It will be a while before I get my Lion hunt pics as they are awaiting transfer to CD (PH is out hunting) then I will post more on the Lion and PG hunt I made in Northern RSA. Meanwhile, here is a report on what incurred after my Lion hunt.
Date: June 1-15 2007
Rifles used: Weatherby Mark V syn/SS in .280
Remington 700 Varmit Special Heavy Barrel in .223 Rem.
Ammo: Federal Premium "Vital Shok" 160 grain Nosler Accubonds for the .280, Federal VS 60 grain Nosler Partitions for the .223
Area Hunted: All over the Eastern Cape, from coastal plains overlooking the Indian Ocean, Suur Veldt mountains, deep riverine kloofs, Karoo to treacherous bald mountain tops no sane goat would live on (hunted Vaal Rhebok).
Game Hunted: Bushbuck, Duiker, Black & White Springbok, White and Common Blesbok, Baboon, Impala, Jackal, Steenbok, Blue Wildebeast, Mt. Reedbuck, Oribi, Caracal Cat/Lynx, Warthog, Kudu, Klipspringer, Vaal Rhebuck, Waterbuck, Ducks & Geese.
Game hunted & seen but not taken: Klipspringer, Vaal Rhebok and Waterbuck (trophy hunting)
Main Outfitter: Bowker Safari Company
PH's: Frank, Denham & Meyrick Bowker
Hunting companions: Brad and Louis
Lodging: Ranch
Food: home cooked & excellent

This was my second hunt with the Bowkers. Last year Louis and I took a total of 28 trophies in 10 days. This year was no exception, although we extended our hunting days to 14. Hunting can be casual to extreme. Some species are very tough to take. Conditioning is a plus for anyone considering hunting Vaal Rhebok in the Stormburg mountain area. Terrain is some of the toughest walking you can imagine. Brothers Meyrick and Denham Bowker are excellent PH's that work very hard to find quality game. Their father Frank started the business over 30 years ago. You'll find his name in the record books many times. Mornings start with a casual breakfast of coffee, juice, milk, hot or cold cereal and toast. When hunting locally, you'll pull out around 7am (just after first light). On longer journey's, you may leave at 4-5am. You generally hunt until dark unless your nearby, then you stop at the ranch for lunch and rest if you wish.
Day 1
After missing my friends in Jo'burg (I'd already finished my Lion and PG hunt and their flight from the US was too late to catch the PE 5pm flight), I flew down to Port Elizabeth where I was met by Jenny Bowker, Frank's wife. We had dinner and returned to the airport just in time to meet my friends evening arrival. We all had a good nights rest at City Lodge right on the beach of the Indian Ocean. The next morning after breakfast, we headed out to the Bowker ranch. Upon arriving and being met by the rest of the family, we all quickly unpacked and jumped into our hunting clothes. By 2pm we were all in the bush. We hunt 1x1 as our trophy pursuits are varied and extensive. Around 4:30pm I find myself watching a pair of Bushbuck feeding across a canyon. Too far to shoot, and too late to try and make a stalk (game is moving). Around 5pm my PH, Meyrick, spies a lone Bushbuck ram feeding on a ridge a mere 859 yards in front of us. He studies the ram intently for a few minutes and mentions how heavy he appears. That's all I need to hear: off we go. By 5:15pm it is heading towards dusk. We're 300 yards. We continue going downhill as the ram is busy picking choice morsels off some bushes he is buried in. Five minutes later and we're 179 yards. I fold out my bipod on my .223 and settle the crosshairs on a dark form that remains in the bush. Only a couple of minutes pass but it seems like hours. He comes out of the bush but continues to walk. Meyrick claps his hands and the ram freezes...my finger squeezes. The hiss from the 60 grain hornet sizzles through the evening air. Whop! The ram vanishes. Meyrick tells me "He's down!" We climb the ridge as fast as possible and find him lying where he collapsed. Turns out to be a high scoring ram due to his heavy bases. My fourth Bushbuck but certainly not my last. To be continued......

Day two:
After a light breakfast, we head out to check an area that hasn't been hunted in a while. The ranch belongs to relatives and is prime Kudu country. We position ourselves on a high ridge overlooking some prime feeding areas. After an hour and a half of watching all kinds of wildlife stir, we spot a nice Duiker ram feeding along the creek bed. I set up my .223 and the yardage is 260 yards. At the shot he drops, but only to get up and stand in the shadows. I can only see his hindquarters so I put another into his pelvic region which drops him. Last year Duiker had eluded me. I had taken a female the week prior to this hunt, as I wanted a pair for my collection. This turned out to be a nice male.

