Joe and Cheryl Cunningham
Friona, Texas
South African Hunt Report

May 27-June 12th 2006
Not much is going on this time of the year in the way of hunting, so being a newcomer to AR I thought I would post a hunt report about a hunt that my wife Cheryl and I took this past May and June to South Africa. After purchasing this hunt at our local SCI fund-raiser my wife and I spent the past year working out the details. We booked our hunt with De Duine Safaris. The owner/operator is Bertus Meyer and the outfit is based in Vryburg, South Africa. We booked to hunt Nyala, Gemsbok, and Bushbuck. This was to be a seven day hunt taken the end of May as soon as my wife, who teaches fifth grade, ended her school year. This was to be my third time in Africa (twice in Zimbabwe). However, this would be my wife’s first and I wanted to ensure that she had an enjoyable adventure her first time in Africa.

Saturday May 27
We’re off!! Our trip started with a short flight to Dallas and attendance at Cheryl’s youngest son’s high school graduation. We arrived Saturday at DFW airport three hours early for our flight on American Airlines to Chicago where we would connect to London. We had a bit of a dispute with the American Airlines staff because my bullets, which were hand loaded, were not in the original, store-bought case. This caused a lot of confusion and frustration because the counter rep, who was trying to adhere to a policy, didn’t seem to understand the issues surrounding hand-loaded ammo. After two hours we resolved the issue with a supervisor and the guns and ammo were approved and loaded. We caught a flight to Chicago where we had a short layover. We bought a day pass to the Ambassador Club for $50 and we were able to take our short respite in luxury. This money is well spent and includes clubs in all airports for the duration of the flight(s) to the destination. The club includes amenities like snacks, showers, computer access, T.V., magazines/newspapers, and cocktails. At 7:30 p.m. we boarded a flight to London. Cheryl doesn’t do well on long flights so she was dead tired after we landed 6 12/ hours later at London Heathrow. American Airline’s partner, British Airways, was the carrier for our flight to Johannesburg and their staff was fully knowledgeable about firearm handing. We had a representative waiting for us when we cleared customs and he whisked us through all the necessary steps to get our rifles on the next flight without any trouble. Again, the club pass came in extremely handy as we had quite a long layover. We were able to eat, shower, and sleep in fully reclining lounge chairs which helped make the trip much more comfortable.

Monday May 29
Ten hours after leaving London we finally arrived in South Africa!!! The flight on British Airways was comfortable and accommodating. The staff was pleasant and the food was delicious. Going through customs at 7:00AM is not the best, but being back in Africa feels so wonderful. Once again, we had a security person waiting on us when we got through customs and had absolutely no problems getting the guns cleared. We had a four hour wait for our plane to Kimberly so we went to the South African Airways lounge and showered and rested. I have never used the lounge areas before this trip, but it is definitely the way to go. After an uneventful and speedy trip on South African Express we landed in Kimberly, South Africa. Upon landing we found ourselves looking out over a part of Africa that resembled our own Southwest. We were met by Bertus at the airport and we loaded our gear for the 2 ½ hour drive to Vryburg, South Africa. We saw even more reminders of home; corn ready to be harvested, shocked peanuts, and fields of green wheat. We were taken to the Kriel Bed and Breakfast on the outskirts of Vryburg that adjoins the Leon Taljaard nature reserve. The smell of Africa, the bird life, the animals! Over a welcoming cocktail we were able to look out onto the reserve and see White Rhino and Gemsbok grazing unconcerned only hundred yards away. You can only imagine the smile of contentment on my face. I’m back after ten long years. This country has never left my soul or spirit; not for a single day. I was back in the land that I have longed to share with the most important person in my life. I was standing in the place that I had bored my friends to death about with my stories of past hunts. I was ready for new beginnings, new memories, and new friends. After a nice dinner at The Spur, a local BBQ place, we retired for some much needed sleep with thoughts of tomorrow’s quest for Gemsbok.

