Kilimanjaro

Awesome trip! If I had the proper equipment, I would be doing this trip too! It looks like a blast. Those boys will ALWAYS remember those float trips. VERY COOL!

Nice pics, Amanda!

I am going to start sharing the M3 report here with the folks of CWT. It is an almost daily publication that takes news from all over Mexico's various city's newspapers and puts them onto a web blog to read. It isn't baised or opinionated, merely a news read. It could be useful to some of the folks around here. I hope that some of you benefit from these readings. This 1st one is a really short one on this date. But you can read the archives should you wish to infrom yourself on the recent articles posted. http://m3report.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/

Instead of just providing a link, I will just copy/paste the daily report for all to read right here on CWT to save all of you the hassle of another site.. It should make for easier reading. The link to the site is still embedded into the paste if you care to go to the site. I hope that the CWT community finds the info useful. M3 Report -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARIZONA LAW DESTROYS THE IMAGE OF THE UNITED STATES IN MEXICO Posted: 18 Jun 2010 06:38 AM PDT NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org Foreign News Report The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider. To subscribe, click here El Debate (Culiacan, Sinaloa) 6-17-10 The approval of the migratory law in Arizona substantially lowers the opinion that Mexicans have of the United States, its people and its president according to a poll taken on Thursday. Of the 22 nations surveyed in the poll, public opinion of the United States declined only in Mexico according to the Pew Poll of Global Attitudes. Only 49% of Mexicans expressed a positive view of our neighbor to the North, compared to 57% last year. The major decline in the general opinion of the United States in Mexico was due, in part, to the bad feelings caused by the Arizona migration law. The Arizona law requires the police to confirm the immigration status of whomever they suspect is illegally in the country and every criminal illegal immigrant. The favorable opinion of the United States fell from 69% to 56% in 2009, but there are big differences in the polls before and after Arizona approved the measure on the 23rd of April. In a poll taken between the 14th and 20th of April, 62% of those questioned had a positive view of the United States, compared to 44% of those questioned between the 1st and the 6th of May, according to the study. Upon being questioned about the administration of the respective Presidents, 54% disapproved of President Barack Obama and some 43% disapproved of President Felipe Calderon while 75% disapproved of Governor Jan Brewer. Before the approval of the law (SB1070), 47% of Mexicans had confidence in the international leadership of Barack Obama, but now only 36% have that confidence. In other Latin American countries there is little confidence in Barack Obama. In Argentina there is barely 10% approval because of Iraq and 11% approval because of the situation in Afghanistan. In Brazil 48% disapprove of his (Obama’s) policies in Iraq and 43% disapprove of his policies in Afghanistan. The United States enjoys the best opinion in other Latin American countries like Brazil (62%), and in Argentina where 42% approve and 42% disapprove of the United States. Brazil is the country with the most citizens worried about climate change (58%) and is one of the few countries content with its economic situation (62%). The other countries happy with their economy are China (91%), India (57%) and Poland (53%). The results of this poll were taken telephonically from people in 22 nations of which only Argentina, Brazil and Mexico were Latin American nations. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. The Pew Center has taken opinion polls about a variety of issues since 2001 over the entire planet. http://www.debate.com.mx/eldebate/Articulo...