We loaded up the Duiker and headed for another nearby ranch. I'd expressed a desire to hunt waterfowl and Meyrick said we could check out a few ponds he knew about. As we drove by one of the small dams on the property, a group of four Yellow Bill ducks were busy feeding in the shallow water. All eyes were on us so we continued to drive by while I made a plan. Meyrick had brought his Remington 3200 o/u and a few field loads. We turned around and drove back by the dam and it didn't seem to bother the ducks. Once we passed the high side of the dam, I exited the truck and loaded the shotgun. I was concerned with the chokes: skeet and IC, so I knew I'd need to get close. I managed to crawl up the dam and when I stood up, I was only 25 yards from the flock. They immediately sprang into the air and on my first shot, two tumbled out of the air. My next shot connected with a third duck, dropping it on the far side of the pond. Drab in color, Yellow Bill's reminded me of our own American Black Duck, or "Black Mallard" as some call them. Darker coloration but their speculum is beautiful!

Eastern Cape Sunrise

It took us nearly an hour to get the ducks out of the water. Too bad our Jack Russells had no interest in fowl.
As we continued on towards the back of the ranch to investigate other water sheds, we happened upon a small herd of Black Springbok. We stopped to watch them and as I exited the truck, a herd of domestic goats spooked and ran helter-skelter into the scattered bush. Meyrick noticed a smaller group of Black Springbok about 150 yards away that came busting out of the bush. He immediately told me there was a nice herd ram in the bunch. I went back to the truck and pulled my .223 out of the case and we began a stealthy approach. When we were able to get a clear shot, the distance was 140 yards. The .223 cracked and the ram didn't go 20 yards. My first Black Springbok!

We loaded up the truck and headed back to the ranch house for lunch and to give my faithful tracker, Jackson, time to eat and skin out my Duiker and Springbok. We hit the road again around 2pm and went to another family ranch that is now part of a huge conservancy. By next year all the interior cattle fencing will be gone, expanding the conservancy greatly. All of these ranches have only live stock fencing. Any of the plains game that jump fences (Kudu, Impala, Wildebeast etc) are capable of going about freely. Although other game are capable of jumping live stock fences, some like the Springbok, Blesbok, Steenbok, Duiker etc., prefer to crawl under a fence. Much like our own Pronghorn Antelope. Removing the fencing will allow all game to roam freely in a free roam atmosphere and give hunters a better experience. Within minutes of entering the ranch, we spotted Kudu, Steenbok, Springbok and Blesbok. I immediately noticed a number of large Blesbok rams. Having taken a nice ram last year, I decided to attempt to take one of the larger rams for a full skin rug. We pulled over in the shade and began scoping out the herd. They were all fixed on us and remained motionless until we exited our vehicle. Our stalk commenced and immediately scattered the herd, sending them running off in all directions. Each time we would find a mature ram, other Blesbok would be blocking my shot or brush was in the way. We spent the next 30 minutes trying to sort out a good ram. After a dozen missed opportunities, I noticed a single ram standing off all alone. By the time I set up my .280 on the short sticks, he began to run forward, heading for the herd of ewe's he'd been watching. Evidently he never saw me sitting within the thorn bush I'd taken cover in. When he stopped, he was only 158 yards and I sent him to the ground with a single shot behind the shoulder. Nice ram with just under 17" horns.

