ZIMBABWE: Trip Report Zimbabwe Matetsi 2021

[Agrarler]

After being postponed because of the Covid issue we´ve been finally able in October 2021 to make the long before planned trip to Zimbabwe. We, that are three hunting buddies and me. The plan was to hunt buffalo and after we´ve hopefully been successful we Would try to shoot some plains game.
In preparation I bought a Blaser R8 (I already use one since several years in 30-06) with two barrels: .300 WinMag and .375 H&H Mag. For both a friend of mine loaded Barnes TTSX, 150 and 250 grains.

The flight was booked at Ethiopian Airlines. The stop in Addis was quite an adventure on its own: we`ve been taken out and brought into the catacombs to check the weapon related documents and even the serial numbers on the guns. Same procedure was done in Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls) after
standing more than two hours in big line to get the visa.
But finally we passed alle the controls and went outside the airport we Steve, owner of the outfit, and two of his PH had been waiting for us in order pick us up and drive to the camp.
The camp was only one short hour of driving over sandy roads through a few little villages. This was really the old Africa one knows from the safari books. The camp itself was on top of little hill with in total 3 simple huts for PH and guests and view tents for the camp stuff. Electric light was brought the battery of the cars so if they were not connected, we had no electricity at all. The camp was quite rustic but the atmosphere was fantastic! The view from the dining room too: you could see some small hills and at their feet the border of the Hwange national park. In front was a bis water hole with lots of animals during day time.

In the evening we saw a big herd of buffalos moving into the concession. With roaring lions and barking hyenas near to the camp the night was quite short and we left the camp after a short breakfast early in morning in order o find the herd we had seen the evening before…let’s go buffalo hunting!

 

[mark-hunter]

The flight was booked at Ethiopian Airlines. The stop in Addis was quite an adventure on its own: we`ve been taken out and brought into the catacombs to check the weapon related documents and even the serial numbers on the guns.

Actually they did the same for my group, We went down in cargo space where forklifts are diesel powered in closed space, and you can cut the diesel smoke with knife!

I am glad you had a good hunt!
What was your outfitter?

 

[Agrarler]

After only a few kilometers are driven we found the herd. There were about 200 buffs spread in front of us. I gave my buddy the first try (we had been hunting 2:1). After a short stalk he took his chance and the first bull was in the salt! What a beginning!

At this time of the year the pressure from the predators – mostly lion- was that big, that all the buffalos were pushed together to big groups 200- 300 animals each. That meant that were almost no single bulls. So, the idea was to give the herd we had taken out that one bull some ours to calm down and then try to find them again.
The buffalos had moved into the mountains where we found them early afternoon lying in the shadows of the dense trees. We tried to reach as near as possible and rested in the long gras. The sun was burning and we had to wait almost two hours before the first animals got up. Unfortunately they left the mountains to the wrong side (at least from our point of view ). We followed them the
whole afternoon but every time we came in range they moved before we found an old bull… When the sun was standing low on the horizon the buffalos stood close together. We managed to get in range – 80 m, and the PH positioned the sticks.
PH: That one!
I: Which one?
PH: the one looking at us!
I: there are 200 buffs looking at us!
Then the herd moved again and we ran as fast as we could, just to keep the distance. After a few hundred meters they stopped again and I got on the sticks.
PH: that one!
I: which one?? (at this moment I almost lost my patience… there where hundreds of buffalos right in front of me and I wasn`t able to figure out the right on…frustrating! But the herd caused a huge cloud of dust while moving and it was really hard to identify the single animals in the fading light.)
PH: the one with the nose up!
There it was: an angry looking old bull trying to catch up wind and facing into our direction. The bull was quartering towards us so I aimed on the front of the shoulder.
He went down immediately at the first shot and the herd moved about 50m and stopped running.
But we ran! My bullet broke the spine right in front of the shoulder and I was afraid the bull would come up again. I shot for second time just when he was again on his feed. The bull went down again and I positioned an insurance shot. There he was- MY buffalo!
It took some time to sort my feelings. I was overwhelmed from what had happened. After taking lots of photos two trackers went towards the car. After hours they came back with the land cruiser and we loaded the bull and drove back to camp. What a day!

 

[Roller]

Which Unit ? Or was this in ECA?

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on the buff and thanks for sharing!

 

[Agrarler]

The next day we focused on finding buffalos for the other 2 of us. Of cause that was priority number one. After having no success, we drove back to camp. On this way we spotted a Kudu the PH determined as a shooter. I jumped from the car, stalked into the direction of the Kudu and shot him
quartering away just in the moment when he started to run away. He made some fast jumps into the thicket and we couldn`t see him no more.
When we came to the point where we lost him we found blood, a lot, and the color showed it was from the lungs… maybe 30 more meters and we found him stone dead on the ground of a small dry river bed.

 

[shootist~]

Very nice buffalo and kudu- and good shooting!

Did you use the .375 / 250 gr TTSX on both?
What did the PH think about the bullet performance, especially on the buff?