&IdCat=6087 ——————– Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacán) 6-17-10 Federales ambushed in Michoacán Two henchmen who participated in an ambush of federal policemen in Michoacan have been detained. One man is from Zitacuaro and the other from Lazaro Cardenas, in Eastern Michoacan. Both men, aged 20 and 22 years are believed to be part of La Familia. The ambush lasted around 20 minutes and up to 35 henchmen participated in the attack. One gunman, known as “El Beto,” died in the confrontation. ——————– -end of report- PRESIDENT CALDERON CALLS FOR CITIZEN HELP Posted: 17 Jun 2010 06:06 AM PDT NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org Foreign News Report The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider. To subscribe, click here Correo (Guanajuato) 6-16-10 Calderón asks for society’s help in the battle against drug trafficking Mexico, D.F. – President Felipe Calderón predicts that there will be more deaths combating organized crime and he says the struggle is not only his but that of all Mexican citizens and that all of us should provide information to the government to confront criminal organizations. Last night in a 10 minute radio and television address to the nation, Calderón expressed concern over the growing number of executions but will maintain his strategy without backing off. “I know there is worry among all Mexicans about the violent acts, there is hurt and indignation, particularly about the loss of innocent life, for this reason, we will not spare any forces or any resource in the battle against organized crime that continues to result in the loss of the lives of innocents,” said Calderón. He continued that there is a struggle against criminal groups that results in executions and confrontations with federal authorities. “As I told you from the first day, this is a struggle that will cost time, resources, and disgracefully, human lives and unfortunately, the loss of brave policemen, soldiers and sailors who sacrificed their lives for the safety of all Mexicans”, he said. ——————– El Debate (Sinaloa) 6-16-10 No arrests and no suspects Mazatlan – “No clues, no arrests and no suspects in the massacre of 28 inmates at the Mazatlan prison”, says the State Attorney General’s Office. The Assistant Attorney General of the Southern Zone, Sergio Avandano Coronel, said that as of yesterday nobody has been arrested and there are no suspects. The Secretary of the State Public Security Police initiated an investigation into the State Prison Administration to determine how arms, used by inmates in the massacre of other inmates, entered the prison and to see if there are any acts of corruption on behalf of prison personnel. Translator’s Note: (This story appears to be a follow-up of a previously reported story. There is no account of the incident as originally reported but it appears that it was quite gruesome). —– Three people found dead of gunshots Angostura, Sin. – This Wednesday morning, three people were found dead of gunshots at 7:10 AM. The bodies showed signs of beating and torture. Tire tracks at the scene showed that the bodies had been thrown from a pick-up. As of this moment, they have not been identified and had no identification on them. Their hands and feet had been bound with belts. ——————– El Imparcial (Hermosillo, Sonora) 6-16-10 Migrant assaulted and shot Nogales – A migrant, who intended to cross into the United States, was robbed of 300 dollars and shot twice, (in the arm and leg), by armed suspects wearing dark clothing East of Nogales (Sonora). The victim, 29 year old Jaime Flores Lara, said that the incident occurred around 3:00 PM as he was walking near Colonia Buenos Aires intending to cross into the United States. He said that he entered into an arroyo to cross (into the USA) when four subjects dressed in dark clothing accosted him, hit him in the head and took 300 dollars. The migrant said he was begging them to let him go when he heard two shots wounding him in the left arm and the right leg. With two wounds, he walked to a nearby house and asked for help where he was transported to General Hospital. Municipal Police took a report and turned it over to The Public Ministry. —– More than 3 million children work in Mexico Mexico, D.F. – There are more than 3 million child laborers in Mexico and 200,000 of them work in (The State of) Chiapas, according to Victoria Cruz Lopez, Technical Assistant to the Program for the Eradication of Child Labor in Mexico (IPEC). During a workshop in this city concerning the exploitation of child labor, an official of The International Organization of Labor declared that there is cause to worry in Mexico and in the world over these statistics. The workshop has the objective to get to the bottom of the child labor problem and to address it problematically. Regardless of the number of working children, it is important to confront this problem and to be concerned about this type of situation. “For this reason, the states, labor organizations, the government and other sectors must take action to confront the problem of child labor,” states Victoria Cruz Lopez, who is from Costa Rica ——————– -end of report-

