# Off to Tanzania



## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

My wife and I are off to the airport for a 21 day hunt with Adam Clements Safari Trackers. This is more her hunt than mine. She is after lion and leopard. Her dad and brothers are hunting too. The hunt is in the Kizigo game reserve on 2 million acres. Hopefully we will have plenty of pics and stories when we get back.


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## mrsh978 (Apr 24, 2006)

*africa*

travel safe and enjoy every minute over there- its on my mind every day...


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

Good luck! Can't wait to see some pics!

Eric


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## Pablo (May 21, 2004)

Have fun! Hopefully, it will have rained down here by the time you get back.


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## FINNFOWLER (Sep 2, 2004)

SWEET! Good luck!

My bucket list for sure


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Best of luck to you. Have a great trip.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Well, we finally arrived in Dar late last night. I was the first to get my Visa, so I ran to the baggage claim. Of course Delta/KLM left my wife's and BIL's checked bag in Amsterdam. The lady at lost baggage said it was because there wasn't enough time between flights to get the baggage to the next plane. That infuriated me, because the other nine checked bags our group had made it. Somehow I kept quiet, knowing vocalizing my thoughts would only make things worse. Our contact from the outfitter did a great job of organizing us and gettin us to the hotel.

Luckily my wife was excited to see our hotel was first class by even her standards. We ordered room service, and went to bed at about 12:45 AM Tanzania time, 4:45 PM Texas time. Hopefully we don't lose a day of hunting because of the lost bags.

I am going to try to give daily updates of the hunt. I have a satellite Internet unit, but haven't used it yet.


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Hopefully the bags show up quickly. Seems to happen too often.


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

That is something that is my top worry when traveling abroad. Hopefully they get you squared away soon so you can get to hunting! Just for a request, please post some african game bird pics to post whether dead or alive!!!:biggrin:

Eric


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Bags are supposed to be on the way. we are scheduled to get on the air charters at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Duckman, if you want to go bird hunting, go to South Africa. My PH there has incredible bird concessions.



Duckman3000 said:


> That is something that is my top worry when traveling abroad. Hopefully they get you squared away soon so you can get to hunting! Just for a request, please post some african game bird pics to post whether dead or alive!!!:biggrin:
> 
> Eric


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

Hope the bags show up and you can enjoy your trip!

TH


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Bags are here, and we are off. It was actually nice to be able to relax for a day, and enjoy the Indian ocean.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Been a great hunt so far. Finally got to camp yesterday afternoon. Camp is very nice. Tents with full baths attached. Food is very good too.

We checked and hung lion and leopard bait all day.


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## llred (Jun 30, 2008)

what's the weather like? just curious as to why that guy has a beanie on.


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## wschorp (Jun 1, 2004)

*Eland*

Nice looking eland. Is that a mountain reedbuck? I get mixed up on the tiny 10. Good luck hunting.
-WS


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## elkhunter49 (Jun 7, 2004)

Great looking Eland, is that a Lord Derby? And congrats on holding your tounge when you were hot. It's hard to do but usually the right move. Baker


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## flat185 (Jul 6, 2009)

Very nice so far good luck on the rest of your trip!


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## BrushyHillGuide (Jun 29, 2012)

Y'all are truly blessed! Have a great hunt and stay safe! Looking forward to more photos


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## James Howell (May 21, 2004)

Probably not a Lord Derby in Tanzania, but by far one of the biggest common eland I have seen. Beautiful mature animal. Congrats. Good luck with the cats.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Thanks everyone. To answer a few of the questions. The little one is an Oribi, and the Eland is an East African or Patterson's. Lord Derby are in CAR and Cameroon. Two lions on bait right now. We hung a bunch of baits today. Total for the group so far, 3 zebra, 4 hartebeest, 3 eland, 3 oribi, one cape, one kudu and a warthog. We are only on day four of the hunt. Ill try to post more pics tomorrow.


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## Pablo (May 21, 2004)

Ain't the internet great?!! He's in Tanzania, we're in Texas, and we're getting near real-time reports!

We're living the dream with ya bud!


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## saltaholic (Feb 19, 2005)

Awesome hunt so far! Keep us posted


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## Fordzilla06 (Oct 14, 2010)

llred said:


> what's the weather like? just curious as to why that guy has a beanie on.


