05 August 2008, 03:22
DCS MemberEastern Cape and Limpopo
Eastern Cape - Melody Safaris/Louis Lateganhttp://www.melodysafaris.co.za/
Animals I shot: 2 Blesbuck, 2 Springbuck, Mtn. Reedbuck, Duiker, Bushbuck, Gemsbuck
Father's animals: Red Hartebeest, White Blesbuck
Guns: Ruger 77 RSM .375 H&H with Swarovski 1.5-6x42 rail mount, outfitter’s .243 for smaller animals
Limpopo - Ntshonalanga Safaris/PH-Paul Brits
http://www.ntshonalangasafaris.co.za
Animals I shot: Zebra, Warthog, Blue Wildebeest, Impala
Father’s animals: Eland, Zebra
Gun: Custom Remington .300 RUM with Shilen octagonal barrel, Swarovski 4-12x50 rail mount
These trips were purchased at the SCI North Texas banquet in March, 2008. I immediately began arranging travel through Doug Gray at Gracy Travel International. Doug was a huge help in finding the best fares and working with us on dates. It did not take long for me to realize that an African safari entails much more preparation than a weekend deer hunting trip to West Texas. For example, the temporary import permit for firearms requires certain forms to be filled out with U.S. Customs and also South Africa Police Service. Much of this was facilitated by riflepermits.com. Once we landed in Johannesburg, Joe of riflepermits.com was able to get us to the front of the line and the process was fairly painless.
Being my first safari, I wanted to get the typical plains game. The nice aspect of this hunt was that the trophy fees for what I consider the typical plains game were included. However, I did want to add a few more animals to round out my experience. As my father’s second plains game safari, he wanted to fill out a few holes he had on his wall with some of the less common animals.
Day 1, 2 & 3 (July 20 – July 22)
We departed DFW for Washington Dulles to connect with South African Airways flight 208. In Washington, the plane was delayed for three hours due to a battery malfunction. This delay caused us to miss our connection to Port Elizabeth and had to stay in Johannesburg. We flew to Port Elizabeth and arrived around 10:00 am.
Our first hunt was with Melody Safaris, owned by Louis Lategan. Louis hunts around Alexandria in the Eastern Cape. The first afternoon consisted of Blesbuck hunting. For some odd reason, I could not hit anything with my rifle this first day. Luckily, I eventually shot a nice Blesbuck after getting my rifle shooting squared away. The Blesbuck was loaded in the back of the Landcruiser and we returned to the lodge for a great dinner after having drinks in the lapa.
Blesbuck with Smilee (left) and Desmond
Day 4 (July 23)
I woke around 4:30 and we headed out around 6:00 to hunt an area about an hour and a half away, just north of Grahamstown. The land owner was a gentleman named Alvin who had definitely played some rugby in his past. This was evident by looking at the surgery scars on his knees. We saw a nice Steenbuck, but he ran off before we could really judge him. As we were hunting Springbuck, we saw a very nice Mountain Reedbuck. Just as he was about to disappear in the brush, I shot the Mountain Reedbuck at 150 yards. He measured between 7-8â€.
Mountain Reedbuck with Alvin
I then shot two Springbucks at 200 to 250 yards from the bakke (truck). The first seemed to go down, I then shot the second. Unfortunately, the first got up and took off. I followed the trackers, Smilee and Desmond, to put the injured Springbuck down. However, the Springbuck was not as injured as we had hoped. We followed the animal for what seemed like miles through rough country, often running. Because of all the running, I had trouble holding the rifle steady enough to shoot while catching my breath. Finally, the Springbuck hunkered down and I was able to end the chase.
Springbuck
Later that afternoon, my father shot a very nice Red Hartebeest. A rough measurement put him at 28â€.
Red Hartebeest
Cool photo opportunity at Alvin’s
Upon our return to the Alexandria area, we tried to hunt two specific Gemsbuck on a certain property. Louis and I stalked to within 250 yards and as soon as I got on the sticks, the Gemsbuck ran for cover. We tried to track them, but they were able to escape to a deep valley and we were running out of daylight.
