Hunting Report

June 4-13, 2006.

We traveled from DFW to Atlanta on Delta airlines. We had a three hour delay leaving from DFW and missed our connection in Atlanta. We had read of many problems with
Delta and after our experience cannot recommend using them. We had to pressure Delta fairly hard to get any service We had to stay over one night in Atlanta and then caught the South African Airways flight the next day. That is a 17 hour flight and is fairly uncomfortable in economy class. The aircraft are fairly new and nice with individual video screens, movies, radio stations, etc. As of this Summer, Delta is no longer a partner with SAA which should help.

We used Gracy Travel in San Antonio who specialize in trips to South Africa. They were very helpful.

We used a “meet and greet†service: Hunter’s Support/Air 2000, and had NO problems with customs, immigration or South African Police Service at Johannesburg arriving or departing. We did our temporary firearms importation documentation several weeks ahead and Hunter’s Support processed the forms for us. They had a representative meet us at the terminal and he just walked us right through while many other folks were standing in line. That cost an extra $110 per hunting pair. I consider it a bargain.

We were scheduled for six hunting days, only hunted five because of the flight delay. Our outfitter was Johan Bosch of Dinaka Game Reserve located near Nylstroom in the Waterberg Mountains in the Limpopo Province in the Republic of South Africa. We hunted two hunters to one professional hunter. All three professional hunters were exemplary. They all worked hard to find the best trophies possible for us. Almost all hunting in RSA is on private game reserves and all hunting is with professional hunters. They were extremely patient and we all passed on shots which were deemed too risky, too far, or that might result in accidentally shooting through one animal and hitting another. Many African antelope species bunch up in LARGE groups if they are nervous, making it difficult to pick out one individual to get a clear shot.

We spent many hours driving, spotting and glassing the herds, and then stalking, creeping and crawling to get close. It’s harder than it sounds. Many times the shots were taken standing with shooting sticks because of the tall grass.

I recommend quality binoculars and firearms that you are very comfortable with. I would not take unproven equipment. We shot a lot before the trip.

June is winter in South Africa. It was dry and the temperatures were generally 40’s in the morning and mid 60’s in the afternoon. One morning it was 32 degrees and they said that was the record low for June this year. We had light winds and most days were partly cloudy. Really perfect hunting weather.

Rifles and loads:
My nephew used his Kimber Montana M8400, 300WSM, with Federal Premium 180 Nosler Partition bullets. This load was very accurate in this rifle and produced one-shot kills on five of six animals. He shot a little low on his Hartebeest and had to do a facing-away finish shot to drop him. All but that shot went all the way through and we had to do no trailing or tracking. The African hunters will tell you that you want a tough bullet that will leave an exit hole. Therefore, we did not recover any bullets, but the partition is a proven bullet. It is true that African animals are tougher than our domestic ones.

My middle brother used my old deer rifle, a Ruger M-77 lightweight, in .308. He wanted to use trophy bonded bearclaws, but they would not group in this gun. The factory load that shot the best was the Remington Premium Swift Scirroco 165 grain. This bullet is similar to our old standby, ballistic tip, but more heavily constructed. He made one shot stops on Impala and Warthog. Both dropped where they stood.

I used a custom Springfield 30-06 and Federal Premium 180 grain partitions and 300 grain partitions in his CZ .375 H&H. That was more gun than we needed for plains game, but both did the job.

Another brother used a Steyr Scout in .308, shooting Federal Premium, 165 grain Trophy bonded bear claws.

My son in law shot a Model 70 in 300 Winchester Magnum, also Federal Premium 180 grain Nosler Partitions. That rifle seemed much less comfortable to shoot than the Kimber and he hadn’t got to practice much because he has been in Dental School. And army training. It did the job though on Blesbok and Impala.

Interestingly, the only bullets recovered were the 165 grain bear claws from the Steyr. They mushroomed well, but did not appear to have the penetration of the others.

Six hunters took a total of 22 trophies: Kudu, Blesbok, Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Impala, Warthog. As a bonus we tried on Jackals and Baboons, but those are fleeting, tough targets. We saw but did not hunt Mountain Zebra, Burchell Zebra, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Nyala, Sable, Springbok, Giraffe, Steenbok, Waterbuck, Ostrich, Reedbuck, Duiker, Bushpig, and others.

Doyle

Good job there, those Warties are great.

Good looking Blesbok and Warthogs. Kudu has good long tips as well. Congratulations!

