One last pic... one of the many (many many many) Gin Traps that get located and removed from the concessions....



.... this thing is huge !! I didn't snap a reference pic to give it scale, but I have one later in the trip.

So ... Croc Hunting is done, time to hit the road and see about that Kudu..... as you guessed back in the truck for another few (6 in the end I think) hours of driving...again the WORST parts were the sealed roads...bleh !!!!

About 4hrs in it was time for lunch, we had just turned off the crappy sealed road and were back on the dirt and making good time but everyone was hungry...



About an hour after lunch we hit the town and tried to grab some rolls for the following day's lunches from one of the two bakeries with no luck ...



This is looking back up the main street.... the guy with the orange umbrella is selling cell phone sims and airtime, this is the new "drug" in Moz. Everyone has a phone and they are running constantly...you get approached everywhere being offered "credit" or "a card"... I remember when the same approach was used for "Horse" and "Goey" but now it is airtime....



Soooo.... the concession we are travelling to is not under control of the company I was hunting with. They have an arrangement where they take clients to each other's concessions when a particular species is better represented in an area. The company I was with have better numbers of Nyala and Waterbuck, this area has Kudu.... This is a huge tract of land (500,000 acres) that is very close to the Gorongosa Park (not bordering it though). The company managing the concession has been there now 14yrs and have done fabulous work re-establishing wildlife in the area (immediately post the civil war it was barren of any wildlife whatsoever). Now, Kudu, Impala, Warthog and a number of the other small fury animals are in great numbers.

As we were to discover, lions have also moved back in (with abundant food sources predators follow), there are transient elephant and a very very small (less than 15) herd of Cape Buffalo.

Besides the hunting they also have an "Eco-Lodge" and take photographic safaris out from there. Driving in we met the managers on the road and after some introductions they let us know that the main camp was expecting us and to make ourselves at home. Boet had told me to expect a tent placed on a small deck with a thatched roof above as my accommodation. Just fine with me... "sadly" when we got to camp there was another group of hunters (well a family of three, with more money than I can imagine doing a 30 day accompanied safari around Zim and Moz) who were occupying the tented area, how sad... that only left the "chalet" type accommodation for me....



....tough going of course... but I guess I could manage....

This camp generally caters for a client looking for more of a "refined" style of hunting than I, the dining room/bar was lovely and comfortable and the meals were served by a staff. Happy Days, not generally my thing but a nice look at how "the other side" live

When attending to "take lunch or dinner" I did feel compelled to down tools on the deck before taking my place at the table .....



There are two ways that plains game is generally hunted, especially in dry/warmer areas like this... off the vehicle (very common is SA and Namibia and here in Moz as well) or on foot, like here in warmer months, hunting into or off out from water. I have never been one to drive around so you can guess my choices here.

First afternoon out we drove out from the camp (they have a 1km radius for no hunting right around the camp) and down to some lower lying ground that looked as though it would run off to a dam or lagoon etc. And off out we walked. It was fabulous seeing so much wildlife around, Warthogs were abundant (though all female, small or young) and Impala annoyingly common Working down the contour of the land made for easy walking as well. Heading down we saw a number of Kudu cows and a couple of small bulls. We hit the "bottom" of the slope and saw that it would run into a dam but it ran across our path first so we followed this for a bit then, with dark approaching we turned back up hill for the hour or so walk back to the vehicle... and yep... there was a great looking Kudu Bull... not 50yds away.... no question that I would take a shot at him... nope none at all...now.... rewind to some point above where I mentioned that you need to get the crosshairs on the critter and the shot away ASAP as they don't stand around.... yep... I was trying to get my shyte together and he was gone. All my fault of course and I got "the lecture" from Boet to that effect we tried hunting up on him again but to no avail.

As we walked along we did hear a slow "crashing" of trees and soon could see some movement ahead... I struggled to get my camera out and the ISO screwed up (as light was fading fast now) but I can say also that my heart was racing and one of the truly great experiences of my time hunting in Africa (or anywhere) was right in front of me... wild Elephant

Crappy pics...



Yep...needed more ISO ...





.... out on the far left was a young bull... these Elephant were aware of us before we were of them I suspect. They were already well on guard. The young bull started to carry on a little, lots of ear flapping and a bit of honking and stomping around. We slowly back up and within a minute or so they had meandered off. I can't say just what a wonderful (and yes, it got the heart beating) experience that was.

Got back to the truck as the sun was getting very very low in the sky...

Dinner that night was taken with the other hunting party (from Sacramento CA) their PH and the camp managers. All nice folks, very pleasant dinner and conversation. Certainly a different attitude to hunting than I, and I saw this a bit especially back at the Lodge in SA talking to groups heading through, some are here to hunt, that would be me, some are here to shoot this, this, this , this and oooooh that to... but I digress. The camp managers were most interested in hearing about the elephant as they have not seen any (the sign is there but they have not seen one) in around 5 months. Happily showed them my pics...

