Back to Africa...

CAelknuts · Feb 27, 2021

The 2020 pandemic took a heavy toll on African hunting, as very few made a trip across the pond last year. But 2021 is shaping up as a better year and I’ll be damned if I’m going to stay home and grow another year older while wishing I was hunting in Africa. So, I just put a deposit down for my next African hunt...

16 days in Western Tanzania, with Alan Vincent on his Mlele concession, which borders Katavi National Park. The plains game species are somewhat limited, but has all the stuff I’m interested in - Big Sable (I‘LL be looking for 45+ inches), Eland, Roan, Lichtenstein Hartebeest, Kudu, Bushbuck, as well as bush pig and warthog. But the main reason (other than hunting with Alan, who is a superb PH with a great track record) is the great leopard hunting and especially the buffalo hunting there. 3 Cape Buffalo And a leopard in 16 days, doesn’t really matter what else we take after those.

October cannot get here fast enough! Now, if I can just find some bullets to load in my .416 Hoffman...

CAelknuts · Feb 28, 2021

Booked my flights today. SFO to DAR, business class on Qatar Airways. Out of pocket cost was $96. And 150,000 frequent flier miles. SFO to Doha (8 hour layover) to DAR, all on Qatar. It minimizes chance for any problems with my baggage. Qatar’s Business Class is really comfortable. ?

SS! · Mar 1, 2021

Hell yeah! It will be here before you know it Take lots of pics and share with us...

Homer · Mar 1, 2021

you should go with him SS..

lhrbull · Mar 3, 2021

leaving march 15

Snoopdogg · Mar 3, 2021

I do wish they'd allow the importation of the meat. Congrats on your trip, I hope we see a write-up with a bunch of pics!

CAelknuts · Mar 3, 2021

lhrbull said:
leaving march 15

Where are you headed? And what will you be focused on?

billc · Mar 3, 2021

Booking airline now for 12 day hunt in natal. Can not wait first time to natal SA wanted to see different area this trip and they have some great free range hunting.Leaving june 6th or 7th

CAelknuts · Mar 3, 2021

billc said:
Booking airline now for 12 day hunt in natal. Can not wait first time to natal SA wanted to see different area this trip and they have some great free range hunting.Leaving june 6th or 7th

Who are you flying? Ethiopian?

billc · Mar 4, 2021

Travel agent is looking now will be qatar I think as they fly right in to natal no going through jo berg.
Common reedbuck, mtn reedbuck , Valrhebuck . bushpig, bushbuck and going to look for A 30" nyala.
for my son waterbuck ,common reedbuck , bushpig , bushbuck. nyala. neither of us will pass up a kudu 55 plus or anything else over sizes we see.

Doing both rifle and bow

billc · Mar 6, 2021

ended up on emirates out of jfk 1600 roundtrip to natal. Leaving june 3 land back state side june 19th. Can not wait have a ph who will hunt all day and all we want.

lhrbull · Mar 10, 2021

Jules of the Karoo

LivingTheDream · Mar 10, 2021

Headed to Tanzania myself...got a ticket on Ethiopian airlines. Just a dream hunt that I never thought would happen.

CAelknuts · Mar 10, 2021

LivingTheDream said:
Headed to Tanzania myself...got a ticket on Ethiopian airlines. Just a dream hunt that I never thought would happen.

Where are you hunting? Who’s your PH and what game will you be focusing on? How soon will you be hunting?

LivingTheDream · Mar 11, 2021

Kilombero North Safaris in Masailand. Headed out the end of June. Going to be targeting Lesser Kudu and few gazelles. Might try for a few of the tiny ten depending on time.

Never thought I would get to hunt Tanzania due to the price but thanks to Covid there is some quota left.

CAelknuts · Mar 11, 2021

LivingTheDream said:
Kilombero North Safaris in Masailand. Headed out the end of June. Going to be targeting Lesser Kudu and few gazelles. Might try for a few of the tiny ten depending on time.

Never thought I would get to hunt Tanzania due to the price but thanks to Covid there is some quota left.

Funny that you said them. Originally, I was going to have a week in their Ngaserai area, but in the end we decided to focus on Mlele this year and then hunt Masailand next year. Not sure which area we will end up in next year, but I’d love to hunt Lake Natron or Ngaserai, maybe both. Each has excellent lesser kudu, which is something I really want.

im looking forward to hearing how you do.

LivingTheDream · Mar 11, 2021

CAelknuts said:
Funny that you said them. Originally, I was going to have a week in their Ngaserai area, but in the end we decided to focus on Mlele this year and then hunt Masailand next year. Not sure which area we will end up in next year, but I’d love to hunt Lake Natron or Ngaserai, maybe both. Each has excellent lesser kudu, which is something I really want.

im looking forward to hearing how you do.

We are actually going to be hunting both. I am really excited about that as the Lake Natron camp looks amazing and will give me some different sites as I doubt I will be able to go back (at least for a long time). I think the camps are only 2 hours away from each other so should be fairly easy. I will be sure to give you a report back!

CAelknuts · Mar 11, 2021

LivingTheDream said:
We are actually going to be hunting both. I am really excited about that as the Lake Natron camp looks amazing and will give me some different sites as I doubt I will be able to go back (at least for a long time). I think the camps are only 2 hours away from each other so should be fairly easy. I will be sure to give you a report back!

