up a while later with the tractor but he was having trouble driving it. He wasn’t an experienced driver and he kept over-correcting when turning the steering wheel. In addition, the tractor had no brakes! Makuti was having difficulty backing up the tractor to the right spot. I asked Mike if he wanted me to drive the tractor since I’ve driven tractors since I was a kid. Mike quickly agreed. The flies were horrendous so I put on a headnet and got into the tractor. It took me a minute to figure out the Chinese controls. Once I had that figured out, I asked Maponas to fetch part of a log to use to chock the back tires when I stopped the tractor, since it didn’t have working brakes. It was a bit spooky backing the tractor down towards the river and hippo without brakes! There was a steep riverbank and I didn’t want the tractor to drop off into the river so I would tell Maponas to chock the tires quickly to stop the tractor from going off the edge. The trackers hooked up a tow strap to the hippo and I tried to pull it out. We tried different angles but the bank was just too steep so we had to go around to the other side of the river and pull it out from that side instead. It took a while but we got it done and took pictures.

 

[Scott CWO]

While we were trying to get the hippo out of the river, a snake crawled under the Cruiser and freaked out the gals sitting in it. We looked under the Cruiser and saw that the snake was just a python so we caught it for fun and later let it go. It had a bulge in it from a recent meal.

 

[Scott CWO]

After lunch at camp, we went and hung one of the hippo quarters for lion bait. Didn’t shoot anything although Jim and Mike went after a big waterbuck but it gave them the slip.

At this point in the safari, we still had not seen a lion in the daylight. We heard lions at night, the rescue Cruiser on the first night of the safari drove through the middle of a pride containing two big males, we found tracks of single males and found tracks of prides but we had not laid our eyes on a lion yet. I won’t lie, I was starting to get a bit worried if I would get a lion. Had my trip to Serengeti NP given me too much confidence? The pressure was starting to build because these safaris are not cheap. The migration ended early, which definitely was hurting my chances. The migration was the reason we waited until November to hunt. Normally, I go to Africa in July or August. The clock was ticking.

 

[Scott CWO]

A Big Cautious Lion

The morning of November 15th, we left camp early with a full load of people - both of our wives came along. On some of the previous days, one of them would sometimes stay back to dry out or rest up. Not today. Today, everyone was going out. Mike decided to drive a road that paralleled the river early in the morning. We had heard a lion roaring at night in that direction. We were hoping to catch him out still moving before he bedded down in the heavy cover for the day. We also had a hippo quarter with us.

Just a mile from camp, we all saw a glimpse of a lion crossing the road a few hundred yards up in front of us. It was headed for the cover along the riverside. We weren’t sure if it was a male but Jim thought he saw a mane. Finally, a lion! When we got to that spot, we found a big lion track and the guys all said it was a big track. After looking around a while for the lion, we tied the hippo quarter to a rope and drug it up the road for a while behind the Cruiser. We then left the quarter on the ground, tied it to a tree and setup a camera. We then left the area and headed south towards the border of the concession.

We saw lots of game, including some nice elephants. We stopped for lunch under a big acacia tree. Later, in the middle of the afternoon, Jim shot a really nice topi that I had spotted.

We caped the topi and loaded it in the Cruiser and continued on. Not a half hour later, I spotted a Bohor reedbuck male well up ahead and behind a bush. It immediately plopped down when I saw it so nobody else saw it. I told Martius and Mike where I saw it. Mike, Martius (another of our trackers) and Jim left the Cruiser to sneak up on the reedbuck. They didn’t see it until it exploded out of the bush at close range. It made the mistake of stopping after a 250 yard sprint. Jim was already on the sticks and shot. The reedbuck did a death sprint and fell over!

We then drove over to where we had half of my buffalo in a tree for lion bait. We dropped the bait to the ground and drug it back to where we had seen the lion and left it on the ground under a tree. We then untied the hippo bait that was on the ground from the tree and hung it up off the ground in the same tree. Mike and the trackers then deployed two different cameras - one focused on the buffalo meat and the other focused on the hippo meat. Mike said he wanted to try to get the male lion to feed and get pictures to make sure he was old enough to shoot. We then headed back to camp for dinner.

The next morning on November 16, we left camp early to go look for the lion. We were hoping to see it again or at least get pictures of it from the bait tree.

Upon approaching the bait tree area, we saw the lion well on up the road headed to the cover along the river again. We still didn’t get a good look! This lion was being very cautious. We drove up closer and didn’t see him. I suggested that we get out and look on foot. Mike said that if the lion saw us on foot that it might leave the area and that lions aren’t usually as afraid of a vehicle as they are of people on foot. We drove up the trail road another 100 yards or so. Suddenly, Matteo, with those incredible eyes of his, spotted the lion in the heavy cover. Mike got out of the Cruiser and got up on the back of the Cruiser with us. Matteo pointed where he could see the lion. It took me a few moments to see it with my binoculars. All I could see was the profile of its nose and one eye. I don’t know how Matteo saw it with his naked eye! Unbelievable! Mike now saw it as well. The lion was hiding from us. We still couldn’t age the lion or see the mane. After a few minutes, the lion turned and disappeared even further into the brush. We lost track of him for a while. We then saw him again but only for a moment. He had crossed the river and was in the brush on the other side now.

We drove back to the road and drove up farther to a spot where we could cross the river. We drove back down the other side of the river trying to spot the lion to no avail.