The rest of the afternoon was spent glassing for Kudu. A number of nice bull's were spotted but none over 50 inches.
Day 3
We started off this morning with a visit to my good friend Keith Gradwell's ranch. His sister lives here in Nashville and grew up on the ranch. It is a huge ranch covering 25,000 acres of some of the best plains game hunting in the Eastern Cape. After a short visit, we began checking some of the numerous deep kloof's for Kudu. We found a big bull; one that would go 51-52 inches but he was over a 1,000 yards away. We saw several in the 47-48 inch class but decided to back out and try to find big boy later in the afternoon. We went to another area where we'd seen a lot of Kudu last year, but as soon as we arrived we noticed a large troop of Baboon's running single file out of the kloof, heading for a high ridge. I grabben my .223 and pursued their retreat. They continued following the ridge line until they crossed the steep head of the kloof which rose up to a high rock bluff. They quickly covered the dense underbrush and climb the bluff with no effort. As they began to reach the top, the lead Baboon scurried across the edge of the cliff. "Dummies" I thought. Now you've exposed yourselves. I steadied my crosshairs on the trail and soon a large male paused for a look back. Whop! Came the echo of my bullets impact. The primate attempted to gain footing before plunging straight down into the cliff's jungle of thorn and bush. I chambered another round and found a large female: she crumpled and fell off the bluff as well. The others disappeared into the dense brush and began barking and calling their fallen comrads. Meyrick instructed Jackson and I to climb around to the top while he would attempt to navigate from the bottom. He soon called us back as it was impenetrable. We went to the truck and headed back to the road which would take us to the top. Upon reaching the top, I was instructed to remain above while Meyrick and Jackson decinded. I gave Meyrick my .280 in case either Baboon were still alive. I commented I wouldn't object if he charged me dangerous game daily rates. He just laughed and climbed down the cliff face. As he and Jackson searched, I found six small specks of blood at the cliff's edge. They found none below: nor the Baboons. Our trusty Jack Russell's were busy sorting out the sign and it wasn't long before "Goose" gave out a single "dead" bark. The old male had traveled 100 yards before expiring. This after being double lunged and plunging 90 feet into the jungle. Jackson came out and we drove back down to the bottom. This old boy had evidently run things for a long time. His canines were worn down to half the size of a prime male and the rest of his teeth were about worn out as well. Meyrick was covered in ticks and I halted further searching for the female. It was just too risky and difficult to look for the female in the dense thorn and bush. Baboons do a great deal of damage to local crop fields and take large numbers of bird eggs. I felt no remorse and discontinuing the search. Most ranches are very happy for you to take Baboons off their property.

As we continued our search for Kudu and now with the high Sun; Warthogs! We came upon an Impala ram that appeared to be less than in prime condition. Meyrick said they had seen him recently and Keith gave the OK to cull him. One shot with the .280 and he was down. An average male for the Eastern Cape:

The rest of the day was spent searching for other game. Lots of different species were spotted but none taken. I saw a brute of a Blue Wildebeast but was told we couldn't hunt them. Little did I know they held a later surprise for me.
Here's the bluff I shot the Baboon's off of:

Day 4
We awoke to wind and light rain this morning. After a quick breakfast we headed out in search of what ever we could find of interest. I was hunting and the quarry didn't really matter. Upon entering the ranch where I'd taken my Duiker, we spotted a Steenbok. I managed to set up my .223 and take a shot. I remember how tiny he looked in my scope and I thought the dark skies and rain gave the appearance of being smaller. That was not the case; my scope was on 4 power. My shot found it's mark but it was not fatal. We took off on foot but he was able to keep a distance of over 100 yards on us. The ground was covered with small rocks and about the time I thought about how slippery they were, I tripped and busted my rear. Shaking that off, we continued a high speed pursuit. Finally, just before he could enter some dense bush, two more shots dropped him. The high grass apparently was deflecting accuracy. Steenbok, although small, are just as tenacious as larger game. Normally, any shot placed in the vitals will instantly drop them.

After lunch (in the field) we traveled back to my friend Keith's ranch to look for Kudu again. We ran into my hunting partner Louis Resha, and his PH (Denham Bowker). They had just taken a large Blue Wildebeast bull (turned out to rank #12 in the world. I made the comment that I really wanted a good Blue and my friend Louis said he mentioned it to Keith and he gave me the go ahead to search for a large, lone bull that lived on the back of the ranch. I had glassed him previously but the range was extreme. He liked to hang out with an Ostrich. Why? I have no idea unless they were both retired from show business We drove into the area and began to glass. There he was, out on a finger ridge grazing. And not 100 yards away was his buddy: the Ostrich. We had a long stalk ahead of us and it was misting rain. This helped keep our approach silent to a degree but it didn't prevent us from bumping a young Kudu bull. He spooked the Ostrich, and that spooked the Blue bull. By the time we spotted him again he was up on the next ridge watching his back trail. We set up the short sticks and I sat down and took a rest. Range was 298 yards. I squeezed the Mark V's trigger (very crisp) and recovered from the recoil in time to see and hear the impact. The bull reacted with a mule kick and ran forward, his left shoulder nearly touching the ground. I was instructed ahead of time to be prepared to continue shooting, after all, they don't call Blue Wildebeast the "poor man's Buffalo" for nothing. But I didn't need a second shot. The bull spun and bucked a few times and was down. It took us 15 minutes to get to him, and discovered a near impassable creek bottom hidden from view in heavy brush between us. No way to get a vehicle across it. We called for help and within 35 minutes help started arriving. A crew of 8 showed up and one young ranch hand found a way to truck down the same ridge my bull fell on. It began to rain a little more and we were greatful for all the help we received. I was greatful for the nice bull. I recovered the bullet (the only one I recovered during the entire trip). It had broken his left shoulder and lodged under the skin of his right shoulder. Tough animals those Wildebeast. That evening his horns measured 30 inches wide.

