Greffdog
AH member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2023
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 64
- Location
- Texas/Wyoming
- Media
- 4
- Hunted
- Wyoming, Montana, Texas, Zimbabwe
The following hunting report has a trigger warning – brevity is not my forte.
Day 1
Flew into Harare the previous night from Cape Town where I was on vacation with my wife. For my first hunting safari I wanted to go solo and she had to get back to work.
Stayed at one of the Duckworth’s homes in Harare and then got an early start so I could get to the Savé Conservancy with time for an afternoon hunt. Drive to the edge of the Conservancy should take about 3 hours but unfortunately a well-placed chunk of metal in the road took out a tire and the spare was missing. Fortunately, a nearby town had a tire shop but a classic “this is Africa” start to the trip.
Met my PH for the week Dalton McLintock after the short delay and we started our drive across the conservancy to the Mokore camp where I was greeted by Jaimie and the staff with a great lunch.
After lunch we stopped by the range as I was using Gary’s 300 H&H so I took a couple shots off the bags and used shooting sticks for the first time. My group wouldn’t win any awards but I didn’t embarrass myself either so now off to hunt. My goal for this trip was a nice Kudu, while this is partially due to budget, I also wanted to get a feel for hunting in Africa prior making a large financial commitment. I got my money’s worth and then some.
We drove for a bit and saw a few Kudu but only small bulls and nothing worth stalking. Shortly after we started a walk to stretch our legs. Saw a few impala and we sat to glass them over. I had not mentioned it to Dalton at this point, but I was hoping to shoot an Impala first to avoid any buck fever on a Kudu.
As we watched the impala, we saw three Kudu come in, all small bulls but always fun to sit and watch animals in their natural habitat. As we were seated underneath some bushes and an acacia tree, I spotted 2 more Kudu coming in. Dalton saw the first one, but it was difficult for everyone to see the whole picture due to the brush. I lost sight of both, and I could only make out they were Kudu but had no idea if they were cows. The first set of 3 Kudu had grazed to within 50 yards of us and were starting to take notice of us sitting. As they were staring directly at us, Dalton whispered don’t move, and I froze awkwardly holding my binos and gun trying to get a look at the two kudu who were coming in.
The two Kudu kept working towards us and Dalton whispered be ready to shoot. At this time, I still couldn’t see either of them but all three young bulls were still staring at me. Eventually the two Kudu came within view in my scope, one was a much bigger bull than the rest. I don’t know if I ever saw the bull outside of my scope, but he turned broadside slightly quartering towards me. The younger bulls busted and Dalton started excitedly saying, take the shot. I was still seated but felt stable on the front shoulder however I don’t remember if I consciously remembered to aim further forward than elk/deer but I was confident when I pulled the trigger.
The Kudu scattered and Dalton immediately asked how I felt. I told him the shot felt good but seeing no reaction from the Kudu and not hearing any thwap made me immediately question if I had jerked. We walked to where the bull was standing and didn’t see any trace of blood. Each of us started making larger circles and I was starting to question how I had missed such an easy broadside shot at only about 75yards. After about 5-10minutes of searching I heard Andrew point and say there it is. The bull was lying dead in a small gully. When we skinned the entire story became much clearer. My bullet entered slighty further back than indeal and since the Kudu was quartered towards me the bullet exited from the chest cavity into the gut. While I got one or potentially both lungs – the lack of exit wound and opening the diaphragm meant all blood rushed into the gut. Even though not much time had passed – I was almost more relieved that I didn’t mess up such an easy shot at a nice bull than I was excited about the great bull I had just shot. Andrew our tracker thought I had made a good shot, but I wasn’t aware of this and Dalton reassured me later that we would have spent the rest of the evening following those bulls if we hadn’t found him right away.
I started out the day wondering if I would even have time to get in target practice – I was not expecting to punch my tag the first day of the hunt. Dalton said multiple times, this is not a Kudu you pass up on the first day and while I have limited experience with gauging Kudu, I am happy knowing I took a beautiful old mature bull.