Back to bed withthe warning that it would be wise to wander around too much during the night as the lions have been coming in closer and closer, sure, no problem... now for that 150yd walk through the dark to get back to my chalet !!!!! Slept REALLY well I must say (maybe that expensive bottle of red the nice folks from the US were sharing helped ).

We had arranged with the camp that we would drop off one of their guys at a maintenance shed a few kms from the main camp and here would collect another of their staff who would drive us out in our vehicle and drop us off back in the area we were the afternoon before (yes he was that nice of a Kudu), he was one of their few English speakers as well. Once he dropped us down near the water he would head back up and park up on a track a few KMs away so we could spend the morning hunting our way back up from the water. Driving out from camp we had our two guys plus one of theirs in the back, Obano had my rifle and pack (containing my camera - [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored]). About 1km from camp in the first light we came to a small dam wall, there laying on the top of the wall, looking at us, paws folded under their chins were two small lion cubs... they looked adorable and we slowed to look...as we moved just past the [censored] wall there was a very loud sound, a very cranky sound, there was Mrs Cat and Mr Cat standing....Mrs Cat was clearly not at all happy about our presence and expressed it... she was snarling, teeth bared and making all kinds of cranky sounds.... Mr Cat just stood and looked between her and us... the guys swing my pack in the window to me and I tried to fish the camera out.

I was watching through the driver window past Boet and a bit out the back cabin window, there were in fact three cubs that were making their way from the dam to the tree line behind Mrs Cat. She alternated between looking at them and turning and snarling at us. One small saviour here at this point despite assuming that as soon as the cubs were into the trees Mr and Mrs Cat would follow, Boet didn't shut of the truck, he also suggested I not get out to take pics (no shyte Sherlock !!!!!!!). At this point the adult cats were about 30yds away. Once the three cubs made the trees something strange happened.... Mrs Cat spun back to us and let out a sound I will never forget, something well past angry !!!!!!! The next words I remember were "f%#k she is going to come". and that she did.... like a bloody rocket (the male was just loping along behind her and parallel to us). We accelerated (that thing about not shutting off the vehicle probably saved one or two of the guys in the back) but she kept pace and made ground for around 120yds, she was trying but could not get enough ground or speed on us to leap, thankfully..... !!!!!! I was watching through the back window (I remember Obano starting to move my rifle around as well) and then she peeled off and into the trees. we drove onto the maintenance shed a few KMs up the road and stopped.

To say the guys in the back were rattled was an understatement !!! I pointed out one had turned WHITE (he made a turned black joke at me after an hour crawling through ash/burned grass back on Cape Buff). I never did get my camera out as it all just happened so bloody fast...

So we dropped off our passenger and collected our driver... He got us down onto the approach to a dam and left us, he explained where he would be and where he would come to if he heard a shot (I suspected correctly that he would not hear any shots as he would be asleep ). And off we went, first down to the water where we stopped and glassed for about 45mins... lots of game coming in and it was a nice time to be sitting still however after the afternoon before I was not going to do anything (like unpacking and playing with a camera) that may impact on my ability to hunt

Off in the distance we could see a bull.... he was hanging back above the water with no apparent intent to come down.... and he looked the part as well...

Andy, the word "awesome" just doesn't do your pics and narration justice! .............

Some quick checks of the wind and such and we set off, it required a bit of skirting around and back tracking (thanks to the wind) and that he was moving along in a random sort of way (I think he had a sense something was up and he was working to keep the wind in his face, but that is speculation on my part). I got a better look at him from about 250yds out but no shot, the bull from the afternoon before was better, probably the same length but with more spread, this one was just fine however. We spoke and decided to commit to this one now and so, if the shot presented I would take it ASAP... saves chitter chatter at the crucial moment...

I will also add that it was not without some trepidation that we were wandering around here as, with some switch backs and such, we were actually walking back toward where we had least seen Mr and Mrs Cranky Cat and Co head.... Seems the instruction was that if she came like she had earlier (I hoped not to see sign of ANY of them again, the deal was kneel and shoot into the charge straight on, no warning/scare shot as "she will have you as you cycle the bolt", as committed as she was earlier, she probably would not turn. I did truly hope it not come to that, and it didn't. Still, an unusual feeling knowing you are not the top of the food chain...