Trust me Ernesto, I plan on it.. and there is PLENTY of border related news in the M3 reports..read the archives. The report lists news reports in ALL areas of Mexico.. this one today just had some news in it from the aforementioned states. And how do you know if members of this site have not hunted in Sinaloa or Michoacan?? I know for a fact that more than a few bass fish in Sinaloa.. Frankly, you're missing the point altogether of that is all you can come up with.

The sky IS indeed falling in Mexico but most are far too UNDER informed as to what is really going on over there OR just flat out turn a blind eye and ear to it and want to pull the ol' ostrich with his head in the sand stunt. Be my guest. I am going to start a daily post on CWT from the M3 report. It is a webpage that takes news articles from ALL over Mexico and condenses them into onto a daily page that goes out. Had a long post , but re-read it and figured that most I wrote was opinionated and what we need is FACTS, not opinions, posted here.

This is going to work to my advantage this season.. Ya see, since nobody (tax paying AMERICANS ON FEDERAL .ie public LAND IN THE UNITED STATES, that is) will be out there, I am gonna throw on some rag tag dirty jeans, an old t shirt with Che printed on the front, and then wrap a 50lb. bale of alfalfa in burlap and strap it on, and sling my AR over my shoulder.. Those bucks are so used to seeing folks such as this in the area that they'll never give me a second glance.. That 120 buck will never know what hit him! It'll be like my very own private coues reserve! I'll have it all to myself...minus half of Sinaloa that is just passin' through..

Sounds good, Bill. I hope you are able to make it. It would be nice to have you there.

If you are confident with your gun and conditions dictate, k.ock yourself out. A .223 will kill a deer just as dead as any other caliber. I've killed numerous TX deer with a .222, and a coues and a couple of pronghorn with a .223. That said, I like to carry a 30 cal rifle out 90% of the time.. You can sometimes be undergunned, you can never be overgunned. I like the short and sweet adage, "USE ENOUGH GUN".

I'll add my suggestion.. Don't go.

Bill I'm not sure about buying a door ticket, but if you are able to make it, I will get you a ticket lined out soon. More than anything, I think they just want the early registration to know how many mouths to feed during the event. Let me know, Bill. Call me or tell me a time and I'll call you. Either way, we'll getcha lined out if you are going to be in town.

I'll be there, amigo! I'm gonna be there all day helping set up for the raffle and dinner.

My dream animal on the North American continent.. You took a great ram.

Do any of you guys have a recomendation of a good place where my wife and I can take our 3yr old out for her 1st overnight excursion? We're looking to go somewhere up into the pines and out of the heat and near some water where Sydney can catch bluegills (or any little fish!).. we are gonna try and avoid the crowds if at all possible so we can take the dogs with us and they can stretch their legs a bit too and do some swimming. I may also take a gun and do a bit of target shooting if the location allows. We just want to have a fun, quiet family outing and get her excited about camping and the outdoors in general. Any recomendations that are within 3-4hrs drive from Tucson? I was thinking maybe somewhere up towards Flagg or maybe up towards Pinetop or Alpine/Greer. Any help would be greatly appreciated! One last question, does an almost 3yr old need a fishing lisense? Thanks!

Thank you guys..both in this post and in the PMs. We appreciate it!

When I posted my multiple elephant hunt thread on here last year Gino, you mentioned that elephant hunting wasn't something you were to into.. I think you have now been converted! AS for paying for the cow, that is way the Zim govt orders a Parks Dept Game scout to be with the hunting group at all times during the course of the hunt.. Any ele (or hippo, buff, lion, etc) to be truely shot in self defense will not be added to the cost of the hunt. The scout will be there to verify and rely the story to his superiors.

Nice striped.. I've landed a few sails down in San Carlos. One of my fav places.

Had one of my best buds from back home finally draw unit 34 rut muzz tag. My participation in his hunt will be limited to a couple of scouting trips this summer. His hunt starts the day I fly out for my Cape Buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe. I am bummed! I hope he smokes a beast. I just sent him a broke in T/C Triumph to use on the hunt this morning with my departing in-laws back to TX. No ibex for me.....again.

Helluva GOAT in that pic. He's a sod.

Worst call in MLB in a LONG time. I would have lost it if that had been me.

Amazing photos.. Which park(s) did you visit while there? That leopard pic is a one in a million! And man, those buff bulls are just HUGE! When I go climb Kilimanjaro, I am planning on a 7-8 day park visit tour while there after the climb is over. A few days in Ngorongoro and maybe the Serengetti, then cross the border into Kenya and visit Tsavo and Amboselli before leaving. All of those parks in Tanzania and Kenya are just fantastic. Thanks for sharing the pics..Any others?

Hope you had a great time in Zim, Gino.. I love that country.. It is a wild place full of game. I'll be back there in Zim 5 short months away! I'm already ready to get back.

Glad you were able to make it on this trip, as well as all of the other guys too. I hope it met all your expectations. You certainly took alot of really nice trophies!

Thanks guys... it was a great low key, no pressure kind of hunt that is always good to have.. I will most def. make it a point to head back to that part of the country sometime soon to give those blue duiker and Cape grysbok another go.. Bill, I will try your phone mid week and we'll try and squeeze in a good lunch before you make your way northward for the summer.

