quote:

Originally posted by the Pom:
What grand old trophies! Never seen a bushbuck like that before!

Neither have we. Saw a great ram at one of our blinds this year, busy drinking water. Totally A-typical. Instead of a twist, he has a spiral more like a Kudu. Touches about 2 inches from the top, with a roughly 2" "flair" from where it touches. From the front he only looks 10", but sure he'll be closer to 13" with the big spiral. Have a camera up and would like to see if I can pattern him. Wan't to sit there with my bow this year still.

Aprreciate your comment. Thank you.

Another beaut of a ram coming out of one of our free range areas. We are always so excited for June and July to arrive that open up these areas for us when it comes to Bushbuck.

Something big coming up for this trip. Stay tuned for an absolutely incredible animal.

Always enjoyable when the ladies join in on the fun!

I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as luck or coincidence. Only blessings from above. If it is meant for you, it will happen.
When I sat down at the Dallas Safari Club Convention with our hunter to start planning his trip two years in advance, he mentioned that he wanted a big Kudu. "Something in the 55" range", he said with a smirk. This made me extremely uneasy. I had to explain that we have the Cape Kudu in our areas. When we met at the convention the following year, he reminded me of his desire of a 55" Kudu, but I guess he could see the sweat beads appear, and jokingly relieved me of my stroke.
We decided to send him to one of our free range areas where we know he would have a chance at a big bull. This was late June, so the rut was done. It wouldn't be easy, but we never give up. Ever.
The previous evening, he had missed a big bull at last light. Excitement got the better of him. As they say, a good Professional Hunter will be your mechanic, your priest, your psychologist and everything else that goes along with making for a successful safari. We had our work cut out keeping spirits up that evening. We still had time.
The next day, he was presented with a shot on this behemoth of a bull. This time, there was no mistake. Ice in the veins. When things don't go your way on safari, always keep in mind that there was a reason for it. There might just be something better around the next corner. Could not happen to a nicer guy.

Just because we move closer to the off season, doesn't mean that we can simply sit back as far as predator control is concerned. It is a year round effort. Keeping predators in check is paramount to the survival of the local small game species, as well as small stock, especially since we are surrounded by cattle and small stock farmers. Without Caracal being high on many hunters' lists, hounds-men simply would not be able to run this incredible program. The trophy fees on these animals goes a long way to cover food, medical bills as well as job creation to the individuals who put countless hours and miles down every single day.

Finding a fresh kill goes a long way in the success of the hounds bumping a cat. Here was a lamb that had been caught, as well as a Bushbuck ewe. Below each photo, the perpetrators. Also see the short clip of the hounds working a track. Notice how everyone's attention changes direction once the lead dogs show the way around the 38 second mark.







Hounds Working Cat

An absolute tank of a bull for our hunter here in the mountains of the Eastern Cape. Shot was taken at roughly 40 yards, frontal. Shot went through the neck, taking out the top of the lungs. Notice the swollen face on the bull, no doubt from the pressure of the shot.

I have another photo of the swollen face, which is too graphic to post. If anyone is interested, please feel free to PM me.

Cat and mouse was the order of the day after setting out to hunt Eland. We connected on this stellar bull after a few failed stalks. Not many animals as impressive and a proper Eland bull.

After 4 hard days of looking over countless bulls, our last day was met with gale force winds. Strong winds can often concentrate animals and this was no different, counting 14 bulls in this hidden away valley. We managed to connect with this bull with roughly 2 hours left of the safari. Shot was taken at 160 yards.

Beautiful old, Waterbuck bull hunted high up in the mountains of the Eastern Cape. Great shot made at a steep angle at roughly 190 yards. This one needed team work with one PH sitting on the rock ledge in the back, right of the photo and guiding the acting PH in on the bull by radio. We knew that sight would be lost for a considerable amount of time so thought best to keep the height advantage and have eyes on him.

Big ivory on this old Nyala bull. Although not on his last legs, this bull had substantial wear on his teeth. Colour on a Nyala bull is often a great sign on what to look for when chasing age. Just like father time taking toll on all of us, these bulls also turn lighter/grey in colour as they get older.

