03 August 2013, 10:39
Tim HeraldFamily Safari with Infinito Safaris July, 2013
Family Safari with Infinito Safaris July 17-30Charl (Infinito) and I have been planning this hunt for almost 2 years. I wanted to bring my wife and 12 year old twin bows, Will and Drew, to Africa for a PG hunt, and then when that was finished, I would go t o Mozambique. This was not to be a hard core hunt. I wanted my family to be introduced to and experience Africa, and hopefully love it like I do.
Charl and I decided to take my boys hunting for a few days, then go to Kruger for a few days for a fun break, then come back and hunt a bit, and see how things went toward the end. About 7 months ago, my cousin Kristin was joking around that she wanted to go with us, so I invited her. 2 days later, she and her 12 and 16 year old sons, Nick and Aaron, were booked. They were mainly sightseeing, touring, etc., but Charl said if her boys wanted to shoot something, he could work it out. Neither of them had ever hunted anything, and Nick had never shot a gun. I was able to take them to the range once before we left and Aaron was a natural and very good.
I had decided to let the boys use my .30TC caliber rifle. That is a .30 cal that is about 150fps faster than a 30-06, but has the recoil of a .243. It is a perfect kids gun. We made up some handloads with 168 grain Nosler E-Tips as I knew they would really penetrate if the kids shot big animals. They also clover leafed at the range at 100 yards.
Now I will admit that I was worried my boys might be a bit young for the hunting, even though they have killed a truckload of whitetails and turkeys. We practiced many time off sticks, but they were not great. They did have some shooting problems during the hunt, and I think as far as just hunting goes, another 2 years of age and size would have been helpful, but this trip was not all about hunting.
On Day 1, we got settled in, did the gun range and had lunch. In Afternoon, I took Nick and Will and sat in a bow blind with crossbow, and Charl took Aaron and Drew to the mountains. I need to say that Charl’s area is big and rough, and if you like spot and stalk in mountains that is very similar to trophy mule deer hunting or non-bugling elk, this is the place (especially if you want a BIG kudu).
We only saw a couple of warthogs from the blind with no shot, and Charl and company saw animals but no shot.
Day 2, Charl took Drew to the mountains, and he killed a duiker at about 80 yards. It was his first African animal, and he was stoked. The kicker was that they had seen an absolutely huge kudu bull, that Charl said was the biggest he had ever seen in his life, and he estimated it at 68”. When he told me about it at lunch, he had goose bumps on his arms. They watched it from a few hundred yards, and then he and Drew stalked for 2 hours. The got above it at 40 yards, and just as Drew was raising his rifle to the sticks, a cow they hadn’t seen busted them and game over! Someone is going to be VERY fortunate to kill that bull.
Day 3, we all went on the truck, and we did a number of stalks that did not work out. Charl finally got Drew on a blue wildebeest, and he shot it. We all thought it was good, but after spending the day after it, we concluded that he shot forward and just got brisket. He was pretty down about it. I took Aaron to a bow blind that afternoon, and he shot a duiker. We also saw the biggest bushbuck I have ever seen right at dark. All I guessed was it was over 17”. I asked Charl, and he said from trail cam photos, he thinks it is an honest 19 inches. After looking at mounts of 16-inchers afterward, I think it was all of 19”. It looked like a nyala! Aaron didn’t shoot it as it was really toward dark, and Charl told us he would love to get that one on film.
Erika, Charl’s better half, had been entertaining my wife and Kristin while we hunted. She took them shopping, to a spa, and did a wonderful job of making sure they had fun too. Erika, Nick, Will, Kris and Alka all went to a predator rehab place in the afternoon.
Day 4 we planned a quick morning hunt. Drew and I crossbow hunted, and we had some impala in, but no shooters in range. At one time we had two impalas get chased by us by a jackal, and I had the rifle in the corner. On instinct, I grabbed it and hammered the jackal, though I hadn’t planned to shoot anything on the trip. It was a big male, and Charl is going to have it mounted for his lodge.
After that, we went and visited a local school. We had been planning a “mission” trip there for months, and we brought 2 SCI bluebags and 2 other bags for of stuff for the kids. They have 80 very poor students and the school is quite needy. Charl has been helping them with meat and milk, and we brought 60 pairs of shoes, 18 soccer balls, 4 teams of 15 soccer jerseys, school supplies, toys, Bible flashcards, etc.
This was a very special thing for all of us, and I think it has changed all of our lives. Aside from helping their need, it was incredible to see all our kids interacting with the kids at the school. They were playing together, having genuine fun, and it just showed how all kids are really the same. Charl gave them all a little speech and then a prayer, and explained how it was hunters who were helping them, and they needed to try to take care of animals in the area so the hunters would keep coming back. He made it simple, but it was a great message. There were quite a few tears shed when we had to go.
We all drove to Kruger in the afternoon, and I was astounded at the diverse terrain as we went to the high plateaus, agricultural areas, and finally to the lowveldt. We had rented out a very nice lodge/house in a private reserve about 15 minutes from Kruger.
Days 5-6 we toured Kruger, and all of us enjoyed it very much. We had a driver, but Charl acted as tour guide. We saw 6 of the dangerous 7 (no leopard). We saw a 46-ish inch buff, a 50lb plus ele, and so many other things I can’t list them out. It was simply a good time and we all enjoyed the park very much. I think 2 days is perfect for Kruger.
Day 7, we drove back from Kruger, but made a stop at Life Form Taxidermy. We had a full tour, and the rest of the group had no idea what all went into taxidermy and between that and some of the huge lifesize mounts, they all were in awe. During that tour, Kristin told us she wanted to shoot something if we had time at the end, and she had her heart set on a giraffe! Talk about starting out big (she had never shot a rifle).
