ZAMBIA: spike.t's Epic Wonderland At Takeri Reserve Zambia

[Scott CWO]

Hey Mike,
Wanna trade? Hoping you don’t get washed away before I see your place in 2022!

 

[spike.t]

View attachment 393586
Hey Mike,
Wanna trade? Hoping you don’t get washed away before I see your place in 2022!

....no thanks ...will stick with the mud

 

[Zambezi]

Think it's about time you start looking into investing in a Unimog as a hunting vehicle... or an amphibious landing craft

 

[spike.t]

View attachment 393586
Hey Mike,
Wanna trade? Hoping you don’t get washed away before I see your place in 2022!

Its actually our normal weather and how it gets up here where we are during the rains...its nice at the beginning, but.........

 

[VertigoBE]

Thank you for a great report @Vanguard2279 Very enjoyable writing style you have!

Cheers,

V.

 

[sierraone]

Thanks to @Vanguard2279 and Mike for a great hunt report and photos. Getting there and back sounded like a true adventure.

 

[Jumbo]

@spike.t looks like You and Billy put on a great hunt!
Great that you were able to get Vanguard in for the hunt!



The only
Clown missing from the circus was @PeteG

 

[spike.t]

@spike.t looks like You and Billy put on a great hunt!
Great that you were able to get Vanguard in for the hunt!



The only
Clown missing from the circus was @PeteG

Thanks ...yeah would have been good to have had that clown here for it.....

And what's it like walking around upside down.......

 

[PeteG]

Thanks ...yeah would have been good to have had that clown here for it.....

And what's it like walking around upside down.......

It would've been good, but i had better things to do...
According to my wife changing nappies is more important that hunting at the moment.
I am not so convinced however

 

[Vanguard2279]

Thank you for the kind comments, gentlemen. I try to make my hunt reports entertaining. Fortunately with spike. T, there is a lot to work with.

 

[spike.t]

The river is dropping fast over last couple of weeks

 

[BRICKBURN]

That's a lot of water heading to Marromeu.

 

[spike.t]

That's a lot of water heading to Marromeu.

Got dams and swamps and floodplains to get past first........

 

[Pheroze]

Watching the thread it seems the river fluctuates a lot over the year. Do you prefer it one way over the other?

 

[spike.t]

And would just like to say the weather has gone to shit....yesterday left lusaka to drive back....clouds total all the way and freezing....today sunshine but bloody cold wind.....got our hot water bottles in bed already to warm.it up....and this helped....and if you come hunt with us in these winter months bring your own hot water bottle....as you not having mine or Louises.........

 

[spike.t]

Watching the thread it seems the river fluctuates a lot over the year. Do you prefer it one way over the other?

Doesn't fluctuate in how I think/presume you mean....its how it is....we have the rains in summer and its dry in winter....so from Oct onwards you have big temperature build up and clouds forming and vanishing...but more and more ...then might get a rainstorm or two...but keeps getting hotter and hotter...and humidity builds in Nov and thunderstorms kick off...then depends how the rain gods are feeling as to whether it stops and suddenly they decide to open the taps again in March, and run the rainstorm late into June...or they are feeling in good mood and keep things going off and on through from Nov till April/may.....so yeah no fluctuations we have rainy season and dry season....its novel in the beginning of the rains playing with 4x4 ...but it soon wears off when 27km that takes 45 plus mins in dry , takes up to 2 hours plus ( if you don't get stuck and then play with your winch...that's if anything enough to winch on of course..)in the rains....that's just from ours to main dirt road...so yeah river fills during rains and gets very low after....then process starts again.....when rains have been going for a bit we can't drive around majority of the place....as probably 60% or more is either under water from metres to finger width....and majority ir rest is waterlogged....so plan on winching..digging and swearing shit loads....unfortunately can't simply load videos straight onto here or would push me on of driving in or out in the rains....if you want to pm me your cell I will send to you...I get a few people wanting to hunt in march or May...and when I say its impossible...they don't believe me....I get well I hunted in sa then or....I just say well sorry but it's impossible...and never hear from them again as am sure they think I am talking shit....but...how it is.....cheers

