The story of this safari was born in the halls of the Dallas Safari Club Convention in January 2016. I attended that DSC with my father and best friend, John Anderson. John booked a week-long safari with our friends at Blauuwkrantz Safaris. His hunt was to immediately follow a 3 week long rotation in Cape Town as part of his residency program at the University of Nebraska Medical School. This would be John’s first safari experience and we wanted him to meet the Rudmans in person.
Before we had to leave to catch our flight, I was busy still trying to greet and say goodbye to new friends and old. Dad and John were waiting by the entrance and a raffle lady convinced Dad to throw a few tickets in the drawings before we left. Never thought he would get a call the next day saying he had won a 7 day safari for two hunters and 4 animals per hunter with South African outfitter, Somerby Safaris!

John had a great hunt in April with Blaauwkrantz and took some great trophies!







Dad had already booked big hunts for the next two years and decided to gift it to my girlfriend, Jessica, and I. Jess didn’t grow up a hunter but over the last few years I have started to convert her. Since we have started dating, she has learned to shoot and has hunted turkeys, doves, and shot her first whitetail last November. So when Dad offered it to both of us we jumped at the idea and Somerby’s appeared to be a great place for her first African experience.



January 2017 found us back at the Dallas Safari Club Convention and Jess and I were able to sit down and talk to Drom, the owner of Somerby, and a couple of his PHs. After talking with Drom there was no doubt we were going to have a great time and by the time we left Dallas we had our dates set and plane tickets purchased. Now it was time to prepare and set up a rifle for Jess that would work on animals as big as Zebra and Blue Wildebeest.
I purchased a new Weatherby Vanguard Camilla in .308 Win and equipped it with a suppressor. The rifle is made specifically for women shooters and it seemed to fit her perfectly. She shot it well and became a better and more confident markswomen the more we practiced. Naturally, she still had a lot of anxiety and nervousness about how she would perform when aiming at a big wildebeest.


On July 6th we loaded up the truck and headed for Omaha. Jumped a plane to Atlanta and then prepared ourselves for the 15 hour flight to Johannesburg. When we landed, PD Van de Berg, our PH for the next 10 days was waiting for us. With his help we were in and out of the rifle office in a matter of minutes. While in the rifle office, PD asked me if I was nervous and I just smiled and said yeah with a smile. Then it was on to the Elephant (Ndlovu) Lodge in Pretoria. We were to stay the next two nights here and start our safari on the 9th. The restaurant at the lodge, El Encuentro, was excellent and Vincent and Jimmy were great waiters.


The next morning (July 8) we drove about 1.5 hours from Pretoria to Brits and then onto a lion sanctuary, Ukutula, for a day with the lions. When we arrived at Ukutula, I slipped the diamond ring into PD’s hand and he knew where to go from there. For a guy who has been in a few pressure situations in his life, I was a nervous wreck on the inside and couldn’t really care about the first part of the tour where they explain to you the facility’s big cat goals. At the end of the tour they let visitors play with some young lion cubs. Before we had ever left the States, I had arranged for the ring to be tied around the neck of one of the cubs. They sat us on a log and one of the lion keepers handed me THE cub and I got down on my knee and asked Jess to marry me! She was completely caught of guard and said YES! The pictures PD took our priceless! I am one happy guy!






July 9th: We headed for the hunting area we would spend the first part of the trip at, Tilodi. We picked up our skinner, Jerrum and we were off. Tilodi is a large hunting area full of impala, zebra, wildebeest, and kudu! The lodge and chalets were 5 star and the camp manager, Louie is as nice of a person as you meet. The camp staff was made up of Tri and Emma and head chef Alex. We arrived in time for lunch and we unpacked, readied the rifles, and went out to make sure everything was still zeroed. After a few shots out of each rifle we were happy and continued on hunting. We got to know the property and walked into a few waterholes before heading back to the lodge for supper.




July 10: Jess was successful in taking her first African animal, a magnificent Blue Wildebeest bull. She made a “perfect perfect perfect” 168 yard shot with her Camilla.


Later that evening we travelled to about 40 minutes from Tilodi to hunt for Limpopo bushbuck on the banks of the Crocodile River. We saw a monster bushbuck but we were never able to get a clear shot before he made it to the thick brush. All we could do was hope he would give us another chance the next night.

July 11: I was able to harvest an old Blue Wildebeest bull in the afternoon and we kept trying for a zebra for Jess. The zebra were plentiful but clever and we never could get close. After lunch we went over to a neighboring game ranch where we had permission to shoot warthog and baboon. We did a quick drive looking for a big warthog and ran into a big troop of baboons. I was really hoping to get one on this trip as I have tried on previous safaris unsuccessfully. The big male never showed himself and they were up the hill and out of range. While looking at baboons we got a call there was a boar bush pig that had been sighted and sure enough Jess was able to connect with this outstanding trophy. Even as I write this, I still don’t think she appreciates that rarity of shooting a bush pig in daylight on your first trip to Africa. After pictures, we saw a Jackal and I used Jess’ .308 to make a good jackal out of him.




After supper we went back to the Crocodile River to look for that bushbuck again. Sure enough he was back in the same area but 100 yards from where we saw him the previous night. This time he showed himself too long and the .308 did another one shot kill. I couldn’t have gotten luckier with this awesome trophy, right at 17″ on both horns and a perfect shape to them. One of the biggest PD has taken with a client. Definitely have the spiral horn fever again!


That was an incredible day!

July 12: We tried hard to get Jess a Zebra and a Warthog but neither species cooperated. Nevertheless it was a great day to be in Africa!