 

[Agrarler]

I used the 375 only for the buff. Performance and penetration was poor! For this October I bought the 300 grain TSX for the 375-following the PH recommendations. He said that would be the best buffalo bullet in his opinion…
The .150 grain in .300 worked quite well. I shoot it a lot at home too. Never had problems, wether I used it on red stag or wildboar… for smaller animals it’s a bit oversized

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Good hunt, nice buffalo and kudu. Did you eat some of the meat?

 

[Agrarler]

Good hunt, nice buffalo and kudu. Did you eat some of the meat?

Yes- we had meat from all of our animals hunted. Sorry, not all- but this story will follow

 

[Agrarler]

The next day was once again searching for buffalos but once again without success. The big herd had moved and we didn`t find other ones that day. Late afternoon we saw a single Impala ram that seemed to be worth a stalk. I took the gun and the sticks and sneaked into shooting distance. After the shot he made 10 meters and was down. What beautiful animals they are!

 

[Agrarler]

Very impressive had been the gigantic bush fires to me. A lot of the area was already totally burnt but fires were still all around. In the evening they were visible over long distances. Sometimes it looked like the horizon would be burning.
In this year the gras was extremely long because of the wet summer. That seemed to be perfect for all the fire. The PH told that this would be the reason that the elephants had moved. We only saw very few of them…

 

[Agrarler]

Next day we drove through very stony terrain. Only some burnt bushes had been growing between bigger and smaller stones. A big group of baboons was running around in this area creating a lot of noise. I tried to figure out which one was the biggest (male). I think I found him

 

[Nyati]

Good buffs, congrats. !

 

[IdahoMo]

What a trip! What outfitter did you hunt with?

 

[Agrarler]

The following day a huge herd of buffalos entered our concession early in the morning. It took us a whole day of hard stalking but finally both friends that didn`t have a buffalo yet managed to shoot a good bull. Mission fulfilled! For myself there was no time left for hunting but that didn`t matter that day.
Just the other day we passed a group of Impalas with only one ram – the rest was calves and females.
But the ram was really good: long tips not warn down yet. Definitively in it`s prime. I sneaked into their direction but the terrain was quite open. I made a long shot from the sticks and my second Impala was down. Nice trophy worth a shoulder mount…

One day later we found a group of lionesses with cups that had successfully hunted down a giraffe.
My friend that was together with me on the car tried to stalk for zebras that we spotted couple of hundred meters away from the lions. I stayed on the vehicle. Because of some thick bush between the hunter and me I couldn`t see what was going on. After he was away for some time a heard a shot. I thought “zebra down”. Then PH and my buddy came back smiling all over the face. “Hyena
dead” was there answer to our questions. Unbelievable!
We took some photos and bagged the spotted predator on the car. Now it was time to head to the camp as ist was already getting dark.
On a sandy way a jackal appeared in front of the car. I knocked on the cabin and asked the PH to stop. I jumped from the car and aimed at the bush behind the jackal just disappeared waiting for him to come out again on the other side. And he did: I just saw the head and part of his neck in the very last light and pulled the trigger. All the boys on the car suddenly started laughing and applauding. As I stepped closer to the jackal and switched on the torch I understood why.
Don`t ask me what happened- it was 100 % a jackal that jumped into the bush and out came the hyena

 

[BRICKBURN]

Very nice Jackal.
Nothing like hunting with your buddies to add a good ribbing to the recipe.

I can feel the frustration of being pointed at 200 black spots and getting the "shoot that one".

 

[Agrarler]

What a trip! What outfitter did you hunt with?

Outfitter was Lowveld hunters (Zimbabwe). Concession was Matetsi ECA.

 

[Agrarler]

New day new chances- this day I was alone on the car. One friend had to stay in the camp. Blood pressure was way too high. The result of hard hunting and stalking in dry and very hot environment.
The PH told us that October would be the suicide month in Zimbabwe because of the dry and extreme hot days…
I asked the PH to look for a good waterbuck now. We found two bucks walking together which one seemed to be quite good. We stalked them several hours but never got the chance for a clean shot. Suddenly the PH said “stop hunting waterbuck- it`s Reedbuck time” and presented the sticks. It was quite a long shot. ”Give me your shoulder as a rest for the elbow” I whispered. The Reedbuck
dropped in the shot (200m) and disappeared in the long gras. As we came close, he got on it`s feet again. A fast second shot killed him finally.
This damn shooting stick from PH. They really had been a catastrophe! Totally instabile and shaking like hell. His good sticks were broken. He crashed them some days before we arrived while beating with them on a charging buffalo… Later on I broke the mount of my optic because the sticks
simply crashed while my gun was hanging on them…

 

[mark-hunter]

Great Hunt.
What impressed me the most, is the amount of plains game hunted! This is not so often seen on Zimambwe hunting report, based mostly on dangerous game. (to say nothing of the buffalo, accomplished)
Congrats!