Hi All: Just a day before we were to leave for our Namibian Leopard Hunt, our PH called us to inform us that the dog handler had been in a truck accident which killed his main tracker and put the dog handler in the hospital with a broken leg and internal injuries. We then subsequently modified our hunting plans for South Africa and made lemonade out of the lemon. Without going into detail, attached are photos of the sable, roan, 2 warthog, 3 baboon, nyala, waterbuck and bushbuck that we took. Next year we plan to go back to Namibia to complete the leopard hunt.

Vaughn...way to go and not let a fubar get you down...
My wife and I say " Its Africa and make the best of it....

Terrific Nyala but the bushbuck has deep twists to his horns and they look very thick..

The best,

Mike

Nice trophies neverhteless! That bushbuck's thick! jorge

Wow, nyala, bushbuck, sable and roan are all excellent trophies... sorry about the bad luck on the leopard. Stuff happens. Where is RSA did you hunt and how is ol' Brad?

You really made some good LEMONADE!! Excellent trophies.

Welcome home. I love the bushbuck. Excellent collection of trophies, and several are making me wish I could go back next year, instead of 2009. You must have been crushed initially to hear the news, and have to reorganize your trip. You made a great adjustment, tho.

I couldn't believe it when you said the leopard hunt was off, but man, that is some lemonade! Those are outstanding trophies, especially the bushbuck!!!!!

Thanks all. Yes, it was certainly nip and tuck with only one day to make flight and safari changes, including new flights into South Africa, but both Shawn and Annalese(sp) at Gracy were wonderful in helping us get things arranged. The bushbuck was very old and had worn the sharp tips of his horns down somewhat, but still measured in at 16 1/4", the Nyala measured in at 30", the Waterbuck at 30", the Sable at 39" and the Roan I can't recall right now, but I was told that he was at least 10 years old. He had rounded off his right horn tip and the left horn tip was partially broken due to fighting. A great old warrior and trophy. The warthogs were meat pigs and I was allowed to shoot two of them for $25 apiece. The baboons became my passion to hunt. What fun! This entire experience taught me to always have Plan B. Russell: We stayed at Tintshaba and hunted there and some of the surrounding concessions. I saw your old haunts and heard many stories from PH Brad Rolston about your Kudu, the little blue pill story, etc. It's still as beautiful and as lovely as ever, but now has a land claim on it and will be gone by next July. Very sad to know that all of that work and beauty will be destroyed in short order by the land claimants and that the remaining animals will most likely be poached including elephant and a very sizable herd of cape buffalo that cannot be relocated due to the fact that they are in the red zone. Brad sends you his regards and best wishes.

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We stayed at Tintshaba and hunted there and some of the surrounding concessions. I saw your old haunts and heard many stories from PH Brad Rolston about your Kudu, the little blue pill story, etc. It's still as beautiful and as lovely as ever, but now has a land claim on it and will be gone by next July.

Wow, a total surprise to me! That is a beautiful piece of property... I guess Horst and Marcus are selling??? it to the Government. What a loss to the hunting community! Glad to hear Brad is as punchy as ever!

Yes Horst and Marcus are selling. Moreover, the property next door (Hope) has already been sold as a land claim as well. Apparently two black brothers made the claim on Tintshaba,and will be moving onto the property, along with 50 of their relatives. You can already imagine what will happen to that beautiful property, the animals and the lodge, chalets, swimming pool and all of the other buildings and things. Very, very sad and distressing. Marcus has been handling it for the family. Horst is currently in Germany staying with his sister, and Marcus has been looking after his mom in Jo'burg. She is recovering from bypass surgery I'm told. Marcus, Sonja, Mark Anthony and Kate Lynn all moved out of Tintshaba the very last weekend we were there and into a home in Phalaborwa. It will now sit idle until the claimants take over. Russell-you and your hunting partner have left quite a reputation there! Brad had many stories for us! By the way, Lucas and January, the two trackers at Tintshaba, also said to give you their regards as well.

Glad to see you had a great hunt UEG. Too bad about the land claim. What a waste. Good luck on the Leopard next year. LDK

as i see more and more of the land claim fiascos in RSA, it almost makes me glad for my health problems. 6 years ago i paid a deposit on a 3000 acre hunting ranch near Naboomspruit. it was a turnkey bowhunting operation and the plan was to buy it, lease it back to the owner for a few years and, then retire and move there for part of the year. just prior to closing, i was diagnosed with terminal non- Hodgkins lyphoma and given 8-9 years to live. i contacted the owner, explained the situation and he very graciously returned my deposite and wished me well. as of today i am in remission but the cancer has already come back once and the original prognosis still stands- 2-3 more years. there were no land claims on the property then but who knows now. i would be REALLY PISSED OFF if this kind of crap popped up on top of everything else. as an aside guys, take every hunting trip as if it might be your last-savor the campfire smoke, really listen to the doves when the sun comes up, enjoy the sundowners. you just never know what God has in store for you.

jdollar: AMEN.

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as an aside guys, take every hunting trip as if it might be your last-savor the campfire smoke, really listen to the doves when the sun comes up, enjoy the sundowners. you just never know what God has in store for you.

Words to live by. All the best to you jdollar.