ZIMBABWE: Mokore Safaris Sengwa Research Tuskless Elephant & Plains Game

[sierraone]

With two RSMs on tap, you can't go wrong! And a 4x14 on the .375, you'll certainly be reaching out there!

 

[jasyblood]

What an awesome hunt! Congratulations on your first elephant!!

 

[cpr0312]

Awesome sir! Congrats and thanks for sharing the experience with us!

 

[Ragman]

What an adventure! I totally enjoyed reading it. Hope there's more!

 

[IdaRam]

With two RSMs on tap, you can't go wrong! And a 4x14 on the .375, you'll certainly be reaching out there!

You just might be right

 

[huntermn15]

Congratulations on your elephant and a fantastic hunt! Thank you for sharing!

 

[IdaRam]

A couple days later we drive up into the hills and have lunch while watching a spring that frequently has animals visiting for a mid-day drink.
We drive to within a couple hundred yards and sneak over the ridge and down to a flat spot where we can set up for a shot and eat lunch.
The animals obviously like this spring and feel comfortable in the canyon. There are eland, kudu, bushbuck amd warthog in sight. One kudu bull is really nice and very tempting at an estimated 53 inches, but he has shallow curls and not quite what I’m hoping for.
Any shot will likely be between 150 and 300 yards. The wind will be a bit of a factor as the distance stretches out, so I take a moment to get some bounces with the range finder and build a range card in my head for drop and drift.
Animals come and go frequently but nothing quite good enough to pull the trigger on.
We spend a couple hours eating and grabbing a few minutes of shut eye. We’re about to call it and pack up when Doug spots a bushbuck ram sneaking through the brush heading for the small trickle of water flowing down the canyon. A few moments after whispering “bushbuck”, Doug whispers “BIG bushbuck! Get ready.”
I am already ready
The ram disappears behind some thick brush and doesn’t reappear immediately. We start a waiting game. Finally he is moving again. If he keeps going he will come to an opening beside the water at 180 yards. The wind is fairly brisk...
He stops right where he is supposed to. I squeeze and the the shot is away.
Dust kicks up beyond and I say a bad word. Jim immediately gives me a call. Perfect elevation but just off the front of his chest. He is frozen in his tracks not sure where the noise came from. I just get on him again and he takes off. Across the crick and into the brush. After a few seconds of looking I spot him in the bush. Jim’s there with a range call, 220. Bang! Whack! A definite solid hit this time.
We watch carefully for a good while, but all is still. We begin the hike down to the last place we saw him which takes 15 minutes or so and immediately find a good blood trail. Fourty yards away he’s piled up, a perfect shot through the heart. I give him the eyeball touch but he’s very dead.
Wow! What a Bushbuck! No ground shrinkage here! I knew he was a very good ram, but I am ecstatic as I run my hands over his horns. Such a beautiful creature the bushbuck are! One of my favorite plains game animals for sure.
I love the character of this old warrior. His bases are thick and gnarled with age. About an inch broken off his right horn tip, but the left will eventually stretch the tape to 16 1/4”. More than I could have hoped for.

As He Lay

A VERY happy hunter and the bushbuck I dreamed of

Hunt with Mokore and Doug Duckworth and they will even make you pack out your own animals!

 

[stug]

That is a fantastic bushbuck!

 

[IdaRam]

That is a fantastic bushbuck!

Thank you! I am still giddy over him He will eventually be a lifesize mount.

 

[nztimb]

He has character in spades. If those horns could tell tales ---

 

[50by50]

Wow! This is turning out to be an awesome hunt! I can't wait to see the rest of the animals you get. Beautiful bushbuck.

 

[Neale]

Great report @IdaRam . Up close and personal is how it should be done.

 

[sierraone]

Have to agree with others on the bushbuck....full of character and stories.....if he could only talk!

 

[jasyblood]

Beautiful bushbuck!!

 

[Ragman]

Ditto on the Bushbuck. He's a chief!

 

[huntermn15]

Outstanding bushbuck, they are also one of my favorite animals to hunt. I will hunt them again on any safari I'm lucky enough to go on.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Awesome Bushbuck! They are one animal that I will always hunt regardless of already having some. They are a special animal to me. Glad that was the one that snuck around in your mind, always makes it better to achieve your goal and not settle.

 

[cpr0312]

Wow what a bushbuck congrats!!

 

[Ridgewalker]

The experience of the elephant hunt was absolutely grand! And I’m glad you have space for a full mount on that wonderfully skinned bushbuck! Very handsome!
Oh what a fine safari!

 

[gillettehunter]

Very fine bushbuck. Congrats.
Bruce