Outfitter: Kei River Safaris, Andrew Renton Booking Agent: Wade Derby, Crosshair Consulting PH: Greg Hayes Species hunted on this trip: Vaal Rhebok, Blue Duiker, Nyala, Mtn. Reedbuck, Cape Bushbuck, Baboon. Flights: Cape to Cairo Dates: May 8-14th Rifle: Custom .257WBY shooting handloaded 100gr. Barnes TSX bullets. How can I start this other than saying that I had a wonderful hunt with Kei River Safaris. I happened upon a hunt offered that sounded like a teriffic way to introduce a first timer to Africa. It was economical, offered several great trophies, was in a good area, etc.. I had a group of guys looking for such a hunt for their 1st trip to Africa. Once I spoke to Wade last year, I booked the hunt for myself and the others in my group. The year flew by and before we knew it, we were headed to the East Cape to relax, have fun, and take a few trophies in the meantime. The flights all went without any hitches and we flew through Joburg and SAPS within an hour and were off to East London. Kei River was there awaiting our group and it was off to the lodge. We paired off with our respective PHs for the duration of our hunt. I hit it off with my guide, Greg, right away. He was really keen to chase the species I had on my list and was a wealth of knowledge on the flora/fauna in the area as well as just a great guy to be around and hunt with. Jet lag slept off, we all awoke with great anticipation of the week to come. A good breakfast and we were all off to the range to make sure the rifles were still shooting straight. After the range, we all went our separate directions to see what the day would bring. On my day one, we hunted bushbuck but came up empty handed. I was enjoying seeing and hunting in a totally new environment in South Africa than I've ever seen or been in. It was LARGE country filled with deep canyons, STEEP thorn brush choked hills, and THICK canyon bottoms that harboured safe havens for brush loving species such as buchbuck, kudu, and nyala. Really a spectacular area that is totally under-rated, IMO. It is large country that has to be hunted hard to get what you are looking for. That night, several of the guys rolled into camp with grins as big as the canyons. They could now say they were African hunters. Day 2 found myself and Greg headed to a cattle ranch closer to the coast to see if we could come up with a good bushbuck. As afternoon fell, the buckbuck started pouring out from the bottoms and into the desmodium fields. This property was a low fence cattle property and had several fields planted for the cattle. These bushbuck loved it and would pour into these fields as night came near. As the afternoon wore on, Joseph (my skinner/tracker) spied a decent ram slip into the field. I agreed that he was a shooter and after a great stalk that put us inside 160 yards, I had my 1st Eastern Cape trophy. Ernie Ele tagged along for good luck on this trip and was a welcome addition in camp as well as on each and every hunt. He was wed fed and "watered" on this hunt!! My 3yr old daughter Sydney absolutely LOVED seeing pics of her beloved Ernie hunting in Africa! Day 3 found us up at 3AM with a 3hr drive inland to the cold, windswept country in search of the Vaal Rhebok. These special little antelope are found nowhere else on the continent and are probably the most difficult trophy to obtain in the country. They cannot be fenced, are sparce where found, and are a long distant game with no equal. We had set aside 3 days in seach of a shooter ram. When we arrived, the land owner was busy loading sheep. He mentioned an area where he had seen a good ram in weeks past. The 1st thing I noticed was that it was colder than a well digger's butt, windy as Montana in the winter and WIDE open big country set at about 7300 ft above sea level. Couple this with a hunt for an animal that is wilder than anything on this earth, has ZERO curiousity and will run to the horizon upon seeing the truck at a mile distant, I was less than optomistic. At least we had 3 days to try and get a shot off. We headed up the canyon where the landowner had seen the ram previously. One thing in my favor is the fact that my guide Greg was raised in the area, and was a fanatic about chasing Vaalies. He lives for hunting them and knows how to hunt them well. Once in the canyon, we see 10 white tails heading for the horizon 1000 yards up the cut. Since the wind was howling and the fact that we were already busted without even doing a single thing, our only course of action was to just keep driving and hope that once we went out of sight that they would settle down and head back into the general area that they had just vacated. We made a mile long big loop and parked a good half mile above and well out of sight of the last place we had last seen them. We started down and once near the rim of the canyon, we began a long belly crawl to the rim's lip to try and at least see if the herd was back. As we neared, Greg inched his way to the rim to try and get a bead of them. When he shuffled back to me and looked at me, his eyes were as big as saucers! I expected