OK, here are a few links to some videos taken on my hunt:

First up - my Kudu. Taken on the first day of my hunt, at about 0930 (about 20 minutes after I took my Impala - my first ever large animal hunted in my life!)

The kudu was estimated to be about 14 years old, and measured 130LH,138RH,29.5B (in centimeters) - one shot, straight on, perfect cervical spine shot that dropped him like he'd been pole-axed. Used a .30-06 Tikka M695 rifle, Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 scope with #4 German reticle, 180gr. Nosler Partition bullet, loaded with 55 grains of IMR 4350 powder - an incredible combination, I must say! Distance was about 50 meters.

Kudu Video


Make sure to watch in high-res. If you can do frame-by-frame, you can see the impact and see his chest flatten out as if he'd been punched.

Second up - Oryx! 91LH,89RH,21B in centimeters. Same stats on the rifle/bullet combo, taken at about 80-90 meters. I really like this video, and again in high-res on frame-by-frame you can see the impact, spout of blood, and as he goes down he gives us such a "WHAT THE FUCK?" look it is almost funny.

Oryx Video

Exellent shots Eric, and the old 30-06 still shine
Looking forward to the rest of the story.

Great videos, looks like you had a great time on your hunt.

Eric,

Great videos. I really like all the background bird sounds on the oryx hunt. I don't know what kind of bird is making that call at the 40 second mark but it always brings back memories of Africa.

Glad you got to go and see it for yourself.

Thanks to all for your comments - I was pretty stoked at how nice the videos turned out, given my inexpensive camera and my PH's lack of any filming experience

Here's another one - this is an amazing shot by my PH at over 400 meters, up a hill, with an old Remington .30-06 and a very messed up Leupold scope that was fogged, dirty, had a heavy German 3-post reticle with no crosshairs intersecting.

Baboons

Here's my one shot that I felt a little bad about - even though my PH said it was a killing shot later, I was not happy with my first shot since the animal didn't go down immediately like all the others had. I must have slipped a little and hit him low, even though it broke his shoulder - the second shot was dead-on perfect on the spine, though, and he went down quickly.

Springbok

Eric;
I was waiting Your report in other forum´s place, but I found here, Excelent shots !!!, that Kudu & Orix die on his feets, dont forget the full report with full details, Im thinking in get back to Africa soon, Maybe if I offer to Hunt Mr. Mugabe in ZIM, I will obtain some fees free!!! Regards, Guille

John,

Let me say your shooting was great... Every animal will react differently to shots.. You made your shots...

Welcome home and you are now an African hunter...


Mike

Very good. Congratulations.

Congrats John....you are hooked for life now!

I can tell that you did not have any fun.......

I'll look forward to the hunt report.

Bob

Ann,

The "how's father" call is a Cape Turtle Dove. The other main species of Dove in Southern Africa are the Red-Eyed Dove (Don't let..the sun go down"); the Laughing Dove; and my favorite the Emerald Spotted (a descending series of notes du,du...du du du du du du ...)

John,

Congratulations! Excellent shooting. Who says you have to have some ultra mag cannon to get the job done?

Thanks for sharing. We look forward to the whole report.

Hugh

Eric,

This is ALL OUTSTANDING!!!

This is TIME to take CENTER-STAGE....

I SALUTE you on a GREAT HUNT!!!

I enjoyed every second of the VIDEOS and it is SOOO Rodney!!!!grins...

I love it!

Aloha,

Ro

Thanks, Guillermo! It will take me a few days to collect my notes and thoughts to do my hunt report justice. I loved how quick the oryx and kudu went down - the impala was just as fast, and I really wish I would have gotten the zebra on video better - my PH had the camera in great position, but my rifle was on his shoulder and when the shot went off the camera got knocked around by the recoil - LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by Guillermo Amestoy:
Eric;
I was waiting Your report in other forum´s place, but I found here, Excelent shots !!!, that Kudu & Orix die on his feets, dont forget the full report with full details, Im thinking in get back to Africa soon, Maybe if I offer to Hunt Mr. Mugabe in ZIM, I will obtain some fees free!!! Regards, Guille

Thank you for your kind words - I was very nervous about my shooting before I left, but heeded the advice of Geoff, my booking agent, when he told me NOT to hesitate and take the shot quickly - this left me with no time to second-guess and I am very happy with my shooting.

