Tag Archive for: Hunt in Zimbabwe

Newsletter 68

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Dear Hunting Friends

I hope this 68th version of my newsletter finds you well.

Since my last newsletter in November 2017 we have done some good hunts although the December/January period is our low period due to holidays and since the rains effect our ability to move around the concessions freely due to mud and floods, the rains were not as good as expected however we are currently experiencing some late rain in the Lowveld that is a welcome surprise and will make for very good early season elephant hunting in the Gonarezhou area especially.

We attended the early season hunting shows: SCI where Jono and Adriaan worked our booth there, I went to Dortmund with Steve Meyer for the 11th year in a row that Take Aim Safaris has done the German hunting expo, our fair chase free range hunts are always well received by the European hunters that attend that show, thanks for the support.

For the year ahead I have booked a record number of hunts already with the bulk of the booking season still to come so look out for my 6 or so newsletters that you will receive this year that will be full of interesting information and photos from our hunts. From my own point of view I hope to see you in the newsletters, if not this year then perhaps next year, book now to get the dates and hunting quota that you want.

To all our Spanish clients we will once again be attending the Spanish hunting convention CINERGETICA this year in Madrid from the 1st to the 4th March 2018 we will be in prime booth # 321 in the main hall, please come and visit us there.

You may be interested to know that a client of mine from Russia shot the biggest lion in Zimbabwe last year, judged in accordance with skull measurement’s. The hunt was guided in Matetsi by PH Steve Meyer, here is the award Steve won and a photo of the very old lion:

I do have one more lion on quota in Matetsi for this year, I have already sold two.

I also have a Gonarezhou lion on quota for this year that has not been sold yet.

Since my last newsletter we have done some great hunts, here are the updates and photos:

A client of ours from South Africa hunted this buffalo in the Lowveld of Zimbabwe with PH Steve Meyer in November 2017.

During January 2018 PH Nixon Dzingai guided this client from Europe on this buffalo, crocodile and elephant bull hunt in Sengwe 1 and 2 Zimbabwe.

During December 2017 PH Nixon Dzingai guided a client from Europe on this dagga boy hunt in Malipati Safari area, Zimbabwe.

During February 2018 PH Albert Johnson guided this plains game hunt in Limpopo South Africa:

How about this baobab in the Lowveld of Zimbabwe:

As always thank you for taking the time to read my newsletters and pass them onto your hunting friends, if you are planning a hunt in South Africa or Zimbabwe please allow me the opportunity to tell you more about our hunts and our pricing for instance our Gonarezhou dagga boy hunts are to my knowledge the best priced buffalo hunts available in Zimbabwe, I do have quota and dates available on all big game hunts for 2018 and beyond.

Hunters best wishes.

Carl Knight
Contact Number: 0027-82-749-1747
Email: carl@takeaimsafaris.com
Web: www.takeaimsafaris.com

Newsletter 67

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Dear Hunting Friends

I hope this last newsletter for 2017 finds you all well, may I also take this opportunity to wish you a happy festive season ahead and thanks for the support during 2017, prior and beyond. All 2018 concession information including price lists are available on our website: www.takeaimsafaris.com

Our concessions include:

  • Matetsi Unit 2
  • Matetsi Unit 5
  • Matetsi ECA
  • Binga
  • Gonarezhou Safari areas (4 camps, 300.000+ hectares)
  • Top class South African hunting areas

A short reminder that you can visit Take Aim Safaris at the following expo’s during 2018:

I have long maintained that the Gonarezhou Safari areas are the perfect place/best place to hunt for trophy elephant bulls and trophy buffalo bulls. During the last 5 years we have hunted two bulls over 100 pounds, one of them was 105 pounds, the next was 122 pounds and now there has been a 132 pounder pick-up, this bull was not hunted, the tusks were found by Parks Rangers inside the Park, this bull surely died of old age but not before passing on his gene. If you are interested in a trophy elephant bull I say the Gonarezhou Safari Areas are the best place to look, here is the 132 pound pick-up:

Onto the recent hunts where a client of ours from Europe hunted this hippo and croc in the Gonarezhou Safari Areas with PH Nixon Dzingai, these river hunts for hippo are always exciting due to the fact that most hippos are hunted on dry land in and around the Lowveld River system.

