Yo !
Been back since late Thursday but am still reeling around from that 15 1/2 hour jet lag ... I hunted with Muckadilla Safaris ... Glenn Griffin was the guide .. his lady friend Megan was the cook ... We hunted in remote wilderness in the Northern Territory .. East Arnhemland .. which is Aborigine country.. There were no fences .. and certainly no people anywhere near where we hunted. We had a tent camp on the Gulf of Carpenteria ,,, Be very aware of salties !!!
The tents and cots were just fine .. the shower .. a bucket in the air exposed on about 340 degrees .. plus with the cold breeze coming in from the ocean .. not exactly condusive to wanting a shower .. my wife finally got them to make the shower a bit more private and somewhat protected from the sea breezes so we did have a shower on about day 3 ..
Toilet was a long drop with a stool with a hole cut into it .. situated above .. the privacy was a four foot buy three foot burlap wall .. but since it was behind a small hill .. it was O.K.
The food was terrible .. by far the worst that I have ever had in a hunting camp .. and I leave on Friday on my 10th safari .. the last two being 6 weeks each ... very small quantities of tasteless stuff .. no spices what so ever including salt .. although if you asked they would supply a salt shaker .. examples .. breakfast was a single 5 inch pancake .. lunch might be a very small Granny Smith apple and a couple of cheese crackers .. or a yogurt bar ..
My hunting partner was from New Zealand .. and at 30 .. and about 6' 5" .. he was soon starving and working himself into a rage ... which led to a pretty savage melt down on the 13 hour drive out ..
Griffin is about 50 ... a very nice man with lots and lots of experience .. I have no idea why the food was so frickin' terrible ..
There was very little incidental game in the area .. I saw a dingo once .. a few birds .. almost no small game at all ..Not sure if that is because the Aborigines have hunted them for so long that they are mostly history ???
There was a huge wet season this year so there was still lots of water around and everything was green .. so the buffalo was scattered .. It really didn't matter all that much ... The cost of the hunt was $1,700 each (2x1) ..my wife paid $200 a day on the 5 day hunt..
Trophy fees were $300 for a management cow .. $950 for a management bull .. $2,500 for a big trophy bull ... even $900 for a wild oxen .. English shorthorn that have ranged free since about the 1830s .. wilder than snakes and even bigger than the 2,000 pound buffalo bulls ... We never did see any of them .. one has better luck apparently later in the season when most water holes have dried up .. and they do a burn .. new grass .. water .. and they might come calling ..
The buffalo cows were very spooky .. my wife got one during a late afternoon walk .. it ran off.. and while we waited to see what would happen next .. a bull came up within about 30 yards of us and did his best to stare us down .. if he had charged .. it might have been a bit of a Keystone Cops tragedy as we were all hunkered together .. he finally walked off in disgust ..
I got my management bull after a long stalk ... got within about 40 yards and he never ever did know we were there .. I shoot left handed but the Americans would not let me bring my left handed Sako 416 in transit through their country .. so I had borrowed a right handed 375 Sako (300 grain Woodleighs) from my hunting partner .. We had a $5 bet on who would kill their buffalo with the fewest shots .. I sat down and shot him through both lungs .. jumped up and continued to shoot and shoot .. He never made it more than 30 yards in the firefight ..but by then I had shot him 9 times .. Our clothing was lost by luggage clowns in L.A... and I had some Charley Chaplin pants on .. which kept trying to fall down to my ankles .. so I'd shoot, grab a shell out of my pocket, drop it in .. (this was after the initial 4 or 5) hitch up my pants .. let drive and repeat !!! If those pants had made it to my ankles in that incident I would have instantly become one sorry frickin' legend ...
Later on .. while looking for a cow for me .. we saw a really big bull .. this was about the third one that we had seen in the last 30 minutes ,...while I was admiring the great animal .. my wife told me to shoot the damn thing !!! I've been broke my entire life as I spend all my plunder on hunting trips and I was not budgetted for this guy .. Margaret said that she would pay !!
