Zimbabwe at it's best!!!

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I was asked by a few people to put my report on here for you so here it is.


August 14 start date
Hunted Nuanetsi area
PH- Thierry Labat
Tracker Mudini
Game scout- Bedzi
Booked the hunt with Zambezi hunters
Shot a Blaser R93 375 HH with 300 Gr swift A frames
Hunt was for a leopard Buff and plainsgame.
Saw almost every species possible


I have so much to say and be greatfull for I don't know how to put it all into words. I feel truly blessed with all of the good that has happened on my trip. It all started years ago knowing I wanted to do this and started to put the pennies in the bank. I booked the hunt almost 2 years ago and was going with 2 other friends who will be posting as well. I will say that I was a bit dissapointed with the loss of the Hammond area to hunt and then finding out later that Arda might not happen as well. After some research I was very excited to be able to hunt Nuanetsi. After the hunt I must also add that Brent has done a fantastic job with this chunk of land. I had the pleasure of meeting Brent and his family and they are amazing and some of the best people around. Brent is hard working and down to earth and I know Brent went way out of his way to make my hunt truly a trip of a lifetime and I thank you so much for that Brent. You deserve a gold medal in my books.

The hunt started as usual with the long flights. We got into camp via bush plane and all went well. Guns were shot and checked. Mine was hitting 8 inches high and needed a bit of attention so did the other 2 guys that went with me.




Camp was nice with tents and a few buildings with bedrooms. It was put together nicely.


The camp was overlooking the river and we had great viewing.


For miles around camp and along the river it was a no shooting zone and we saw hundreds of animals around camp

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The first day out was the usual for a leopard hunt. We collected bait all day and I was on the ball and ended up getting 3 impala out of 1 herd and then shortly before that I got one more. With the help of Brent we knew of a couple spots to check out and hang a bait or 2. Thierry was amazing at finding tracks and we assessed their size and found a couple real good 2 3/4"-3" tracks to work on. We then hung 4 baits out.





With most of the day gone Thierry wanted to get a head start on bait for the next days baits so we went tracking some zebra. While following tracks we ran into a warthog that I thought was pretty good. We had to take the pictures after dark because while going back for the truck we spotted some zebra. After a fast stalk and a half hour later we got to within 140 yards and I smacked the zebra right behind the shoulder. It ran another 100 yards and piled up.

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Now I had 4 baits up and 4 baits ready for the next day and a good warty in the salt. What a good start to the hunt I thought.

The next morning was real exciting for me. I was excited to check baits. After no hits on the first 2 I must admit I was o.k with it but the excitement was wearing off. I knew I shouldn't expect it to be that easy and gave myself a slap in the head to smarten up. Later down the road we ran into another huge Leopard track in a spot Thierry wanted to bait the day earlier. It was right at a waterhole where the cat drinks often. The other part that excited me was to find out that 3 other PH's had failed on this cat as well. That was all Thierry needed to rev him up. He loves the challenge of a tough cat. We named this cat Hercules.
We took our time and Thierry with his cat like thinking found us a spot to put the blind and bait. We looked over some of the other baits from previous PH's and could see why they may have had difficulties killing this cat and we made our plan.
We cleared the bush and strung the bait up. I wanted to be a part of it so I thought I would help out by clearing some branches from a Fever Tree. Boy that was a mistake and I took a thorn into the side of my arm. I knew it needed to come out and tried all I could to get it out. I even took my knife and tried to cut my skin open but couldn't get in far enough to get to the end of the thorn. I tried to shrug it off and went to check the last bait of the day which we found to be hit by a big cat. We had some good pictures of him and he had a big 2 3/4" + track. Then the choice came to either hunt the cat or go to the hospital to have minor surgery.
It was an easy decision for Thierry I think. He had his sights set on the cat we had previously baited for and where I hurt my arm. It was the challenge of that cat that saved this one we had on bait and made the decision to run to the hospital.
Hercule's track



The thorn had ended up going all the way to the bone and was hitting the nerve which was causing some problems. It took some digging and after sticking her fingers all the way in my arm pulled out a thorn that was almost an inch and a half long!!! Sorry for the graphic pic.

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I must admit I was very worried about going to a hospital in ZIM!! After though it was all good. Everything was clean and only packaged supplies were used and I had no issues. I also found out that Thierry was born there and he had the nurse give him his chart to look over while he was there. I was given some antibiotics and sent on my way.

On the way home from the hospital we ran across a steenbuck. It was Thierry's first guided steenbuck.


