Hi Guys,

I previously posted a report on the African forum. I have expanded on it and added photo’s of my hunt last August. I hope you enjoy them.

I hunted with my friend Janek, and we kind of split up and hunted 1x1 for some days or parts of and the went out together for other days. It was a very flexible itinery with our only request being no shooting or stalking from the vehicle, or waiting for animals to come to us. We wanted to make life difficult for ourselves and as such every time the trigger was pulled it was well earned. I was shooting a Sauer 202 in 308win and 168grain Barnes Triple Shock’s.

The outfitter was Dubula Mangi. They are the hunting part of http://www.Execubush.com , and I can’t recommend them highly enough. Dennie Taljaard is the owner and PH and he worked his behind off for us for the week. We couldn’t have asked for more, and Janek is already booking a family safari back and I am scheduled for 2007 at the latest!!

We Took Warthog (x7), Impala (x3), Blue Wildebeest, Bushbuck, Eland. We had the opportunity to also take Redhartebeast, Tsessebe, Jackal, as well as more of what we already had in the bag. I had two 25†impala turn up in the middle of stalks on Eland and Wildebeest that I didn’t take…

The pigs were having a hard time with the drought. The ranch owner wanted us to knock out any pigs that were not with young, so I duly did my best taking 6 in the week!!

We started off quite badly with the Virgin flight we were on being delayed for 13hours. This meant that we didn't get to spend the two days in the Kruger to do game viewing we had planned for. Instead we arrived late on Saturday night in Jo'burg and made our way towards Pietesburg.

We stayed in a lodge over night and got up early to get up to Seditse. The additional cost of the accommodation we had to book on the first night due to the delay was borne by the outfitter in the end which I thought was extremely generous considering it wasn’t his fault at all. By the time we got there we had time to check the rifles and get out hunting for a couple of hours. I had never shot the ammo that I had taken with me (cringe!!). My friend had hand loaded the 168 grain triple Shock's for me and shown me the groups he had got with my rifle. So you can imagine when I shot three shots on the target putting the first two through the same hole and the third 1cm higher!! Confidence was on the up!!! I only wish I had taken a photo, but I was to busy pretending that I always shoot like that!!!

On that first afternoon Janek took an Impala. It was a young ram and the stalk got him into within 20yds of the beast. The borrowed 30-06 was right on the mark and he was in the bag. On the way to the camp we saw a young waterbuck with a cow, but that was all. It was nice to get a couple of hours in the bush and know what to expect for the following full day.

The next day we had a stalk out early in the morning. It was my shot. We came across a few bunches of Impala but nothing really worth me taking yet. Then after about 3 hours a Ram presented itself at about 60m. He saw us but with the wind in our favour I had time to get on the sticks as he was turning to go. A quick whistle, and he stopped long enough for me to shoot as he took one look back. As I looked through the scope at my first African animal, I seemed to go to autopilot. He went about 20yds. The shot hit him just behind the shoulder and on the line of colour change. He was a nice wide Ram coming in just over 22", with a nice wide curl. My African account had been opened.




Later that day Janek took his second and better impala, which came in, at just under 22" but with nice parallel points. It was time to look for something different. We were starting to think that perhaps this hunting in Africa lark is not so difficult… Little did we know that we had been lulled into a false sense of security!! The rest of the day was uneventful, as we didn’t get onto anything we stalked. It seemed the animals were very jumpy indeed.



That evening the food round the Boma was superb and the hospitality was faultless. We sat and ate with the family each night swapping hunting stories and "testing" the Castle beers, and Dennie's G+T making capabilities. I have to say that even though the hunting was great, the real experience was getting to understand the way of life for people living in these remote areas. 450miles to the nearest shop if I remember correctly means that you have to plan everything well in advance to avoid being caught out. I can only imagine what it is like for those in other less developed African countries where the camps are a plane ride away from “civilisationâ€. I was so immersed in the bush that I even dreamt about it to the exclusion of all else. It was escapism to the extreme.




The next day we walked long and hard & I had passed up on a 43"ish Kudu and a 23" Blue Wildebeest that we got to 15m on. Again we came across some more Warthogs. I was looking at a good set of tusks through the Bino's so we started a stalk. As we came around a bush another pig we hadn't seem was in our way. It was a smaller Sow but we had been asked to thin them out so I took her from the sticks at 40yds seeing as the opportunity was there. She ran about 40m and dropped. The blood trail was so good that even I could follow it!! This was the start of my love affair with shooting Warthogs.

