Charlton McCallum Safaris - Hunting, trophy gallery and hunt reviews. Clients hunt Dande and Makuti in Zimbabwe for elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, sable, hyena and plainsgame.

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DM - Dande

PH Comment - Alan

Great hunt with great clients. We had some amazing experiences with all of DM’s trophies. The buff was wounded late on day 4. On the follow up the buff had grown very week overnight and went for a drink in the rock pool, fell in and he could not get out. He was finished off in the pool. The hippo was a great hunt and a perfect brain shot. Big bull. The croc took a few days of selecting, but eventually DM shot a good 14 footer with a perfect shot. We got a very nice kudu after 3 attempts at stalking him. A great hunt indeed.

Client Comment

First of all, THANK YOU!! For perfect organisation of this hunt!! Alan has been a great PH. Leading us to buffalo in thickest bush was truly amazing. His trackers were outstanding and such, not to be underestimated. I am very happy with all my trophies, the hippo is outstanding and the croc could not be much bigger!

Alan was great in finding this croc and I must say this hunt experience was over expectations as we stalked the croc. Much more fun that sitting in a blind. Alan did not give up on the kudu, truly appreciated. The only animal that we did not get was the bushbuck. Too difficult ….. but we saw at least 2.

Camp staff are incredibly nice and the pool at Matombo Camp is worth every minute!

PK - Unit 6

CE - Dande

PH Comment - Amir

Being early season and having a higher than usual rainfall this year made the hunt a little more challenging than usual. We had many close encounters with buffalo than usual. We had many close encounters which made for a very exciting hunt!!! We turned down many bulls but eventually shot a lovely dagga boy on day 9. CE was a true gentleman, and one of the most awesome clients to date! Could hot have asked for better.

Client Comment

So far my greatest hunting experience. Challenging nature, long walking distances and at most very professional persons around us. I have great respect for my own PH who was exceptional professional and a very interesting person to spend many hours with. Thank you to the whole team.

HO - Dande

PH Comment - Keith

This was HO first hunt with CMS, accompanied by his older brother and two friends, along with their agent and friend CJ. Such a fun group. Being in situ early season and still very thick bush due to exceptional rains, we had the last wet season. If was quite a challenging hunt for all. We got into buffalo every day, working both herds and dugga boys. We got bust a few times with wind and sometimes just walking right into them. HO was very lucky and fortunate to take a beautiful 40” bull and spent the rest of the hunt with his friend.

Client Comment

Lovely days and good stay. Thanks!

FR - Dande

PH Comment - Keith

What an incredible couple! The conditions were hard being first hunt of the season and lots of water due to exceptional rain we had this year. A great time had. Lots of km’s of walking and lots of close encounters with buffalo – but with patience and perseverance we got a buffalo of a lifetime for FR. We also got a hyena, impala and baboon. Glad we fulfilled a long-life dream for FR. Looking forward to the rest of our season.

Client Comment

Keith was the best hunter I could have wished for to have my childhood dream come true! My wife and I enjoyed every second with him and his team. He is such a professional in everything he does. He made us feel so well treated during our stay, and during our hunts we felt safe beside him. He was always in control in every situation. The most important thing – he didn’t treat us as clients, he treated us as friends.

Keith – thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have made my dream come true. I am proud to call you a friend. See you again!

GS - Shangani

PH Comment - Buzz

G and J have been with us 3 times now and this hunt was in our Shangani area and was such a wonderful time spent with two good friends - laughter, sun, great food and drink and lots of elephant bulls - what more do you want?!

GS is an exceptional shot and he got this beautiful bull with a single shot from his stunning 470 John Wilks! Looking forward to our 4th safari together!

ED - Dande

PH Comment - David

We had an excellent hunt, we managed a very nice hippo bull on day 1 and started hanging baits. Day 6 we built our blind and sat for our first leopard, which came at 3:00 pm in broad daylight after 30 minutes of sitting. We then spent a few days after buffalo and got a very nice bull on day 10.

Client Comment

I am very pleased with the hunt. David conducted a very professional hunt. We also enjoyed his company along with the whole team on the car. On day one we shot a hippo, excellent experience. Through the hippo we had plenty of bait to get the leopard hunt started. One dy 6 we had built the blind and after only sitting for 30 minutes we shot the leopard. The buffalo hunt was exciting, and we hunted them for 4 days. On the 4th day we found a herd and selected a very nice bull. Thank you!