The next day we checked baits again and we had another hit form the one cat and we went to the bait where I got stuck by the thorn. It was hit as well!! We made a blind and got things ready for the evening hunt.
Checked the tracks again



I don't think you could hide a blind better than this.

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We did a little hunting during the rest of the day but mostly took it easy and had lunch back at camp.
We got into the blind at about 4pm. We had a troop of baboons right around the bait site which kept us awake for a bit. They moved off and behind us. At about 5:30 I heard what I thought was a cough of a babbon. Thierry and I looked at each other with a surprised look. He knew it was a leopard. I still thought it was a baboon but wondered if I was mistaken. The sun went down and it got dark. At about 8:30 I heard a scratching noise and my heart jumped. I tapped Thierry on the leg and he tapped back excitedly. I knew it was the leopard and I couldn't control my breathing I was so pumped. Thierry told me to get ready!!!!! He switched his little remote light on and I was looking through the scope. It was a weird color and at first I didn't see much. Then I saw a big slinky shape jump to the ground with a big thud!!!! WOW, I just saw my first leopard. Thierry switched his light off and after 20 seconds the cat came back. He did this a few times and then Thierry left the light on. I could see the cat at the base of the tree. He then jumped up on the branch and started to feed. Thierry gave me the "shoot him". I tried to calm myself down without much success and aimed behind the shoulder and let the shot go. I felt the shot was good but there was no cat at the base of the tree.
Here is a video I got from the trail camera of the shot. Click on the picture and it should work.


We heard the cat run about 60 yards, caugh and then silence. We sat there for a minute before I asked Thierry what had just happened? I said I felt real good about the shot. He said it was normal for them to run 60 yards. We went to the bait and started to look for blood. I was real excited to find a small fist sized glob of lung blood at the base of the tree.
We tracked him for about 50 yards and I was starting to get worried. Mudini joined in on the tracking and we got to a place where there was 5 foot high grass. Thierry said I couldn't go any further as it was too dangerous.
Here is a picture of the grass in the morning.


I was not happy at this point and thought maybe I didn't shoot well. Thierry and Mudini started tracking agin and went around the first clump of tall grass 5 yards form me and then Thierry walked over and said congrats on your cat. He pointed ten yard over and right on the edge of the grass lay the cat.

I can't tell you the feeling I had. I sat there for a couple minutes taking it all in and not rushing the experience. It was the best hunting experience I have ever had.

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The cat weighed in at 75 KG and was 7' 4" long. I was indeed a very happy camper. Thierry said this cat would be number 33 for him and his second heaviest cat. Wow, how lucky am I !!!

The next day we took it easy and slept in a bit. We went to run our bait line and do some hunting along the way. My one friend still had a cat to hunt and we would try to help if we could. Along the way I spotted a kudu which I thought looked good. Thierry stopped the truck and at a quick look before it ran off he figured 53" or a bit bigger but he didn't have the best look. It was big enough anyways so off we went to track it. After about 25 minutes of tracking we came over a rise and I saw the bull 100 yards out. I took a shot and thought I missed. I took 2 more as it ran through the trees in hopes I could connect. Then the bull slowed and piled up. As we got up to it everyone was real excited and I had no idea why. They all started throwing numbers out like 56", 57" but later found out that we just shot a 60.25" kudu!!!!!





We got the Kudu back to camp and took it easy for a bit. Then we went for our routine walk along the river. We came to almost the end of our walk after an hour and Thierry spotted a Nyala on the other side that we needed to look at closer. Thierry doesn't have a lot of experience with Nyala but knew this one was worth wading across the river and getting wet for. Most people would have thought it was crazy to get wet walking across the river but I loved it. We stalked the 400 yards and got to where he was. My boots were noisy with all the sloshing going on but we got to within 45 yards of the Nyala in the shadows. Thierry asked me if it looked good. He knew I wanted a real nice one if I was going to shoot one and wanted to make sure this is what I wanted. I appreciated that and from what we could tell he was bigger than all the others in the skinning shed and had bases.
At the shot the Nyala ran 40 yards and piled up under a thorn tree.

[clarky]

Atta boy Phil, quite the collection bud.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SBE2]

Hey Phil, can you give some sort of bread down on prep costs over there, and getting the euros done there. As well as shipping details and costs, and those involved with the disinfection and stuff. Hearing verifying costs to say the least. PM is fine, thanks.

[albertabighorn]

"South Africa where they are pen raised but in zim they are wild and free." i am just wondering if there is a high fence around the animals. I love the kudu but am a strongly "fairchase" hunter. To me fairchase is no high fence. Is the area just so big but fenced in or are they able to leave his area. Thanks

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Will add the finished mount pics of my leopard on here I guess to finish things off.