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One of Us |
Tell us about some of your most exciting OR terrifying Safari experiences. For me, two that really stand out took place in deep riverine Jesse thickets. On one occasion a few years back during an Elephant hunt where we followed a herd into a particularly thick belt of Jesse bush. The wind had just changed as we came upon the unseen animals which sent them off at speed and as we approached the place that they had just been resting we became aware that two animals had stayed behind. We could see their legs as we crouched. Within seconds one of the beasts came in with a full speed charge, but due to the thickness of the bush, our shots did not find the brain but did stop it in its tracks and sent it staggering out of sight within a few steps. The follow up was an exciting few minutes until we found it further on in thick bush and finished it off. The virtues of a big double really stand out in such a situation. Another time that stands out happened during a recent Lion hunt along the Lugenda river in northern Mozambique. We had a lion feeding at the air strip on a bait set by one of the other guys. One morning on arriving to check the bait found that the lion managed to separate the bait from the tree, dragging it and the valuable chain across the strip and into a particularly thick section of riverine bush. The PH felt it prudent to leave the lion to finish the bait and come back the next day to collect the chain. having hunted that bush before for bushbuck and bush pig I quickly agreed with him on this plan. The next day after checking other bait sights up the Luambezi river we found our selves kitting up at the edge of the thicket. We loaded the 458 and 425 with solids due to the thickness of the bush and the high possibility of bumping into a Jumbo whilst in there. We had tracked the Lion and chain for only about twenty minutes and had just slipped through some wait-a-bit bush into an area that was quite open under the low canopy. There off to the side was the Lion asleep at within twenty yards. As we were after one, and without wasting time, we inspected it to determine its age. Unfortunately this big footed fellow was too young. As it awoke, I was impressed at how big its yellow eyes looked through 8# Leica's! Then, as It slowly raised its self off the ground with a displeased look on its face we decided to slowly get the f^%* out of there, which was kind of exciting as we backed on through the thorn bush. It was then decided to give the boy a couple more day before trying to recover the chain. Unfortunately we then had to follow the spoor of a Crocodile and Chain but were forced to quit when we came to the bank of the Lugenda. Another time a heavy double would have been comforting but was pleased with the Westley. Oh well | ||
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riding in a cruiser at night at 2 AM with terry vonrooyen driving | |||
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I haven't been terrified, yet. But angry elephants and lions, and crocs trying to approach closer, those are things that certainly demanded full attention. Steve "He wins the most, who honour saves. Success is not the test." Ryan "Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything." Stalin Tanzania 06 Argentina08 Argentina Australia06 Argentina 07 Namibia Arnhemland10 Belize2011 Moz04 Moz 09 | |||
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First elephant, closing in I wondered if the firing pin broke on the last shot while sighting in. Mike | |||
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we were once sitting on a lion bait ,it was chewore south - last shooting light passed and with no moon it was pitch black - i heard a rustle of leaves and grass and a lioness walked up to the back of the blind - it was pitch dark , and i could hear her breathing and smell her breath - she gave a very low moan and this was answered from equally close in front of the blind - there was just a thin screen of shadecloth between us - the cruiser arrived about 4 minutes and 13 seconds later (but who was counting)- i was hunting with an older man who heard and smelled nothing !!! as the lions ran off in the cruiser headlioghts i said to him wow , just in time , his answer was yes i could use a stretch ! terrified ? no - FULL undivided attention ? - you betcha !!!! "The greatest threat to our wildlife is the thought that someone else will save it” www.facebook.com/ivancartersafrica www.ivancarterwca.org www.ivancarter.com ivan@ivancarter.com | |||
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Ivan, the benefits of being older are sometimes not obvious. Steve "He wins the most, who honour saves. Success is not the test." Ryan "Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything." Stalin Tanzania 06 Argentina08 Argentina Australia06 Argentina 07 Namibia Arnhemland10 Belize2011 Moz04 Moz 09 | |||
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In 2008 I was hunting with Brent Leesmay in Dande North. on this particular day we were hunting tuskless cows. We were in thick jesse, and had bumped into ellephant all morning. There was a small group of cows in a little clearing, 4 of which had tusks. The last cow had her head in some bush so we were waiting for her to clear to see if she had tusks. One of the other cows picked up our sent, and charged from about 35 yards. Brent waived his arms, and yelled at her trying tiget her to turn, but she came strait on. Brent shot her at 9 feet. | |||
