Outfitter: Infinito Safaris
Hunt dates: Oct 2 – 10
Area: Mpumalanga / Limpopo South Africa
Rifle: Sauer S202 Elegance in 9.3 x 62 with 291grs RWS Evolution factory ammo
PH: Frederik Cocquyt
Main tracker: Philemon
Animals hunted: Kudu, zebra, impala, oryx, waterbuck, warthog, baboon
Animals taken: Kudu, zebra, impala

Disclaimer: Long report of a, non-English speaking, novice African-hunter

It all started in February of this year, when Infinito Safaris offered a “lucky draw” here on AR. What are the chances of winning such a thing, I thought. But OK, we’ll see. So I entered and on March 3, I got an E-mail which sent my hart racing. “Congratulations, you have won the draw!”
I can still feel the excitement! And then the panic set in. What do I know about hunting in Africa, what things do I need, how am I going to pay for all of it…? Eventually, I calmed down enough to phone my wife and tell her the good news. She would join me as an observer.
Off course, when I told other people about it, they told me I was nuts. “So some African people, who you do not know in person, told you you won something on the internet? Surely you’re not that stupid!” Well, time flew by and I started preparing for the hunt. Every time I showed up on the range with my home-made sticks, people would chuckle and make remarks about going fishing, but I knew it would pay off.
I read a lot of reports and threads here on AR and a lot of people gave me good advice, so thank you for that.
When the departure date came closer, I started to get nervous again. It was a very difficult period at work and I felt I did not have enough time to prepare properly. My wife was even making lists of the lists she needed to make to prepare.
OK, final day! Off course, I find something wrong with the way I had set up my scope, so I moved the rings a little. No time to zero the rifle anymore. It would have to wait until we were in the field.
We flew from Brussels to Schiphol and then on to OR Tambo where Frederik was waiting for us. Riflepermits had arranged the pre-approved permits so we were in and out of the SAPS office in 5 minutes. Into the bakkie and off we were.
It was approximately a 2 hour drive from the airport. Because we were already 18 hours underway, we were dead tired when we arrived at the lodge. The room was a pleasant surprise, with a bathroom with a shower that looked like a waterfall.
A pasta dish and a cold drink were waiting for us in the dining area. Pasta with impala meat. Yep, we have arrived in Africa! We discussed the agenda for the first day and then it was off to bed.
Day 1:
We woke up at around 7 and quickly unpacked. We then went to the dining area, where we were greeted by Charl and Erika. Charl instantly makes you feel as if you are part of the family. We had rusks and something which is almost, but not quite entirely unlike coffee. I have suspicion that they just pour water on dirt, but they insist on calling it coffee. Anyway, after breakfast, it was off to the firing range to see what my last minute changes had done to my rifles zero (and to assure them that I could actually hit something).

the shooting range

I have never been this nervous to shoot and all the time I’m thinking “don’t mess it up!”. The first shot at 50m was 10 cm to the right. Frederik said that the first shot never counted, but the second and third shot were also 10 cm to the right. “Give it 15 clicks to the left” Frederick said. I turned 10 clicks, because I thought that was way too much. Next shot is 10 cm to the left. OK, 5 clicks back and another shot. Bullseye!



OK, let’s try it from the sticks. First shot: 2 cm to the right. Second shot: bullseye!. Frederik talks me through what I have to do when he puts up the sticks and then we’re ready to go.
We start with a quick tour with the bakkie to get a feeling about the environment. We immediately see kudu cows, baboons, warthog, …
every bush has its thorns here

We found out that the large thorns, are less of a problem than the little ones



After a while, we spot some impala and we get off the truck for our first stalk. My mind is racing: did I chamber a round? Is the safety on? Watch out where you point that barrel … And then the sticks go up. My heartbeat reaches new heights.


an impala in the bush

The ram never shows himself, so it’s back to the bakkie and back to camp for lunch.
After a quick nap, Frederik asks if we want to go out with the truck, or start on foot. We chose to start on foot and see what we come across. After about 20 minutes, we see 3 giraffes walking in the distance. They are not too keen on having their picture taken, an disappear quickly.
After 2.5 hours, Frederik hears something and we halt. We hear horns thrashing through bushes and he says “kudu bull”. We find him with our binoculars and it’s a good one. The sticks go up and I look through my scope: no kudu to be found. We quickly re-position the sticks, but 2 of the legs are in a hole and I steady my rifle with one stick.