Day 2
With the pressure of Kudu off – we started out the next morning looking for a nice Impala ram. I had mentioned Impala and Civet were two other animals I would like to get an opportunity on. After a quick morning drive we did a couple hours walk through the bush but saw less game this morning than on any other day. The abundance of lion, hyena and even some civet tracks might explain the lack of game but still enjoyable to do some walking and work on my track identification. Near the end of our walk we were able to watch a group of giraffes with a great example of younger versus older female coloring.
Did a few more short walks to river overlooks where we watched some Kudu, a young waterbuck and a small bushbuck all coming to the river.
After lunch we went to the skin shed to get some guts and ribs from the Kudu I shot to attempt to bait a Civet. While at the bait shed met Alex, an ecobiologist working on research for his PhD thesis around the cohabitation between brown and spotted hyena. While it’s not my area of expertise as a layman I was impressed with the data collection around the conservancy. Every harvested animal has measurements taken and has the lower jaw sent off for aging to help understand the trends and animal populations.
After collecting the ribs and guts – went to a tree that has a clear shooting lane already established to hang the ribs. Once the trailcam and ribs were setup Andrew took the guts and used them to both spread some scent but also drug them over our tracks to cover any scent we may have left. A clever trick I had never thought of before for predator hunting.
We did a short hunt but no luck but on walk we came up on an elephant feeding towards a dry river bed. Being on foot and watching elephants at a closer distance is such a different experience than viewing during a game drive. We crossed the riverbed so that we might get an opportunity to watch when he crossed, and during this time we spotted an additional 3 young bulls, 2 of which were very young. After watching for almost half an hour they did cross but instead of going straight across they decided to head straight at us which led to us quickly moving further downstream and back to the other side of the river to avoid any encounter closer than desired. Just observing elephants in such close proximity was thrilling without having any intention of hunting them.
Day 3
The previous evening another group in camp wounded a buffalo and as I had a few days left and was only really going to be chasing impala which there would be plenty of opportunity on, Dalton went to assist as the buffalo went into some reeds and it looked like it might be a dangerous situation as it wasn’t clear if the buffalo would be found dead or alive.
That morning I went on a game drive and in addition to many other animals we saw 3 black rhino. A bull, ram and calf. Andrew also taught me a nifty way to help identify white vs black. When in a group black rhino will place calves in the middle whereas a white rhino will put the calf in the lead. Obviously the hooked lip of a black rhino is a bit harder to quickly pick out when they spook and run away quickly. On the way back to camp ran into Barry and he suggested we run over to the other camp as the hippos were out. Unfortunately, by the time we got there they had moved and I didn’t see them that day.
After lunch found out that the other group had jumped the bull and they were currently tracking him through the reeds if I wanted to watch from the riverbed. While it wasn’t my hunt I was happy to get to observe and I think this cemented that my next African hunting trip will be after an old dugga boy. There was lots of excitement and a few tense moments but fortunately they eventually brought the old bull down and I can say that the PH’s have some intestinal fortitude to chase a bull into that thick mess. With my binoculars and having the advantage of elevation even when I knew where the PH’s were, I still could rarely see them. When I did spot them they easily disappeared. Eventually I joined them on the creek bed and it was fun to learn that most of those reeds are either thorny or sharp so in addition to having the concern of a massive pissed off buffalo hiding somewhere, there is no real easy way to move and even if you could move freely, it would be very easy to lose which direction you want to be going. Overall a very intense afternoon I didn’t expect at the start of this trip.
