Mark Henderson
AH member
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2022
- Messages
- 33
- Reaction score
- 139
- Location
- Midlothian
- Media
- 7
- Member of
- SCI, DSC
- Hunted
- South Africa, Namibia
Well, I’ve been back in the USA for a week at work and I’m finally making time to post this hunt report. I had a 10 day hunt with @Tokoloshe Safaris in the Lake Kariba/Mlibizi River region of Zimbabwe. This is true free range wild hunting block/concessions that border Hwange National Park, a couple different forest reserves, and other designated safari areas. Because of the animals I would be hunting and the government protected lands we were hunting close to ,I would have a Zimbabwe Council Rep and a National Parks Rep with us the entire hunt. My PH for this hunt was Mike Blignaut. After the flights, overnight stay at Africa Sky Lodge, and a 4hr rodeo ride down what’s considered “a road” I was finally settled in and ready to go!
We started off day one covering lots of country looking at tracks and visiting with locals on the elephant traffic. We wound up glassing 17 elephant bulls and some huge crocs right out of the gate! On day two the trackers Tiger, Pizza, and Albert got on the tracks of a group of 6 bulls and we started putting on the miles to catch up. We found the herd in some very heavy jess cooling off in the shade and feeding. It was amazing how a 12,000lb animal can simply “disappear” in the brush! I wound up getting a shot on a mature heavy tusked bull with my .458 Win Mag (500gr Hornady DGS) but unfortunately hit him solid on the shoulder and not behind. He tore out and we began tracking. He wound up going through Forest Reserve land and into National Park land. We had spread the word and actually got a report of him charging some fishermen. Liesl Denny (Tokoloshe Safari owner) was out on the lake running a boat in preparation for us to fish when she spotted the elephant on an island with the rest of the herd. We loaded up and scooted out to the island and sure enough, there he was with a blood stain straight down his front leg. We got permission from the Parks Rep and started our stalk. We were able to get in close and I was able to make the right shots dropping him right there. This was 5 days after the initial shot. If you hunt enough, unfortunately you will more than likely experience a wounded animal situation and it’s never good. But this situation was actually much worse for the fact that this was a dangerous animal in an area where people live and could/would come in contact with. To be able to find him and finish him quickly was an incredible blessing! It was the hard hunt, old school tracking elephant hunt experience that I was wanting and so much more! Lon Denny and his wife Liesl (Tokoloshe Safari owners) were very forward with what to expect size wise from the moment I started talking to them about the hunt. But when weighing out the cost, conservation program, and local impact I knew that I had found the hunt that the experience far outweighed the tusk measurements. Overall I saw 30 bull elephants with a couple being definitely bigger than mine. I was told to expect 15-25lb tusk bulls…mine was 26lb and in his 40’s age wise as he had his last molars.
The crocodile numbers and their size was absolutely shocking to me! I expected to see a few on a bait at a time and to hopefully have a shot on one big one. Boy was I wrong! We had 28 crocs on the bait at one time with a few in the 14-15’+. We were able to video one that was a true behemoth of over 15’ but we weren’t in the blind with rifles. The next evening we could see him out 200 yards on a sandbar and not making any movement so when I seen the 14’ monster with the gnarly teeth…well that’s good for me! I put one 300 win mag through his brain and he never twitched! I’m super stoked about mine but like I said, there were numerous giants to pick from.
On one of the days we couldn’t get on the elephants’ tracks we headed out to the Sembungwe River area for hippo. On the way down to the water to start looking we ran into some fishermen. They told us about one really aggressive, mean bull that was in that area and that he had a bad eye. We stalked in and got set up glassing the pod of hippos. Sure enough, we spotted him and the waiting game began for the best shot. When I finally touched one off it was a side brain shot that sent him into a frenzy. A couple more shots, including a couple misses, and he was done. I started with my .300 wm but finished with a shot from my .458 win mag. This hippo bull was scarred up from one end to the other and was missing his right eyelid. Whether that’s what made him so grouchy and mean who knows? But one thing’s for sure, the locals were happy to see him gone. The same goes for that crocodile. There were 24 cows and 15 goats eaten in the month of May alone in that particular bay. If those cows and goats were your literal currency you use for trading and financial livelihood then you wouldn’t want that monster chewing up your bank account!
