David Crosby's hunt in Zimbabwe with
Ingwe Safaris, July 2004

 

I started my search for a reasonably priced sable hunt over 2 years ago. I searched the internet, talked to friends and called hunting agents. I had hunted with Mike Murray in South Africa on a ranch in South Africa, and I called him when he was in country for the SCI Convention. He recommended that I contact Bruce Grant with Grant Adventures. Bruce indicated that he had a place in Zimbabwe with Ingwe Safaris that had lots of Sable and other plains game. I expressed my concerns about the unrest in Zimbabwe and he indicated that the problems were minimal as long as you stayed away from the areas where the farms were being taken over.

The area I was to hunt was near Victoria Falls and was away from the problem areas. I called a couple of his clients and they highly recommended Zimbabwe and indicated that they had great hunts there with virtually no problems. I booked a package for 7 days and added 3 additional days to be sure I had enough time to get good trophies. I next contacted Delta to see if I could get a flight using my airline points and was able to arrange a flight that gave me a couple of extra days in Victoria Falls. I was set. He reserved the entire camp for me. He also recommended that I stay at the Gorges lodge near Victoria Falls for my time at the falls.  

I spent the next 4 months doing everything I could think of to be sure the trip went smoothly. Cabelas began their weekly deliveries. I made my appointment with the health department for vaccinations and an appointment with my doctor to get prescriptions to have on hand in case of an emergency. I arranged for trip insurance and went to the customs office to get the custom certificates for my guns.  

My flight to Johannesburg was uneventful and my concerns about the new South African gun regulations for permitting in the airport were unfounded. The process took about 30 minutes and went smoothly. I spent the night and caught a flight the next morning to Victoria Falls. I was met by the outfitter at the airport and after registering my guns, we were off to the camp. I was met by the managers, Andy and Michele and my PH, Kevin, and the previous group of hunters who were leaving the next day. I moved into a nice bungalow. I was later introduced to the camp lion cub that was about a year old and very friendly. The camp consisted of 5 bungalows and a main building that included the dining facilities. All this overlooked the river. The main hunting area was approximately 19000 acres with another area of around 50,000 acres. I was to hunt mostly in the 19000 acres. I was hunting for a sable, wildebeest, waterbuck, kudu, impala and warthog.

 

View from hut at Ingwe
 

My first day was to be mostly orientation. We got up around 6 AM (dark) and it was cold (around 50 degrees) but soon warmed up to short sleeve weather. I did not anticipate doing much shooting. We started at the range where I checked the zero on my 300 Weatherby Mag. and my 270. My PH was concerned about my muzzle brake so I removed it and checked the zero again. I shot a 1 inch group with the Weatherby and a 3 inch group with the 270. We decided to use the Weatherby for all animals. We saw a group of wildebeest and tracked them for about an hour. They appeared to be running with no sign of slowing down. We returned to the truck and continued looking for more game. Around noon we spotted a small heard of impala. They had not seen us and we tracked them for a short distance. We were able to get ahead of them and waited for them to pass. Kevin pointed out the best trophy and gave me the go ahead. Of course it stopped behind a tree so we waited. It gradually moved behind a few bushes and I was able to take a shot. It ran a short distance and we lost sight of it. We immediately started searching and found it about 30 feet from where I shot it. It was a nice impala. We loaded it onto the truck and returned to camp for lunch and to deliver the impala to the skinning shed. After lunch, we drove to the far side of the hunting concession seeing some other animals. Around 3:00 we spotted our first sable. It was a majestic animal and looked like a good trophy. Kevin said it was a nice animal but we may see larger in the coming days. I decided to pass it up. It was that largest sable I was to see on the hunt. Over the next week I was able to shoot a waterbuck, sable, wildebeest, kudu, baboon, eland and warthog.

 

 
Impala (Day 1 about 150 Yards)
 

 The easiest shot and most difficult to find was the sable. We came across a group of sables on the 7^th day. One was particularly nice and Kevin recommended I shoot it. It was around 75 yards away and turned sideways to me standing still. I shot and it immediately fell, got up and stumbled and ran off. It was hit hard and we immediately began tracking it. We found blood but lost the trail. After 2 hours Kevin recommended we break for lunch and let the Sable settle down and hopefully weaken. I was really disappointed and could not imagine how I could have made a poor shot. We returned after lunch and could not find a trail. We checked the ravines and roads to see if any tracks had crossed them. We could not find any. We split up. The tracker and I went into the heavy brush and after about 2 hours spotted it. It was in brush too thick to track it. We returned to camp around dark with plans to return the next morning with more people.

 

 
Sable
 

The next morning, five of us began the search again. I told both PHs to shoot if they found it. After about 2 hours a shot rang out. We rushed to the area where the shot came from and found fresh blood. Kevin said it was weak and staggering when he spotted it. We tracked it to within 100 yards from where I had shot it initially and finally spied it across a stream bed. One more shot dropped it and we rushed to the spot. It had been shot 3 times, once in the middle of the body and twice on the shoulder. They speculated that I had gut shot it which was the reason it had run so long. When they skinned it, they found my bullet under the skin on the shoulder. It apparently had been a little high and had gone over the heart. I was relieved to have found it and also knowing I had really made a pretty good shot. This made for a great day. We returned triumphantly to camp. That afternoon we came across a large eland. While an eland was not on my list of trophies, they wanted me to shoot one for the meat. One shot brought it down. This was a great end to a very satisfying day.

I had not been able to find a warthog. We had seen a few but most were small. The last 2 days were dedicated to shooting birds. They had an abundance of guinea fowl and sand grouse that we often found along the roads. Since we had no dogs, we would ride up close and have the trackers throw rocks to get them up. It was challenging and lots of fun. On the last day, we came across a ravine and a large warthog ran up the hill. I was able to get a shot off as it reached the top and it rolled down the hill toward us. My hunt was now complete.

 

Kudu (225 Yards)
 

Wildebeest (150 Yards)
 

Baboon (175 yards)
 

Baboon (175 yards)
 

Waterbuck (150 yards)
 

warthog ( running up hill at 75 yards)
 

Eland cow (150 yards)
 

Trophies
 

The next day I departed for a few days at the Gorges Lodge and Victoria Falls. The falls are really impressive and should not be missed.  Shopping for arts and crafts is fun. If you like bargaining the markets are fun and offer one of the largest varieties of native crafts. Most everywhere takes American Dollars so changing to Zim Dollars was not necessary. There are many activities at the falls and I recommend taking time to do as many as you can, I visited the falls, took a helicopter flight over the falls, took a horse safari ride and took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. All were great fun. Other activities available include 111 meter bungi jump (not for me!), ultra light flights, rafting trips (highly rated), trip to Livingston, golf, fishing and much more.

 

View from my room at the Gorges Lodge
 

Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi
 

 
Victoria Falls from Helicopter
 

Horseback Safari (my guide overlooking the Zambezi)
 

I would highly recommend Zimbabwe as a hunting destination.  I found the people friendly and helpful. I never felt in any danger at any time.

 

 
 David in front of a huge Baobab tree
 

As always, know your outfitter and check the hunt reports.

As for me, I hope to return in a few years. The entire cost for the hunt including trophy fees was under $8000.

David M Crosby
917 Palm Blvd
Isle of Palms SC 29451

davidcrosby@bellsouth.net
Phone 843-886-4138
Mobile 843-345-2273