- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
We made it back from our dream adventure, and what an adventure it was. Twice we made contact with buff a close range where we could not see them, but could hear them, smell them, and feel the ground shake when they ran. The first time was in tall grass, and Mark Sullivan's tracker Ali got us right into the middle of the herd. Just use your imagination - I was there and still can't find the words to describe it. You might see a flash of dark colored hide or a bit of horn, but other than that all you see is the grass moving. We paid for thrills and we got em. The second time was in thick bush in the evening. Light was dropping fast, and we in the thick stuff the light is all but gone - buffalo are crashing around to our front. The air is still and their grunts and bellows sound deafening. At least here I felt like I could get a shot off before I got squashed. There is nothing in this world I would trade those experiences for!
Two days later - on my birthday I might add - I got my buff on a sand river - we were up on the bank behind a curtain of grass and he was quartering towards us. I was packing a .500 double, MS tells me to grab the scoped rifle (a M-70 .375) and I shot the .375 dry on him, MS fired once after my first shot, then I swapped the .375 for the .500 and gave him two 570 gr X's which put him away. This all took less than 30 seconds. As it turned out I would not get a chance at another, but Big Mark (Sullivan was little Mark) got one with a broken horn - which makes it a cool trophy - a few days later.
I shot some plains game, but not all that my licence allowed. We saw some zebra, but I wasn't interested in shooting them or a baboon - which disappointed MS because baboons normally are only available on a 21 day licence. I passed up an opportunity at a hartebeest because I wanted to concentrate on buffalo. This was unfortunate because I would not get another chance. When you got on your safari - don't look a gift hartebeest in the mouth. First blood was on this blue wildebeest which I took at sunset on our third day.
An impala gave me an easy broadside shot, and we later cooked him whole over an open fire.
My warthog might make me famous, as MS wants to include it in his new book. I guess it will depend if a better one is taken by the time it goes to print. He was very excited with this hog - saying you could hunt the rest of your life and not find another one this good, and compared it to getting a 48" buffalo. I don't know - a to me there isn't much difference between this one and an average one, but I can tell you that there has never been pork so sweet.
I can't say enough about Mark Sullivan, Ali, or the rest of the crew. Big Mark added so much to the experience that I don't think that I will ever be able to compensate him - but perhaps I can get him up here for a moose hunt. Our 3rd night in camp there was a fire which destroyed the kitchen. These guys salvaged what they could from the flames at considerable risk I might add - and a couple of hours later we had a wildebeest feast and the fire wasn't even out yet. In fact it was still smoking pretty good the next day.
Two days later - on my birthday I might add - I got my buff on a sand river - we were up on the bank behind a curtain of grass and he was quartering towards us. I was packing a .500 double, MS tells me to grab the scoped rifle (a M-70 .375) and I shot the .375 dry on him, MS fired once after my first shot, then I swapped the .375 for the .500 and gave him two 570 gr X's which put him away. This all took less than 30 seconds. As it turned out I would not get a chance at another, but Big Mark (Sullivan was little Mark) got one with a broken horn - which makes it a cool trophy - a few days later.
I shot some plains game, but not all that my licence allowed. We saw some zebra, but I wasn't interested in shooting them or a baboon - which disappointed MS because baboons normally are only available on a 21 day licence. I passed up an opportunity at a hartebeest because I wanted to concentrate on buffalo. This was unfortunate because I would not get another chance. When you got on your safari - don't look a gift hartebeest in the mouth. First blood was on this blue wildebeest which I took at sunset on our third day.
An impala gave me an easy broadside shot, and we later cooked him whole over an open fire.
My warthog might make me famous, as MS wants to include it in his new book. I guess it will depend if a better one is taken by the time it goes to print. He was very excited with this hog - saying you could hunt the rest of your life and not find another one this good, and compared it to getting a 48" buffalo. I don't know - a to me there isn't much difference between this one and an average one, but I can tell you that there has never been pork so sweet.
I can't say enough about Mark Sullivan, Ali, or the rest of the crew. Big Mark added so much to the experience that I don't think that I will ever be able to compensate him - but perhaps I can get him up here for a moose hunt. Our 3rd night in camp there was a fire which destroyed the kitchen. These guys salvaged what they could from the flames at considerable risk I might add - and a couple of hours later we had a wildebeest feast and the fire wasn't even out yet. In fact it was still smoking pretty good the next day.