Day 5
This morning began clear, cold and windy. We sat on points over looking vast terrain hoping to spot 50+ inch Kudu. We saw Kudu but no big bulls. Last year I took a 48.5 inch Cape Kudu and I wanted to break 50 inches. After passing a good Duiker (I enjoyed just watching the pair feed within 40 yards of us) and a few sow Warthog's, we returned to the truck and headed for another part of the ranch. I had been seeing more Mountain Reedbuck than ever before, but when we spotted a very nice ram, we went after him. My first shot took him a little too far back (150 yards with the .223) and he didn't stop again until he was at 230 yards. That shot anchored him. He had moved forward just as I squeezed the trigger on the first shot, causing my impact to be too far back. The second shot hit home. This was the only animal I took as the rest of the evening was spent glassing.

Day 6
This would be a special day for me. We left the ranch at 5am as we had a two hour drive ahead of us. We were heading towards the coast to hunt Oribi, Caracal Lynx and maybe Blue Duiker. We met our guys a little after 7am and climbed a high mountain ridge over looking a beautiful valley. Thick bush and a deep running, clear stream below us. What a Bushbuck sanctuary I thought. And where there are Bushbuck and Duiker, you find Mr. Caracal. We could see and hear the dogs down below at times, but no hot trails. After an hour and a half, one of the staff gets a phone call. "Bushbuck are barking, I can hear them out my kitchen window" was the remark. That means a Lynx is on the prowl. We called in the dog handlers, loaded up the hounds and while they were off to sort out the Lynx, we headed further towards the coast, in search of Oribi. We arrived in half an hour and immediately I began to spot Oribi on the hillsides. Each pod had it's own ram and several ewe's. We no more than stopped the vehicle when the phone rang: "Hounds are on a hot trail, get back here fast!" Off we go, back to the rough country. Upon returning to the area, we took a route that led us to high fields overlooking the steep canyons where the hounds were on the hot trail of a Lynx. I began to notice bright green fields of newly planted oats. I asked the owner if he ever saw game in his fields and he replied "Bushbuck, lots of them in the evenings." We had no more than stopped the truck when Jackson said something about Oribi. I noticed everyone putting their binoculars to their face and Meyrick said "Get your rifle quick!" I grabben my .223 and down the hillside he pointed to three golden objects lying in the mid morning sunlight. It was Oribi, two females and a mature male. I opened my bi-pod and tried adjusting my line of sight but I had to move into a better shooting position and quickly placed the cross hairs behind the rams shoulder. At the shot he rolled on his side, finished. My first Oribi as I had arranged my permit last year. You need a permit to take an Oribi in the Eastern Cape, so I advise you to plan at least a year ahead. A great trophy especially for anyone collecting the "Tiny Ten."

After taking pictures, we quickly resumed our Lynx hunt. By now we could hear the hounds heading our way so I grabbed a shotgun and we took off down the steep ridge. It only took about 15 minutes to decend and by the time we hit the creek, my Lynx had treed. He was sitting on his haunches in the top of a large tree. I was given 00Buck and I grimaced at the thought. Rule of thumb on Lynx hunting: if the Lynx falls but isn't dead, the hounds will tear him apart within seconds. And you won't be able to do anything. What the cat doesn't finish on you, a snapping dog might. Lynx must fall dead, period, and some shots are just too blocked by heavy foilage. I aimed and fired. The full load of buckshot caught the Lynx square on the left shoulder. He fell stone dead. The hounds pounced but the experienced handler immediately was on top of things and got the dogs off my prize before any further damage was done. I was lucky to take a mature male Tom.

