28 June 2008, 23:13
bobcKatzke Hunting Safaris, Good Hope Ranch, South Africa
PH: Eduard Katzke (Katte)Where: Good Hope Ranch, Kimberley, SA
When: June 15-22, 2008
Game Hunted: Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest
Game Seen: Kudu, Impala, Sable, Roan, Giraffe, Rhino, Buffalo, Gemsbok, Eland, and more
Rifle: A. Hollis 450-400
I had the incredible good fortune one year ago to win a free plains game safari with Katte at a Double Rifle Shooters Society event. My previous luck with drawings was winning a box of stationary at my first communion breakfast, so this was a considerable upgrade.
I invited my lovely wife Sally to come along, as she had held down the home front when my son and I went to Namibia 4 years ago. We made this a great combination trip, with several days in Cape Town before and after the hunt.
At Katte's suggestion, we began the time with him at Pilanesberg National Park for a few days of game viewing. This is a beautiful park and a great tune up for spotting game in the field.
Speaking of tune ups, I asked Katte to make this trip a learning event rather than a trophy hunt. It would be my first hunt of substance with the Hollis and the first with iron sights. We agreed to make it a management hunt of game of his choosing, with a focus on wildebeest and increasing my spotting and stalking skills in preparation for a buffalo hunt in the future.
Good Hope ranch is a gorgeous 33,000 acre game preserve that has 10 miles of the Vaal River as one boundary. This was a diamond mine in the early 1900's, with 30,000 miners living on the land. Apart from some rusted cans and alterations of the river bed, the property showed no signs of its former use. The land is acacia thornbrush and rocky hills. Grass was in super shape.
The tented camp and lodge is on the river, on gorgously maintained grounds. Accomodtions and food were first class. A later post will show pics and details.
Getting the rifle ready for the hunt was a bit of a challenge. It was in the shop with Dustin Mount of Houston for refinishing, and only emerged about 3 weeks before the hunt. A new batch of RL 15 took considerable adjustment before I could replicate my original groupings. While I took 300 grain Hornady bullets as well as 400 grain Woodleighs, Katte ended up asking me to settle on the Woodleighs.
Our first stalks were for Hartebeest, and we came upon a pair. A shot at about 100 yards ensued, and the animal ran off. We found a blood trail immediately, and we had a chance to marvel at the skill of Wisdom, Katte's tracker. He soon established that the shot was high and to the rear, and the Hartebeest covered considerable ground. After about 2 hours, it mixed in a herd of over 100 Hartebeest, and we lost the blood trail. At dusk we called off the tracking, to resume in the morning. Unfortunately, it rained overnight,and we couldn not pick up the track again. It is the first wounded animal I've ever lost, and it was a bitter pill.
Later in the morning, we tracked another group of Hartebeest, and I took a shot over sticks at a management female. She too ran after the shot, and we commenced on another long track. We caught sight of her several times, and saw as she mixed with a herd of buffalo for a short time. As we pushed ahead, we spotted her running and Katte tried to anchor her with his 416 Rigby. We found her ahead and I put in a finisher. Katte's shot had gone through her flank. These animals can take amazing punishment if the first shot is not vital.
Later in the afternoon, we saw a band of blue wildebeest, and began what would turn in to an exciting 45 minute stalk. We had a group of giraffe watching throughout the stalk, which may have alerted the gnu's somewhat. The wind was in our favor, and a good 50 yard shot finally presented itself. This critter also ran off, but collapsed within 50 yards or so. The shot was good, a front quartering shot that took off the top of the heart.
We recovered the Woodleigh 400 gr soft point, but found it had greatly overexpanded, only penetrating about 2 feet total; this despite missing bone. I'll post pictures of the bullets later.
The following day, we agreed to look for another wildebeest to see test the Woodleigh's again. We found a group of wildebeest and began a brief stalk. This shot was off a bit also, but we tracked and found him soon, and I put in a spine shot to finish. The Woodleigh lost more weight, but retained more shank length. Still Katte questioned whether this was a suitable buffalo bullet.
Katte carried a wonderful 416 Rigby on a square bridge Mauser action. When we stalked rhino for pictures, this was great comfort (except for the last morning when we stalked a male rhino with only the digital camera).
I wrapped up this experience with a great afternoon fishing on the Vaal River with guide Harm Vorster (Adventure Fly Fishing). The Vaal is a beautiful clear river with alternating pools and rapids. We fished for the rare largemouth yellowfish, and I was fortunate to take 5 fish in a few hours. They are very stong fighters, and look like a snook crossed wih a carp. They lie in cover and ambush, so we threw to rocks and weed lines.
On the way to Good Hope from Pilanesberg, Katte arranged quite a surprise. We dropped in on Fred Everett, 89 years old and one of the last living commercial ivory hunters.
Fred and his wife Sue now live in Pretoria. They lived in the bush in Rhodesia and Mozambique, raising a family in a tent camp. Fred had great stories, and autographed a copy of his book Tuskers in the Dust for me.
As Fred tamped his pipe with a 404 Jeffery case, he told me of meeting a drunken, turbaned Pondoro Taylor for the first time in a bar in Mozambique. Taylor told Fred his Oberndorff Mauser 9.3 x 62 was German trash, while extolling his Jeffery bolt gun as a proper weapon. Fred chuckled as he recounted that the Jeffrey was of course a German built Mauser action. What an experience meeting with a person of living history.
We're back, working off the jet lag and still grinning. Sally walked and stalked with me and had a fabulous time. She's already talking about going back and bringing our 2 kids. Katte commented that she had been one of the hardiest women he'd guided, with 6 mile stalks through the acacia on several occasions.
A super time with a super PH. Thanks Katte!
Bob