Alan Vincent, whom I am hunting with, has hunted Lake Natron quite a bit over the years and he tells me it’s perhaps his favorite area in northern Tanzania. He said it’s strikingly beautiful and the hunting is fantastic there. I’ve also hunted with PH Tom Dames, who has hunted Ngaserai a lot when Danny McCallum had the area. According to Tom, it has excellent lesser kudu and gerenuk. Also a scenic area between Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro.

You‘re going to have an excellent hunt!

CAelknuts · Jul 5, 2021

Well, my rifles are ready...

We came up with a new load for my .416 Hoffman that I like better than my previous favorite load. The new load is 79 grains of Reloader 15,Federal 215 primer, Quality Cartridge brass, 400 grain Trophy Bonded Bear claws & Cutting Edge Solids, as well as 370 grain Cutting Edge Raptors. The Raptors & Bear Claws both shoot around .80”, and all 3 Bullets shot in one big eight shot group to 1.25”. My PH, Alan Vincent, wants me to use a Bear Claw first so we don’t get any pass through, and I’ll follow those with the Raptors for follow-up shots.

My .338 Win Mag is easy since I shoot Barnes Vor-TX factory ammo in it with 225 grain TTSX Bullets. That load gives me .75” groups.

The rifles are ready! 100 days and counting...

LivingTheDream · Jul 5, 2021

@CAelknuts I just got from Tanzania. It was amazing. Going to do a full report but you are going to love it. The amount of animals and the quality of animals is unreal. Lake Natron is a huge concession and has multiple climates (seriously, it is nuts). Words really can't describe it.

CAelknuts · Jul 5, 2021

LivingTheDream said:
@CAelknuts I just got from Tanzania. It was amazing. Going to do a full report but you are going to love it. The amount of animals and the quality of animals is unreal. Lake Natron is a huge concession and has multiple climates (seriously, it is nuts). Words really can't describe it.

im looking forward to reading it. As I mentioned before, Ngaserai and Lake Natron are both areas I’d very much like to hunt.

khharris · Jan 26, 2022

I was curious if you ever went on that hunt to Mlele and how it turned out? I am new to these boards but have a hunt booked with Kilombero North to hunt down in the Kilombero valley and some friends are going to Mlele this fall. What were your thoughts on the hunt? Just was curious as it is an area I would like to check out in the future.

LivingTheDream · Jan 26, 2022

I hunted with Kilombero North, they are great guys and I would hunt with them again in a heartbeat. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

CAelknuts · Jan 29, 2022

khharris said:
I was curious if you ever went on that hunt to Mlele and how it turned out? I am new to these boards but have a hunt booked with Kilombero North to hunt down in the Kilombero valley and some friends are going to Mlele this fall. What were your thoughts on the hunt? Just was curious as it is an area I would like to check out in the future.

I hunted with Alan Vincent in late October into early November. It was an excellent time enjoyed with an old friend, as I’ve known Alan going back to 1983 when he was a young boy and I was hunting with his father. I took most of what I wanted, good old Dugga boy, sable, bushbuck, hartebeest, zebra and a bush pig I hadn’t planned on shooting. Did not get a leopard, despite devoting huge time to a couple fantastic Tom’s we had on bait. I could have shot more game, but this hunt was mostly about enjoying a great time with Alan and we did that in the extreme. We are discussing a few different possibilities for our next hunt; Buffalo in Zim, Masailand & Cameroon. Not sure of the order or when but we’ll be doing a few more hunts together. For me, hunting with a good friend is what matters most.

Mlele is buffalo heaven, with lots of buffalo and numerous old bulls. It’s wild country, as we only heard 2 airplanes overhead in the 16 days I was there. I’d love to go back there but so many other things I’d like to do also, I wish I had more time & money.

CAelknuts · Jan 29, 2022

CAelknuts · Jan 29, 2022

CAelknuts · Jan 29, 2022

CAelknuts · Jan 29, 2022

CAelknuts · Jan 29, 2022

CAelknuts · Jan 29, 2022

khharris · Jan 31, 2022

Thanks for the info and looks like a great hunt. Sorry about the leopard but still looks like you had a blast. Just curious but did you see much Lion sign? My buddy has it on license as well. Also how were the game numbers in general there? Thanks for the help and sorry for all the questions.

CAelknuts · Jan 31, 2022

khharris said:
Thanks for the info and looks like a great hunt. Sorry about the leopard but still looks like you had a blast. Just curious but did you see much Lion sign? My buddy has it on license as well. Also how were the game numbers in general there? Thanks for the help and sorry for all the questions.

We heard lions calling several different times. We also briefly saw a male lion, but only briefly as he quickly disappeared into thick cover. Good game numbers, especially lots of buffalo and sable. Plenty of leopards, as we had five different Tom’s on bait, just couldn’t get the Tom we wanted to show up when we were there.

CAelknuts · Jul 31, 2022

CAelknuts · Jul 31, 2022

Postscript…

Alan Vincent sent me a picture of the leopard we hunted so hard for last October. Got it on his first hunt this season. Alan figured he was 160 pounds or so. Old Tom.