Outfitter: Karan Safaris
PH: Paul White
Location: Timbavati Private Nature Reserve
Dates: 20th June till 30th July 2013
Type of hunt: Free Range Big 5 Safari
Rifle: 470NE 375H&H

On the 20th June 2013 we will once again be hunting the only true Free Range Big 5 hunt left in Africa, as I am new to this forum and have gotten a real kick out of the comments on previous reports, so as I have never posted a hunting report I decided to take the plunge with a Big One,

I look forward to all the comments both Good and Bad,

Hunt will take place in the TPNR which is 120 000 acres that form part of South Africa's Larges open area

All cats will be hunted on foot and during day light hours , no baiting of Lions allowed by law in Mpumalanga, Leopard will only be baited if we do not succeed in tracking one down on foot.

I will run this as a Live hunting report during the Safari and hope to see it create a stir or two with some fantastic trophies to be hunted,
So let the countdown begin,

Good news....have fun and shoot straight !

Will post some photos of the area and animal qaulity that we are used to seeing

Looking forward to the pics and reports.

Great area and there is some very serious Lion there.

If I am not mistaken the photographic guides monitor the prides and males and the older males will be targeted. As you have stated it is on foot and in your face hunting.

Look forward to the report and it will be a cracker.

Hi Andrew that is correct, the male we are targeting this year is a brute, and has wiped out a whole pride,

He has killed 8 females and 2 sub adult males, he has also not mated with any prides in the area and has kept all other dominant males away, going to be an exciting hunt,

When I figure out how to post a photo I will put one up of him

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:
Hi Andrew that is correct, the male we are targeting this year is a brute, he came over from Kruger 2 years ago and has wiped out a whole pride,

He has killed 8 females and 2 sub adult males, he has also not mated with any prides in the area and has kept all other dominant males away, going to be an exciting hunt,

When I figure out how to post a photo I will put one up of him

One of my investors in the Luangwa was in the forefront of the conservation of this area and the policies they enforced were first class.

Lions and there activities were constantly recorded.

However cats are unpredictable.

Correct Tom and I have been on the executive board of the Timbavati together for the last 10 years,

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:
Correct Tom and I have been on the executive board of the Timbavati together for the last 10 years,

Pleased to meet you.

You will definitely have my attention. I am looking forward to your report. Good luck and may Diana smile on you.

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:
Outfitter: Karan Safaris
PH: Paul White
Location: Timbavati Private Nature Reserve
Dates: 20th June till 30th July 2013
Type of hunt: Free Range Big 5 Safari
Rifle: 470NE 375H&H

On the 20th June 2013 we will once again be hunting the only true Free Range Big 5 hunt left in Africa, as I am new to this forum and have gotten a real kick out of the comments on previous reports, so as I have never posted a hunting report I decided to take the plunge with a Big One,

I look forward to all the comments both Good and Bad,

Hunt will take place in the TPNR which is 120 000 acres that form part of the buffer zone outside of Kruger,

All cats will be hunted on foot and during day light hours , no baiting of Lions allowed by law in Mpumalanga, Leopard will only be baited if we do not succeed in tracking one down on foot.

I will run this as a Live hunting report during the Safari and hope to see it create a stir or two with some fantastic trophies to be hunted,
So let the countdown begin,

Does this mean you did the big 5 there before? How did that go?

Hi Frostbit

Yes we have shot the big 5 for the last 4 years,

it has always been a huge success, some years it was split between a few hunters,each concentrating on specific animals they still needed,

This year its again just one client who will hunt 30 to 40 days to harvest the Big 5, we have very strict protocols that always insure that we take off the top of the age category, Buffalo must be 12 years minimum, Lion may not be shot out of pride and must not have any pride affiliation.

Elephant must be loan Bull over 50 years of age ( unfortunatly we limit ivory to 60lb to protect the large tuskers), rhino must be older than 20 years must score over SCI Gold, (rhino back horn must be over 8”, best way to age rhino is back horn) ,

Leopard are plentiful and we try our best to build up a history on the Big toms and there movements before we hunt one, average Tom we hunt is between 180lb and 200lb,

hope this gives you a bit of info

WOW:

I am looking forward to reading your exploits and seeing the pics.