On the Wednesday We decided to split up and hunt one on one. I continued to hunt with Dennie and we soon picked up the spoor of a herd of Eland fresh from that morning. We tracked them for about 3-4km taking most of the morning. It was so exciting for me as Dennie explained how he interpreted the spoor and pointed things out that I would not have known. There was a bull in the group and from the square fronted spoor he seemed quite big. After about 3hours we knew we were close. We found warm dung and Dennie thought we would catch up within the next 30mins. I was so engrossed in the tracking that I passed up on a 24"-25" Impala at 20yds on the sticks!!! I really wanted to see the tracking through...

Anyway, as we went, we didn't know that the Eland herd had turned and come back towards us. We found ourselves each on the opposite side of a bush from each other!! This was the point at which I though I should tread on a twig, Just to see what would happen you understand… By pure coincidence the Eland decided that was the exact moment that they wanted to be somewhere else…. We counted 12, thinking that a couple more had got out unseen. I was on the sticks looking at a gap in the bush as they went through and we called the sex as they passed. I watched as each one of these magnificent animals stopped for a moment with the crosshairs on its shoulder. Dennie stood next to me and instructed that I should pass. As 6-7 cows went through suddenly a bull appeared. He stopped in the gap and I waited for Dennie to tell me to shoot. The crosshairs were on the shoulder and the bull was about 50m distant. He called him as a young bull and best to leave. The safety went back on as the herd took off downwind and so we made our way to lunch. I may not have pulled the trigger but the mornings tracking was just amazing, and I was mad for some Eland action from there onwards. Every time I saw Eland spoor I wanted Dennie to follow it up. In fact we did something similar with both Kudu and Blue Wildebeest during the week, which was really the kind of African hunting I was after.

On our way we came upon a bunch of pigs. I said to Dennie that I wanted to stalk to a tree with a fallen branch to rest on and take a shot. He said that only a dumb Greek guy with a fetish for shooting pigs could pick a tree right out in the open as his shooting position.
I said,
“Dennie, have you got your radio with you?â€
“Yes, Why?â€
“Because I want you to call back to base and ask them to send me a decent PH that can get me to that tree to shoot my piggy...â€

He kind of rolled his eyes, having got used to my crap by now, and got me to the tree. Although I’m not sure why we needed to go through all the thorns, (Huh Cordell??) These guys are very proud and like a challenge. As I settled in I looked through the scope and he told me that the pig out on the far right was the one to shoot. Then I saw another Wartie coming in from behind to the right.
“What about the one behind you? I thought you guys were supposed to be all seeing and all knowing???â€
Something along the lines of “Get knotted and shoot the forking pig†was what I heard as I dropped the pig where it stood. I saw it go down through the scope and out another round in the chamber as the group broke up. There were piggies all about, but I picked up on another as it broke to my left and the 308 did the rest.



“Great… now I have to chase pigs around instead of going to lunchâ€
â€What are you babbling about now?†I asked.
“You missed that pig twice.â€
I got up and walked over to my two pigs, and demonstrated with one hand how many shots I fired and with the other how many pigs were dead on the floor. We laughed and shook on it. I wasn’t sure what was more fun at that point; the hunting or trading insults with a guy that was quickly becoming a good friend.

When we got back to the Ranch Piet, the owner, told Dennie that if we saw any Eland to shoot the males regardless of size, as he had some new blood coming in and needed the old Bulls out. There was no Trophy fee on them apart from one big bull that was proving elusive, who was available at half price. Either way after the stalk and tracking we had experienced I had Eland Fever!!! I was keen to get on of these elusive Giants…. Even if it meant I had to pass up on a pig!!!

We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the Crocodile farm and then we went wing shooting. On the way I got a chance at another pig so I got involved again, the TSX going right into his ear. The guys were nattering something in Africaanns and my name and the word “Vark†was in there a lot…



On the Thursday we went to another ranch about 20 mins away that was on the river to hunt Bushbuck. The bushbuck was probably the animal I wanted most after the Eland now. Dennie was getting a bit concerned as we had yet to get onto any of the big antelope. He seemed to take this quite personally but I wasn’t too bothered. Either way he decided to take a tracker with us on this other piece of land. We met up with a tracker on the local farm and almost immediately started spotting Bushbuck but mainly females. After about an hour we had seen several Bushbucks but no shootable Rams. The bush here was very different to where we were. The greenery was noticeable more prominent and there seemed to be more open patches. We were spying a bunch of females when a buck came out from behind the bush. I saw him and immediately decided he was mine. I had no idea what he would measure but I knew he was the one. I pointed him out to Dennie who couldn't see from where he was and he said that he was a shooter but not the best. I didn't care so the 308 did the business from the PH’s shoulder at 110m. The Bushbuck dropped on the spot.



