Kilimanjaro

I'd be more than interested in going... Just gotta check the dates of my wife and I's anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas. She was put in charge of booking it and I cannot for the life of me remember the exact dates she has us down for. But its somewhere close to that date, I think. I'll get that squared away and then let ya know. In the meantime, count me it!!

great looking tom!! Ive still got one of those guys on my list for sure!

Thanks a million guys!! I am still on cloud nine about the hunt for sure! I'll try to answer a few of the questions asked about this hunt.. To take a managent bull within the designated safari areas of Zimbabwe creates the following: 1: it provides a LOT of rations to the park crew, warden staff, etc. 2: it provides a means to make money off a renewable resource. The money comes from the trophy fees and then auctioning off of the hide and ivory. 3X the money for them off of one animal. To take a PAC ele in the communal lands is even MORE of a value to these people. 1: Again, the trophy fees go back into the community through the district council. 2: Again, they sell the leather and auction off the ivory to make revenue off of these byproducts of the hunt. 3. They get to retain their crops. Ele can do untold devestation to these small plots. Their crops are their livelyhood and only means to put food on the table. 4: And probably most important, it provides much needed PROTEIN to these people. I was the 1st hunter in the area since last Oct and they hadn't had much (if any) meat in the area since that time!! I had never seen happier people when they learned of our success in taking a couple of ele in the fields. These hunts are diff from a true trophy hunt. A trophy ele hunt is a hunt in which the ele is judged by the size of his tusks before being taken. The hunter is provided with all the neccessary paperwork needed to import the ivory and hide of the ele he/she decides to take, should they find one. These hunts are very expensive. The hunt I went on was all about the hunt and that is it. All I got to keep was my pics and the memories of my hunt (and maybe a few ele hair bracelets.. shhh, dont tell them customs guys!!) . The ele pop. in Zim is drastically overpopulated. They are growing at a rate or 3% per year, even with hunting factored in. So to take a few bulls out of the herd does nothing but positive things for the area. To give you an idea of the numbers of ele just in the Chirisa area, there will be over 100 management and cull elephant taken from this safari area in the next year alone. They are passionate about preserving their ele herds and have done a WONDERFUL job in doing so. They manage their herds by the books and it is paying off. I applaud them in doing so. Amanda, being in the tent provides a great way to hear the African bush at night.. lots of hyena whoops, nightjars, etc. everynight.. All sounds that just SCREAM Africa!! Willhunt, while it was great in providing much needed protein to all these folks, I can say for sure that I'm glad I didnt have to eat all that meat myself!! They said the cheek meat was the best cut, and we took a few fillets off of the 1st bull to grill and try. It was tough and GAMEY!!! If you can imagine taking a big bull elk in the middle of the rut, cutting the tenderloins out and then rolling them around in the bellyhide of the bull for 10 minutes, you'll get an idea of how elephant bull tastes!!! They love it, though! I will be back ASAP (2010 to be exact!).... I have a score to setle with a BIG PAC bull and a bull hippo.

Here's couple of more pics I'd like to share with you guys... hope you enjoy them.. The biggest kudu bull I've ever laid my hands on.. and it was snared by poachers in the area.. the head was just laying behind the warden's office.. I 'bout had a heart attack when I saw it! this poster has new meaning to ya when your in the jess after 'em! "that looks like good country over there, boss..."

But the hunt wasn't over just yet! We were still being asked daily by the communal lands council to PLEASE come and try for an elephant of two in the fields. They were raiding every evening and causing a TON of destruction to the farmer's small plots. And on top of the crop depredation, several of the bulls had become rather testy and were now prone to chasing the farmers when pressured to leave the fields.. Sounds like a hunt to me! We made our plans and were at the farmer's house late that afternoon and were treated to fresh picked watermelon while we waited for the bulls to make their way to the fields.. which we were assured by the farmers that they would. Sure enough, at last light, we could hear them moving into the corn. We gave them about 20 minutes to settle in and get comfortable. Once they were, we made our move. Now, if you can imagine, sneaking to within 20 yards of a bull elephant in the pitch dark was an adrenilne rush like no other. Things could get hairy in a hurry if everything didn't go exactly as planned! Luckily, our's was textbook. Light comes on and in the one second it takes to determine if the elephant is a taker, you pick your spot and wait for the green light from your PH. Three shots into the boiler room, a 50 yard death run, and I had elephant bull #2!!!! To cut a tail off an elephant hunted is to show ownership of that elephant. I gave the honors to Justice, and he relished in the task!! Atfer a short celebration, the radio cracked. It was another farmer who had just seen a BIG bull ease into his field about 6 miles from where we were at with this one we had just taken. It's time to get our act together and get going!! There was another elephant to hunt! We made our way to the farm and found the famer there in the road waiting for us. He knew exactly where the bull would be.. And he was right. Same story, different farm.. Light came on and there he was, and he DID NOT like us being there. He turned to face us and let us know the the field was HIS!! He swung around and I slapped him with an attempted brain shot, but it went high. This hurt him bad though.. Second and third shots did the trick though and he hadn't gone anywhere. We had done it!! Two problem elephant bulls is less than one hour! And this one was an absolute brute! Huge body on this bull. One tusk was busted at the lip and the other was prett nice for sure! Once the farmer got a look at him, he got even happier. It was the bull who was becoming testy with the famers. He was public enemy numero uno in their books and they were ectatic to see him get taken!! I was high on elephant hunting! All in all, it ended up in the end to be a great hunt that I doubt I will ever be able to surpass. As I said before, I had fullfilled a dream hunt, now threefold!! Zimbabwe is a wonderful country that I hadn't been to since 2000, and had never been to that part of the country. Beautiful as always, the friendliest people, and great hunting. I caanot wait to go back. And who knew that on this trip that not only would I get to hunt three elephant bulls, but just by going it made me the world's newest GO-ZILLIONAIRE!!! With unlimitled cash now at my disposal, look out hunting world!! Thanks for sharin' in the hunt with me, guys!