We ran out of time to hunt Blue Duiker, so I'll save that for another safari.
Day 7
That night at dinner, Denham mentioned all the big Blesbok that were on one of the ranches near where we had hunted Lynx. I asked "How big?" He replied that there were lots of rams over 16 inches and some better than that. I asked about going there so the next day we set off the check them out. It turned out to be a great hunt as not only were they plenty of exceptional rams, but they were wild as Hell. I laid on the ground and waited while enduring high, cold wind. Nosey Cattle came by and one was the most colorful Cow I have ever seen. Resembled a Bontebok. Finally, after an hour, a herd of Blesbok started coming our way. We were lying on a dam that held the only water around. It was difficult to pick out the best ram as there were many. But finally we chose one at the rear and when he stopped to survey his surroundings, I let a 160 grain Accubond fly. Range was 243 yards and it found its mark. He stumbled around and fell. Exceptional Blesbok with horns going 17.5 inches and deep ridges with very heavy bases.

As soon as we thanked the ranch owner, we headed back down to the coast. I'd heard of a ranch that had huge White Blesbok. We arrived and met the owner. There were scattered herds of Common and White Blesbok, Springbok, Zebra, Blue and Black Wildebeast and Impala on the open plains. We went into the hunting mode right away but the White Blesbok and some of the common gave us the slip. The owners wife came by and stopped and said they tend to run into the bush anytime they see people in the fields. She suggested we go up on the back ridge and wait for them to reappear, then try a stealthy approach. After an hour, we saw a few common Blesbok returning to the fields, then a few White Blesbok, then some more. We took a long circle out of the fields and as we crossed by a pond a pair of Egyptian Geese jumped up and flew off with their noisy calling. This alerted the Blesbok and as they began to scurry back to the safety of the bush, we kept some Acacia between us and them. I set up at an opening and when they filtered by, one of the big White rams stopped and I instantly fired. He fell at the impact of the .280 bullet. Not the best looking animal in RSA but a great trophy regardless. He measures 18 1/2 inches with heavy bases. Had I entered him in the SCI record book (I didn't) he would have been the #1 in the world. Today I'm guessing maybe around #4 in the world.

We did some scouting and made arrangements to return for a Cow Blue Wildebeast and to check out the Bushbuck. This ranch crawls with Bushbuck and Nyala.
Day 8
Hunted Kudu again this morning and midday. Found a good bull again and decided to attempt to get a better wind in the afternoon and put a stalk on him. The problem was too many Kudu. No way to navigate through this many and not get busted. That evening we found him in the same place, but again the wind was wrong, and too many eyes, noses and ears. We're sitting there when all at once I see movement down below me. "Warthog" I whispered. Meyrick said "Take him." He's walking along at 131 yards when the .280 smacks him. He spins around and starts slashing the ground. Didn't go anywhere but he chipped the tips off of both lower tusks. Dammit! Nice hog though.

Day 9
Same scenario, we glass for Kudu and pass on several bulls; more Duiker and Steenbok. No Warthog boars, just sows. That afternoon we're returning to see if we can put the sneak on the big Kudu bull we'd been watching when all at once we're in a mexican standoff with a Kudu. It happened suddenly, and we didn't take any time to analyze his horns. He was standing at the top of the hill we were climbing. They were shiny as chrome in the midday Sun. He was 311 yards and I put one in his pump station. He ran about 45 yards and collapsed. Middle aged bull but he wasn't finished out and has slightly flat horns, but a real nice bull regardless and very symmetrical horns. Nice cape with a full beard. Note the gray horns? Those Kudu hanging on your wall with black horns are just wrong. Hate it! I won't hang a Kudu on my wall with black horns. They must be returned to their original gray color..I insist.

Day 10: The hunt for Vaal Rhebok, Klipspringer and the White Springbok in the Mountains of the Karoo....
We left the ranch early this morning to travel up to the Karoo. The Sunrise was beautiful this morning and I enjoyed seeing numerous birds along the way including a large flock of Blue Cranes which happen to be the national bird of RSA. When we turned off the tar road, we were greeted with a view of some towering mountains. As we drove closer they began to look like Sheep mountains. This turned out to be some of the roughest terrain you could hunt in. Under the high grass were rocks...millions of them. Each step was precarious. You really had to watch your step. My first view of Vaal Rhebok was of them running. They looked like mice through my bino's. Their eye sight was phenomenal! This would be true of the Klipspringer's. Two days of hunting these little guys only resulted in naught. Neither Louis nor I took a single shot. The closest I came to a six inch Vallie was 550 yards. So I chose not to take the shot. Klipspringer too. However, when we came down from the mountain range we found excellent White Springbok hunting. Louis connected at midday by hiding in the shadows of thorn bush, but I tried spot and stalk so it wasn't until the last 20 minutes of light before I took my ram.

