We just returned from another trip to Zimbabwe with Jonathan Collett of Touch Africa Safaris (www.touchafricasafaris.com). As before, our trip was filled with great memories, but the two weeks of hunting went way too fast!
This time, top priority was leopard. The leopard density in this region is reportedly tops in the country, and after a day of hanging baits, I saw why. Of the six baits we hung on the first day, four got hit…seven of eight baits got hit the next night. Gathering baits (impala and zebra) was fun and an integral part of the cat hunt, something I was glad to be a part of. Setting and checking trail cameras was also a rush, an experience quite different than checking them for deer and elk, back home.
We caught multiple cats on multiple baits, including two nice toms. On day three, after repeated hits on one bait by a big tom, it was time to build a blind. By 4:00 p.m. we were in the blind, and at 9:30 a cat paid a visit. We had a wireless mic’ set up at the bait, so could hear the cat actually walking into the bait, 70 yards from where we sat. When the cat was on the bait, tearing flesh and crunching bone, Jonathan turned on the red spotlight. Ty Cary, our videographer on this hunt, was rolling. Just when the light came on, the cat jumped off the bait…but less than 30 minutes later, he was back.
This time he hung around, and gave us the shot we were looking for. He was actually hanging from the bait when I touched off a shot from the .300 Win. Mag. The 180 Nosler AccuBond went through both lungs and the heart, and the cat went only a short distance. What really impressed me was how the green dot of the Trijicon Accupoint clearly glowed, even in the pitch-dark…this made picking a spot, literally, easy, thank goodness, as it was one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I’ve ever experienced in the hunting world.
The seven-foot tom weighed just shy of 150 pounds, and had multiple open wounds from fighting (one was filled with maggots). He was a record book tom, and was a great way to start the safari. We actually saw three more leopard roaming the hills during our hunt, in daylight, which was truly amazing.
Up next, we chased Cape buffalo…for five days. It was a tough hunt, period. One day found us walking 16 miles, finally catching up to a herd late in the day. Another day found us pinned down above a herd for over six hours; when we finally made a move on that herd, they winded us and took off.
I’d taken a big bull with Jonathan in the past, but this time we were after an old cow, one beyond her breeding prime. This was harder than the bull hunt due to all the eyes in the herd, not being able to get a clear shot, and all the ground the herds were covering between feeding and bedding areas. Finally, late one afternoon we got on a herd that we’d been tracking all day. When we closed to with 40 yards, they busted us. Jonathan didn’t hesitate, running quickly right at the herd. We closed the gap, and our noise caught the attention of a few animals…that’s when they turned on us.
“Get ready, here comes a shooter cow,” Jonathan urged. In seconds she weaved through the thickest bush we’d set foot in, moving from 40 to 15 yards in a matter of a few seconds. When she paused, head down, grunting and staring at us, I put the red triangle of the 1×4 scope on her chest; the .375 dropped the massive buff’ on the spot.
Zebra, impala and blue wildebeest were also taken with the .300, and we saw some whopper waterbucks that eluded us. We never did get to track down an eland, due to lack of time, but their sign was around. We also saw many warthogs and some nice bushbuck.
The toughest hunt was for klipspringer, and we spent many days and failed attempts climbing the rocky hills for these tiny antelope. This was the most challenging hunt, by far, reminding me more of sheep and tahr hunting. Finally, on the second to the last day we connected on a record class ram with horns over 4.5” long (that’s close to about a 385” bull elk rack).
After covering more than two miles, and three ridges, we lowered the boom on the biggest kudu of my life. We’d spotted a herd of four bulls from atop a distant ridge, and just before noon dropped the monster on the spot with a high shoulder shot. The AccuBond passed all the way through both shoulders.
Overall, we came away with five TV episodes for Trijicon’s The Hunt, all of which will air on the Sportsman Channel. The leopard hunt–one that should be among our best ever episodes–will air first, later this year.
Jonathan Collet lives in an amazing land, one of the most picturesque I’ve set foot in in Africa. He’s a top-notch PH, a wonderful person, and you can bet we’ll return again one day.
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