Tuesday May 30
We were up early and out to the other side of the reserve to check rifle zero and pick up the game scout. I took a custom 375 H & H Mauser loaded with 270 grain Barnes TSX and a custom 7STW loaded with 160 grain Barnes TSX. The 7mm STW shoots the TSX into a ½ group at 3150fps and is one of my favorite loads for this rifle. The 375 shoots a 1 ½ group with the TSX not its best load but I wanted to see how the bullet performed on Gemsbok.


The conservancy had a number of animals available but we were only interested in Gemsbok. We spent most of the morning familiarizing ourselves with the lay of the land and saw Blesbok, Warthog, Wildebeest, and several large groups of Gemsbok. Within one of these groups there were several cows with horns in the 40 inch range, but we were looking for an exceptional bull. We stalked several bulls but could never get close enough for a shot. After a short lunch break we decided to go an area of the reserve that we hadn’t yet looked over. Topping a rise we spotted a group of Gemsbok that included a decent bull which deserved a closer look. We planned a route that would intercept the group in a choke point within a valley. If the bull was good enough, we wanted to be in sufficient range for a shot. However, the gemsbok didn’t share our plan and grazed over the hill before the choke point with out offering us a chance for a decent view of the bulls in the group. Plan B saw us loading up again and circling the area to try and get in front of the herd. This time we came across another hill well in front of the herd. There they stood only 100 yards in front of us. We slipped off the back of the vehicle and used available cover to glass the herd. Cautiously staying parallel with them as they grazed, we were able to look closely and we spotted a good bull grazing behind some cows and lesser bulls. We had to keep moving to try and keep the bull within sight. Suddenly, Bertus whispered that our bull had stopped giving us a clear field of fire at about 80 yards. He brought up the sticks and I placed the crosshairs of the 375 with a 1.75x6 Leupold scope just behind the Gembock’s shoulder. I began to squeeze the trigger and just as I was about to fire I glimpsed a form in the edge of the scope. A cow had come ambling past and as soon as she cleared the bull, Bertus told me to take the shot. The sight picture looked good so I sent the 270 grain TSX on its way. With the impact the bull jumped straight into the air, hitting the ground in a dead run. He ran behind a set of dunes to our right front and we lost sight of him. We began to walk towards where I had fired and about 100 yards over a hill to our right there he was. I placed the rifle back on the sticks and the bull began to waver. He then stumbled and fell. We hurried over to where he was but about half way there, he stood up and ran another thirty yards before falling again, this time for good. By the time we got to him he was breathing his last breath. My shot was just a little high, allowing him to go about one hundred and fifty yards after being hit. What a beautiful animal. Cheryl had a ringside seat for the whole thing and was very impressed with the tenacity of this African animal. It was only four o’clock and we had taken a beautiful gemsbok after a day of walking and stalking in some beautiful desert country. After pictures we loaded the animal for the trip to the skinning shed and with this we found ourselves at the end of our first hunting day in South Africa.


Wednesday June 1
On day two we found ourselves driving about 1½ hours to a beautiful ranch house near the small town of Camel in search of an Nyala. Bertus was acquainted with a rancher who had two bulls that were constantly fighting. He feared that one of them would eventually kill the other and that he would lose a valuable animal regardless. I don’t consider this a way to hunt, but decided to give it a chance. We arrived at the ranch and met the owner, Ampie Strauss, who told us where the animals usually kept themselves at that particular time of the day. The ranch was beautiful; with Giraffe, Zebra, and Eland parting way for Bertus, Cheryl and I as we began our hunt. We hadn’t gone two hundred yards when Bertus spotted a group of Nyala moving through the brush ahead of us. We stopped and I got the 7mm STW on the sticks and started looking for the bull in the thick bush. About 100 yards ahead there was an opening with an Nyala cow standing still and looking directly at us. I peered through the scope and as I did a bull walked into view, stopped and stared at us. Bertus put the binoculars on him and gave me the okay signal. I put the cross hairs in the center of his chest, with him quartering towards us, and pulled the trigger. At the shot he humped up, with his head down, and stumbled forward for about 20 yards before falling dead. Another beautiful animal. The Nyala has long dark hair, a white chevron on his nose and spiral shaped horns. An African animal with striking features.

