ZIMBABWE: Bubye Hunt With David Langerman

[Zim Fan]

David Langerman Safaris
Bubye Valley Conservancy
PH’s: David Langerman, Kevin Elliott, Dylan Cloete
June 2021
Rifles: 270 Win Encore. 275 Rigby Ruger, 416 Rem Model 700
Hunt: Buffalo and Plains game
Camp: Samanyanga
Travel: United, Ethiopian, Fast Jet and Charters

Many hunt reports provide some details, so I need to provide a little more about the hunt and family trip we had just recently.

Getting There

Like so many others arranging a trip to Africa has been more difficult than in years past. When first booking air for this trip Emirates was on a hit and miss schedule with connecting flights coming out of Tennessee so I was leaning towards Delta. Mainly because of so many Credits due to cancelled trips.

When flights came open on United it was a no brainer as the business class seats were a little over half the cost of other carriers and I was moving 8 people on this trip. It also offered a better experience for the family. The plan all along was to charter in from either Harare or JNB and coming out of JNB was a shorter travel time and about the same price.

The 48-hour time frame to Zimbabwe was always an issue as in our area it is extremely difficult to get a PCR test result in under 12 hours. We might have made it via Emirates but again it didn’t work out. Our local doctor took the tests and packaged them into a tamper proof container which we delivered directly to the Lab in Knoxville before 400 pm. The family did their testing a week after ours. We had our results the next morning.

My son and I traveled United to DC and then on Ethiopian into JNB. United was originally scheduled to go in May but pushed back the first flight to June 3. Ethiopian was not a poor experience as thanks to the forums I knew what to expect. They have your name on a list and are waiting for you at the top of the Jetway. Have your passport and 4457 ready and show it to the agent.

There was worry amongst the group that the plane would leave but we were assured no problem. My son was on the plane as was another traveling companion of one of the other hunters. The pilot announced they were waiting on a private party, and they did not even attempt to leave until all of us were on board. The flight left an hour late and arrived on time.

We could have gone into Harare or the Falls, but I wanted to go the same route the Wife and Family would take through JNB onto Lanseria. The family came on the June 3 inaugural United flight and enjoyed the celebrations on each end. I use Anne at Air 2000 especially when my wife comes across and with the family coming a week later, I relied on her help again. Getting my son and I along with the family through without issues is well worth the cost.

We went to the Palazzo hotel, and she arranged for a company to come to the hotel that afternoon and they took our PCR tests and had results to Anne and us that night. Early in the morning Anne met us at the charter going out of Lanseria with all the paperwork we needed completed. We hopped on a charter and were into Buffalo Range to clear customs in a little over an hour.

The folks in Zim came in on a Sunday and while we were on the ground there for an hour, they were extremely happy to see us. They had not seen hunters in some time. While they went through each bag and checked out the rifles it was not any different than Harare or Bulawayo. On the PCR test they were only concerned with the date the test was performed.

The family followed a week later but used the testing service at the OR Tambo airport. My son’s girlfriend is a nurse, and she spearheaded the effort through testing and that threw a wrench in things the next morning since her last name was different than the rest of the group. Anne’s guy at Tambo sorted everything out and their charter left out of Lanseria a little late.

Other than the PCR testing their experience through JNB onto the Palazzo and then catching the charter out of Lanseria was pleasant and uneventful, thankfully. Their time in buffalo Range was much shorter and they checked one bag of theirs before sending them along. Providing biscuits, drinks and a few dollars the week prior went along way. Other than the Zebra on the runway they had no delays.

Dave and I were told the flight would arrive at Buffalo Range at 1:00 pm so we planned to be at the airstrip at 2:00. Kevin arrived a day earlier so along with my son they headed to the airstrip a little early. We figured that was plenty of time. If you have been married long enough you know not to be late for your wife, imagine the feeling when we heard on the radio that a plane had landed at 1:30. Dave and I were mortified as there is no way that plane should have been there prior to 2:30.

