ZIMBABWE: Carruthers & Co 2024 Hunt To The Save

[Jettech]

great trip so far

 

[Philip Glass]

I am enjoying this. Except the snake part!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Enjoying this! All except the snake part. Thanks for sharing

 

[CBH Australia]

They say python tastes like salty chicken

And spider make a nice crunch when stepped on.

Hunting during the heat of the year has it's special challenges. looking forward to the rest of your report.

Yeah, don’t wish to share a room with these.

Stepped on lots of spider and jumped on one tonight after Afternoon Shift with my socks on. Just a garden spider but so I don’t know why it was in the kitchen.
The strange part was it did not crunch, it kinda just looked like a wet spot on the tiles. Socks are in the wash and the rest is history

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

With Daniel's cow in the salt the focus now shifted to my bull, non- trophy, as old as possible and definitely a hard boss. Scrum cap or broken horns would be first prize, but let's see.
Out on the vehicle at 06:00 with cloudless skies and already already warm, it was clear that today would be a scorcher. Again we did the rounds of the pans and soon came across fresh spoor of a medium sized herd of perhaps seventy or so animals. With a gentle, consistent breeze stalking was easy and we managed to approach this group with a kopje to our backs and a few rock clusters out front to shield us completely. The closest animal was an old bull at perhaps 50 metres and he appeared to have a front right leg injury, or perhaps just a bit lame. He would have made a perfect candidate, but he was just too big at around 40 inches. David settled down to glass the far side of the herd and as the rest of us relaxed behind the rocks a peculiar noise emanated from the kopje immediately catching everyone's attention. A black and white sheep emerged and wandered down the slope towards us. What the heck is he doing here?!! The bleating it turns out sounds very similar to a calf buffalo in distress because with that a cow started making her way towards the sheep, and us, mooing maternally! When they got to about 20 metres apart, and about the same distance from us, there was a light bulb moment, the cow turning and ambling off and the sheep going his way. With the Save boundary and the villages many miles away it was baffling that the sheep had gotten this far without becoming dinner.
There were plenty of bulls in this herd, but all too young, or too big. Oh well, with the heat getting pretty oppressive (the hilux gauge indicated 46 degrees C) it was time to head back to base for lunch and a nap.
Later that afternoon we came across yet another herd of buff by a water hole and we crept in pretty close. They all saw us and stared, but the water held them and yet again several very nice bulls were there and one huge boy in particular, but nothing for us.
The pattern was clear, there were plenty of buffalo, but all in herds and the bulls were mostly young and big. We had yet to see a group of dagga boys, or even their tracks.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

The next day we went to the northern section of the property and with less water up there the game was very sparse, a few giraffe and that was it. Towards midday and back in the south again we cut fresh buffalo spoor once more and soon caught up with the herd that had just crossed a dry river bed. This group was very chilled and we easily got to within 27 metres as measured by David's rangefinder binoculars. Yet again, nothing shootable so we decided to head back to the vehicle and camp. Just then David spotted a group of impala and for a break from endless buffalo pursuits we decided to take one. The double came up on the sticks, the red dot settled and the boom rang out. Off ran the impala and I admit I thought it was a clean miss. That impala took a 400 grain bullet through the boiler room and ran a good 80 metres, tough little animals. The shot had hit exactly where aimed lending confidence for the time, if it ever came, that we would find our elusive bull.

 

[cajunchefray]

I wish 21 days in the Save, but no excuse, I have just been caught up doing a business expansion in Johannesburg, exhausting stuff. Sorry guys.

Our rooms were very comfortable, but the roof fan did little but stir up the hot air under the mozzy net. There was nothing for it but to open the back door leading to the outside shower and the front stable door and hope for the odd cool breeze to whaft in. My deep sleep was interrupted in the early hours by stuff falling off the dresser waking me with a start. Lying there dead still thoughts raced through my mind, surely not a lion, maybe a honey badger, even worse. It was with some anxiety that I switched on the bedside light, and what greeted my blinking eyes was totally unexpected - a python staring back at me! The night guard came in and immediately jumped back, he obviously may have preferred the lion. The python, about eight feet or so now skulked off under the bed, perhaps that was where he usually slept when the room wasn't occupied. That wasn't going to happen tonight though, so with the help of a long stick we guided him out through the window.
With that excitement out of the way I decided to have a really good look around before retiring once more and lo and behold another visitor had entered the bathroom, far scarier to me than a mere python.
The decision was made, heat or no heat, the doors would be securely closed for the rest of this hunt.
View attachment 650061
View attachment 650062

The next day we went to the northern section of the property and with less water up there the game was very sparse, a few giraffe and that was it. Towards midday and back in the south again we cut fresh buffalo spoor once more and soon caught up with the herd that had just crossed a dry river bed. This group was very chilled and we easily got to within 27 metres as measured by David's rangefinder binoculars. Yet again, nothing shootable so we decided to head back to the vehicle and camp. Just then David spotted a group of impala and for a break from endless buffalo pursuits we decided to take one. The double came up on the sticks, the red dot settled and the boom rang out. Off ran the impala and I admit I thought it was a clean miss. That impala took a 400 grain bullet through the boiler room and ran a good 80 metres, tough little animals. The shot had hit exactly where aimed lending confidence for the time, if it ever came, that we would find our elusive bull.
View attachment 650486

What type of bullet, did it expand, from wound channel evidence?

 

[cajunchefray]

I wish 21 days in the Save, but no excuse, I have just been caught up doing a business expansion in Johannesburg, exhausting stuff. Sorry guys.

Our rooms were very comfortable, but the roof fan did little but stir up the hot air under the mozzy net. There was nothing for it but to open the back door leading to the outside shower and the front stable door and hope for the odd cool breeze to whaft in. My deep sleep was interrupted in the early hours by stuff falling off the dresser waking me with a start. Lying there dead still thoughts raced through my mind, surely not a lion, maybe a honey badger, even worse. It was with some anxiety that I switched on the bedside light, and what greeted my blinking eyes was totally unexpected - a python staring back at me! The night guard came in and immediately jumped back, he obviously may have preferred the lion. The python, about eight feet or so now skulked off under the bed, perhaps that was where he usually slept when the room wasn't occupied. That wasn't going to happen tonight though, so with the help of a long stick we guided him out through the window.
With that excitement out of the way I decided to have a really good look around before retiring once more and lo and behold another visitor had entered the bathroom, far scarier to me than a mere python.
The decision was made, heat or no heat, the doors would be securely closed for the rest of this hunt.
View attachment 650061
View attachment 650062

Great read Kevin, looking forward to more.
Personally, I’d want a Ruger.44 in the tent at night with #6 shot loads for snakes. They scare the hell out of me.

Is it legal and possible for an American hunter to bring in a revolver to Zimbabwe?

 

[Doug3006]

Great read Kevin, looking forward to more.
Personally, I’d want a Ruger.44 in the tent at night with #6 shot loads for snakes. They scare the hell out of me.

Is it legal and possible for an American hunter to bring in a revolver to Zimbabwe?

Here’s a link to an SCI article on Zimbabwe regulations. If the handgun is for hunting purposes on private or communal land, then you can bring it. The permit is $1,500.

https://safariclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Zimbabwe.pdf