Louis and I with our Springbok

We spent two days at Paul's ranch and then headed back to resume our hunt.
Day 12
This morning we would search for waterfowl again. By noon we would once again travel down to the coast as I wanted to take a Cow Blue Wildebeast and that evening we would hunt Cape Grysbok. I had received my permit and was looking forward to hunting them. The morning went well and I took Egytian Geese and one Cape Shelduck. They are some of the more colorful waterfowl of South Africa.

By lunch we were headed down to the coast. We returned to the ranch where I had taken my White Blesbok and the owner said he'd seen one of his Blue Wildebeast herds that morning at the far end of his ranch, grazing in his back pasture. As we drove into the thick, hilly bush, I happened to look out my window and at 30 feet stood one of the best Bushbuck's I have ever seen alive. We stopped within 40 yards and I quickly scrambled to uncase my .280 Mark V. As I walked back to the spot, I foolishly paid more attention to my scope and chambering a round than what was ahead of me. When I looked up the Bushbuck was still standing there...our eyes met and he dove into the bush...gone! Big mistake, and one I learned from. Had I been paying attention I would now have a 18 inch plus Bushbuck. His horns were not only heavy, but rolled out like a mature Nyala. Damn, my heart sank. We continued our drive to the back of the ranch and upon topping a hill, saw the Wildebeast still feeding in the pasture. They saw us too! Even at a range of 800+ yards, they beat a fast retreat into the bush. We decided to leave and hope they would return to the field. We would approach on foot the next time. We returned to the front of the ranch and although we saw many species, only Black Wildebeast were spotted; no Blue's. After an hour we started to the back again. This time we stopped where the Bushbuck was spotted and walked in carefully. The Blue's were still in the bush. Just standing around. Maybe they would feed out late in the evening. At one time I counted 12 mature Bushbuck rams feeding in the kloof bottom and on the opposite ridge. I will return here again to search for the magnum ram I saw. Several rams were in the 14-16 inch class, but nothing like what I had seen earlier. Finally, the Blue's started to move out of the thick brush to feed; only they were going deeper into the bush. We made a move and headed down the steep ridge into the lower elevation. We hoped to get within shooting distance before they vanished. After about 15 minutes, we found a good spot to set up. I sat down and steadied my rifle on the short sticks. Range was 253 yards. I found the colorful cow I wanted for a rug and squeezed the trigger. I could hear the hiss of my bullet as it traveled across the valley. It met the cow with a loud whump! She jumped and started mule kicking and spinning. Meyrick told me the shot was good. She was down within seconds. Now the fun part. We had to drive down into the bottom and up the ridge. Not bad until we got into the bush. Fortunately, that wasn't more than 100 yards. Rough country let me tell you. Thorn bush, Cacti and rocks. We put the truck down hill and opened the tail gate. Then we used the winch to pull the heavy load into the truck bed. Back at the ranch Jackson earned his tip that day. He skinned her out on the carport as darkness approached. I will have a full skin rug from this Cow and euro mount the skull.

Bushbuck Hunter's Paradise


Cape Grysbok Hunt
After Jackson finished his skinning job on the Blue Wildebeast Cow, we headed back inland to hook up with our contact to hunt the Cape Grysbok. They are hunted at night with a special permit as they are 99.9 percent nocturnal. I've never seen one in daylight hours and only had the opportunity to mount two of them in all my years as a Taxidermist. I'm told that on rare occasions you might see one at dusk, but that is very rare. I had been told that hunting them lately was slim. Not many had been seen, let alone taken...especially a trophy class ram. I must have set a new record. Within 12 minutes of beginning our hunt we saw two females, one immature male and this big boy:

I was extremely pleased to take this ram and will mount him lifesize. He is a special trophy to me and I believe the only game animal that can be legally hunted at night...with permit. So if you want to hunt the Cape Grysbok (do not confuse him with the Sharpe's Grysbok of Zim) make your plans well in advance. I booked a year ago for this hunt.
Day 13
Today we went to a huge cattle ranch. They have a reputation of producing some outstanding trophy animals so I was looking for a 30" plus Waterbuck. We found him first thing that morning but spent all day trying to get the shot. Several times we slipped within good range but he would bolt away. Once, he was with two other big rams. Both were 27-28 inch class. Big boy ran off and left them. They turned on each other and I witnessed the most unbelievable fight between Waterbucks I've ever seen. It was a thrill just to watch them go at it. I was under orders to shoot any Warthog, and there were plenty. But most of the time we were involved in trying to slip up on the Waterbuck. That bull ran me into the ground that day. I did manage to take another top notch Duiker and a decent Warthog (cull) but did see a brute of a hog. I bet he sported 14" tusks (total length estimate). I saved only the tusks off this pig. Eleven inches on the uppers. Most of it was in his skull and upper lip. Took this ram Duiker as well.

