Being an avid hunter and a certifiable gun nut, it was just a matter of time before the Africa hunting bug got to me. I started to read everything that I could get my hands on about the subject. The more I read, the more I wanted to go to Africa.
Research in earnest for the trip began two years ago. My first choice was Namibia, since it was cheaper than South Africa. But trying to communicate with the different outfits was a nightmare, this turned out to be very lucky for me.
As time went by, the necessity for better communications between the outfitter, PH, etc. and the client became more obvious. Fortunately for me one name was usually in the forefront of the pack as I searched for a solution. This was Jim Hackiewicz; he lives in the US so it is easy to communicate with him. After a few emails and calls I sent him my deposit in August 2007, for a hunt that would take me to Africa from May 26 to June 4, 2008. Then followed almost a year of waiting, expectation and preparations.
I left on Sunday May 25 morning my luggage consisted of a small duffle bag, carryon and an aluminum gun case. Arriving at Miami International Airport the checking in procedures was done quickly and professionally by the United Airlines personnel, the flight to Dulles International was a smooth one. Several hours later I boarded the South African Airlines jet. The 15 hour flight was uneventful, the service was good, the only complaint is that the seats in economy class were cramped. Arriving in Johannesburg the service that Jim provides for his guests, whisked me through immigration and the SAPS gun permit, I felt like a VIP.
John, another hunter that came in the same flight as I were promptly picked up and driven to the hunting concession. A very nice camp in the Limpopo Province, close to the Botswana border. This is when I met Jim for the first time.
The next day after breakfasts we went to the range to test our rifles, my CZ550 in 30-06 with a Leupold 4x scope and Federal 180gr Nosler Partition factory loads came through, maintaining zero throughout the trip.
Jaco Breedt became my PH for most of the hunt, I have to say that our personalities matched -the rest of the hunt was a real joy- we left the range for the first day of hunting. After driving around for a while we spotted a large waterbuck, I could not decide fast enough whether to take the trophy or not and the waterbuck decided to be someplace else. We tried finding it in the bush but had no luck. I keep kicking myself for not making a decision sooner. Oh well you live and learn.
Jim had warned us of the thorn trees in Africa, but in one instance I didn’t duck far enough into the backie and a thorn tree naturally reached down and grabbed me, receiving a nice cut in my left hand. Jaco was very upset this happened, but I told him not to worry about it since it will bring us luck.
The next day Jaco and I went to a blind overlooking a waterhole; this is where I got my first trophy. A herd of impala came in, a very nice male appeared, putting the crosshair on the shoulder and squeezing the trigger the shot rang out and the impala took of, after tracking it some 40 yards Jaco spotted it with its head down facing away from us, I took a Texas heart shot and this was my first trophy.
Jaco had not been feeling well and that night he became quite ill. John and Jim were kind enough to take me the following morning with them to a waterhole, after a while game started coming in impala, kudu, guineafowl and among them red hartebeest. A large hartebeest was standing broadside to one side of the waterhole, I asked John if he wanted it, he said no. Jim said I could take him if the female that was standing behind it moved, since the bullet could have passed through and hit her. Thinking, “just my luck, a good animal and I can’t shoot†an even better hartebeest appeared facing directly at us; Jim said “that’s a very good oneâ€. I shifted my rifle and settled the crosshairs and aimed between the front legs and fired. It took of running, quickly working the bolt to put another round in the chamber fired a second shot trying to hit the root of the tail, the hartebeest collapsed when hit, but tried to get up. Again the bolt was frantically worked, Jim yelled “stop shooting†but I had taken the shot hitting the shoulder and ending the hartebeest’s ordeal. When we got to the trophy I asked if he thought it was really that good and all that Jim said was “you’ll seeâ€. Arriving at the camp everyone who saw it congratulated me.
After taking some medications Jaco came back to the world of the living and from that afternoon on we resumed hunting together. I wanted a kudu and the search for a good one started. That afternoon proved to be fruitless. We continued early in the morning the next day in a different concession. But rather than seeing a kudu Jaco spotted a very large warthog, he told me to shoot it but I refused (something that would come to haunt me later on). I refused to take the shot for two reasons, first it was close to 300 yards (a long shot for me) and I didn’t want to disturb any possible kudus in the area. Jaco almost begged me to make a stalk to get closer to the warthog but again I refused. Naturally I returned to camp empty handed.
The next few days were unsuccessful, it seemed that the red gods had ceased to smile on me and decided to teach me a lesson for being so picky. Not that we didn’t see plenty of game it’s just I wanted a kudu and all were too young or small. We tried to stalking thorough the bush, we rode in the backie, went to different waterholes, no kudu worth shooting. The other hunters in the group were able to get their kudus, George (another hunter in our group of three), shot a very nice one.
