Limcroma was an absolutely incredible experience. The hunt was extremely challenging and demanding. We walked through miles and miles of thorns and brush... I think every tree and bush in Africa has thorns of some kind.

On day 1, we spotted-and-stalked impala, getting a good looks at several nice animals. As evening approached, we got in a treestand and had a ewe go running by; she was being chased by a big male. A few minutes after they ran by the first time, I heard them snorting, and I shot the male as he came back by. He ran 30 yards and died.



After we got done taking pictures of the impala, we decided to go kudu hunting. We stayed on the same concession, and did a bit of spot-and-stalk before deciding to get into another treestand to wait them out. At dusk, a herd of kudu cows came into view.

As the cows moved in, I started seeing small bulls on the edges of the herd, and I knew the big ones were coming. My PH started making a funny noise, and as I looked over at him, he let out an explosive sneeze. The kudu scattered, and the PH turned red with embarrassment.

I told him not to worry about it... it was day 1, we had a great impala, and plenty of time left for kudu. To take one today, I told him, he would have had to be an absolute monster. We climbed down from the stand and headed back to camp, done for the day.

On day 2, we went zebra hunting. This was absolutely the most challenging animal I've ever hunted. It ain't no horse hunt. At sunrise we started trying to find their tracks, and after a couple of hours we came across some day-old sign.

We got on their trail and followed it through brush and briars for easily ten miles. At about 3:00pm, we got a glimpse of them. They got wind of us and scattered. We walked after them for another couple of miles, then sent one of the trackers in to the brush to see if he could push the herd out.

The PH and I were set up at the end of a long "logging" road, and the tracker told us on the radio they were headed our way, but about 1000 yards down from us. We headed up the road, then saw a herd of eland run by right where we had just been... and the zebra were with them.

We took off running, cutting toward the herd at an angle, and got within 200 yards of them. I got a shot at a huge zebra, and we heard the WHAP of the bullet hitting the animal. The herd cut a semi-circle around us, and slammed to a stop at 60 yards, getting sight of us.

As they looked at us, I was asking the PH "which one, which one?!?".. He finally saw a bit of blood on one's nose, and I took the shot and dropped the zebra. Glorious... an absolutely perfect hunt. We were exhausted at the end of that one.



On day three, we went gemsbok hunting. Another extremely challenging hunt, this was the heartbreaker of the safari. We again started out by looking for sign, and we found fresh tracks we began trailing a herd of gemsbok.

We caught sight of them several times, but never in the clear. They were always in deep brush. Finally, finally, we got a good look at one, also in deep brush, but it was the clearest shot we'd gotten. I fired, and we believe the bullet deflected; the hit was very low and did limited damage. It was too far off the mark to be a bad shot, although I'm perfectly capable of making horrible shots...

We think it grazed the low foreleg... not much blood, but enough to track for miles. And miles. And miles. And miles. We tracked the gemsbok the rest of the day... and he was still bleeding mildly all day. The trackers were incredible, finding spots of blood that I could only see upon close inspection.

At nightfall, we marked the spot of the last blood and headed back out the next morning. We got back on the trail and again followed it for miles and miles, occasionally coming upon the herd, but never being able to tell which animal was wounded.

Some time after noon that day, we came upon the herd in a clearing 500 yards away. Looking carefully through my scope, I thought I could see blood on the leg of one animal. The PH couldn't see it, so I handed him my rifle. This is where good optics became of prime value; the PH saw the blood with my scope and agreed that we had found the right animal.

There was no way to make a closer approach, and the animals had seen us, so I had to try the 500 yard shot. The first one missed, and the gemsbok stayed put. The PH fired and got a shot into it, staggering the animal. It got back up, and I shot again, hitting it high in the shoulder.

Thinking we had it, we went to look for blood, and although we found some more fresh spoor, we again spent the rest of the day tracking the animal.

Gemsbok have an incredibly small vital area, and they can go for miles and miles if not hit in the vitals... and this one did that. At the end of the second day of tracking, we were right back where we were that morning.

On the fifth morning, we again went out to track the gemsbok. There was still only light blood to be found, and although we did jump the animal once, it was in thick brush with no shot opportunity.

We again tracked him for many miles, and he showed no signs of slowing down. At 1:00pm, I called the PH over to me and said "Zwei, that's enough. We've got to call this off and move on."

It was a heartbreaking, difficult call to have to make. I didn't want to leave the gemsbok, but we had already spent 2 and a half days on him, and the safari was starting to wind to an end. We still needed some of the other animals on the list, so I made the call to end the chase.

That afternoon, we headed out for kudu. We moved to a new concession, thicker than ever, and also more "woodsy" than anything else I'd yet seen in Africa.

We were making our way down another "logging road", headed to a treestand to hunt kudu from, when suddenly a warthog ran out in front of us. Warthog were on my list, but we had seen them everywhere and were not in a hurry to shoot one.

The PH, however, hissed "shoot him, shoot him!". I got my rifle up, aimed, and fired, and the PH told me it was a hit. The warthog took off running, stopped once, then headed over into the bush on the adjacent property.



My PH got out his cell phone to call the owner of the land to get permission to enter it, but he couldn't get a signal. Climbing the tallest tree we could find, he finally got through and got us permission to track the warthog.