Gents, I've jumped off into the deep end of the pool now.. As you guys know, I was slated to go with several buddies to Tajikistan for Mid-Asian Ibex. They are hunting Marco Polo Argali. Well, with the wish-wash of the Tajik gov't and the same said for the import permits issued by our very own USFWS, the hunt was on again, off again.. on again, off again. I finally threw in the towel and went back on the market for a hunt to buy in '09.. I was a 'short and curly" away from putting down on a Mongolian Altai Ibex hunt, but at the last second, my hunting partner who was slated to go got slapped with a nasty divorce outta the blue. And I wasn't going without him.. So there went that.. Fast forward to Monday. I got a call from a buddy of mine who is a born South African who now lives here.. he is a booking agent for several outfits in several African nations. I got the call from him on Mon saying he had gotten ahold of 4 permits and that if I wanted 2 of them, they were mine. He was taking the other 2. Long story short, I'm now paid up, flights all bought, yellow fever shot administered this morn with a perscript. for malaria, and got the time scheduled off of work to go to Zimbabwe next Thurs. for 2 weeks to chase BULL ELEPHANT AND CAPE BUFFALO!! I cannot believe it!! My dream hunt has started to become reality!! I'm getting on a plane next Thrus morning to go on a hunt that I have dreamed of since I can remember.. I can barely sleep at night! I sure hope I have a super report to give when I return!! BTW, I wasn't going to tell you guys, but remember that 118-120 class 3X3 I was chasin in Mexico?? Well, long story short, Hector and I found him..again. And I got to within 268 yards of him....and burned the hair off his shoulderblades with a 180 grain Barnes!!! I'm still sick about it!! That downhill shooting has been my nemisis forever!!!! He'll haunt me till I can get after him next season!

In Arizona it is against the law to shoot someone for breaking into my truck to steal a gun. No matter how big of a S**T Bag that person is. If you feel your life is in danger or you are likely to sustain grievious bodily harm, you CAN kill the SOB. BUT you will have to articulate that fact in your court case hearing. This boils back down to the old saying.."Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6"..

Thanks guys!! It has indeed begun! Im packed, and ready to rock. I cannot wait!

Thank you so much guys for all the encouraging words in your posts and in alot of private PMs as well!! To say I am excited is the understatment of the century! I have never been so excited about a hunt in all my life. To hunt elephant and cape buffalo is a goal I set for myself a long time ago. Now its becoming a reality in less than 30 hrs. Bags are packed and I am ready to rock and roll! Hope to have some TALL tales to tell when I get back!! Thanks again guys!

Therein again back to the point of this whole mess of a post.. It's his PRIVATE ranch.. So I, along with MANY others on here, wholeheartedly say YES!!!! And just a quick reference to your use of the word "apprehend".. He isn't apprehending them in the eyes of his defense and in the eyes of the court.. He is mearly DETAINING them. To apprehend them is the phrase the prosecution will try to slander him with when trial begins. To apprehend/arrest them is what I get to do when I show up.. Remember, innocent till proven guilty. Although that gets thinner by the day anymore.

No AZ tag for me... I'll be home in TX chasin' big ol Rios.. missed the '08 season because of the move back to AZ from MT. Unless I win that NM Gould's permit!!