We then drove back to the bait tree and hung the topi as well. We left the guts on the ground. We checked the cameras but there weren’t any pictures of the lion and he had not fed but was obviously still in the area. We then built a blind about 125 yards from the bait and went back to camp for lunch.

 

[Scott CWO]

A Close Call

After lunch, the trackers dropped Mike and I off at the blind. Nothing happened for hours. It was a beautiful night and sunset.

Not too long before dark, we saw the lion cross the road about 250 yards away but he was immediately in cover again. He looked to be headed towards the bait but perhaps deeper behind the bait. We kept scouring the area with binoculars but didn’t see him. Then, just at the end of shooting light, he appeared at the bait from the brush behind the bait. However, we just couldn’t quite be certain of his age and mane at last light and I definitely didn’t want to make an expensive mistake and shoot a lion that was too young to import into the USA. We sat there quietly until it was full dark and then radioed the trackers to pick us up. Dang, what a close call! This lion wasn’t making any mistakes!

 

[BRICKBURN]

That lion is not a rookie!

 

[Scott CWO]

The next morning, November 17th, Mike and I got up early and the trackers dropped us off in the dark at the blind. I put a 300 grain Swift A-Frame cartridge up the pipe and turned the red dot on in my Leupold scope. We settled in, waiting for daylight, our senses on high alert. I was sitting on the left side of the blind with a good view around the bait and to my right. Mike was sitting on the right side of the blind with a good view around the bait and to the left.

A few months before the safari, I had sent my Whitworth Interarms 375 H&H to Wayne Jacobson at AHR to have him install a Timney trigger and to smooth up the action. Wayne installed the trigger and stoned the action and the bolt. A dangerous game rifle shouldn’t have a sticky bolt and the Whitworth is smooth now. Hopefully, all these preparations would pay off.

At first light, we saw the lion just to the right of the bait. He was moving right and disappeared behind the brush. We could see a mane but was this lion ever going to give us time to get a decent look at him?

All went quiet. The minutes felt like hours. It felt like a lyric from one of my favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: “Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?” We waited, and waited and waited. Nothing. It was full daylight now. We began to sense that our opportunity this morning with this lion was ending but hoping against hope that it wasn’t. I continued to scan intensely with my eyes and look at everything I could. I wasn’t giving up yet.

Then, like a ghost, a big-maned lion appeared to my right, at about 80 yards, moving quartering to my left and towards us from behind some bushes and trees! I hissed to Mike, “There he is, to the right! He looks good!” From Mike’s chair, he couldn’t see to the right very far so he halfway stood up and leaned over my way to get a better look out the window. He saw the lion and raised his binoculars. He later told me he could see the mature mane and droopy jowls. He said, “Yes, shoot that lion, Scott!”

Well, he didn’t have to tell me twice and I’ve never been one to dilly-dally around when it comes time to shoot! The tripod rest that kept my rifle pointed towards the bait was of no use now. I raised the rifle off of the rest and swung it to the right. My crosshair and red dot instinctively found the correct spot on the front of the lion for a quartering towards shot and I squeezed off a shot. At the shot, the big lion did exactly what big brown bears do when hit hard, he started jumping and spinning around in circles. Never one to hold back and watch, I already had another round chambered and touched off another shot, which missed. I quickly jacked another round in the chamber and shot a third time, dropping him. He let out another roar from the impact and all went silent. Mike couldn’t even see what was happening from his angle and he asked me, “Is he down? Did you get him? Is he down?” The lion had disappeared into the grass and behind some dead tree branches when he dropped so I said, “Yes, I think he’s down!”

We kept watch for a minute or so and then Mike radioed for the trackers and Game Scout to come pick us up with the Cruiser. They were sitting in the Cruiser, just outside of camp and had heard the shots. They arrived a few minutes later. Mike and I got in the back of the Cruiser, standing up behind the cab with our rifles. We drove towards the lion. When the lion came into view, Mike tapped on the roof and Bryson, the driver, stopped. We looked with our binoculars and couldn’t see the lion breathing or moving. We drove up to him and he was dead!

We got down on the ground and approached the lion from behind. We could tell from the body position of the lion that he was dead but you never take chances with dangerous game. As they say, “It’s the dead ones that kill you.” I poked the lion and he didn’t move. That’s when the party started and I let out a loud yell. Everyone started high-fiving, screaming and hugging. It was such an incredible relief! The pinnacle of my African hunting career! I was feeling the pressure earlier and now it was nothing but pure joy. I could feel the tension leave my body and I could now relax and enjoy the moment.

Since we were only a mile from camp, Mike sent the driver back to pick up Wendy, Jim and Cindy. They all had actually heard the shots. Jim said the shots were so close together that he thought maybe Mike had also taken a shot but had not. Upon further examination, we found my first shot was a killing shot that quartered through the lion and and the bullet was just under the skin on the back hip. My third shot entered the rear part of the guts and angled forward into the vitals as well.

When the Cruiser arrived with everyone, we all celebrated and took a hundred pictures. Mike said the lion had a great full mane that was filled in all across the head and shoulders and also had a good dorsal mane down the back and great mane under his head. He said it was the biggest-bodied lion he thinks he has ever taken. We took a picture of Bryson laying next to the lion for scale. Bryson is 5’9” and a normal sized 5’9” guy.