Have you ever seen a Zim bus loaded down with people and bags, imagine a cruiser with 10 people and bags swaying down the dirt roads of the concession. Normally it would have been funny. Main thing they arrived in one piece. They had a tail wind and the 1:00 was arrival to camp not to buffalo Range a mixup in communication. I am still paying for being late.

Getting Home

We took a Caravan up from the camp into the Falls. We had brought a lot of kit to leave behind, so we did not have nearly the luggage going out as coming in. It’s about a one hour forty-five-minute flight and with Covid I wanted to avoid the long ride.

After a few days in the Falls, we went out Fast jet into JNB. We were more than half the seats on the plane, but the cost was very cheap. Had one little hiccup regarding the number of guns in a case. Their website says one gun per case however I had an email from Fast jet that clarified it is one gun case per passenger and no limit on guns. I also had a conversation with a top official of Fast jet in the Falls and used his name to push this along.

United in JNB was a real pain. We could not interline from Fast jet to United, so we needed to collect bags and recheck. A supervisor had to be called over as they wanted a seperate case for ammunition. She agreed that it is not required internationally and that is a SA domestic rule however I relented and was prepared with a small hard case. Other hunters had the same issue and United was apologetic as they were trying to work on the issue.

Newark was much worse than JNB. If I can avoid going there again I will and that is due to Newark not United. CBP had us show our weapons and then they were taken to TSA for another inspection. Another hunter and I had 1100 flights and were the second group. TSA told us to leave the guns with United baggage and leave them unlocked. Technically that is a violation.

The whole process for landing to finally clearing TSA was 3 hours. Thankfully I waited as TSA did not lock my gun case and had a fit when I wanted to lock it correctly. I last saw my guns at 0800 when TSA and baggage were carrying them to the plane to place them directly on my flight. My bags did not make the flight and arrived at my home 12 hours after my arrival in Tennessee.

The first excuse as I checked while sitting on the plane is that they had not cleared CBP. That was not possible as I could not have cleared CBP without them. The pilot would not wait and in Nashville I learned they tried to put them in the wrong flight. United brought them the 150 miles from Nashville and delivered them in the middle of the night.


If you have the chance to go to Africa this year take it. The people there want to see you, they need the work and while there are difficulties it is still worth going.

 

[Nyati]

Great bulls, congrats !

 

[Zim Fan]

Plains Game Before the Family Arrives

My son has been with me on all but two hunts and I cannot imagine going over there without him. As much as we tried to get him to shoot a Buffalo, he was happy to be part of the team stalking Buffalo. He does like to hunt and was interested in three animals, a Waterbuck, Wildebeest, and an Eland.

After taking the second Buffalo we continued doing what we normal did, looking for any opportunity. We had one day before the family was to arrive and then the priorities would shift. We spent that afternoon searching for something that he wanted to take and after several stalks on animals that were marginal, we spotted a nice Impala.

The guys jumped out of the truck and after a few minutes we heard a shot and waited until the head tracker Charity waived us over. Instead of an Impala he had taken an old Waterbuck bull. Seems once they rounded a corner the brush opened into a dry pan. This Bull poked his head out from beyond the Impala and presented a quartering away shot. He made the right shot entering back far enough to hit the lungs and then into the far shoulder.

For this trip we had purchased a 275 Ruger Model 77, one of the Lipsey models. Using 160 grain partitions this rifle was very accurate. One thing I learned with this model is that you must keep the springs and pin clean and properly oiled. I read multiple guys having misfires with this model and I had that on the Hornady ammo and then even on one of the loads from Hendershots.

Dave was the primary PH on this hunt and to keep everyone hunting or involved in doing something we had Kevin Elliott and Dylan Cloete as additional PH’s to assist. Kevin would take the Son in Law Buffalo hunting and Dylan was assigned the bait hanging, bird hunting and sightseeing duties. We could not have asked for better people to share our experience and camp.

