ZIMBABWE: Hunting The BVC In Zimbabwe For Buffalo, John Sharp Safaris Exceeding Expectations

[Pheroze]

That looks like a superb bull! What a great hunt.

 

[Royal27]

Love love love it!!

 

[WAB]

Wow, great bull, great hunt! Congrats Tim!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Great bull @tarbe and also well earned! I am curious to know why at that last moment John didn’t want you to shoot?

And there’s still this impala matter........

 

[Wheels]

Glad you finally ate those eggs and bacon!

Great looking bull Tim. Congratulations!

I am really enjoying the story telling and camaraderie in this report. You both write in an entertaining style.

 

[Red Leg]

Great report and better hunt! Well done.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats @tarbe on a great buffalo!!

 

[tarbe]

So now the "bad news" regarding my buffalo.

While that bull died very quickly (we didn't get a death bellow and he evidently died in mid-stride...all four legs facing backwards and lying on his chin), the bullet did not perform as designed.

The skinners found the remains of the bullet in the lungs, and it weighed a mere 327 grains...59% weight retention. More like what I would expect from a non-bonded bullet.

I sent the below pics to Woodleigh and Geoff commented that it appeared as though the bonding failed. I have to agree.

 

[tarbe]

I was really looking forward to a good report on this bullet. Now I am simply glad I did not end up with a rodeo.

 

[tarbe]

Great bull @tarbe and also well earned! I am curious to know why at that last moment John didn’t want you to shoot?

And there’s still this impala matter........

John started having second thoughts about the bush. But not serious enough to really put the brakes on.

 

[tarbe]

Fantastic hunt, in a game rich paradise, with a legendary PH and Safari operator.!

Not only a legend (John) but also a legend in the making (Dave).

I recall when Cody and I met Dave, I thought to myself that John and Dave are really a "Dynamic Duo".

You have the elder, seasoned pro who has forgotten more than most of us know...and the young, energetic, excited, sponge who has already hunted enough and learned enough to be considered quite accomplished in his own right.

The fact that these two guys love each other is the cherry on top. Either one will lay down his life for the other. It is a beautiful thing. I would hunt with these two guys every year if I could afford it!

 

[cagkt3]

Well done @tarbe, congrats!!

 

[Bullthrower338]

My luck on bumping into a daylight hyena is definitely not happening, we have spotted and brown hyena coming into several baits but not while we are sitting them. I’m pretty sure the word has gotten out that if we pull a trigger it is going into the salt shed and the hyenas are scared! Lol
We were sitting a blind an Nengo Dam and in comes a brown hyena. Starts devouring our hind quarter of zebra we have hanging we take some pictures and enjoy watching him. Dave said he was going to spook him off so maybe a spotted would come in. He yells out of the blind and the hyena runs straight at the blind then veers off to the left and into the bush. Good he is gone! That only lasted a couple minutes and he was sauntering back into the bait. Evidently this dude had got the memo that we can’t import brown hyena and really didn’t give a damn that we did not appreciate him eating our zebra. The 1200.00 trophy fee on a brown would have been well worth it at this point and it would have made a nice picture for the wall but along with the TF there is a government added 1500 fee that comes with shooting one and that was a deal breaker for me. We decide to call for the truck and abort operation Nengo Dam Hyena. As Dave so eloquently said, “a plan so cunning we could pin a tail on it and call it a fox”. Well back to the drawing board!
The next morning we run our baits, spotted on two baits, browns on every bait and we have a beautiful male leopard on one bait as well as a couple honey badgers.
We need more bait, hmmm, Impala with the 470 would be quite cool, Dave agrees so we are off in search of a bait impala!
We find him and a couple buddies as we cross through the Bubye River and get out of the cruiser. I got a strange look from Doobi as I asked for the 470. Kinda that what is this goofy white man thinking look that only an African tracker can give. We sneak up the bank but they have us pegged, we switch direction and get into the river bottom and instantly spook a bushbuck that goes directly in the direction of the impala! We keep moving and slowly Dave peeks over the bank, he sets the sticks and I slide into place on them. He is facing away from us at about 40 yards so I line up and touch off the right barrel. The impala runs! This is not the expected outcome of 5k foot pounds impacting a 100 pound animal! We run up to where he was standing and he was about 15 yards from where he was at the shot facing us just shivering. Dave and I looked at each other in awe and I raised the rifle again and put a round into the point of his shoulder.
Upon inspection of the ram we find that the bullet had entered dead center his ball sack, through the belly smashed through the front shoulder and was under the skin! How did it not penetrate completely on such a small animal? We cut the bullet out and upon inspection the shank of the bullet had a large dent in it! The second bullet had taken a similar path and exited an inch from the entrance of the first.

