Our 2024 season got away with a bang during this past March. First bit of break that we have had in order to try and catch up and share some photos of some great animals that have come through. Happy to share some of the experiences and wonderful animals pursued in successful and unsuccessful stalks. Here we go!

What a way to start the season with this beautiful Nyala, taken on a very slow stalk. Leaving my tracker in a position to guide us in with a radio, we managed to close the distance on this old bull to a mere 80 yards. Initially starting to feed away from us, as we started to try and find a better position, we spotted him coming back. Stopped him in a yard's open space through the brush. Notice the rounded tips and polished side of the horns.

After a short heatwave of a few days, it seemed like the Kudu bulls had lost interest in the cows. We had seen a Kudu bull the previous evening at last light. The 2+" of ivory caught my eyes, but light faded fast and something just didn't seem right of where the ivory was sitting. It was more relatable to a younger bull that hadn't fully formed yet. As I sat at the lodge in the evening, I recalled a bull that we had seen around two years earlier through a spotting scope with one horn fully forming the figure of 8, but the right side still pointing in an outward direction. A-Typical.
My head PH, Nick, had shot a behemoth of a Kudu bull, also a-typical, roughly two years before we laid eyes on this bull, so no doubt the prodigy of the original bull.

We headed out first thing in the morning and scanned the opposite ridge where I had seen him feeding. We only say a group of around 6 cows feeding in the vicinity. After roughly 15 minutes of glassing, with the ground still soaking with dew, a Bushbuck was barking continuously. Less than 2 minutes later, the Vervet Monkeys started chattering. Zero doubt that the Bushbuck had scented a Caracal, and the Monkeys had laid eyes upon it in the undergrowth.
I quickly confirmed with my hunter if he was interested in getting the hounds onto it, and he was 100% in. After phoning the hounds man, we learned that he was actually in the very next valley to where we were hunting. We informed him to get the hounds in the bottom of the valley asap. Seeing him running over the crest of the mountain in his unmistakeable orange coveralls with a pack of hounds in tow was a sight to behold.
Less than 5 minutes into the valley, the hounds started giving tongue, and treed the cat roughly half a mile from where we had first heard the Bushbuck bark. Unbelievable experience to see everything unfold in front of us, from hearing the Bushbuck bark, to the confirmation from the monkeys to the final product.

We departed to a nearby area where the vegetation was a little bit more forgiving for browser feeders and immediately caught a Kudu bull walking to some thorn trees in the flats. He looked like he was interested in something. The thorn trees were at the bottom of a 75 ft cliff face with a dry riverbed. I thought to walk at the foot of the cliff face gaining some height and would hopefully catch a glimpse of him below us.
I could hear a troop of Baboons above us. Some weather rolled in with some thunder, but it looked to pass relatively quickly. Since I am not a fan of thunder, I thought it better to sit down among the vegetation at the foot of the cliff, still aware of the troop above us. The smell coming from the area where we were sitting, told me we were right in their den. If I didn't experience it myself I would never believe it. The troop of Baboons proceeded to roll rocks off the top of the cliff. The first one landed roughly 6 ft from us. Luckily my hunter kept a cool head and moved in the same direction I had once I heard it hit the first part of the cliff. After getting a glimpse of being attacked by the Luftwaffe, we called an end to our plan and circle around.
Our plan was to walk to the top of the opposing mountain and look for another bull. Upon our ascendance, we picked out a Kudu bull in a small saddle where no Kudu should be. Using the terrain and trees, we managed to close the distance to 220 yards and closed the deal on this beautiful bull.
The idea was to get ourselves a nice bull first, then return to the a-typical Kudu we had seen the previous day.

We checked the same valley where we had seen our a-typical bull, since our head PH, Nick had seen him chasing a cow the previous day. He had moved probably around a mile up the valley. With plenty of rain falling the preceding days, we left the truck at the top of the valley. Had we decided to go down, we might have gotten back, but without the truck. The first 10 minutes of glassing yielded a lone Kudu cow which we watched for a bit to ensure that she was alone. This was followed by a Bushpig boar and sow making their way to the undergrowth to bed down for the day after a night's feeding. After roughly 30 minutes of glassing, I picked out another cow roughly 300 yards from the first cow.