July 13: The other unique specie I had not had the opportunity to hunt on previous trips was a Tsessbee. Dad harvested one on his first safari in Zimbabwe in 1998 and I always wanted to hunt one for myself. Today was the day! We went to a neighboring farm where they we more plentiful and right away we were seeing them. PD was able to pick out a giant bull and my .300 RUM Montana Rifle barked. A perfect shot at 130 yards. Couldn’t be happier with this 15.5″ Tsessbee!


After the Tsessbee was skinned, we packed up our gear and said goodbye to Tilodi and Louie and went to stay at Ndlovu Lodge for the night.

July 14: We drove from Pretoria to a lodge in the mountains on the border of the Free State and Natal. The lodge was called Zandriver Valley Lodge. The ecosystem here was completely different from that of Tilodi’s. Here there were high mountain peaks and plateaus with acacia trees and scrub and low lying high grass plains. This was also a working cattle ranch with several hundred cow-calf pairs in the hunting area. After getting unpacked we went out hunting and targeted blesbuck. We had quite the 4×4 drive up some treacherous trails and reached the top where we found a small herd of blesbuck and made a great stalk in the high winds. Unfortunately it turned out it was all females and young ones. We let them be and continued on to look for zebra. We found a small group and Jess made a great 234 yard shot on a superb stallion. That little .308 did a great job. Jess had her zebra!



July 15: Jess connected with a good impala ram and made a great shot off the sticks. Didn’t know how well she had hit it at first, but turned out he only ran a little ways.


Later that night we had an awesome steak supper and introduced everyone to s’mores!



July 17: We drove deep into the Free State to another farm owned by Cornell, the owner of Zandriver Lodge. We found a large herd of Blesbuck here and Jess and PD chased them for several hours trying to get a shot. Jess missed her first shot attempt, then hit him high but not lethally on the second shot and was able to make a perfect shot on her third shot. I was able to shoot a fantastic White Blesbuck as well. What a treat to have these pictures.




With the blesbuck in the truck we hightailed it to Drom’s farm and was welcomed by his wife, Suné, and young son Jakobus. We had a wonderful supper before it was out to do some spotlighting to look for duiker and porcupine. What we found was completely unexpected and couldn’t have been a more perfect way to end the hunt. A serval showed himself hunting in the tall grass. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity and made the most of it. What a treat!! Never ever did I think a serval would be something I would get. Jess shot two great duikers, one of which had a 5′ unicorn, and we shot a few more Jackals.





We stayed up late and celebrated the day and the trip as a whole. I couldn’t be happier or more satisfied with how well this safari went. PD was the perfect match for our age, interests, and a great professional hunter that we became great friends with. I look forward to hunting with him in the future and getting that sable.
I would like to thank Drom, Suné and the Somerby Staff for all help and correspondence it took to set up the engagement surprise and for donating this hunt through the Dallas Safari Club in the first place!!! We will for sure be return clients and steer our friends to Somerby Safaris as a great place to experience, if you are on your first or seventh trip to Africa they will be able to accommodate you.

Fantastic report!

Congratulations! You set the bar pretty high for the start of your lives together.

Best of luck to the both of you.

That bushbuck's a hog!

Absolutely well done all around!

Congratulations to you both!!

Wonderful report and photos!!!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Thank you for posting,congratulations to the both of you,doesn't get any better cheers.

You are seriously skilled my friend!!!!

Way to go!

I wish I had thought of that "ring on the cub" idea!!! Well done.

That story will be retold in your family way after you are long gone!!!!

Well done!

Congratulations and great idea with the ring. Drom and Sune are great people and I consider them good friends after a couple of safaris with Somerby. I met PD in May when I was hunting leopard in Zim and enjoyed sitting around the fire with him. That Jakobus is a handful, though! Takes after his father, I think.

Congrats again.

Looks like a successful hunt in many more ways than just hunting!
Congratulations

Outstanding and well done! Thanks for sharing.
Your safari costs just doubled.
Ski+3

Congrats all around on a great hunt/trip for you and your bride-to-be.

While I've never hunted with them, Drom and Sune have been long supporters of our local SCI chapter (Kansas City) and never heard a bad word toward them. Matter of fact, friends of mine were there at the end of May. Buddy's dad took a kudu that was knocking on 60". They're ready to go back.

BTW, that is a TOAD of a bushbuck!!

Heeler75, I may have met your friends as I was returning from my leopard hunt. I met two couples at the Elephant Lodge on May 29th, just arriving from KC. Father and son in the plumbing business, IIRC. Had dinner with them but cannot recall their names. Would that have been them? As I recall, PD Van den Berg was also their PH. I also ran into another fellow from KC at the Zim camp who turned out to be a client of our firm. Small world!

Custom, PM coming your way.

Congrats to all. Thanks for posting.

Congrats!!! And you took a Unicorn!!!

That Bushbuck is a real stud. Congrats on the successful proposal. Looks like a great trip all the way around. Thanks for sharing. Bruce

Thank you everyone for the good replies.

quote:

Originally posted by Custom:
Congratulations and great idea with the ring. Drom and Sune are great people and I consider them good friends after a couple of safaris with Somerby. I met PD in May when I was hunting leopard in Zim and enjoyed sitting around the fire with him. That Jakobus is a handful, though! Takes after his father, I think.

Congrats again.

Yeah Jakobus is just a miniature Drom!

Well, safaris are the start of some marriages and the beginning of the end for others I guess!

Congratulations on both the engagement and the safari and thank you for sharing both.

Excellent.

Mike

Congratulations Edholum. All the best.

Arjun