October 2023 – Newsletter
It’s been a while since the last newsletter. The last few months have been back-to-back so I haven’t had a chance to put pen to paper. My apologies as this one is a bit longer than usual as I literally haven’t been home for more than a stopover since the beginning of July.
July saw the arrival of Dennis and Marc for a much sought after elephant bull. It really was a great hunt, approaching more than 300 elephant bulls in 10 days with the duo. The result was a fantastic hunt and a big elephant bull. Lots of fun was had and I had really wanted Dennis to experience this type of hunt with close quarter contact with multiple bulls on a daily basis – so it was a success.
Massive thanks to Dennis and Marc who have been such loyal Buffalo Trails Safaris supporters and good friends over the decades.
It wasn’t long after their departure that Tanja arrived for her second hunt of 2023 with me. This time we were in the Lower Zambezi Valley and looking for multiple species. Tanja showed her usual composure when hunting dangerous game and at the end of the short hunt we had Tanja’s 11th buffalo bull hunted with me over the last 3 years, a huge crocodile, hippo on land and a fantastic elephant bull – not to mention a plethora of quality plainsgame. Of course, results are important but most important is the overall experience and for my part all of the hunts have been done with that in mind. Another really memorable hunt!! Thanks as always Tanja for a great safari!!!
Jim, Stjepan and Dragoljub arrived shortly afterwards in the same area with Jim hoping for a big leopard tom. We had some unbelievable luck and connected with a huge old Tom aged over 12 years very early on in the hunt. Definitely an experience to be remembered and cherished. This gave us enough time to hunt some decent plainsgame, an extraordinarily unusual “hippohog” and Dragoljub bagged himself an exceptional valley elephant bull with some great marksmanship, as well as a huge crocodile, hyena and an elusive civet. Grateful thanks to the three musketeers for the many miles travelled from three different countries and for your continued support – it is so appreciated.
After a very brief stint at home, it was off to Hwange Communal Land with Al and Cassie who hadn’t been to Zim for some years. It had always been a dream of Al’s to hunt an elephant bull and this type of non-trophy elephant bull hunt was the perfect opportunity to hunt a bull for much the same as a tuskless hunt. As always, with a lot of laughs and a bit of work – it all paid off and we managed to get what we were after, albeit a little more exciting than we had anticipated. Many thanks to Al and camera lady Cassie for the support over the years – don’t leave it so long next time – we need to get even with the hyenas!!
Monsieur Hubert and Andre returned again to Hubert’s favourite hunting grounds in the Zambezi Valley for a buffalo bull hunt. After 6 hard days of tracking buffalo in the tsetse dense valley, we finally found our perfect bull in the perfect position. Veteran buffalo hunter Hubert dispatched him quickly. Well done Hubert on a great buffalo. Once the pressure was off we managed to hunt some excellent plainsgame including a big kudu, warthog, impala, hyena, bushbuck and the exact eland that we were looking for. We even had time to watch the French proving their mettle in the opening game of the Rugby World Cup – Allez le bleu !!!!!!!
No rest for the wicked, PH Graeme and his group of hunters and merry makers arrived towards the end of Hubert’s hunt. They did exceptionally well with Graeme – hunting their tuskless elephant, buffalo and hippo very early on in the hunt. It gave the opportunity for the younger generation to get their turn on the trigger, which they took full advantage of. Again fun, a positive attitude and a bit of work seemed to be the recipe for success. Many thanks to the whole group for a really enjoyable hunt and to Graeme for the support.
The season is now slowing down as the weather heats up (a lot) – but as previously mentioned – no rest for the wicked. I have a couple of late season hunts towards the end of the year and I will be putting my nose to the grindstone in the meantime getting prepared for the 2024 conventions. I do have a couple of open spots for the rest of the year and the 2024 booking sheet is now open – get in contact for any enquiries or information.
“The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying” – John C Maxwell
UNTIL THE NEXT EDITION…………………………. As always – stay safe and stay true!!!
E-Mail: buffalotrailssafaris@gmail.com Jannie Tel: +263 772 265 571 Hayley Tel: +263 787 223 068
Website: http://www.buffalotrailssafaris.com