We had a good blood trail, and we found the big pig dead within 100 yards. Zwei, the PH, told me it was the biggest warthog of the year, and that I would likely never shoot a better one.

After pausing for pictures, we called for the truck and sent the pig back to camp while we continued on for the kudu hunt.

There was a beautiful blind set up overlooking the logging road, and we got in this for the kudu. We had spot-and-stalked them earlier in the week after the impala hunt, but had not seen a good animal that day. Today was different.

At dusk, a 52" kudu came out into the road along with a big cow. I didn't have a shot opportunity; the cow was always in the way. After 10 minutes of this, something spooked them and they ran off.

Just as it was getting time to end the hunt, another herd of kudu started to cross the road. With them was a bull that was bigger than the first, and he presented me perfect broadside shot. I fired, and felt better about the shot than any other one I had made on the trip. I knew I had him.

We found him dead in a thicket 40 yards from where he had been when I shot him. We actually had to cut a road to get the truck back in to get him out, and the stars were bright in the sky above us when we headed back to camp.



On day 6, we went blesbok hunting. This was like the gemsbok hunt; we did a lot of looking for sign and/or the herd itself. When we first saw them, they took off running, and we got out of the truck and began the chase.

We again followed their tracks for miles, often getting sight of them through the thickets. I had my crosshairs on the herd ram several times, but never with an open shot. Blesbok don't move far after being spooked, so whenever they would move off we would often find them again within an hour.

Late in the afternoon we had pushed them out of the thickets and into a huge, 500+ acre open field that was dotted with the occasional tree and bush. With them in the middle of the field, we got on our hands and knees and crawled out into the field.

Getting behind a huge bush, we watched the herd through our binoculars. The big ram was there, but he was staying mostly hidden behind a big termite hill. They saw us and knew we were there, but couldn't quite figure out what we were. We entered a standoff, facing each other across the field for more than an hour.

Finally the herd started to move, and at 200 yards I had a shot at the big male. Bad timing... when I fired, the PH said "one moved right as you shot...", and sure enough, a young ram had stepped in front of the big one. Horrible, horrible timing... but I got a beautiful flatskin out of the deal.

We called for the truck and loaded up the blesbok, then started following the herd again. We came across them a couple of miles later, and this time when the boss was in the clear I put the hammer on him and dropped him with a good lung shot. He turned out to be a good one.. 17" horns, which, they tell me, is pretty nice for a blesbok.



I also got to meet a couple of Accurate Reloaders on the trip. Tyge "Fulldraw Outdoor Media" Floyd was in camp the first couple of nights, and we enjoyed some good conversation around the fire. Had lunch and a couple of beers with Hutty in Johannesburg as we waited for our flight out.

And now I'm dreaming of the next trip. The gemsbok haunts me, and I want to add an nyala and a bushbuck...

Clover, SC

Very nice report and sounds like had a wonderfull time and believe me if I say that the chances of you bagging another hog like that is very slim.

Gemsbuck is tough, people tend to shoot them to high. Get a copy of the perfect shot and study it for next time it will help a lot.

Great report SC!

The hog and Blesbuck look outstanding.

What a warthog!

Great report

TerryR

Glade to see you had just as great a time with those guys as we did. I met your PH before we left and he seemed like a great guy.

That warthog is great and looks like one my hunting partner Gayne was after the same day I shot my big hog.

Congratulations.

I have hunted with Limcroma many times and they have some of the best animals I have ever seen. I shot a huge Impala with them and I know the PH's pretty well. All are top-notch. I highly reccomend them for a great Safari! I have sent many people to hunt with them and no one has ever been disappointed.

Bwana91

Congratulations on what looks and sounds like a great hunt. Sorry about the Gemsbok. Love the warthog.
Jeff

You did very well and got some outstanding trophies!

I had the pleasure of having lunch and beers with SC Sportsmen at Joberg while waiting for our flight home. The excitment and awe in his voice when he was recounting his stories made me realize how special it is to hunt in Africa.

Add another one to the fraternity of African hunters who will return sooner then later.

quote:

Originally posted by Hutty:
I had the pleasure of having lunch and beers with SC Sportsmen at Joberg while waiting for our flight home. The excitment and awe in his voice when he was recounting his stories made me realize how special it is to hunt in Africa.

Add another one to the fraternity of African hunters who will return sooner then later.

SC Sportsman and I really should do the same sometime. We do after all live in the same State.

Congrats on your first safari! Your first one is always special and sounds like you had a grand adventure.

quote:

Originally posted by TheBigGuy:SC Sportsman and I really should do the same sometime. We do after all live in the same State.

Sounds good to me BigGuy, we need to make it happen sometime soon; maybe during the upcoming deer season!

quote:

Originally posted by SC-Sportsman:

quote:

Originally posted by TheBigGuy:SC Sportsman and I really should do the same sometime. We do after all live in the same State.

Sounds good to me BigGuy, we need to make it happen sometime soon; maybe during the upcoming deer season!

I'm in Rock Hill twice a year. We'll make it happen. You have a PM.

Nice trophies SC. Congrats on your hunt!
David