him to say that the herd was either out there at 300 yards and running, or that they hadn't returned at all. He then whispered that we were a mere 55 yards from the herd! We had just snuck into the living room of one of the wildest species on the whole contient and here he was without a care in the world. As I bellied up to the rim, I just couldn't help but take just a moment to take in a good long look at him in the scope. He was quartering to me, bedded down chewing cud, surrounded by his nine ewes. After a moment to say thanks, the .257WBY thumped him at bow range. I can say that this Vaalie is one of my most cherished African trophies. It was a hunt that the hunting Gods smiled upon me. Of course, Ernie was there as well and had a front row sent to the hunt. Since we had just pulled off the hunt within 3 hours, we had plenty of "breathing" room on the hunt now. Since we were scheduled to be in the Vaalie area for three days, we met up with the landowner and received the green light to hunt mountain reedbuck while in the area. The hills held ALOT of these little antelope. It was just a matter of time before we found a shooter ram that made a mistake. Before long, Joseph saw a ram with love on his mind up in a bowl a few hundred yards ubove us. A stalk was made and a 200 yard shot provided me with yet another trophy. This little guy let the fairer sex get the better of him! I can say that this area of South Africa is unique and certainly a place that I will return to. It is like hunting in MT or WY. I loved it. Once back down in the coastal country, we shifted our focus on Blue Duiker and Nyala. These little Blue Duiker are now my nemisis.. The coastal "kloofs" where these tiny little antelope are found are thick with thorns, hooks, vines, and ticks en masse. The hunt was a blast but to say it was "fun" was pushing it!!We tried over and over and over and over (you get the idea) to get a shot at them. When we zigged, they zagged. When we thought we had them figured out, they made fools of us. It was not from a lack of duiker in the area. We saw them on probably 75% of all the drives we did. But when you have a 1/2 second window in which to judge and shoot, it was tough to say the least! I shot and killed several vines on the course of this hunt! We had a blast chasing them up until the last day, but the little guys had my number and I came up empty handed in the end. I suppose it gives me a good excuse to return! In the Puti kloofs in search of a trophy Puti. Here we are trying to call Puti in. We had a FoxPro caller with the recording of a native in Cameroon calling duiker with that distinctive nasal whine. Greg has called in many, but I suppose on my trip these coastal Blues forgot how to speak Pygmy. We got skunked trying to call them in. In between duiker hunting, we made a point to try and find a nice Nyala bull. Andrew's cousin phoned us one night and said that he had been seeing several nice bulls down on the Kei River proper on his property and that the bulls would come down out of the cliffs surrounding his farm fields and feed each evening. This was a low fence property as well. Not that a fence would have made much a difference. I was as steep as any country I've seen. It reminded me of unit 27 here in AZ headed down towards the Blue River. As if on cue, late afternoon had Nyala coming down towards the cabbage fields beside the river. After a bit, I saw this bull and his cows making their way down of the thorn thickets on the side of the cliffs. A 240 yard shot was offered and I took it. I was more than happy when we walked up on the prize, as was Ernie. Back to chasing little Puti.. While in between hunts, we saw a TON of baboons in every area we hunted in near the Kei River and the surrounding canyons and cliffs. Baboons are never easy anywhere and these areas were no different. They are educated! I made them just a little more educated with a moving 200+ yard shot that put one down in a hurry. By the end of the seven days, I was sold on hunting the East Cape area. It was most def. hunting, not just shooting. The areas were big, the game was there and the company was great. Of course there are species that are found behind wire in the area and region, but none of the species I took or hunted were hunted behind any type of fence. I really liked that. This hunt was one of the most enjoyable hunts I've been on. We were all well taken care of by Andrew and his lovely wife Sharon and their staff as well as the guides. The food was great and the beer and drinks were cold. I would HIGHLY recomend a hunt through them, whether you are looking for your 1st African safari or your 100th. I know that I'll be returning to give Mr. Blue duiker another run along with Cape Grysbok and mabye another Vaalie hunt. Thank you Andrew and to all the rest of Kei River Safaris. All of us had a wonderful trip and I know that you have now infected the other guys with the African bug and just made mine that much worse.. Five short months and it's off to Zimbabwe for an old Dagga boy.. I cannot wait to get back on African soil!