Here's a first post with pictures of our just completed trip to Kamanjab Trophy Hunting in Kamanjab, Namibia. First thanks to Mims Reed for setting up the trip and heading me in the direction of this fabulous hunt. This was a life-long dream for me, a first trip to Africa. To make it better, I arranged to bring my 16 y/o son Zack with me. Those saved frequent flyer miles got us over there free and thanks to Gracy Travel for impeccable arrangements.



We flew via Cape Town to Windhoek, and arrived in a freak dusk thunderstorm. Overnight at a B&B in Windhoek, then started the 5 hour drive to Farm Beulah with our host Dr. Helmke Sartorious von Bach. Helmke was a delight, bright, thoughtful, source of much information and insight into Namibia and Africa. Within 20 miles of the outskirts of Windhoek, we were seeing warthog and baboons. If you've been in the Hill Country and big bend of Texas, the terrain looked familiar if you didn't look too close at th vegetation. Rugged, arid.



At Farm Beulah, we were about 100 miles from the nearest grocery store. At 28,000 acres we had a huge area to hunt, approx 42 square miles. Terrain was mostly acacia and mopane brush, with ample grass. Lots of kopjes from small to huge. One great feature of this ranch is that it contains a National Monument of bushman rock engravings, with several thousand depictions of native game, mostly giraffe & zebra but also elephant, rhino, kudu, leopard, etc. These date back to at least 20,000 years ago. We took many pictures.



I'll break reports into several posts over the next week or so, so we'll start with my son's hunts. Zack has been with me on a number of Texas whitetail, hog, and exotic hunts and is still a relatively new hunter. We sighted in the 375 Whitworth at the range, and he shot very well. We got used to using the shooting sticks. Helmke emphasized shot placement, how tenacious african game is when not hit correctly, and how much we would be looking at animals partially screened by brush.

Zack, like many youngsters, gets a little restless sitting in blinds and much prefers to stalk. We compromised and asked Helmke if we might find a warthog from a blind to get Zack started, and build confidence. Although Helmke said that his male warthogs might most likely appear at first or last light, we gave it a try. Sure enough, about 45 minutes into our first blind stint (eating a gourmet lunch of gemsbok meatballs and potato salad, a good boar warthog moved to the water hole. Zack quickly sighted, shot, and the boar ran in a dusty circle and collapsed. It was an ancient boar, with worn tusks, and a bloody slash on his rear end from a recent enounter. Truly an old warrior past his prime.



I couldn't have been prouder. Zack has his own strong sense of ethics about hunting, which to him means that an animal from a blind is not quite as special as one stalked, so his experience was slightly tarnished in his eyes, although Helmke emphasized that he very rarely will take a warthog on a stalk.



Two days later, we concentrated on finding Zack a gemsbok. This ranch has many quality animals and we were able to make several stalks. As Helmke had predicted, we saw them screened by brush. Zack did what most American hunters did, look for way too long through the brush. To his credit, Zack was looking for a clear lane in the brush to shoot through, so he passed on one animal that was partially screened. The next morning, we quickly spotted a pair of good gemsbok from a kopje, and Zack and Helmke began a quick stalk. Zack made a clean miss, clearly shooting high. He was a little rattled, again looking at the animal way too long through the scope. I reassured him that a clean miss was better than a lost animal and that he was taking after his dad, who missed a zebra the day before, again shooting high.



We moved across the highway to the small part of the ranch (only 8000 acres) with a plan to have lunch in a blind and see what walked by. On the way to the blind, we spotted a lone gemsbok bull, and Zack got his wish to make a stalk. He and Helmke eased up to a rise across a waterhole and Zack took a shot. Helmke called it a hit, and insisted that Zack shoot again as the animal paused briefly as it moved up the kopje. He shot and I could see the gemsbok react at the shot, looking hard hit. We moved quickly to follow, as Helmke said he saw that one front leg was badly wounded. We feared a superficial wound as we found tracks, blood and a chunck of bone. Helmke moved up the hill to look for the animal as Zack and I followed Penti, the tracker. As we headed into thick acacia, Penti in the lead and Zack following with rifle slung, I asked him if I could take the rifle. He agreed readily as I explained that gemsbok have a reputation of being potentially dangerous when wounded. I wanted to make sure we put this animal down and to make sure I didn't have to call Sally to tell her that her son had been impaled on a gemsbok horn. We saw the gemsbok move, and Helmke and I jogged after. He suddenly appeared broadside in the brush, and I shot offhand. As he ran, I took a rear shot and clipped the tail at the entry. The gemsbok ran another forty yards and I put in a finisher (I thought). We approached quitetly,and the animal was still breathing and struggling. Zack put in a finisher in the spine, and this tough old animal finally expired.



This was truly an ancient warrior, with teeth worn down to the gum line. An old bull, Helmke said his horns had once been four inches longer in his prime. This animal won Zack a Namibia Conservation medal, specifially for old trophy animals past their prime. It was an intense experience, one of the most special in my life to share in bagging this animal. Zack's first shot had just grazed a foreleg, and his second is what saved this hunt. He hit just behind the heart and shattered the off leg on exit. We would have lost the animal if he hadn't made the second shot, which was easily 220 yards uphill. Ultimately, I could have skipped the last shot, but I wanted this animal down and kept shooting till he was anchored.



Helmke performed the waldmensheil ceremony and congratulated Zack. We left to pick up the hunting car and had Zack stay with his gemsbok to contemplate the hunt and the demise of this proud animal.



More to follow. Bob

That's a great father/son picture!

Thanks, Rusty, I've gotten it edited. Bob

Nothing like hunting Africa with your teenage son! My son and I got back July 2nd from the Limpopo Province, RSA after a great 7-day PG hunt. See our post on Hunting Reports.

Congrats to you and Zack on buiding some great memories...

RHS, I bet your experience was like mine. The adrenalin was running as I watched Zack stalk and get ready to shoot. I only hoped he wasn't shaking as much as me. I took more pleasure from his hunts than my own, and that's saying a lot. Bob

Look forward to the rest of the updates! Hearing you describe the areas takes me back to my hunt just a few weeks ago.

Man, I wish I had some of those Gemsbok meatballs and potatoe salad! Mmmmmmm....I'm still amazed at what Dagmar could do with fresh groceries so far away.

That Warthog is great for that area. I don't think we saw one that good.