Dates : November 4th 2016- November 13th 2016

Area: Wuparo Conservancy, Caprivi.

Outfitter : Dawid Muller owner of Daggaboy hunting safaris and Caprivi hunting safaris.

Professional Hunter : Wayne Cilliers

Airlines: Air Namibia from Francfurt to Windhoek Hosea Kutako and Air Namibia again from Windhoek-Eros to Katima Mulilo.

Rifles: Blaser R93 Professional in .375 Holland & Holland magnum topped with a Leica 2.4-16x56 and the ammunitions were relaoded by myself with Federal cases, Vithavuori N150 powder, Winchester LRM primers and Cutting Edge Bullet BBW#13 Solids 300 gr.

Blaser R93 Professional camo in .300 Winchester magnum with a match trigger (Bix'n Andy) and topped with a Swarovski Z6i 3-18x50. The amunitions were also reloaded by myself with Hornady cases, Vihtavuori N165 Powder, Winchester LRM primers and Nosler Accubond 180 gr.

Games taken : Hippo, elephant, impala, warthog & duiker.
Game lost : Baboon

First, I apologize for my english which is a bit rusty due to the lack of pratice but for me your forum is definitely the best that I know and I read it every day because it's a gold mine. Now, I think it's my turn to share one of my hunting trip. My report has a lot of pictures but I guess it's good to show you how was my hunt. Some pictures are screenshots which explains the poor quality of the image.

The story started in Namibia in November 2015 after a hunting trip in a farm where I'm used to hunting plains game. Elephant hunting has always been my dream and after 5 hunting trips in Namibia where I have hunted a lot of plains game from the Damara dik-dik to the giraffe, I wanted to hunt this animal as a present for my 30 years old. My Namibian buddy called a good friend of him for more infos and the offer was very interesting for an own use elephant. Unfortunatly, I can not afford a trophy elephant.

Back in my country, after one or two months I contacted my buddy's friend (Dawid) for this hunt. Unfortunaly with my job it's not easy to plan something during the best period and his agenda was full during my holidays. As I didn't want to postpone or cancel my trip at the last moment I booked my hunt for beginning of november. Dawid suggested me to come at Paris during a hunting show for meeting him.

I met him in april 2016 during the Rambouillet show and we spoke more than one hour and half. It was very interesting and all my questions got their answers.

I have read excellent feedbacks on Accurate Reloading about the CEB BBW#13 solid bullet so I bought one box on Brownells website.



It was very easy to have an excellent loading for my rifle and the second test was the good one. The velocity was about 2480 f/s and at 50 meters the 3 bullets were almost in the same hole. Even with the big meplat of the bullet, the feeding with my R93 was
excellent.


My own shooting range.

As I live in the east of France I prefer to avoid Paris Airport and I go directly to the Frankfurt airport with my car for a Namibian trip. I leave the car on one the holiday parkings because it's very cheap an so easy.
http://www.parkvia.com/fr-FR/p...HctNACFQsR0wodCngKeg





It's very simple to travel with one's guns on that airline company. But in the aircraft, honestly it's impossible for me to sleep in the cattle class so the trip was long....very long.

At Hosea Kutako airport, Dawid picks me up and then we go to Eros. He was not able to be my PH during this trip because he has something to do at Windhoek but he told me I will be in very good hands.

Arrived at Mpacha, I met Da Silva, tracker and driver, and we left for the camp.



At the camp, I met my PH who was Wayne Cilliers. An awesome young man who is 6 months older than me but with a great experience in dangerous games. He has been the youngest man qualified as dangerous game PH in Namibia, because he got it at the age of 24.

Wayne's dog, an old Jack Russell dubbed Tju-Tju.

After a short nap, We went to the shooting range. No problem with my rifles and after I tried Wayne's rifle, a Blaser R8 PH in .458 Lott.


We saw many animals such as Chapman zebras, blue wildebeests and a big sable but none elephants except their tracks.

The next day, we found an hippo in a big pond. Slowly we approached it as close as possible and well rested on my Harris bipod I was able to aim the brain with accuracy.

