My dad and I decided to take our first 'once in a lifetime' plains game safari hunt in South Africa this past week. For background, I grew up obsessed with books by "Karamojo Bell," Capstick, Teddy Roosevelt, Ruarke and so on, captivated with hunts in the 'dark continent.'

It didn't take long to figure out that South Africa is the preferred destination for first time safari goers for several reasons, simple logistics, prices, language, etc. From there we found several safari outfitters who offered what we were looking to hunt and weren't impossibly far from airports and so on. We settled on Karoo Wild Safaris (http://www.karoowildsafaris.co.za/). They seemed to offer the flexibility of what we wanted to hunt (kudu, gemsbok, impala, zebra, blue wildebeast and warthog) from their listed hunting packages. I emailed them what we were looking to do, two hunters with one guide, or professional hunter (PH) as they're known, that way we essentially got twice the hunts since we stalked the game together.

Victor Watson, the PH, promptly replied to my emails and we were able to price out a package that suited what we wanted to hunt, and how we wanted to hunt. So we booked the hunt, the flight and off we went for Port Elizabeth, South Africa on September 1st! The price was surprisingly reasonable, $5,500.00 for our desired package, all inclusive (trophy fees for all animals, daily PH rates, food, accomodations...). Air to Port Elizabeth was $1,640.00. Compare that to an alaskan moose hunt where the trophy fee ALONE is $6,500.00 and if you shoot a moose on day one, you're relegated to fishing and sightseeing for the rest of the week. No brainer choice to go with a South African safari.

To avoid the hassle of importing firearms, we elected to accept Victor’s offer to use his rifles, free of charge, paying only for the ammunition we used. We found them accurate and in superb condition. The rifle we used was a “Finnbear” .270 fitted with a suppressor, which helped camouflage the location from which the shot came to the animals.

We landed in Port Elizabeth to a sign with our name on it. Victor personally met us at the airport, helped us with our bags and drove us to Haaspoort Bush Camp where we spent much of our time while there.







Our days began with a light breakfast, spot and stalk hunting until lunch, after lunch was more of the same. After the day’s hunting, Victor’s wife Lindsay would set up a dinner and desert fit for kings while we had a couple of beers and some nice local wines. The animals were WILD too, no easy hunts on this trip! For my dad and me, the quality of a trophy animal is judged more by the challenge of the hunt than the size of the horns. Victor very much understood that and treated us to some of the best hunting we've ever experienced.

Day one was a reality check. We tried stalking a small group of zebra, got spotted and it sounded like the gates opening at the Kentucky Derby with the hoof beats trailing off in to the bush. We also snuck up on a herd of 30 or so impala and watched them for a long time waiting for a ram to appear with no luck.

Day two, we had better luck. We managed my first impala, and despite Victor's coaching, I managed to shoot the wrong one. Victor was doing his best to direct me to the largest ram in a large group of impala that were moving away from us. He told me to take the second one from the left, which I did, unfortunately, I was looking through a rifle scope and didn't see the true left end of the herd. A beautiful animal nonetheless, if not the one I should've taken. Below is Jacobes (not sure of the spelling) and Ricardo, our tracker/skinner duo, hauling my impala to the truck.



Later that same day, we spotted a group of three zebra quite a distance away, but with a nice dried up stream bed leading from us to them. Victor and I set out, low crawling at times and moving through the stream bed to within 60 yards or so of the zebra. Unfortunately, from that location we could only see their heads and couldn't judge which one was the best animal. In trying to better our view of them, we ended up thoroughly spooking them (again, opening gates at the derby). Seeing that they were up against a natural barrier and were moving up an opposing hill, Victor and I ran as close as was practical, set up the tripod of shooting sticks and I found my aim remarkably steady in spite of the range, 240 yards we later ranged it at. I gave the largest zebra one shot, moments later he was expired and tumbling down the hillside. It was a fantastic stalk and a memorable trophy for me.



During that stalk, I wrecked the first of three pairs of hunting pants I would eventually go through, victims of the terrain.


I read somewhere that once you get over the feeling that you're shooting a horse, they're quite a trophy. I never got that feeling whatsoever. In fact, zebra was near the top of my list, recalling in the old days that a zebra hide in your trophy room was the true indication that you'd really been there.

