Although gemsbok were the most common antelope at Kamanjab in Namibia, that's the only thing common about them. Here's a picture of a beautiful gemsbok we saw in Etosha





We hunted in windy conditions, which had the animals laying up thick cover for the most part. As in previous posts, this made for challenging hunting, either shooting through brush or waiting for a brief opening as animals moved across lanes. As for most of our hunts, this one began with spotting a band of gemsbok from a kopje. It was a group of about 8 animals, all big and mature. We walked, crawled, and butt-walked to close the distance. We came upon the band at about 150 yards, and they were in 2 groups, all screened in brush way too thick to shoot through. By now, I was glad we had left the 7x57 home (was to be Zack's rifle) and had taken on the .375. Helmke had told us of animals that had run for miles with poor blood trails when hit not just right. A lost, wounded animal was last on my list of desires for this hunt.



Boy, the nerves get ratcheted up when your looking at animals for this amount of time. All told, we were looking at the group for at least 15 minutes. I was looking through binoculars, putting the scope on the nearer group looking for a shooting path, but no deal. The herd started to mill around a bit, particularly the further group, which was at 175 yds or so. One moved across the lane, and I set up on the sticks. Helmke had told me that all of these animals were shootable. The next started to cross, and I shot as it moved into the narrow lane. Helmke, and Penti, the tracker moved fast after the animal. We had about 15 minutes before sunset, and I had learned quickly that it gets very dark very quickly in Namibia when the sun sets.



We quickly saw a blood trail, and it looked like a good trail. I was relieved that it was bright blood that looked like a lung shot. We tracked a quick 400 yards and saw the gemsbok down. The animal was a big cow, with one shot through the upper shoulder. Helmke would have liked my shot lower, through the boiler room. The 260 accubond passed through. These animals can sure take a lot of punishment and run quite a ways. In the late afternoon, we were all relieved that we had an exit wound and a good blood trail. She qualified for NAPHA gold medal, and was a beautiful trophy. Helmke says (as he did several times) "Now the fun begins." We were at least 2 miles from the hunting car. Then he says, "Thank God for technology." He used the cell phone to have the trackers drive out in the Toyota pickup to come find us. Would have been a very long walk in the dark.







Another great hunt at Kamanjab, for the animal that was first on my Africa list. Bob

Congratulations!

I shot a nice bull in RSA (38"+, 8"+ bases); however, I am thinking about including another Gemsbok during my next Safari to Namibia. There seem to be some huge ones out of Namibia\Kalahari.

What length was your cow?

Thanks for sharing,
Cheers.

Great story. I am still waiting to go on my Gemsbok hunt on Ft Bliss (on the New Mexico side of base) That is a beautiful trophy.

Another nice trophy Bob! WTG!

I think 37" or 38". I'll check the NAPHA certificate and translate from metric. As you might guess, we were after good representative animals and were not 'book' focused. Now, I just have to convince Sally how good she (I mean the gemsbok!) will look mounted on the living room wall. Bob

I am sure it will be a soft sell, that gemsbok trophy of yours is gorgeous! Enjoy!!