Hunting & Fishing Back from Mozambique

[wilb]

I was with Nhenda Safari on the Cahorra Bassa Dam in Tete province, Mozambique. My brother and I hunted Croc and Hippo, taking one of each.

We also took a buffalo each in RSA, near the southern end of the Kruger park.

Herre is a picture of the hippo:

Only a few hours later, that hippo was completely cut up; absolutely nothing left !

This was the hunt of a lifetime ! Travel was smooth, but negotiating the Mozambique bureaucracy can be frustrating. Nothing a pocket full of $10 and $20s can't fix, though.

Our equipment included M70 Safari Express rifles in .416Rem and Ziess 1-4 optics; all worked very well. Federal Safari TSX bullets performed flawlessly.

Marksmanship was challenging, ranging from 120 yd precision shooting on Hippo and croc to snap shooting wounded buffalo at 25 yds. That was intense.

My brothers Ziess 10x40 Victory Binos went TU in the 114 degree heat, and we found our Professional Hunter had the same problem with his.

My new Pentax K30 proved to be tough enough to rattle around in boats and 4wds for two weeks, including extreme heat, dust and water spray.

More later.

 

[Timo Turl]

Re: Back from Mozambique

I think we need more pics

 

[wilb]

Re: Back from Mozambique

This croc is right at 15 ft., he's a monster ! My brother, on the left, shot him. We saw him on Tuesday and after visiting the blind 4 times over the next two days, we got lucky. He had to be oriented nose inland, with his belly on the sand. Even after being shot DRT, his tail gives a final whip the would push him into the water oriented the other way.

Estimated to be 70-80 years old, he was clever and very cautious.

 

[gknutson]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Wow. That croc is amazing.

 

[MBC223]

Re: Back from Mozambique

What happened to the croc afterward? The locals eat him? Gator is tasty...but an 80 year old croc I'm not sure about. Sound like the trip of a lifetime.

 

[mdesign]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Amazing...hope to go there some day just to see the wildlife. Congratulations on your hunt!

 

[Nuttshooter]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Guys in Africa the locals will eat anything that does not eat them. There were two giraffes that got loose from the local zoo here. Within one hour they had been taken down and stripped clean by the locals.

 

[TNtrg.300]

Re: Back from Mozambique

The croc is huge! Would love to see some pics from the buff. hunt.

 

[Huntr]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Wow, looks like an amazing adventure! Congratulations.

 

[BOFF]

Re: Back from Mozambique

WOOEEE!!


Looks to be a trip of a lifetime, and animals as well.

Never would have thought it would take 70-80 years for the croc to get that big.

And the teeth on the hippo!! Didn't know the teeth got that long either.


Congrats to you both!!




God Bless,
David B.

 

[MikeeBooshay]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Nice hippo! Can you post a bunch of piccs if you have them. And one of the buff too!

So did the binos work OK after cooling off? I brought mine, and the heat in TX doesn't usually get to tthem, wondering what is the deal? More info if possible, thanks.

 

[wilb]

Re: Back from Mozambique

The binos were working fine early on in the croc blind. Thru the afternoon, it got really hot and they were in the sun. Suddenly, the focus adjustment would not work, it just spun free. After cooling down the first time, they worked again, but you could tell something was wrong. The next time the got hot, they quit working and stayed that way.

Two of our PHs have experienced exactly the same problem. Luckily, I am a Zeiss dealer and will be sending two pairs in for repair,

I do have more pics and will post a few as soon as I can.. gotta catch up at work.

 

[Chopperguy]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Moz is one of the best places in Africa to hunt.

Great looking trophies here.

I just did my 3rd trip to Moz last August. 12 day hunt that I spent 6.5 days walking up the same old dugga boy. That shot and follow up in the tall grass was the most rewarding hunt I've ever been on.

Hope to do it again.

 

[Indypendent]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Good Lord man! That's intense looking. Did you eat any of that Hippo?

 

[nso123]

Re: Back from Mozambique

The Dark Continent is on my bucket list. I look forward to seeing more pics from your hunt.

 

[piglatinhater]

Re: Back from Mozambique

very cool!

 

[BIGBOY1975]

Re: Back from Mozambique

SWEET!!! Great pics ,love the croc pic.

 

[wilb]

Re: Back from Mozambique

That hippo was cut up and hanging out to dry within hours. We did eat a fillet and it was very good. That was after a lot of 2M beer. Surprisingly, beer in Mozambique is very good, just hard to find cold. Beer is also the only thing that is not crazy expensive at about 40-50 METs (~$1.80)

We didn't try the Croc, it doesn't seem very popular with the locals, either.

The tiger fish was excellent, and I don't usually care for fish. The locals sustain themselves on Kapenta fish, which the catch with special illuminated nets at night.

 

[Timo Turl]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Amazing pics. Thanks for sharing them.

 

[30calDeath]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Wild, that is awesome though.

 

[wilb]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Here is the AK our Gov't. game scout carried. It is probably in better shape than many others I saw.

 

[wilb]

Re: Back from Mozambique

Here is my buffalo

 

[sauersafari]

Re: Back from Mozambique

That is really exciting experience.I am so sad of hearing the Zeiss don not work under harsh hot environment.