This was my first Africa hunt and this is my first post on AR. What a tremendous resource. Thanks so much to everyone who makes such great posts. I have learned so much from you all. I will try to follow your lead on how to post. I welcome all criticism and pointers.

Hunt Dates - April 17 - 25 2010
Location - Limpopo Valley, South Africa
Outfitter - Numzaan Safaris
PH - Johann Combrink
Equipment - .300 RUM with Federal Premium 200gr Nosler Partitions (and silenced .270 Winchester borrowed from PH)
Species Hunted / Taken:
Kudu
Impala
Gemsbok
Zebra
Blue Wildebeest
Warthog
Waterbuck
Jackal
Puff Adder
Species Hunted / Not Taken:
Baboon
Species seen:
Leopard (3 daytime)
Rhino
Giraffe
Sable
Duiker
Bushbuck
Nyala
Bat Eared Fox
Cape Buffalo
Civet
Caracal


Back Story: This hunt was set up by my buddy Mark Meyer. Mark has a great business where you hunt alligators with him and then he makes you custom boots, belt and wallet out of your gator. Great guy and big fun. Here is Mark and I hunting alligators.


I ran into Mark at the 2010 Reno SCI show (Christmas present from my wonderful wife) and booked an alligator hunt for my son Sam's HS graduation present. Mark and I talked about wanting to hunt Africa. A couple of days later Mark calls about this great deal his friend Jim from Alaska had worked for us to go to Africa this year. Knowing nothing about the hunt, but knowing any hunt with Mark would be a blast, I was in. Mark booked his flight and sent me the info and I booked mine. We were going to link up in Atlanta (I am in Austin) with his friend Jim from Alaska. I get to Atlanta, no Mark. I call him and he is still in Houston. On his way to the airport, he stops by ATT to program his phone for Africa and somebody stole his passport out of the truck. Unbelievable. They caught the lady who took it (pulled her over on an unrelated charge and found it on her), but too late for Mark to make the trip. So Mark gives me Jim's number and we meet for the first time right before the flight.

Jim West brought his wife Kristy and they were going to just be observers for our hunt. However, with no Mark, Jim decided to do a little hunting too. I could not have asked for better hunting companions. Here is a picture:


Jim is a custom gun maker and outfitter from Anchorage Alaska. His specialty is cool lever action 45-70 short barrel guns (which our PH used and swears by). Jim also runs Klutina Lodge for King Salmon and big game hunting. Here is a shameless plug for the gun business: www.wildwestguns.com and for the lodge: www.fishhuntalaska.com. Although I have never hunted with Jim in Alaska and did not know him before this trip, he and his wife are top flight and I can tell he would be a great outfitter and PH himself.

We flew direct from Atlanta to Jburg on Delta. Looong flight in middle seat. Completely full because of the volcano. Decent food and caught up on all the movies I missed at the theater. Arrived at Jburg to our PH Johann Combrink's smiling face waiting for us. They had arranged for the gun permit beforehand and we were out in about 45 minutes. Quick bite to eat at Wympee burger and were on the road at about 6:45 pm local time. Unfortunately, it was dark and could not see anything on the 4 hour drive to Limpopo. Our first destination was the Leeuwenkuil Game Ranch outside of Dwaalboon on the Botswana border. They have an airstrip and you can fly in, but the drive was not bad at all. Very nice game ranch and accommodations. All the amenities you could want.

Day 1
Great night sleep (after being up for 30+ hours). Light breakfast of yogurt, muffins and juice. Sighted in the .300 RUM and we were off. Started seeing lots of game almost immediately. Lots of kudu. Several stalks and passed on several that I would have been tickled with. Johann did a great job at waiting for the right animal. Right before lunch, caught a glimpse of a big bull and we were off. For some reason, he never ran, but walked slowly so we could catch up and the 75 yard shot from the RUM knocked him right down. He was still kicking, but a second shot finished him quickly. Magnificent animal. This is Johann and I with the kudu.