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Once out in the Rocky Mountains, while bow hunting ,my wife was using a cow call. An eagle heard the call, I suppose, thought it a distress call. The eagle shot down aiming on my wifes camo Jones hat. I watched from a distance as the eagle went for her head. I hollered but the wind was too high. She heard a whoosh as it flared an instant before impact and she dropped covering her neck and head as she hit the earth.. The one wing hit her shoulder and a talon knocked off the hat. The bird immediately returned on a second dive. By then she had ducked for cover. She was still shaking a few moments later when I arrived. We were both shaken. A few months before a friend was working in rehabilitation of raptors and had an eagle claws go thru a welding glove like a knife. Surgery followed. Taking an elephant she is cool and has no difficulty but I fear the same with eagles. Elton Rambin Mail/Ship: 1802 Horse Hollow Rd. Barksdale, Texas 78828 Phone: 479 461 3656 Ranch: 830-234-4366 Check our Hunt & Class Schedule at www.ftwoutfitters.com 4 Rules of Gun Safety 1/ Treat all guns as though they are loaded. 2/ Never point the muzzle at anything you do not want to shoot. 3/ Do not put your finger on trigger until your sights are on target and you are ready to shoot. 4/ Be sure of your target and safe background. | |||
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This was my most exciting safari experience. The account was written by Don_G shortly after our trip. I didn't consider it "terrifying", but it did get the adrenaline pumping!
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Crawling in a rather dense thicket on our hands and knees and passing fresh puff adder "tracks" on a kudu stalk. It was actually twilight in the thicket midday. Got within 20 feet of the kudu bull feeding and totally unaware of our presence. Unfortunately we couldn't see his horns very well. The wind swirled and that ended a very cool experience. | |||
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Hunting Buffalo in Long Grass of Zim in May. When we bumped Buffalo before they were bedded down – they took a hasty retreat into one of the jesse patches and waited to check their trails. Usually we gave them some time so they got impression that first interruption was a false one and they usually bed down right there. No way around but through it – crawl in and bump them again – some very tight situations developed there, but not near as tight as what awaited us when Buffalo left the jesse out in a Long Grass meadows, turning downwind and wait to see if we are following – most tight situations imaginable – they would let you come close – really close – meaning 10 foot or something, before all hell break out – deep “MOO” (sometimes not and I swear that Buffalo sometimes sounds like Leopard growl) followed by a roll of the buff start off – forward tracker diving into grass, the second tracker making a swift retreat low above the ground (keeping him out of sight) while you and a PH are scanning a moving of the grass in front, over the sights – wandering are they coming or leaving...pushing the safety that is allready off can cause blisters – hehe. And Man - it is HOT in there - never experienced anything as hot - it drains you in a couple of hours completely. | |||
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Taking pictures of elephants on a road near the Tsavorite mine. and then realize that three are three elephants around you and only one direction to move and that was to fallow my own steps back out of the area. This was about 3 days after the elephants in the area had killed a herdsman | |||
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Shot a "charging" Kudu at 25 yards. | |||
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Flying at night over Zim, low on fuel, instrument panel dead, nav by radio and landmarks. Landed on fumes at HRE, declared emergency. Russ Gould - Whitworth Arms LLC BigfiveHQ.com, Large Calibers and African Safaris Doublegunhq.com, Fine English, American and German Double Rifles and Shotguns VH2Q.com, Varmint Rifles and Gear | |||
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Running out of runway when departing safari camp on a 120 degree day in Mozambique in 2005. About halfway down the dirt runway, while riding RF seat, I began to doubt we were gonna get liftoff; 2/3 down I told the pilot we weren't gonna get off and he needed to abort. He did but we still ran off the end of the dirt strip 20 yards into high grass and small trees before we came to a stop. Fortunately my three hunting partners in the rear seats weren't injured and the plane was undamaged. Fair to say some were shaken, including the young pilot. My only fear was that the front wheel would find a hole and we would flip over. Not terrifying but somewhat exciting. Made a new plan and everyone flew out safely over the next 24 hours, although not together. Mike ______________ DSC DRSS (again) SCI Life NRA Life Sables Life Mzuri IPHA "To be a Marine is enough." | |||
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One of Us |
One very close call with an angry cow elephant and a couple of buffalo follow ups do not come close to the two hours of driving at night on a Mozambique road. | |||
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One of Us |
waking up at 2am in the Save at Arda and hearing a HUGE male Leopard huffin and gruffin just outside my tent....AND KNOWING THE DAMN ZIPPER IS BROKE AND WON'T CLOSE.......... of course my PH, Jim Mackie, made me feel better by saying that African Leopards USUALLY don't eat people........... I think my wifes snoring attracted the cat.... troy Birmingham, Al | |||