HA! Because it was near dark .. the PH wanted to back me up .. this bull was some where between 30-40 yards .. perfectly broadside .. and I knew that when I pulled the trigger - its fate was sealed ... It didn't matter one little bit what Glenn did with his nasty 450 Ackley .. or even if he dropped the Stay Puffed Marshmallow guy on him !!
I shot it low through the shoulders .. through its heart. It lunged out of sight and we ran after it .. and promptly jumped a big black mud caked wild boar who took off grunting .. Apparently Glenn told me to shoot it .. but even though I would have loved to have shot this great trophy ..and James had already killed a huge boar .. there was no way that I was going to fire off a shot and have the buff charge me while I was reloading .. (I barely survived a Uruguayan buff charge a couple of years ago .. started at 10 yards .. knocked the beast down at 5 !)
James shot the running pig ... and then yelled, 'Fire !' and shot it again .. and yelled 'Fire !' and shot it again !! I am sure I jumped every time he let drive behind me with that big gun ..
The great bull had run only about 30 yards with his heart shot to hell .. he was laying down facing us as we approached .. and twice tried to lift his head up to finish what we had started ..
By the time I had put in the coup de grace .. he was already gone ...
My great beautiful buffalo bull !!! While my New Zealand partner had a lousy time .. (he got 2 big boars, a management bull, and five donkeys ..).. Margaret and I had a great time with our three buffs and a poor sick donkey ..(donkeys are feral over there and in one spot the gov't killed 20,000 in 6 weeks .. a regular plague .. but my heart ain't in shooting them .. I do have an amigo who shoots them for 10 cents a kilo ...)
I'd recommend Muckadilla for those who can handle a tent camp .. much more pleasant in their winter than ours ...I'd insist on lots of good hot foods and snacks ..
It took me a long time to get over there as most buff hunts for aliens are $4,500 - $6,500 U.S. But with a Zambezi cape buffalo, a Urugauyan water buffalo .. even a bison .. I figured that I had better get at it ..Good choice ...
Been back since late Thursday but am still reeling around from that 15 1/2 hour jet lag ... I hunted with Muckadilla Safaris ... Glenn Griffin was the guide .. his lady friend Megan was the cook ... We hunted in remote wilderness in the Northern Territory .. East Arnhemland .. which is Aborigine country.. There were no fences .. and certainly no people anywhere near where we hunted. We had a tent camp on the Gulf of Carpenteria ,,, Be very aware of salties !!!
The tents and cots were just fine .. the shower .. a bucket in the air exposed on about 340 degrees .. plus with the cold breeze coming in from the ocean .. not exactly condusive to wanting a shower .. my wife finally got them to make the shower a bit more private and somewhat protected from the sea breezes so we did have a shower on about day 3 ..
Toilet was a long drop with a stool with a hole cut into it .. situated above .. the privacy was a four foot buy three foot burlap wall .. but since it was behind a small hill .. it was O.K.
The food was terrible .. by far the worst that I have ever had in a hunting camp .. and I leave on Friday on my 10th safari .. the last two being 6 weeks each ... very small quantities of tasteless stuff .. no spices what so ever including salt .. although if you asked they would supply a salt shaker .. examples .. breakfast was a single 5 inch pancake .. lunch might be a very small Granny Smith apple and a couple of cheese crackers .. or a yogurt bar ..
My hunting partner was from New Zealand .. and at 30 .. and about 6' 5" .. he was soon starving and working himself into a rage ... which led to a pretty savage melt down on the 13 hour drive out ..
Griffin is about 50 ... a very nice man with lots and lots of experience .. I have no idea why the food was so frickin' terrible ..
There was very little incidental game in the area .. I saw a dingo once .. a few birds .. almost no small game at all ..Not sure if that is because the Aborigines have hunted them for so long that they are mostly history ???
There was a huge wet season this year so there was still lots of water around and everything was green .. so the buffalo was scattered .. It really didn't matter all that much ... The cost of the hunt was $1,700 each (2x1) ..my wife paid $200 a day on the 5 day hunt..
