ZIMBABWE: Has Anyone Hunted With Dalton & York?

[JJRMT]

Getting very close to pulling the trigger on a trip for Buffalo and Elephant with Dalton and York. I’ve read great hunt reports on here so far. Any other input/advice from other members? Just trying to get as much input as possible!!
Thank you

 

[buck wild]

I went last yea,r as a few others of us. Solid outfit. Accommodations and food were very nice considering how far out in the boonies you are. Not sure if you have ever done a "communal" hunt but it was my first. I was taken back by the number of people that we encountered during our hunts. It was a great experience to see how they lived but I never got used to it while we were actually hunting.
You're not going to see hundreds of animals per day. Most of the hunting gets done around the lake and Ume River, which means you might spent 2.5 hrs to get to your hunting locale, although I think they have a spike camp going now in McKenzie (furthest West area).
They have tons of hippo and crocs! Lots of elephant, good population of buffalo, chobe bushbuck, waterbuck and impala. The area isn't know for trophy impala though. Outside that, I think anything else you aren't specifically targeting will be occasional, chance run ins.
For Elephant and buff you should be good. I only saw one bull ele with around 50 lb ivory but we weren't hunting ele either.
D&Y made payment easy and they never sweated over the details. The camp crew is great, but that also leads to a larger than I was used to "tip list" so to speak. But no biggie as most were $40-$50 tip ranges.
I think you can book with confidence.

 

[JJRMT]

I went last yea,r as a few others of us. Solid outfit. Accommodations and food were very nice considering how far out in the boonies you are. Not sure if you have ever done a "communal" hunt but it was my first. I was taken back by the number of people that we encountered during our hunts. It was a great experience to see how they lived but I never got used to it while we were actually hunting.
You're not going to see hundreds of animals per day. Most of the hunting gets done around the lake and Ume River, which means you might spent 2.5 hrs to get to your hunting locale, although I think they have a spike camp going now in McKenzie (furthest West area).
They have tons of hippo and crocs! Lots of elephant, good population of buffalo, chobe bushbuck, waterbuck and impala. The area isn't know for trophy impala though. Outside that, I think anything else you aren't specifically targeting will be occasional, chance run ins.
For Elephant and buff you should be good. I only saw one bull ele with around 50 lb ivory but we weren't hunting ele either.
D&Y made payment easy and they never sweated over the details. The camp crew is great, but that also leads to a larger than I was used to "tip list" so to speak. But no biggie as most were $40-$50 tip ranges.
I think you can book with confidence.

Thank you for the quick reply! I am a bit concerned about the human presence. Not sure how I’m going to react to that. Can you get away from the villages and be out in the wild areas and still expect good hunting. I like the idea of sharing everything with the villages, but not too into hunting out of peoples fields etc..

 

[mark-hunter]

This is written on D&Y web site:

It is a communal area whose people are situated in the centre of the concession, hunting in an area like this is not just about the trophy animals but about giving back to a community. No animal is wasted here as the meat is distributed to the communities and part of the trophy fees is allocated to the various sections to enable the people to have essentials such as schools, clinics and boreholes for running water. So not only do you have an experience of a lifetime but you give back to the community.

 

[buck wild]

Yes to some degree the areas we spent most of our hunting time was away from the larger village presence, but I don't think you are ever anywhere that doesn't have the possibility of running into someone just walking through the bush. It doesn't appear to effect the animals as much as it probably does us. The elephant and buffalo stay around the village areas quite frequently. A couple of days we spent chasing problem village buffalo, but I wasn't a big fan and requested we try buff another way.

 

[Rare Breed]

I am hunting buff and elephant with them in August 23 with Philip Glass and others. Met and talked with York at DSC this year and came away impressed and relaxed

 

[JJRMT]

I am hunting buff and elephant with them in August 23 with Philip Glass and others. Met and talked with York at DSC this year and came away impressed and relaxed

That’s great to hear! I’m an chatting with Philip now about a hunt next year!!

 

[Flipper Dude]

Killed my first buff with Dalton at Omay N. Ume camp. Arrival day we got to camp after dark following a long drive in. Didn’t know what camp looked like until day 4. Left before daylight each morning. Returned after dark in the evening. Simply wonderful hunt and experience. Hope to hunt with him again sometime.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Thank you for the quick reply! I am a bit concerned about the human presence. Not sure how I’m going to react to that. Can you get away from the villages and be out in the wild areas and still expect good hunting. I like the idea of sharing everything with the villages, but not too into hunting out of peoples fields etc..

I wouldnt be too worried. You will drive by the villages but once hunting you won't see anyone. You definitely won't be hunting out of fields, might pick up a track there but once you cut a track, you aren't going to see anyone for a while.