We managed to spot our bull feeding in the thickest brush, just behind her. After setting up, we had him at roughly 180 yards feeding without being any wiser. At the shot, the bull showed us that it was a hit, and went roughly 25 yards before expiring in the bottom of the creek.




The bull hunted two years prior, and what we believe was his dad. Same valley.

Hi Marius,

looks like some fine trophy's were found.

good job,

thank you for sharing

.

Marius, What did the bull in the last picture measure? I'll guess mid 50s. Sure is an interesting head! Well done you guys and looking forward to September!

.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana338:
Hi Marius,

looks like some fine trophy's were found.

good job,

thank you for sharing

Thank you sir. I appreciate the comment!

quote:

Originally posted by Charlie64:
.

Marius, What did the bull in the last picture measure? I'll guess mid 50s. Sure is an interesting head! Well done you guys and looking forward to September!

.

Yes sir. He went 54".

Looking forward to seeing you guys again!

After getting busted on the first stalk on a lone Hartebeest bull, we crawled on hands and knees to a herd that was bedded down on a warm day. Seeing a couple of younger bulls and some cows, this bull eventually fed into a 6ft gap. The choice was a relatively easy one to make.

Marius,

Great trophies and it is just making the wait more difficult until we are there. Keep it up.

Those are some fine looking trophies.

quote:

Originally posted by nevadaj:
Marius,

Great trophies and it is just making the wait more difficult until we are there. Keep it up.

Safe Travels Jay. See you in a bit.

quote:

Originally posted by Hasher:
Those are some fine looking trophies.

Appreciate the comment sir. Thank you.

Beautiful trophies, well done. It seems as if I must make a plan to visit you again.

quote:

Originally posted by Balule:
Beautiful trophies, well done. It seems as if I must make a plan to visit you again.

We have some great new areas my friend. Would be great to see you again!

We are blessed being able to hunt some free-range areas, with Waterbuck being one of the species that roam these areas. The herd of cows he was with made getting close quite challenging. We managed to use some dead ground to close the distance to 160 yards with them feeding towards us until we got presented with an opportunity.

While out hunting, managed to pick up this bull in the thick stuff keeping an eye on us. Think he's going to be a big bull when he matures fully. We shot a bull around 3 years ago that looked exactly like this one, except that he was older. Said bull went 55"which is spectacular for a Cape Kudu.

Just a simply magnificent Bushbuck ram taken in one of our areas. There is a reason why we refer to Cape Bushbuck as Royal game down here. They are special. Another free-range ram for the books.

The pump action does it again! This time on a great Lechwe bull with solid bases. Hunting Lechwe has been tough this trip with little explanation to where they disappear to. PH Lloyd and our hunter was about to leave on the main road, when they spotted this bull with a big herd of cows cresting a few hundred yards in front of them. What we can only imagine as the same herd of cows was seen the previous day with no bull nearby. Bull was probably doing his rounds and found his way back through the night. Talk about scoring in over time!

​Some incredible Red Hartebeest have been coming out this past season. Another monster bull for our hunter.

A picture paints a thousand words! Great 52" Cape Kudu bull for our hunter. We are very blessed to hunt some incredible country. Whether in our free range or managed areas, I wouldn't swap the Eastern Cape for anything.

I always find great pride when my PH'S get our hunters onto these past their prime animals. This nyala bull surely would not have made it past the end of this season. Not a single tooth left in its mouth. Hard to believe how he could still browse with what he had. Just simply a magnificent specimen to take which exemplifies what conservation through hunting means.

Hi Marius,

Some nice trophies your hunter have taken.

Ahh. the Nyala with little or no teeth, go to shot that the bugger was craft and old. Probably in his last year.

I have take a few that were in the same condition.

again thank you for sharing.

Appreciate your comment sir! Thank you.

The photo on this Mountain Reedbuck simply does not do it justice. Getting a good photo of an animal that has a curve in the horn is a challenging feat, as a straight on photo doesn't show you the hooks, and a side on photo doesn't really capture the length.
This ram had great secondary growth, being past his prime, with the added benefit of length as well. Often you lose some length on males that has spent time wearing their horns down. This ram was a little bit over 8.5".