He measured just under 52" and scored 122 5/8, over the SCI minimum. Could not have been more tickled. A very mature bull. Timing was perfect. Made it back for lunch, a quick nap, and then back out to the field. Saw lots of game, made lots of stalks, but nothing we wanted to shoot. It was getting dark and we were heading back to camp when we saw and heard a lot of commotion. We hopped out and glassed two impala rams going at it. The rut was in full swing and these guys had no idea we were there. We watched them knocking the crap out of each other and Johann said shoot the one on the right, so I did. The shot was a little far back and it ran a little and was down, but not dead. As we approached, Johann grabbed it by the horns, jumped on its back, pinned the horns to the ground with his knees, pulled out his knife and stabbed it at the base of the skull, killing it. Then he said, "No need to waste a bullet." I had never seen anything like that. Nice impala with beautiful markings on the face. A little over 21" a side and scored a total of 52 6/8. Good enough for SCI minimum.


Day 2
Very early morning, breakfast at 5:30 and off. On the way out, passed a waterhole and jumped a leopard. What a treat. Then, while glassing for gemsbok, a large civet walked right in the field of view. We saw incredible amounts of game. We were stalking gemsbok when a torrential thunderstorm just pounded us. Driving rain and lightening all around. Johann looked at me and said OK? I said OK and we kept going. I was a little uneasy about the lightening because I was carrying the rifle. I can't imagine a PH working harder than Johann. He truly loves this stuff and did everything he could to make sure you got exactly the animal you wanted. Can't say enough good stuff about him. We got completely soaked, but it was an awesome afternoon. About the time the truck came for lunch, the rain stopped and a rainbow came out.


The scenery was beautiful. Spent a lot of time following Johann and his dog, Scrappy.


After lunch, lots of stalks on zebra and gemsbok, with no shots. We were heading back just before dark when I saw a big bodied gemsbok out of the corner of my eye as we passed. I slapped the top of the truck and we hopped out and took off after it. It was gone, but just a short ways into the bush, we saw his body through the trees. Could not see the head at all. I was on the stick and on target, waiting for the go from Johann. He moved just enough for Johann to make out two tips and said take him. The shot felt good, but he ran off and it was getting dark. That was when we called for Scrappy the Wonderdog. This Jack Russell mix dog was truly incredible. It was off the truck and after that gemsbok like you could not believe. 20 seconds later we hear barking and there is a dead gemsbok less than 100 yards from the shot. Not terribly long horns (right at 30"), but very, very old. Huge bases and the tips had clearly been worn down. Wonderful animal. Exactly what I was hoping for.


A little bit more about Scrappy. As soon as Scrappy got to the animal, she would tear into the butthole. I mean tear into it with a vengeance and pretty much rip it out. Then, the kill was hers. Any tracker who tried to get near it, she would go straight for their crotch. She would growl and had to be restrained so we could recover the animal. It was really quite a show. This dog loves to hunt. Here she is at attention:


And for dinner? Fresh Kudu tenderloin steaks. Excellent! Perfect ending to a perfect day.


Day 3
Another early morning rise and 1 1/2 hour drive to a different ranch to hunt zebra. We had not had any luck getting close to them on the Leeuwenkuil so we tried another ranch. I forget the name, but it was a beautiful place. It was primarily a bow hunting ranch, but Johann had a silenced .270 that they said was OK. There was an enormous high tension power line running across part of the ranch and gave some really long views. Spied a herd of zebra, but at about 400 yards. When we tried to get closer, they bolted. We tracked them for awhile, but their tracks seemed to circle back on themselves and we decided to break for lunch. Awesome BBQ with lamp chops and kabobs. I am from Texas and know BBQ. This was good stuff. I pounded it. After lunch, went to another clearing and found a good size herd on the other side at about 211 yards. Far enough, but not too far. We just had to wait until the stallion separated from the herd so there was a clear shot. I was on the sticks, but pulled the shot a little. I knew I hit him, but it must have been a little far back. Absolutely no reaction from the stallion. The whole herd ran a ways, but then stopped. Could not tell which one was hit. No blood visible on any of them. We decided to just wait and watch instead of forcing them to run. After awhile, one kind of walked away from the herd and slowly headed for the bush. He stopped at the edge of the clearing for awhile, and then his was gone. My heart sank. We got some water and Scrappy and headed off prepared for a long, hot track. We barely broke into the bush when Scrappy let us know she found him, about 100 yards in. Huge, beautiful Stallion. Way to go Scrappy! This was a tremendous zebra.


While we were recovering the zebra, the ranch manager was talking with us about what else to hunt. I told him I was pretty well tapped out except for warthogs and baboons, which I could still afford to shoot. He told us he had a really, really old blue wildebeest that was just beat to hell. Both sides of the horns were broken and it was time for him to go. He told me if we found him, I could shoot him really cheap. Never one to pass up a good sale, we were back on the hunt. It did not take long to find this old guy all by himself. There was no mistaking the broken horns. One shot at about 150 yards with the .270 and he was down. Scrappy went right for the butt and chased everyone else away. An unexpected bonus. Beautiful hide.