GW - Unit 6

PH Comment - Alan

We found buff every day. Quite a few herds around. Day 3 GW wasn’t feeling well, but on day 4 we got into a big herd and found some peripheral bulls. One nice bull was facing us at +/- 30 yards and GW, put in a frontal shot into him, dropping him. He got up again, but Garry’s 2nd shot dropped him. A final coupe de gra and it was over. We spent the remainder looking for tuskless, which are very few here. We did walk up to a tuskless but turned her down as she had a calf. A great time with GW and CW as always, such a great couple. GW did shoot a nice big hyena on day 4.

Client Comment

That is a fantastic camp and as you say they do a really great job. Way good and the food is out of this world.

PB - Chewore

PH Comment - David

PB and I had a very good but very challenging hunt! Chewore North was fantastic and camp was perfect. We shot a few impalas, and hippo cow in the first 4 days of the hunt which gave us a chance to get some baits out. We started getting leopard on bait fairly quickly, and the sitting began. After 6 sittings 12 hours we finally got an opportunity and got our leopard! We spent 2 days on the Zambezi looking for bushbuck and got one on the banks of the Zambezi. Incredible opportunity to on the Zambezi and lots of fun had by all.

GB - Dande

PH Comment - Dean

Early season conditions very tough. Thick bush and water everywhere. After the third day, buffalo were found and approached every day, not easily. We shot at 12m in thick jess on day 8, a very well deserved and earned bull! Nice shooting by GB in the jesse! An impala ram was also taken the following day. Camp was amazing, food great, staff very good. Also saw a lovely kudu bull, a huge bodied warthog, sable, waterbuck, elephants, other buff, impala, duiker etc. A very fun hunt with lovely new friends.

Client Comment

I couldn’t have expected a better experience. First days watching and tracking single bulls, meeting elephants, we were told exactly how to act and felt very safe. Got a great introduction as to how and where to shoot a buffalo at the beginning. It helped a lot to place a good shot on a short distance. Even tough first days contained a lot of walking and tracking, we had a lot of fun and it was great hunting, never got tired about that. We saw a lot of different species already described. After switching to tracking herds, we always found them. Great to experience coming close to groups of buffalos after tracking them for hours. And then to be surrounded by buffalo’s and place a close shot, followed by action around was extraordinary. Also always feel very safe. Overall Dean and his team did an amazing job. Always in a good mood, preparing great bush lunch, setting up hammocks and taking great care with my girlfriend. Camp is great as well, a lovely place to stay with friends and caring staff.

Thanks for these great hunting days

PW - Unit 6

PH Comment - Buzz

One for the record books. CMS most ambitious hunt to date. We wanted to take the big 4. Taken with open sight, with the very first Shikari Rigby Double. The only 450 Rigby ever built. We also wanted to take a lion by tracking. The massive lion was taken after 9km of tracking on day 4. It was a huge cat and will measure very high in the record books. Not that I am remotely interested in that.

We then had a leopard we needed bait for, and PW then dropped a hard bossed buffalo with one shot, and bait problem was solved. After 3 sittings Phil got a great old leopard in broad day light, with the open sighted double, no mean feet.

We then had several days to work on the ele and tracked and turned down lots of bulls. But decided to take a huge bodied 50lb. Again PW shot amazingly well, and it was a perfect side brain shot.

I must complement PW he is the best open sighted double shootist I have had the pleasure of guiding.

Client Comment

The plan was an ambitious one.
Take a brand-new Rigby Double in a caliber that had never been made before. 450 No 2, and hunt 4 of the big 5 in 21 days. All with open sights. A tall order.
Buzz and his team of course pulled it off in magnificent fashion.

A huge old lion was tracked on foot first
Next was a hard boss cape buffalo, hunted up in the hills in a teak forest.

Then a beautiful old leopard that toyed with us a couple of times before giving us a shot. Three of the big four in eight days. Remarkable.

We took the elephant on day 16. Completion of the four of the big five in 16 days. Buzz’s entire team did a perfect job as usual. A fantastic hunt.

