Very nice. I had assumed he was either on his own or off in a group of big mature duggaboys. The more and more I read/see, seems like Zim is one of, if not the, place to be for big cape buffalo.
Zim is a great place to buffalo hunt, and is my favorite country to date. I think it’s also one of the best values for dangerous game hunting (especially buffalo) BUT if one wanted a “BIG” Cape Buffalo I’d probably look at Tanzania first. You can take 4 on a 21 Day License and I think you’d be hard pressed to find somewhere outside of South Africa that produces as many 45”+ heads. If “Wild” was a requirement and you couldn’t afford Tanzania, I’d look at either Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, or Uganda since all have areas known to produce a lot of big wide bulls. Zimbabwe and Mozambique produce a lot of great buffalo, but the number of 40” or 42”+ bulls compared to the number shot isn’t nearly as high as other places.
For the hunter who wants to be assured of a specific minimum width, South Africa is likely the answer (Tanzania too). For RSA You’ve got two different options, excluding game farms and breeding operations (these make up a lot, but not all RSA buffalo hunts)
1) Kruger adjacent areas. My only experience is the Klasseri and despite it being open it’s a little too settled for me to call it wild.
2). A large, well run high fence with known genetics and a sizeable self sustaining herd.
Some Kruger Adjacent areas are only taking management bulls and/or have very limited numbers of trophy’s.
You also need to take into account hunting style. Do you want to hunt herds, lone Duggaboys /groups of Duggaboys? Find tracks and follow said tracks all day until you catch up? Drive around in a truck glassing bulls from a distance? Hunt in the croc/hippo invested swamps? Hunt in the smoke and fires you’ve started?
There’s no right answer it’s all personal and again I’m basing my opinion/comment off the numbers of buffalo shot vs the number that go 40”+, never mind the number that go 44” or 45”+.