Day 4
Early rise, saw two small leopards. Very lucky. Only after warthogs at this point. Saw nothing but sows and little pigs.

Day 5
Spent just about the whole day in a blind waiting for pigs. Saw a decent waterbuck, a sow and piglet, and a bunch of monkeys. Skunked on the big pigs, but Jim did shoot a jackal.

Day 6
Went to another ranch to blind hunt for pigs. Nothing all morning so started eating my lunch at about 11:30. On my second bite, a group of three pigs came running in. Didn't get a good look, but one was definitely bigger and I did see tusks. Dropped the sandwich, grabbed the gun just as the lead pig spotted me. She froze looking right at me and the other bigger pig turned into the brush right in front of me. I decided to take a quick shot at the bigger pig before the first one gave me away. The .300 RUM knocked him on his butt, he spun around, got up, and broke for the heavy brush running like a bat out of hell. I knew it was a solid hit, but nobody told him. A very young tracker tried to help, but the pig was gone. The young tracker called for backup and a dog. Three guys show up and the little dog runs around, but no pig. We then call Johann, who is hunting waterbuck with Jim, who brings the main tracker, Lawrence, and Scrappy. We are now about 3 hours from the shot. Lawrence actually picks up the blood trail and we are on it again. Scrappy is very excited running around with the other little dog and then they are gone. Johann tells me if we hear Scrappy bark, we need to run like hell because the animal is still alive and we need to get there before the pig gets the dogs. Not 2 minutes later we hear a very faint bark in the distance and Johann sprints off through the heaviest brush you have ever seen. I am right behind him. About 4-5 minutes into this flesh-tearing mad dash, Johann stops and holds up his hand to stop and be quiet. I can barely hear anything I am breathing so hard. But then we hear a couple of barks much closer. We dash off in that direction, running flat out. Somewhere in there I trip and completely face plant. I scramble up, but have now lost Johann. I can now hear the dogs barking very close. I sprint in that direction. I hear a shot, a dog's screeching howl, then another shot. I break through a little clearing and see the 2 dogs and a dead warthog with just his head poking out of a hole. I am bleeding like a stuck pig from running through the brush in shorts, sweating like a pig and completely out of breath. Johann tells me he saw the pig, took a shot as it was running, the dogs backed it into the hole and he shot it right behind the ear, immediately killing it. I could not believe it. I had given up on ever finding the pig. A truly ugly, beautiful old boar.


However, before we could celebrate too much, we noticed the smaller dog had a pretty good gash in the throat.

Luckily, Johann's wife is a doctor so we rushed to his house for a little surgery. His wife, Vanessa had everything there so we gave a little local anesthetic, something to calm the dog, and then sutured her up. Good as new.

By the time we went back to pick up Jim, who was in a makeshift blind at a waterhole, it was pretty late and time to head home. On the way home, we see a herd of something way in the distance. We glass and laser range - waterbuck at over 200 yards. All the animals take off but one. Johann tells Jim - this is your waterbuck - take it! Jim grabs the .300 RUM, steadies himself and shoots. The waterbuck does not even jump and casually walks away. Nobody heard the bullet hit and it looks like a clean miss. Jim says no way, he was right on target and it was a good shot. I fear I may have bumped the scope when I face-planted chasing the warthog. Jim, Johann, Lawrence and Scrappy follow after the waterbuck in case he did not run too far. However, 50 yards in the bush, Scrappy barks and there is the waterbuck lying down. A couple of quick shots with the lever action 45-70 and it is all over. Jim's first shot was right on target and it would have died, but it was almost dark and nobody was taking any chances. This is just one tough waterbuck. It was exceptional. Right at 30". Spectacular animal.


We switched camps and were supposed to go up into the mountains to hunt baboon, but the sky opened up and the last few days were shot. Heavy, heavy rain. We made a trip into town - Thabazimbi - for a little shopping. Not too much to do. Really wanted those baboons. Oh well. Spent the last couple of days with Tonie du Bruyn and his wife at their place. It was very nice, excellent food and great campfire stories. Did see a puff adder in the road. Killed him and he had a freshly eaten rat inside. Very cool.