my kudu, seconds before the shot

There he is: about 90 meters away. There are a lot of bushes and branches! Before we set out, Charl and Frederik had pointed out where they wanted me to shoot the animals (I had brought my copy of The Perfect Shot). I aimed and Frederik whispered me to shoot.
I shot, reloaded as quickly as possible, but off course he’s long gone for the second shot. We hear him go down after 2 seconds. Is he dead? I’m shaking. My first animal in Africa, and it’s a big kudu bull.
Congratulations from Frederik, but I will only feel good when I see him lying on the ground. We wait several minutes and then head to the spot where I shot him. No blood…
Frederik walks 50m further and then calls me. There he is. A perfect high hart-shot. The bullet excited on the other side.

my kudu bull. He measures 52.5 inch on the right horn and 51.5 inch on the left. He is estimated at about 9 years old.





When my wife saw the bull, she had tears in her eyes. She is not a hunter and we knew she would find it hard to see the dead animal. It was a bit of a downer for me, but she quickly got over it (After all, she is used to me bringing dead things back from a hunt).
After the picture taking, we dragged the animal down to a road so we could drive it back to the lodge. Skinning and butchering was swift and professional. Those guys know what they are doing.
The top of the hart was completely gone, one lung collapsed and the other one damaged badly.
You can imagine that the beers around the campfire tasted great.

Day 2:

6 O’clock in the bakkie and we drive for 20 minutes. Out of the truck and we continue on foot. We see 5 blue wildebeest and an ostrich that runs in the distance. The wind begins to turn, so Philemon is radioed and we drive off. From the car, we spot an ostrich, which is kind enough to pose for some pictures before running away. Out of the car again, and after a good walk, we see a magnificent kudu bull.



According to Frederik, he is only 4 years old and smaller than the one I shot the day before. To me, he looks huge.
We then spot 3 giraffes looking at us over the trees. We sit down and hope they move closer, but they are wary and disappear.



We radio Philemon again and we go and look elsewhere. We see impala and start the stalk. The bushes, dry grass and rocks make it very difficult to stay silent (off course also because me and my wife are not really used to this). We find them and the sticks go up. The females cross a clearing, but the ram never shows up.
On the way back to the truck, we spot some more impala and off we go. I have a very difficult time spotting impalas. Some people are color blind, me, I’m impala blind. It’s the running joke of the week. After much “do you see them? No. There they are! I can’t see them. Where? There! No, still nothing”, I finally see them, but it’s only females.
Back to the bakkie and a drive to camp for lunch.
The day before we talked about my wife liking Mexican food. So today they prepared wraps with impala mince meat. A nice touch. And speaking of food, it was always top notch (and if we wouldn’t have walked as much as we did, we would certainly have gained some extra kilo’s). We were amazed at what they could do with what was at hand.

lunch

At 15:00h we were back in the bakkie and we drive for 20 min. We get out and start our way down to a stream below. Underway, we spot impala (or at least my wife and the PH do) and we start a stalk. The wind turns regularly and the rifle is on the sticks twice, but no shot. They realize we are there and we stop the stalk.





We follow the stream bed. The wind keeps shifting, so we only see animals from far away (kudu, bushbuck, baboon, klipspringer, …). We also see some dassies:


According to Charl, they are the African elephant’s closest living relative. I’m sure he’s right, but I can’t find any similarity.

Eventually we climb back up. It was a great 3h walk but my wife and I are glad we are back at the bakkie.
On the way back to the lodge, we spot impala on the old runway. Off the truck and a short stalk, but they are gone.

the old runway

Back to camp for a heavenly shower and a bushpig braai for diner. Very tasty!

