Arilds Limpopo trip

16 May 2006, 02:09

IanF

Arilds Limpopo trip

Guys - having got back from his trip https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5421043/m/781107074 Arild is now sat out on a rig in the North Sea. He asked me to post the following account - enjoy! Rgds IanF

We were 3 friends hunting with Sportmans Safaris in Ellisras RSA. Outfitter is Clive Perkins.
The hunting areas were more or less at the Botswana borders along the Limpopo River.
The camp was very nice overlooking the river, with splendid food and service.
Green and lush by the river and more typical bush veldt when we moved away a bit.
I was hunting with a Winchester M70 Safari in 375 H&H loaded with 270 gr Swift A-frame bullets.
Scope is Leupold VXIII 2,5-8x36, reticule German # 4

Day 1 was without any luck, but saw a lot of game.

Day 2.
After breakfast we checked out some grassy plains and the PH saw a Steenbok in the grass at about 160 meters.
His back was just visible above the grass, but I got a steady rest and hit him in the shoulder, and my first African trophy was home safe . Length of horns was 4 ".
We delivered the Steenbok to the skinner and the PH and I took a trip to check out some waterholes for Warthogs.
When we came sneaking into the first one, the PH spotted a small Impala buck across the water at about 60 meters. We stopped and waited and then there was a big one coming in from behind some thorn bushes. A shot in the shoulder nailed my trophy no 2 that day. Horns were 23.5 "

Day3:
Discovered a small flock of Wildebeest and started stalking.
Closed up on them in dense thorn bush three times, but they saw us and took off. The tracker and the PH said there was an old bull among them and we decided to give it a last try. After a very exciting 40 minutes stalk we came within 50 meters of the bull and I got a good shot from the sticks.
The bull turned around and disappeared in the bush.
After 200 meters of tracking we found him dead and I was just a big smile. Horns was 28 ", an old warrior.

(The story of the bullet is posted under Reloading, " Swift A-Frame disintegrated").
My compliments to a fantastic tracker and a very professional PH who saw the Wildebeest where all I could see was thornbush !

Day 4:
Got an offer from the Outfitter, "there is an old Gemsbuck bull which is kicked out of the flock and got an injury in one leg. itÂ´s yours for half the price".
Off we went and the PH found it in the bush by the river where they had seen him the other day.
Tok him with a shot in the neck. Not a challenging hunt, but a nice trophy and a good deal for both the Outfitter and for me.
Horns was 30"

Day 5:
Time for Warthog...checked out some waterholes, but only females and piglets.
On our way home for lunch, the PH saw one big hog in a water hole from the bakkie, and we turned around.
He heard us coming, and darted away from us. I broke his back and took out the heart and lungs. The bullet was later found under the skin in the chest.
Another old warrior witch scored approx 11,5 "

After lunch we went looking for Blesbuck.
Found a small flock and started stalking. But they saw us and disappeared in the bush.
We went back to the bakkie and got ready for another look see. Then the tracker pointed to the left of us, and there they where, sneaking behind us in the brush.
The PH said that if they cross the track in front of us I might have a chance for a shot.
So we stayed still by the car and waited. Then they came out in the open about a 100 m in front of us, and when "my buck" came he got a shot in the shoulder and down he went. My throphy no six, and I was an very happy old hunter.

Day six I went for baboons but those suckers are smart and quick, so no monkey skull on my coffee table.
Anyway...I got more than I asked for. Six nice trophies with six bullets.....

There was also a Canadian hunter in camp and we had a great time together.
The others also took Kudu, Impala, Wildebeest, Gemsbuck, Blesbuck, Warthog, Jackal, Baboon, Waterbuck and a small lynx-like cat of which I donâ€™t remember the name.
One of the guys went down some days before us and shot a nice lioness as well, but that was on another concession.
We have already planned for a return in 2008........need I say more!!

16 May 2006, 02:30

Claret_Dabbler

Top man Arild, fantastic hunt report.

I am going to have to make that trip in the next year or two.

I will be 40 in 3 years. It must be done before then.

16 May 2006, 02:42

Gerry

Arild,

Thanks for a great write-up and some fantastic photos - appears you really enjoyed yourself and got a nice bag of trophies as well.

Ian - thanks for posting this for Arild as it appears our Nimrod has to go to work.

