I had the good fortune to hunt plains game with Angus Brown Safaris in South Africa Angus Brown Safaris Website the first two weeks in September, accompanied by my wife. It was the first time to Africa for us both. We'd watched an Outdoor Channel depiction of a gentleman collecting a monster Kudu with Angus and I waxed eloquent about the blessing the man had received, and about how I'd never even believed a Kudu could GET that large. Well, she asked me if I had ever thought about going and I had to admit it had been a silently held life-long but I felt, impossible dream. She was surprised since I have almost no hunting experience but her only remark was, "Its time to stop dreaming and start planning". The rest is shown below (if I can get the photo links to work).

We hunted SW of Johannesburg for a few days, and then moved up to the Limpopo river to finish the 14 days. Nick Kilbride was our PH and is married to Angus' daughter Sarah, a fine PH in her own right. They did an absolutely wonderful job for us. Food, accommodations, trophy care, etc. was beyond our best hopes. Our own preparations were adequate to the need and for that I want to thank all of you experienced Africa hands who post your experiences and advice on this site. You are largely responsible for the success of our trip. Indeed, without you we might not have actually taken it! Thank you.

I was able to collect 16 animals of 13 species. Each of them either a fine representative specimen or a book eligible trophy. First was the Zebra, as a sort of ritual test I think. I wasn't too enthused about killing one, but this guy's shadow stripes were very dark and that attracted me and changed my mind. A perfect shot on the front knuckle, destroying it and into the lungs and he ran only 40 yards. The ice was broken!



Next was my Gemsbok. Broken ice or not, I flinched big time and missed behind before planting the next shot on his shoulder and he went down quickly. Not a book eligible trophy but there was a lot of drama involved in the stalk and the experience could not have been better.



We found a superb Eland that evening but it was just too dark to risk a shot and maybe losing him so passed him by.

We had had a mystery "bust" on our first stalk on some fine Black Wildebeest bulls that day, but looking for them the next day produced this fine bull AND a darn fine Springbok within 3 minutes of each other!



We had been sighted by the ram, but avoided and then lost track of him on the stalk, then after taking the bull and while walking up to it, we saw the ram facing away probably trying to figure out where the shot had come from since there were a lot of boulders around for the sound to echo off of. At 170 yards and sharply quartering away he dropped as he took the first step of his escape dash.



That evening we experienced a very dramatic, protracted stalk on some Red Hartebeest bulls. The story is long in the telling but in short I took a long shot at the very last possible moment before this bull would have disappeared forever into the bush. I was proud of the stalk, of the shot and of my own respect for this fine beast. It took me awhile to quit shaking. The 180 grain Nosler Accubond broke his shoulder, some ribs and can be seen under the hide.



On our way to the skinning shed we sighted a Jackal that I missed high and as he took off and as we laughed at his antics we continued on. At near dark a few minutes later we sighted what was probably that big Eland from the day prior. He was in a better spot and after a short but strenuous sprinting stalk up hill, I had a good view through the scope. Nick couldn't see him clearly to judge the horns effectively and said so. By then I had seen a lot of Eland and I liked this one and said yes when Nick asked if I would be happy with him. "If you're happy, I'm happy, he said and at the shot the bull ran 30 yards up hill and caved in. He took 10 of us to load in a truck!



Thank goodness I'd missed the Jackal! This fellow made it four magnificent trophies in one day!

The next day we toured some local sights for a break but Nick and I ended up spending the afternoon after a particularly nice Springbok ram we had seen several times but never could get to. One prior stalk on him resulted in getting busted by a Reedbuck we rousted from his bed in the grass. We were nose to nose with him at no more than 5 yards before he finally decided to get out of Dodge and took the Springbok ram with him. This ram was very good at picking protected spots from which to hide out and look for danger. Another long circling and tense stalk, largely on our knees and bellies, and this time "blind" for we didn't know for sure if he was still where we had spotted him, I took him at 70 yards but hit too far back. He ran about 200 before folding.



In the Limpopo province we had access to quite varied country. From Riverine jungle right on the river, to more inland very dry and thick thorn bush. Again, the stories are long and for me, very thrilling. All fair chase hunting on our feet, and we saw game in huge numbers and variety. Impala turned out to be a nemesis of mine but I took 3 nice rams. That is a story in itself, part of it very unflattering to my mental preparation for a long shot. Anyway, this is the best of them.



The Blesbuck took two shots to put down. That stalk was over completely open ground for over 300 yards to where I could feel confident in the shot, to a SLEEPING group of rams guarded by very alert Kudu cows. Another great story.




Even better was the three hour stalk following a herd of Blue Wildebeest bulls. Repeated set-ups to no good end when finally at near dark we were literally in the middle of the herd looking for the best one. The closest was within 25 yards and for fully 30 minutes none of the 3 of us moved a muscle. It was like he was on sentry duty, watching off in the direction we had been coming from before moving to the flanks. Finally this bull wandered into view and dropped instantly at the shot from 70 yards. PANDEMONIUM erupted and we were lucky to not get run over as animals were running from EVERYWHERE!



The next day I shot this little Steenbok. I had no desire to pursue the miniatures but changed my mind over the course of the hunt. Realizing how hard they were to see and approach I changed my mind when we spotted this little guy. Another long and frustrating stalk, complete with serious thorn wounds in sensitive places ended with him dropping instantly from a 175 yard shot. He never knew we were there, but just kept moving and finally we just couldn't get any closer.