Also on a recent hunt a client from the USA hunted this trophy 44 inch buffalo bull in Malipati Safari Area, a special thanks to RSA PH Russ Field for the booking:

On another recent hunt a long term client of ours on his family’s 20th + hunt with TAS hunted this very good roan antelope and beautiful lion in the North West Province of RSA, thanks to PH Riaan Lourens for guiding the hunt. These lions hunts are great value for money hunts at about the price of an RSA buffalo hunt:

On the last of our recent hunts PH Talmage Alexander guided a client from the USA in the Matetsi ECA on this buffalo and sable hunt.

Thanks for taking the time to read my newsletters and pass them onto your hunting friends, as always please contact me for all your big game hunts in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Hunters best wishes and a fantastic festive season ahead to you all.

Carl Knight
Contact Number: 0027-82-749-1747
Email: carl@takeaimsafaris.com
Web: www.takeaimsafaris.com

Newsletter 65

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Dear Hunting Friends

I hope this newsletter finds you well.

Since my last newsletter on the 11th July we have had some great hunts to update you on, please read on below.

During July we welcomed a client from Europe who hunted in Malipati Safari Area (Gonarezhou, Zimbabwe) with PH Nixon Dzingai, the client managed to hunt this 14 foot crocodile, this very good leopard and some plains game:

Also during July myself and fellow PH Riaan Louwrens hunted with long term clients of TAS for these two lions and some plains game.

Now if you want to know what a dagga boy looks like then here you go:

This bull was hunted in July by an RSA client of mine on his second buffalo hunt booked with me, last year he also shot a great buffalo. Ernest has just booked his 3rd hunt with me this time another buffalo and an elephant. Hunters this is what you are looking for when you hunt the Gonarezhou safari areas, free range, fair chase dagga boys on their terms in their back yards:

Special thanks to PH Simon Dzingai for guiding this hunt.

Another RSA client of TAS hunted the Gonarezhou Safari area: Sengwe 2 during July where he was guided by PH Nixon Dzingai on this dagga boy hunt:

Also during July this time in Matetsi and Binga clients from the USA hunted these very good trophies with PH Steve Meyer:

During August I hunted with clients of mine on a very good RSA concession that is open to Botswana on the Limpopo River, we hunted this very good elephant bull in the 35 pound class and we saw over 100 elephants including 10 good bulls. We also hunted this crocodile that measured 3.4 meters and this very good plains game including this 30 inch waterbuck. A special thanks to PH Philip Craucamp for the hunt.

Also during August a client of ours from Europe hunted this buffalo bull in the Malipati Safari Area with PH Nixon Dzingai.

As always thanks for taking the time to read my newsletters and pass them onto your hunting friends. PH’s, Outfitters, Clients and Agents please feel free to contact me for bookings in South Africa and in Zimbabwe.

Hunters best wishes.

Carl Knight
Contact Number: 0027-82-749-1747
Email: carl@takeaimsafaris.com
Web: www.takeaimsafaris.com

Newsletter 60

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Dear Hunting Friends

Happy new year to you all, may you have a healthy and happy 2017 filled with time outdoors.

Attached to this newsletter is a link to my 2017 brochure, please download and save your copy to your computer for reading at your convenience, the brochure has maps of our hunting areas, an explanation of the hunting areas, camp photos, hunting pricelists and some of our 2016 trophy photos. Please forward the brochure to your hunting friends and please feel free to email me for booking enquiries. Thank you.

Since my last newsletter on the 25th of November we have had some very good hunts including some superb elephant hunts as mentioned in my last email plus this 45 inch hard boss buffalo and some really fantastic crocodiles, in fact I would go as far as to say that the quality of these crocodile trophies have stolen the late season lime light.

As you read on you will see photos that could be disturbing to sensitive readers. Since this is a hunters newsletter written by a hunter to hunters (no children) I have decided after discussion with friends and clients to send these photos out, to show you what really happens in wild Africa. I have explained to you before that our areas are real hunting areas for hard men, these concessions are not zoos.

Here is an explanation of the photos: Many people incorrectly believe that hippos kill more people than any other African animal, this could not be further from the truth. Hippos eat no meat and would have no reason to hunt or kill humans, of course in a chance encounter a hippo can/will kill humans.

