Report by: Jack Brittingham
Location: Rungwa Camp August
Date: 14 August 2006
After the departure of Barron, Trevor, and Alex from the second portion of our Safari in the Madaba Camp I relocated to TWC’s Rungwa Ikili camp in the Rungwa Game Reserve. This involved a two hour flight in the company 206 for me, Leon Lamprecht, and Cullen Kelly who was filming for me.
Once settled into this camp in the Rungwa Game Reserve, just north of Ruaha National Park, the focus quickly centered on exploring the hills around Ikili Mountain to see what buffalo may be hanging around. What better place to start than to climb 6200 foot Ikili Mountain for starters. Setting off from a road that led into a spring at the base of the mountain, it wasn’t long before we had made good progress up into the first drainage where we saw much old elephant sign and some sign of buffalo. As we continued up the hill on our 1800 foot climb we began to run into some steep granite faces which had to be negotiated if we were to reach the top. I quickly began to feel more like I was on a sheep hunt than a buffalo hunt. If I have one area where my yellow stripe comes out it is anytime I encounter steep vertical inclines and before I knew it, I found myself in a location on the granite face where my boots were barely holding onto the tiniest of protrusions. One slip and I was looking at a very step slide of about 75 feet, followed by a sheer fall of another 30 feet or so! My only choice was to concentrate on looking up the face and work my way out of this predicament by using my one free hand and the rubber butt pad on my rifle for as much traction as I could gain. None to soon, I was in a safer location and very thankful for being there!
Now we were within striking distance of the top, only 200 feet or so, from the summit. Between two large granite slabs there appeared to be a shortcut to the top and I signaled Leon I was going to head up in that direction. As I went between the slabs I found myself needing to walk parallel to another granite face, this one seemingly safe with nothing but heavy leaf matter at it’s base. I crossed to my left stepping along the granite wall through the leaves. As Leon was doing the same, Cullen, who was behind him, started yelling “Snake, snake!” This got all of us moving in various directions, generally away from the locations where we had been previously standing. I advanced forward, Leon seemed to gravitate straight up the granite face, and Cullen moved back. As it turned out, when Cullen actually spotted the snake, Leon’s left foot was only inches from its head. The snake was, without question the largest Puff Adder I had ever encountered; so large I at first misidentified it as a Gabon Viper! I must have stepped within inches of both its head and tail as I stepped directly over it while maneuvering along the granite face. The only explanation we have for not being struck is that the time of our encounter was about 8:45 in the morning and temperature at that altitude was still somewhat cool. Had we passed that way only fifteen minutes later when the sun had reached the snake and warmed him up, the encounter may have had a much different result! We took a great deal of video as snakes have always been a fascination for me and I knew I would never see such an immense Puff Adder again. My best guess is that he was between forty and forty-two inches and was thicker than the upper part of my arm in the middle of his body. He had a head that was equivalent in size to a rattlesnake of more than six feet! Had one of us been bitten, I have no way of knowing how we would have managed to get that person off the mountain. To say we were lucky in this encounter is an understatement!
After taking in the view from the top of Ikili Mountain we continued to explore down the ridgeline finding another route off the mountain that was not nearly as treacherous! Our first day in Rungwa had its share of excitement.
As with all of TWC’s camps, Makwasa camp is as luxurious as one can find anywhere in Africa. Camp manager, Craig Middleton had done a fine job in setting up this facility and had just finished hosting safari for one of TWC’s clients. Jeff Sevor came to Rungwa in hopes of finding a mature black maned lion and he did not leave disappointed! After a great deal of effort he was able to take one of the best looking lions I have seen. This animal had not only a tremendous mane but was also an extremely big bodied cat with a skull measurement exceeding 25 inches!
The next day we were once again interested in exploring yet another series of drainages in the Ikili hills. Our plan was to hike up a drainage that Peter, our tracker who had worked in this area for more than twenty years, said always had live water. As we moved up the drainage we again found abundant elephant sign, as well as the tracks of a few old solitary dugga boys!