We spent the rest of the morning skinning out the Nyala and touring the grounds and the home. Cheryl was fascinated with the flowers and trees. She kept busy taking pictures and playing with the owner’s pet meerkat named Coo-Roo (for the sound it makes. She was a wonderful little creature with manners like a house cat. She played, snuggled and entertained us. By the time we left Cheryl was devising a plan to get one for our home. Just what we needed! Another critter to add to our menagerie. Thank goodness they are supposedly non-importable.



I also found out that this type of hunt was not for me. Cheryl was not comfortable with the collection aspect of the hunt, so we talked to Bertus that night over dinner in his home about the possibility of our hunting bushbuck in a more remote setting. Boy, be careful what you wish for.

Thursday June 2-Sunday June 5th
We loaded up for a four hour drive to a ranch outside of Zeerust; a town close to the Botswana border. For this hunt Bertus’ father Korbus and an apprentice PH named Aubrey would be our companions. Korbus has a world of experience and had a myriad of interesting stories about hunting in Zimbabwe in the sixties. Upon arriving at the ranch we were shown our camp complete with chalets, a huge brai area (BBQ), and a beautiful lake right in front. The bush was incredibly thick due to the late spring rains so we anticipated an interesting hunt.





We spent the next four days hunting in cover so thick that at times the visibility was measured in feet. We left camp every morning on foot and covered miles upon miles of dense riverine brush. I did get a glimpse of one huge old bushbuck male as he slipped from one bush to another, but by the time I cleared the PH he just disappeared. Like smoke, one second he was there, the next, gone. We followed his tracks as long as we could, but they too vanished.

I think I enjoyed the hunt for Bushbuck as much as any I have ever done, excluding Cape buffalo. We hunted hard and even though we were unsuccessful I took away many fond memories of the people and the area where the hunt took place. On the day we left Aubrey and Korbus took us to see a local celebrity. A hand- reared Eland cow whose mother was caught in a fence and died; leaving her orphaned. Stories were told around the nightly brai about the cow that supposedly drank brandy from a water glass and could turn a spigot on and off to get a drink of water. While we didn’t see any of these tricks, we found an extremely social animal and a wonderful photo opportunity. The Eland is completely free to come and go as it pleases, but chooses to stay close to the particular village where she was raised. The native people in the village, while shy and stand-offish, allowed Cheryl to photograph a couple of the local children. Quite an unforgettable novelty.









On our last full day in South Africa we were driven by Korbus to Kuruman to spend the night at his ranch. This was a very beautiful area that we did not have enough time to fully appreciate. While Bertus and Korbus do conduct some of their hunts on this ranch which has a large amount of different animals, we only had time to view a small portion of it before we were forced to depart for Kimberly where we began our journey towards our homeland.

quote:

Originally posted by joec:
Wow! You have a hot wife! Wish I could go to Africa with her! The other pictures are nice too and the writing is incredible!

Did someone leave their computer logged in to AR?

Great report! Looks like you had a wonderful time and some great hunting.

Cheers,
Canuck

Sorry bout that guys. My wife was having a joke on me for having her edit & help me post this report.

LMAO!
Looks like she had as much fun as you did, when is she taking you back?

My PH and I hunted for three days for a Bushbuck, we saw females but no males. But that was some of the best hunting I did in RSA.

Looks like you had a good time.... but can I ask you to explain your comment about a game scout? - There's no requirement in SA to have a game scout on a hunt - did you perhaps mean a tracker?

Steve, the scout lived on the conservancy with her family. I just surmised that she was required by someone to be with us since she was a fairly good sized woman and certainly didn't like to walk. She was always at least a hundred yards behind the rest of us and the only thing I saw her track was her way back to the truck after the first couple of miles of walking. She stayed on the truck the rest of the hunt.

Well, I've no idea what that was about - but there's no requirement for a game scout in SA - and even if there were, he or she certainly wouldn't live on the property.

Maybe the suspension on one side of the truck was buggered and they needed her as ballast!

Great pics. Thanks.

I enjoyed your report and pics Joe. Well done!

Love the pet Meercat!!

And a pet Eland.

congrats on a great trip & hunt