We spent the rest of the day tracking again & I got onto a Waterbuck that was estimated by Piet the ranch owner to be about 30". He was facing me and as I took the safety off he went behind the bushes. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for them and caught up twice but both times the bull was absent and the wind was doing its best to ruin our chances. Somewhere along the way I think I shot a pig. It's getting fuzzy and I lost track a bit. If I remember it was just as we were finishing for lunch and was another shot through the brain from the front. It was at about 5yds as I was waiting for it to come clear. It only came out of the bushes to go round the stump I was hiding behind!!

That evening at last light Janek got the chance at a solitary Blue wildebeast. A single shot from the 30-06 he had borrowed did the trick and the first big one was in the bag. He was a very old solitary bull and a good animal to take.



Friday we hunted hard all morning. I was starting to feel the sun and the water was going down very quickly. I think I was a little dehydrated, and sun stroked. We had also stepped up the pace at my agreement to see if we could get onto one of the big guys. To date we were walking between 10km-15km each day. On this day we covered nearly 8-9kms by lunch. With nothing done by lunch we went back for a rest via the borehole to refill the flasks. I was quite shattered but insisted on carrying on for our last day. We took an hour for lunch where I got lots of water into me, and plenty of orange squash to get the sugars up. It did the trick and I felt great. We decided to drive and spot game to stalk.

We saw some small Kudu and several groups of waterbuck but no shootable Bulls. Then we spotted an Eland in the bush at about 200yds. Dennie identified it as a Bull so down we got and started to stalk. It took about 20mins to get up onto the bull and Dennie thought he was a decent bull but a young one from the obscured view he had. The view was obstructed but we decided to try and get a shot. As I got out of the cover and sat behind Dennie I could feel my heart trying to come through my chest, I looked through the scope but the bull was looking away from me at around 100m. Then he wandered further away. I remember consciously thinking that I was pleased he had moved on as I needed to compose myself. I pulled myself together and felt that now I was ready for the shot. We decided to try and get closer. So we crept up onto him again to get within 80m. As he quartered away from I could see his left side. I put the cross hair behind the shoulder and squeezed. Suddenly the bush erupted. I saw my bull take off and a Blue Wildebeest ran in front of us 20m away that we hadn't seen in the thick bush along with all the other Eland Cows we hadn't seen. Dennie asked me how I felt about the shot and I said it felt good. I was confident that I had my breathing under control and I was nice and steady as I shot, and I saw the beast react in the scope, which is usually a good sign in my experience... He said he thought the bull was hit hard, but it might have been a bit far back. I had seen the back legs sag at the strike and the bull had not been too lively as he moved off. We kept watching the herd and they didn't seem to want to move off too far, so we gave them a few minutes before we set off to follow up. Dennie was sure we would need a follow up as he thought we had taken a deflection. As we went forward I saw the bull behind a tree looking at me through the fork in the trunk. He was 20m away and the neck was clearly visible from the front, but Dennie wanted to be sure it was the right bull, so I held off shooting. The last thing we needed was two shot Eland to chase about. He was the right one, but by the time I got on to the sticks he turned and moved off. We could see that the bullet had gone in a long way back close to the groin, but he was bleeding heavily and was in no hurry. As the bull moved off he stopped and stood broadside to me at 50m. I got on the sticks and had a clear shot with no brush. I was so sure he was dead that I made the cardinal sin and lifted my head as I pulled the trigger sending the bullet off target.... This was getting bad. The bull wet 15m and lay down. Dennie said to me to drop the sticks and shoot free hand if he runs, and I told him to shoot if he got the chance. Even though my first shot had taken a deflection I had bodged a perfect chance on the second shot to put the record straight. I didn't want the bull to suffer any more so I again told Dennie to shoot if the opportunity arose. The bull took off and a 300grain ballistic silver tip from Dennie’s .375 H+H took him through the ham and into the chest as he took off into the bush. He turned and crossed me as I ran forward. As he passed a gap I took a freehand shoot straight into the lungs. He staggered and took another step forward. I remember hearing the bullet strike and thinking how it had managed to soak it all up. He was still on his feet but I knew he was done. He looked back over so I chambered another round and shot him in the neck. Down he went and I had my Eland. To say I was emotional was an understatement. The image of those last few seconds is indelibly printed in my memory and will be with me until I die. A flood of emotions washed over me, from relief it was over, guilt for bodging the second shot, and some sadness for the end of such a magnificent animal. I made sure the bull was completely dead and gave the PH a big bear hug!!

You can see in the photo the entry from my first shot. The blood behind is where the PH took the running away shot, which really put the brakes on. All the other shots were on the other side and nothing exited.