Later, Victor and my dad managed a successful stalk on a blesbok, with me in tow. Gorgeous animal, and a zebra of his own later on. The stalk:



Blesbok:



Part of the appeal of the trip was that from various connections, Victor had the ability to take us to several different properties, each with it's own landscape and wildlife. That way, we got to experience much more of South Africa than we otherwise would. With that, we travelled to Grant's property, Victor's brother-in-law, targeting gemsbok. We had the pleasure of meeting Grant's family who welcomed us as though we were extended family visiting from abroad.

My dad managed a huge gemsbok for himself, being his turn to hunt. Later, after a failed and rather challenging stalk, Victor and Grant set up a well coordinated push of a gemsbok herd right to me. It wasn't what I'd call a drive, more of a smart placement of me, the shooter, and encouraging the herd to work their way in that direction. It was a relatively close shot when Grant coached me to the best trophy, at only about 130 yards.



The following days we focused on kudu, aka “the gray ghost,” a most appropriate alias. A couple of the most challenging stalks I recall being a part of resulted in some near opportunities, but no shots I was comfortable taking. Later, we sat at an ambush site and this bruiser came by, our first (and only) kudu.



We expressed to Victor that we were interested in seeing some “big five” dangerous game (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, cape buffalo) and he essentially gave us the option of a trip to Krueger National Park to drive and look at animals, OR we could go to another property some distance away that had the animals we were after on it as well as dangerous game. That way, we weren’t guaranteed to see them, but if we did it would be a more authentic experience. Easy choice.





While searching for my dad’s kudu and a warthog for each of us, we came across a sable:



Several giraffe also. This view made us think of the scene in the movie Jurassic Park where the brontosaurs pop their heads up over the trees.



And this guy let us walk fairly close to him:



Having no luck with the kudu, we focused on stalking warthog. They’re what dad and I called “the other gray ghost” since they’re extremely wary and intelligent. We never got a chance at a good hog, but while entering some thick brush, Victor motioned for us to freeze. We came upon a white rhino and her calf at about ten yards distance! After a couple of tense minutes staring at each other, she must have decided we weren’t worth the effort to stomp in to mush and we eased back and away, leaving them alone. This was the best pic I could manage while forming an escape route should she decide to have a go at us:



A watering hole near where we searched for warthog:



And another group of rhino, not quite so close



We saw a ton of elephant sign, but spotted no “tuskers.”



The next day, we went to yet another property where we targeted blue wildebeast, aka “poor man’s cape buffalo.” A nice stalk led us to a group of three wildebeast hanging out with a small herd of impala. When hunting in this fashion, it is important to note that you’re not hunting a single animal, but the entire herd of animals. If any one is spooked, they all run. So in targeting the largest blue wildebeast in the herd, I took note of an interesting vista. The crosshairs of the scope were on a blue wildebeast, but in that same scope view I had a waterbuck and several impala. Three distinct big game species in one scope view, any of which could have been hunted had we chose to. I let the round go on the wildebeast, we heard the bullet strike and off they went. The wildebeast ran, seemingly unaffected, past our truck some distance away. Kelvin, the property’s owner, said he could see it spewing blood as it passed and we found lung blood on it’s trail. We could see it moving through the open country for close to two miles. I think that since it was higher than I was on the hillside, the bullet may have only taken out one lung from its point of impact. Anyway, we caught up with it nearly two miles later and after a short foot chase I was able to put it down with a neck shot. Blue wildebeast is one tough animal. It’s as though their lungs aren’t vital organs!