Day 4
Went out looking for some impala and the first nice ram we spotted was off the mokore property. As we drove back to another part of the concession we spotted a nice group with what looked to be a classic adult ram. We parked the truck further up the road and started our walk back. I struggled to get a sight of the ram as the brush was thick and we were moving slowly as there were an abundance of eyes that could spot us. Eventually Dalton got a view of the ram and he put out the sticks and motioned for me to move up. I still didn’t have a clear path to view the ram but knew where to be watching when he made his way out. The ram slowly worked his way into my field of view and Dalton again whispered take the shot when he went broadside. He finally turned broadside but there was still an ewe behind him so I had no clear shot. As soon as she moved I was ready and I fired on shot dropping the impala where he stood. Given I was shooting a 300 H&H I would expect these results but my shot was almost perfectly placed right on the shoulder about halfway up the body. Dalton was excited as there was lots of secondary growth near the base and scars to show this ram was mature. Skinning and gutting confirmed one lung and the top of the heart. The softpoint fragmented into the back which explained the immediate drop although as we discussed, this could have also been from the trauma from using a slightly excessive caliber.
After skinning we checked the trailcam to see if we had attracted any civet. (The previous day we had checked as well but the ribs were untouched) this time the ribs were almost entirely gone. The lack of remaining bone and the trailcam confirmed hyena however the photos showed it was collared which was fed back to Alex who was doing his research. The cam also showed a leopard and genet had fed on the ribs as well. Everything but a civet! We put another chunk of ribs to see what we might bring in that night and hoped for the best but as it would turn out, the civet was not going to happen this trip.
Day 5
Started off our day by spotting a bull elephant near the road. He was thrashing some brush and then proceeded to knock over a tree. Got a great video of Dalton with the bull in the background. We watched him for a bit and got to see him do something I hadn’t witnessed before which was lifting his trunk to pickup our scent. Again just a super enjoyable way to spend a day and I couldn’t have cared less if we had guns along or not. Although given the destruction the elephant was causing on those trees I think being armed was wise.
We started off on another walk and about half an hour in spotted a very nice wide impala on the other side of a shallow river. Dalton asked if I wanted a more non-typical and I said of course. I think it was about a 200 yard shot and unfortunately my previous shooting skills (or maybe just luck!) were not on display. After spending about 45 minutes looking for any sign, we continued to follow the herd just to confirm nothing was wounded. Not at all how I wanted to end my trip but also I great reminded to me that I need to be practicing at the range more. Unfortunately in my current living situation this isn’t possible as I’m an expat in Kuwait but in a few months I will be moving back to the States and I will be going to the range much more frequently to avoid any further misses such as this one. I will saw that reading African Game Trails by Teddy did offer some consolation as I won’t ever be the naturalist or sportsman that Teddy was and even he had some embarrassing misses!
The next day was travel back to Kuwait and other than the privilege of bribing a cop and a long flight with some entertaining passengers there is nothing to report back.
Final Thoughts
Mokore was absolutely top notch and I’m glad that this was my first experience of African hunting. Dalton is an excellent PH who is both fun to talk to but was also entirely gracious in answering what was likely a staggering number of questions from me about birds, plants and animal behaviors.
I would also like to thank Jaimie Holtzhausen and Gary Duckworth for helping plan and answer my questions before the hunt. While this didn't save Dalton from more questions - it did make sure I was entirely comfortable and prepared for the trip.
I would also like to thank the AH forum as I used the search feature extensively both pre and post booking. Many threads helped to make sure I was prepared but also chose a safari company that matched the experience I was looking for. Special thanks to @Mike70560 for answering some of my specific questions as well.
I purchased Courtney boots in South Africa prior to the trip, and I was glad I did as they are much quieter and comfortable for the terrain than my old reliable Danners. I was afraid the justification on Courtney’s was more to look the part but not once did my feet bother me and while we didn’t put on lots of miles – I am confident I could have put on as many miles as my legs would allow me to before my feet became the limiting factor. Honestly I will probably wear these traveling as well as they incredibly comfortable to wear and my wife will even tolerate them aesthetically!
I wore pants everyday and the Kuiu attack pants picked up burrs and thorns much more then the Kuhl pants so recommend non-softshell material which is probably common knowledge but I didn’t think about this prior. I wore workout shorts my last afternoon and I think next time I would opt to bring shorts for hunting but even in pants I was never miserably hot.