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One of Us |
That reminds me of my drive up from Buffalo Range, Zim to Pemba, Northern Mozambique. Excitement with Border formality, sleeping on the edge of the road, driving through towns with drunken mobs at night, tyre blow-outs at speed with loaded Cruiser, Police stops with bribes, intimidation and more. Hopefully, not to be repeated for some time. | |||
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2 hours 1/2 of follow up in omay in april of a wounded buffalo. Grass was hiiiiiigh. i was close to crying of pure fear. we catched up with him and I could finish him with my double. It was the worst and the best hunt in my life. I just kept on walking because The ph William Mills is my friend and I never leave a friend in risk alone but it was the closest time in my life diego | |||
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One of Us |
Hunting Cape buffalo in the swamps along the Chobe River in the Caprivi Strip will get your adrenalin pumping. It was pretty wild tracking them through this stuff with my son and Vaughan Fulton last year. Always wet, at least to the knees and sometimes to the waist. Invisible at ten yards. Tunnels through the cane forest. Taking a break to listen. Two buff finally burst out of the thick cane brush and into a patch of open water, in the middle of the swamp. They stopped and snorted at us from 20 feet, before bolting away! One was a young bull, the other a large cow. We were hoping for dugga boys! Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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One of Us |
Hunting in Tanz in Kilembaro Valley (excuse the spelling)being 8 or 10 feet from buff in elephant grass, seeing the grass move and smelling and hearing the buff that close. The most exhilarating thing in my life. Not frightened, but so exciting. The druggies don't know what they are missing! | |||
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Lion scare the poop out of me and there's no getting round it. On the Laikipia Plateau just after dark I managed to drop the whole of the left front end of a 110 Landy into a pig hole to the extent that the right rear was well off the ground and there was zero traction. The car was going nowhere. I wedged the accelerator with a stick and bounced up and down on the towing hook. I had been trying this for a while without success and gave the engine a break. As I was leaning nonchalantly on the tail gate I clocked some movement in the sparse bush a few yards off to the right. It was pale and it had a head the size of a bullock and it was coming right at me. I think my heart actually stopped. A very lean and hungry looking lioness sauntered by me two paces from my toe caps without so much as a sideways glance. | |||
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one of us |
Following wounded buffalo is always exciting but the ride back to camp in the dark can be truly hair raising. Didn't think we were going to survive but can't think of a better place to die. Have gun- Will travel The value of a trophy is computed directly in terms of personal investment in its acquisition. Robert Ruark | |||
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http://i882.photobucket.com/al...sman/Elandcharge.jpg This isn't the scarriest hunting adventure but it was good to get the blood pressure up and great for a laugh. Big Eland that was supposed to be dead tried to flatten us. | |||
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<a href="http://s882.photobucket.com/albums/ac28/LessGrossman/?action=view¤t=Elandcharge.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac28/LessGrossman/Elandcharge.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> | |||
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having a black momba shot 4 ft from me when i didnt know it was there by a game scout in tanzania. | |||
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Houston " WE HAVE LIFT OFF " SUSTAINABLY HUNTING THE BLUE PLANET! "Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful, murder respectable and to give an appearence of solidity to pure wind." Dr J A du Plessis | |||
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GREAT GREAT picture | |||
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that got to be one of the coolest pictures - glad to see leon is still smiling and you are shooting. | |||
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No bull. After the dust settled he was laughing so hard he sucked a blowfly down his throat. Like most babwians he has a bent since of humor. | |||
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Well here it is: One afternoon in Chewore South...we found ourselves at the base of Charambakadoma. We were checking the springs in that area that dugga boys like to hang out at. As luck would have it...there were fresh tracks leading straight towards the escarpment. We followed. Well...we found the bulls but no shooter. But...it was dark thirty and that is about as far away form the Chenje Camp as you can get in a vehicle. My father was along so he was riding shotgun. I was riding in the high-rack. It had been a long hot day and for some reason...we had forgotten to put any Castle in the cold-box!!! That ride back with a thirsty Nigel driving...$h!7...I shuddered at the remebrance for days!!! His name was "Mario" (as in Andretti) Theisen after that evening!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. Lane Easter, DVM A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991. | |||