Onward after Kudu... the next 45 or so minutes seemed to slip by as I truly expected to get winded and that would be that, we had left Obano sitting under a tree and just Boet and I made the close in. Then it all seemed to happen in a flash, Kudu was there about 90 yds away, almost broadside, and a little higher up a small rise. I was next to a small tree and no time for those shooting stick things, that was fine by me (this is how I had mostly practiced stationary shooting with this rifle anyway), cross hair settled on the shoulder and bang (frankly I didn't hear the shot), cycled the bolt and settled again. The bull was laying right where I had fired at him but he had turned his head and chest slightly up hill and away from me. I was more than sure he was DRT but, as is the done thing, I got the "shoot again shoot again" instruction... so I laid the crosshair as far forward on the body as I could and angled the second shot forward/through/across the body. In the pics you can see it further back down the body toward the midsection and the first is just behind the shoulder. Of course we found the second was not needed, but again, I understand the thinking !!!

So....







Gear all hung up while we waited to see if we heard the truck moving around and toward the spot we agreed to meet if there was a shot....or two... yeah....no, didn't think so....



Obano walked back to where he was parked up and I took pics... As usual, lots of pics...

after about 45mins we heard the truck coming along a track behind the small rise we were on so walked over and guided it through the bush to where we were. It was not till it was time to load the bull that I realised how bloody big they are... !!! Heavy !! And with a greasy hide. This one was also covered in bush ticks. As was I when he was finally loaded.

Back at this camp they have a concrete pad and block and tackle for processing game. Makes life that much easier for sure.. !!!!

You can also get an appreciation of the size of the bull here...



One of the more interesting butchering tools I saw...



When then headed for some shade and a cold drink as it was frankly getting bloody HOT !!!! While doing so we had a chat to one of the managers and told her about Mr and Mrs Cranky Cat and the kids, I asked if there was a feedback card I could fill out as I thought they were just rude with all that snarling and such.... So we go 20 questions...where, when, cubs ??????? CUBS ???? How many, what did the male look like old/young etc etc. It seems that this small group was news to them, the cubs most certainly where, and it was an additional small pride to the ones which are resident. Except that our guys were excitedly telling stories to her staff about the charge I think she may have though us to have been making it up... Our theme of seeing their wildlife (that they had not seen or seen in many months was to continue - I put it down to the amount of walking we did). Some plotting about what now...

Andy I love your story telling ability! It really is a gift. I can only dream of doing something like this and you make it feel like I'm walking through the grass with you, holding my breath when you make your shot, and covered with ticks!!!

Thanks very much mate I do appreciate the comments ..

Gotta add a comment over on this side too Andy.

AWESOME!!!!

From the newest JYD on the porch.

Wow! awesome adventure I would love to go croc hunting I am looking into alligator bow fishing here in the states.

So with some talking over lunch and cold drinks (no beer, I drink beer at lunch my afternoon siesta sees me waking up well after dark ) we decided to try and set out after a Warthog for the afternoon. We had certainly seen plenty in our travels around this place but none that fitted the bill. They really are ugly ugly critters....especially as they get older...!!!!

The plan for this was a bit similar to chasing the Kudu, we would have the driver drop us off and we would walk a route that (this time) took us up and over a saddle and down onto a small water course (dry at the moment), we would follow this up till we hit a small dam/rock pool that was holding some water and then across and meet another track where we could be met if either we took something or just got that far. Worst case, we just followed the track back around to where we started later (in reality it would be back up and over the hill). This is all well out in a direction 180degs from where we hunted in the morning.

Heading out there were a couple of photo opportunities...

Ugly Ugly Ugly...



And a small group of Kudu hanging near a dam...

Heading out this side of the property it was immediately apparent that (if possible) it was dryer than where we had been previously. The further we drove out, (about an hour from the base camp on well formed roads) the more the geography changed, hills were higher and lots more rock formations etc. I had been sitting on the verandah of my hut earlier looking in this direction and seeing the way the ground rose up.





I think our driver got spoken to about NOT taking a nap this time and keeping an ear open for a shot or two. We also made arrangements that should it get to 5.30pm there was a track that ran parallel (about 500m above it) to the watercourse we were walking toward that he should go park up on and we would meet there.

The going was pretty hot out here, I don't know if it was perception or because it was that much more rocky etc to reflect the heat but it seemed to sap the strength. After about 40mins of walking we came to a well grassed/treed area just on the other side of the hill. We all came to a screaming halt at about the same step as there, about 30metres in front of us, laying down, were a small group of Cape Buffalo, they were hard to spot and the thing that gave it away to each of us was the occasional flicking of tails to hunt about bugs. None of us thought too much of it, me not enough to grab out my camera (I should have !!!), but we did have to back track and skirt around them and down onto the watercourse properly.

So, prior to all this we had been discussing how to spot a good Warthog, I mean MOST have tusks that look impressive (when you compare them to hogs that I usually hunt) ...

By way of example...I snapped this one from the track earlier...



....looks bloody impressive to me !!!!!