Day 3:
Alarm clock at 4:30. That hurts! The whiskies the night before didn’t help. 5:30 we’re driving and it’s as cold as in Belgium (but there we don’t ride in the back of a truck).
We drive to the top of a hill and start on foot at around 6 am. We don’t see any game and the terrain is very difficult. You have to be a mountain goat to walk there! I don’t know why (those whiskies maybe?), but I find it very hard to walk silently today and I make silly mistakes. I’m getting a little frustrated because of this. But then Frederik hears zebras. We can’t see them, but they have to be somewhere below. It’s 8 am, and we start the stalk.
The terrain is treacherous with bushes, high grass, hidden loose rocks and a very steep slope.
Eventually, we spot them. We can only shoot a stallion this time of year and Frederik determines it’s the first one.



Slowly, we creep closer to a rock plateau. Frederik hands me the sticks closed, as there is no way we can put them up on this slope. I’m glad I practiced this one-pole position a lot on the firing range. I shoulder my rifle and look through the scope, but I can’t find the zebra. They have some good camouflage! I see movement, and find them again. I can’t find a way through the branches to shoot and re-position myself a little.
Suddenly, I get him in my crosshairs and I whisper to Frederik if I can shoot. “If you have a good view, yes”. I look again and shoot. It is now approximately 8:45.
A quick reload, and I hear him crashing down the mountain. I hear Frederik saying “run down, run down”, and I keep thinking “drop!, drop!”. I think I can spot him down the mountain, but Frederik thinks it’s another one. We hear the rest of the herd call out for him, but eventually they run off.
We descend and find a lot of blood immediately. The spoor is easy to follow as he must have been spraying blood in all directions.

a tree he ran over with a lot of blood on its branches

100m down the slope we find him dead. But “he” turns out to be a “she”. A 12 year old mare. My wife is again sad about the majestic animal, but she’s already getting used to it.





The zebra has striped legs right up to the hooves and a great pattern on the back. She is laying 300m from the nearest road on a steep slope. That is why Frederik wanted it to keep running. He had wanted to ask me to give a high lung shot, but didn’t want to break my concentration.



It was a perfect hart shot and, when butchering the animal, they find the top of the hart completely gone. The RWS Evolution bullet is stuck in the flesh on the other side of the animal. It mushroomed nicely and retained 241grs. According to Charl and Frederik, it was the first RWS bullet they liked.

recovered bullet

Philemon is radioed to get the rest of the skinners from the camp to help with the recovery. The zebra is set up for the pictures when they arrive and just before we sit down, we find this little fellow

he can really ruin your holiday!



Because my wife doesn’t want to be present when they butcher the animal (it has to be done on the slope to get it down), we descend to the bakkie. During the descent, I pity the guys who will have to go up and down several times to recover the meat.

In this picture, we are about halfway down.

We drive back to camp with Charl and go through his collection of trophy pictures with him. We take the afternoon off to rest, hang around and have a good time.

Day 4:
Alarm at 4:30 and in the bakkie at 5:30. After 10 minutes, we spot eland and several minutes later impala. Out of the truck and we start the stalk. Unfortunately, we can’t find them and we return after half an hour.
Back in the truck and we see zebras and lots of kudu on our way.



We continue on foot and see some warthogs. While stalking them, we bump into a kudu cow, which runs noisily away. Off course, the pigs are gone after that.
Today, we are looking for oryx, but the chances of finding a bull are slim. It doesn’t matter to us, as we really enjoy these walks. We see bushbuck and duiker, but nothing we are looking for. At around 10 o’clock, we radio the bakkie to pick us up.
We drive on and see impala. I jump out of the truck and put my rifle on the sticks. They are far off and the ram is already over the hilltop, so we decide to try it from the other side. As we get there, the wind has turned and we don’t have a chance.
We drive back to the original point and along the way we see a waterbuck cow. The day before, we had decided to put waterbuck on the list, but Philemon didn’t know that yet and Frederik didn’t see it, so we drove on. I should have knocked on the roof, but I thought there would be other opportunities.
We don’t see any more impala’s and we tell Frederik about the waterbuck. In the bakkie and we race back. We see a big bull and Frederik puts up the sticks. He runs to our right and up the hill, so we also move right.
Back on the sticks, but I can only see his head. He stands still but I cannot make out his body. He is hidden behind a large branch. If he would only move 20cm forward, I would have a clear shot. He doesn’t and disappears up the hill.
Back to camp for lunch and a rest.
At 3 pm we go after the waterbucks again. We get out of the truck at the top of a hill, and start our descent. The terrain is very challenging, but after about half an hour, we manage to spot a waterbuck at the base of the hill. We speed up our pace and bump into a herd of zebras. We stalk closer and get to 15m from them, but they run off before my wife can take any good pictures. Another half hour later, we arrive at the bottom of the hill and start our stalk from the spot where we have last seen him.
First, we smell him, and then we hear him in the distance. He runs off, and we start the chase. Eventually, after an hour, we break the chase.
Back in the bakkie and on our way. We see kudus and nyalas and when we see impalas, we get out and give chase again. The hunt takes us up the hill, and the terrain is difficult again. After 30 minutes, we give up as they are too far away and know we are there.
Back to the lodge for a heavenly shower and some sundowners. For diner, we get to eat my kudu.