Next came this old Warthog after we stumbled into one another at the crest of a very steep jungle hill on the river's edge. In the Army we would have called it a "Meeting Engagement". Shot at 10 yards he only ran a couple more. He sure is ugly! (The one with the tusks I mean). Almost all the hogs we saw were already running.



I had wanted a Waterbuck too and we hunted them every day and saw them nearly every day. We just could never get close enough to the one I wanted. We passed up several fine bulls in the process until the last day when we hunted them exclusively and I was resigned to not taking one. I had no complaints. It was a fabulous experience in all respects. As we were leaving the river bottom to return to our lodge, Sharon spotted this bull with a whole punch of cows and young ones. Nick and I had missed them completely! In the thickest cover and after yet another dramatic stalk against alert cows, and with us busted by a Grouse which fed right to our immobile forms before flushing in a furious beating of wings and cackles, with gathering darkness we finally got to within 60 yards of him. Nick said, "He's coming to that opening, get ready". I got ready. Then he wandered into the clearing and Nick was telling me to shoot and I was saying no he's too small! Nick is going nuts! SHOOT! That's when I realized I was looking at the wrong bull! After recovering and after the shot he ran only 40 yards to finish my safari with a fine Waterbuck bull in the last 30 minutes of light on the last day of a 14 day hunt. Drama anyone?



For those who "lurk" here and dream but who have not yet gone I say, if you can do it, you must. If you cannot do it, you must find a way.

Thanks for the report and pictures. It sounds like you had a great time.

Gary,

Congratulations and thanks for the report and photos.

Regards,

Terry

P.S.
I fixed it for you, but just for your information, when posting photos leave the Align Image box marked "none" not "left".

Ahhhh....THANKS!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. You clearly had a very successful hunt. I don't believe I have seen a nicer impala trophy, and seldom a nicer animal outside a major national park. Congratulations. Kudude

Congratulations on your hunt. You took a fine bag of animals. I like the Black wildebeest, Impala, Warthog and the Waterbuck. Enjoy your memories.

wow

Thanks for taking the time to post,

Congratulations on a great hunt

What a trip! Congratulations.
What rifle and load were you using?

The impala in particular is magnificent. How many inches did he go?

The best Impala is the one shown and he went an even 60" SCI as measured by Angus Brown. The second best was 55 and 4/8.

I used a Sako 75 in .300 WinMag with the Winchester Supreme 180 Accubond. The load performed absolutely as it should with each of 4 recovered bullets retaining about 125-127 grains of weight. Most exited, even on the Waterbuck which was in very fine physical condition. I was concerned about the rifle on the smaller animals but exit wounds were caliber size on all so clearly the bullet doesn't upset explosively.

GaryL,

Wow! Great report and sounds like a really great hunt. All the smiles in your photos tell me you and your wife were having the time of your life. Congratulations and thanks for the exoting report.

JPK

Gry,

Thank you for sharing your hunt with us.

I have taken the liberty of adding it onto out Hunt Page.

Here is a direct link to it.

Nice big Steenbok! Thanks for sharing.

Let me also add my congratulations on a great hunt, good pictures and excellent support from your wife.

Gary- Congratulations!! You got some really nice animals. Start getting ready for the next trip. You know you are going again don't you?

John

quote:

Originally posted by 30ott6:
Gary- Congratulations!! You got some really nice animals. Start getting ready for the next trip. You know you are going again don't you?

John

Thanks John. Yes, we are already planning for another trip. I have interest in Cape Buffalo and Leopard. Cost is a factor, but I'm doing research and will likely call on you all again!

Gary

Nice bag and lovely trophies. Looks like you got to hunt some very good properties. Your grin tells the whole story. After taking that many plains game animals you are ready for a buffalo.

Mark

Very nice. Congratulations.

I especially like the warthog and impala.

Now you can get ready for the taxidermy bills, trophy room etc.

Congratulations on your first trip to Africa and some excellent trophies! Well done. It is very refreshing to hark back to why we prowl this site...great hunt reports from across the spectrum of the African hunting experience!

All your animals are nice, but that impala is awesome! He looks more like an East African Impala.

Looking more and more forward to my own first safari (Aug)

Agreed! I would love to get an impala with the tips turned out like that one! I know someone else who posts here who got one with tips turned out like that. It looks awesome too

Ironic your first animal was a zebra. I know one guy who always passed on them and is now going nuts because he doesn't have one. The hide is the trophy, so color and condition count. You did good!

I love the photo presentation of your gemsbok, including their manificant tail in the photo in my opinion is a must for these beautiful antelope.

Very nice trophies!!!!

You look very happy and your wife looks like she had a great time. Your Impala is perfect in my mind. That was on my list, but the one day we were able to see a good one I was too sick to raise the gun. Warthogs also haunted me, but yours is a fine trophy.

This is the type of post that hooked me on AR. Hope to see more.

WOW, what great animals and big smiles on everyones faces. This was a great report and I know a great experience for you and your wife. By the way that Impala is fantastic.

Holy cow! What an excellent first safari. Did you leave anything for seed?

Congrats again!

Excellent report - I really enjoyed it.

Congrats on a great hunt.

Am I crazy or is that a record book waterbuck?

How big are those horns?? He looks HUGE.

quote:

Originally posted by Riodot:

Am I crazy or is that a record book waterbuck?

How big are those horns?? He looks HUGE.

They measured 70 and 7/8 actually, barely into the SCI. That was green of course and I understand they might shrink?
Gary