ZIMBABWE: Report Buffalo Hunt With Lon From Tokoloshe Safaris In Zimbabwe Oct 2018

[gillettehunter]

I am so sorry to hear this Lon. I had hoped to figure out how to hunt with you in the future. I for one applaud your efforts as well as your apparent good attitude. I hope that those involved can see the value of what your trying to do.
Bruce

 

[BRICKBURN]

I hope you can get it sorted.

 

[Wheels]

Hello everyone,

First I would like to thank one of hunters from Germany, Frank for the great pictures of the camp! I hope that he continues with his story and that he can fill in details that I am not at liberty to state on a open to the public forum!

We had a very disappointing series of hunts. The community disappointed us greatly, they were allowed to roam and cut thatching grass in our prime hunting areas, cattle invaded all of the water points as the people and the cattle came in the game left. We also were in a struggle with the Staff of the adjoining National park and the "anti hunting NGO" who seem to be running the park! Then there was the internet hacker who diverted a deposit from Germany it ended up in Nigeria, bye, bye $5,000.00!

We hope to have these problems under control for the future, be assured we will take no deposits on future hunts, unless we know that we will have full co-operation from the community that we are trying to support. We plan on meeting with the proper National Parks representative concerning their staff and the NGO operating in the national park.

If the above mentioned problems are addressed we will be doing our hunts earlier in the year in 2019 probably starting around 1, April. If the problems cannot be addressed we will not be operating in the Mucheni Conservancy, we will loose, the community will loose, but most of all the wildlife will loose.

Cheers, Lon

Lon, sorry that you and your hunters had all of these problems. All the best in getting them sorted out prior to next season.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

I am so sorry to hear this Lon. I had hoped to figure out how to hunt with you in the future. I for one applaud your efforts as well as your apparent good attitude. I hope that those involved can see the value of what your trying to do.
Bruce

Thank you for your support we will not give up!

 

[Bullhunter]

Part 6:
(Sorry, I was out of town on an other hunt, but I will finish now)

The area ist rough, with hills and moutains and not so easy to walk.
As Lon wrote months before, you can start hunting from the camp, but this is not so easy.
You must be trained and skilled, and I can do it.
You can walk the complete day, Lons tracker are fit, they have no problem, it is up to you.

Otherwise you can drive by car, witch we do also.
But this can take hours, follow the heards, searching for tracks, pp.

The are was dry in that days, but even then, you see you are in Simabwe (mor "green) and not in Namibia.

I like the roughness of the country, the smell and the heat.
For me it was great.
(I look on my tripps more for the adventure, not so mutch für the hunt - the shooting - itself.)

 

[Bullhunter]

I was on the mountains here (on the top, by walk and by drive) and on some others.

 

[Bullhunter]

In the mid-day heat.

 

[Bullhunter]

Part 7
(Final)

We had hunt hart.
Some days we start at 3 o clock in the morning ("night") until the late evening.
Day by day.
This was pure hunting, no nolidays.

There are not many animaly in the area.
The problems:
Lon writes about this, in his last statements here in this thread.

Sometimes we came close to the buffalos, but he had no good posibility to shoot.
Im a trained and good shooter, but I must have an clear target, that I can identify (I have also the PH exam and dont need an jugement, pp. I made my own one.) I dont shoot on an "running something" in the thick bush.
So I dont shoot an animal at this hunt.

But anyway:
We had some gerat days and we made some good photos.

Lon is a man by the word.
I was great to meet him in personal and to share the campfire with him.
He had an great knowledge, for guns to live... and his collection of old english rifles is also very impressiv.
I payed only for the hunting and get the money for the animal back.

I hope he will have sucsess and can "rule he area".
I will come back then for sure.

 

[Bullhunter]

There are some buffalos.

 

[Bullhunter]

This can be the legend "three leg buffalo" with over 45 inches...
???
(Photo with 2000 (not 200) mm - from a tree -, there are many bushes and trees between (witch you cant seen on this photo) . We tryed to get closer for days...)

 

[Bullhunter]

Dont go to close to the water....

 

[Bullhunter]

One of the better photos of this adventure...
"The last fisherboot" (Leica, 11 - 2018)

 

[Shootist43]

You don't need to take any animals to have a memorable hunt. You just about covered everything by saying that you would be going back. I think I'd get that photograph of the last fishing boat enlarged and framed. Or better yet turned into a watercolor and then framed.

 

[IdaRam]

@Bullhunter , thank you for sharing this experience and the beautiful pictures with us. I am sorry to hear that your hunt didn’t end in success on the buffalo, but your attitude and point of view on the situation is admirable. It sounds like you took the position of making lemonade from the lemons and enjoyed the experience to the fullest. Well done!

@Tokoloshe Safaris , my heart goes out to you and everyone involved in the operation. I know you have invested not only financially in this endeavor, but also a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I desperately hope the issues can be resolved and Mucheni can become a shining example of what can be accomplished for conservation through sustainable use hunting and partnership with local communities.

I understand you may not be able to elaborate fully, but can you shed a little more light on the issues with the Park staff and the NGO operating within the park?

@Elmon Mudenda , my heart goes out to you as well, I know this must be a frustrating disappointment that things did not go smoothly this first season. Can you offer any insight as to what plans you may have to resolve these issues with the local community?

Lon, as you and I have discussed possible hunts together at Mucheni I ask these questions with genuine hope for your success. I am pulling for you.
Please keep us posted as things progress and best of luck.

 

[Pondoro]

Boy..this thread and pics really woke the African fever....I need to go to Zim...

Lon and Elmon...I really hope matters will improve for you...

 

[Nyati]

Thank you for your report, Bullhunter, sorry the hunt did not come through as you expected, but you made the best of it, as a true hunter