Thomas Nissen follows in a lion’s footsteps to secure a record-breaking buffalo bull in the Zimbabwean bush
The first few days of the hunting safari we spent in a smaller concession where we often came across fishermen or shepherds with small herds of goats out and about – but this was not the case in the second concession we visited. Here, it is a special privilege for hunters to be able to go into the bush, as none of the locals are in any doubt about the punishment for moving into the area: death!
These harsh consequences have been introduced to stop poaching in this big game concession, and are crucial if the game here is to have a chance. With us in the 4X4 we therefore had, in addition to a few trackers, a state-employed officer armed with a fully automatic rifle and a license to kill. Our hunt organiser, Rasmus, also has license to kill, but ‘only’ for buffalo and elephant. It is these highly prized (and priced) licences that help to pay for the game officer’s equipment, salary and training.
For the last two days we had been driving mile after mile, hour after hour on dusty mountain roads under a setting sun without seeing so much as the shadow of a buffalo. The plan was to find fresh tracks from buffalo bulls that have crossed the road, as well as keeping an eye out for signs of fresh buffalo at the banks of the few water holes that remain in the mountains here at the end of the dry season.
If we find traces of buffalo, it is up to the trackers, and the PH Pierre Hundermark, to bring Rasmus to a shooting possibility on an appropriate bull. Secondly, we are looking for an old male elephant, but Pierre’s experience tells him that we will be very lucky if we run into one in this concession, at this time of year.
In the middle of the morning we found fresh buffalo tracks by a water hole, quite close to the cemented state road. The trackers quickly noticed that there were several bulls in the herd.
HUNTING COMPETITION
There were a lot of animals in the herd, so it was going be to be difficult to get in range and extract a shootable bull from the herd. But for lack of better options, the tracking had to start.
Although it was scorching hot and the sun was already baking over the dry terrain like a piece of glowing coal, the tracking was not going slowly. The many animals followed a wide track along a ridge and they were easy to follow, but they had a long lead. We came to another small water hole which the buffalo had passed, and Pierre’s shar
