- Report by:
- PH John Greeff
- Client:
- Frank Cole
- Area:
- Selous, MA1 + U3
- Date:
- 04 October 2007 - 15 October 2007
04 October 2007
Today Frank and Clay arrived and after lunch we went out and checked rifles and all was well. We then took a drive.
05 October 2007
)
This morning we all set off looking for buffalo, Craig and Clay went one way and we went the other. We came across a herd off buffalo that had crossed in the night and we got all our stuff and set off after them and they were on a mission, it was 8 km on the gps before we caught up with them there were about 120 animals and after following behind for a while when they got our wind we then carried on after them and found them in an open area drinking so we got to see them all. There were not mature bulls in the group, but just to be sure we went right into them and chased them a bit and then left them. We then had to walk 4km to the road.
As it was lunch time we drove until we found a nice lunch spot. )
We decided to carry on at 3pm but it was hot and I told Frank I doubted we would see anything until it cooled off when we came around the corner and spotted 2 dagga boys(lone buffalo bulls) in an open area and they had not seen or heard us as they were about 300 yrds away. We got set and went down the road and then stalked to 40 yrds of the 2 bulls, I set the sticks and as Frank took aim I asked if he wanted to try for a double as both bull were really good, he said sure and I said to shoot the bigger one on the left first and we will see what happens.
With that Frank shot the bull on the left a good heart shot and he jumped and ran I saw he was hit hard and turned and saw the other bull running, )
but he ran around in a half circle and we ran forward about 20 yards as he went behind a tree, he came out and faced us and Frank shot him in the chest he then took off running and Frank shot again and the bull went straight down, we ran up to him and Frank put in an insurance shot and it was all over. It was some really great shooting and Frank had his double on buffalo and on the first day. They were both really nice trophies and Frank was really happy. We got back to camp late as loading 2 bulls took us a while.
Clay and Craig had also been in buffalo all day but just did not get a shot.
06 October 2007
We got off early this morning and saw a lot of animals today. We chased zebra 4 times out of seeing 9 different herds. But just could not get a shot on the stallion. This evening we saw a good wildebeest in a herd of 10, but they just would not stand long. When we got in this evening we heard that Clay had shot a nice buffalo this morning wounding it and they had followed it all day with no luck in seeing it again. So we will be keeping a look out for the vultures and hopefully we will find him .
08 October 2007
)
This morning we set off looking for any of the plains game we could find and after seeing a lot of hartebeest, we saw 2 zebra and went after them but they did not give us a chance so we were heading back to the car, when we spotted some wildebeest in a valley we stalked them but they were spooky and moved off, I then heard a zebra calling further down the valley so we set off and soon came up to them, but they also spotted us but did not run so I set the sticks and pointed out the stallion and Frank shot him perfectly on the point of the shoulder and he ran 60yrds and went down.
We took some pictures and headed back to camp. )
We arrived in camp the same time as Craig and Clay had shot a very nice buffalo bull and was really happy so Frank and Clay lit up some cigars after lunch.
After lunch and a small siesta we went out and after driving for 30 minutes we spotted 3 hartebeest bulls and went after them and after a while we got up to them and I saw the one bull was really good so Frank shot him and he ran off and we followed for a bit and were surprised to find the bull had jumped and wedged in a fork of a small tree and died half hanging in the air.(see photo) On the way back we saw a hippo running through the brush.
09 October 2007
Today we looked for wildebeest ,but did not see any we saw impala but nothing we wanted at this stage. After lunch we had some fun as we were driving we saw 4 elephant bulls and the one bull I could see was a really nice bull of 50lbs +, so I told frank to get his camera and we went after them to try to get some photos off the big bull. Even though we got to follow behind them at 50 yards for 300yrds,we did not get to get any good pictures as they were in thick brush and the big bull stayed in front as they new something was up. So after 30 minutes we left them alone,but frank had a great time stalking them.
10 October 2007
)
We went to were we had seen a big herd of wildebeest the day we shot the zebra and walked in the area and soon spotted the wildebeest and were setting waiting for the bull to present a shot when the wind changed and they took off ,so we got on their tracks and followed them for a mile were they had settled down in a big open area and we crawled to 220 yards and frank set up his bipod and then we waited for the bull to clear but it took 2 minutes before he got into a good position and frank shot him a great heart shot as he only ran 80yrds before going down . the rest of the herd ran right up to us and stood staring at us until we chased them off. Frank was really happy as the bull was a really good trophy.
11 October 2007
All we need now is a warthog and impala, so we are enjoying driving around and shooting a few birds for the pot, we did see a number of pigs but nothing big.
12 October 2007
Today we chased a really nice warthog ,but he got away from us in some thick cover. We also saw a lot of impala but are holding out for a better one. The high light has been seeing some eland and a lot of elephant.
13 October 2007
)
This morning we got lucky early and frank shot a really nice warthog which we chased for a while and frank shot as he stopped for a look back to see if we were following him. We saw a lot of impala and other game.
14 October 2007
As we are looking for impala we are really enjoying some bird shooting and frank and I got a fair no of spurfowl and francolin . We saw a lot of game.
15 October 2007
Today we were after impala but kept seeing females. We went after a herd which also only had females and as we got back to the truck had a elephant cow charge us from out the thick brush I shouted at her and she stopped 20 yards from us I kept shouting and then told frank and the guys to get in the truck as she would not leave so they got in the truck and I walked behind until we got away from her, so we had a bit of excitment . )
Then on the the way back to camp we had 3 punctures and had a fourth one in the afternoon,this is the most puntures ive had in one day in 15 years.
But shortly after our last puncture we ended the safari with a bang as frank shot a great impala.
As this is the last safari in the Selous this year as we head out tomorrow they are packing up camp and also leaving, all in all we got our full bag and frank and clay are really happy.