Got back from a great trip in Namibia not too long ago. I was hunting with Karl Stumpfe from Ndumo Hunting Safaris. Our main hunting area was the Kalahari and the camp is located on the Botswana border not far away from were South Africa, Namibia and Botswana meets.

We saw plenty of animals and took some great trophies but there were a lot of other things to experience, like the nature, the silence and much more.

Let´s begin the journey!



On the way to the hunting area some had the bad luck to sit on the back of the cruiser and it was quite dusty.....



While some had a more relaxing time inside the cruiser.....





A lot of sand everywhere, everyday when we stopped hunting there was a lot of sand to empty out of the boots.



Karls cruiser in the dunes.





A herd of Eland running over the road in front of us.



Looking at the hoofs was interesting, most animals had way longer than whats common since the sand don't wear them down. Worst was a Kudu we saw that had hoofs curling back up.



A bat eared fox that just got out of his hole in the ground.







Some scenes from the Kalahari dunes.



Sun Down is not is almost here.



This time of the day is a dream for a photographer.



Light is fading away....



Relaxing around the campfire waiting for the food.



A small spotted genet, frequent visitor every night when we sat by the fire.






The day is about to end and it's time to dream about what the morning will have in it hands.


To be continued.....

The Kalahari is a magic place. I just adored the dunes and the wide open spaces. Shooting there is often more akin to shooting the North American West than Africa - at least in terms of distances.
- mike

Great photos

Keep going Christer !!
Send more pics !!
L

Nice work Christer!

The running eland photo is very neat.

Christer,

Did you really have to put up my nice photo that you took while I had to cough up dust and sand ?

Great! Don't stop. Keep posting!

Christer, looking forward to the next set of pictures.

Keith

Christer, great teaser photos.. Looking forward to the rest of the story...

Going to Dallas or Reno?

Mike

Thanks for all nice comments.

Ann, I am really happy with that picture.

Mike, if everything works out I will be in both Dallas and Reno.

Frederik, WAS THAT YOU??? Sorry didn't see that!

The traditional animals of Kalahari

What I always have thought was typical for Kalahari was Springbuck and Gemsbuck (Oryx) and when I finally saw the Kalahri it was the correct belief.







We saw them in huge numbers and after a couple of days we stopped looking at them they were too numerous, they were everywhere, running jumping, underneath trees in the open etc.



My first Kalahari Springbuck, an old ram with one horn broken of, from a fight as we first thought but then we found a bullet hole in the ear that was at the same height as the broken horn. Shot at 145 meters after that we found him resting in the open with a group of others in the afternoon.



Now Frederik started to get itchy with his finger after a couple of days filming and no shooting so he wanted to find a Springbuck too, so of we went, with me behind the camera and he with the rifle. It did not take long before Karl found one that Frederik thought was ok and he took the shot. Distance about 120 meters and he ran about 80 meters (the Springbuck not Frederik)



After walking over numerous dunes we found a big group of Springbuck and this ram was the biggest, about 14 1/2 inches. He took the shot at 180 meters but did not want to die and with the blood pumping out of his lungs he ran about 200 meters.



This springbock we ran into on our way back to camp for lunch and we decided he was good enought to shoot. He was shot at about 150 meters and dropped directly. Look at his face more like a thompson or grant's gazelle with the brown on his face comparing it to other springbucks.



My first gemsbuck we found after a couple of attempts to get closer to some herds, he was not so big but old so he was good to take out of the herd to give room for the younger and bigger bull. He measured around 33. Shot him at 214 meters and shot was little far back so it took him a while to drop.



Saw the herd at a far distance and in cover of a dune we got closer and then got into position we crawled through the grass. Shot was at 240 meters and it was the biggest female in the group, just as I took the shot they started to run so this shot was also to much back and she took off over the next dune. As we came over the top she was walking away from us and I stopped her with a shot from behind. She measured about 39 inches and was quite old as the horns had started to flatten out at the bases.

To be continued (next part; The Spiral Horns of Kalahari)

Nice pics CC! Looking forward to more, David

Hi Christer,

Those are some great pictures! We are looking forward to seeing you at Dallas this year.

Lee

Since CChunter has posted my nice photo of me eating dust I thought I would liek to add some spice to the post.
What CChunter, as left out is that the Kalahari brought something else out of him is feminine side. Take a look



But then again I hope it was the beers talking and good lunch we just had before that. Funny things happen in the Kalhari.

Great pictures, keep them coming

And why was this necessary Frederik, I have some good things about you so just behave now and we can keep them out of the thread!?!!?!?!

quote:

Originally posted by Safari-Hunt:
Since CChunter has posted my nice photo of me eating dust I thought I would liek to add some spice to the post.
What CChunter, as left out is that the Kalahari brought something else out of him is feminine side. Take a look



But then again I hope it was the beers talking and good lunch we just had before that. Funny things happen in the Kalhari.

Some great photos! It does look hot and dusty there. That springbuck is a really nice trophy and the elands look like brahmas running in TX.

The Spiral Horns of Kalahari

Ok back to business again, what Karl told us would be the hardest to find a decent one of , was the Eland, so when we saw this nice bull the first morning we did not think twice before we started the hunt.

Eland is a tough animal and using the 8x68S I still had to use a couple of extra shots to finish him of. The trophy measuresd around 34 inches.





Karl and the trackers put a lot of effort in preparing for the photos to get the best possible result.



Dawid, Karl, Ricardo and me



A very impressive animal.