Do I?? Yep...almost everynight. A full auto M4 barrel or a freshly racked Rem. 870 12 ga. speaks in ways that I never could.. You tell me how you can tell the diff. between Juan from Chiapas, who is headed to the fields of San Joaquin simpily to pick lettuce, and from Jose, who is returning to New York and who has raped 2 small children, and murdered an innocent woman.. Oh yeah, he likes to travel the "open desert" armed to the gills and has a true hatred of being caught. I treat everyone with an iron fist until I'm out of the pitch dark desert, have backup, and they have all been searched... If you can tell the difference between the two folks I've mentioned above just by simpily looking at them, while your alone in the desert, its dark, and your backup is 10 miles away, I know about 15K BP Agents who'd like to know. You could sell your expertise to us and get really rich. And please, don't insult me.. Do I remember the Agents in TX?? This is the only country where to come in illegally wont land you in the slammer for a good stint. And its guys like you, with your mentality that have made it that way.. Go sneak into Mexico, get caught, and report back to us what happens to ya.. One thing's for certain, you'd have a diff. attitude when you were finally released.

Diamondback, it's attitudes like yours that has turned this country into the pisspot it is now.. You can try and peddle your point of view all you want on here, but 99.9% of all readers on THIS site are going to disagree with you on this..no matter what you say. Its a crying shame that a man can't protect what's his anymore.. Sorry bout your buddy(ex student).. My stance is he shouldn't have been hanging with a thief. If he wasn't, he'd still have his life and the Jeep owner would still have his freedom. Sucks anyway you look at it. Sounds to me that you have a personal feeling towards this topic because of this past experience and now want to throw your bitter opinion out there for all of us to read and agree with.. Fat chance. Now get pissy and let me have it.. I've said it before on here, I have skin like a rhino's rump.. All they are are typed words.

AZ, good post... If that was my ranch, I guess I'd be on trial too... What a puccified, spineless cesspool we've let this country become.. my forefathers who were killed and had to kill for this country are rolling over in their graves right now.. This "new" America has flushed all their blood, sweat and tears right down the drain and let it become the public crapper for the rest of the world.. I'm less proud of my Nationality everyday because of this crap that is now allowed to go on.

.458LOTT That should do the trick for both of 'em!!

Coues deer and California quail??? Nice mount

Thanks guys!! 5 days to go and I'm off! I can hardly stand it! BTW Tyson, I plan on bringing back a whole bundle of billion and trillion dollar notes to give as gifts and for keepsakes!! they seem to be what EVERYONE wants as a gift from this trip!!

Hey guys I have a quick question for all you frequent travelers on here.. I need to get a CC that accumulates flight miles that can be applied to flights taken.. I plan on using the heck out of it in 2009 with all the multi state apps, my Asian hunt, etc.. in turn, I'm hoping to accumulate enough to cover my flight back to Africa in 2010.. If any of you guys here use one with good results, please let me know about it!! Thanks and I hope to hear some of your suggestions.

Great looking buck and mount, Larry!

Had a pair.. I agree. Great boot that held up for me for 4 seasons.. especially great for light to moderate terrain. I wouldnt wear them in the nasty stuff though.

As I'm sitting here tonight getting my gear ready for a day of Mearns hunting tomorrow, I got to reflecting on the past year of hunting. So, how did the year pan our for you? Did you get the trophy you were seeking? I had several big game hunts in '08 (and ALOT of bird hunting!!) and all in all, it was a great year for hunting again. With that said, lets get a pic thread going of the 2008 trophies you took!! Jan. 5th 2008 found me freezing my keester off on the MT prairie in search of a big Bison bull to smoke.. Mission accomplished! had to skip my annual trip back home to TX for spring turkey hunting this yr because of work commitments.. Bummer. Right when the heat of an AZ summer was getting on my last nerve, it finally came time to head back to Africa! Had an Oct coues tag as well, but ended up not seeing anything I wanted to try for, and went home empty handed.. That's hunting! All in all, 2008 was definately an up and down year for me!! It was LONG!! But the hunting was good for the year for sure. Well, lets see how the year went for you!

There are some really great photos and some super '08 trophies being shared on here.. Great post guys! Keep 'em coming!

what about hunting in other places?? I marked mine as backpacking/saltwater fishing/ and other.

Dont go with the Ibex from Cabelas.. I bought a pair a few seasons ago and they are just flat out uncomfortable. Kinda like wearing slabs of marble on the bottms of your feet. I gave up on them and they now reside in my closet, never to be used again.. I went back to the tried and true Danner Canadians up to now. When they wear out (Ive beat them to death the last 4 seasons and they are getting close to being retired), I'm going to give the Kennetreks a try. I tried on a pair at their booth at the Safari Club Convention and thought they are a great boot that deserves to be given a good run for the money. Well built, sturdy, and quite comfortable to wear.. seems like a great complany to work with as well.

ITS ABOUT TIME