Bullet weight was 480.4 so retention was excellent yet the dent in the shank is quite confusing!

We hung half the impala at the site where the leopard was showing up and the other half at an active bait right near camp.
The next morning when we checked the cards the male had returned and brought a date with him. Very cool to see. The below picture shows claw marks in the hide of the impala.

Hopefully Dave will send a few pictures of the leopards from the game cam but he is in the bush in Mozambique for 45 days.

 

[ActionBob]

Wow you guys are having a great hunt! Congratulations on everything! Those are both buffalo of a lifetime.

 

[ActionBob]

Early afternoon found us tracking a group of about 8 old bulls.

Wind was favorable, weather was great, and we knew there were bulls at the end of the tracks. We were anxious to put our morning blunder behind us and get back to work.

We tracked these bulls for about an hour, with the usual episodes of Zebra and Giraffe getting in the way and causing us to have to leave the track to swing wide.

After about 90 minutes we made contact with the herd. And we were close...it was so thick that even at 30 yards a shot would have been very tough. But John's face and demeanor told the story...no shooters - at least none that were in view.

But there were more bulls in the group, so we let them move off and we took the track again, hoping for a better look at the other bulls.

After another 30 - 40 minutes, we were all hunkered down single file. Isaac in front, then John, then Lovemore and lastly myself. It was one of those situations where you were close, but not able to see if there is a shooter in the group. We backed out a bit and swung wide to come in from another angle, to get a better look.

As we patiently waited for a better view, I heard a twig snap behind me. I carefully craned my stiff old body around to scan. I saw nothing.

30 seconds later, another twig snaps! Something is back there and I have to look again. Nothing? Nothing!

Back to the Buffalo. You guessed it, a third snap. I pivot around and what do I see? An enormous Bull Elephant in full view, broadside, at max 40 yards.

I reach forward and tug on Lovemore's sleeve. My eyes are wide and I am pointing behind me. When he turns his head around, his eyes rivaled mine!

Lovemore immediately taps Johns shoulder. John looks back and in one motion opens his Rigby, pulls the soft out of the right barrel and drops in a second solid.

We are all looking at each other with grins that basically said "can you believe this"?

And as quickly as that bull came into our lives, he left.

How does a 5 ton animal sneak up on someone who is in hunting mode? I have no idea. I think he popped up out of a hole!

Tim that was what surprised me the most about hunting elephant back in 2014. The literal silence, unless they are feeding.

My mother used to yell at us kids that we sounded "like a herd of elephants "... Boy was she wrong! Those things walk on giant sneakers

 

[meigsbucks]

Damn Tim... what a bull! With that weird bullet performance, it was definitely your lucky day. I guess it was the eggs.
Cody needs to trade that .470 for a .600 if he’s going to hunt impala.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Damn Tim... what a bull! With that weird bullet performance, it was definitely your lucky day. I guess it was the eggs.
Cody needs to trade that .470 for a .600 if he’s going to hunt impala.

Damn right on both accounts! But I’m thinking 577 as the 600 may be a little excessive!

 

[ActionBob]

Cody needs to trade that .470 for a .600 if he’s going to hunt impala.

Don't give him ideas

 

[Edge]

@tarbe - Well done and a great bull!

 

[ActionBob]

I'm just glad Cody didn't have to run after that buffalo like he did in Australia last year

This is roughly what he looked like after tripping on a rock, almost face planting, but recovering mid-fall as he was holding his rifle and covering ground as he slowly regained from almost horizontal to fully vertical status