NOW THIS is the way hunting is meant to be.

Kind regards,

Carpediem

Almost forgot:

Waidmanns Heil

Carpediem

Looking very forward to this report!

quote:

Lion may not be shot out of pride and must not have any pride affiliation.

why is that?

WOW....this sounds like a hell of an adventure and hunt!! I'm looking forward to following this report closely...

fantastic first day of the big 5 hunt, took a great 43" buffalo by mid day, spent some time looking at over 200 buffalo in a herd before this dugga boy stepped out, 1 shot from clients 375 was all that was needed, will post photo tomorrow, off to dinner now and a glass of good red,

This will be followed closely I predict!

Good luck, good hunting, enjoy the wine.

Good luck!

Looking forward to rest of report!!!!

Woke up to lions calling this morning, were able to get on their tracks by mid morning,
This year’s rain fall was very high which lead to very thick brush and lots of grass, made tracking very difficult, we bumped the lions (2 males) for the first time around 2pm and finally got a shooting opportunity around 4pm,
Client got great shot on shoulder at around 20 yards with 375 H&H, with New Hornady Soft’s, which disintegrated on contact with the bone and did nothing but piss the big cat off, client got second shot off at tail of cat which put the brakes on and saved us hours of tracking in the thick stuff,
Lion bedded up in thicket behind dry river bed and gave us some tense moments , finally finished off with 458 at close quarters,
To date the biggest bodies male I have ever seen, took 8 people to load into back of Cruiser,
Glad day ended safely and client not to happy with bullet performance, have swopped out to Barns triple shock for rest of safari, interested to find out if anyone else has had poor performance from the Hornady soft’s?
Photos to follow soon,

Well done to all. More bad press for Hornady, sadly, but better that people find out if there are chronic issues with this bullet before someone gets scoffed.

True African sun set

great looking Bull

nice Tom but will do better

Lots of Buffalo around

Big Old Bull but think he will pass the 60lb limit, very thick at lip

great first day Buffalo 43" not as old as i would have liked but still a fully mature Bull

Sorry had to cut client but wants his privacy

will post better photos in few days but what a great hunt on foot tracking to get this great Lion

look at those tufts behind Legs,nice black coming through

thats what happens when you try run away, you get a shot in the tail

have hunted quite a few old cats that did not have a pitch black nose, but this one is a good example of a text book 6 year + lion

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:


look at those tufts behind Legs,nice black coming through

Must be a genetic factor - with all the Lions I have come across here in Tanzania, I have yet to see one with tufts on the elbows or the "garden path" that runs down to its crotch.

Time to start a project involving artificial insemination from some of the S.A. species.

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:

quote:

Originally posted by jkhunter:


look at those tufts behind Legs,nice black coming through

Must be a genetic factor - with all the Lions I have come across here in Tanzania, I have yet to see one with tufts on the elbows or the "garden path" that runs down to its crotch.

Time to start a project involving artificial insemination from some of the S.A. species.

Fujo - Hmmmm? The Lion I shot in Lukwati last year has BIG tufts of hair on his elbows!!! I'll see if I can find a pic showing it, but its very clear in the video as well.

Everyplace in Africa that I've shot/hunted lions I have seen them with tufts of hair on their elbows - but only older/mature cats!!!

What a stroke of luck that the first Lion you came across was the targetted brute you were seeking.

No luck, he had been in the area for the last 2 week's with another male, and with them calling we had a direction to start looking, all we needed to do was find fresh tracks and follow up on foot, very sandy soil which makes tracking a pleasure, the fact that we only hunt 1 lion a year gives you a lot of time to do your homework to work out the population dynamics,

Where we were lucky was that this all happened on the second day of the Safari, in previous years we had walked 20 days on lion tracks before we found a shooter,