If anyone would like more information I’m happy to discuss my experience at Mokore in more detail however if anyone is still reading by this point I’m not sure if I should be apologetic or appreciative
Day 1
Flew into Harare the previous night from Cape Town where I was on vacation with my wife. For my first hunting safari I wanted to go solo and she had to get back to work.
Stayed at one of the Duckworth’s homes in Harare and then got an early start so I could get to the Savé Conservancy with time for an afternoon hunt. Drive to the edge of the Conservancy should take about 3 hours but unfortunately a well-placed chunk of metal in the road took out a tire and the spare was missing. Fortunately, a nearby town had a tire shop but a classic “this is Africa” start to the trip.
Met my PH for the week Dalton McLintock after the short delay and we started our drive across the conservancy to the Mokore camp where I was greeted by Jaimie and the staff with a great lunch.
After lunch we stopped by the range as I was using Gary’s 300 H&H so I took a couple shots off the bags and used shooting sticks for the first time. My group wouldn’t win any awards but I didn’t embarrass myself either so now off to hunt. My goal for this trip was a nice Kudu, while this is partially due to budget, I also wanted to get a feel for hunting in Africa prior making a large financial commitment. I got my money’s worth and then some.
We drove for a bit and saw a few Kudu but only small bulls and nothing worth stalking. Shortly after we started a walk to stretch our legs. Saw a few impala and we sat to glass them over. I had not mentioned it to Dalton at this point, but I was hoping to shoot an Impala first to avoid any buck fever on a Kudu.
As we watched the impala, we saw three Kudu come in, all small bulls but always fun to sit and watch animals in their natural habitat. As we were seated underneath some bushes and an acacia tree, I spotted 2 more Kudu coming in. Dalton saw the first one, but it was difficult for everyone to see the whole picture due to the brush. I lost sight of both, and I could only make out they were Kudu but had no idea if they were cows. The first set of 3 Kudu had grazed to within 50 yards of us and were starting to take notice of us sitting. As they were staring directly at us, Dalton whispered don’t move, and I froze awkwardly holding my binos and gun trying to get a look at the two kudu who were coming in.
The two Kudu kept working towards us and Dalton whispered be ready to shoot. At this time, I still couldn’t see either of them but all three young bulls were still staring at me. Eventually the two Kudu came within view in my scope, one was a much bigger bull than the rest. I don’t know if I ever saw the bull outside of my scope, but he turned broadside slightly quartering towards me. The younger bulls busted and Dalton started excitedly saying, take the shot. I was still seated but felt stable on the front shoulder however I don’t remember if I consciously remembered to aim further forward than elk/deer but I was confident when I pulled the trigger.
The Kudu scattered and Dalton immediately asked how I felt. I told him the shot felt good but seeing no reaction from the Kudu and not hearing any thwap made me immediately question if I had jerked. We walked to where the bull was standing and didn’t see any trace of blood. Each of us started making larger circles and I was starting to question how I had missed such an easy broadside shot at only about 75yards. After about 5-10minutes of searching I heard Andrew point and say there it is. The bull was lying dead in a small gully. When we skinned the entire story became much clearer. My bullet entered slighty further back than indeal and since the Kudu was quartered towards me the bullet exited from the chest cavity into the gut. While I got one or potentially both lungs – the lack of exit wound and opening the diaphragm meant all blood rushed into the gut. Even though not much time had passed – I was almost more relieved that I didn’t mess up such an easy shot at a nice bull than I was excited about the great bull I had just shot. Andrew our tracker thought I had made a good shot, but I wasn’t aware of this and Dalton reassured me later that we would have spent the rest of the evening following those bulls if we hadn’t found him right away.
I started out the day wondering if I would even have time to get in target practice – I was not expecting to punch my tag the first day of the hunt. Dalton said multiple times, this is not a Kudu you pass up on the first day and while I have limited experience with gauging Kudu, I am happy knowing I took a beautiful old mature bull.