Earlier in the week, Victor generously offered me a chance to get a better trophy impala, free of charge, so we focused on getting a better ram for me. We spent our last day of hunting chasing large herds of impala, 30-40 in each herd, without success. I had a couple of chances, but ranged them at 300+ yards with the laser, too far for my taste. Finally, my dad and Victor’s dad who was hunting with us that last day, were able to distract a herd of 30 ewes with only a single ram holding their attention by milling about in the open, while Jacobes and I stalked them from the opposite direction. Jacobes took me to a steep rock face and asked, “can you climb?” and so we did. We made it to the top of the rock face, 50-75’ up, and it allowed us a perfect stalk on the herd from across a valley. I think they felt little threat from that direction, knowing the forbidding terrain that we were coming from. As they fed, focusing on the dads, we were able to set up a comfortable, rock solid shooting position that I ranged at 197 yards to the sole ram. I sent one his way, he ran 50 yards or so and lay down looking around. Knowing that if you connect with an animal, you have to pay the trophy fee whether or not you collect it, I saw no down side in sending another. I ranged it at 264 yards, steadied myself on the tripod of shooting sticks and let another go with immediate results. When we approached the ram, we realized that he was of rather large body, but his horns, which looked significantly heavier than my last impala, were still not those of a true mature ram. I knew I’d disappointed Victor, the whole point of this was to get a mature impala ram. None of us, including me, had gotten a great view of his horns and we all made the assumption that since he commanded a herd of so many ewes, that he must certainly be the alpha male of the area. Turns out, rams in the other herds we had stalked were more mature in terms of horn development, but this guy must have been the meanest one around. In any event, like I said before, we judge the quality of the trophy more by how much we enjoy the hunt than the horn length. It was a fantastic stalk and hunt, fun and challenging at the same time.





It was an incredible hunt and overall vacation. The hunting and terrain could not have been more of what we had imagined as our ideal safari, wild and rugged. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough to anyone considering such a hunt. Victor and his staff worked so hard to provide us quality hunts it was almost beyond belief. The staff, including Victor’s wife Lindsay and Jacobes’ wife Cynthia who worked around camp, were awake before us, labored long after we broke for dinner and drinks, did hard labors tirelessly, all with a smile on their faces.

Below, I’ve pasted the review of their camp on tripadvisor.com. That site is more geared toward the non-hunting crowd I think, so I focused on the accommodations and so on:

My dad and I recently had the pleasure of staying with Victor and Lindsay for a few days at their Haaspoort lodge. Their property is simply exquisite. The landscape is rugged, beautiful and absolutely FULL of life everywhere you look. In one glance we would routinely see multiple species of exotic wild animals roaming at their pleasure. At night, we were treated to a seemingly impossible view of the night's sky, so full of stars and unblemished with city lights as to seem a painting.

The accomodations are first rate as well. Their chalets are stylish, incredibly comfortable and well maintained. Meals with the Watsons were a highlight of every day. Victor and Lindsay were SO incredibly welcoming to us and hospitable, we both considered their company and dinner conversation to be as much a part of the vacation experience as enjoying the outdoors as we intended. Speaking of dinner... I have dangerous food allergies, which Lindsay paid incredible special attention to, which must be quite an annoyance and inconvenience as they prepare all of their delicious dishes "from scratch" as we say. No cake mixes or canned anything as far as we could tell. Simply wonderful, fresh and healthy.

As a whole, the vacation thoroughly exceeded our expectations in every possible way. The reason I only gave my "overall rating" of their property a five star review is because there wasn't a sixth star. I would give vacationing at this property my highest possible recommendation.

Victor, Lindsay and the rest of their extended family that we had the pleasure of meeting, if you're reading this, a hearty thanks for the hospitality and vacation of a lifetime!

Best regards,
-Jim and Gerald

Nicely done report. I just finished my first plains game hunt in Namibia last month, and I echo your sentiments.

Great report, thanks!

Nice report, thanks for posting it.

You will be back sooner than you think!

Sounds like you had a great time. Congratulations.

Nice report, but at this stage in time and from here, it appears as though the photos have gone "walk-about?"

Very nice report, and a great way to begin what will be a lifetime of safaris.

Congrats on your safari and thanks for the report. I particularly enjoyed reading your experience and agree that a true trophy is the one well earned.

Congratulations to you and your Dad. You'll go back!!!!!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Wow, thanks all for the positive feedback! There must have been some temporary issue with the image hosting, seems to be back online now.

I love the Karoo desert ,one of the best territories i hunted in my life ,congratulations well done.

quote:

Originally posted by Uncas:
Wow, thanks all for the positive feedback! There must have been some temporary issue with the image hosting, seems to be back online now.

For some reason the pictures are not showing here. I do not know why as everything else shows.

Congrats on a great hunt, the Karoo is a fun place and has much game. Looking forward to my return there.

Thanks for the report guys. I loved every minute of our hunt together and hope we can do it again sometime.

Thanks for sharing.

Now your life is ruined you will spend all your time trying to figure out how to get back.


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That looks like a very fun hunt, nice pics and report .