Anyway, it seems that a big old boar (tusk wise, as it seems that unlike our hogs they hit a size and stop growing, body wise), most likely will be thin and with a well defined ridge down the back. Walking they will look to snake along to a degree. You can spot those things from a distance, then you need to take the time to get close and check the tusks.

Soooo...after skirting the buff we dropped down onto the watercourse and started walking "up stream" well, if there was a stream it would be following down...we took a rock for five and drink, these two came stumbling down onto the sand....



....and milled around on what turned out to be a damp patch. I think if you dug down a bit there would be water.

So we followed this along for about another 30mins and then decided to get up a bit higher on the far side so we could look down on the watercourse AND see around a bit in all directions... GOOD MOVE, (I just wish it were my idea

A little further along we spotted a hog snaking his way up and away from the watercourse... I could not see more but yes he was long and thin, swaying as he walked and with a pronounced ridge back (and a horrible looking matted fringe that also seems to come with old age).

We lost sight of him into some rocks so climbed up a bit higher, and a bit higher till we caught another glimpse and figure a way to get a bit closer.... and down we headed, it was pretty much a case now of getting a look at the tusks and then into a spot I could shoot from. In reality both things happened together and very quickly. Got to about 50yds away but slightly above him, I was getting myself braced against a tree, he then took off with a bit of a start and ran down between some rocks, I saw one large tusk but not the other...he ran no more than 10 yards and turned back to look up toward me, it placed him with his right shoulder facing me and his body quartering to his right, through the scope I had a clear view of the tusks and I can vaguely remember Boet saying (I had already decided at this point).... "Nail..." BOOOM "...Him" ...then "OK I guessed you figured he was a good one alone"... For the first time he also didn't suggest a second shot, though I was back on him in case. I had seen him spun and flipped by the shot so didn't figure it was needed

We then sat him up in the rocks down through which I had shot....





Long, skinny and horrible looking...


and for the knife fans...



After about 25mins of playing around with the cameras we heard the sound of the vehicle slowly making its way up the track a bit further up the hill, at least this time he was awake...

Back into camp and the guys were still working on my Kudu (having stopped to finish prepping trophies for the American party that had departed) just before we got back, we dropped off my Hog and went back to decide what now...



Taking a break we had a chat about what to do next, for me that was the end of my hunting ($$$s being the factor) adventures. The camp manager also came down and had a chat, she had just seen the Hog and was impressed. She arranged us some food and more drinks.... I could get use to being taken care of !!!!! We were telling her how dry it was and she pointed out they didn't get the normal wet season they had last year so were suffering a bit. General chatting about the place and their time there (her and her cousin are English and on a limited tenure here) etc etc.... I just mentioned seeing the Cape Buffalo and got "the look".... errrr what... Where ? When ? How many ? etc etc... It seems that she has NEVER seen their buffalo (in 9 months there) and WE have seen their elephant, lion cubs and BUFFALO all in a couple of days.... She was great about it and really just wanted to know about them. At best estimate there are only about 15 of them on the whole place. They are hoping to be able to relocate some from a reserve to get the numbers up but they have to get the poaching around the fringes of their concession under control as well. As a note, they have removed over 50 of those Gin Traps pictured above in the last few months.

After a bit we decided that if we could we would pack up and get back to the main camp that night (a loooooong drive but once it was done it was done). This was good news to the manager (she was polite about it but you could tell it was what she wanted to hear as it was Friday and with no one else in camp they could have the weekend off). So it was off to packing !!!!!

My constant companion this trip...



...waaay out in the distance you can see the area we hunted the Hog in...

One funny story... the English speaking guy that drove for us, I was talking to him as we were loading up gear and such, he was having a bit of a laugh and told me that one of the Professional Hunters from the company that manages this concession has taken three different hunters out after THAT Warthog as he has seen it a number of times... he was back the following week and they were looking forward to letting him know

After some running around we got ourselves pack up and back in the truck.... yes I was getting very good at this now !!!! In the end we had about 5hrs driving ahead and to be frank...I was not looking forward to it !!! The manager also asked if we could drop a couple of her guys back out on the main road to town, sure. In around an hour and a half we had hit the horrible tar again and slowed right down. 60km took over 2hrs as there was traffic and such as well... bleh !!!

Now, there are no rules about passengers and you can see why so many people are killed on the roads...



And about Mozambique burning..... constantly... just how much is the difference !!

We could see it as we approached.. !!





And right next to us (taken out my window (closed !!!).... !!!



.... it was uncomfortably hot for me IN the cab...I hate to think what it was like for the guys in the back !!!!

So... we rolled into the main camp again late that night... the last couple of hours were truly a blur !!!! Boet and I were both knackered and in reality I had only stayed awake on the drive to keep a conversation with him going !!! Bed and sleep were welcome !!!!!!!!