As this issue goes to press, we have just received word that an American client hunting with PH Arnold Huber of Kuzikus Safaris has taken a magnificent 91 x 86-pound elephant in the Kavango East area, near where PH Kai-Uwe Denker led a German hunter to a 101 x 93-pounder in 1999. The lucky client this time is Safari Club International Treasurer, Mike Wilmet, who bought the hunt at the 2002 SCI Convention. Ironically, Wilmet was not primarily interested in taking an elephant but rather a leopard and lion. He struck out on the latter and hit pay dirt with the former.
"Huber almost had to talk me into shooting the elephant," Wilmet said in a phone interview near press time. "I'm now thrilled, of course, to have taken an elephant this large. My only other elephant weighed just over 40 pounds."
The good news doesn't stop there. Just south of Kavango East, in Bushmanland, a German client hunting with the aforementioned Kai-Uwe Denker has taken an 81 x 77-pound bull. We learned of this bull from Hunting Report subscriber Benjamin Schaub, who tells us he is going to be hunting Bushmanland himself with Denker this month. He promised us an update on his hunt as soon as he gets back.
Over in Mozambique, PH Piet Hougaard of Mozambique Safaris tells us he, too, has cracked the 80-pound mark this season. Seems a Spanish client hunting with PH Marc Harper took an 84 x 73-pounder last month. The client, Luis Barcenas, took the big jumbo on the fourth day of his safari.
"We are finally getting these jumbo figured out," Hougaard said in a phone interview near press time. "We're learning where the bulls go at different times of the year."
........(continued)
