Namibia
Nyae Nyae Concession
SMJ Safaris Stephan Jacobs
PH Ben Van Wyk
June 24 - July 4 2017
Non-trophy bull elephant

First, Stephan Jacobs of SMJ Safaris is giving away this hunt for a non-trophy bull elephant as a fund raiser for his son's school. It is a private, Christian school which receives no public funds. It is extremely generous of Stephan and gives you a chance to win one of the best elephant hunts in Africa. I have been twice and am booked for the third. Nickh has been twice and is also booked for the third one. This is a great opportunity for some lucky hunter. This is the link :
https://www.tsumeb-gimnasium.c...hant-hunt-in-namibia



Now, back to the show. Somebody famous says that.

This was my second trip to the Nyae Nyae, it is truly the land of the giants. This years hunting was totally different than 2 years ago due to a lot of rain in April. Water was in every little pan, in fact there were areas in the southern part that were flooded and you could not hunt there. Not only was there water everywhere but the brush was thick and green not to mention the grass was like a mat which made the tracking very difficult.
The first day we went south and it was very difficult to hunt because of the water. We didn't see an elephant or a track. So, if they are not south, they have to be north. What a difference a day makes. 10 min. out of camp we found hot dung in the road. As we got on the tracks I told Ben," Now we are elephant hunting." A short tracking job and we come up on a nice 55# - 60#. Later that morning we followed a group of bulls with two old bulls in it. The trackers said there was 9 bulls in this group, well, they were wrong, there was ten. How could they tell there was that many from just reading the tracks? There was two real old bulls in the group, one had some of the longest tusks we saw, the other had long tusks but was thin. We spent about 45 min. looking them over. That was one thing that made this hunt so special. We would get in on bulls and Ben and I would discuss the different bulls, which ones were old, how much certain bulls tusks weighed. Ben taught me so much about how to judge the weight of the tusks and what to look for in aging them. It's hard to put into words, this was my 8th elephant hunt and has developed into much more than tracking something to shoot. I felt such a peace and contentment when we would get in close on these magnificent animals. I was not interested in any PG so after I got our bull we continued to track bulls just to observe them. I dearly love it and praise the Lord for blessing me where I'm able to do it.



The day I got my bull we picked up tracks of two bulls on the road. Big 24" with deep lugs so we decided to follow. We tracked them for a while but lost them. The high grass makes tracking very difficult but after about 30 minutes the guys figured it out. The dung was hot so we knew the bulls were not far. That's when the adrenaline level starts to climb, your senses are elevated, you strain to hear a branch break or the rumbling that is music to an elephant hunter's ears. Twee, the young tracker heard it first but it would be a little while before my old ears could distinguish it. That's when you can feel your heart beating in your neck. We made sure the wind was right and went to the sounds and came up on a group of five bulls, two big bulls with three younger bulls. Nothing we wanted but heard some more to our right. After a short walk, we saw two bulls, one of which was the "PERFECT" bull for me. Very old, big body with tusks that were just trash, 32# and 27#. The problem was he was out in an opening where there was no cover whatsoever between us and him. The wind was good, when he moved we moved, he stopped we froze. Several times he turned to face us and we didn't dare move and after a few minutes, which seemed like hours, he would go back to feeding. Once, when we had closed to about 50 yards, he turned to face us, ears out staring at us. I was in mid-step and froze, the bull took two or three steps toward us. I didn't dare bat an eye but was playing out in my mind what to do if he decided to come. Fortunately, after a moment, he went back to feeding and with a big sigh of relief we slowly closed the distance to 30 yards and that was as close as we could get. He was aware that something was not right so we stopped and waited for him to give us a side brain shot. Let me say this, Ben was the master on this approach. It was touchy from the very beginning and the closer we got the more intense it became. Ben did a great job to get me in close.
I dearly love hunting elephants, especially these huge Nyae Nyae bulls. There is no greater high.









A big foot and no hair on his tail.






These guys were on the carcass three days after I shot the bull. That's three days in the hot sun, two days of vultures eating on it. But they were happy to get some meat.





The Nyae Nyae is known for it's elephant, but they also have excellent buffalo and leopard.





Ben keeps a log on the different leopards, he measures each track and cuts a stick and labels it, writes down the stride. That way he can determine the tom's home rage. SMJ is 100% on leopard for the 6 years Stephan has had the concession.


If you look at the dark spot above the rifle, that is mud rubbed by elephants. That's over 12 feet, just shows you how big these bulls are.





This name was carved into the tree in the previous picture, it was dated as 1898. You wonder if this was an ivory hunter from days gone by. Things have changed very little in the Nyae Nyae .



A black momba was seen in that clump of brush. Ben has his 416 after it, the phrase "Use enough gun" comes to mind. Never did get the snake though.

Neat!

I would love to go there.

The bushman from the God's Must Be Crazy is from there.

Congratulations Randy. I hear that place is the best Elephant hunting on the planet.Lovely old bull.Lets hope the rain forest is as generous

Morten

quote:

Originally posted by nickh:
Randy,

Your report really sums this place up!!

It's a privilege to just track and stalk the beasts that live there!!

I will never tire of hunting in the Nyae Nyae,
the vast size of the concession, the plentiful numbers of game, the fantastic tracking skills of the little bushmen, and the good fun hunting with both Stephan and Ben!!

Bring on next May I say!!!