The hoofs, very long due to walking in soft sand all the time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Then it was time for Kudu, Karl came back to camp, were we were relaxing, after unloading some animalas and told us that he spotted a group of Kudu bulls worth looking at. We drove of and then left the bakkie and started walking, several times we saw the Kudus walking over a dune into the next walley but after 4-5 kilometers we were lucky to get a shot at the most mature bull before they got away. Distance was 240 meters and we were laying down under a tree when they reached a small opening, the bull ran some 40 meters. He measured 52 inches which was a good score in this area.



Me and Karl with the Kudu.



The trophy.

To be continued (next part; The Smallest, The Ugliest and a Bird)

Very nice! Keep it up!

more more more!

The Smallest, The Ugliest and a Bird





On the way back with my Eland we saw this small creature and made a short stalk before I could take the shot.



It was quite a nice one and a funny sight in the slaughter shed with the smallest and the biggest antelope lying there.

Frederik has had an urge for a red Hartebeest for a long time and finally he got a chance. Maybe not the ugliest animal but a very strange looking at least and really a nice trophy.



Frederik and Karl with the special trophy.



The not so typical Hartebeest horns.

After Frederik took this trophy he was very happy.

Then I wanted a nice Ostrich to make a shoulder mount of, but that was not as easy as we thought, they were running all the time.



One morning when we had really heavy wind we managed to confuse them and this one stopped for a moment.



Karl shows us the ears which is basicly only a hole in the head.

To be continued (next part; My biggest one so far....)

quote:

Originally posted by cchunter:
The Smallest, The Ugliest and a Bird





Frederik and Karl with the special trophy.

Which one is the ugliest?

Lee,

Well at least you cannot see the ugliest one there. I wonder which ugly one Christer had in mind.

Thanks for asking that question on a photo i'm not in Lee, I appreciated that very much.
Looking forward to meet you and Shannon in Dallas.

But back to the question I can not say anything that would actually spoil to much for me in Africa for the future.



After that post of Frederiks I must say he is not Red and he is not to the right do the math........

Nice pics CC!

That eland is a brute, the red hartebeest is cool, the kudu is excellent and steinbuck is pretty.

You guys (or girls) in your funny hats and tutu's need to concentrate more on the hunting!

(No, really, DON'T change a thing! )

quote:

You guys (or girls) in your funny hats and tutu's need to concentrate more on the hunting!

(No, really, DON'T change a thing! )

We will go on as before, I can promise you that

quote:

Originally posted by Safari-Hunt:
Since CChunter has posted my nice photo of me eating dust I thought I would liek to add some spice to the post.
What CChunter, as left out is that the Kalahari brought something else out of him is feminine side. Take a look



But then again I hope it was the beers talking and good lunch we just had before that. Funny things happen in the Kalhari.

Bloody hell! Good thing he wasn't born a girl.

With a face like that he would have died a virgin

On second thoughts he might have married Walter!

Great photos! What type of camera and lens were you using?

Gayne,

The camera used mostly is a Nikon Coolpix P5000, compact camera with 10 megapixel, and then a Konica Minolta 7D Digital SLR with a Tamron Lens 18-200, 6 Megapixel.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

Bloody hell! Good thing he wasn't born a girl.

With a face like that he would have died a virgin

On second thoughts he might have married Walter!

I feel that if I can help Walter with his mission to keep Saeed happy I am pleased with my situation

Great photos...especially the more, shall we say, candid shots. Hey, what happens in the Kalahari should STAY in the Kalahari.

This post has significantly lowered my blood pressure!

Great pics and many thanks for sharing with us.Looking forward to the rest of the report.

Best-
Locksley,R

The gods must be crazy! Did you see any bushmen wandering around with Coke bottles?

Legendary Kalahari Safari Guides:

Frederick "Safari-Hunt" Chapstick
and his companion Christina:





Yes indeed, great fun this thread. I have been dreaming of the Kalahari for a long time. I am packing my scarves and sunglasses now. No lipstick though, just chapstick.

COOL !!! Looks like a great hunt. I can hardly wait to go back to the Kalahari too!!!

LLS

Thanks for posting. Looks like a fabulous trip.

The Giant"

Really not so big as an animal but this specific one is a giant. It goes in on NAPHAS top 10 list for sure and were it will be on in SCI I have to wait and see after I get the final score in October.

I decided to make him a full mount as I think someone thats been around to grow this big deserves to be treated with that respect.

Since we are making a movie we wanted to get a variation of species and I had no urge for a big Duiker, just a decent one. The first chance I had came quick and the Duiker stood not far away from us, an easy shot but I just had to put a bullet in the chamber first, normaly not a problem but for some reason something got wrong here and the Duiker took of, but just slowly and when I got things sorted out he still was in range and I took the shot, both Karl and Frederik yelled out "YOU MISSED" as if I didnt know myself.

Last day when we were out walking we came over a dune and there it was, Frederik was the first one to see it and said "I think that is a good one", Karl checked it out and replaid "go for it, it's good." I went down in the sand and pulled out the bipods on the rifle, checked the distance 123 meters and decided to put the bullet on the shoulder since I did not have any plans to mount it. The shot had a direct effect and the Duiker dropped were he stood.

As we approached we had no thoughts on the size, we were just happy to have got another specie on film here in Kalahari. When we got close me and Karl almost at the same time said ****, and then just started laughing, this was not what we expected, this was a monster. My thought was; is this really a Duiker?

Have a look for yourself, quite a nice one huh!











To be continued (next part summary)

That's a bloody good Duiker, Christer!

Some good hunting has been done despite scarves and tutus!!