What would a week be without a Bushbuck? Another beautiful free range ram from one of our areas. Here our hunter is sitting with tracker, Civet Cat.

This was an absolute monster cat. Originally, a Caracal wasn't on our hunter's list but when the hounds started giving tongue and the call came through, things changed quickly. One has to wonder what had been caught by this extraordinary cat over its lifetime. The small game in the area can rest easy for a little while.

Striking Stallion for our hunter after a hard day of hunting. With so many Zebra in the area, never ever think that it will be an easy feat. Nature will always find a way to show you. The lay of the land had me up in a tree to get a better view. After confirmation of our target animal, we proceeded to crawl roughly 40 yards with absolutely no cover, simply using the little depressions to stay hidden. After setting up the sticks while still lying down, it was up onto the sticks for a simple 60 yards shot.

Toughest animal in Southern Africa. Hands down. This one did not give us too much trouble and went down within 20 yards, but every time we hunt one of these, I make a point of ensuring our hunters know about the Blue Wildebeest's reputation. Born sick and the more you shoot them, the healthier they get. Train hard, fight easy. Beautiful old bull, with teeth worn down flush with the gums.

On a morning that started off beautifully, but soon turned windy, we found this bull in a hidden valley that I had never been to before. We had a nice vantage point from a rocky outcrop above the bull. We found him lying down at roughly 09:15. We watched him as he got up several times to feed for 10 minutes, only to lie down again in a different area. We finally got a shot from our vantage point at 14:30. Shot distance was 220 yards.

Great photos, Marius!

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
Great photos, Marius!

Thank you Frank!

Ancient Buffalo cow for our hunter. Some crawling on hands and knees to get into position, then we just had to be patient, as we sat 40 yards away from the bedded herd. Eventually, they got up for their afternoon feed, and we picked out this cow who clearly showed signs of deterioration. One shot with one insurance shot is all that was needed.

An Extremely heavy Nyala bull, well past his prime. Just how we like them.

Big bodied Bushbuck ram taken in injury time after the buzzer. We saw this ram from about 1000 yards moving along a steep ridge. We managed to make up some yards, and lost him for the next 30 minutes or so. After a while, we could barely make out his outline as he froze to stay hidden. A 170 yard shot found its mark in the centre of the shoulder.

After locating this bull, we put a slow stalk on him from above as he was feeding. Once we got to roughly 200 yards, the bull looked up, seemingly at something creating some noise in front of him. This turned out to be Roan that we never noticed to our right. The bull bolted, with us trying to cut the angle along the road below us.
To our advantage, we left trackers on the hillside to keep an eye. They were able to direct us from above and got us to cut angles in order to close the distance in double time. We caught the bull crossing an open plain at 160 yards ahead of us.

Those Nyala are outstanding

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Those Nyala are outstanding

Thank you Andrew. We have some stellar Nyala in the area.

Great time to take this Warthog. Skin and bone. Conservation at work.

This big, Black Wildebeest was taken after a roughly 1 hr stalk in some wide open country. We spotted this bull at roughly 1.5 miles at the foot of a mountain. We made a huge loop, using the contours of the terrain to stay out of sight and to close the distance to a mere 160 yards. Almost got busted by a crow, but he stood long enough.

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Marius, I have seen lots of Black Wildis and hunted / shot a few and that one is a tank!! Huge bosses !!

Congratulations to you and your hunter!

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quote:

Originally posted by Charlie64:
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Marius, I have seen lots of Black Wildis and hunted / shot a few and that one is a tank!! Huge bosses !!

Congratulations to you and your hunter!

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Thank you Charles! I appreciate your comment, sir.

We noticed this Nyala bull from around 500 yards out busy feeding down the valley. We circled around and got him at 140 yards. The Eastern Cape doesn't really have problems with swirling winds, but thermals play a big role once you among the hills. Through the Spotting Scope, I could clearly see something grabbing the bull's attention, with flaring nostrils. He turned and snuck away. We gained some height and picked him up around 250 yards further up the valley standing in some thick shrub. This time, we made it count.

Beautiful Gemsbuck bull. Mind the pointy end.