And yes, I am now an African hunter - and it feels like nothing else I've ever felt before!

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
John,

Let me say your shooting was great... Every animal will react differently to shots.. You made your shots...

Welcome home and you are now an African hunter...


Mike

I knew I made the right choice on caliber, rifle, optics, and handloads when that kudu dropped like he did - wow, I couldn't believe that I was responsible for that guy going down so quickly!

quote:

Originally posted by Hugh W:
John,

Congratulations! Excellent shooting. Who says you have to have some ultra mag cannon to get the job done?

Thanks for sharing. We look forward to the whole report.

Hugh

Thanks, Roland! Yeah, Rodney really comes through great on those videos, eh? LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by Late-Bloomer:
Eric,

This is ALL OUTSTANDING!!!

This is TIME to take CENTER-STAGE....

I SALUTE you on a GREAT HUNT!!!

I enjoyed every second of the VIDEOS and it is SOOO Rodney!!!!grins...

I love it!

Aloha,

Ro

I will enjoy the report!

Eric,
congratulations. Your shooting was great. You hunt was excellent. I haven't read the full report but I was impressed with your ph. He was a real pro. I hope that the bug hasn't bitten you too badly. Kudude

Well, the bug HAS bitten me, but realistically it may be some time before I can do this again, if ever. I'm quite middle-class in my income, and this trip was financed mostly from proceeds from the sale of a house.

Thanks for the comments on my shooting - it had me worried at first, but I feel more confident now than ever.

My PH was just great - young (only 23) but his father is a legend over there and he's taught him well.

quote:

Originally posted by kudude:
John,
congratulations. Your shooting was great. You hunt was excellent. I haven't read the full report but I was impressed with your ph. He was a real pro. I hope that the bug hasn't bitten you too badly. Kudude

Nice shots...

Once again showing that a .30-06 with 180gr partitions remains a very good choice for plains game as it has for decades.

You simply don't need to drive 200+grain bullets at 3000fps to kill african antelope! Nothing wrong with bigger but too many folks seem to think you need a .338 Ulta mag to kill kudu class game.

Well done

Congratulations on a great hunt and some great shooting. I hope you left one or two big ones for a couple of the following hunters.....my son and I....

Oh trust me - there are some MUCH bigger ones out there that I saw AFTER I shot mine - LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
Congratulations on a great hunt and some great shooting. I hope you left one or two big ones for a couple of the following hunters.....my son and I....

John,

Excellent shooting! All that preparation has clearly paid off. I don't believe that Springbuck was going anywhere. In fact, I'd wager that your second shot hit him just before he would've collapsed from the first one.

Well done Eric,
The problem now will be how to survive until the next trip. This is actually my problem.........

Very nicely done video. I have been waiting for you report as well...Very nicely placed shots. Nice to see the 06 piling them up...I have the 06 my dad bought me when I was 12 that is going along with my 300RUM....but I still have exactly 1 year until I go.

Congrats again on the shots.

BTW I had to find a freakin metric conversion online to figure out 54" Kudu and 35" Gemsbok great trophies!!!Very big congrats!

Eric,

Give you joy at such a fine hunt. Nice shooting (and thanks for explaining the PH's expletive about recoil).

Nice to have your plan come together.

Regards, Tim

LOL - he's gonna kill me for not editing that out - when we showed the video later that night at dinner, his mother's eyebrows raised up sharply at the expletive!

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Carney:
Eric,

Give you joy at such a fine hunt. Nice shooting (and thanks for explaining the PH's expletive about recoil).

Nice to have your plan come together.

Regards, Tim