I just returned from another hunt with Andrew Renton and Kei River Hunting Safaris. Myself and a couple friends hunted with Andrew in 2010 and had a fantastic time. When discussing another trip we thought about going to Namibia, but finally decided to return to the Eastern Cape and hunt with Andrew and crew again.

I had taken most of the common PG species on a couple previous trips, with the exception of bushbuck and zebra which had always managed to escape me, so I decided to diversify the portfolio a bit and look to add unique species not commonly hunted on the first or second trip to the trophy room.

I read a post some time ago by Ivan Carter about his journal. Ivan stated he usually just wrote about 5-6 items that happened during the day to jog his memory of the day’s events. Therefore, I decided to do the same for this hunt. I really like this style of making note of the hunt because after several days of hunting, the events seem to blur from one day to the next.

I’ll be posting my hunting report straight from the notes taken directly from my journal as written with accompanying pictures.

Outfitter: Andrew Renton Kei River Hunting Safaris

Booking Agent: Wade Derby Crosshair Consulting

Rifles Used: Ruger M77 300 Win Mag with 180 gr Barnes TSX and 145 gr CEB ESP Raptors and a Remington Mod 700 375 H&H with 300 gr Barnes TSX and 300 gr Barnes RN Solids (all rounds were personal hand loads)

Dates: June 14, 2014 thru June 27, 2014 (14 hunting days)

Thursday, June 12, 2014
• Still sitting on the plane only an hour left, just changed clothes and brushed teeth
• About to eat again
• Watched 21 Jump Street – Fell asleep during Anchorman 2 – not that funny
• Arrived at African Sky Guest House with zero issues
• Had a great steak
• Not much sleep!

African Sky Guest House




Friday, June 13, 2014
• Flew down to East London
• Wore the Santa hat for Andy (I brought a few items for Andrew so he kept referring to me as Santa)
• Sighted in the rifles with no major concerns
• Went for a drive saw: blesbok, warthog, duiker, zebra, kudu, impala, nyala, bushbuck
• Another steak for dinner
• Staying at Mpotshane Game Lodge near Komga

Mpotshane Lodge






Saturday, June 14, 2014
• Andrew and I moved to Kokstad staying with a guy named Donny G
• Looked for common reedbuck
• Made a stalk on one but passed in the end at 310 yards, about an inch too short
• Tons of common reedbuck at Gary’s Dairy farm but not the right one
• Animals seen: common reedbuck, mountain reedbuck, blesbok

A fun restaurant name in Mthatha


Sunday, June 15, 2014
• Father’s Day – I stuffed the pictures of my two boys and the cards my wife left in my suitcase into my day pack – today they would hunt too (I actually never took them out again but to look at them.)
• The wind was blowing ridiculously ferocious
• I was literally blown up the mountain chasing oribi – guess winds are 75 mph plus
• Got on one oribi early and laid there over an hour before he blew out
• Big fires all around coming from the black communities
• Killed a monster oribi at 170 yards, put a second bullet into him at 184 yards, wind drift was roughly 12” with the crosswind – 375 H&H 300 gr Barnes RN Solid
• Animals seen: oribi, vaal rhebok, mountain reedbuck, common reedbuck, blesbok

Oribi (notice the smoke in the background from the fires)




Fire pictures:








Monday, June 16, 2014
• The fires are out and the wind has laid
• Went into the lower portion of the Drakensburg Mountains to look for vaal rhebok and common reedbuck near a place called Underberg
• Killed a very nice old ram common reedbuck in the terrace of some standing corn – 300 Win Mag 180 gr Barnes TSX ~ 100 yard shot
• Went up on top of the world looking for vaalies
• Killed a nice blesbok ram, missed him the first shot at 220 yards because of wind drift, drilled him with 2nd shot at 326 yards quartering towards, fell down a very steep slope – 300 Win Mag 180 gr Barnes TSX
• Killed a monster vaal rhebok, was having trouble with sun glare in the scope, 1st shot clipped the top of his back at 317 yards, drilled him 2nd shot at 429 yards right thru the pump station – 300 Win Mag 180 gr Barnes TSX
• Animals seen: common reedbuck, mountain reedbuck, vaal rhebok, oribi, blesbok, jackal

Common Reedbuck:






Vaal Rhebok country:






Blesbok: (these were wild blesbok that had escaped from another property that made their residences up in the mountains)




Lunch near a high mountain trout lake:






The hillside where the vaal rhebok was standing:




Vaal rhebok:






Tuesday, June 17, 2014
• Moved from Kokstad back down to Mpotshane
• Checked the bait for the bushpigs
• No show on the bushpigs tonight
• Spotted some impalas and Dave killed a very nice one
• Animals seen: impala, blesbok, bushbuck, vervet monkeys, blue wildebeest

Nelson Mandela’s House and final resting place:


Bird that woke me up from a nap


Messing with my buddy Carlton who had quite a few “moments” with mountain reedbuck on our previous trip.




Wednesday, June 18, 2014
• Went to look for a big waterbuck bull Andrew spotted a few weeks ago – found out a few hours later the bull had been killed last week
• Spent most of the day looking around for another bull
• I insisted that we catch the last portion of Andrew’s son’s rugby game, it was fun watching the little guys play although I know very little about the game
• Looked for a particular big kudu bull, found his cows but not him
• Got interrupted during cocktail hour by the bushpigs
• Big bushpig boar in the salt – 375 H&H, 300 gr Barnes TSX, ~ 30 yards
• It was a very exciting but calming while stalking down a road trying to not make any noise on a calm night, while not being able to see very far until you hear bushpigs feeding on the bait
• Animals seen: impala, blesbok, waterbuck, warthog, kudu, bushbuck, bushpigs, zebra, springbuck

Rugby match:




Bushpig:




Thursday, June 19, 2014
• Finished with the bushpig and checked other baits
• Tried a drive for blue duiker but only saw a bushbuck female
• The wind was howling again and very cold
• Looked for bushbuck this afternoon but only saw females
• Almost took a crack at a baboon at roughly 650 yards, but he moved before the shot
• Animals seen: kudu, bushbuck, zebra, impala, blesbok, waterbuck, baboons, common duiker

Morning sunrise:

Friday, June 20, 2014
• Found the old bushbuck ram that was wounded by a client a few weeks ago
• We got him after a bit of a rodeo – 300 Win Mag, 180 gr Barnes TSX, 365 yard shot
• Went up to Mpongo Game Farm to find a zebra with a broken leg, never found him
• Chased the ostriches around for about 4 hours before finally connecting on one – 375 H&H, 300 gr Barnes TSX, 170 yards
• Dispatched a wounded blesbok
• Jamie and Martin played the guitars and sang tonight
• Animals seen: bushbuck, blesbok, impala, eland, ostrich, elephant, lion, zebra, fallow deer

Bushbuck retrieval:






Bushbuck:


Ostrich:




Wounded leg of the blesbok we decided needed to be put down:


Saturday, June 21, 2014
• Did a whole lot of nothing today
• Hunted blue duiker from a blind for 9 hours
• A little guy came in to drink but the big guys stayed in the shadows
• Interesting relationship between the blue duiker and the vervet monkeys
• The bird life in the morning was incredible
• Animals seen: blue duiker, vervet monkey, bushbuck, blesbok

Sunday, June 22, 2014
• Started the morning with Carlton looking for nyala
• Shot a baboon, dassies and a couple vervet monkeys along the river
• Sat in the duiker blind for another six hours
• At roughly 4:45 shot a blue duiker in the path we had seen them cross in the day before – 22 LR at 35 yards
• Duiker ran back thru the blind after putting the dog on him
• Sutu tried catching the duiker as he ran by
• Zed (the dog) chased the duiker into the pond
• I shot him as he swam to me and Sutu went in to get him, leaving his cell phones, cigarettes, and matches
• Animals seen: blue duiker, baboon, vervet monkey, kudu, nyala, impala, blesbok, blue wildebeest

Blue duiker:




Monday, June 23, 2014
• Made a great stalk on some zebra, but the one with the limp was too far away for a shot
• Killed another in the group which died in a thick grove of trees – 375 H&H, 300 gr Barnes TSX, 241 yards
• Reduced the vervet monkey population by two more
• Went to the mill to shoot rock pigeons, collared dove and ducks - ~120 dove/pigeons and 40 ducks
• Gave the doves/pigeons to the kids across the fence but they didn’t want the ducks
• Animals seen: zebra, impala, blesbok

Zebra


Mill where we did the bird shooting. They process the corn for the local black community to make their home beer.