Day 2
With the pressure of Kudu off – we started out the next morning looking for a nice Impala ram. I had mentioned Impala and Civet were two other animals I would like to get an opportunity on. After a quick morning drive we did a couple hours walk through the bush but saw less game this morning than on any other day. The abundance of lion, hyena and even some civet tracks might explain the lack of game but still enjoyable to do some walking and work on my track identification. Near the end of our walk we were able to watch a group of giraffes with a great example of younger versus older female coloring.
Did a few more short walks to river overlooks where we watched some Kudu, a young waterbuck and a small bushbuck all coming to the river.
After lunch we went to the skin shed to get some guts and ribs from the Kudu I shot to attempt to bait a Civet. While at the bait shed met Alex, an ecobiologist working on research for his PhD thesis around the cohabitation between brown and spotted hyena. While it’s not my area of expertise as a layman I was impressed with the data collection around the conservancy. Every harvested animal has measurements taken and has the lower jaw sent off for aging to help understand the trends and animal populations.
After collecting the ribs and guts – went to a tree that has a clear shooting lane already established to hang the ribs. Once the trailcam and ribs were setup Andrew took the guts and used them to both spread some scent but also drug them over our tracks to cover any scent we may have left. A clever trick I had never thought of before for predator hunting.
We did a short hunt but no luck but on walk we came up on an elephant feeding towards a dry river bed. Being on foot and watching elephants at a closer distance is such a different experience than viewing during a game drive. We crossed the riverbed so that we might get an opportunity to watch when he crossed, and during this time we spotted an additional 3 young bulls, 2 of which were very young. After watching for almost half an hour they did cross but instead of going straight across they decided to head straight at us which led to us quickly moving further downstream and back to the other side of the river to avoid any encounter closer than desired. Just observing elephants in such close proximity was thrilling without having any intention of hunting them.
Day 3
The previous evening another group in camp wounded a buffalo and as I had a few days left and was only really going to be chasing impala which there would be plenty of opportunity on, Dalton went to assist as the buffalo went into some reeds and it looked like it might be a dangerous situation as it wasn’t clear if the buffalo would be found dead or alive.
That morning I went on a game drive and in addition to many other animals we saw 3 black rhino. A bull, ram and calf. Andrew also taught me a nifty way to help identify white vs black. When in a group black rhino will place calves in the middle whereas a white rhino will put the calf in the lead. Obviously the hooked lip of a black rhino is a bit harder to quickly pick out when they spook and run away quickly. On the way back to camp ran into Barry and he suggested we run over to the other camp as the hippos were out. Unfortunately, by the time we got there they had moved and I didn’t see them that day.
After lunch found out that the other group had jumped the bull and they were currently tracking him through the reeds if I wanted to watch from the riverbed. While it wasn’t my hunt I was happy to get to observe and I think this cemented that my next African hunting trip will be after an old dugga boy. There was lots of excitement and a few tense moments but fortunately they eventually brought the old bull down and I can say that the PH’s have some intestinal fortitude to chase a bull into that thick mess. With my binoculars and having the advantage of elevation even when I knew where the PH’s were, I still could rarely see them. When I did spot them they easily disappeared. Eventually I joined them on the creek bed and it was fun to learn that most of those reeds are either thorny or sharp so in addition to having the concern of a massive pissed off buffalo hiding somewhere, there is no real easy way to move and even if you could move freely, it would be very easy to lose which direction you want to be going. Overall a very intense afternoon I didn’t expect at the start of this trip.
Day 4
Went out looking for some impala and the first nice ram we spotted was off the mokore property. As we drove back to another part of the concession we spotted a nice group with what looked to be a classic adult ram. We parked the truck further up the road and started our walk back. I struggled to get a sight of the ram as the brush was thick and we were moving slowly as there were an abundance of eyes that could spot us. Eventually Dalton got a view of the ram and he put out the sticks and motioned for me to move up. I still didn’t have a clear path to view the ram but knew where to be watching when he made his way out. The ram slowly worked his way into my field of view and Dalton again whispered take the shot when he went broadside. He finally turned broadside but there was still an ewe behind him so I had no clear shot. As soon as she moved I was ready and I fired on shot dropping the impala where he stood. Given I was shooting a 300 H&H I would expect these results but my shot was almost perfectly placed right on the shoulder about halfway up the body. Dalton was excited as there was lots of secondary growth near the base and scars to show this ram was mature. Skinning and gutting confirmed one lung and the top of the heart. The softpoint fragmented into the back which explained the immediate drop although as we discussed, this could have also been from the trauma from using a slightly excessive caliber.
