BnC 04
AH elite
Part 1- The Traveler (Zimbabwe)
The original plan for this year’s trip was to have a full month to hunt Zim, S. Africa and Zambia but as so often happens, family commitments forced us (wife and I) to cut our time down to 21 days. In doing so we decided to go and visit a new area Rouan of @TSALA HUNTING SAFARIS informed us about. The plan was to go check out the property for 5 days and then spend a couple days in Victoria Falls while doing some fishing and sightseeing.
Some time prior to our departure Rouan and I spoke about the area and animals on the Zim property. We concluded that it would be a shame to not have a permit taken out for a bull elephant. The hunting area has boreholes and due to the lack of water elsewhere the blocks had lots of elephant coming in from Hwange and Sukumi Forestry. So, I gave the go ahead with getting the permit for an exportable trophy elephant. Anxious isn’t a word that fully describes the feeling leading up to the day of travel as so many of us know and understand. With my iron sighted Heym 470, 20 rounds of handloaded 500gr CEB solids and 20 rounds of handloaded 500gr Swift Aframes safely packed we were ready to roll. We once again choose to fly United out of Nashville to Newark and onto Joburg. We overnighted in Joburg and jumped on an Airlink flight into Vic Falls the following morning. Once again no issues with the flights or the rifle and luggage arriving with us, knock on wood.
The elephant hunt took place in the rugged and picturesque Gwayi River area of Zimbabwe, a hunting ground bordering the renowned Hwange National Park and Sikumi Forestry area. After a 3.5-hour drive from Victoria Falls International Airport on a notoriously rough road, we finally arrived at camp around dinner time and we were greeted by the entire camp staff and visited with our Zim PH Raphel and his tracker Justin for a bit. Raphel has hunted 100’s of elephant and Justin has been his dedicated tracker for 19 years, so I felt confident we were in good hands. Eager to begin what would be a challenging and memorable adventure we called it a night and tried to get some sleep.
Day 1: We spent the day shooting the rifle and looing over the property to see what might be in the area. The bush in this region is thick and varied, creating an ideal habitat for big game, especially elephant. Seeing good stands of Mopani trees was a treat as lots we encountered had been severely damaged (destroyed) by the elephants. From the start, the signs were promising, we encountered a small group of cows and calves. Over the next few days, we held to a common practice. Search for a BIG track and once found, walk it down if deemed necessary. I honestly have no idea how many total miles we did while either searching and evaluating tracks or walking in to take a look but it was a lot. the hunting party consisted of Myself, my wife, Rouan, PH Raphel, tracker Justin, parks ranger, and an appy PH in his 3rd year.
To be Continued....
The original plan for this year’s trip was to have a full month to hunt Zim, S. Africa and Zambia but as so often happens, family commitments forced us (wife and I) to cut our time down to 21 days. In doing so we decided to go and visit a new area Rouan of @TSALA HUNTING SAFARIS informed us about. The plan was to go check out the property for 5 days and then spend a couple days in Victoria Falls while doing some fishing and sightseeing.
Some time prior to our departure Rouan and I spoke about the area and animals on the Zim property. We concluded that it would be a shame to not have a permit taken out for a bull elephant. The hunting area has boreholes and due to the lack of water elsewhere the blocks had lots of elephant coming in from Hwange and Sukumi Forestry. So, I gave the go ahead with getting the permit for an exportable trophy elephant. Anxious isn’t a word that fully describes the feeling leading up to the day of travel as so many of us know and understand. With my iron sighted Heym 470, 20 rounds of handloaded 500gr CEB solids and 20 rounds of handloaded 500gr Swift Aframes safely packed we were ready to roll. We once again choose to fly United out of Nashville to Newark and onto Joburg. We overnighted in Joburg and jumped on an Airlink flight into Vic Falls the following morning. Once again no issues with the flights or the rifle and luggage arriving with us, knock on wood.
The elephant hunt took place in the rugged and picturesque Gwayi River area of Zimbabwe, a hunting ground bordering the renowned Hwange National Park and Sikumi Forestry area. After a 3.5-hour drive from Victoria Falls International Airport on a notoriously rough road, we finally arrived at camp around dinner time and we were greeted by the entire camp staff and visited with our Zim PH Raphel and his tracker Justin for a bit. Raphel has hunted 100’s of elephant and Justin has been his dedicated tracker for 19 years, so I felt confident we were in good hands. Eager to begin what would be a challenging and memorable adventure we called it a night and tried to get some sleep.
Day 1: We spent the day shooting the rifle and looing over the property to see what might be in the area. The bush in this region is thick and varied, creating an ideal habitat for big game, especially elephant. Seeing good stands of Mopani trees was a treat as lots we encountered had been severely damaged (destroyed) by the elephants. From the start, the signs were promising, we encountered a small group of cows and calves. Over the next few days, we held to a common practice. Search for a BIG track and once found, walk it down if deemed necessary. I honestly have no idea how many total miles we did while either searching and evaluating tracks or walking in to take a look but it was a lot. the hunting party consisted of Myself, my wife, Rouan, PH Raphel, tracker Justin, parks ranger, and an appy PH in his 3rd year.
To be Continued....
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