Our hike took us higher into the drainage and we finally got up on the a large rocky outcropping where we could look down into the grassy bottom where the spring originated. From this vantage point I spotted a group of bush pig feeding on the edge of some very tall grass. Pointing them out to Leon, we quickly made our move down towards the location of these animals. Bush pigs are known for their keen senses and having an opportunity to stalk one with archery equipment is a rare opportunity and one I was keen on capitalizing on. By the time we got down to the group of pigs the big male had fed into the tall grass. The female and her young were now in easy bow range at less than thirty yards. The male could be seen feeding with his rear end to us at about 45 yards, the outer limit of my comfort range for a shot on an animal of that size. The wind was good so we held our position, just watching for an opportunity. I turned around to communicate with Cullen who was filming the action. As I turned back the boar had gone broadside and was offering the best shot opportunity I was likely to get. I came to full draw and bracketed the pins on either side of what I thought was the chest cavity just up from the front leg on the pig as he faced to my right. I released the arrow and watched as it flew just where I had aimed it, only the pig exited in reverse! I couldn’t figure out what had just happened. At first I thought the pig had jumped the string and had spun 180 degrees. Then, after reviewing Cullen’s footage, I realized the boar was actually facing to my left when I released! We moved to the spot of the hit and found blood after about fifty yards, then the arrow. It was obvious the hit was substantial, albeit on the wrong end of the pig! Peter picked up the tracks and after 200 yards was still easily following the blood trail. I asked Leon if he didn’t think we should leave the pig for a while and come back to track him later on. He agreed and we departed up the drainage. Not far from there we found where a large group of buffalo had spent the early part of the morning. We climbed up into the rocks and were lucky enough to visually sight them across the small basin. As we watched we could tell the animals were very nervous and we were thinking they must have gotten our scent. Soon Leon discovered the real reason for their actions, two lionesses were dogging the herd at the rear just looking for the right opportunity to take down one of these large beasts. It was hard for me to believe that two lionesses could manage such a task but Leon assured me it was well within their abilities as a predator.
Finally, the buffalo had had enough, and an old mature bull turned back on the lions and trotted down the hill after them. This act caused the whole herd to join in and they chased the lions up into some rocks where the lionesses decided to call it a day, laying down for a rest from their efforts.
Soon the herd of buffalo followed suit giving us a chance to formulate plans for a stalk. By moving around the basin to the west, we could circumnavigate the lions and, keeping the wind in our favor, come in above the buffalo in an attempt to get into bow range of the group. One of the largest bulls appeared to be carrying a hard bossed set of horns that might be as much a 43 inches wide. This of course would be the one I would like to try for if we could get into range but since there were more than fifty animals in this herd with twenty or so being bulls, I didn’t feel my chances of getting an arrow in this bull were very good.
The early part of our stalk went very well. We made it around the lions and were coming down towards the location of the buffalo when we ran straight into a group of elephant cows and calves. Such an encounter can be among the most dangerous in Africa as these animals are incredibly protective of their young. At only 27 yards we were hopeful the wind would not shift, giving away our position. We backed out and found another route … and ran into a second group of elephant. Once again, we maneuvered around them without being detected and soon found ourselves within striking distance of the buffalo. I could see several animals bedded below us at a range of about sixty yards. Leon slowly closed the distance using various trees and large rocks to hide our approach. We could see a very mature bull laying on the extreme uphill side of the herd, closest to us. I told Leon if I could get into position I would try for him with my bow. I moved ahead and slowly crawled down towards the herd. In fifteen minutes time I had made it to with thirty yards, with Cullen following close behind, his camera rolling. Once in position I signaled for Leon to bellow like a bull to get the buffalo on his feet. This he did with me standing and coming to full draw just before the animal came to his feet. As the bull came out of his bed he turned towards the sound ever so slightly. I felt I could angle the shot into his chest and connect with the vitals. But my problem was not the quartering towards angle it was the fact that I hit him where I was aiming but about six inches down on the lower portion of his chest than would have been ideal. I could see immediately I did not get the penetration necessary to kill this huge beast. The herd bolted but only ran downhill about thirty yards with the big bull standing on the right hand side of the group. When Leon joined me I explained the situation and immediately decided to turn my bowhunt into a rifle hunt. We slowly moved down the hill and got into a position from which I could shoot. I could see the bull but could not fire without risking hitting one of the cows standing both in front and behind him. With my CZ .375 resting on a treelimb I waited for the right opportunity. It came as the big bull turned facing directly away from me and I was able to line up on his spine sending the bullet forward into his chest cavity. He dropped on the spot and the rest of the herd continued to mill about before slowly moving off! What a great bull! As we moved down to him we could tell that he was in fact the large bull we had been watching from across the small valley. His bosses were well worn yet his tips were still intact. His actual spread measured just over 41 inches, less than what we had guessed but still a fantastic trophy! After taking several photos we instructed our crew to begin breaking him down so we could begin cooling the meat while we went back to trail the bush pig. This trailing job was difficult, but not too much for Peter’s experienced eyes to work out. The boar had moved uphill and had bedded up in a small cave where he had expired from massive blood loss. From the look of it he had not lasted long. So, in a very short period of time we had gone from having no camp meat to being well stocked! After processing these two animals and placing the meat safely up in a tree, we made the long hike out in the semi-darkness, ready to return at first light with enough man power to transport everything to the vehicle several miles a way. This day turned out to be one of the most exciting I have ever had while hunting on the African continent!