Just got back from my second trip to the RSA, spent a week hunting close to Bandelierkop and another week touring with my family and inlaws.

The trip down was pretty nice, Lufthansa had managed to mix up our seating but that was a small inconveniance and the plane almost got hit by lightning over Frankfurt but otherwise it was uneventful.

Tino Erasmus and his finac� Amanda met us at Jo:burg and we headed North. The closer we got to Pietersberg the rainier it got and when we got to camp it was raining cats and dogs. I could see that my wife seemed to be having second thoughts and the weather forecast promised more rain and thunder for the upcoming days.

This is when I prayed and something worked because after that we had ten straight days of very nice weather! The rains have been good this year so the bush was really green and Tino pointed out that the hunting would be difficult.

And it was.

I left my family in Amandas competent hands and (after checking the sighting on my rifle) we started hunting the next day for zebra and gemsbuck.

Now I thought that zebra hunting might be something easy but I was more than wrong! They had us running around in cicles, up and down mountains, wading in creeks -you name it. We did stumble upon gemsbuck on our first day and I got to take my first shot at game with my new .416 Rigby. We were pretty close (60m) and I took the shot from a kneeling position. Result: Missed.

Did I feel like sh-t! I was pretty winded when I shot (and all the usual excuses) but this was my first miss in Africa! Oh I�ve had my share of misses but this one felt real bad. Apparently I�d shot too high...

I could see that Tino felt bad for me but there isn�t much anyone can say to console you after something like that.

You just go on hunting.

The next day had us running after zebra again and as they were running with a herd of wildebeest they always managed to slip away.

On the third day we got another chance at gemsbuck and I now connected! The Woodleigh 410gr did it�s job and we found the animal about 60m from were I shot it. The shot was behind the shoulder (a mopane tree blocked a clean shoulder shot) and spooring was easy. Not a R&W animal but after the work we had invested I was more than satisfied.

We took a day off from the zebra and decided to go for bushbuck. This we hunted in an other concession and I knew the going would be tough. After arriving we started a slow walk and we hadn�t been walking for more than 30 minutes when Tom the tracker made a sign to stop.

He was pointing behind us, from the direction we�d just come from! He had happened to glance back and saw a bushbuck standing in the high grass under a tree and looking straight at us and Tino just whispered "SHOOT" (whispered shout)and I didn�t have a lot of time to think about it so I shot.

It was an offhand shot of maybe 40-50 meters the animal being at an angle facing away from us. The bullet traversed most of the animal and stopped in the neck (nice mushroom but maybe the Woodleigh is a bit soft). The buck was beautiful with horns about 13-14 inches.

On the bushbuck we got very lucky!

Next day we spent baboon and pig hunting North of Louis Trichardt and the boys came along. Anton (12 yo) shot a monkey with Tinos .22 and was proud as you can be! This was his first real game and the smile on his face was huge.

No pigs though and the baboons bolted just as I was pulling the trigger.

A good day though.

So we went back to hunting zebra...it felt a bit hopeless I must admit. We�d found several groups but they always managed to either get our scent or hear us just as we were getting close.

But I was now on a roll! Elias and Tom went out to look for fresh spoor and pretty soon we were on the tracks again. Once again they were moving with wildebeest so we had to be real careful. After about two-three hours of walking up slopes, through creeks, under bushes etc etc Tino gave the sign to stop. Now we were close and all of a sudden they were r�ght ahead of us.

Then they bolted.

But it was the kongoni that ran and that left the zebra a bit confused as to what was going on. Tino ran to the left and I followed and when he fell to his knees so did I.

We could see zebra running up front but there was no chance of a running shot in the thick bush. Tino told me to be prepared and all of a sudden one zebra stopped and I could see it�s head, neck and a bit of the shoulder. I aimed for what I could see, taking a 60m shot through a green tunnel of bush.

I hit were I was aiming and the zebra was down for good. A beautiful skin if not the biggest animal around.

The evening was spent hunting francolin with the .22 and Alexander (10yo) managed to get one! Another proud son and an instant "discussion" with big brother on who is the better shot.

Man was I proud!

We only had one day of hunting left so now we concentrated on pigs -warthogs to be specific.

The grass being as tall as it is and with the abundance of water in the bush we saw few and shot none.

Warning to anybody going to the RSA soon: Pig hunting will be difficult early in the season and you�ll have to be very lucky to get one.

The rest of the trip was more than nice and I�ll give you some more on that when I get some pictures posted!

Sounds like a great yet challenging trip, cewe. Can't wait to see your pics.

Cewe,

Your report of the Northern Province sounds like very tough hunting. I will be heading there in another month. Hopefully the rains will have completely stoppped. I have bben twice to Namibia, so seeing all this greenery will be an interesting change.

Congratulations on your wonderful hunt and thank you for your report. Look forward to the pictures,

BigBullet

Man what a blast! Those zebra really are challenging. Everybody thinks they are going to stand there and look at you like in Kruger. It aint so! Sounds like you had a great hunt.

I'll be there later this week, forecast is still HOT, hope the rain is done.

It looked pretty much like the weather was drying up and the heat wasn�t that bad where we hunted. It did get a bit hotter near Kruger (I think the towns name is spelled "Huidsproet") where we spent four days on a horse ranch ( Offbeat Safaris -nice place, a bit different).

Have a nice one Kevin!

That sounds like a great hunt, on foot and with the family, congrat's!

Cewe,
Good to hear about your last trip!!
How is everyone there in Bandelierkop ??

Have you seen Ryno?

LG

Hi Lorenzo,

Things have changed a bit since last year, Tino now has his base out of Sevefontein which is closer to Pietersburg. Ryno and Louis are still at Bandelierkop but Ryno hasn�t started hunting yet (I was the first foreign customer this year). There is a lot of greenery this year!