Day 5:
Same routine: alarm clock at an ungodly hour and in the bakkie at 5.30. Along the way we see giraffes and stop to pose for some pictures with them in the background. Another 5 minutes later, we see a warthog bolt from a hole in the ground. According to Philemon, she is injured, and we start the chase. She’s gone, but we find leopard spoor and that’s probably what has caused the wounds.
Back in the car and after 15 minutes, we see impalas. We jump out and give chase. Frederik puts up the sticks, but when my rifle is on them, they are gone. We chase them again, and the sticks go up a second time. “Shoot the one on the right”, Frederik whispers. I look through my scope and squeeze the trigger. We hear the impalas run, and we walk to the spot where he was standing. It’s 6:45.
We find little blood and Frederik starts to scout the area for more. Eventually, my wife finds the spoor and I’m relieved as I’m sure we will find him quickly now. But Frederik tells me he thinks I shot too low and that Philemon needs to get Chaka (the jack russel) to follow the impala.


Waiting for Chaka

Charl and Chaka

Chaka on the spoor

We wait 45 minutes for Charl and Chaka. Charl wants us to stay on the hilltop. He will radio us when he finds the impala. Chaka sets off and we hear him bark in the distance. Not a good thing, as I was told he only barks when the animal is still alive. We then hear him yelp and a few seconds later, he yelps again. Not good! We hear 2 shots and Charl radios that he is still alive. We start a frantic descend and hear a third shot. When we arrive at the animal, it is dead. Charl unfortunately hit it in the head with his .308, and one of his horns is almost off.
I’m just glad he’s dead. I shot him too much to the front and the bullet took out the opposite shoulder (he was quartering away). It’s unbelievable that an animal with only 3 legs can run down a mountain that quickly.
As the terrain is very challenging, Richard the tracker carries the animal down the hill for pictures. I’m glad we found him, but very mad at myself for missing the vitals. Frederik jokes that the animal we get for free, gives them the most problems. I only then realize that an impala and a warthog are part of the prize.



When we arrange the animal for the pictures, it’s obvious that we cannot put the horn back up, so we lay it against the animal.







It’s enough excitement for one morning and we return to camp. On the way, Frederik tells me that every hunter, who has hunted long enough, will have this happen to him, but I’m still mad at myself.
We join the skinners in the skinning shed (even my wife!) to see where I hit him exactly. The shoulder is completely gone and you have to admire the toughness of those animals.

my zebra in the salt

At 3pm, we’re hunting again. We look for waterbuck and look in the same area as the day before. We can’t find him, but when we get down the mountain, we see 3 warthogs rooting around in the soil. My wife gets to stalk them with the camera and she gets as close as 12 meters, before they run off with their tails high in the air.
We walk for 2,5 hours and see lots of game (zebra, impala, duiker, bushbuck, warthog), but no waterbuck. There are lots of leopard spoor, and we see drag marks in the sand where an animal was dragged with blood drops on a few rocks. At the end of the day, we try to stalk some baboons, but they are on to us and quickly disappear.
Back to the lodge. Diner is my zebra (marinated steaks) with freshly baked bread. It’s one of the best meats I have eaten in a long time!

Charl with one of his favorite pastimes. Zebra on a braai.

Frederik and Chaka at the campfire

At the campfire, we discuss the possibility of going to Kruger park. My wife really wanted to go and it would be stupid to miss this opportunity, as it is only 1,5 hours away. So we decide to sacrifice one day of hunting and go on Saturday.