SB - SW Lowveld

PH Comment - Alan

As usual, a great hunt with SB. It was very wet and the first few days there was plenty of rain. First day we tracked a lone bull but had to quit as it gained a large herd. Tracks were tough to find because of the rain and most bulls seemed to be in herds still. Day 2 we had a slow start but around mid-morning we found a very fresh lone bull track and after checking for 20 minutes we heard him but couldn't see him it was thick and stoney, eventually we spotted him but he was only he only ran 50 yards stopped. We snuck up and around 30 yards from where he was standing and then gaining broadside, SB put a good shot and he took off. We waited a few moments then moved forward little by little until we could hear him it was clear he was down but not yet dead we cautiously moved around the thicket where we heard him in and eventually saw him lying down. We had to get within 20 yards or less to see clearly enough to finish him off. He would have died soon if we had waited for longer for the first shot went through both lungs. Day 3 we found the loan bull track and tracked 9 kilometers only to find that it had joined the herd late afternoon we saw two bulls on the road 1 mature 40 plus but decided he needed a few more years to breed the other was young. Day 4 we followed along track early but he busted us so we let him be and continued looking for others we found tracks of two bulls followed for less than an hour we were bumped by a giraffe cow and calf which ran past us. We continued for a little then in the track suddenly did a U-turn now facing back we had come from in the meantime the giraffe must have run past the buff and spooked the old one which ran into the open where we had just been and presented SB with a great shot his first shot was perfect and then he made a brilliant running second shot. Buff only ran 30 yards and died. In all a great area excellent camps and staff we saw rhino at different lion Buffalo not so fair as zebra wildebeest and parlor some water back plenty of water and grass.

SS - Dande

PH Comment - Alan

We had a very tough hunt with no a lot of bulls moving in the north and hard tracking. We saw one decent 30 pounder, but turned him down. The rest we tracked were less than 30 lbs. We then moved to the East for the last 5 days, we found most of the bulls we saw tracks of, but nothing decent size. We worked really hard and walked many kms. SS is a real trooper and a great guy. He made a brilliant 200 yard shot on a hyena with his 450 #2 double open sights.

CT - SW Lowveld

PH Comment - Dean

Accommodation at camp is top notch, the food is absolutely outstanding. The staff were very friendly and professional. The buffalo hunting is off the chart, we found dugga bulls daily, affording an authentic and exciting dagga bull hunt, up close and personal, in true tradition. Collection of a brown and spotted hyena out of the same blind, the same night was an exciting bonus! Top Drawer.

Client Comment

Outstanding area, very well fun and funded. A real privilege to hunt there. Both buffalo were taken in proper fashion, we took them both after long tracking sessions (up to 6 hours) ending in exciting close range shots in thick cover. I couldn’t have scripted it better. Thanks to Dean who gave it 100% and the trackers. You can't get a more capable and professional team. Thanks!

WB - Nyakasanga

PH Comment - David

Fantastic hunt in Nyakasanga. We had a very wet season, so lots of water and thick bush. We had a very successful hunt. Lion movement was not as much as we hoped for but after 2 weeks we had got our lion and buffalo, and a good amount of plains game. We had some awesome sightings, lots of elephants, wild dogs, buffalo and plains game.

JW - SW Lowveld

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DM - Dande


PH Comment - Alan
Great hunt with great clients. We had some amazing experiences with all of DM’s trophies. The buff was wounded late on day 4. On the follow up the buff had grown very week overnight and went for a drink in the rock pool, fell in and he could not get out. He was finished off in the pool. The hippo was a great hunt and a perfect brain shot. Big bull. The croc took a few days of selecting, but eventually DM shot a good 14 footer with a perfect shot. We got a very nice kudu after 3 attempts at stalking him. A great hunt indeed.

Client Comment
First of all, THANK YOU!! For perfect organisation of this hunt!! Alan has been a great PH. Leading us to buffalo in thickest bush was truly amazing. His trackers were outstanding and such, not to be underestimated. I am very happy with all my trophies, the hippo is outstanding and the croc could not be much bigger! Alan was great in finding this croc and I must say this hunt experience was over expectations as we stalked the croc. Much more fun that sitting in a blind. Alan did not give up on the kudu, truly appreciated. The only animal that we did not get was the bushbuck. Too difficult ….. but we saw at least 2. Camp staff are incredibly nice and the pool at Matombo Camp is worth every minute!

CE - Dande


PH Comment - Amir
Being early season and having a higher than usual rainfall this year made the hunt a little more challenging than usual. We had many close encounters with buffalo than usual. We had many close encounters which made for a very exciting hunt!!! We turned down many bulls but eventually shot a lovely dagga boy on day 9. CE was a true gentleman, and one of the most awesome clients to date! Could hot have asked for better.

Client Comment
So far my greatest hunting experience. Challenging nature, long walking distances and at most very professional persons around us. I have great respect for my own PH who was exceptional professional and a very interesting person to spend many hours with. Thank you to the whole team.

HO - Dande




PH Comment - Keith
This was HO first hunt with CMS, accompanied by his older brother and two friends, along with their agent and friend CJ. Such a fun group. Being in situ early season and still very thick bush due to exceptional rains, we had the last wet season. If was quite a challenging hunt for all. We got into buffalo every day, working both herds and dugga boys. We got bust a few times with wind and sometimes just walking right into them. HO was very lucky and fortunate to take a beautiful 40” bull and spent the rest of the hunt with his friend.