It's winter over there now, ya know the whole southern hemisphere thing. The toilets flush backwards too!


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

It is winter, but it was very hot today. Tsetse flies were horrible today. We drove to the middle of the concession about 6 hours from camp today. We didn't see anything for almost 7 hours, only to shoot a cape on the way back about ten minutes from camp. My wife killed a great sable this afternoon too. Cats are starting to hit baits. Adam, her PH, went to hang the sable for lion baits about two hours from camp this evening. He passed by a a hartebeest leg they had hung for bait on the way there, and it hadn't been touched. On the way back to camp, it was almost finished. Hopefully one of our group gets a cat soon.


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## elkhunter49 (Jun 7, 2004)

Wow what a beautiful Sable, it's hard to tell from the angle but it looks like it's got to be 42"+. A big Sable is right at the top of my bucket list. Congrats to your wife on a beautiful trophy. Thanks for posting the photos. Baker


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Thanks for the updates. Hope the cats come in.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

My bro-inlaw connected with a big leopard this morning. Don't have any pics, because he is on the other side of the concession about 10 hours drive from here. My wife killed a hartebeest, I got a Reedbuck and my FIL got a kudu.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Got two more buff this morning. Found a big herd, and tracked them for a few miles. They ended up heading up to the top of a big hill. Finally found a few dagga boys on there own. The easy part was shooting them. The hard part was getting them off the hill. Had to cut a road the whole way. Killed them at 10:30, and didn't get the first one back to camp until 4:30. Burning elephant dung is the only thing that keeps the tsetse flies away.

My wife and her PH saw a huge leopard on a bait this morning. Hopefully he shows up tomorrow.


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Congrats on the continued good luck.


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## mywifeshusband (Nov 19, 2006)

Anything new we are waiting for updates on your hunt for those of us that can never get to do this hope you are having a great time and a great hunt. Beau


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## bluefin (Aug 16, 2005)

Hartebeest - for being dam ugly they are surprisingly quite tasty. One of the best meats I've had in Africa.

Tanz is the coup de gras of Africa. 

Thanks for the reports.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

My wife got her lion tonight!!! Here are a few more pics.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Few more


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Congratulations! One of the harder trophies to get these days.


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## elkhunter49 (Jun 7, 2004)

Great photo's and trophys. The lion photos and the big Roan antelope are *Awesome* Thank you very much for posting them. I've got to get over there somehow someway. Baker


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## Buckerup (Feb 19, 2009)

Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us, and continued success to your group!


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Thanks guys. The pics do this lion no justice. Adam said he is one of, if not the biggest bodied lions he has killed. This place is as wild as it gets.


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## Buck Tag (Dec 19, 2010)

Nice Eland, and that lion is awesome! I only did a plains game hunt when I went to SA. 

Animals are running around EVERYWHERE right? Target rich environment!!!


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## duckman49 (Aug 21, 2010)

wow hunt of a life time


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Animals are not around every corner, but there are a bunch of them. We have really had to hunt hard for the buffalo, roan and cats.



bigtek said:


> Nice Eland, and that lion is awesome! I only did a plains game hunt when I went to SA.
> 
> Animals are running around EVERYWHERE right? Target rich environment!!!


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## Jfreeman (Nov 3, 2004)

Time to start building a bigger trophy room! Very nice animals.


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## Duckman3000 (Apr 26, 2012)

Badass is the first word that comes to mind! You throw in the awesome animals and a fire breather on top of that!

Eric


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

My best buff yet. Taped out at 46 inches.


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## elkhunter49 (Jun 7, 2004)

Damm that is one mean looking animal. Congrats on a great trophy. Those buffalo look like they would just as soon stomp you flat as look at you. Thanks for posting all the photos, a true adventure. Baker


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Everyone hunting leopard tagged out. Four big toms in the salt. Been an incredible hunt. Ill post more pics when we get back to the states.


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## Pablo (May 21, 2004)

That is one helluva buff! Great stuff!


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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

awesome stuff! congrats to you guys, travel safe!


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## Game On (Apr 28, 2008)

That's awesome mike. Can't wait to hear about it


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## mywifeshusband (Nov 19, 2006)

Its awesome to be able to see your hunt almost in real time. Most of us would have to win the lottery to do this but thanks to 2cool its just amazing to be this close to a group of people that get to do it. Thanks for sharing with those of that hope to wim the powerball. Beau


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

We left camp this morning, and are back in Dar es Salaam. We get back to SA Monday at about 3:30 PM. I will post up a better report in a few days.