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if I had not meet Nigel the above posting would not be half as funny. but since I have meet him | |||
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One of Us |
Never had a moment of angst. Shit my britches a few times, but I did that a bunch until I was three, so doing it when I'm 60+ seems inconsequential. I just call it traumatic Metamucil failure or, better yet, a buffalo induced, premature dump. But that's just Africa. JudgeG ... just counting time 'til I am again finding balm in Gilead chilled out somewhere in the Selous. | |||
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one of us |
as usual judge, you have a wonderfully entertaining way of expressing yourself! | |||
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other than having a "face to face" with a black rhino at 10 paces with just a bow in my hand,,, that was exciting at the time,, later maybe frightning thinking about the options,, I did have a video camera in hand and have him on film,, he got a whiff of me,, I was as still as I could be and he just snorted and troted off,,,, the driving over there probably scars me as much as anything,,second the snakes, and third running out of money while there! you can make more money, you can not make more time | |||
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One of Us |
That's a super pic.Could you please tell us the story behind it?Thank you. Best- Locksley,R. "Early in the morning, at break of day, in all the freshness and dawn of one's strength, to read a book - I call that vicious!"- Friedrich Nietzsche | |||
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One of Us |
Never ever let your scope drift off, for whatever reason, and then shoot and wound a Lion! Then wound him again the following evening at dusk/dark and then follow up for four more hours (after the first 12 or so) before it is finished---not fun, not exciting but damn stressing ! | |||
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I got an airport transfer company to pick up a client and his daughter and bring them to camp as I was bussy with other clients. They were both bow hunters. When I greeted them on arrival I was surprised to see a gorgeous, 24 year old, long legged, big busted blue eyed Redhead climb out of the van, and her father looked like Arnie. On introduction I was given a big smile with twinkling eyes by this creature of divinity. As per ussual after they settled in,I explained to them how hunting out of a blind works. I could not take my eyes of her, and was stuttering with a dry mouth through my ussual speech. When I asked them for questions.... [LIST] She insisted to hunt with me the whole ten days [LIST]He told me that if I ever touched his daughter he will kill me [LIST]She winked and pouted her lips Of course this is all Bullshit, but would be my most terrifing experience! Charl van Rooyen Owner Infinito Travel Group www.infinito-safaris.com charl@infinito-safaris.com Cell: +27 78 444 7661 Tel: +27 13 262 4077 Fax:+27 13 262 3845 Hereford Street 28A Groblersdal 0470 Limpopo R.S.A. "For the Infinite adventure" Plains Game Dangerous Game Bucket List Specialists Wing-Shooting In House Taxidermy Studio In House Dip and Pack Facility In House Shipping Service Non-Hunting Tours and Safaris Flight bookings "I promise every hunter visiting us our personal attention from the moment we meet you, until your trophies hang on your wall. Our all inclusive service chain means you work with one person (me) taking responsibility during the whole process. Affordable and reputable Hunting Safaris is our game! With a our all inclusive door to door service, who else do you want to have fun with?" South Africa Tanzania Uganda | |||
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Drove up on a big bull eland. He and a cow ran a few yards and stopped. I jumped out of the truck and jogged to the left where I could see him. Only shot was a neck shot over the rump of the cow. Flopped him right there when the gun went off. Walked 10 yards towards him and noticed his head came up and he started pulling his legs under him. This time I popped him in the shoulder and he layed back over. We all were approaching a big dead eland bull. Had to cross a dry riverbed and right when we came up out of the riverbed he was climbing to his feet again. But now he was only fifteen feet away. I don't know if he wanted to flatten us or we were just standing in his doorway but he was getting close quick. Leon wasn't armed and smartly got out of the way. I fired a shot and broke his other shoulder so he didn't have any more front wheels. Thats when you see the picture. He still kept trying to go through with only back wheels going, and made it another ten or twelve feet. We shot him twice more and then laughed for half an hour. He is the largest eland (body) I have ever seen. He is the first animal I ever thought we weren't going to get loaded in the cruiser. By the way the reason for the bull not dying as planned was I had bought into watching Boddington priech about the wonders of Swift A-frame and I decided to change loads and use them. They failed horribly for penetration. Not just on that bull but another eland the next day, and a zebra a few days after that. I can look back and say without a doubt switching to them was one of the dumbest decisions of my African Hunting life. I am back to Barnes and the next time I am chased by an eland bull it will be because of my poor shooting. | |||
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