 

[JetA1]

Have a look at TIA5(this is africa 5) on youtube, the last couple of episodes has been with dalton and york safaris.

 

[buck wild]

I wouldnt be too worried. You will drive by the villages but once hunting you won't see anyone. You definitely won't be hunting out of fields, might pick up a track there but once you cut a track, you aren't going to see anyone for a while.

Yeah that wasn't exactly my experience last year. Although there are areas that are designated "hunting only" we still ran into people. On my second buffalo, we had left two bulls bedded around 11 am and when we came back to go back in at 3 pm, three villagers were walking down the road from fishing at the lake within 300 yards of our bedded bulls. Luckily it all worked out in our favor. They mainly stay on the roads and it was rare to see someone once we were deep into the bush, but the shoe prints in various places told me they do have an occasion to be in those areas also. We intentionally tracked buffalo THROUGH villages on several occasions.

But again, I don't think it ever hurt our hunt per se. Just odd getting used to. Book in confidence it will all work out.

 

[Andrew62]

I emailed them over 2 weeks ago to ask about an elephant hunt and I have yet to hear back from them. I very much have enjoyed a number of videos of them hunting various clients. They seem like a good outfit!!

 

[buck wild]

I emailed them over 2 weeks ago to ask about an elephant hunt and I have yet to hear back from them. I very much have enjoyed a number of videos of them hunting various clients. They seem like a good outfit!!

Probably have better luck hitting them up on Whatsapp. I know they are running safaris right now and busy handling clients. PM me if you need a number for Whatsapp for York but I think both have numbers listed on the website if I'm not mistaken. .

 

[revturbo9967]

I emailed them over 2 weeks ago to ask about an elephant hunt and I have yet to hear back from them. I very much have enjoyed a number of videos of them hunting various clients. They seem like a good outfit!!

They are very much in prime hunting season as of right now so I doubt they will get back to you for some time. Be patient, Dalton is great with communication.

I'm booked with them for September in 2023 and very excited to hunt with them. I did speak to a lot of people prior who hunted that area or PHs who hunted the Omay in the past (Martin Peiters). Like Buck Wild mentioned, you will run into people in the Omay. If you want a true wilderness hunt where there is no people, you will have to pay more to hunt one of those true safari areas. There are communal hunting areas with set hunting blocks within them but the villagers will still find their way into them from time to time.

 

[Flint]

All I can afford is YouTube hunting experiences. And from what I witnessed of the Dalton and York operation. Was impressive.
No fancy bullshitting. A hard working and genuine operation.
Enjoy!

 

[seth hollenbach]

Just finished safari with them. Could not have ask for a better hunt. We did elephant, buff, sable, plains game. The communal land is a cool experience. Go with them, nobody will hunt harder.

 

[buck wild]

Just finished safari with them. Could not have ask for a better hunt. We did elephant, buff, sable, plains game. The communal land is a cool experience. Go with them, nobody will hunt harder.

Interested to hear what area you hunted the sable. York mentioned there were a few herds on a couple table top "mountains" in the area but they were mostly in the central or southern area of the Omay. We stayed North the whole time. I've also seen where D&Y hunt Mateisti 5 (maybe?) also.

 

[Flint]

What a wonderful testimonial Seth. York's talk and do. In total just relates to my personal way of wanting to be treated and experience.
Well your money's worth.

 

[Philip Glass]

Thank you for the quick reply! I am a bit concerned about the human presence. Not sure how I’m going to react to that. Can you get away from the villages and be out in the wild areas and still expect good hunting. I like the idea of sharing everything with the villages, but not too into hunting out of peoples fields etc..

Getting away from a communal area means hunting a safari area. This would make your daily rate go from $850 to possibly $2500 or more depending on what you are hunting. FYI

 

[Philip Glass]

Yeah that wasn't exactly my experience last year. Although there are areas that are designated "hunting only" we still ran into people. On my second buffalo, we had left two bulls bedded around 11 am and when we came back to go back in at 3 pm, three villagers were walking down the road from fishing at the lake within 300 yards of our bedded bulls. Luckily it all worked out in our favor. They mainly stay on the roads and it was rare to see someone once we were deep into the bush, but the shoe prints in various places told me they do have an occasion to be in those areas also. We intentionally tracked buffalo THROUGH villages on several occasions.

But again, I don't think it ever hurt our hunt per se. Just odd getting used to. Book in confidence it will all work out.

Yes if you are close to the lake you will see people. Other areas as has been mentioned you wont see anyone. I agree it would be nice to have no villages in the area but it is what it is.