Trophy fees were $300 for a management cow .. $950 for a management bull .. $2,500 for a big trophy bull ... even $900 for a wild oxen .. English shorthorn that have ranged free since about the 1830s .. wilder than snakes and even bigger than the 2,000 pound buffalo bulls ... We never did see any of them .. one has better luck apparently later in the season when most water holes have dried up .. and they do a burn .. new grass .. water .. and they might come calling ..
The buffalo cows were very spooky .. my wife got one during a late afternoon walk .. it ran off.. and while we waited to see what would happen next .. a bull came up within about 30 yards of us and did his best to stare us down .. if he had charged .. it might have been a bit of a Keystone Cops tragedy as we were all hunkered together .. he finally walked off in disgust ..
I got my management bull after a long stalk ... got within about 40 yards and he never ever did know we were there .. I shoot left handed but the Americans would not let me bring my left handed Sako 416 in transit through their country .. so I had borrowed a right handed 375 Sako (300 grain Woodleighs) from my hunting partner .. We had a $5 bet on who would kill their buffalo with the fewest shots .. I sat down and shot him through both lungs .. jumped up and continued to shoot and shoot .. He never made it more than 30 yards in the firefight ..but by then I had shot him 9 times .. Our clothing was lost by luggage clowns in L.A... and I had some Charley Chaplin pants on .. which kept trying to fall down to my ankles .. so I'd shoot, grab a shell out of my pocket, drop it in .. (this was after the initial 4 or 5) hitch up my pants .. let drive and repeat !!! If those pants had made it to my ankles in that incident I would have instantly become one sorry frickin' legend ...
Later on .. while looking for a cow for me .. we saw a really big bull .. this was about the third one that we had seen in the last 30 minutes ,...while I was admiring the great animal .. my wife told me to shoot the damn thing !!!
I've been broke my entire life as I spend all my plunder on hunting trips and I was not budgetted for this guy .. Margaret said that she would pay !!HA! Because it was near dark .. the PH wanted to back me up .. this bull was some where between 30-40 yards .. perfectly broadside .. and I knew that when I pulled the trigger - its fate was sealed ... It didn't matter one little bit what Glenn did with his nasty 450 Ackley .. or even if he dropped the Stay Puffed Marshmallow guy on him !!
I shot it low through the shoulders .. through its heart. It lunged out of sight and we ran after it .. and promptly jumped a big black mud caked wild boar who took off grunting .. Apparently Glenn told me to shoot it .. but even though I would have loved to have shot this great trophy ..and James had already killed a huge boar .. there was no way that I was going to fire off a shot and have the buff charge me while I was reloading .. (I barely survived a Uruguayan buff charge a couple of years ago .. started at 10 yards .. knocked the beast down at 5 !)
James shot the running pig ... and then yelled, 'Fire !' and shot it again .. and yelled 'Fire !' and shot it again !! I am sure I jumped every time he let drive behind me with that big gun ..
The great bull had run only about 30 yards with his heart shot to hell .. he was laying down facing us as we approached .. and twice tried to lift his head up to finish what we had started ..
By the time I had put in the coup de grace .. he was already gone ...
My great beautiful buffalo bull !!! While my New Zealand partner had a lousy time .. (he got 2 big boars, a management bull, and five donkeys ..).. Margaret and I had a great time with our three buffs and a poor sick donkey ..(donkeys are feral over there and in one spot the gov't killed 20,000 in 6 weeks .. a regular plague .. but my heart ain't in shooting them .. I do have an amigo who shoots them for 10 cents a kilo ...)
I'd recommend Muckadilla for those who can handle a tent camp .. much more pleasant in their winter than ours ...I'd insist on lots of good hot foods and snacks ..
It took me a long time to get over there as most buff hunts for aliens are $4,500 - $6,500 U.S. But with a Zambezi cape buffalo, a Urugauyan water buffalo .. even a bison .. I figured that I had better get at it ..Good choice ...
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