16 May 2006, 02:53

ErikD

quote:
and a small lynx-like cat of which I donâ€™t remember the name.

Arild,

I would guess you're talking about a Caracal, which is found throughout a lot of African countries.

Thanks for a nice report, and congratulations with already booking a new African hunt!

16 May 2006, 02:57

ErikD

quote:
One of the guys went down some days before us and shot a nice lioness as well, but that was on another concession.

Arild,

Would this happen to be a man who is known for making bullets?

16 May 2006, 10:38

Arild Iversen

A lots of thanks to buddy Ian for posting my pictures...( I tried to figure it out my self, but got stuck

)
Anyway... I had a heck of a time, and espesially because I was going there with my good friend and moose hunting compadre .
We have been talking about an Africa trip for years sitting around the camp fire in the High North, dreaming....

Two years ago I got words from my doctor that I had got cancer, and I made myself a promise that if I turned out winning that fight, I would not postpone my African dream any longer.
I won, and I went !!

Erik...yes, the lion hunter is the bullet maker and an good friend of me as well.
And the small cat is most likely a Caracal.

16 May 2006, 12:40

Fallow Buck

Arild,

Well done and congratulations on a great hunt.

I hunted the same areea as you just up (east) from the Botswana border crossing, and took my bushbuck on the banks of the river.

Regards,
FB

16 May 2006, 14:07

Boghossian

Great hunt, and good shooting. That wildebeest is a real hog!
What species will you concentrate on next time?

I am going to Kwazulu-Natal in a couple weeks and this has me veryyyy excited!!!

16 May 2006, 15:14

Arild Iversen

Boghossian.
We saw really nice kudu, waterbuck and bushbuck there, and I still havnÂ´t got that zebra rug in front of my fireplace

The red hartebeest is also a beatutifull animal, so these five are on my list for the next trip. More expencive than the six I took this time, so I better start saving.

Whish you all the best of luck for your trip.

17 May 2006, 13:38

Fallow Buck

Arild did you see the Tsessebe? I didn't take one last time but they have an amazing coat for a rug.

I also am still waiting for my zebra rug as I didn't manage to stalk up on it last time. As I knelt up to take the shot my trousers split with a pop and scared him off!!!

Rgds,
FB

17 May 2006, 14:01

Arild Iversen

Fallow buck..
No there was not any tsessebe on the area we hunted. They had zebra, kudu, waterbuck, bushbuck, impala, blesbuck, wildebeest, red hartebeest, steenbuck, duiker, warthog and eland if I remember correctly.

There also was some great nyala, but they did not hunt them yet.
The outfitter wanted to wait a couple of years more to get a healty herd before taking out the biggest males, a beautifull animal as well the nyala.

The zebra was very skittish, and when we spoked them, they tended to scramble the rest of the different antilopes as well.
Same with red hartebeest, the usually grazed on the grassy, more open areas, and was a pain in the ass to stalk.

I would have liked to see your face when your trousers split

17 May 2006, 19:03

Fallow Buck

It was the Ph's face that was a picture!!!

I'd just shot an Eland an hour before so I saw the funny side!!

FB

19 May 2006, 22:37

Dthfrmbv

Nice going Arild. You have some very fine trophies. I'm especially jealous of the gemsbuck. I've hunted with Clive the past two years and the gemsbuck has elluded me everytime. At least the bulls. I could have shot several females, but I wanted a bull. Clive has an excellent operation going with very nice animals. He is very accommodating to his clients. I saw your reply about beating cancer. That is great. I too have health issues and Clive worked with me each time. I have relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and right before each trip over there, I lost vision in one of my eyes. The first trip ('04)was my right eye and my second trip and honeymoon ('05) was my left eye. Even though hunting is harder now with my limited vision, Philip, who was my PH, put me on some nice animals, which I was able to harvest. You see, I like challenging Clive and his staff. Over the two years there, I shot 2 warthogs, kudu, impala, bushbuck, waterbuck, blue wildebeest, blesbuck, black wildebeest (NC Province), and 2 springbucks (NC Province). You never know what cards life is going to deal you, so live your dream. Congrats again and maybe I'll see you over there in 2008. Yes, I'm going to get my gemsbuck. It's personal now.

Craig

20 May 2006, 00:30

Arild Iversen

Many thanks for the reply Craig, I apreciated that very much.