Both were taken with the .280 with the Duiker being 120 yards in heavy, dense brush. The Warthog was in the open at 75 yards.

That concluded our hunt on the Eastern Cape. I was exhausted as I had been away nearly 3 weeks. I totaled 26 animals, some waterfowl and small predators. It was an exciting safari and I had a fantastic trip. Food was excellent and I gained 3 pounds (lovely). Personnel couldn't have been better. Our hosts, Frank, Jenny, Meyrick, Denham, Louise and Alexis Bowker and their great staff. My hunting companion, Louis Resha enjoyed our second hunt with the Bowkers. We all had a great trip and took many animals. Previous to the hunt with the Bowkers, I spent some time with Charl as we travel across northern South Africa hunting Lion and some plains game. Searched for a 60" Kudu Charl knew about but he escaped us. We only saw his horns as he busted us and darted down a steep hill, keeping himself in the thickest bush.

Impala taken near Groblersdal with Charl Van Rooyen of Infinito Safaris:

Glassing the ridges. We could hear male Baboons barking at us in the distance.

Good hunting, LDK

Congrats! Man that Bushbuck has some THICK horns!

I'm already sick, you've mentioned seeing duiker everyday and I hunted them unsucessfully off on on for three days without a shot even presenting itself!! Oh well, maybe on our next trip. Looking forward to the rest of your post. Good "memories" even though it was only two weeks ago. Hopefully i'll get arond to posting my time with the Bowker's soon, good people they are.

Brad

Thanks guys. Brad, I think if you get the first Duiker, they'll start coming out of the woodwork. They can be tough to find sometimes and even more difficult to shoot. Last year I couldn't buy a Duiker. Talk to you soon, D.

Looks like you had a great trip! Thanks for the report and pictures.

Thanks talentrec, here's a few of the animals my friend Louis took. Believe it or not, his Eland measured over 31 inches. Next a very symmetrical Nyala and a super 15+ inch Bontebok.

Great report!! Your White Blesbok is HUGE!! As is your partner's Eland!!

Eland Slayer,
You're right about that Eland. I was present when Louis took him with three well placed .300 Ultra Mag shots, the first two from 304 and 250 yards. He was a grand old bull and quite a trick to load in the back of the truck! There was a younger, longer bull in the herd but he did not have the mass or character of this one. Great animal and a great hunt.
Brad

David, great report and photos!

You had to be really busy to take that many animals in that period of time and you really have some great look trophies.

Thanks guys. I appreciate you taking the time to look and read. Yes, I've been home 10 days and I'm still recouping. It was a very busy schedule but we had a couple of days where we took nothing. The game is very abundant on the eastern cape, and to a lesser degree in the north, but very good quality hunting in all Provinces. I'm already dreaming about next year and at some point surely I'll meet some guy everyone calls an A-hole, but haven't yet. Every where I went people were nice as could be. That only adds to the trip. Good hunting to you all, David

David,

Spent some time with the Bowkers myself in '04. A nice property there. He has real Cape kudu and Bontebok. Did Frank show you the old shearing shed with all the kudu racks?

Mark

Great looking animals David, and a great report.

Mark,

I was there in April of '04 myself. When were you at Thornkloof? That shearing shed is pretty impressive, huh? Nice Kudu everywhere. And you're right. That is the place for wonderful Cape Kudu hunting, I was there on '05 when a guy shot a 53 incher and saw pictures of one in the same class taken this year. They have some big ones.

Brad

Mark, remind me to tell you about the damn roosters sometime. The "shed" has some skulls & horns from a lot of different game animals. The latest skull was from Denham's Lynx. This thing was a bus! Estimated weight was 50 lbs. I left a Duiker skull that Meyrick and I found on my first evening right before I shot my Bushbuck. Grafton, I need to call you tomorrow. Email me if you don't hear from me by noon. Thanks, David

Some very nice animals there !
Excellent steenbuck !

Looks like you had a good time.

Dave,

Those are some great animals!! The bushbuck in particular is heavy and the White Blesbok is a freak

Have you got a Red Duiker and Suni? Have to add those to my collection of the Tiny Ten.......