 

[Bullthrower338]

Great report, can’t believe I missed it

 

[Rick Cox]

RENO 2019
I find myself sitting in Rum Bullion at a long table with Jerome, the stunning Mrs. Jerome and several other people that alcohol has made me forget. Across from me is the infamous Spike. T. For those who don't know, his real name is Mike. Spike. T is a nickname he picked up as a roadie for the Sex Pistols in the 70's (maybe). I wanted to say that it came from his short-lived career as a porno movie stuntman in the 80's, but that's completely not true. Funny, but absolutely not true.


Regardless, there was a lot of alcohol. Mike got me drunker than I'd been in twenty years. At some point, he looked at me and said "Why don't you come to Zambia and hunt with me?!" Apparently, I responded that I would and the die was cast. I eventually made it back to the Grand Sierra and stumbled to my hotel room.

Over the next year, a plan was formulated. I would travel to Zambia in June 2020 and hunt Kafue Lechwe, Chobe Bushbuck, Common Reedbuck and Puku with an option on a Warthog if we came across one. At some point, Mike offered me a fantastic deal on a Sable bull which I accepted. Unbeknownst to me, Norfolk Shooter had conspired to arrive the day before and surprise me at the gate. I made the required wire transfers and waited. Mike and I communicated daily via WhatsApp. I purchased my tickets on Emirates via the Lady Warriors @TRAVEL EXPRESS and waited.

Boom! The merciless bitch, Covid-19, reared her ugly head and shut down the planet. I won't spend too much time on this as I doubt that this left any of you unscathed. The 06/28 departure date came and went. We had cancelled my tickets and I got a full refund. Eventually, Zambia reopened and we planned for an October departure. I had purchased tickets on Emirates again, but soon found that their Covid testing requirements were too difficult to manage. Little did we know that my concerns at that time were pointless compared to what we would deal with. I rebooked on Ethiopian Airways with departure on 10/16. Zambia was requiring a negative Covid PCR test within 72 hours of arrival. Ethiopian wanted a negative test within 14 days of all travel. A friend and fearless adventure traveler found www.cuurdiagnostics.com which would give you results in the same day and provide overly fancy travel documents that nobody looked at other than the results page. I tested the morning of the 15th by a lady who probed my brain with the swab. I only screamed a little. $300 and I was on my way.

Participant: 51 year old grey-collar professional white male, widowed, a bit chunky but in good overall health.
Rifle: Forbes 24B rebarreled from .270 to 9.3x62 by Douglas Barrels.
Ammo: 250-grain Barnes TSX with enough Varget for 2,500 fps and will put four rounds into an inch when I do my part. The rifle was zeroed at 150 yards.
My Pelican 1750 rifle case also contained a disassembled set of 4Stable Sticks which will go with me on every hunt I have.

THE JOURNEY
I recruited my daughter's best friend to dog and house sit for me. I left Las Vegas in the afternoon for SFO where I sat for 5.5 hours. I then flew to IAD where AI sat for another 3.5 hours. I provided my Ethiopian Airways Firearms Declaration form to the gate agent who had no real idea what to do with it. I eventually boarded the ET flight for Addis Ababa. The flight was okay or as okay as a 13.5 hour flight can be. The food was decent. They provided plenty of wine and water. I didn't die.

Upon arrival in Addis, I was met at the gate by a young man with a name card who was to take me and another couple bound for Zimbabwe for the firearm inspection. He took us on a brief bus trip to the bowels of the airport where we opened my rifle case and people stared at it for a moment. I provided another declaration form and my rifle was loaded on the plane. We took another short bus ride back to the terminal and I had to go through a security checkpoint. This was done fairly comfortably within the 2:10 layover in Addis. There will be more about this process at the end of the report.

