ZIMBABWE: Elephant & Leopard In Zimbabwe - Cancellation Hunt Report

[Green Chile]

Oh I bet shit got real serious real quick hahaha. Excellent!

You betcha your ass...it got real quick. Ele are fun but it can get serious really fast. 12-15 bulls are serious biz. They can wreck your world quickly.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Looking forward to hearing more of the performance of the CPS. I saw a video of side brain shot elephant where a .470NE was used with a CPS. The bull fell immediately on its side. You could hear the fountain of blood coming out of the high side of the head. It was shooting up 3-4 feet in the air for quite some time. And I do believe that bullet exited the other side.

Congrats on the elephant!

 

[Green Chile]

Thanks for that info. Can I get a look at that CPS video you mentioned? I'm pretty excited about this bullet and I don't normally feel like that! The PHs couldn't quit talking about it. It started with this elephant and went into some other examples, which I will share soon in this hunt report.

 

[Rare Breed]

Yes I’m hunting with D&Y

Was there with them six weeks ago. Great area and hunting

 

[Green Chile]

Was there with them six weeks ago. Great area and hunting

Indeed. D&Y was a topic as the Zim PH knew them and respects them. He said they're young, aggressive outfitters going after anti-poaching like CMS and I wish them the best!

 

[abnhog]

Was there with them six weeks ago. Great area and hunting

Will be my first time hunting with them. I can’t wait. I met them at DSC last year.

 

[Wheels]

Great look bull. Congratulations.

 

[abnhog]

Few thoughts on ammo

This was a hunt that didn't give me a lot of time for rifle prep and of course, I decided to take 2 rifles that were new to me! This was my first time using the North Fork cupped point .416 solids and I loved them! More on that to come.

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Amazingly, the first 4350 reload recipe I tried for the .416 produced this result. Obviously, load development stopped immediately! The other load on paper is the 156 grain Norma Oryx as loaded by Extreme Custom Ammunition at 2600 fps. One thing I'll say about that is I called them 3 weeks before the hunt and asked if they could send me some loads quickly for the 7x57 as I was running out of time to test. The ammo arrived about 1 week later and the quality was very good! Thanks for that fast service and great ammo!

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I’m interested in the North Fork cupped solid for my 375 and the elephant hunt

 

[Green Chile]

I would highly recommend getting a box to see what you think. I knew right away that I liked the accuracy on the first reloads. The damage mine did last week on elephant, zebra...and something else...was impressive.

 

[Green Chile]

I’m interested in the North Fork cupped solid for my 375 and the elephant hunt

I still prefer the Swift A-frame or Barnes TSX for softs but I haven't tried the North Fork softs yet. My search for a good solid is over though. I've found the one I like in the CPS. They also feed like butter in my .416 Rigby. They don't need a hydro type nose.

 

[Skshyk]

Wow what a bull! But let’s see the cat I can’t take it anymore! I got my first Leopard in Zim in July and I had a permit for an elephant but never saw any. What a trip! Congratulations.

 

[Green Chile]

Technically we're only on day 3 of 14! That's why I'm posting differently than normal to point out different subjects. Like I said, it's a leopard hunt that got an early opportunity at ele. The bush is going to give us a few bonuses along the way. Kudos on your cat!

 

[Mauser3000]

Technically we're only on day 3 of 14! That's why I'm posting differently than normal to point out different subjects. Like I said, it's a leopard hunt that got an early opportunity at ele. The bush is going to give us a few bonuses along the way. Kudos on your cat!

Great hunt report so far! I’m on the edge of my seat!

 

[Green Chile]

As good as the ele is, there are some bonuses coming that are much higher scoring.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Very nice grey Leopard.
Glad you guys listened to your local guide and got the job done.
Congratulations.

 

[Philip Glass]

Travel

Yea, travel to Africa isn’t fun but it helps to use a good agent like Travel Express and I appreciate their good service and attention to detail. This time I flew on Air France direct from DFW to Paris…Paris to JNB…then to Bulawayo….then driving a few hours to camp. I didn’t have a lot of heads up on this cancellation hunt to get good rates but Darren Ginn found me the best thing available. Thanks Darren! I look forward to using you next season again...and maybe I need to use Delta direct to Jo’burg again! Two 12 hour flights plus layovers are worse than 16 hours direct to me. In July, I flew on Turkish Air and I wouldn’t say there was a lot of difference between Turkish Air and Air France. It’s about the same flight time from DFW and the service is about the same. I didn’t have long enough layovers to leave the airport on either trip.

