Sept15 thru Oct2, 2007

With: Cornie and Elaine Coetzee, both PH's, and tracker, Edward; 11 month-old terrier--Foxie.
Area: Okahandja area and south of Etosha

Game taken: Gemsbok, warthog, mountain zebra (2),kudu, hartebeest, giraffe, wildebeest(2)

Other Game seen, but not taken: female leopard, eland, baboon, Burchell zebra, black wildebeest, blesbok, springbok, duiker, dik-dik, steinbok, klipspringer

Game hunted but not seen: Lion. The antelope and zebra had calved/foaled several weeks early, and the lions had moved back into Etosha for easy pickings. The leopards similiarly preferentially hunted the calves rather than feed on our baits. Their tracks showed them to be walking directly under our baits, sitting down, and walking off. We followed numerous drags by leopards--to young kudus, oryx calves, aardvark, and a trophy duiker. We would seem to find the kills of the big toms after they had finished with them.

rifles: 375 H&H A-bolt and 9.3x74R double
Both rifles were printing well on paper, but my game shooting was the worst I have ever suffered. Thankfully, Cornie and Edward would always find the track of wounded game, and we would eventually get it. After every bad shot, I would check zero, and it was always MOA.
An old warthog


Gemsbok


Plaque on their wall


First Mountain Zebra



Cheetah Kill. They kill in the open, don't drag their prey into bushes or trees, and don't return after the first feed--all different than a leopard.


Millipede shell, which bushmen grind and mix with catapillar innards to make arrow poison


Nice Kudu bull


Monitor lizard


Edward with my old kudu


Leopard-killed aardvark


Hartebeest



Guard-donkey with every group of cattle. The cattle were all fat--with no hay or grain.


Should have been pulling trigger instead of shutter?


Second stallion, different area


"You are Lion-dog, not dik-dik-dog"


Sunset


Leopard kill. Hyena's tracks under tree.


Big bull Giraffe. and I thought I would never want to shoot one. Hide is being tanned in Africa.


Nosler partition 9.3x74R which ended under hide on far side shoulder of Giraffe. First shot was a solid, and skinners didn't find it or the exit. Nosler velocity 2300 fps.


Wildebeest. This was the only animal I hunted that was on a "hunting ranch"(Revelle), rather than a cattle ranch. Blesbok and black wildebeest were also on that ranch, as well as all the antelope and zebra found on the cattle ranches.


Best recommendations for Cornie and Elaine Coetzee, www.cecsafaris.com

Nice trophies! Thanks for sharing!

Like Rusty said,thanks for sharing,sounds like you had a wonderful time!
Can't wait to get over there!

Steve, Welcome home and nice animals..That kudu is really nice..The pics are super...

Mike

Very good photos, and trophies. Tell about your 9.3, looks like a real beauty.

Congratulations! Wonderful trophies.

I will be with Elaine and Cornie next July. Hoping for a lion out of Etosha.

Mike

Rug, the 9.3x74R double is a Chapuis that has been customized by JJ Perodeau of Champlin Arms. With the scope, the POI's at 100 yds are almost touching with 286gr Noslers at 2300 fps. It is a very light-weight rifle, but the kick is not bad. It is really too light for giraffe or buffalo, but should be good stuff for cats. It worked well on the mid-sized antelope and zebra when I did my part.
Mike Lindsey, I think you have picked the best time to hunt the lions coming out of Etosha. The ranch we hunted had had 49 horses and 40 cattle killed by lions in the past 1 1/2 years! I just picked a bad time to be there--the horses were all killed, and the cattle were moved farther from the park fence. The huge game herds in Etosha were also supplying a feast of calves/foals for the predators, and I believe that is why we could find no fresh lion sign.

Nice trophies Steve! David

Nice report. Any photos of camp? I'm surprised the cattle looked that good.

Interesting that you did not get an exit on the giraffe with the 9.3 and solids. I wonder if you hit heavy bone?

I laughed at the caption "You're a lion dog not a dik-dik dog". The dog looked sorrowful enough.

Congratulations on your hunt Steve! I enjoyed my trip to Namibia and want to make it back some day. Some unique species like the Hartman's zebra and Damaraland Dik Dik there. PAC lions are just hard to come by and sometimes the luck is with you, sometimes it is not! A fine trip nonetheless.

Damara-Land dik-dik--not too bright.




Hills

Steve,

Good on you mate

Terrific pics and nice animals.

That kudu bull on the left was a nice bull........

And great photo of the hills........Namibia is fantastic.

Cheers,

Blair.

Well done! I especially like the Hartebeest.

Dave

Cow wildebeest mistaken by all for a bull


Worker's hut and mountains


Huge leopard track next to .416 cartridge

Awesome stuff and great photos - thanks>>>

Good Show!

Fantastic pictures, a successful trip by all accounts!

I can see why that cow wildebeest was shot, she was a biggun...

I especially like the picture of the live kudu, what a magnificent animal. Any reason you did not take him?

Boghossian, got the pictures from the truck, drove out of sight and walked back, hoping to get a shot, but he had us spotted immediately and ran off. We trailed him for about a mile before giving up without a shot.
The two kudu together were posing so well, it didn't seem right to shoot at that time.

Steve, great pics of the Dik-Dik's. Did you see any rams? David

David, there was a family of dik-dik at one of the waterholes. The male was slightly smaller than the female, which I believe is normal for that species. I will check to see if he's on any photos.

Congratulations, Steve. Terrific safari and great trophies!

The Coetzees are clearly quality people who run a solid operation.

Interesting pictures. Enjoyed reading the report.

Hey Steve,

Great report and photos! Sorry 'bout the lion.

Good Hunting,

Bob

Steven ,we enjoyed -me and IKI-the report a lot,thank you for the photos ,and sorry for the lion.Its very rare that you didnt permormed well with your rifle ,because here you didnt missed a shot even charging shots .Juan

Very nice pics!

STEVEN SADLY THIS YEAR YOU DINDT HAVE LUCKS WITH THE CATS ,DO YOU REMEMBER....

Hell, even the dogs were having a hard time staying in the truck on some of those starts!
Payo and I only fell out once each.

I recognize Cool Daddy Steve with his hat backwards but who is the Spec Ops guy?

Congrats on a great hunt!
I love those dik-dik photos.. I hunted one in 2004 and it was a blast..

This was a very cold mourning in the bush after a big cat that always eluded us,we saw the cat with BILLINTHEWILD and its huge ,but we couldnt catch it.The guy there is one of my guides indeed he was in combat with some crminals working as security contractor ,in that combat his father was killed and he was injured by 3 9mm bullets ,i operated him ,one of the bullets perforated the femoral vein and artery .Juan