Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 3 months until Zambia. Any last words of advice?

We are leaving the end of May for 10 days in the Luangwa Valley for Buffalo and plains game. I’m going to start hitting the sticks so I’m hopefully ready for that, but is there any last words of advice for a 1st time BG hunt in Africa?

who are you going with?.....bob

Johnny Duplooy and Muchinga Adventures.

Be patient, things move at a different pace especially at airports in Africa.

Keep a journal, I like writing in the evening.

You will bring too much stuff. You will figure that out on this trip.

Have fun!!!

I have those parts down, and I already made those mistakes. 🤣 This will be my third time, but first time hunting big game (bird hunted and fished the Zambezi and two previous trips.)

shoot A LOT off the sticks....when you sight in by camp you will have 4 to 6 people watching....when you shoot at all you will have 4 to 6 people watching......

what is your game list?.......bob

Practice your reloading and ensure your rifle feeds flawlessly. You might need more than one shot.

And if you're shooting with a scope, use the lowest magnification or use QD mounts and shoot irons. Again, you might need more than one shot.

You can load up some dummy rounds for practice to save on ammo. You can practice in the backyard without the neighbors calling the police.

First, you suck! I would add shooting kneeling in case the cover doesn’t allow you to shoot standing.

You’re going to have an excellent hunt. Johnny is very good and fun to spend time with.

I’m hoping so. The bills for it are starting to come in, so it better be fun. 🤣

Johnny Duplooy has an excellent reputation. No doubt it will be a great experience. The people I have talked to who have been to the Luangwa Valley say it's an amazing place.

Don’t worry, Muchinga is very organized and well run. Laura and her staff will take great care of you until you’re in the valley with Johnny. They really do run a first rate safari company. Great people.

You think the bills are coming in now. Just wait until you get home and have to have your trophies shipped home. That’s when you really start to wonder about how much the trip really costs. It is a huge amount. I know cause I just made my next to last payment for my trophies from Namibia. Just waiting for the shipper to email me about their cost.

With all due respect, trophy prep and shipping charges vary greatly depending on safari company and country. I think he will find Muchinga to be quite reasonable as far as this is concerned. They do their own processing and when I hunted with them I was very pleased with the condition of my trophies and overall cost. IIRC, dip & pack was $1,500 which is pretty reasonable these days.

Dip and pack is charged upfront, and is $1950 for us. Damn inflation. 🤣

Grass will be tall that early, have hunted with them last couple years, great outfit, what block/concession are you hunting in??

Yep, and the pepper ticks will be thick, so take some Doxycycline for TBF.

Practice, practice, practice-- shooting, dry-firing, reloading. Make sure that you are in decent walking shape and that your boots won't cause you problems.

Bring a head net for afternoon naps.

Johnny will have couple headnets in daypack if you forget, they are lifesaver if you eat lunch in field

You can never practice too much, for any hunt.

If you reload, it's a good idea to run all of your reloads through your rifle while your still at home. You don't want a stuck case in the bush.

Take a stout cleaning rod in your hard rifle case. In over 50 years of reloading and shooting thousands of shells, I've had only one cartridge where the primer went off, did not ignite the powder, but pushed the bullet into the barrel. This happened in South Afrida on a shot at a Caracal. No one in camp had a cleaning rod, but I did find a long steel welding rod in their vehicle garage that I wrapped with tape and got the bullet out.

Good advise to hunt with your variable scope set on low magnification. I once had a shot at a Sable bull in Mozambique that was standing in some high grass. I had my scope set too high and all that I could see through it was the grass.

I like the looks of a clean barrel, and none of my scoped hunting rifles also have iron sights.

I have not hunted in Zambia and I am jelous of your hunt. Have a good one!

Thanks for all the reply’s. Yes, I plan on practicing as much as possible. I won’t get the .416 until March to practice, but I’ve shot it and am comfortable with the rifle. My Kimber should be back next week. I wanted to take Federals Terminal Ascent, but they are still back ordered, and I only have two boxes left. Looks like I may end up having to bite the bullet and order a box of custom 200gr Accubonds at nearly $100 a box (ouch) to see how they shoot in my Kimber. Along with reading “The Perfect Shot” for a 4th or 5th time, Im going to start shooting of sticks ASAP. I can’t wait to break in the new stock on my Kimber. Thanks again for all the reply’s.

Please enjoy it enough for you and I! Africa was one of my dreams since Jr. High…..never gonna happen! Lots of photos and one hellofa story is mandatory Union your return!


Good Luck, Safe Travels, and Great Hunting! memtb