We called men from the village to fetch the animal.

Exit wound

It was not the most exciting hunt I lived but it was a good experience.


Back to the camp. We slept a bit and after a storm we fished in the river but without success. I tried every day during this stay but I never caught a fish even if I saw plenty of catfishes.


Day 2

We saw many animals but none elephant. As usual a lot of tracks but impossible to find them.



The biggest buffalo we saw but he was still young.


Tju Tju didn't care about buffaloes. We still saw many tracks of elephants but just tracks.

The afternoon. We spotted an impala quite far and after a nice approach I was able to shoot him at ~ 200 meters. The terrain was so open, it was impossible to approach him closer. Hit by my bullet, he dropped in his tracks but my shot was a bit high and when we where at short range I shot an other time in the neck.

This was my 5th impala in Namibia but my 4th Common impala. I also killed a black-faced impala next to Etosha in 2015.

Day 4 :

Just behind the camp, we saw a little group of buffaloes

Further, next to a pond we discovered a lion track. There are no many lions in this area and Brutus was happy to see this track.


Many tracks of elephants were seen but none elephant seen.

The afternoon, we tried an approach on a big warthog but baboons gave the alert and he ran away. We saw an other warthog further and one of his tusk was broken. As I was allowed to hunt an own use warthog we tried an approach hidden by a termite mound. At about 45 yards, I shot the warthog with a quartering toward shot. He collapsed but stood up immediatly and tried to flee. I shot an other round which hit him in the head.



Day 5


During the night, I heard the roaring of a lion and a noise which looked like coming from elephants.

The morning we spent a lot of time to pump up the tyre with the little compressor.

We saw a very fresh tracks but this time we found the herd of elephants.


We tried to approach them as close as possible. There were about 20 animals but Wayne told me there was just one bull in this group and he was behind the cows.

Da Silva was able to take him with my small camcorder.


We were very close of few cows but the bull was always behind and too far for a shot. Unfortunatly the wind turned and elephants ran away toward the national park. That's hunting.

The afternoon we still saw many animals and as I had 2 duikers "owe use" on the permit" we tried a first approach but with no success. Long dried grass help them a lot and usually they see us before we see them.

Da Silva saw two other duikers further. With him and Wayne we approched them. The duiker was at about 30 meters and I shot it really quickly rested on Wayne's tripod. An other one which was hidden by a little termite mound jumped above the dead one and ran away and after 60 meters it started to slow down. I aimed it but he never stopped and finally it disapeared in the long grass. I was surprised because the one I shot was a female but not a problem with this permit.

The Nosler Accubond passed through it and as you can see no damage.

Entrance wound



On our way, we saw a monster warthog. I had a trophy warthog on my permit and we thought his tusks were above 14 inches each so it was the perfect boar. We tried an approach but with the long grass we failed. We were at 20 meters maximum but he was facing us and I just saw the top of his head. Impossible to shoot him and he ran away. I decided to hunt only this one till the end of my trip. It was risky but a good challenge.

Day 6

Next to the camp, we met a group of waterbuck with a nice bull inside

We saw an elephant group but unfortunatly too late because it was passing into the national park.

This morning was quiet and the afternoon we decided to hunt a baboon.
We saw different groups of baboons but it's difficult to hunt them. I missed a big male twice when he was running. One hour after I shot an other big male seated under a tree but unfortunatly my bullet had been deflected by a little branch and it broke one of his foreleg. We followed him up to the park and we stopped the search. I'm sure a predator found him during the night because we have seen many leopard tracks in this area. The big warthog was out but in the wrong side of the territory.


Day 7:

It was a very quiet day. We saw elephants but very far in the reserve.

The traffic jammed.

Last day of hunting.


An other flat tyre.


A large group of buffaloes


Very fresh elephants tracks but the wind was blowing in the wrong direction.
We took the car and we try to cross the tracks further and then several miles away, we saw elephants walking into thick bush.

