Anyone have any experience/knowledge of the elephant hunts on Umbabat?

The Umbabat is part of a group of reserves known as the APNR,

The APNR is made up of the

Timbavati 55000 hectares of which all is hunted on
Klaserie 60 000 hectares of which all is hunted on
Umbabat 15 000 hectares of which 7000 is hunted on
Baluli 30 000 hectares of which about 10 000 is hunted on

All the reserves are part of the open system with Kruger,

Umbabat being the smallest of the hunting areas, tends to frustrate some hunters as you are driving the same roads many times looking for Elephant tracks crossing into the reserve,

There are 3 classes of elephants hunted
The 30lb and 40lb class which there are many of and you will see plenty on a 7day hunt

The 60lb hunt will be about a 14 day safari and is a waiting game for the right Bull to cross into the reserves hunting area,

There are a hand full of Outfitters who hunt the reserve, all of them good operators.

Best time of year to hunt is the dry season from June till October, this is because of the available permanent water in the reserve,

Hope this helps

Great info. Thank you for the info and help. Exactly the insight I needed.

Glad I could be of help,

Which outfitter are you looking at booking with?

Peter Thormahlen from Thormahlen Safaris is one of the Top Guys hunting there, The other Outfitters seem to concentrate on the European market

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:
Glad I could be of help,

Which outfitter are you looking at booking with?

Peter Thormahlen from Thormahlen Safaris is one of the Top Guys hunting there, The other Outfitters seem to concentrate on the European market

I have a friend in RSA who has been in contact with Piet van der Walt. I understand he is a landowner.

FWIW, I hunted with Peter Thormahlen in the Umbabat and Timbavati in 2010. Although we were hunting Buff, we saw many bull elephant, one of which Peter begged me to shoot as he promised me it was the largest elephant I would ever see anywhere. I declined, citing the need to send children to college.

However, I highly recommend Peter. He is First Class and one of the best PHs I have ever been privileged to hunt with.

I got the impression when I was there that there were several big old bulls with HUGE tusks that the Kruger staff was all familiar with, gave names to, and kept track of; and I figured they were "off-quota", even if they ventured into the APNR. Is that true?

I just returned from taking a trophy buffalo on Umbabat July 24. Thormahlen and Cochran conducted the safari to my complete satisfaction. We saw many nice tuskers there, and Thormahlen hunts them as well.

While Umbabat is one of the smaller areas in the region, it actually has a longer common border with Kruger, as it fits into a "notch" or declivity in the Park. Sitting around the campfire enjoying sundowners whilst being entertained by elephants breaking tree limbs nearby, lions roaring just a football field away, and wild civet cats strolling right up to the fire with you......well, that's an experience every person should enjoy before he dies!

Steve I believe you are correct. Those big boy's are not in the shooting equation but the younger ones are. So a 80 pounder would.

Mike

Hi All

The APNR has a hunting protocol for Elephant Hunting, with the open Boundary to Kruger the maximum Ivory Poundage which can be targeted is 60lb,

Peter is a great chap and we have been organising hunts together for almost 10 years, the Umbabat has a huge population of Elephants,

regards

JK