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## dmadd77 (Nov 7, 2006)

*Thanks for the hunt update.*

Great Hunt, Great pics, Great story,Great Great Great. You and your family are truely blessed.


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## InfamousJ (May 21, 2004)

Wow Mike, just wow. That is an amazing hunt. Congrats!!


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## Josh5 (Jun 27, 2007)

How do you measure a buff? Is it just spread? Or is it from the tip, around the curl, over the boss, round the second curl to the other tip? 

Your biggest is definitely big!! Congrats, great trip and pics. Thanks for posting.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Measure them at the widest point from outside to outside straight across. This is the generally accepted way to measure a cape. If you want to score them, look at the SCI scoring method.



Josh5 said:


> How do you measure a buff? Is it just spread? Or is it from the tip, around the curl, over the boss, round the second curl to the other tip?
> 
> Your biggest is definitely big!! Congrats, great trip and pics. Thanks for posting.


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## Johnboat (Jun 7, 2004)

*Dar es Salaam*



pacontender said:


> We left camp this morning, and are back in Dar es Salaam. We get back to SA Monday at about 3:30 PM. I will post up a better report in a few days.


Great hunt and awesome buffalo. In 'O4 I stayed a night before safari in Dar at a suprisingly luxurious hotel right on the Indian Ocean. Beautiful view and great food. Can't remember the name but I doubt there are many nice hotels like it there. Dar airport sux though. Post more pics when you get back. Thanks.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

What a trip. Adam runs a first class operation. I can't speak for my in-laws, but my wife and I had the best hunting trip of our lives. The food, hospitality, accommodations, animals, equipment, staff, and PHs were all top notch. I hunted with Cliff Walker from Zim, and Alicanne hunted with Adam. 

After the bag situation I explained before, the hotel was a welcome sight. We relaxed and hung out with out PHs and cameramen the next day. The food at the Sea Cliff Hotel was great. My bro in-laws discovered the casino, and were slow to get up. The next morning, we went to the airport for our charter. We had to take 3 caravans for all of the people, gear and food. 

Since there were four people hunting cats, Adam decided to split us up across the reserve for the first part of the hunt. My wife, myself, and my father in-law shred the Kizigo west Kilumbi camp. The tents were first class, with flush toilets, double vanities and hot/cold showers. Since we got to camp early, we decided to head out. A quick check of the rifles and we were off. I connected with an oribi late in the day. 

The next day, we were up at 5 am. Order of the day was to get baits hung. Cliff spotted a herd of Eland, with a good bull in it. We got to a termite mound and had to crawl another 50 yards to get to a position where I could get a shot. Two bloody knees later, I had a great eland down. Now we had some bait to hang. That same day my wife connected with a nice hartebeest and an oribi. Over the next few days we took zebra, hartebeest, buffalo, kudu, sable, eland, reedbuck and hippo.

Day 6 Cliff and I were shown where my FILs group had found a tracks of a herd of buffalo. They weren't interested in tracking them, so we set out. Little did I know, these buff decided to become mountain climbers. Two hours later, we got to the top of what I would call a mountain. As we got to the top, we spotted the last of the herd heading over the other side. Just then, Benji our tracker spotted 4 dugga boys off to our left. I saw two that looked good to me. We positioned ourself to take a shot at the first bull as he came into an opening. I took the shot, and the other three ran and surrounded him. The second bull presented a shot and I took it. He spun around looking for us, so I fired again. The first bull didn't run , but the other three left in a cloud of dust. The first bull was dead on his feet, but my 470 made him dead on his belly. We had the first bull down, so started tracking the second. Blood was thin at first, and I started getting worried about my shots. It was almost 200 yards before we saw him trotting over a ridge. I couldn't get a shot. The blood started to get heavier, but the grass started to get thicker. That was making for some tense moments. We came around a termite mound, and he was laying in the shade waiting for us. His eyes were a color red I had never seen before. I had never seen such hatred in anythings eyes before. He wanted to kill us. As he got up I fired both barrels into his chest and he dropped. He still had had that look in his eyes and tried to get up again. Again, I used both barrels. His body was abnormally big. I took all 6 of us to load the front half of him in the truck. Even then it was tough. All the others, it only took 4 people to load a buffalo. Cliff my PH was always glad I can shoot well. His 577 nitro bullets cost about $25 a shot.