The morning the family was due Kevin took my Son out for plains game and we went to look for a Zebra to hang for bait. For some reason I am unable to take a Zebra and still am. They were fortunate and quickly came up with an Impala and a Wildebeest well before lunch. This allowed them to make it to the airstrip at what we thought was the appointed time. It also knocked out a few more animals so we could concentrate on the Family and their first trip.

With the rut going on for Impala the Rams were quite active and while we saw many Rams, we were trying to be picky. During the trip on two occasions, we saw Cheetah on freshly killed Impala. Kevin and party watched a Leopard take a Warthog while they were hunting warthog so the game was pretty skittish. My son says they saw a nice Impala did a short stalk and took his at about 25 yards. The Wildebeest was a different story as they managed to creep up on a group of seven. They set up the sticks about 100 yards out and watched for over half an hour before a clean shot presented itself.

 

[Zim Fan]

That looks like a really great safari. Are the 2 buffalo in front “trophy” buffalo and the 3 in back “non-trophy” buffalo? If you selected the “non-trophy” option, I’d really like to hear more about the opportunities you had. The non-trophy option in BVC seems like a great hunt for an old old worn down bull that doesn’t exist in all areas.

I arranged for a non-trophy hunt with an option for a trophy and upgraded my son-in-laws hunt on the last day. The Bubye has loads of non-trophy Buffalo and I was looking for single old bulls and was most interested in a Scrum Cap. We saw one early in the week and spent a great deal of time hunting for that particular bull with no luck.

The Son in Law saw a Bull with both horns broken off and his PH Kevin tried to find that bull a second time but they said all they kept seeing were 42 and 43 inch Buffalo. Turns out they were seeing lots of other Buffalo but were pushing me for a bigger bull. I wanted him to hunt a non-trophy so encouraged them to keep after those type Bulls. I even went with them three mornings in the hopes of seeing that broken horned Bull. He took a single very old bull in the river on the last day.

I devoted 8 hard days hunting Buffalo and was rewarded with 2 non-trophy and one trophy Bull. We stalked and set up on at least a dozen bulls if not more during those first eight days. We saw non-trophy bulls every day and on the last day coming back from fishing we ran into 13 Dugga Boys in a group not far from camp.

Next 6 days were to be devoted to the grandsons and on that first day we ran into a very old Bull. This was four bulls in nine days. While hunting plains game we still were looking for that especial trophy or special non trophy.

The Niassa has some bigger bulls but the Bubye has a lot of Buffalo and a lot of old Dugga boys. Parts of the concession are better than others and I thought Nengo had some great old bulls but Samanyanga seemed to have more of them.

Do send me a PM if you want some details.

 

[Zim Fan]

Bull 3 and 4

We saw Buffalo constantly but with the high grass it was difficult to get on lone bulls and catch up to them. Since we were looking for Bulls, either ancient Dugga boys or a nice trophy this made the going a little tough. The usual day started checking waterpoints. On our eighth hunting day we finished checking a water point and then headed down to another not too far distant. Less than a hundred yards we were revved by a lone male lion that was sleeping just off the road.

After checking the second waterhole we turned around and headed back towards the first area and a little past where we had seen the lion, we noticed a dark object crossing the road. Through the Binos Dave could see this was a lone Bull and it looked like a trophy. Not wishing to venture into the bush with the Lion we crept down the road.

Between us and the Buffalo stood a lone tree in the road, and we positioned ourselves so that the Buffalo if it looked up would not be able to see us. It was a couple hundred yards to the tree and five of us huddled around the tree as Dave peered out to judge the Bull. It was indeed a trophy Bull likely 42 inches and was old and on its own.

With days left and tags still in hand I made the decision to take this Buffalo. The Bull was broadside at about 85 yards, and I put the crosshairs on the pint of his shoulder and squeezed. Immediately we could see I had broken the shoulder and the Bull had been rocked by the shot. He bolted forward and ran into the thick Bush. As we reached the spot where the bull had stood, we could not see him and were unsure how far he traveled.