I finished my safari with Mike calling in spotted hyenas. This is my second safari that I’ve called spotted hyenas and I just love it! To me it’s the most intense predator calling hunt because they come in fired up and screaming in your face! We were having to use a spotlight on them for me to shoot since I didn’t bring my thermal. This made it a little difficult for getting a shot on them but we worked it out on two. I shot the first one and then one of his buddies ran back to him and I laid him down about 10’ from his buddy. If I’d have had my thermal I’m sure I could have taken all four that came in, but oh well. The first hyena I shot had a poacher’s snare on its neck that was through his hide into the meat causing infection.
I’ll tell you that I actually found this hunt on Africahunt.com and knew nothing of this safari operator. I used the chat forum for references and even called a couple in vetting these folks out. I can say that everything I heard from these people was right on the money…even better! I hunted out of the Suntwe lodge and didn’t have to move to any other camp which helped time wise. I am posting this hunt report on a couple different groups/outlets. I have hours of fantastic footage from this hunt that I will be editing for the video I will post to my YouTube channel- MWH Adventures. I have all of the hunt and shot footage that’s exciting, but possibly more importantly I have interviews with the government reps and locals to explain how these hunts affect them. I’m able to show how there is human/wildlife conflict everywhere you turn but, because of the financial and meat distribution it incentivizes them to NOT poach these animals but to protect them so that the hunting industry can support them. There are no other jobs or industry in the area for them to work…only hunting. And once you see the footage of how hundreds of locals scramble and fight in what can only be described as pure desperation over every single piece of hippo and elephant meat,organs, and bones you might get an idea of the importance of the protein. It’s actually very sad to see…but I think it’s important to see for the education of those who don’t know.
Please go to my YouTube channel (MWH Adventures) and subscribe so that once I get this thing all put together you can watch this amazing adventure! I ended the trip with touring stunning Victoria Falls which was awesome just on its own! If anyone has any questions please comment and I’ll answer…if it’s anti-hunting hate or even hunter bashing hunter then I won’t dignify it with an answer. I want to thank Lon & Liesl, Mike, Sarah & Russell, Tiger, Pizza, Albert, Orbet, Lozina, and everyone else that had a hand in making this a trip of a lifetime!
We started off day one covering lots of country looking at tracks and visiting with locals on the elephant traffic. We wound up glassing 17 elephant bulls and some huge crocs right out of the gate! On day two the trackers Tiger, Pizza, and Albert got on the tracks of a group of 6 bulls and we started putting on the miles to catch up. We found the herd in some very heavy jess cooling off in the shade and feeding. It was amazing how a 12,000lb animal can simply “disappear” in the brush! I wound up getting a shot on a mature heavy tusked bull with my .458 Win Mag (500gr Hornady DGS) but unfortunately hit him solid on the shoulder and not behind. He tore out and we began tracking. He wound up going through Forest Reserve land and into National Park land. We had spread the word and actually got a report of him charging some fishermen. Liesl Denny (Tokoloshe Safari owner) was out on the lake running a boat in preparation for us to fish when she spotted the elephant on an island with the rest of the herd. We loaded up and scooted out to the island and sure enough, there he was with a blood stain straight down his front leg. We got permission from the Parks Rep and started our stalk. We were able to get in close and I was able to make the right shots dropping him right there. This was 5 days after the initial shot. If you hunt enough, unfortunately you will more than likely experience a wounded animal situation and it’s never good. But this situation was actually much worse for the fact that this was a dangerous animal in an area where people live and could/would come in contact with. To be able to find him and finish him quickly was an incredible blessing! It was the hard hunt, old school tracking elephant hunt experience that I was wanting and so much more! Lon Denny and his wife Liesl (Tokoloshe Safari owners) were very forward with what to expect size wise from the moment I started talking to them about the hunt. But when weighing out the cost, conservation program, and local impact I knew that I had found the hunt that the experience far outweighed the tusk measurements. Overall I saw 30 bull elephants with a couple being definitely bigger than mine. I was told to expect 15-25lb tusk bulls…mine was 26lb and in his 40’s age wise as he had his last molars.