We recovered the bullet from the 3rd shot through the lungs on the off side under the skin. I have a picture of it and am planning to get it put on a key ring when I get home. When we opened him up he had two shots going through the lungs, and one shot, grazing the Aorta which I think that was my first shot, and the reason why that bull didn't just take off into the bush. I’ll admit here that we never fully agreed with Dennie about which bullet did what but I am confident that this is the case. To be honest though all that really matters ids that the Eland was successfully followed up, and the rest is academic.



The next day we had a couple of hours to hunt in the morning before we had to go to the Airport. So I went out and shot another wartie between the eyes to end the holiday. After all the excitement with the Eland I'd had enough fun with antelope for now!! We sat up in the Blind over the water hole and I took about 100 photos.


After about 40mins, the big Blue Wildebeest came in about 15yds away to drink. Here was the same bull that I had stalked 4 times that week. Between the wind, Guineas and my big feet, he had managed to evade me for the whole week. I took great pleasure in taking his photograph and knowing that the guy with the gun doesn’t always win.



There are some sights that just stay with you, until the next time you get to witnes them...


Regards,

FB

I was there too, I'll keep it brief though...

First day. Arrived mid afternoon. We threw the bags into our rooms, zeroed the guns. The 30-06 I borrowed seemed sweet. I knew I would have no issues shooting with this.

We set out for an aclimatisation stalk, 2x1, and within 20 minutes there was Mr Impala in my sights. He went down to the shot after staggering a few paces. My ovewhelming feeling was "Thatnk God I didn't bugger it up". I was so relieved.

"That was too easy" I said to Dennie the PH. He was not amused!! Something along the lines of "it isn't always that easy...it won't all be like that!". Hmmm...in hindsight he was 100% correct.

Dennie was a great guy to hunt with, he took the time to explain so much about the bush, the animals, their spoor, their droppings etc etc. As you might have gathered from Kiri (Fallow Buck) he was a good character too.

My second Impala was a bit more difficult, but to be honest still a quite easy stalk. I was not so good with my shot though, I pulled it but knew that I had done so the moment I took it. "Oh sh!t, he's a runner"....but in fact he only went about 50-60 yards though it took us several minutes to find him as the bush was thickish and the blood trail sparse.

Kiri went hog wild...I only had the one. A hog of no great trophy value, but a very memorable stalk. I was offered the shot several times but I was determined to get as close as I could (if it ran off...there was always another hog tomorrow). We ended up belly crawling up to a fallen log that I used as a rest. I got a rifle full of sand (OOPS!) whan I put my hand down on some nasty thorns. After a bit of a blow to clear the sights the hog went down. I'll always remember that stalk (the hog doesn't have that luxury though).

The next few days we split up into 2 1x1. I hunted with Piet the ranch owner. He had the most incredible eyesight! Didn't bother with binoculars...I swear that he didn't need them. We spent the best part of a day trying to get onto Blue Wilderbeest. The herd gave us plent of looks but there was never an shot on a bull available. Right at the end of the day we were on our way to meet up with Kiri for some dusk wingshooting (we both took shotguns too, wingshooting is our passion) when we came upon the lone bull in the photo above. Up went the sticks and "click" went the trigger. "Click"? SAFETY CATCH! He did go down to the actual shot though...lucky thing that safety catch...I had a hefty dose of buck fever and would have pulled the shot into his neck instaed of the heart shot that came with the "benefit" of a pause for breath. He was a real old bruiser, coat full of scars from battles past.

I was done at this point. We tried very hard to get onto a Kudu but they were on to us...I'm not sure who was hunting who with the Kudu. We would glimpse a bull and then creep through the bush, taking circular routes, usung the wind, silent as anything. After 30mins to an hour we would sneak a look around a bush to see the Kudu looking right at us as if to say "Yep, there you are...did you really think I didn't know you were there all the time. Anyway, enough of this, I'm off...see-ya".

Suffice to say that 2 days of Kudu stalking did not result in a Kudu. I guess it wasn't too easy after all!

See the end part this report for a different perspective...concentrating on the food! A subject very close to Kiri's heart!

Previous report

F-B & UK,

I'm sure I can speak for our European AR Brothers - obviously you guys had a great time and thanks for a qulity write-up on you trip.

Hi,
Great report and beautiful pictures too.

Glad to hear you went 'hog-wild', a period every hunter should go through!!

Thanks for sharing memories from a great hunt! Beautiful pics, FB!
I love the stories!

FB & UKhunter
Great write up and pictures!!!!!! FB you didn't scratch that 202 did you?????? Take care and God bless. cordell (aka Vark Skieter) (hmmmmm did you mention THORNS!!!!!!! )


cordell

FB,

Great pictures and stories, thanks for sharing them.

BigBullet