13 October 2016, 19:56
1BigDeerMakuya Buffalo and Bucket List Safari
Dates – June 30 – July 13
Hunt Area- Makuya Nature Reserve adjoining Kruger National Park near Musina in the Luvuvhu-Pafuri region and at Infinity Lodge in Limpopo
Safari Operator and Owner – Infinito Safaris
Charl van Rooyen, Owner, Outfitter and Professional Hunter
Erika van Nieuwenhuizen, General Manager
www.infinito-safaris.com Charl: +27 78 444 7661 Erika: +27 82 848 8078
Agent – None
Travel Agent – None for the travel but Christy at Gracy Travel handled the gun permits and arranged the VIP service at Johannesburg airport, 210 – 698 – 2611, email – christy@gracytravel.com
Guns Used – Browning A-bolt Stainless Stalker in 375 H&H, Leupold 2.5 – 8 X 36 scope with 350 grain Barnes TSX and solids for buffalo
Rifles Inc. in 338 RUM, Swarovski Z6(i) 2.5 – 15 X 56 scope, 210 grain Barnes TTSX and 250 grain Barnes banded solids for everything else
Animals Taken: Cape buffalo, Limpopo bushbuck, bushpig, Chacma baboon, civet, Large spotted genet, Mountain Reedbuck, Serval and Waterbuck
Animals Seen but not taken: Elephant, Nyala, Sharpe’s grysbok at Makuya and every imaginable species in Limpopo
Birds Seen: I’m am far from an expert but the Luvuvhu/Pafuri region is known as one of the birding hot-spots of South Africa and the bird life was incredible. I was particularly thrilled to see a flock of Southern Ground Hornbills!
** DISCLAIMER **
This report was generated and posted for one reason and one reason only – to share with the hunting community. Take from it what you will; it’s factual and are my personal observations of MY experience. It has not been posted seeking notoriety, personal gain nor anyone’s approval or disapproval.
Hunting Africa is right at the top of the list of my favorite things to do and I always make the time to pursue the pygmy antelope species and Africa’s smaller predators. Thus it was only natural to hunt with Charl Van Rooyen/Infinito Safaris on his “Bucket List Hunt”. Schedules never allowed me to book but after reading about Vaughan’s success hunting with Charl I had to make it happen. I bought a slightly scaled back 7-day “Bucket List Hunt” Charl donated at the SCI Las Vegas auction and now I would make it happen! I met Charl and Erika at a Sportsman’s show in Duluth, MN for the first time and it was here that Charl told me he had two buffalo left on quota. While I was intrigued by the buffalo offer I honestly didn’t think I could swing it having been to Africa three times in the past five years BUT, buffalo has always been high on MY bucket list. Charl is a good salesman and he convinced me that if I would only be able to hunt buffalo once in my life, his hunt in a wild area with a high population of big bulls would be the experience to have. Once I decided to add the buffalo hunt to my “Bucket List” hunt I found a friend to accompany me on his first buffalo hunt as well. Dan at age 68, said this would be his last African safari and was excited to go!
We departed Minneapolis 6/29 for Atlanta and from there on Delta 200 to JNB. The flight was full, long and uneventful, so that was good. Better yet, our guns and bags arrived and Gracy got us through immigration and SAPS as quickly as always. Next stop was Africa Sky Guest House for a much needed shower, steak and a drink before bed. My room was recently renovated and while the rooms were nice before they are incredible now! The fillet was fantastic too. Deidre and her staff continually impress me and I can highly recommend Africa Sky to anyone spending time in Johannesburg.
The next morning, we made the three-hour road trip to the Infinity lodge and settled in. I sat the first night in a blind for bushpig and even though the only visitors were a small leopard and a kudu it was great to be back in the field. Our first full hunting day brought the leader of a large baboon troop to the salt for me. I had taken a few (very) long shots at baboons before without success but this males arrogant stroll at the back of the pack cost him on this day. His dentures are most impressive and the skull will be prominently displayed at my home.