The crocodile numbers and their size was absolutely shocking to me! I expected to see a few on a bait at a time and to hopefully have a shot on one big one. Boy was I wrong! We had 28 crocs on the bait at one time with a few in the 14-15’+. We were able to video one that was a true behemoth of over 15’ but we weren’t in the blind with rifles. The next evening we could see him out 200 yards on a sandbar and not making any movement so when I seen the 14’ monster with the gnarly teeth…well that’s good for me! I put one 300 win mag through his brain and he never twitched! I’m super stoked about mine but like I said, there were numerous giants to pick from.
On one of the days we couldn’t get on the elephants’ tracks we headed out to the Sembungwe River area for hippo. On the way down to the water to start looking we ran into some fishermen. They told us about one really aggressive, mean bull that was in that area and that he had a bad eye. We stalked in and got set up glassing the pod of hippos. Sure enough, we spotted him and the waiting game began for the best shot. When I finally touched one off it was a side brain shot that sent him into a frenzy. A couple more shots, including a couple misses, and he was done. I started with my .300 wm but finished with a shot from my .458 win mag. This hippo bull was scarred up from one end to the other and was missing his right eyelid. Whether that’s what made him so grouchy and mean who knows? But one thing’s for sure, the locals were happy to see him gone. The same goes for that crocodile. There were 24 cows and 15 goats eaten in the month of May alone in that particular bay. If those cows and goats were your literal currency you use for trading and financial livelihood then you wouldn’t want that monster chewing up your bank account!
I finished my safari with Mike calling in spotted hyenas. This is my second safari that I’ve called spotted hyenas and I just love it! To me it’s the most intense predator calling hunt because they come in fired up and screaming in your face! We were having to use a spotlight on them for me to shoot since I didn’t bring my thermal. This made it a little difficult for getting a shot on them but we worked it out on two. I shot the first one and then one of his buddies ran back to him and I laid him down about 10’ from his buddy. If I’d have had my thermal I’m sure I could have taken all four that came in, but oh well. The first hyena I shot had a poacher’s snare on its neck that was through his hide into the meat causing infection.
I’ll tell you that I actually found this hunt on Africahunt.com and knew nothing of this safari operator. I used the chat forum for references and even called a couple in vetting these folks out. I can say that everything I heard from these people was right on the money…even better! I hunted out of the Suntwe lodge and didn’t have to move to any other camp which helped time wise. I am posting this hunt report on a couple different groups/outlets. I have hours of fantastic footage from this hunt that I will be editing for the video I will post to my YouTube channel- MWH Adventures. I have all of the hunt and shot footage that’s exciting, but possibly more importantly I have interviews with the government reps and locals to explain how these hunts affect them. I’m able to show how there is human/wildlife conflict everywhere you turn but, because of the financial and meat distribution it incentivizes them to NOT poach these animals but to protect them so that the hunting industry can support them. There are no other jobs or industry in the area for them to work…only hunting. And once you see the footage of how hundreds of locals scramble and fight in what can only be described as pure desperation over every single piece of hippo and elephant meat,organs, and bones you might get an idea of the importance of the protein. It’s actually very sad to see…but I think it’s important to see for the education of those who don’t know.
Please go to my YouTube channel (MWH Adventures) and subscribe so that once I get this thing all put together you can watch this amazing adventure! I ended the trip with touring stunning Victoria Falls which was awesome just on its own! If anyone has any questions please comment and I’ll answer…if it’s anti-hunting hate or even hunter bashing hunter then I won’t dignify it with an answer. I want to thank Lon & Liesl, Mike, Sarah & Russell, Tiger, Pizza, Albert, Orbet, Lozina, and everyone else that had a hand in making this a trip of a lifetime!
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