Charity then saw the Bull down behind a log facing away. We came in from the left and behind the bull and while he was not yet done, he was going nowhere. I positioned myself to get a clean shot into the vitals and as I did Charity saw the Bull move its legs and yelled shoot shoot. I shot shot and made sure the Bull was done. An ancient 42-inch Bull

Bull 4 was a Nyala bull. We were hunting Nyala on day 9 and they were very difficult to find. We saw small Bulls but nothing that we liked. As we came around a corner, we passed a Buffalo Bull in the bush that did not seem too concerned with our passing. The guys in the back tapped the truck to stop and we parked with the engine running behind a bush.

Too late to change I had pulled a solid from the belt and dropped it into the chamber. The Bull was close so there was no time to waste so I closed the chamber. Dave later said he realized I had done this and unlike before prepared to back me up. There was no time for sticks so when we stepped form behind the bush I raised and fired, missing taking out both shoulders but through both lungs. Dave followed with a shot and I with a Texas heart shot as the Bull disappeared into the Bush.

Dave had a feeling and decided the best thing to do was to wait a minute. I took a swig of water and made sure I had 3 down and one in the chamber. We were discussing strategy when my son’s girlfriend said she heard the Buffalo fall over. Thomas agreed with her. We rounded the thick brush through an opening and not 40 yards away the Buffalo lay stone dead. He had turned and faced the direction he had come and would have surely come for us had we not hesitated.

This was another old ancient Bull. Caked in Mud and well past his prime.

 

[IvW]

Great buffalo's

 

[cls]

Looks like a fantastic place and you did it up right, would like to do the same one day. Thanks for posting.

 

[gillettehunter]

That’s some great Buffalo. Congrats on a great hunt!
Bruce

 

[Zim Fan]

Bushbuck and Nyala

Early on we saw a very nice Bushbuck and tired several times to take him but he would take off whenever he saw the truck coming. We put up several cameras and tried walking in and coming from different directions. Dave and my Son decided to dedicate a day to this particular Bushbuck and left well before daylight to try and took lunch with them as they were not going to return with this animal.

They walked in and for the better part of the day they had a couple glimpses of a horn or the tail, but no clean shot. After eating lunch in the Bush they came in from a different direction and waited, finally seeing the buck. With the sun starting to set the only shot that presented itself was an awkward neck shot from behind. After 10 hours they had the Bushbuck they wanted.

For the first few days we did not see a Nyala Bull and decided to place cameras in several locations. We spent many hours looking and glassing and finally were able to look at several small Bulls. They were in the thicker riverine areas and mainly in amongst the taller trees. The other car did see a nice Nyala on two occasions the first two days they were hunting, (they did not have Nyala on quota) but we failed to spot him ourselves.

Some of the better Bulls were spotted on cameras at waterholes frequented by Buffalo away from the areas we were hunting them. Already day 9 into 14 days and we were beginning to get concerned. Especially when a morning for Nyala hunting turned into a Buffalo hunt. With the Buffalo in the back of the car we were head back to camp and joked about what would we do if we saw a Kudu, Nyala or an Eland. Make room of course.

In an area in which all we had seen for nine days was Impala, Charity tapped on the roof of the truck and pointed out a group of 5 Nyala with 3 Bulls. We eased the car behind some thick Brush and then jumped out grabbing the 275 Rigby. Usually, I took the 416 but this was more open and would likely be a longer shot.

I do not carry binoculars on a stalk. Dave tells me yes or no and while on the sticks we talk over which animal to take. We concern ourselves more with age than with size. In this case there were two good mature bulls and one that was slightly smaller. We paralleled them for several hundred yards through thick brush and at one point mud.

The better of the Bulls had mud on has horns and twice we set up only to be thwarted by a smaller Bull or a female in the way. They started to pull farther away and we noticed an open area ahead and moved quickly to cover the spot. Dave whispered the Bull was third in line and when he stepped out, I hit him on the shoulder and he dropped in his tracks. A great old Bull, which another PH measured at 29.4 inches.

 

[Ridgewalker]

This hunt can’t possibly get any better! A truly grand adventure in a truly grand place!

 

[meigsbucks]

A fantastic hunt.