Cheers

Nick

Save some space and quotas for us other guys :-)


Morten

quote:

Originally posted by Andy Buchanan. Film Africa:
Congratulations Randy. I hear that place is the best Elephant hunting on the planet.Lovely old bull.Lets hope the rain forest is as generous

Andy, I don't think they will grow this big in the jungle but OH what an adventure !

quote:

Originally posted by nickh:
Randy,

Your report really sums this place up!!

It's a privilege to just track and stalk the beasts that live there!!

I will never tire of hunting in the Nyae Nyae,
the vast size of the concession, the plentiful numbers of game, the fantastic tracking skills of the little bushmen, and the good fun hunting with both Stephan and Ben!!

Bring on next May I say!!!

Cheers

Nick

Nick, I totally agree. There simply is no place like it. Can't make it next year but am down for 2019, hope to win the hunt Stephan is giving away. That would give me a double bull hunt. Can you imagine?!

What an experience, tracking elephant in the best place left in the continent to hunt these giants! Congratulations and thanks for sharing! What were the two big boys in the first pictures estimated to weight?

Randy,

Well done as usual.

Cheers,

Mark

Good Report, thanks for sharing and congrats!
Nothing like elephant hunting.

Great report on a great area!

Did they say what the sizes were of the trophy bulls taken so far this year?

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Great report on a great area!

Did they say what the sizes were of the trophy bulls taken so far this year?

Stephan said that the first trophy hunt they had they shot a 78#, saw 117 bulls. Just started trophy hunting in Aug. I believe. Actually, I believe that to Stephan, the weight is only one factor when he is looking for a trophy. We saw a bull that was estimated to be 75# and very old. Stephan said he would not hesitate to take him. Age is a big factor.

What a cool adventure!

Did they have any idea how old the bull you took was?

quote:

Originally posted by ryry4:
What a cool adventure!

Did they have any idea how old the bull you took was?

He had 4" of his fifth set of molars left, 43 to 45 years old.

Very cool.

Absolutely fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

Congratulations.
Lovely old Bull.
As you say...there is nothing like Elephant hunting!!

That's awesome! I'd happily buy some tickets for that elephant raffle, but the page isn't working . . . . .

quote:

Originally posted by bakerb:
That's awesome! I'd happily buy some tickets for that elephant raffle, but the page isn't working . . . . .

Yea, I have contacted them to get it corrected. Will post when they straighten it out.
Thanks for the interest

Hey Randy. Great report! "When are you going to get over that elephant thing?". Per your daughter Anyway, missed you in Australia. Maybe next year. Stay well my friend!

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleDon:
Hey Randy. Great report! "When are you going to get over that elephant thing?". Per your daughter Anyway, missed you in Australia. Maybe next year. Stay well my friend!

Don, not sure. In 2008, I thought I would do a tuskless hunt and get it out of my system. Eight elephants later so I don't think it worked. I've been in touch with Barry, won't be next year, I'm headed to Cameroon for what else. 2019 looks like a possibility.

Thanks for working to get that raffle link fixed. I created an account yesterday but never got the confirmation email and now it won't let me create a new one. Would love to buy some chances when it's fixed.

Good stuff.

Great report !
Going to Nyae-Nyae in May next year for Buffalo and plains game.
Can't wait

https://www.tsumeb-gimnasium.c...hant-hunt-in-namibia

Good news. The site is up and working now. I tried to use American Express and could NOT get it to take it. Changed to Visa and it worked fine and sent me an e-mail as a receipt. Thanks for your interest. Can't say I hope you win though, I hope to.
Randy



By the way, we counted 83 elephant in a herd that came to water. We sat in an observation stand and had them come within 30 yards. Got several pictures and some video. Saw three tuskless

posted 12 December 2018 15:20 Hide Post

I'm bringing this back to the top so it will be easier for a friend of mine to find. He has never been to Africa and I am trying my best to convince him to come along with me as an observer on this hunt in August. I think if I can get him to come, Africa will put him under her spell

I was just on a Nov 2018 hunt in Nyae-Nyae with Stephan Jacobs. It was without a doubt the best hunt of my life.

!!!!!
There is a new non-trophy bull elephant hunt being raffled at https://www.tsumeb-gimnasium.c...hant-hunt-in-namibia

This is to benefit the school in Tsumeb.

And the Draw date is 31.03.2019

!!!!!!! Buy those tickets, win =, and have the hunt of a lifetime

The Check out doesn't work?

I just went to the website to buy some tickets but it still shows “2017 elephant hunt”. I want to purchase some raffle tickets, but only after I’m sure the site is accurate.

Under the terms and conditions it says the hunt must be conducted in 2019. The drawing will be held March 31, 2019. I bought tickets some time ago, used Visa. Not sure if there is a problem with the site but I will check with Stephan.

I'll need to purchase a few.

purchase site still does work.

anyone have any contacts here??

i emailed them with no answer

keith

Keith, I would wonder not only why the date says 2016 per above (believe this was for a previous raffle?), but how close to the reserve price(per below) they are.

quote:

If the reserve price of $16500 is not in full received via ticket sales, the winner will be liable to pay the difference in order to claim the prize. If he/she is not able to do such, the second runner up will be deemed the winner if he/she is able and willing to pay the difference and so forth.

Bill,

Understood. I have followed this hunt for a number of years. The schools website is always up to date. The current site has a 2019 date. But, I am most likely going to pass on this.

Thanks
Keith

It still does not work?

Nothing beats elephant hunting...it is a disease..

I finally received a reply on their Facebook Page!!! Good morning
We are working on the problem. It should be repaired by the end of this week. Kind regards.

I received this today.

Good afternoon. The problem is a little more complex than expected. Our IT department is working on it. I will let you know as soon as its sorted. Kind regards