Sentinel Limpopo Safari Chronicle, Zimbabwe Africa August/September 2011 Day 3 and Day 4

Sentinel Limpopo Safari Chronicle, Zimbabwe Africa August/September 2011
Days 1 & 2 | Days 3 & 4 | Days 5 & 6 | Days 7 & 8 | Days 9 & 10

Day 3 - September 2nd, 2011
Our hunting party of five returned to cut the tracks of more buffalo this morning. In short order we were back on fresh tracks. Most of the day we met with similar frustrating results as the day before. But late in the day Richard`s persistence along with the talent of our trackers and game scout put me in position on the Bog Pod for a 60 yard shot at great old hard bossed cape buffalo bull.

It was almost sundown when the .416 barked and the Winchester 400 grain Nosler slammed through both of the bull’s shoulders. He buckled upon impact and short stepped only a short distance before collapsing within sight. Never mind my back up shot, I did get one off. But that one took out a nice acacia.

We celebrated at sunset! Our team was quite proud to head for the skinning shed on day three with this trophy buffalo loaded in the Rover. A mature and massive cape buffalo bull with 16 inch bosses early in the safari, I’ll take it! David Morris had more exciting nyala stories back at camp when we returned. And he managed to identify the nyala bull he wanted, but so far no shot opportunity.



Day 4 - September 3rd, 2011
With Cape buffalo in the bag our attention turned to trophy bull elephant - the world’s largest land animal and possibly the most dangerous to pursue. Richard’s strategy for elephant success was to cover country in hope of finding a mature bull ely to hunt. And cover country we did. We were searching for a good old bull with massive ivory, not just any bull. Richard sets the bar high on elephant. Alright by me!

Our vast hunting area consisted of approximately 160,000 acres of open range land. That’s more land area than some small countries. We spent hours pounding the dusty road network in the Land Rover searching for big elephant sign. I admit that with virtually no good bulls being spotted recently on Sentinel I was bit concerned about our odds. But in Africa the most amazing things are always just around the bend. And there were six days left. We pressed on!

We traveled to the very northern border of our concession to conclude the day. We located and approach a single teenage bull elephant as he fed nonchalantly on an acacia tree top. He was young but up close his stature was still impressive. But this bull lacked age and mass in the body and in his tusks. He was definitely not the once in a lifetime trophy we sought. This youngster never acknowledged our presence even when we approached within 30 yards down wind for a good look. Richard estimated the bull’s ivory to be only 20 lb per side maximum. We left him tearing and devouring acacia limb from limb.

Sentinel Limpopo Safari Chronicle, Zimbabwe Africa August/September 2011
Days 1 & 2 | Days 3 & 4 | Days 5 & 6 | Days 7 & 8 | Days 9 & 10

Posted by David Shashy