Hunt Date. June 21 to 27, 2013
Country. Zimbabwe
Airlines. Calm Air, Delta, Airlink
Booking Agent. Wes Hixon
Safari Operator. Martin Pieters Safaris
PH. Pierre Hundermark
Area Omay North
Guns. Ruger RSM 416 Rigby for Me and Ruger Scout in 308 with Leopold VX3 1.75X6X32 for my niece.
Ammo. Barnes 400gr solid hand loaded by my dad for my Rigby,and Barnes TSX in 168gr for Kadins 308

June 14,2013 we left Arviat in northern Canada on Calm Air to Winnipeg to await our Delta flight out of Canada. Had to leave early as June is a foggy month back home and the only way out is by Airplanes,as there are no roads.

June 17,2013. We leave Winnipeg on our way to Atlanta,via Minneapolis on Delta,to connect to the Johannesburg flight out of Atlanta.

June 18,2013. Stayed at the Africa Sky Guest House in Johannesburg.

June 19,2013. Flew to Bulawayo with Airlink and stayed at the Southern Comfort.

June 20,2013. Road transfer to the McKenzie Camp.

June 21,2013. Day 1 of the hunt,I shot my 416 and Kadin her 308 when it got bright enough,as we got into camp well after dark. I was using iron sights on my 416 and I hit the bulls eye at 75 yards,It was Kadins turn to shoot with her very own 308. The scope did not need any adjustments as she also hit the bullseye. My 9 year old niece Kadin just amazed the PH and 2 trackers as she is only 62lbs,and I think the PH thought the 308 was too much for her. But she does not even flinch when she shoots,and is very accurate with it. After Kadin wowed the PH and,Trackers with her shooting,we wentto go pick up a game scout,and less than 4hrs into day 1 of the hunt we spotted elephants notfar from the road. We dismounted and went to go look for a tuskless with out a dependent calf. There were 2 in the herd that were tuskless and both with out calves. We stalked them and Pierre wishpered to me and told me which one to shoot,and he told me to shoot it in the heart,eventhough I wanted to brain it. As soon as I shot,Pierre put in a back up shot. At the shot the 2 of the elephants charged us,we ran back and with Pierre yelling they ran after the rest of the herd. The elephant only ran 10 yards before it collapsed,and Pierre made me shoot it one more time in the head. So my elephant hunt was over on the first morning of the hunt,and less than 4hrs into the hunt. After taking pictures people started coming and many waited to get their share of the meat. By the time it was all cut up,there were now more than 60 people waiting for the meat. After they got their piece of meat,it was a free for all to get at the carcass,and wow what a sight it was. Axes being hacked millermeters from other people's heads,and knives going everywhere. By the time it was all done the day was over.

June 22,2013. Day 2 of the hunt,I got what I wanted and the next 6days were all Kadins time. Early in the morning the trackers spotted a Impala,and drove a little further,then left the cruiser to go after the Impala. Pierre spoted the Impala and set up the shooting sticks for Kadin, the Impala was about 125 yards away,when Kadin just shocked the PH,as the Impala droped dead at the shot,as if it were hit by lighting. After taking pictures we went back to the camp to bring the Impala to the skinning shed. The rest of the day we stalked up water bucks with out any shot opertunities. When we got back to the camp we went to the skinning shed and the skinner gave me the perfect mushroom of the Barnes 308 bullet.