Greetings gentlemen. I am Doyle's nephew who he speaks of in the report above and on finding this thread I thought I would come and throw my two cents in. I'm the one in green with the kudu and on the far right in the group picture. Forgive me if I ramble as this is purely off the top of my head.

I can scarcely describe what an incredible experience this hunt was. My dislike of air travel aside, I don't think it could have gone any better. I had the pleasure of meeting Johan at the Dallas Hunters Expo this past winter and after that the anticipation built and built and June was upon us before we knew it. It was immediatly apparent upon arrival at Dinaka we were someplace special. Game was abundant and terrain was an interesting mix of bushveld and low, rocky mountains. I was to be going after kudu, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, impala, blesbok, and warthog. I shot a Kimber 8400 Montana in .300 WSM with a Leupold Mark PR 3.5-10x40 scope in Talley lightweight one-piece bases and rings. Ammunition, as stated in Doyle's post was, Federal Premium 180gr Nosler Partitions. Practice here in Texas showed this to be capable of averaging in the .75" inch range at 100 yards with my meger skills and the rifle/optics/ammo combination proved exemplary in the field yielding fast, one-shot kills on all but the red hartebeest where I was low on my first shot and needed a finisher.

One thing that always interests me in reading in talking about hunting is what gears works and what does not so I will give a quick run-down of some of the stuff I used.

Clothing:
Under Armour Cold Gear long underwear
Cabelas Trailhiker Pants
Cabelas Serengeti Safari Shirts
Cabelas (anyone see a trend here) ECWCS Polartec Jacket
Hatch Winter Specialist gloves
Oakly SI Desert boots

Other gear:
Leupold Wind River 8x42 binocs
Eagle Industries AIII pack
Tactical Intervention Specialists M24 sling

A quick word on performance...all of the above gear worked exceedingly well. The Under Armour was a livesaver a couple mornings because I didn't have a heavy enough jacket. Even so I stayed at least comfortable enough to hunt despite being a little bit of a sissy when it comes to cold. The Oakly boots were great for stalking as they are more akin to a heavily soled athletic shoe than a true boot. In terms of optics one thing I will take next time is a pair of range-finding binocs but the Leupolds I took on this trip were more than up to the tast. About the only gripe I have is on the TIS sling. You could use this thing for a tow strap if needed but the hardware was a little noisy. Not sure what I'll do for a sling next time.

Lastly, a few words on the staff and accomodations at Dinaka. First, my Dad's and my PH Johannes. This man did a tremendous job all week long despite not feeling well for a few days. He worked exceptionaly hard to find us quality trophies and sought not only to put us on the game but to educate us about it as well. I would hunt with him again in a heartbeat. He can be seen in a picture above pointing out a hyena track in the road to me. I should also say someting about Johan's wife Nadien, who handles the business operations and (apparently) oversees the kitchen staff among who knows what other duties. She is one of the absolute friendliest ladies I have ever met in my life and went out of her way to see that we were all comfortable and well-fed when we were not hunting.

To sum it all up...I would go back to Dinaka and hunt with the Bosch's and PH Johannes in a heartbeat, and hopefully in a few years I will do just that. I still have eland, nyala, waterbuck, and bushbuck to hunt and my vendetta with the baboons to rectify.

Looks like you guys had a great time. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Congratulations to all!

Great story and great pics! Thanks a lot for sharing..

Greetings!

I recently joined this amazing site.

I went to Dinaka on my fisrt (but hopefully not last) African Plains hunt in July/August 2001.

Johann and Nadien run a top notch outfit and Johannes (who was a tracker when I was there) has the most uncanny ability to track any game in any condition.

Casper taught me a thing or two about skinning and game hide prep.

If I could go back to Dinaka - I would in a heartbeat.

A particularly well written report and follow-up. I enjoyed the pictures and the enthusiasm was contagious. It reminds me well of my first trip to Africa. AS much as I have enjoyed subsequent trips, there can never be another first time....

Bill

Doyle and Huff, Nice report on what was a great hunt.
Regards, Tim

Yesterday we received some of our trophies from our safari June 2006. The taxidermist is Jerry Huffaker. We could not have been more pleased. When my son saw the impala, he said, "they look alive!" The kudu is magnificant and is looking up just like he did before Josh fired. Photos do not do the mounts justice.

Two more trophies from our 2006 hunt at Dinaka. Also by Jerry Huffaker
Shot by. my son in law Mark. Africa comes flowing back in fill force !!
Doyle

Very nice. Not a regular poster on this board, but that Impala made me log on!

The pick of the bunch in my mind - lovely !