Day 5 (July 24)
Louis and I hunted Bushbuck in the morning, but the wind had picked up and kept the Bushbuck in the cover of the brush. The Bushbuck terrain was very rugged and covered in thick brush.
Bushbuck country
Later that day I shot my second Blesbuck. That afternoon we returned to hunt the Gemsbuck. We went to a few spots to glass in an effort to find the Gemsbuck. As we were walking through the area, Louis spotted the tips of the horns and we immediately got down. He then told me it was a good trophy and to shoot. I shot the Gemsbuck in the shoulder from about 80 to 100 yards. It ran a few steps after the shot and I put one more in it for insurance, which put it down for good. The Gemsbuck measured a bit over 40â€. We recovered the bullet from the second shot and the 270 grain softpoint from the .375 Holland & Holland showed nice expansion.
Gemsbuck
That evening, Louis and I went out for Bushbuck and Duiker. We decided to use a Sako .243 Louis owned to preserve as much of the meat and skin on these smaller animals. I had some trouble shooting through the scope of Louis’ gun. The crosshairs just seemed to disappear. Eventually, I was able to shoot a nice Duiker and Cape Bushbuck. The Cape Bushbuck is a very nice animal, with a beautiful skin. Although Bushbuck can be larger further north, the darker skin adds a lot of character.
Bushbuck with Louis
Day 6 (July 25)
My father shot a nice White Blesbuck at about 100 yards running. He really wanted to add a White Blesbuck to his collection and was able to get a nice, mature male.
White Blesbuck
Day 7 (July 26)
We left for Port Elizabeth to head up to Limpopo province. On the way to the airport, we stopped at a curio shop to buy gifts for friends and family back home.
The flight from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg is around two hours. We arrived in Johannesburg about 3:00 and met out PH, Paul Brits of Ntshonalanga Safaris. As it was getting late, we stayed in a guesthouse in Pretoria. At dinner that evening, we met Ray and Ellie. Ray was on his 15th safari, this time for a darted rhino hunt.
Day 8 (July 27)
We left the guesthouse in Pretoria for the Limpopo Province about 7:00 am, destined for a town called Thabazimbi. On the way, we met Dirk and John Faul, owners of Ntshonalanga, and picked up Willy, our skinner/tracker. Willy has been hunting for over 17 years and his skills showed his experience. We finally reached our destination, the Badger Bush Lodge, owned by Jacques and Lori.
That afternoon we headed out for some hunting on a nearby property. We did not see any trophy quality animals we desired, but did see a Caracal during the day (very rare sight) and a Roan Antelope (rare animal).
Day 9 (July 28)
We stayed the entire day on a property hunting Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Impala and Warthog. We dropped my father and Willy off in a blind while we drove around. We saw many Zebra, but could not tell if they were stallions or not due to the brush. Speaking of brush, the terrain in Limpopo, or the bushveld, definitely reminded me of Texas. We attempted to stalk a few times, but the wind switched on us and gave our position away immediately. The afternoon hunt was very slow, but about 5:30 we finally saw a small herd of Zebra. Paul indicated which one to shoot and I steadied myself. I shot and connected from about 180 yards. Although I hit the Zebra in the shoulder and through the lungs, it still ran about 100 yards.
Zebra with Paul (PH)
Day 10 (July 29)
This was the most boring day, which consisted of sitting in a blind while inhaling burning Zebra dung to mask our scent. I think we got spoiled by having so many great shooting opportunities, which resulted in the boredom. However, the animals will do their own thing. Such is hunting.
Day 11 (July 30)
We left for a property owned by a gentleman named Reneil, which was not far from the Botswana border. On Paul’s GPS, I was able to see that we were merely a few miles from the Limpopo River, the border between South Africa and Botswana. Early that morning, we spotted a heard of Impala grazing just outside the bush. I shot a nice Impala ram early in the morning. The shot was around 200 yards and the Impala went down instantly.