On the seventh day, we went to another concession nearby and climbed a tower stand overlooking a waterhole, to tell the truth I was getting a little anxious as time dragged by. Then Jaco spotted a small heard of kudu approaching, looking through the binoculars he said there’s one that maybe could be taken, we had to wait for it to get closer. The clock was ticking in my head and the nerves started, finally the kudu appeared Jaco said “he is a mature bull take himâ€, the crosshairs were already on the kudu’s shoulder and the rifle barked, a puff of dirt came up behind the kudu. Jaco asked “did you missâ€, I answered “no I hit it†at the same time trying to work the bolt to chamber another round. But nerves and the distraction worked against me. The bull took off into the bush but a few seconds later it crashed to the ground. This naturally was the smallest kudu of our group and the last one Jaco and I saw, well that is why it’s called hunting I guess.
That afternoon we returned to the same stand, since a very nice steenbok had been spotted there. Several warthogs, guineafowl and small steenbok’s appeared but not the larger one we expected. Then suddenly from the right side of the stand came the one we were waiting for, he then stood facing in my direction, again settled the crosshairs and fired. To say that the 30-06 was overkill on such a small animal is an understatement, it just collapsed. We picked it up and put it in the back of the vehicle and resumed hunting.
I was very proud of my shooting, since all the shots I had taken connected and the first shot had all been lethal, even if I kept shooting to make certain the animal went down nearby. I was getting cocky and this is when the stupid mistakes start. Another small heard of impala came in and in the group was a good male. Jaco said “there is a good one for Georgeâ€, (since I am also called George and the other George in the group had not taken an impala), I misunderstood the meaning of his words, aiming and firing very quickly. My shot went low in the shoulder, the impala started running, working the bolt as fast as possible the new round was chambered, the moment the rifle fired the impala stumbled and the shot went over his back, a clean miss and into the bush it went as the impala got up and kept running. We looked for the impala and I started to worry. It was getting late and the light would fade in a short while. Jaco followed the trail and after a few yards, there was blood on the ground. No more than fifty yards from the place I hit the impala we found it dead. My shot was not good, it was very low in the shoulder. Fortunately the Nosler Partition’s saved the day breaking both shoulders and exiting, and more by bullet performance and luck also probably damaging the heart.
Then came the final day of the hunt, I was missing a warthog to make it a complete hunt. We spent the entire day looking for a good one but no such luck. Late in the afternoon we stopped at one of the waterholes and decided to wait. It was getting late and the light was fading fast, when two warthogs came in to drink. Jaco said “the warthog there is not big, but if you want you can take itâ€, well it was this or nothing. I started to move into firing position but I was making too much noise, they started running, taking the shot I knew that it was hit hard. Darkness fell and the tracking started, large pools of blood lay or the ground and we followed them. It was getting very dark and trying to find an animal at night I knew was going to be a problem if we didn’t find it quickly, my heart started to sink thinking we had lost it. But suddenly I saw a dark shape move not far from where we were. Whispering to Jaco I said “there it isâ€, we approached it and put the finishing shot.
This ended my wonderful hunt with Jim Hackiewicz and his Hunting Adventures outfit.
Early the on June 4, we had breakfast and said our goodbyes to all the PH and the staff. From there we went to the skinning shed where we met with the owners of Capricorn Taxidermy; I decided that they were going to do the mounts for my trophies. After the paper work was done we entered the minibus that would take us to Johannesburg. Along the way we stopped at a souvenir shop and purchased some gifts. Arriving at the airport went inside and asked for directions to the South African Airlines counter. The bags were checked quickly and a person was assigned to turn in the gun case at the proper office, opening the case and checking serial number then signing a book. This part was more cumbersome than coming into the country.
The flight home was uneventful but naturally long, with the stop over at Dakar for a security check. Again a commuter plane from United Airlines took me back to Miami.
Would I do anything differently? With the exception of taking a bit less clothing since you get daily laundry service, no. I also don’t think the hunt is really that expensive if you compare the number of trophies taken and what you pay for a bear or elk hunt. Also the accommodations were good, the food excellent (gourmet quality in my opinion) and the service in general is excellent.
Do I recommend Jim and his outfit, most emphatically yes, especially for a first time hunter or second or third or fourth…

Here are some photos:

A BIG CONGRATS to you...

Great story and great pics and most of all a GREAT HUNT with GREAT TROPHIES...

I can see you had a GREAT ADVENTURE!!!

Good on you!!!!

Congrats again!!!

Congratulations on a great hunt.
Thanks for the story and pictures.

TerryR

Nice trophies, good story and a very nice looking "camp".

great trophys congrads

Great story and photos.

Congrats

Congratulations on your successful hunt.