I missed a big klipspringer ram as he was bounding down a canyon much to my disappointment but I never spare the ammo! After lunch we freshened a bait site with various parts and pieces and enough wonderful scent to hopefully bring in the bushpig herd that lived in this area. A popup blind was dug in and completely concealed in brush in preparation for the events of the evening to come. After a nap and bite to eat Charl and I were dropped off at the blind an hour or so before sunset and settled in. The bushpig sounder arrived seemingly on schedule just before it was pitch black but they stayed behind the blind and off to one side, coming any going for quite a while. During this time a lot of things race through your mind, especially if you’ve spent a lot of long cold nights in a blind, but mostly you wonder if the pigs will come to the bait. Satisfied that everything was in order, a huge sow appeared at the bait and promptly laid down completely sprawled out on her belly eating exactly like “a pig in shit"! She also kept the rest of the pigs away until she ate her fill and only then did the big boar approach. I don’t know why the boar was so incredibly wary but it took him several attempts and approaches to the bait to finally begin to feed and present a shot but as soon as the sight picture was right I sent a 250 grain solid into his shoulder and he dropped at the shot. My dream of a bushpig boar was realized with a great specimen! I love pig hunting, but bushpigs are one tough customer and I believe they are a highly underrated quarry in Africa. Try it for yourself and see.
After a very brief celebration of our success and photos with the boar we discussed looking for Serval. It had been windy earlier in the day and evening when suddenly there was a break in the gusts and Charl and PH Gawie thought the cats would take advantage of the lull in the wind to hunt. They knew the area a big tom liked to frequent and had actually been missed by several hunters in the past so we went there first. I could not believe when we reached the field and immediately spotted eyes. Incredibly, the tom didn’t run and my Serval and bushpig were taken less than an hour apart! I’ve only been on four African Safaris but I have seen most, if not all of the other cats and small cats but had never seen a Serval so to be able to take the first one I had ever seen and it being such a big male is incredible to me. Prior to the actual safari, Charl told me the Serval would be the toughest animal to take but he and his guys made it seem easy.
We took the next day easy and returned to the bushpig blind before dark as trail camera photos revealed an oversize civet also visiting when the pigs weren’t there. The sit in the blind seemed long in the cold temps but eventually by Charl’s posture I could tell something was coming in. The civet was even WAY more warier than the bushpigs! It came and went never long enough to present any shot. Once again the idea that it might not return began to invade my thoughts but after so many times on the sticks with my heart racing out of control, I steeled my resolve to bring this cat to the salt and just knew it would return again. Return he did, and as he paused nearly head-on Charl had just begun to tell me that if I had the picture… and the round was on its way. I was again using Barnes solids which I’ve had great success with on small antelope and predators as they don’t do much damage to the hide on the way out but after the shot they will sometimes cover a bit a ground before they pile up. After the shot the civet was not in sight and after a quick look around the only evidence was a small spot of blood where it had been standing. We looked for quite some time when Charl called me over to look at some spoor probably 70 yards from the blind, but of course he had found my civet! Luckily, the eyes were open and he had just seen enough of a reflection in his headlamp to investigate. I can’t tell you why, but the hunt for my civet was one of the most emotional of any I’ve done. The highs, the lows and the excitement levels were off the chart. A couple of times while on the sticks I literally had to take my cheek off the stock, put my head down and force myself to get it together! Another “Bucket List” species checked off with another fantastic trophy.
Preparations were made and two Land Cruisers were loaded and the road trip to Makuya Reserve took about six hours. We got in fairly late, sleeping in the next day and then touring Kruger Park.
Makuya has the longest open border with Kruger of any property and besides the incredible buffalo genetics, has all natural occurring species except perhaps for rhino which I believe are unable to leave the park for their own protection. Dan hunted with another PH and killed a wonderful and absolutely ancient buffalo bull the first day out. The bull was 40 inches wide and completely smooth. Sorry but this is the only photo I have of this old boy.
In the first thirty minutes of my first buffalo hunt we followed a single bull track to an estimated forty-four inch bull but I wasn’t able to get on him and fire before he wheeled in the mopane scrub and vanished. What a way to start! The following four hunting days were some of the best of my hunting career. One day we were less than fifty feet from a bull that Charl said was at least forty-six inches but I say he was all of forty-eight as I know how wide a sheet of plywood is! We never had an opportunity to shoot because of the strict park rules on the harvest of the “right” buffalo bulls but it was an experience forever burned into my memory. On another day, we decided to pull out of stalk when water was still running into the tracks of six lions hunting the same buffalo we were along a small creek! One day the GPS showed we had tracked over 30 km.
