As Forrest Gump would say, " Free range hunting is just like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get!"
Here is a great VERY HEAVY old Dugga Boy, look at the weight in those horns! I was hunting with Heinz from Hanau, Germany, who had already taken a good buff.
We were looking for a good cow when this old boy popped up.
"I think I would prefer to pass on the cow and take a second bull " he said - what a surprise!
Like Heinz above, Mike from Florida already had a good silver medal buff in the bag so we were looking for something big - we found it!! The only downside, it ran into the mud and water making for a wet skinning job.
We were out looking for a buff that Hans-Stephen from Rodgau, Germany had shot the day before when this 102SCI dugga boy popped up, the search was put on hold whilst he took care of it.
Next day Roland and Hans-Stephan were back again looking for the wounded buff when they ran into another spectacular dugga boy at 20 meters, after two shots from HS the buff decided to charge and was stopped by two shots from HS & Roland at 15 meters. "the best day's hunting I have ever had was HS's comment. Widespread horns,103 SCI, and angry! What buffalo hunting is all about!
Here are two excellent old dugga boys taken by a husband and wife team Inge and Hilmar from Hochst, Germany. They are what I would describe as the perfect trophy. Just as Cape Buffalo need age to grow a massive joined boss, water buffalo keep growing mass into their horns throughout life. At the same time they are continually working and wearing the tips of their horns. Younger, breeding bulls, will have sharper thinner horns just as younger Cape Buffalo do not possess that massive boss so necessary for a top trophy.
Inge's just made the 100 SCI with well worn horns but massive weight right to the tips. Cool shooting at 25 meters with a 9.3 x62mm loaded with 320gr Woodleighs, as it came towards us in thick cover put him down. Hilmar's was a more conventional hunt and and everything he wanted, a very old buff with just two worn and broken teeth left in its lower jaw, probably well over 20 years old and unlikely to last till the end of the dry. Again sporting classical heavy and worn horns to emphasis his age. You only find these clever old guys in secluded, out of the way spots, in areas that are not over hunted.
Thorsten and Roland enjoyed 10 days of excellent hunting with 3 buffalo, 2 scrub bulls and several pigs mixed in with some fun times. Thorsten's buff was found napping beside water after a careful stalk, with massive thick horns it is a great trophy. 
Roland's buff was sighted from the vehicle and did not wait around for an introduction. It took some tracking but we finally spied him after 3 km and stalked in for the kill. Six shot's later it was all over and Roland had an excellent old dugga boy with few teeth left intact in his jaw and well worn horns, a buffalo really earnt and well worth the effort.
Thorsten took this massive, 1000 kg / 1 ton scrub bull with our Merkel Double in 375 H&H late one afternoon. It took a right and a left, twice, without flinching, before succumbing. These wild bulls are both tough and extremely wary.
Karl from California is 82, Not the fastest mover but still out there hunting when most of the people born in 1927 are either six foot under or being spoon fed in a nursing home.
We managed to get a respectable record book buffalo but his boar was something special for our part of the world, around 300 lbs / 140 Kg it is a monster, taken with one of our 375 H&H Remingtons at around 150 yards. Good effort Karl!
Heinz took this boar, around 80Kg / 180lbs on the first day of his hunt and it set the tone for a successful week with two good buff to follow.
On our final buffalo hunt for the year in mid September I was guiding Gianni, Phillipe and Jean-Phillipe from France on a 3x1, 7 day short hunt. Whilst waiting at the airstrip I thought 'What have I let myself in for?' Its a big ask 3 trophy buffalo for 3 different hunters with just 5 full hunting days at the end of a busy season. I needn't have worried. With our concessions located in the heart of the best buffalo country and 25 years of guiding experience backed by a policy of never overhunting our area it turned out a breeze. There was plenty of time for left for a lesiurely lunch and cooling swim each day and the mission was accomplished with a day left for pigs and fishing!
Towards the middle of September the weather begins to get rather hot with the build up to the monsoon season commencing. The only bright side is the barramundi fishing with these great game fish, fine eating too, coming on the bite after their winter fast. Jeff Slee, Australia's foremost gunstock maker, booked in for a short break from work with the intention of just spending a lazy 5 days with a couple of hours fishing each morning. Here is the result...
That's some of the highlights for 2009! Talk to us now and you might just be on this page next year....
Happy hunting
Barry & Sonja
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