There’s nothing quite like Africa. Like sheep hunting, it gets in your blood. Go once and you’ll want to go back…again and again.
I began planning this safari nearly two years ago when I met with one of our top African outfitters at an outdoor show. I told him I wanted to hunt an old buffalo and had clients that would join me. He didn’t hesitate. “You need to hunt the Niassa Game Reserve.” Located in northern Mozambique, Niassa is one of Africa’s largest, wildest, and most protected areas. It includes over 10 million acres of some of the most remote landscape on the continent. It’s connected to the Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania, making this one of Africa’s largest contiguous wilderness areas. Not a fence for two thousand miles. Niassa is separated into multiple hunting blocks where outfitters have exclusive hunting rights. This particular outfitter holds two side-by-side concessions, totalling over 1.5 million acres. You won’t even see a fraction of it during a 10-day safari. It’s that big. The landscape consists of miombo woodlands, riverine forest, bamboo thickets, open savannah, and granite mountains. Some of the prettiest country I’ve ever seen. Animals are on quota and managed accordingly. It is home to 4 of the Big 5, plus huge crocodiles along the river systems, hippos, and countless plainsgame including numerous endemic species like the Roosevelt sable, Johnston’s impala, Bohms zebra, Livingstone eland, and Niassa wildebeest.
Mozambique offers a classic, Hemingway-style safari rich in tradition, where animals roam completely free. Hunters need to be prepared to do some hiking to harvest an animal. Northern Mozambique, specifically the Niassa Game Reserve, offers some of the finest wild cape buffalo hunting anywhere along with an incredible population of leopard and lion.
Fast forward to August 29, 2023. I boarded a flight to Atlanta, where I met up with four of my WTA customers. This would be my third safari to Africa, but my first dangerous game hunt. For the rest of my group, it was their first safari to the Dark Continent. We were booked for a 10-day cape buffalo and plainsgame hunt. I booked the first 10 days of September during the drier season. This tends to be the best time to hunt buffalo here. We boarded the long flight across the pond, landing in Johannesburg nearly 24 hours later (taking into account the time change). I had arranged for us to be met by a transfer company as soon as we walked off the jetway. They would assist with our firearms as well. Money well spent! The benefit of joining a WTA-hosted trip is traveling as a group. If you were ever hesitant on pulling the trigger on a trip like this, give us a call. There’s a definite comfort factor to knowing you’re traveling with an experienced group host who will have all of the logistics handled ahead of time: air travel, firearms paperwork, airport meet and greet services, overnights, etc. We take care of the details so you don’t have to. After whisking us through customs and handling our luggage and firearms, we were soon at our hotel for a delicious meal and some much-needed sleep.
The following morning we were transferred back to the airport for a 2 ½ hour flight to Pemba, located along the Indian Ocean in northern Mozambique. From here, we would board a Cessna caravan for the one-hour flight into the Niassa Game Reserve, where we would land on a dirt air strip right next to our hunting camp. We were met by the staff, checked our rifles, and got settled into our accommodations for the next two weeks. It was amazing what they had in the middle of the African bush. Each of us had our own air-conditioned chalet with private bath, plus an open-air main lodge with infinity pool, dining area, bar, and wifi. The property was set high on the river-bank overlooking the Lugenda River with incredible views. We packed pretty light for this African safari since daily laundry was provided free of charge. Daily attire for this safari consisted of a lightweight pair of hiking boots or shoes, well broken-in of course, plus a few safari shirts, lightweight pants or shorts with gaiters, ammo belt or pouch, 8x or 10x binoculars, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and bug spray (no deet). A minimum .375 caliber is mandatory for the cape buffalo while a .270–.300 caliber is fine for the plainsgame. I was hunting with the Gunwerks Skuhl rifle on this particular trip.
We met our PHs (professional hunters) and we were given an orientation on what to expect over the next 10 days. Long days and short nights. We were up at 4 a.m. each morning for a light breakfast and coffee before heading out before daybreak. Like I mentioned before, this area is huge so you may need to travel well over an hour to your hunting area. Each hunter had their own PH, trackers, and safari vehicle. I would spend a couple of days at a time with each client, hunting together and getting to know them. No better way to do that than on a hunt! Our daily routine would consist of looking for tracks along the many roads that cut their way though the concession, or hiking in to check a waterhole midday. Here, you don’t hunt the buffalo herds, only dugga boys, solitary bulls or groups of old bulls that have left the large herds. This management tool has been in place for many years and the results speak for themselves. The buffalo hunting has never been better in this area! Once fresh tracks are cut, the trackers begin putting the pieces together and the stalk is on! You could be on tracks for several hours and must be prepared for this. Mozambique is close to the equator and the days are very hot this time of year. One tracker would carry a pack full of bottled water. You need to stay hydrated. Mornings were usually spent looking for buffalo and then pursuing the many plainsgame during midday. Lunch was typically taken under a shaded acacia tree with cots set up for a siesta. Then, back on the dugga boy tracks later in the day. The Niassa is full of game, but you need to be prepared to walk and earn your trophy. If a stalk doesn’t work out, you’ll most likely cut more tracks down the road. But, when an opportunity presents itself, you take it.
By day three we already had four buffalo down and several plainsgame including eland, sable, kudu, zebra, bushbuck, impala, wart hog, bushpig, and various duiker. Now it was my turn to hunt a dugga boy! The PH for my hunt was Darren, an old friend who I met many years ago, and who has guided our hunters for several years now. We cut a solitary track shortly after daybreak on day four. A track of an old bull. A proper dugga boy, as Darren called it. We tracked him for nearly two hours. Saw where he would feed and bedded down a couple of times. Darren’s trackers were incredible. They are the highlight of any safari. They’ve been with him for nearly 20 years. Hunting all over Africa. We finally caught up with the lone bull as he fed in a small clearing just 50 yards away. Darren set up the sticks and I settled my Gunwerks .375 Ruger. I can still visualize his heavy bosses as I looked through the scope at him feeding and settled the crosshairs on his shoulder. The first shot broke his right shoulder, and not knowing where we were, the buffalo began running our way. I settled back on the sticks for a back-up shot, and as he veered off, I hit him two more times and put him down for good. The death bellow signaled he was expiring. My adrenalin was through the roof as I approached this old bull. 1,800 pounds of sheer muscle. Heavy bosses and worn tips, scarred up face. The entire experience was everything I had imagined when I dreamt of buffalo hunting. I looked back at our trackers who were calm as could be, just another day at the office for them. You could see their sense of accomplishment on having done their job. I was just the lucky one behind the trigger.
There’s nothing quite like Africa. If you’d like to experience a trip like this for yourself, you know who to call! Reach out to us at 1-800-346-8747.