After skinning we checked the trailcam to see if we had attracted any civet. (The previous day we had checked as well but the ribs were untouched) this time the ribs were almost entirely gone. The lack of remaining bone and the trailcam confirmed hyena however the photos showed it was collared which was fed back to Alex who was doing his research. The cam also showed a leopard and genet had fed on the ribs as well. Everything but a civet! We put another chunk of ribs to see what we might bring in that night and hoped for the best but as it would turn out, the civet was not going to happen this trip.
Day 5
Started off our day by spotting a bull elephant near the road. He was thrashing some brush and then proceeded to knock over a tree. Got a great video of Dalton with the bull in the background. We watched him for a bit and got to see him do something I hadn’t witnessed before which was lifting his trunk to pickup our scent. Again just a super enjoyable way to spend a day and I couldn’t have cared less if we had guns along or not. Although given the destruction the elephant was causing on those trees I think being armed was wise.
We started off on another walk and about half an hour in spotted a very nice wide impala on the other side of a shallow river. Dalton asked if I wanted a more non-typical and I said of course. I think it was about a 200 yard shot and unfortunately my previous shooting skills (or maybe just luck!) were not on display. After spending about 45 minutes looking for any sign, we continued to follow the herd just to confirm nothing was wounded. Not at all how I wanted to end my trip but also I great reminded to me that I need to be practicing at the range more. Unfortunately in my current living situation this isn’t possible as I’m an expat in Kuwait but in a few months I will be moving back to the States and I will be going to the range much more frequently to avoid any further misses such as this one. I will saw that reading African Game Trails by Teddy did offer some consolation as I won’t ever be the naturalist or sportsman that Teddy was and even he had some embarrassing misses!
The next day was travel back to Kuwait and other than the privilege of bribing a cop and a long flight with some entertaining passengers there is nothing to report back.
Final Thoughts
Mokore was absolutely top notch and I’m glad that this was my first experience of African hunting. Dalton is an excellent PH who is both fun to talk to but was also entirely gracious in answering what was likely a staggering number of questions from me about birds, plants and animal behaviors.
I would also like to thank Jaimie Holtzhausen and Gary Duckworth for helping plan and answer my questions before the hunt. While this didn't save Dalton from more questions - it did make sure I was entirely comfortable and prepared for the trip.
I would also like to thank the AH forum as I used the search feature extensively both pre and post booking. Many threads helped to make sure I was prepared but also chose a safari company that matched the experience I was looking for. Special thanks to @Mike70560 for answering some of my specific questions as well.
I purchased Courtney boots in South Africa prior to the trip, and I was glad I did as they are much quieter and comfortable for the terrain than my old reliable Danners. I was afraid the justification on Courtney’s was more to look the part but not once did my feet bother me and while we didn’t put on lots of miles – I am confident I could have put on as many miles as my legs would allow me to before my feet became the limiting factor. Honestly I will probably wear these traveling as well as they incredibly comfortable to wear and my wife will even tolerate them aesthetically!
I wore pants everyday and the Kuiu attack pants picked up burrs and thorns much more then the Kuhl pants so recommend non-softshell material which is probably common knowledge but I didn’t think about this prior. I wore workout shorts my last afternoon and I think next time I would opt to bring shorts for hunting but even in pants I was never miserably hot.
If anyone would like more information I’m happy to discuss my experience at Mokore in more detail however if anyone is still reading by this point I’m not sure if I should be apologetic or appreciative