Day 6:
My last hunting day. At 5.30, we go and look for our waterbuck. We find some spoor and start to follow it. It’s amazing how Frederik finds it again after losing it a couple of times on rocky ground. Unfortunately, the wind turns and the stalk is over.
At the bottom of the hill is a group of wildebeest, and we creep closer for pictures. We get close (30m) before they spot us and we take some great pictures.
Philemon arrives with the bakkie and we drive on. After spotting 4 waterbuck, we dismount and start the stalk. 10 minutes later, we have a clear view of them, 100 meters further up a hill. I put my rifle on the sticks, but we see only cows. Back to the bakkie and we drive on. Lots of game, but no waterbuck.
Back to the lodge for lunch and a quick nap. We leave camp again at 14:30h.
As we see a nice mountain reedbuck, Frederik asks if I want to shoot it. I’m not really interested, so we pass it up and drive on.
A little further, we see some impalas. As Charl needed some impala meat for camp, we start the stalk. 6 females, and a young ram. He will make a nice trophy next year, so we let him go. It would be a waste to shoot him just for the meat.
Again we see waterbuck, but no bull. We are spotted by some baboons on a hill and as they run off shouting, I put my rifle on the sticks. They are approximately 150 meters away, but I don’t have a clear shot.
When we drive back, we hear some blue monkeys and Frederik asks me if I want one. Well, it’s not the big baboon I was hoping for, but on the last day you can’t be picky. It gets dark before I can get one in my scope and we drive back to camp.

Day 7:
We leave at 5:00 for Kruger park. It’s a nice drive and when we arrive, we immediately see a lot of game. It really helps when you have a PH in the car with you! If you ever have that chance, take it with both hands!
We can clearly see the damage the elephants cause to the environment. In some places, there are almost no trees left. Elephants and humans are the only animals that can destroy their own habitats.
The impalas are plentiful and they are not scared of the car. We have lots of fun stopping next to them and shouting “bang” as if shooting them. Some of them bolt away, but others just stand there and look at quizzically.











At the end of the visit, we see a group of lions near a road. The icing on the cake!





We get back in camp at around 8 pm and quickly start packing. Diner is tasty bushpig and we have a great evening and drink all alcohol that is left in camp.

Day 8:
We pack what is left of our stuff and Frederik and Charl start working on our bill.
Around 10 am, we drive to the shooting range, as the PH’s and my wife wanted to shoot my rifle. Philemon also gets to shoot it, and he’s not a bad shot. I get to try Frederiks Musgrave rilfe in 375 H&H.


My wife shooting the Sauer

Back to camp to settle our account and some lunch. We leave at 12:45 to drive to the taxidermist in Pretoria.
We get there at around 16:00 and get a tour of the shop. The work they do is simply amazing. My wife has always said that she didn’t want the head of a dead animal on her wall, but after seeing them, she is completely turned around. I’m sure that if there is a next time, she will want an oryx or kudu shoulder mount.
After that, we drive to the airport and our African adventure is over. We say goodbye to Frederik and with the help of some gin tonics and a sleeping pill, the flight is over quickly.



I would like to thank the guys of Infinito Safaris for the great opportunity they have given us and the once-in-a-lifetime experience! Anybody looking for a great outfitter, should give them a serious look!

Congrats! loving the report so far, there is nothing like taking your first African animal.

Excellent report and great photo's. JCHB

Waidmannsheil!

An excellent report and fantastic photographs.

You're writing is excellent and I for one know exactly what you meant when you wrote about that Imapala.

Regards,

Amir

weidmannsheil

great write up and charl and frederik did what they do best.

well done all around

peter

Sounds like a great hunting adventure!

Nice report and pics!

Great post, thanks for sharing.

Great report and photos!! Thanks for posting.


Phil

Great report and photos. You are absolutely correct, Zebra is second only to Bushbuck.


Dutcyh

Great Report,it,s also great your wife enjoyed it so much,congrats to both of you, family hunts are awesome!!!

Very nice report. I also hunted with the Infinito team this past Sept 10-17 at the same Mugaba camp you were in and took a bushbuck and a zebra. Nice pictures, they all looked very familiar to me from my Sept hunt there. Congratulations again on a good hunt.

