I recently joined the forum, with the idea to learn a bit more about my clients, what they want, and what they need. Like with most Southern Africans, the internet “landed†a few years later than in the US for us, so I was a bit slow to catch on to things like the hunting forums! I love your stories and pictures. It also prompted me to write a little about a very special animal that I hunted recently………

When you hunt with clients every year, and you are busy, you don’t really get time to hunt yourself. Like all working men, I need a break every year. I am a full time PH, with no other job that can give me a break, like some of my colleagues that only hunts professionally part time in the winter months. Me and three friends decided that we would take one week in the hunting season, and treat ourselves to what we love doing most. Hunt on foot, tracking animals from dawn until dusk. We would go to a hunting area that we do not know, to have a change in environment and scenery.

Our journey took me the Limpopo Valley, the drainage system and river that forms the Northern Boundary of South Africa. The animal to hunt for me was the big Eland. I have hunted a number of Big Eland bulls with clients, but the largest of all antelope, is one animal that eluded me for the last 5 seasons. Although I have hunted this valley a lot on a personal basis and with clients, I did not know this hunting area that is 4000ha’s( 10000 acres?) big. This beautiful piece of earth experienced a bad patch of drought, and, temperatures were very high for the time of the year, reaching the mid to high nineties in the middle of the day.

The thing with Eland is this. They are huge, and leave very good and clear tracks to follow, BUT they have excellent senses, the likes of which I have only encountered with Kudu and Leopard. Their huge bodies can move silently through the bush, and any one that has hunted Eland before, will know that when spooked, you can pack up for the day and go home. After bolting off, they settle into a little shuffle run, that they keep up for miles, before coming to rest.

The hunt started of before dawn on day one. The hunting method we used was to drive before sunrise, with the Land Cruiser, to the waterholes and look for “spoor†(tracks). Me and the tracker would make a decision on which animal would looks like the biggest, and then we started tracking, as soon as the first light allowed it. We picked the spoor of a very big Bull, with a deformed right front hoof. It was also easier to identify his tracks from others that might cross our path. This was the start of something I would call “Mopanie chessâ€, in direct correlation with another post where the hunter referred to “Jesse chessâ€.

We would track the animal and get close, just for something to spook him. He favored three water holes, we soon realized and visited one of these every night. The hunting was hard and without mercy. My tracker is very fit and an old hand at this type of hunting, me not being a slouch either, BUT the Eland played us. We hunted from dawn to 12 and from 2 to dusk. This went on for three days.

The morning of day four caught me in bed at six (usually we would be at the second waterhole by six). My best friend shot a very big Kudu Bull the night before and we all celebrated a bit too much that night . As I got outside, I noticed that it was an over cast day, and a cold but steady breeze had me reaching for my hunting jacket. Me and Steven (tracker) got in the Cruiser and left for the first waterhole. As we approached it, Steven asked me to stop. In the dirt track in front of us, was the unmistakable tracks of this animal that played hide and seek with us for three days. We started tracking, and after 3 hours, walked into him. I took the shot offhand at about sixty yards, and the 300.gr soft from my .375 H&H, made a quick end to the hunt of my life. The horns measured 36â€. Can anyone help me get the pic on the forum??
My friend Dawie, that is also my partner in business, got a nice Buff, and friend Corne's Kudu was 53". The other guy, Henk, got nothing, he was after a big wildebeest....Mopanie chess.... maybe






www.infinito-safaris.com
charl@infinito-safaris.com

Welcome to the forum, thanks for the story.

Email me the photos and I can post them for you.

Regards,

Terry

Sounds like you earned your trophy. I look forward to the pictures and your input in the future.

TerryR

nice job, thanks for posting

Very nice story, glad to see you on here.

Thanks guys. You must excuse the spelling mishaps here and therre . You know we Afrikaans guys try, but hey, it's still great fun to share something like that!

Nice hunt Charl!

I'm sorry I wasn't there when you were in Edinburgh!
Cheers,

Gabe

Hi Gabe!!! How's it goes buddy?! Small world this is....We had an absolute blast in Scotland.I tried, but never got that Salmon..How was your hunt in SA??

I was very lucky with one of my American friend/client in June. We were 10 min into the bush when we walked into a 55" Kudu. He just stood there!!! The client made a perfect shot with his 30-06(your mate then...). The funny thing about the story is this. It was his first trip, second animal(first one being a red hartebeest) in Africa!!

Are you still in Scotland? I'm going to the UK in a couple of weeks to see friends, stalking and shooting, marketing, and back again in SA in Oct. We should try and meet up......

Cheers bud

The hunt was ok mate! I will be back on the 1st of September. Hope your son is doing well.

When will you start booking hunts?

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That is a beautiful Nyala. Where was it taken?

Nice Nyala mate! Where was that taken? Natal or East Cape...You just love the old "spirals"!!!

We are booking hunts now for 2007. Big five nearly filled up, although we have a few Buff. left. I'm very bussy with wingshooting from Feb to may, and then we will start on the PG in earnest.The good news is that I secured some very nice hunting land, that has not been hunted for 15 years. We hunted there the first time this season, and that is where that Kudu came from. I wish I could post the pic, but the guy is a US SF soldier....He said he'll edit it, to blurr his face, and then I can put it where ever I want. It realy was a good Kudu.
I saw about 7 Waterbuck bulls that will make you weep , as well as some of the best Impala and Warthog I've seen in ages. Sorry, I just get so excited talking about it.

Web-site should have been up and running by now. We refurb. it, and now the guys are wasting time to get it online. I'll let you know as soon as it is up and runnig. We got some nice Buff this season, that's on the site, that I would like to show you!

Did you get that Giant Eland hunt sorted?

Son is doing fine. Six months old now, first two teeth out without problems, still sleeps through the nite, have not been sick one day, just a dream and the love of my life!

Drop me a line, maybe we can get something sorted.

charl@infinito-safaris.com