We tried to approach them and we were lucky because with the heat they stopped for a nap under the shadow of big trees. We were very close but the wind was instable and like the first time the bull were behind cows. We approached and retreated several times and after two hours I had an opportunity for a quatering away shot. Impossible to aim the brain and for a first elephant, Wayne & Dawid advised me a body shot. At 30 yards, in a little window I shot just behind the shoulder. At the impact, the bull was tetanized and I shot really quickly my 3 other bulets : two in the chest and one in the head but I missed the brain. With branches I didn't see very well the head. Wayne shot a bullet in the hip and Brutus a bullet through the thick bush but we were not sure if it touched it. A big cow arrived in our direction but when she was next to the bull she turned and went away. I shot a last bullet in the shoulder through the thick bush and the bull collapsed.

We approached him and I shot two other bullets.
On my 5 first bullets, 4 passed through the animal (3 in the chest and the one in the head).
We were not far of the village, and men arrived quickly. One of them thought we used a semi-automatic rifle because I'm used to shooting with my R93. It's my favourite rifle for driven hunt and many fellow hunters believed the same thing before when I was shooting boars chased by dogs.
They cleaned the place with axes and we took few photos.

We returned to the camp quickly for a meal and then I wanted to see the work on my elephant.

A skinner gave me one bullet recovered, a CEB. It destroyed the opposite shoulder and was recovered under the skin. None deformation except the rifling. Probably my first bullet.


We tried before the night to find the big warthog but we didn't see him. Just classic animals and again a herd of buffaloes.

Celebrating of our hunt with the Jamesson.


That was the end of my trip in this part of Namibia. Sorry for its lenght and for my english.

Last april, I was back in Namibia. I started my trip in the Khomas region with Dawid in his farm and after I went in Wayne's farm based in the Bushmanland. Both are great places for hunting. Maybe I'll publish a shorter report soon.

But one thing is sure. I will be back in 2018 for a buffalo in the Caprivi with Dawid.

Thanks for sharing. Great report and great pictures!

Great, successful hunt and some nice pictures!
Congratulations.

Great report. Congrats I am also looking at a Jumbo in the Caprivi for my next hunt.

C'est Bon!


Thanks for posting, I loved the pictures!

Excellent!

Awesome. Thanks for sharing with us. Hopefully, I can share a successful elephant hunt with the AR members in the middle of Aug.

Caprivi is a bucket list hunt for me!

Congrats to all involved!!

A good and fun hunt and write up. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Really good report and you shot some fine mature animals. Well done on your eleventh hour elephant.

Look forward to more reports from your hunts in Namibia.

Wonderful job and great animals. Don't worry about your English, as it is better than some who speak it everyday.

That being said, please continue.

.

+1

Well done - seems like a lot of buff too.

.

well done on an excellent safari
glad you enjoyed Africa

Not wanting to rain on this parade however….

the ele bull is very young! I wouldn't classify him as "mature" IMO

Nick

Thanks for your report. It's one of the most well-written and even better illustrated hunt reports I've enjoyed here. Congratulations on your hunt.

merci.

Thank you for your report. Great job!

Congratulations on a successful safari!

Amazing report and photos!

Thanks for sharing!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Great report. Hunted with Wayne a decade ago and his father before that. Great folks.

Well Done. Thanks for posting

Congratulation's on a fine hunt!
Please post more reports in the future.

Wonderful. Thank you for sharing

Great story, super hunt, and fantastic pictures.

Thanks for sharing.

BH63

Great pictures and report. I love Namibia.

Thank you very much everybody Glad if you enjoyed it. I'm writting my last hunting trip. I'm pretty busy now but I think it should be good for the next week-end. Cheers

great hippo and elephants! Congratulations

Congrats! Thanks for posting.

looks like a great trip- congrats!

Nice hunt! Thank you for sharing.

Excellent report, thanks for sharing.

I've got an elephant hunt scheduled for my 30th birthday as well.

.

Great report. Well done on some good animals! Thanks for sharing.

Charlie

.

Very nice report, and well done. Your English is fine