We boarded the much less than full flight to Harare and Lusaka. I managed to get a whole row to myself. Eventually, I arrived in Lusaka. I cleared Customs where everybody wanted to see my negative Covid test. Mike met me in Baggage Claim and we whisked through the rifle inspection by the Airport Police. We went to the mall and changed out $400 USD for Zambian kwacha (about 20 kwacha to $1 USD). I then proceeded to make it rain at one of the informal souvenir shopping areas. Mike dropped me at the Protea hotel and promised he would be back to pick me up for dinner. A little tip here. I used Hotels.com to reserved the room at the Protea by Marriott. I chose the less expensive $72 a night room versus the $110 a night Tower room. Upon arrival, I was advised that the Tower was the only part of the hotel open. Great room with no additional charge. Mike and his significant other, Louise, picked me up and we went to Dacapo's . If you follow the same route I did, you'll probably eat there as well. The ribs and the Carbonara are fabulous. You can thank me later. Little did I know that I would be eating there again in the near future. The hotel has a great free breakfast on the 9th floor.

The trip to the lodge was long but not terrible. Mike was bringing Louise and her niece to assist with the camp cooking duties. We stopped at a grocery store and picked up food and alcohol. ON the way, we stopped at various locations along the road and bought vegetables and watermelons.
Just to help out, I made spaghetti the first night along with garlic bread. I like to cook for people. I met my PH, Billy Miller and we checked the zero on my rifle. Things were going well.

THE HUNT

Early in the first morning, we headed to the flats where the Lechwe consistently were. After much glassing and stalking, we located a fabulous Lechwe bull in a large herd of constantly vigilant animals. Utilizing trees as cover, we managed to get within 192 yards. I settled into my 4Stable Sticks (the greatest hunting assist ever) aimed a couple inches over the left shoulder. I fired and could see the Lechwe rear up on his hind legs. Initially, Billy thought I had hit too far forward. The herd took off, leaving the stricken Lechwe bull. He was obviously hit hard enough that he was not leaving, but would not collapse. He was facing away from me and quartering slightly to the left. I aimed just forward of his hindquarters and fired again. He dropped in placed.

Upon approach, Billy advised me that my first shot had been perfectly into the shoulder and that the Lechwe had just not gone down. The second round exited the front of his chest. I was immediately struck by how beautiful the Kafue Lechwe was and how much bigger he was than I had expected. I would highly recommend hunting them to anyone who has the ability. I was also very happy that I had not taken a bad shot. The safari was starting off well.

A little personal note. I've taken some bad shots off the sticks and despite practice, I've never felt comfortable with them. I did better than I ever expected to with them in Namibia, but I knew that I was a long way from great. On my hunt with the great @norfolk shooter and @dabloobana in SA in 2019, I discovered the 4Stable Sticks and promptly bought a set when I returned home. For those attending DSC and SCI, the distributor is the slender French guy in the beret who always has a booth. If you struggle off the conventional single point of contact tripod sticks, buy a set. Their one downside is the lack of ability to track and animal who is moving.

I may not finish this report in one evening. I'm still tired from the journey and I'm smoking a meatloaf. I may include a photo of that tomorrow. As with every hunt report I have written, this is going to be long. I'll try not to bore you guys.

View attachment 373987View attachment 373988

Smoked meatloaf huh? I'm gonna try that.

 

[Rick Cox]

One of the most enjoyable reports I have read on this forum. Congratulations on a great hunt!

 

[Vanguard2279]

Smoked meatloaf huh? I'm gonna try that.

I start with about two pounds of good ground beef and add a pound of some form of country sausage. I use Cajun or Creole seasoning, two eggs, panko bread crumbs and several handfuls of grated sharp cheddar. For good luck, I'll splash in a little Shiner Bock for good luck. I've added half a diced white onion in the past. It then goes on the smoker for about five hours at 225. Any larger than this and it will dry out a bit trying to get to 165-170 degree internal temperature. I have a couple pictures on a particularly majestic loaf I did a while ago.

Takeri really is a special place that more people need to go to. I appreciate how easy it is to get to South Africa, but it really doesn't approach what you will experience along the Kafue River. As I mentioned in my hunt report with Western Safaris in the Eastern Cape, there are places that I love and feel happy. Takeri is one of them.