The biggest killer of humans (mostly rural people) in Africa is the crocodile that hunts/stalks/kills and eats humans daily in Africa. To be clear I don’t believe that crocodiles see humans as natural prey, the main reason crocodiles are killing humans is due to the fact that humans have poached/killed 95% of the natural prey animals available to the crocodiles in the form of fish and game animals that would otherwise drink at the water where the crocodile live and be hunted there by these now man-eater crocodiles. This is the vicious circle of life that exists here in Africa.

This example is unique to where humans and animals co-exist, crocodiles under normal circumstances would not hunt humans if their natural prey was available. Poaching is responsible for the decline in the crocodiles natural prey animals, not sustainable hunting.

Early December 2016 Steve Meyer got a call from Binga (Lake Kariba: Zimbabwe) Communal leaders informing him that there is a massive crocodile hunting and eating local people that are collecting water & fishing on the banks of Lake Kariba, they asked Steve to kill this problem animal, now to be honest these calls come in all the time this is not new or unique at all as mentioned above. This time it just so happens that Steve was in Binga fishing with a friend from Bulawayo, they decided to go and hunt this man eater crocodile in service of the local community.

This crocodile must have been responsible for a great many human deaths over the last 70 years or so of its adult life, this crocodile was not accurately measured but my own estimate puts this crocodile at 5.2 meters if we consider that Steve who is in the photo is 1.76 meters tall. Regardless of the exact length this crocodile is massive, they don’t get any bigger than this in the wild.

After the crocodile was killed and the stomach contents removed this is what was found. The human remains were returned to the community for funeral and burial ceremonies.

On another more traditional hunt, this time in the Gonarezhou a client of ours from Spain managed to hunt this 45 inch hard boss buffalo with PH Nixon Dzingai (pictured in the photo) during December 2016.

On another November/December hunt also guided by Nixon clients from Europe managed to shoot these two very good crocodiles In the Gonarezhou area with the larger one measuring 14 foot, a massive crocodile for a river system. The hunters also hunted this 45 pounder elephant bull with Nixon and this giraffe plus two waterbuck and some other plains game.

On a recent Matetsi hunt another client from Spain hunted this 40 pounder elephant with Steve Meyer.

On another Binga hunt, this time with PH Talmage Alexander a client from South Africa shot this 50 pounder elephant:

On a recent Save Valley hunt a client from Europe hunted this buffalo with PH Lloyd Yeatman:

On a recent hunt in South Africa a client from South Africa who has now booked 3 hunts with Take Aim Safaris shot this elephant bull in the 35 pound class, his teenage daughter shot a buffalo cow. Thanks to PH Philip Oosthuizen JNR for guiding another one of my clients on a great hunt.

Closing off our 2016 season a client of ours from Europe that hunted with Nixon Dzingai in the Gonarezhou Safari areas managed to hunt these 3 hard boss buffalos:

Please visit me in Dortmund at the Jagd and Hund expo in Hall 7 stand D28.

You can also visit me in Salzburg in the Mistral booth, centre of the main hall.

As always thanks for taking the time to read my newsletters and pass them on to your hunting friends. Clients, PH’s, Outfitters and Agents please contact me for all your big game hunt bookings in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Hunters best wishes.

Carl Knight
Contact Number: 0027-82-749-1747
Email: carl@takeaimsafaris.com
Web: www.takeaimsafaris.com

Newsletter 59

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Dear Hunting Friends

I hope this newsletter finds you well.

Since my last newsletter on the 13th of September Take Aim Safaris has had some fantastic hunts in fact this newsletter is what I would call a “bumper issue” due to the number of hunts and the superb quality of the trophies taken. I could have sent out a newsletter in October but decided not to do so in order that I keep the reader content and interest level as high as possible. I hope you enjoy this newsletter and photos from the last two months hunts. Also attached are TAS 2017 pricelists.

I have just returned home to Johannesburg from 2 weeks in Zimbabwe where I was visiting with my partner Operators and PH’s plus visiting camps, seeing the movement in the hunting areas and I did some hunting myself as you will see below. What I can tell you is that things are going fantastically well from a hunting perspective in Zimbabwe, the camps are looking great in fact the Malipati, Sengwe 1 and 2 plus Naivaisha camps were all re-vamped this year and so are the hunting areas looking great. I saw very many buffalo, elephant and plains game.