What a reedbuck
Great trophies Marius
Thank you

quote:

Originally posted by M.Shy:
What a reedbuck
Great trophies Marius
Thank you

Thank you...

For a good chance at a Caracal, one needs to have the right conditions. Moisture on the ground aids the hounds immensely. As can be seen in the background here, this misty, wet morning is all that was needed for the hounds to work their magic. A track was cut by the hounds which resulted on the spectacular double on these Caracal. They are incredibly beautiful, yet so destructive. Keeping their numbers in check are imperative to the population of the small game in the area.

Personally, I have always found the Roan antelope to be more vivid that the Sable antelope. This beautiful bull was taken by our hunter after spotting him coming out of a riverbed to sun himself. The bull started feeding, which allowed us to circle around and get in front of him. With the sun at our backs, and just peaking over the hill where we had descended from, we were able to stick to the shadows and close the distance. The wind wasn't great, but we would need to take the shot before he got level with us, otherwise risk the chance of getting winded. With the bull feeding on his own time, it allowed us to have a relaxed set up.
The photo from behind shows off some secondary growth forming on the bases. They are simply breathtaking.

Very Nice Marius

thank you for sharing

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana338:
Very Nice Marius

thank you for sharing

Thank you sir.

Last year I had the pleasure of hunting with a fine gentleman. What dumbfounded me was that the best of the best animals seemed to stand in front of him. Every single one of them. During last year's season, he took this great Bushbuck at a mere 22 yards after we stalked around. I left my tracker at a vantage point with a radio in order to guide us in. We knew that it would be close. Just not that close.


He booked another safari with his friend and lovely bride for the 2024 season. Main target, the Roan Antelope posted in the previous photo. On his list was also a Blue Duiker and another Bushbuck. Dale ensured me that he wasn't expecting another ram like the one he got during the previous year and that he would be happy with an old warrior Bushbuck ram. I concurred that it was a wise way of looking at hunting, especially with the quality of ram that he got the previous year. Then we ran into this sod. Incredible.

Dale had his heart set on a Blue Duiker. One of his conditions was that he wanted to hunt it with his .22 Hornet. He loaded the Hornet with Barnes TSX. The first day, we sat from around 14:00 until dark. With strong winds, it made things challenging. I held high hopes as I felt that we were relatively sheltered. We had a few monkeys come in, with a Blue Duiker ewe appearing. I always enjoy the females coming in, as it gives my hunters the chance to watch them react and how they carry themselves in the underbrush. Another individual appeared, but by this time, I couldn't even sex the animal at 15 yards. We decided to call it and make the long drive back home with plan to be back in the morning. After getting to the blind at around 08:00, we might have been in there for about 10 minutes when the first Blue Duiker arrived. It was a young female coming for a drink. Roughly 5 minutes later, I spotted some more movement through the underbrush coming in on a mission. It was the unmistakable features of an excellent ram. We allowed him to settle down for a minute or so and give us a good angle before taking the shot. This is a very good ram.

Hi Marius

This is beginning to appear that your hunter had a great hunt.

Nice Waterbuck bull for our hunter! Things don't always go to plan when hunting. That's when you need good dogs...

Another great free-range bull from one of our areas. We have access to some incredible, low fenced tracts of land. These areas are only available during a relatively small window of the year. The quality yielded from these areas are just astonishing and just proves once again that big areas yield big animals. Some of the comments from recent hunters of ours was that they never knew that wild areas such as that they have been hunting had existed in South Africa. Always wonderful to hear comments like that and that we get to share this with them.

Just a brute of an Impala ram. Many would say that the 300 Ultra Mag is overkill, but who are we argue with the results when you can shoot it like this. Great marksmanship by Vince to bag himself this great ram.

The quality of those Hartebeest and Bushbuck are phenomenal!

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
The quality of those Hartebeest and Bushbuck are phenomenal!

Apologies for the late reply sir. I appreciate your comments!

We've had some great success with the hounds this year. The thing though is that you have to go where they go. Beautiful Caracal for Vince in some extremely thick stuff. Hound hunting is one of the few things that make the Eastern Cape special.