MM - Dande

PH Comment - Buzz Charlton

My 50th birthday safari with MM - I could not have chosen a nicer client to share it with! MM had hunted with us in Zambia before, having shot a massive leopard, and some buff, which did not involve tracking. So this hunt he wanted to track a buffalo, and would only shoot a big leopard if larger than his massive Zambian one. Well MM certainly got his tracking experience in spades, as the bush was very thick, noisy and wind particularly bad. Despite all this MM shot an ancient old dugga boy, after tracking him for 8 hours! We collected several plains game, including a very nice kudu. The highlight after several tracking sessions on sable and one of 4 hours that resulted in a grand old sable bull. Unfortunately despite having 4 males on bait and 2 younger cats, which we sat 14 hours for, we simply could not get them in daylight. This was my first failure in Dande. Interestingly, PH countrywide are having a problem with leopards over these dates - so not sure if it is weather related. MM was a pleasure to hunt with and despite having bad arthritis he walked like a trojan and deserved the great hunt we had. I have the privilege of saying MM is a client and now a new friend!! Thank you MM you did yourself proud with your walking and you truly experienced hunting in its purest form - 8 hours tracking your dugga boy and 4 hours tracking your sable. Hunting the way it should be, well done!

Client Comment

Back from Zimbabwe, and mostly over the “travel funk”, so here’s what happened! Had a great time and hunt with Buzz Charlton (Charlton McCallum Safaris), and his incredible staff! Saw a lot of new things/animals, learned a lot about Zimbabwe, met a bunch of great people, and was introduced to the amazing art/talent of game tracking! Left for Zim with no solid plan for what we would be hunting; mostly left it up to Buzz to set the course. It was roughly decided to try for Buffalo, Leopard and Sable, and whatever else good that came along. Started fairly early with a couple Impala, and also Nyati (hopefully spelled right) spotted a great Kudu Bull! Now we can start the Leopard hunting process! Had a couple real good cats on bait in the first week, coming in the light at first, so we felt good about our chances; but they went nocturnal, and then abandoned the baits altogether. We sat a total of 13 nights and mornings, but only saw 1 female on the bait; can’t see the big boys if they don’t follow script! Guess that’s why it’s called hunting, not shooting. Charlton McCallum Safaris generally has a high success on leopard, and they all work very hard for that success! We had leopards hitting most all baits, just not the right cat at the right time unfortunately (this time)! We tracked Buffalo (Dugga Boys and herds) at least 7 days, getting in close enough to see or hear them, at least 10 times, but they continually busted us (most often the wind, or the noisy leaf covered ground), before getting a shot opportunity. Was approximately day nine/ten finally got a good shot opportunity; wind busted our stalk on several Dugga Boys, and they ran out ahead of us into a semi open area; one bull made the mistake of stopping and looking back (facing us) at about 200 yds. I got on sticks, and then he turned to leave (didn’t make it too far). Not the biggest horned Buffalo we saw, but definitely the biggest that gave me a shot, and I’m happy with this big old Dugga Boy! This is the truest form of Buffalo hunting!! Took a big ole fat Zebra and an old Baboon along the way. I hear leopards like them too… Last and definitely not least, Sable. We hunted Sable the same way as the Buffalo; tracking. We did walk up on one at a water hole earlier in the hunt, but he saw us about the same time, and never offered a good shot opportunity. We tried tracking Sable twice early in the hunt, and caught up with one herd, but couldn’t find the Bull before they all ran off. Day twelve we tracked a herd for about 3 hrs before Buzz spotted the Bull ahead. He was in the brush/trees with only a small window to shoot thru, but I slipped one in there thru top of his lungs; he went about 200 yds (tough animals in Africa) We spent the last 2 days focused on leopard, but the big boys had vanished. Last day morning we were checking baits and kicked a female off the bait when we walked in on one, and then kicked a big male off another bait that had been having a female on it earlier. We built another blind and sat that last night but only the female leopard came in (always cool to see any leopard) Was a very memorable trip, and I again want to thank Buzz Charlton and his awesome team for all their hard work and expertise!