Carlton and Jamie played tonight.


Tuesday, June 24, 2014
• Vacation day and relaxation
• Went to a local gun shop to buy more shotgun shells for the bird shooting
• Had a very nice braai on the deck
• Headed out again tomorrow to look for springbok for Carlton and possibly waterbuck for me

Dolphins surfing the waves:




Proper BS session in progress:






Wednesday, June 25, 2014
• Drove up to Queenstown to a place called HuntersHill
• There was literally one of everything on the property
• The coolest animals seen were the rhinos and an aardwolf
• Never found a waterbuck, white or black springbok that met the proper criteria

Another beautiful sunrise:


Rhinos:




Thursday, June 26, 2014
• Reduced the baboon population by one today – shot was 380 yards
• Tried culling some impala rams but none came my way
• Weather was rainy and overcast all day keeping the animals from moving
• Went back to the mill to shoot doves and ducks this afternoon. Bird numbers were down probably due to the weather - ~25-30 rock pigeons and 30 ducks

Another great bird shoot:


Friday, June 27, 2014
• Spent the morning looking for a blue wildebeest to make a flat rug
• Made one stalk on a herd, but the bull was too young and soft
• Found a lone bull that usually stayed in some very steep thick bush, but he was up on top coming to water, put a great stalk on him and shot him at 82 yards with the 145 gr CEB Raptor bullet – went about 35 yards after the shot
• Sutu said the heart and lungs were very badly damaged and a mess
• Spent the afternoon looking for the same particular kudu bull the farm workers always see in an oat field
• Just before sunset his cows came to the fence, but some kids were picking up rocks on the hillside with their scent blowing towards the kudu, they never came into the field
• Animals seen: blue wildebeest, kudu, zebra, warthog, blesbok, impala, bushbuck, nyala, common duiker

Kudu cows catching some early morning sun:


Lone old blue wildebeest bull:


Sunset on a fantastic safari:




Saturday, June 28, 2014
• Went to the skinning shed
• Started the long trip home
• Ready to see the wife and kids again!!!

Back at the skinning shed:


Vaal rhebok, blue duiker and oribi

Awesome. Some really good trophies you have there. The oribi is a beaut. Great photos.

Excellent time you had!!!
Thank you for sharing Graybird

Great photos, great trophies, especially that blesbok.

That was an Arica Grey Hornbill that woke you up, and you shot yellow-billed ducts (mostly) with a few red-billed teal mixed in. Way to go!

Cody, I am glad you and the group enjoyed your trip back to RSA. I am especially happy to see you took those three extra special ones you had hoped for. Congratulations and thank you!

congratulations nice reedbuck

a beautiful bushpig!

I'd be wrong if I didn't add that I had two very good friends go along with me. I met these guys here on AR some years ago and we have shared several hunting camps now.

You can read about their trips here:

Snellstrom: Hunt Report

Ted Thorn: Hunt Report

Next hunting camp fire will be shared in the mountains of Colorado chasing bull elk and big mule deer.

Looking forward to it again guys, and thanks again for making this such a memorable trip!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Wade Derby:
Cody, I am glad you and the group enjoyed your trip back to RSA. I am espceially happy to see you took those three extra special ones you had hoped for. Congratulations and thank you!

Wade, you obviously know the challenge of such a list of species in a short amount of time. Yet, Andrew and I held to our standards and always discussed our options and quality of particular animals. We stuck to it and collected the very best trophies we could find, which often meant passing on the slam dunk to possibly go home empty handed. In the end, we always seemed we made the right decision that at the time were very difficult to make.

Thanks again!!!

Graybird,

Just excellent! All your trophies are very nice and the report plus pix outstanding but the bushpig, blue duiker, Vaalie and oribi are really superb.

Big congrats,

Mark

I'd say we had fun but that would be a bit short.

Graybird told me I'd be a changed man......

Really enjoyed the great pics and your story graybird. Looks like a fantastic trip. Thanks for sharing it.

Awesome hunt, those are very nice trophies. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you shot something with the CEB bullet. I just posted on the medium bore rifle page if anyone's ever taken them to Africa in a non-DG caliber. It sounds like that 145gr bullet did a serious number on that blue wildebeest. That speaks volumes about the raptors.