Impala
Reneil and I then did quite a bit of walking through the bush to either find animals for ourselves or drive them towards the group in the bakke. During one of these walks, we ran up a lot of game, including a very nice Warthog that ran off before I could shoot. We then saw a nice Blue Wildebeest about 100 yards away. Without shooting sticks, I used Reneil’s left shoulder as a rest and let the lead fly. I hit the bull in the shoulder, but he still ran off. We tried to track for a bit, but could not find a good trail. Wildebeests are notorious for taking punishment and leaving very little blood trail. Reniel decided we should eat lunch and resume the tracking with the rest of our crew and a dog. Upon resuming the tracking, Kenny (a PH from a neighboring property) found the bull about 250 yards from where we shot it. It is amazing how much tougher African animals are than North American game, perfect shots to the vitals do not guarantee an instant drop. I was able to recover a Trophy Bonded Bear Claw from the Wildebeest, which mushroomed perfectly.
Blue Wildebeest with Reneil
Later in the day, my father shot a Zebra. Unfortunately, his shot was a little low and the Zebra ran quite a bit. We picked up the blood trail and followed it for about 35 yards until it stopped. After spreading out to find the spoor crossing the road ahead, we discovered a little more blood. We were approaching a dry creek and spread out to have a better chance of jumping the wounded Zebra. Willy found the Zebra and it took off running with Sofiel, a Jack Russell Terrier, chasing. Kenny was able to get off a couple of shots to put the Zebra down.
We then crossed to Reneil’s other property to hunt Kudu before the sun fell off in the horizon. We did not see any trophy Kudu, but did see some Cape Buffalo and some very nice Eland.
Day 12 (July 31)
We hunted Waterbuck in the morning, but were just minutes late in catching the Waterbuck before they go into the bush. As Willy was still busy skinning the trophies from the prior day, I actually drove the bakke. It took me a little bit to get used to a right hand drive vehicle, but it was smooth sailing thereafter. The order of the gears is the same as we have in a left hand drive, but you just have the shift with your left hand. The pedals are also in the same order in which we are accustomed.
Our approach that afternoon was to let my father hunt with Paul and Jacques would take me to some areas to hunt Kudu. Unfortunately, only young bulls came in to the area. However, I did shoot a Warthog. He was not the biggest, but was old and on my wish list. I had to bring back one of the ugly, wicked looking porkers from Africa.
Warthog
My dad returned to Reneil’s for Eland and shot a record book Cape Eland measuring 28â€. I was amazed to see the size of Eland. Paul had said that an Eland will often outweigh a Cape Buffalo.
Day 13 (August 1)
We hunted the same area for Waterbuck in the morning without luck. That afternoon, Jacques took me to his “honey hole†for Kudu that afternoon. It was the same story as the prior afternoon; no mature bulls came in to our spot. As this was the last day of our hunt, I was upset not to have had an opportunity for a Kudu bull, one of the animals I truly wanted to bring back from Africa.
That evening, we cooked Eland steaks on hot cast iron tiles and ate outside by the fire. Paul, my PH, told me he wanted to take me out in the morning for one last shot at Kudu before we left for Johannesburg. Paul was gracious for doing this as our hunt was to have already concluded. I think Paul wanted to make up for our poor luck on the Kudu.
Day 14 (August 2)
We sat in a blind for about an hour in the morning, but no Kudu bulls came. We then had to hurry to leave the lodge and head to Johannesburg to catch our long flight back home. I left Africa without my Kudu, but it gives me a great reason to return.
Overall, this trip was absolutely amazing. I would recommend either outfitter for anyone considering a South African safari. The professional hunters and staff were incredibly skilled. The accommodations and meals were excellent. The only downside to an African safari is the amount of time spent in the air. Despite this drawback, I am planning and saving for my next trip to get that Kudu.
