Well my wife and I decided to take along my 11 year old son this July when we head to Namibia. He had been asking to go and this was supposed to be a trip for just mom and dad. Hard to afford the extra cost of a flight and hunt for my son just yet. We discussed and both sets of grandparents decided to cover his airfare. What made it possible though was the incredible graciousness of Corne Kruger at Omujeve Safaris. To say he has been more than flexible in making things affordable for my son would be an understatement. I cannot say enough good things about them and I haven't even started my hunt yet.
My son will now get to experience what I have waited 44 years for. I am really looking forward to seeing him get to share the experience of Africa with my wife and I.

Now I just have to figure if I can make some loads for his .243 that will handle PG or if I get him ready to roll with my old 30-06.

You will have a fine time indeed. Corne and Nic run a great hunt and have excellent game country. Have a great safari.

Use the .243 for your son. It is enough for everything other than Kudu and Eland.

shoot an A-frame or monometal and he will be fine.
Good luck
Ian

Hope ya'll have a great time. Ya'll will not forget this trip!!

Have a great time.

Sounds awesome. Stick with the 30.06 and put the animals on the ground.

Agreed. And have a great time!

I am sure you will have an outstanding hunt with Corne and having your son along will make it even better.

quote:

Stick with the 30.06 and put the animals on the ground.

The kid is 11, bit concerned you end up with wounded animals when the recoil makes him shy.

My sons, ages 11 and 13 at the time, shot up the country in RSA using a .270 and .243 respectively. They killed kudu and nyala with them. Used a .300 on zebra with no problems.

A 243 is one of the most popular kudu calibers with local hunters in RSA.

Now my son is 14, but I have taken him on 3 african hunts, twice to Namibia and once to Botswana. He was 9 for the first trip.

About 4 months before our first African hunt, I bought him a Savage youth rifle in 7mm-08. It has a short stock and a muzzlebrake. On his three trips, he has shot 1 kudu, 3 gemsbok, 2 blue wildebeest, 1 black wildebeest, 1 hartebeest, a couple warthogs, and a couple springboks. All were one shot kills. On our second trip, all four of his animals dropped in their tracks, as in dead right there. He shot everything off shooting sticks. I think an important factor was that I limited his range to about 125 yards. Most of his shots were at about 80 or 90 yards. We use factory ammo with Barnes TSX bullets. The performance has been incredible in that little 7mm-08.

We also practice shooting off sticks a lot before the trips.

Your son will have a blast, and you will have a lot more fun having him along.

we are practicing off the sticks. He rings the gong at 300 years with my 300 RUM.
I like to limit him to around 100 yards though.

quote:

Originally posted by Gooseblitz:
Well my wife and I decided to take along my 11 year old son this July when we head to Namibia. He had been asking to go and this was supposed to be a trip for just mom and dad. Hard to afford the extra cost of a flight and hunt for my son just yet. We discussed and both sets of grandparents decided to cover his airfare. What made it possible though was the incredible graciousness of Corne Kruger at Omujeve Safaris. To say he has been more than flexible in making things affordable for my son would be an understatement. I cannot say enough good things about them and I haven't even started my hunt yet.
My son will now get to experience what I have waited 44 years for. I am really looking forward to seeing him get to share the experience of Africa with my wife and I.

Now I just have to figure if I can make some loads for his .243 that will handle PG or if I get him ready to roll with my old 30-06.

I've only heard/read great things about them.
I took my son 5 yrs ago to Namibia and we relive the moments often...

We scraped up every penny so we could both go...no regrets only fond/beloved memories and experience shared together...PRICELESS!

Wish you all the best!

Roland

Congratulations! You will have a wonderful time with them. it truly is a "family" affair and you will come away more than friends. See my hunt report or Preddy's for info on our hunts last May and PM for any specific questions you may have. Have another friend there right now.

Awesome! Can't wait to do the same with my boy someday.