Congrats.

I've hunted with Andrew twice of the last three years. He's a true gentleman and the best quality PH I've ever had. And he can get you on the big ones. I completed my Dangerous 7 with a HANDGUN with him (croc and hippo) plus #2 Cape kudu (53 1/2") , #4 Mtn reedbuck, 14 animals in 2 trips, all top 30 or higher with a final shot of 440 yards on a massive baboon with my handgun last year. I'll be going back to him again.

Cody, you did it the way you wanted, that is what counts. Enjoy!

Great photos. Super vaalie and awesome bushpig. Good to see an ostrich in there too (not many go for them!) and great looking duck bags. Enjoyed reading / looking. Thanks.

Great photos and interesting animals. Thank you for sharing your hunt.
JCHB

Outstanding report and some great animals.

Thanks for sharing.

A great report of a great trip.

I have hunted the Kokstad area twice - I loved hunting in that landscape.

Very nice trophies; I really like your pygmy's! Good work on those Yellow bill's, they are fun hunting.

Congrats on your Safari.

Very nice pics and report.

Congrats !! Really super good looking trophys, especially the Vaalie !!!

Fantastic trophies there man! A truly great hunt.



.

quote:

Originally posted by WV Hitman:
I've hunted with Andrew twice of the last three years. He's a true gentleman and the best quality PH I've ever had. And he can get you on the big ones. I completed my Dangerous 7 with a HANDGUN with him (croc and hippo) plus #2 Cape kudu (53 1/2") , #4 Mtn reedbuck, 14 animals in 2 trips, all top 30 or higher with a final shot of 440 yards on a massive baboon with my handgun last year. I'll be going back to him again.

So you're the stud behind the handgun! I've seen many of you pictures and made several comments to Andrew that "that guy" is way better than I am. No way I could make those shots with a handgun, I'd be lucky to do it with a rifle.

I couldn't agree with you more regarding Andrew and his abilities, much less just a likeable guy. We've already put together a tentative list for the next trip.

you get lucky sometimes. Actually I haven't shot a rifles since 1978. 100% hunting with handguns. Didn't do too bad in US- 12,800 groundhogs, 2180 deer.
I'm going to try to do most of the really dangerous stuff- again--next year with a revolver. So for only did rhino that way.

CONGRATS ON A GREAT HUNT...ENJOYED THE REPORT...THANKS FOR SHARING...

Great report - thanks for writing it

Mike

Awesome hunt buddy!

Graybird;

Congratulations on some fantastic trophies and nice report.

(Loved the "Phat feesh" photo too!)

Best regards, D. Nelson

Graybird,

You took some VERY nice trophies.......congratulations.

What is the pattern/make of camo you are wearing?

Looks very effective in the Eastern Cape
terrain..............

Congrats on a stellar safari indeed, shot my Vaalie in the same area years back, bring back some fond memories

quote:

Originally posted by Blair 338RUM:

What is the pattern/make of camo you are wearing?

Looks very effective in the Eastern Cape
terrain..............

The camo is made by Kuiu, which is an Ultralight Hunting Camo line made for mountain hunting.

The lighter colored camo is called Vias and the greener colored camo is called Verde.

Thanks for the info' mate.

All the best.

Some damn fine trophies Graybird! Congratulations.

There are few hunts as fun, challenging and unique in Africa as Vallies! Well done on a neat trip.

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
There are few hunts as fun, challenging and unique in Africa as Vallies! Well done on a neat trip.

Thank you! If you look closely at the forehead of the vallie, you'll notice he is a bald old man. He didn't have any hair between his horns and it looked almost like he had psoriasis. Regardless, he'll go on the wall as a bald guy, too. A truly old, mountain warrior, which I was very lucky to hunt!!

It was also probably my most pressured shot in my hunting career to-date. 429 yards and likely my last chance to get a shot off. Sun glare in the scope, Cross wind blowing from right to left, which drifted the bullet about 12" but I placed the bullet right behind the crease of his shoulder, and the rest as they say is history. A shot I won't forget any time soon!

Thanks!

Cody,

Love your Zebra

Very nice collection, thanks for sharing