Client Comment
Lovely days and good stay. Thanks!

FR - Dande






PH Comment - Keith
What an incredible couple! The conditions were hard being first hunt of the season and lots of water due to exceptional rain we had this year. A great time had. Lots of km’s of walking and lots of close encounters with buffalo – but with patience and perseverance we got a buffalo of a lifetime for FR. We also got a hyena, impala and baboon. Glad we fulfilled a long-life dream for FR. Looking forward to the rest of our season.

Client Comment
Keith was the best hunter I could have wished for to have my childhood dream come true! My wife and I enjoyed every second with him and his team. He is such a professional in everything he does. He made us feel so well treated during our stay, and during our hunts we felt safe beside him. He was always in control in every situation. The most important thing – he didn’t treat us as clients, he treated us as friends. Keith – thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have made my dream come true. I am proud to call you a friend. See you again!

GS - Shangani




PH Comment - Buzz
G and J have been with us 3 times now and this hunt was in our Shangani area and was such a wonderful time spent with two good friends - laughter, sun, great food and drink and lots of elephant bulls - what more do you want?! GS is an exceptional shot and he got this beautiful bull with a single shot from his stunning 470 John Wilks! Looking forward to our 4th safari together!

ED - Dande




PH Comment - David
We had an excellent hunt, we managed a very nice hippo bull on day 1 and started hanging baits. Day 6 we built our blind and sat for our first leopard, which came at 3:00 pm in broad daylight after 30 minutes of sitting. We then spent a few days after buffalo and got a very nice bull on day 10.

Client Comment
I am very pleased with the hunt. David conducted a very professional hunt. We also enjoyed his company along with the whole team on the car. On day one we shot a hippo, excellent experience. Through the hippo we had plenty of bait to get the leopard hunt started. One dy 6 we had built the blind and after only sitting for 30 minutes we shot the leopard. The buffalo hunt was exciting, and we hunted them for 4 days. On the 4th day we found a herd and selected a very nice bull. Thank you!

GW - Unit 6




PH Comment - Alan
We found buff every day. Quite a few herds around. Day 3 GW wasn’t feeling well, but on day 4 we got into a big herd and found some peripheral bulls. One nice bull was facing us at +/- 30 yards and GW, put in a frontal shot into him, dropping him. He got up again, but Garry’s 2nd shot dropped him. A final coupe de gra and it was over. We spent the remainder looking for tuskless, which are very few here. We did walk up to a tuskless but turned her down as she had a calf. A great time with GW and CW as always, such a great couple. GW did shoot a nice big hyena on day 4.

Client Comment
That is a fantastic camp and as you say they do a really great job. Way good and the food is out of this world.

PB - Chewore








PH Comment - David
PB and I had a very good but very challenging hunt! Chewore North was fantastic and camp was perfect. We shot a few impalas, and hippo cow in the first 4 days of the hunt which gave us a chance to get some baits out. We started getting leopard on bait fairly quickly, and the sitting began. After 6 sittings 12 hours we finally got an opportunity and got our leopard! We spent 2 days on the Zambezi looking for bushbuck and got one on the banks of the Zambezi. Incredible opportunity to on the Zambezi and lots of fun had by all.

GB - Dande


PH Comment - Dean
Early season conditions very tough. Thick bush and water everywhere. After the third day, buffalo were found and approached every day, not easily. We shot at 12m in thick jess on day 8, a very well deserved and earned bull! Nice shooting by GB in the jesse! An impala ram was also taken the following day. Camp was amazing, food great, staff very good. Also saw a lovely kudu bull, a huge bodied warthog, sable, waterbuck, elephants, other buff, impala, duiker etc. A very fun hunt with lovely new friends.

Client Comment
I couldn’t have expected a better experience. First days watching and tracking single bulls, meeting elephants, we were told exactly how to act and felt very safe. Got a great introduction as to how and where to shoot a buffalo at the beginning. It helped a lot to place a good shot on a short distance. Even tough first days contained a lot of walking and tracking, we had a lot of fun and it was great hunting, never got tired about that. We saw a lot of different species already described. After switching to tracking herds, we always found them. Great to experience coming close to groups of buffalos after tracking them for hours. And then to be surrounded by buffalo’s and place a close shot, followed by action around was extraordinary. Also always feel very safe. Overall Dean and his team did an amazing job. Always in a good mood, preparing great bush lunch, setting up hammocks and taking great care with my girlfriend. Camp is great as well, a lovely place to stay with friends and caring staff. Thanks for these great hunting days