June 23,2013. Day 3. Early in the morning one of the trackers spotted something,again we drove on further,then walked back to where the tracker saw what was a Water Buck, we crawled for a few minutes and I started to think why are we passing the water buck now? I did not know it but there were 2 water bucks,and the bigger one was further than the other one. After being still for a few minutes as not to alert the smaller one,Pierre set up the shooting sticks for Kadin, at the shot the water buck took off,then we went to where the water buck was when Kadin shot it. No blood. Pierre asked Kadin where she shot it,Kadin said she shot it on the shoulder as it was quartering towards us. The trackers and scout started to track,and there it was,50 yards from where it was shot,stone dead. As soon as Pierre saw the horns up close he said yaaiiii,it's huge, I don't know how big a big water buck is but Pierre said this is a big one,about 31 inches. Again Kadin amazed the PH and trackers,with one shot,no follow up shot required. After the pictures,we loaded it up to bring back to the camp. On the way back to the camp,Kadin says "Uncle Joe,I have only shot twice now and I got 2 animals" all in Eskimo as that is our first language,and she is very shy to speak English. After we dropped off the water buck,we went to go look for Zebras or kudu,did not see anything again that day. We got back to the camp at dark,and again the skinner presented us with a perfect mushroom of the Barnes 308.

June 24,2013 Day 4. We looked for any plains game and saw a duiker, we stalked the duiker,but the grass was too high for Kadin, we could see it but Kadin could not as she is much smaller than us. Rest of the day we looked for any Zebras,or Kudus butnever saw any.

June 25,2013 day 5. We left camp 0630hrs to give a Zebra or Kudu another try. At 1100 we started headingback to our camp,when the trackers spotted something Kudu in the distance.(not too far from the road as the brush is thick there) Again we left the cruiser with Pierre interest lead,Kadin behind him,then me. When we got to the area,Pierre looked for the only male for several minutes, as only the females were insight. When he sighted it,we belly crawled for 40 mins. Inch by inch we moved to get a clear shot setup for Kadin. Finally we went to a area where Kadin can have a clear shoot at the kudu.(This was my third trip to Africa,and I tried to get a kudu on all 3 trips a total of 28 hunting days,with no luck) Pierre set up the sticks and looked thru the scope to make sure there is nothing in the way,all clear,just as Kadin shot,the kudu moved,and she missed the kudu completely. I knew the kudu was gone,but to my amazement it was still there,unaffected by the sound of the gun shot. We moved a little further to try again. I was very happy when Pierre set up the sticks again, then Kadin got up to the sticks, amied, then she shot again,at the shot,the Kudu dropped,the little 308 did it again,we ran closer and Pierre told Kadin to put another round in chest to finish it off. Another picture taking again,then back to the skinning shed to drop off the Kudu. After we dropped the Kudu off we went out looking for warthogs or baboons,but did not see any.

June 26,2013. Day 6. We left camp again just before 630,to look for Zebras, but did not see anything.

June 27,2013. Day 7. Again we leave camp just before 630. To see what we can find for Kadin. No shot opertunities were given on the last day. Our hunt is over,and my Dad and I had lots of fun watching Kadin hunt.

Pierre wanted his picture taken with all the animals Kadin got,as he said she is the youngest client he has hunted with and one of the best shooters he has hunted with.

I was very happy Kadin got to experience Africa, as she wanted to follow me the first time I went,and she was 4 years old when she wanted to go. When she was 4,she could not speak English but knew almost all of the animals in Africa by their English name.

I do not know how to post pictures right now, but as soon as I know how,I will post them.

Great report, Pierre's a good guy, I'm glad that you had so much fun.

you had a great hunt,it's great to be on safari with your loved ones,it will be great to see the pictures

Joe and Kadin, congratulations on a fantastic hunt, look forward to having you back.

Cheers

Martin

Congrats! Looking forward to the Pics- it is very special to take a daughter/ son/ grand daughter or grand son hunting!! Well done!

Great report. Looking forward to the pics.

Sounds like an awesome trip.

Nice report. Sounds like you had a good time. Congrats.

Wow! Three generations together on a hunt in Africa. We all should be so fortunate! My sincere congratulations on the hunt - and kudos to you all for making the time and completing all the arrangements for a memorable hunt.

GREAT.
It was an pleasure to read your report.
:-)

Best wishes.

Love it when the young ones have such a great time. Hope she can find someone that can afford her new habit.

A great heart warming story!

Great report, congrats on a fine hunt. Email me (use mjines@kingwoodcable.com) your pictures (please select the make my pictures smaller option when you select the pictures to email) and I will be happy to post them for you.