Willi

Thanks for taking the time - that was a great report. I grew up in Belgium so its nice to know there are still a couple hunters left there!

quote:

I grew up in Belgium so its nice to know there are still a couple hunters left there!

Yeah, we're a small group, but they can't get rid of us!

Nitehawk;

Congratulations to you and your wife on a very successful safari. My husband and I also hunted with Infinito last year and consider them family now!!! Great guys.

I remeber the "waterfall" shower...and happy to see how grown up Chaka is (was a pup last year).

Great report and photos.

Best regards, D. Nelson

congrats! excellent photos and report!

Thanks for sharing a fantastic report & hunt. Nice photography & nice rifle in a GREAT caliber! It must have been very satisfying to get those heart shots so perfect. One day I hope to take my 9.3 to Africa.

Nice report!

Well hunted, well photographed, and well reported. And don't apologize for the length - for most of us, the longer the better!

When my wife first went to Africa with me, she had many misgivings. After that first hunt, she turned 180-degrees and told me that on the next one she wanted to take a zebra. That was four safaris and four trophies ago. There's nothing like having your wife joining you in Africa.

Thanks for taking the time to share your safari with us.

Great safari and terrific report and photos.

Thanks,
Kyler

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Thanks for sharing a fantastic report & hunt. Nice photography & nice rifle in a GREAT caliber! It must have been very satisfying to get those heart shots so perfect. One day I hope to take my 9.3 to Africa.

Hunting with my own rifle, was a must for me. There are some worries associated with it, and some paperwork, but the rifle now has something "special".

Jeroen, it was a pleasure hunting with you guys and I don't think the prize could have gone to anyone else who enjoyed it so much to be out here for their first time.

I also want to thank you for listening well with making that superb shot on the kudu and also not holding out for another kudu bull this really is a great old bull you got even though it was the first afternoon call it beginners luck




The happy couple


Look at that superb shot placement we were standing 50 meters above the zebra and Jeroen had too choose a gap which he did wonderfully.
We had quite a time getting this big old mare down the mountain, as I recall we shot the zebar at 8 am and I think we got back in camp just after 12.


It wasnt just a hunt we made new ever lasting friends.

See you in Belgium next year !

Jeroen en Franz,

Dit was 'n plesier om julle as gaste te he. Dankie.

I was impressed by these folks and can second Frederik on realy making very good new friends. I'm hoping to try some of their famous brews in the new year!

Groete,

Great report, thanks for posting it.

quote:

I'm hoping to try some of their famous brews in the new year!

I will make sure we have a large collection of different beers when you get here!

This was the Infinito Lucky Draw hunt! Wow! I hunted with Fredrik up in the Caprivi, and the title line reminded me of the old joke. Lucky Draw hunt...First prize is a 10 day hunt with Fredrik. Second prize is a 20 day hunt!!!!!!

Just kiddin' Fredrik!

Briljant Jeroen!

wery nice report!!

Great report, and wonderful photos. I love the over-the-shoulder dog transport pic!

Congratulations!

John

Don't know how I missed this one
Very nice report,and trophies
How was the Bushpig braai

I'm sitting in Aalborg Denmark freezing my nuts of. Then I see these pictures and tears come to my eyes. I cannot wait to fly home on Monday and get back into the bush!

But first the convention here the weekend!

Jeroen wrote a very nice report.

We still have some openings in September with good prices.

Give me or Frederik a shout if you would like to do this!

Cheers,

Matt, I toasted the pig, what can I say....never trust a skinny sjef.....

Very nice report
Congrats

Excellant report. Reminded me of my hunt there two years ago. These guys are the best.

Gorgeous pictures, great write up!

quote:

How was the Bushpig braai

Very tasty! Charl is an excellent host and cook.

Good luck= Winning a free hunt
Bad luck= Having Fredrik in you camp!!!!!!!!!!!!1

quote:

Originally posted by Nitehawk:

quote:

How was the Bushpig braai

Very tasty! Charl is an excellent host and cook.

NEVER TRUST A SKINNY COOK....!

(or is that the pot calling the kettle black?? )