Clives operation is very good the way I see it. Nice accomondation, good animals, good PHÂ´s and trackers. My PH was Jean Pierre or JP as we called him, and he took me to many good chances during the week we were there.
My gemsbuck didnÂ´t have those long horns, but he was an old bull, and the tips was worn off a couple of inches according to the PH.
The bases are thick, and I think I got a nice trophy after all. There are quite some good gemsbooks there now, so just get prepared

We will probably aim for the beginning of May 2008, hope to see you around then !!

23 August 2006, 12:59

Arild Iversen

quote:
Originally posted by IanF:
Guys - having got back from his trip https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5421043/m/781107074 Arild is now sat out on a rig in the North Sea. He asked me to post the following account - enjoy! Rgds IanF

We were 3 friends hunting with Sportmans Safaris in Ellisras RSA. Outfitter is Clive Perkins.
The hunting areas were more or less at the Botswana borders along the Limpopo River.
The camp was very nice overlooking the river, with splendid food and service.
Green and lush by the river and more typical bush veldt when we moved away a bit.
I was hunting with a Winchester M70 Safari in 375 H&H loaded with 270 gr Swift A-frame bullets.
Scope is Leupold VXIII 2,5-8x36, reticule German # 4

Day 1 was without any luck, but saw a lot of game.

Day 2.
After breakfast we checked out some grassy plains and the PH saw a Steenbok in the grass at about 160 meters.
His back was just visible above the grass, but I got a steady rest and hit him in the shoulder, and my first African trophy was home safe . Length of horns was 4 ".
We delivered the Steenbok to the skinner and the PH and I took a trip to check out some waterholes for Warthogs.
When we came sneaking into the first one, the PH spotted a small Impala buck across the water at about 60 meters. We stopped and waited and then there was a big one coming in from behind some thorn bushes. A shot in the shoulder nailed my trophy no 2 that day. Horns were 23.5 "

Day3:
Discovered a small herd of Wildebeest and started stalking.
Closed up on them in dense thorn bush three times, but they saw us and took off. The tracker and the PH said there was an old bull among them and we decided to give it a last try. After a very exciting 40 minutes stalk we came within 50 meters of the bull and I got a good shot from the sticks.
The bull turned around and disappeared in the bush.
After 200 meters of tracking we found him dead and I was just a big smile. Horns was 28 ", an old warrior.

(The story of the bullet is posted under Reloading, " Swift A-Frame disintegrated").
My compliments to a fantastic tracker and a very professional PH who saw the Wildebeest where all I could see was thornbush !

Day 4:
Got an offer from the Outfitter, "there is an old Gemsbuck bull which is kicked out of the herd and got an injury in one leg. itÂ´s yours for half the price".
Off we went and the PH found it in the bush by the river where they had seen him the other day.
Tok him with a shot in the neck. Not a challenging hunt, but a nice trophy and a good deal for both the Outfitter and for me.
Horns was 30"

Day 5:
Time for Warthog...checked out some waterholes, but only females and piglets.
On our way home for lunch, the PH saw one big hog in a water hole from the bakkie, and we turned around.
He heard us coming, and darted away from us. I broke his back and took out the heart and lungs. The bullet was later found under the skin in the chest.
Another old warrior witch scored approx 11,5 "

After lunch we went looking for Blesbuck.
Found a small herd and started stalking. But they saw us and disappeared in the bush.
We went back to the bakkie and got ready for another look see. Then the tracker pointed to the left of us, and there they where, sneaking behind us in the brush.
The PH said that if they cross the track in front of us I might have a chance for a shot.
So we stayed still by the car and waited. Then they came out in the open about a 100 m in front of us, and when "my buck" came he got a shot in the shoulder and down he went. My throphy no six, and I was an very happy old hunter.

Day six I went for baboons but those suckers are smart and quick, so no monkey skull on my coffee table.
Anyway...I got more than I asked for. Six nice trophies with six bullets.....

There was also a Canadian hunter in camp and we had a great time together.
The others also took Kudu, Impala, Wildebeest, Gemsbuck, Blesbuck, Warthog, Jackal, Baboon, Waterbuck and a small lynx-like cat of which I donâ€™t remember the name.
One of the guys went down some days before us and shot a nice lioness as well, but that was on another concession.
We have already planned for a return in 2008........need I say more!!