Every time I visit the Gonarezhou National Park and the adjoining hunting areas where I offer hunts, I cannot help but ask/remind myself that in 35 years of hunting Southern Africa (I am 43 years old now) as a hunter and as a PH I have never hunted better areas than these, the Gonarezhou is real hunting in real hunting areas, this a tough man’s hunt in real Africa where nothing has changed for centuries.

I also visited Matetsi and again left very impressed with the area, the camps and the number of animals I saw, I like Matetsi very much, this is a wild hunting area with no fences where game movement from the adjoining Matetsi Units and Hwange National Park is excellent. Our main camp has WI-FI, the Victoria Falls are 30 minutes’ drive from camp so is Victoria Falls town making Matetsi a fantastic place for not only hunters on their own but also family hunts and large groups including non-hunters. The Matetsi location is logistically easy to hunt as you land at Victoria Falls and its 30 minutes’ drive to camp, no charter necessary. I saw hundreds of buffalo, loads of sable, loads of plains game etc. etc.

I drove home very impressed with Zimbabwe National Parks and the local people who have preserved, maintained and conserve not only the animals but also the National Parks areas. I have hunted Zimbabwe many times for many years, I sell hunts in the areas I do because I believe them to be the best package (including pricing) that Zimbabwe has to offer and yes I am bias but I have also visited or hunted 90% of the Zimbabwean hunting areas and could offer hunts anywhere but don’t, instead I focus on the Gonarezhou, Matetsi and Binga.

Anyhow I suggest that you come and see for yourself, you won’t be disappointed and will surely return.

Attached to this email are TAS 2017 pricelists, they are self-explanatory however it is important for me to mention the following changes:

  • We (Nixon and I) have reduced our Gonarezhou buffalo hunt daily rates by 10% to 900 USD per day making us the best priced buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe that I know of, not only the best price but the best area to hunt dagga boys that I have seen. I am offering a 7 day 1 buffalo hunt @ 900 USD per day plus your buffalo @ 4.500 USD plus a few extra charges that are all standard to Zimbabwe as per the attached pricelist.
  • I am offering a 10 day 2 buffalo Gonarezhou hunt also at 900 USD per day 1st buffalo 4.500 USD 2nd buffalo 4.500 USD guided 1×1 only. The Gonarezhou concessions get around 60 buffalo a year on quota, this year we shot 40 odd we could have shot the entire quota all if we had the bookings, next year we hope to do so. Buffalo movement into the Sengwe areas from the Kruger NP is unbelievable, buffalo movement from the Gonarezhou National Park into Malipati Safari area is equally as good especially dagga boys, there has never been a better time or price for you to come and hunt your buffalo. How many Outfitters are producing results like this and dropping prices? Scroll down.
  • Our 2017 trophy elephant bull hunts in the Gonarezhou area remain the best priced trophy elephant bull hunts on the market, we are not increasing our elephant hunt prices from 2016 to 2017 at all. Look at this old bull Nixon Dzingai just hunted, this is what you will be looking for when you book with us. All our elephant hunts are minimum 10 days, you can/should book for longer especially if you are looking for the 70 pounder + bulls.
  • A new offer for 2017 is a 7 day hippo and crocodile hunt in the Gonarezhou area @ 900 USD per day daily rate plus hippo @ 5.000 USD and crocodile @ 4.000 USD. Plus usual Zim extra charges as attached
  • Our Matetsi & Binga 35 pounder elephant hunts are the best priced elephant bull hunts in Africa….. This year Steve Meyer shot a 50 pounder in Matetsi with a client of mine on a 25.000 USD elephant hunt. In fact this hunt has come down in price by 500 USD from 2016 to 2017.
  • Take a serious look at our Matetsi pricelist that has been rehashed, the day fees have for the most part come down and so have the number of days required on most hunts. I am planning for big year in Matetsi 2017. We are serious about bookings and increasing our market share.
  • Our Matetsi buffalo hunts have also been reduced in price and number of days required, we now offer a 7 day buffalo hunt in Matetsi @ 1.100 USD per day daily rate plus buffalo trophy fee 4.500 USD. Plus usual Zimbabwe extra charges as attached in the 2017 Matetsi pricelist. (We get a much lower annual buffalo hunting quota in Matetsi than in the Gonarezhou Safari areas)
  • Our Matetsi sable hunts are also available now as 7 day hunts @ 1.100 USD per day plus sable trophy fee 4.500 USD. Plus usual Zimbabwe extra charges as attached. Down from a 10 day minimum in 2016.
  • Another new offer for TAS and perhaps the hunting industry is a 10 day leopard hunt, yes a 10 day leopard hunt. We understand time constraints in the modern day and that not every hunter has 14 hunting days to hunt. We now offer a minimum 10 day leopard and plains game hunt @ 1.200 USD per day plus leopard trophy fee 4.500 USD in Matetsi and 5.000 USD in the Gonarezhou area. We offer a 4 day pre-bait option on this hunt @ 250 USD per day including bait. Plus usual Zim extras as per the attached pricelist.
  • My South African pricelist remains unchanged from 2016 and is also attached.