PW - Unit 6






PH Comment - Buzz
One for the record books. CMS most ambitious hunt to date. We wanted to take the big 4. Taken with open sight, with the very first Shikari Rigby Double. The only 450 Rigby ever built. We also wanted to take a lion by tracking. The massive lion was taken after 9km of tracking on day 4. It was a huge cat and will measure very high in the record books. Not that I am remotely interested in that. We then had a leopard we needed bait for, and PW then dropped a hard bossed buffalo with one shot, and bait problem was solved. After 3 sittings Phil got a great old leopard in broad day light, with the open sighted double, no mean feet. We then had several days to work on the ele and tracked and turned down lots of bulls. But decided to take a huge bodied 50lb. Again PW shot amazingly well, and it was a perfect side brain shot. I must complement PW he is the best open sighted double shootist I have had the pleasure of guiding.

Client Comment
The plan was an ambitious one. Take a brand-new Rigby Double in a caliber that had never been made before. 450 No 2, and hunt 4 of the big 5 in 21 days. All with open sights. A tall order. Buzz and his team of course pulled it off in magnificent fashion. A huge old lion was tracked on foot first Next was a hard boss cape buffalo, hunted up in the hills in a teak forest. Then a beautiful old leopard that toyed with us a couple of times before giving us a shot. Three of the big four in eight days. Remarkable. We took the elephant on day 16. Completion of the four of the big five in 16 days. Buzz’s entire team did a perfect job as usual. A fantastic hunt.

SB - SW Lowveld




PH Comment - Alan
As usual, a great hunt with SB. It was very wet and the first few days there was plenty of rain. First day we tracked a lone bull but had to quit as it gained a large herd. Tracks were tough to find because of the rain and most bulls seemed to be in herds still. Day 2 we had a slow start but around mid-morning we found a very fresh lone bull track and after checking for 20 minutes we heard him but couldn't see him it was thick and stoney, eventually we spotted him but he was only he only ran 50 yards stopped. We snuck up and around 30 yards from where he was standing and then gaining broadside, SB put a good shot and he took off. We waited a few moments then moved forward little by little until we could hear him it was clear he was down but not yet dead we cautiously moved around the thicket where we heard him in and eventually saw him lying down. We had to get within 20 yards or less to see clearly enough to finish him off. He would have died soon if we had waited for longer for the first shot went through both lungs. Day 3 we found the loan bull track and tracked 9 kilometers only to find that it had joined the herd late afternoon we saw two bulls on the road 1 mature 40 plus but decided he needed a few more years to breed the other was young. Day 4 we followed along track early but he busted us so we let him be and continued looking for others we found tracks of two bulls followed for less than an hour we were bumped by a giraffe cow and calf which ran past us. We continued for a little then in the track suddenly did a U-turn now facing back we had come from in the meantime the giraffe must have run past the buff and spooked the old one which ran into the open where we had just been and presented SB with a great shot his first shot was perfect and then he made a brilliant running second shot. Buff only ran 30 yards and died. In all a great area excellent camps and staff we saw rhino at different lion Buffalo not so fair as zebra wildebeest and parlor some water back plenty of water and grass.

SS - Dande




PH Comment - Alan
We had a very tough hunt with no a lot of bulls moving in the north and hard tracking. We saw one decent 30 pounder, but turned him down. The rest we tracked were less than 30 lbs. We then moved to the East for the last 5 days, we found most of the bulls we saw tracks of, but nothing decent size. We worked really hard and walked many kms. SS is a real trooper and a great guy. He made a brilliant 200 yard shot on a hyena with his 450 #2 double open sights.

CT - SW Lowveld






PH Comment - Dean
Accommodation at camp is top notch, the food is absolutely outstanding. The staff were very friendly and professional. The buffalo hunting is off the chart, we found dugga bulls daily, affording an authentic and exciting dagga bull hunt, up close and personal, in true tradition. Collection of a brown and spotted hyena out of the same blind, the same night was an exciting bonus! Top Drawer.

Client Comment
Outstanding area, very well fun and funded. A real privilege to hunt there. Both buffalo were taken in proper fashion, we took them both after long tracking sessions (up to 6 hours) ending in exciting close range shots in thick cover. I couldn’t have scripted it better. Thanks to Dean who gave it 100% and the trackers. You can't get a more capable and professional team. Thanks!

WB - Nyakasanga






PH Comment - David
Fantastic hunt in Nyakasanga. We had a very wet season, so lots of water and thick bush. We had a very successful hunt. Lion movement was not as much as we hoped for but after 2 weeks we had got our lion and buffalo, and a good amount of plains game. We had some awesome sightings, lots of elephants, wild dogs, buffalo and plains game.