Joe,

Sounds like a great hunt. Hope to do the same with my young son (6) one day......just the 2 of us .......maybe up to Arviat !!

Found a few articles about you. Impressive. You must spend the entire winter out hunting/trapping.

I was up to Arviat and hunted with Ryan St.John (Henik Lake Adventures) a couple of times.......good hunt.

I must say though, i thought prices here were out of line for some things, but up there.........Holy Shit !!! I think it was $13.00 for a gallon of fresh(?) milk. I went to the store and bought a 2 litre of coke, a candy bar and a pack of smokes......was somewhere around $24.00 !!!

How's Ryan doing these days?
Wanted to do a muskox hunt with him, but it sounded like he's holding off on those for now.........not sure why.

Pictures posted for Joe:

Thanks Mjines for posting the pictures.
I'm the Dad that was along on the hunt and we all that a good time on the hunt.
The travel from our home to the hunting camp was hard on Kadin but she was very good about it.
46 hours of travel time and this is not counting the times in the hotels.
Kadin shot her 308 very well and the recoil did not affect her shooting skills.
She is only about 54 pounds heavier that the firearm ,she was shooting
joe

quote:

Originally posted by Joe-S:

Kadin shot her 308 very well and the recoil did not affect her shooting skills.
She is only about 54 pounds heavier that the firearm ,she was shooting
joe

Always so fine to see the youngsters out there. Obviously a sharp little hunter that one. Fantastic family safari, congratulations to all of you.

Fantastic pics! What a huntress!!!!!!!!!!

Joe. Thank you for sharing your hunt. What an excellent one you had, young Kadin is certainly one fine huntress. Amazing to read of her accomplishments. It must have been a wonderful safari for the three of you. Congratulations to you all.
Jytte

Probably my favourite hunt report ever! Good on you, Joe!

Thank You All for your kind comments. Sorry for the spelling mistakes,and some words with no spaces, I typed all of that from a Black Berry Play Book.

Mjines thank you for posting the pictures for us.

Northman - pack of smokes are now 22 dollars, and Ryan is doing very well,as for the musk ox,might be the extreme cold? Not sure.



Thank You all

My pleasure. Looks like it was a great hunt.

Great pics and a great job, Uncle Joe!

Congratulations on your tuskless!
And Kadin had a superb hunt as well...she's quite a hunteress already!

It sounds like you all had a wonderful time

Roland

Kadin and her Kudu, impala and waterbuck skull is my favorite AR Pic!!! Thats a smile that you will have to travel far and wide to beat!

Congratulations. Very nice report.

Awesome report. Kadin will remember that safari for the rest of her life. I still remember some of the small details when my father took me to Botswana at age 12.

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Kadin and her Kudu, impala and waterbuck skull is my favorite AR Pic!!! Thats a smile that you will have to travel far and wide to beat!

Mine too. AR should have a hunter/huntress of the year award, where the winner receives a collection of hunting DVD's and books from the various AR film producers and authors. Would be a tough one to judge most times, but not this year.

Outstanding. I can't think of any report I've enjoyed as much. hanks, and congratulations to you all.

Great job making rock-solid memories, dad! That's what it's all about.

The Kudu picture with all three of you is priceless!!!!

very cool, great to see more young hunters enjoying the great outdoor and enjoying our sport

Such an adorable child who obviously had a marvelous time on her hunting adventure! Loved the report.

Thank you all for the kind comments. When Kadin was 7 years old, she shot and killed a caribou, Musk Ox, and a Grizzly Bear,all with in when she was 7. She is something special to accomplish that,not the size and length of the animal or horns, but the experience.

Once again Thank You for the kind words

Joe and Kadin,

First Kadin way to go. A true hunter and fantastic shot. Dad what an experience and lifetime memories. I am still smiling.

Mike

Loved your report (and pics). Kadin was amazing! Congrats to you!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Great report!

Quite a young lady!