A few months ago, A PH named Wayne Clark was killed by a wounded buffalo in Tanzania. The bull hooked him deep in the groin/leg, and he died from blood loss. I had read about it before we went, but the story didn't hit home until we started talking with Brian and Cliff. Wayne is Brians brother In-law and Cliffs best friend. He died in Cliff's arms. I could tell how much it changed the intensity of the hunt, when we were trailing that big bull. Steps were slower, and movements more calculated. I knew that if I screwed up, there would be no hesitation to let that cannon bark. Wayne was the 5th PH this year to be hit by a buff, and killed or wounded. 

After my bull was down, I really got to thinking about my shots and if I had made poor ones in the beginning. We started looking, and it just seemed that the huge bodied old warrior had a will to stay alive and fight. All of my hundreds of rounds shot from the sticks, no matter the headache or soreness from the recoil of my double, was well worth it. Just knowing I had ever put anyones life in danger from a poorly placed shot would not set well with me.

Day 7 Alicanne connected with her leopard. She and Adam had eleven leopards on bait at the same time. 

Day ten she got her lion. They passed up a few really nice male lions before they got hers. The ticket for the lion was the hippo. They would eat a little of the buffalo we had hung, but hammered the hippo once it was up. 

Even though I wasn't with her, the story was really cool. They had hung the hippo bait the day before. There were a few pics of the cat, but he ate the camera that night. She, Adam, and Tim the cameraman were all settled in the blind. Alicanne looked up from her book, and almost Yelled a whisper "There he is". Adam could't see him from his position. A little while later he was headed for the bait. He marked his territory on a bush, then relieved himself one last time. Alicanne decided to reposition herself in her chair. As she did that , her ring tapped the metal on the chair. That put the giant cat on full alert headed straight to the blind. At about 25 yards, he made a slight turn and the order to shoot was given. Adam had put his fingers in his ears, and Alicanne had thought he had said "SH!T" as in he is too young. Then Tim loudly whispered "shoot, shoot". Alicanne made a perfect shoulder shot. She had asked Adam to back her up regardless. He put a massive 505 Gibbs in his spine and the beast was down for good. Estimated at 7 years old, full of scars and a gigantic body. Pics do no justice for him. 

Between the two of us, we had 5 buffalo, 2 zebra, 2 eland, 2 hartebeest, 2 oribi, 2 roan, lion, leopard, sable, 2 warthog, porcupine, reedbuck, jackal, hippo and a baboon.

My FIL had a great hunt. He ended up with leopard, kudu, eland, buffalo, zebra, hartebeest, sable and baboon.

Rob, my BIL was in Kizigo east. Atticus was in a fly camp in Kizigo central. Over the next few weeks they had some great action. Lots of cats on bait. They passed up a few lions that were either with cubs, or just borderline on age. They learned the virtues of using premium bullets, and found out how tough the animals can be. Heartbreak and triumph were experienced by both. They took Leopard, eland, buffalo, kudu, zebra, dik dik, oribi, sable, roan, duiker, steinbok, hartebeest, impala and warthog. 

We all joined up for the last few days in Kizigo west. Had a great time being together. It was great spending time with the wife. I am blessed to have a wife that loves to hunt as much as I do. There has never been an argument over hanging mounts in the house.

Thanks again to Adam, Cliff, Brian van Blerk, Georgie, Ernst, and the Osprey filming crew: Tim, Zig, Glen and Kirk. We had a great time. I will post more pics when I get them from the other guys. The staff celebrates your arrival, taking of cats, and departure in a way you could never forget. The Kabubi for the cats was always entertaining. The party we had on the night before we left was awesome. They always made you right at home. Can't wait to get back.


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## pacontender (Jun 26, 2004)

Few more pics


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## elkhunter49 (Jun 7, 2004)

Wow what a true adventure! Thanks for posting the story with the photos. Great read. Baker


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## Pablo (May 21, 2004)

Success! Simply outstanding!


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## TXwaterfowl (Mar 28, 2006)

Congrats Mike! Great pics and outstanding animals. That is one huge buffalo!


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