I hope you like these offers, for more information please contact me. As always Agents, PH’s, Outfitters, Operators and Client enquiries are welcome.

Since my last newsletter clients that booked with me have done these hunts:

In the Sengwe 1 area of the Gonarezhou a client from Europe hunted this buffalo:

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Also in the Sengwe area, this time Sengwe 2 a client from RSA hunted this buffalo, the photo is taken on the Zimbabwe side of the Limpopo River, in the background of the photo on the right hand side that is the Kruger National Park that you can see, we are open and un-fenced to the KNP, game movement is fantastic.

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A father and son from Europe hunted these trophies in the Malipati Safari area & Chitsa area of the Gonarezhou, including this elephant bull that was killed in full charge in self-defence and this 44 inch buffalo:

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Staying in the Malipati Safari area a client from the USA hunted this very good dagga boy with PH Simon Dzingai:

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Here is my own buffalo that I hunted in the Sengwe 2 area of Zimbabwe on the 23rd of October 2016, my 9th buffalo:

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On a recent Matetsi and Binga hunt a client from Europe managed this huge hippo bull and this sable:

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On another Gonarezhou hunt this time in Naivaisha a client from Europe hunted this buffalo with PH Lloyd Yeatman: (what a boss on this bull)

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Another client from Europe hunted the Gonarezhou Safari areas Malipati, Sengwe 1 and 2 with PH Nixon Dzingai and managed to hunt these very good trophies including this 67 pounder elephant bull that as you can see is very old and a perfect bull to hunt, combined with these perfect old dagga boys, perfect old nyala and other plains game make this a hunt of a lifetime:

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Another European group I booked hunted with us in Matetsi and Binga, here are some of the photos from that hunt: (how about this very old klipspringer….. zoom in on him)

A big thanks to PH’s Adriaan Van Heerden, Steve Meyer and Talmage Alexander for this super hunt, very happy clients is what we do.

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On another hunt this one conducted by PH Lloyd Yeatman in the Naivaisha concession of the Gonarezhou clients of mine from Europe managed to hunt this elephant bull and this hippo, other hunters in the same group shot 2 buffalo and 2 waterbuck but the phone photos I have from the PH are not of sufficient quality to post them on this newsletter or my website, I mention them as I want you to know there is great elephant, leopard, buffalo and plains game movement in the Naivaisha and Save areas that Lloyd hunts.

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This will be the last newsletter I send out in 2016 unless we shoot ANOTHER 100 pounder during our remaining year end hunts, our last hunting day is 29th December this year. The remaining 2016 bookings are elephant hunts plus a few buffalo. I will update you on those hunts in January 2017 before the marketing shows.

Speaking of marketing shows you can visit me in Dortmund at the Jagd and Hund show in January/February 2017 Hall 7 stand D 28 as usual, in fact this is my 10th year in Dortmund… You can also visit me in Salzburg/Austria during February at the hunting show there, you will find me in the Mistral booth: www.mistral-jagd.at  that is centre of the main hall.

In April I will be at Huntex in Johannesburg, find Take Aim Safaris in the hunting pavilion for the best big game hunting available in Africa today or call me and come and visit me at home in JHB.

What remains is for me to thank all my clients for the hunts this year and to thank you all for taking the time to read my newsletters, please pass them onto your hunting friends and please save these pricelists to your computer, I wish you all a fabulous festive season ahead and all the best for 2017 and of course I hope to see you at the shows or better yet in Africa on a hunt.

Hunters best wishes.

Carl Knight
Contact Number: 0027-82-749-1747
Email: carl@takeaimsafaris.com
Web: www.takeaimsafaris.com