On my fifth day buffalo hunting, it all came together on another ancient dagga boy and the Barnes TSX followed by a solid performed perfectly. An insurance shot was probably not needed but was never-the-less administered and mixed emotions came over me as I was elated to bag this bull but a bit of melancholy set in as the realization that my buffalo hunt was also over. While not even close to the biggest bull seen, I wouldn’t trade my hunt and bull for anything! Dan took a nyala on this day too!
We traveled back to Infinto ending our safari with some great plains game. Dan took blesbok and waterbuck topped by this superb sable. I don't recall the measurements but it scored well into the SCI Gold category.
I was fortunate to take a mountain reedbuck so old he was scarred all over and blind in one eye! I killed an honest thirty inch, heavy waterbuck bull too.
Bushbuck are probably my favorite species in Africa to hunt and someday I’d like to have the experience of taking all the subspecies but in the Limpopo lives the bushbuck named for the area. From the beginning of our talks and at every opportunity, I told Charl I wanted to try for Limpopo bushbuck so when we returned from our buffalo hunt with a few days left I knew what I would pursue. I hunted with Gawie again in an area where a couple of mature rams were known to frequent. When we spotted this ram high on a hillside in late afternoon I almost hyperventilated! Sneaking through the thick brush the ram startled some birds causing him to bark and jump into cover but we didn’t move a muscle and he slowly eased out just enough to expose his vitals. A spectacular ram that hadn’t been seen by anyone or caught on any cameras for two years and feared dead was going home with me. A unique horn configuration and 17 3/8 inches long to boot!
Last but not least, I was able to take a Large Spotted genet on a very cold night with my friend and PH Gawie.
In summary, I’m still shaking my head at what was a dream trip for me. Not in my wildest dreams did I dare to think that everything on the “Bucket List” would come to bag especially with the quality of the trophies. The additional plains game I took were not planned for but I was glad to have the time and opportunity to hunt and take them with, in my opinion, great quality as well.
The buffalo hunt on Makuya Reserve completely spoiled me. If I can ever afford to hunt buffalo again it will be there. Hunting the big Kruger bulls on foot with lions, hyena, leopards in a big wild area has to be the best! Perhaps with more buffalo experience, I might have had a chance at a bigger bull as they are certainly there and seen daily. One day, on the Luvuvhu river, which is the boundary between the reserve and Kruger, stood a bull which in everyone’s estimation was easily fifty inches and while probably too young to shoot based on the rules, he will be one day, if he doesn’t fall to the lions first. The annual quota for the reserve is only seven bulls so quality will certainly not diminish being so conservative. The accommodations were great in what used to be quarters at the nearby coal mine (no longer in operation) as well. Even if I don’t go back for buffalo, I will be going back for nyala, waterbuck and grysbok as they are all there in good numbers and simply amazing quality. The Crooks Corner region of Africa is beautiful and I long to return.
If you haven’t done so yet, you simply must get Global Entry which will also give you TSA PreCheck as well. There are some hoops to jump through but the first time you breeze through security/Customs it will all be worthwhile. Even more when time between flights is short!
I hope to hunt honey badger, oribi, red duiker, klipspringer, suni, grysbok, and Vaal rhebok with Charl to round out the pygmy species for me. Charl and Erika have a first-rate operation in every aspect and if you are looking for those unusual species, Infinito Safaris is the place to go!
22 October 2016, 13:59
IndiLovely hunt and a lovely place.
I hunted there in 2008 just after the reopening .
I was booked for a lion and elephant but when i arrived in camp , lion was not possible to hunt but they offered me the possibility to hunt a second elephant which i did.
Awesome area and camp but one gets a bit tired to go on the same roads and seeing the "same "animals "the entire hunt as it was a small property of about 30k hectars and if i remember well only opened on the Levuvhu river side and closed on all the other sides .
And waiting for the elphants to cross the river and shoot them 500 meters from the river can also be a bit boring when someone really like to walk.
But a very nice report, thank you for posting.