Day 8, Will and I crossbow hunted from blind, and he made a perfect shot on a duiker in the morning. Drew missed an impala, and then got a second chance and killed it with Charl. Drew also missed a zebra, and they had a 57” kudu at 150 yards, and he wouldn’t take the shot.
After the wildebeest and zebra, he had no confidence. In the afternoon, Aaron killed an impala and Nick missed a couple. It was a good day with some rough spots in the middle, but the boys were learning as they were going.
Day 9 – we all went to the mountains, and Charl, his 7 year old son Leon, Will and I stalked a bunch of bull kudu. We got across canyon from them and were stuck, so we tried to set Will up for the shot. I watched him shoot (sitting down on sticks), and he flat out picked his head up off the gun when he shot. He shot right over the bulls back, even with its shoulder. We had a talk about it, and again, we tried to tach him something that would help him next time. It was a really tough shot, especially for a 12 year old.
Day 10 – Will and I sat in a blind in an open area. Charl had popped it up the day before. I wanted something more stable for him as far as shooting and hopefully closer. We saw impala (no shooters) and some nyala. After an hour watching a nyala bull, he finally got a shot at about 90 yards, and again, he shot over its back! We stayed all day in the blind and about 4:30, and old worn down nyala bull crossed in front about 60 yards, and he hit it low in the chest…thank goodness!
During that Day, Charl was hard at work. Aaron killed a nice zebra stallion, Drew botched another shot on a Zebra, and Aaron smoked a nice worn old nyala in the afternoon. Nick also got an impala with Charl’s freelance PG Driess, and he was very excited about his first animal ever.
Aaron, Nick and Will were obviously on top of the world, but Drew was beating himself up in a serious way. He wasn’t pouting or being jealous, he was just down on himself. He is very conscientious, and works hard to succeed at things, and he was really disappointed in himself. It hurt me to see him hurt, and they had shot all I had planned for them to shoot at that point, but I tossed and turned all night, and I just had to try with Drew one more time. I couldn’t stand the thought of his first African experience ending on such a low note.
Day 11 – It was all about Drew getting a quality shot. We didn’t care if it was a zebra, kudu, nyala, etc. I wanted him to shoot one “big” animal We saw some different game, but nothing cooperated, and finally just before noon, we spotted a nyala bull in the shade of a thicket. We staled in to about 80 yards, and got Drew all set up. There was a ten foot opening about 20 yards in front of the bull, and we just prayed that he would eventually walk that way.
After what seemed like forever, the bull began to walk, and Charl told Drew that when the nyala got to the opening, he would stop it, and Drew had to shoot quickly. I whispered to him that he needed to make sure he was steady and watch the animal through the scope after the shot.
When the bull stepped in the open, Charl made a noise, and he stopped on a dime perfectly broadside. Drew squeezed the trigger, and the bull collapsed without ever taking a step. We were all absolutely overjoyed, and it is one of the most special moments of my life. Drew was on top of the world, and he was like a totally different kid from then on. Charl told him that night that he talked more after noon that day than he had in the 10 previous days put together.
We spent the entire afternoon trying to get Kristin on a giraffe, but we could never ever get a shot.
Day 12 was departure day for the family, but Charl wanted us to go out for 2-3 hours in the morning to give the giraffe one last try. We got lucky and got t o around 100 yards on a small group of bulls. Kris was to shoot the .30, and I was to be on the sticks beside her with an immediate follow up with my .416 Rem. We did a boom-boom, and the bull galloped off, and crashed in a few seconds. The shots were so close together, I convinced Kris I hadn’t even shot (wink, wink), but that was never the point. She wanted to do the hunt, but she didn’t care at all if she killed the giraffe. It had been sort of a running camp joke all week, but we all had a lot of fun during that short morning hunt.
We packed up and went back to Joburg, and took the family to the airport. I leave to go o trips all the time, and we are used to it as a family, but this was the most emotional goodbye ever. We had all had such a special time together, and Charl and Erika had truly become family (uncle Charl to all the kids). Man there were tears all over the place in the airport.
After they went to security, I met Charl and Erika for sushi as they had 2 new clients coming in, and I had to meet 2 guys who were going to Niassa with me the next day. After we got everyone squared away, I had to say my goodbyes, and then it was off to African Sky Guesthouse, and the next day starts another adventure.
Some follow up thoughts….This was definitely one of the best trips of my life. Charl and I introduced 2 boys to hunting and they are hooked. We introduced 6 new people to Africa, and they are all hooked! There is no way we could have possibly had a better host for the kids and a family trip. Charl was incredible with the kids. He was patient, he worked his tail off for them, he explained and taught them things, and he kept them in line when they needed it. He told African history stories that captivated them, he talked about faith and doing what is right, and one of my favorite things he did was ask them at dinner in the evenings what each of them had learned in Africa that day.
As usual, dinners and the evening fire were always looked forward to, but we have never laughed so much as we did every evening. In downtime, the kids were kids. They played hide and seek around the beautiful grounds, they played cards together, and often Erika joined them. They were kids having fun ,and it was a joy to watch.
Charl’s camp was very nice, very comfortable and the food was excellent. He and Erika adapted as we went, and everything ran very smoothly. Remember, Aaron and Nick were supposed to maybe hunt one day at the end if they decided to and time permitted. They hunted as much as my boys and that was a definite change.
I could write a volume on this hunt, but I guess I will end by saying that I give Infinito Safaris the highest marks, and I sincerely thank Charl for what he did for my family. I can’t recommend him any higher, and it you want a real hunt in the mountains (especially if you are after BIG kudu) you need to talk to Charl and give him serious consideration.
LOL! Looks like you kept Sollie busy!
By the way, I am sure that you meant manners, not manures. The two have very different meanings, although some women may feel that they have been treated like the second one! LOL! 