All in all, an exceptional hunt. Numzaan exceeded my expectations on every level. Jim and Kristy West were first-rate hunting companions and Johann Combrink was simply an exceptional PH. He worked extremely hard, knew what he was doing, and was just a lot of fun. I am sure all of the PH's at Numzaan are great, but I would insist on Johann. Can't wait to go back, but this time I would take my wife. I know I will have to go back soon; those baboons are still haunting my dreams.

Vince,

Thanks for the great posting. What a wonderful hunt. Made next year's plan yet?

Quite a first report. Welcome to AR and welcome home. Well done.

Great First Hunt. Welcome to AR.
You really got some excellent specimen for the game hunted. Now betcha you're saving for buffalo and elephant!

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
Quite a first report. Welcome to AR and welcome home. Well done.

+1

Actually, yes. I am trying to put together a Zimbabwe dangerous game hunt. I am afraid I am ruined.

quote:

Originally posted by Jack D Bold:
Vince,

Thanks for the great posting. What a wonderful hunt. Made next year's plan yet?

wery nice trophies!! i just love that old blue wildebeest!

Glad you had a great hunt! Nice pics and report. The limpopo is a lot of fun to hunt!

Mad Dog

Vince. Very nice report and photos. I talked to Jim briefly last week and it sounded like you all had a great time. I'm going up to his place in July and I'm sure I'll hear more stories and see more photos.
Too bad about Mark's passport. I'm sure he would have added even more fun to your trip.

Very well done report. Great trophies! I will be in the Limpopo area in July for a 14 day PG hunt. These pics just made me that much more anxious to leave!

Rob

Nice report, great photos, and a wonderful waterbuck.

Well done on the hunt,the photos,ans the report.
Welcome to AR

Congratulations on a excellent trip. Great pictures, good report, and nice trophies.

Jason

COngrats on your first trip, great trophies and thanks for a super report...now get planning the next one!

Congrats on the hunt. I was at the Anchorage airport Saturday and thought I saw Jim at the baggage claim.

Brett

Congrats on the hunt. Looks like you had a grand time. I actually met Johaan at our local SCI banquet this year. Maybe even had a few gin & tonics with him. Its hard to remember.

I hunted with Johann in 2004 and had a great time as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Nevada Wapati:
Vince. Very nice report and photos. I talked to Jim briefly last week and it sounded like you all had a great time. I'm going up to his place in July and I'm sure I'll hear more stories and see more photos.
Too bad about Mark's passport. I'm sure he would have added even more fun to your trip.

Tell Jim hello. Going for King Salmon?

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Lozano:
Congrats on the hunt. Looks like you had a grand time. I actually met Johaan at our local SCI banquet this year. Maybe even had a few gin & tonics with him. Its hard to remember.

I think he does go to Michigan. Great guy, but I don't think he cares for cities too much.

Fine report. You are now hooked. Welcome to AR it is a great source of information and advice.

Great hunt and report! Doing the DG hunt this year--six (long) years after my first Africa hunt. Don't wait that long!! Plan it and DO IT.

Welcome home and to AR!

Skip

I remember being impressed with the care that Johann took in cleaning up and posing the animals for the photos, something I see he is still doing well. I don't pose with the rifle in the shot and some people actually asked when seeing the pictures, "How do you get them to just lay there like that?" LOL

quote:

Originally posted by KevinNY:
I remember being impressed with the care that Johann took in cleaning up and posing the animals for the photos, something I see he is still doing well. I don't pose with the rifle in the shot and some people actually asked when seeing the pictures, "How do you get them to just lay there like that?" LOL

That is hilarious. I actually took a lot of pictures of Johann preparing for the pictures. Well appreciated work.

quote:

Originally posted by Skip Nantz:
Great hunt and report! Doing the DG hunt this year--six (long) years after my first Africa hunt. Don't wait that long!! Plan it and DO IT.

Welcome home and to AR!

Skip

Where are you going, who are you hunting with, and what are you hunting?

Congratulations on a great hunt. You did very well. My wife and I spent our 15th wedding anniversary with Numzaan in 2002. Had such a great time we took the kids in 2006 and 2008.
Going for a buffalo this fall with them as well. Great people.

I was there about then, how close to Steenbokpan or Ellisras did you get?
Since you got both Kudu and Gemsbuck as I did, which was the better in your opinion for steak dinner?

Nice trophies, all of them.

Rich
DRSS