BA - Shangani

PH Comment - Buzz

I have said many times over the years how much I have enjoyed hunting with BA. This year was not different except we had the added pleasure of having BA partner JG join us. Talk about been thrown into the deep end. Straight into an ele bull hunt – she took it in her stride with a smile on her face the whole hunt. The hunt was outstanding looking at about 200 bulls and BA shot his beautiful bull at 10 ft with a frontal on the 2nd last day! We also shot an impala and huge warthog! Already looking forward to our next hunt in two years.

Client Comment

I had the pleasure of returning to Africa for my seventh safari and sixth with Charlton McCallum Safaris. This year was a new destination, Shangani Holistic Ranch, as well as a first African adventure for my girlfriend. The accommodations and area are excellent for a non-hunting accompanying guest. This Safari was a bull elephant hunt and the area did not disappoint. Shangani is a very large, operational cattle ranch. The accommodations are very comfortable with individual bungalows for each with a comfy bed, full bathroom and hot showers. All have a porch overlooking a lake with frequent wildlife visitors throughout the day. The common dining area has a large table and bar area with partially enclosed sitting area, couches and a fireplace. There is also an outside fire pit area, but as the weather was quite cool/cold during our stay the inside fireplace was exclusively used. The food was delicious, as all of the CMS camps I’ve been in. The elephant hunting is superb with many seen during the 10 days. The encounters ranged from inside 20 yards in heavy brush to open mopane forests. There were several hills and high vantage points we either drove up or climbed for better viewing. On one of those occasions we viewed several hundred elephants feeding in a semi continuous line over a mile in length. An interesting thing about Shangani, is that ALL of the elephants are bulls of varying sizes and ages. Even with the large numbers of elephants, the hunting is still done in the traditional fashion of tracking on foot, with many miles travelled. Each day consisted of driving roads in search of promising tracks and/or seeking elevated vantage points. Either way it usually did not take long to begin our quest. When the decision was made to follow, our team fell into the familiar positions. The trackers, Cryton and Nyati, lead the way followed by Buzz, myself, videographer Daniel, my girlfriend, ranch guide Roderick and the game scout. As with all elephant hunts, some sessions would result in many hours and miles while others would be much shorter. As with fair chase hunting, not all walks were successful. Being wild, free-range animals you still loose to wind and their noses, other times we decided it was not what we were looking for, backing out or watching quietly as they fed away. Nevertheless, we were up close and personal with elephants every day of the hunt. In the end, my hunt was successful, with a nice bull harvested. Other plainsgame opportunities also exist. Many many giraffes were encountered as well as impala, kudu, zebra, sable, warthogs and baboons.