I also enjoy using forum sponsor RiflePermits.com for help with permits and transferring firearms through JNB. Every trip, it seems like there is some little issue they help with. A lot of times it’s just Marius or Anna saying to someone, hey just do your job! Easier for them to say that since they work with them every day at the airport. Marius and Anna are also just fun people to make the airport a little easier to transit.

One thing I’ve learned on these long trips is I don’t sleep well on airplanes and airplane food doesn’t sit well with me for some reason. I’m not a picky eater at all but the smell and taste is just off putting to me. On this trip, I didn’t eat or sleep much for 2 days both coming and going. Do yourself a favor and bring some food in your carry-on that agrees with you. You don't want to start or end your trip not feeling well.

I love Marius and Anna with Riflepermits.com!

 

[PARA45]

Man, you are killing me. You know how patient this bunch is, come on, get on it will ya.

 

[Philip Glass]

Omay is a good area. D&Y? I'm told on this trip by numerous sources that the ivory permits are starting to flow again. There was quite a backlog to work through but guys are getting their permits. One just posted here yesterday about theirs being approved. I'm going to contact Conservation Force about getting their help on my permits.

Very good idea.

 

[Philip Glass]

Yes I’m hunting with D&Y

It is going to be epic!

 

[Green Chile]

Ok, ok, ok...no patience around here. Remind me not to get in a leopard blind with y'all! Oh wait...it's not leopard time yet. Still working baits.

Eland day

We were actually looking for a zebra bait when the PH handed me the 416 Rigby and said come with me now! We walked quickly away from the truck and he turned and said there is a HUGE eland in front of us. We tracked a bit and saw this eland was joining a small group of eland. We got them sorted out in the brush in front of us and the PH put me on the sticks. He said get ready when it comes through that small opening in the bush. When he called the shot, I let it go and there was a loud hit from the bullet and the eland took off. These Northfork CPS make a loud report upon impact. It’s quite noticeable. As we went forward, there was hardly any blood. I had a funny feeling in my stomach and wondered what had happened. The shot felt good but we were in heavy brush. As it turns out, the bullet had hit a small stick before hitting the eland (possibly as the bullet tumbled). Now we had a real question of where had the bullet actually hit?

What followed was one of those amazing tracker stories that many of us have experienced. Somehow, the tracker stayed on the right track among several eland with no blood to work with. Did I mention it was middle of the day in a freaking oven?!? After over 1 mile, we found a few scattered drops of blood but nothing significant. I kept thinking where did I hit this eland? I was holding on the shoulder at about 60-70 yards and the shot felt good but we had almost no blood trail. At this point the eland pulled away from the group and we started to smile a little more. After close to another mile with a few scattered drops and smears on the grass, the tracker pointed ahead. I thought no way can that be eland horns sticking up above the grass. They were just too long to be an eland bull but in just a few seconds, the eland exploded out of the grass about 30-40 yards in front of us. The PH yelled that’s him! I aimed for the base of the tail and there was an audible crack like a baseball hit hard. The momentum carried the bull forward a few yards and he collapsed. The bullet hit 1 inch from the root of the tail and ranged over 4 feet forward through the intestines and rumen and lodged against the skin on the off side shoulder. The PH started laughing and said that rifle is the Rigby hand brake!

When we walked up to it the PH said yes man, look at this eland! Both PH’s said it was the largest Livingstone eland they had seen in 60 years of guiding between them. I’m not big on measuring animals but to give respect to this madala eland…he’s 41 inches long and would score in the top 25 SCI. I have a photo of the #1 eland and my eland’s horn length might actually be longer than the #1 eland but that tank had more mass. The PH said no one will believe this and they will think it’s photoshopped….or say how did that Lord Derby eland get into Zim! It’s the eland of a lifetime for sure. I’m very humbled to have taken it.