I remember the country we got my Vaal Rhebok in, just out of Bedford. Nearly killed this little Aussie

Cheers mate!

Blair, no, but I'm planning on hunting them and another Nyala next year. Although I had planned on hunting Nyala again, the horns I took last year were mixed up between the time I left and when they arrived here. They are not mine. My lifesize skin is mine, but not the horns. I've been in touch with the concerned parties but in reality unless someone else spoke up and said "these are not my Nyala horns" I'll never see them again. That's a plate of Crow that is hard to swallow. Thanks for the compliments. I will go after Vaallies again and Klippies. I could have taken a dozen Klippies when I was in Zim last February. Maybe I'll get one when I return for Leopard and Sable next year.
Good hunting,
David

quote:

My first Black Springbok!

And I must say a very great one. What a great report. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks Bob,
Good hunting,
David

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:
Blair, no, but I'm planning on hunting them and another Nyala next year. Although I had planned on hunting Nyala again, the horns I took last year were mixed up between the time I left and when they arrived here. They are not mine. My lifesize skin is mine, but not the horns. I've been in touch with the concerned parties but in reality unless someone else spoke up and said "these are not my Nyala horns" I'll never see them again. That's a plate of Crow that is hard to swallow. Thanks for the compliments. I will go after Vaallies again and Klippies. I could have taken a dozen Klippies when I was in Zim last February. Maybe I'll get one when I return for Leopard and Sable next year.
Good hunting,
David

Leopard and sable! You lucky bastard

And that was a great black springbok too.....

We can't import leopard into Australia, no matter what

Use a good bullet on those Sable, they are tough buggers!

No Leopard imports into Aussieland? Geez, what next? That makes about as much sense as the gun laws they've imposed upon you guys & gals. I'll use the 300 RUM on Sable unless I take a big bore. Good hunting, David

LDK,

Great job on the hunt and for damn sure on the report and pics. Congrats. You've quite a few envious individuals here, myself included.

Hopefully gonna be getting up to Nashtown in about 2 weeks. Maybe we can get together then.

Congrats,

David Walker

Wow, you guys really stacked them up! Congrats again.

LDK, you now know the pronghorn is nearly blind compared to the Vallies!

Wow!! what a trip you had. Thanks for the post and the hard work.

Thanks guys!
David, just give me a call and we'll have a beer or two
DOJ, I found that out. I've seen Pronghorn's staring at me at over 1,000 yards. Vaallies are running at 2,000 yards....dammit! Next time I'll wear full camo gillie suit and I'm having my .223 put into a camo thumb hole synthetic stock and Parkerized. I'll fix their little red wagon

Will do. Hopefully not next Saturday, but maybe the next. For sure before the end of July.

David

David, call me ahead of time. I'm trying to hook up a Tuna, Wahoo and Swordfish trip this month, so let me know before your heading this way. GH, D.

Wow! That is a very impressive bag!
I had a hunt in EC last year, with many of the same animals.. I did "forget" a couple though, and need to get back next year... White blesbok, bontebok and caracal for example..
Congrats, and thanks for sharing!

Thanks Anders. They have one of the best pure herds of Bontebok in RSA if your interested. You will get a letter of intent which goes with your CITES permit which authenticates the bloodline. This goes hand in hand with scoring the Bontebok. Also, we have what I believe to be the best trophy fee of anywhere in the EC. Trophy White Blesbok are available (mine measured over 18 inches) and the Caracal is one hell of a hunt. Email me if you have questions. Good hunting, David

Excelent report very nice photosa David thanks.Juan

Thank you Juan, I appreciate the kind words. We had a great time and I look forward to Argentina! Good hunting, David

What a hunt! And a great report. Thanks for posting.

Well done my friend: I hunted with the Bowkers in 2005, and had a similar experience, so your report was especially meaningful to me. The whole Bowker family will "go above and beyond" to make sure their hunters have a great hunt. This family are descendants of some of the 1820's first settlers to the East Cape, and their family has been on Thornkloof since about 1846, and anyone who hunts with the Bowkers will certainly have a memorable trip. I look forward to seeing them this winter in Denver, and hunting Nyala and who knows what else as soon as possible. Great report. Cheers, Luke

Jim & Luke; thanks for the comments. I have to agree, they have a lot to offer and have gone to the outer limits to get permits or find certain game for us. They are one of the Outfitters on the Eastern Cape I book for and I can always feel confident they will take care of my clients. I will see them here in Nashville next February. Good hunting to you both, David