I just returned from Limpopo from my second trip within 12 months. I was returning for my second hunt with Limpopo Valley Hunting Safaris. I set a high target for the PH and I; Klipsringer, Duiker, Steenbok, Bushbuck, and Caracal. I wanted to do all of these, except the Caracal on foot and we managed great examples of all of them except the Caracal. I know Jaco through a mutual friend and told him I knew this would be difficult early in the year with thick bush, but the main goal was to have a good two weeks hunting and enjoying Africa. We spent one afternoon in the pub watching my rugby team (Cheetahs) beat his rugby team (Lions) and one day in Mapungubwe National Park looking at lots of Klipspringers, Elephants and the beautiful scenery. This is the spot Jaco was stationed at as an Infantry Lieutenant in the mid 90s so he was familiar with the park.

Day One: Thankfully, my flight to Pietersburg was on time this year. Jaco picked me up at the airport and we were off to pick up the cruiser at the shop. The machine shop had messed up the head and so we'll be hunting in the backup bakki while we wait for the cruiser to be delivered, or the new brand new bakki to be delivered. When we got to the lodge, the elephants had damaged the waterpipes to my chalet, so we spent a few minutes fixing that, had some dinner and called it a night.

Day Two: We started the day at the range, not only to check zero; but to get some familiarity with the rifles. I came directly from Korea this time and was using the lodges rifles. A Winchester Model 70 in .243 for Bushbuck and a Sako .223 for all the rest. Both rifles shot fine to point of aim and off we went to pick up some Caracal bait and Bushbuck. We saw a few Bushbuck in the river late in the morning, but no shots were offered. I did get to see a freshly hatched crocodile nest and where an elephant had rolled in the sand leaving a big elephant body print. All we need this afternoon is some fresh Caracal bait. How can it be so hard to get a clean shot at any mature Impala for bait! The bush is really thick at this time, but Impala are like police officers; always around until you need one. We walked the river again just before dark for Bushbuck, but only saw one male on the Botswana side. We are seeing a lot of Waterbuck in the river though.

Day Three: We saw three male Bushbuck in the river this morning, one of them will be a monster in a year or so and the other two weren't good enough to take on day three. We passed on all three and although the young male we saw will easily make book this year, we decided to leave him for another time so he can pass on his genes a few times. We still haven't gotten an Impala for bait.

Day Four: I managed to completely miss an Impala off the sticks at about 50 meters. He jumped just as the trigger released and the shot went under him. Jaco was sure he heard a hit, but I was very skeptical. We searched for about 15 minutes but found no blood. Thankfully, I have hunted with Jaco before and he knows I can actually shoot well. I'm not to pleased with myself, a clean miss like that isn't a good way to start a trip. I managed to redeem myself about 20 minutes later with a 50 meter shot on another Impala while sitting unsupported on the wheelwell in the back of the running bakki. We went out and set fresh Caracal bait and then headed into town to pick up the Cruiser.

Day Five: Got up at 4AM to drive an hour for Klipspringer hunting. We say four Kilippies on the mountain as soon as we got out of the cruiser and decided to make a quick 100m strike up the mountian to see if we could get into posiition for a shot. This property hasn't been hunted in about 20 years and the bush on the mountain is thick, very thick. As we got to a shooting position the klipspringers bounded over a ridge and were gone. We waited for a few minutes, but they didn't return. We then spend the next hour or so getting the lay of the mountain and looking for spoor. We see lots of spoor, but don't spot any game. The bush is thick and the ground is covered with gravel so it is impossible to be quite. In the afternoon we checked Caracal baits and all we're attracting at this time is Honey Badgers. No luck on Bushbuck in the river either.

Day Six: Back on the mountian for Klippies. We're set up behind a handy boulder we found yesterday that gives us a good view of the slope where we saw the Klippies yesterday. One female comes up for a few minutes and then bounds off. We do see a nice ram on the other slope 330 meters away. So, we quickly cross the valley to stalk the ram. We see him several times, but just fleetingly in the bush. On the way home we drive though another property looking for Caracal bait and see nothing. We really need fresh bait soon. In the afternoon I am riding in the cab of the bakki with Phineas, the tracker, we still need Caracal bait so I ask Jaco if I have permission to shoot a mature female Impala if we see one on the way back to the farm from the Lodge. He agrees and relays the instuctions to Phineas in Afrikaans (Phineas speaks no English). Jaco is in the cruiser with his mother and will meet us at the Lodge after taking a different route. Shortly after leaving what do I see standing 25 feet off the road broadside to the road but a Duiker with horn tips above his ears. I call for Phineas to stop, he just glances at me a says "Duiker" and keeps driving; probably thinking to himself "stupid white man can't even tell the difference between a Duiker and an Impala." To his credit, Jaco had given him no instrucitons about Duiker; only Imapla. This incident ends up being one of my favorite memories of the hunt. We'd play cat and mouse with that Duiker for the next nine days.

Day Seven: This morning we're setting up on the opposite ridge from yesterday for Klippies. Yep, you guessed it. No Klippies on our side, but there are four on the other ridge 330 meters away where we set up yesterday! We decide to try a stalk on them and as we are getting ready to depart and herd of Impala start to pass below us. The wind is in our favor and they don't see us so we just watch them and wait for them to pass. A quick scramble down our slope and back up the other ridge puts us in range of a female looking at us and giving the Klipspringer alarm call. We can hear two more to our left answering her, but cannot see them. After a few seconds a male walks forward into view, stops, looks at us and begins calling also. He looks good, but I don't have a great shot. I decide to take the shot offered rather than wait and chance him bounding off. I take a high shoulder shot angling down to get both lungs and miss major bones to minimize damage to the quills. Jaco thinks I've shot over him, but a big spaller of lung blood on the rocks tells a different story. We track him about 30m downhill and find him a laying in some grass. As we approach he lifts his head and we realize he's still alive. He's breathing deep and irregular and we figure he's just about done. Here the story differes between Jaco and myself. I contend that the instrucitons were "Don't put another shot in him, he's dead", Jaco contends it was "be ready do shoot again if he get's up". I like my version better! I've got the rifle trained on him incase he does get up again and realize the scope is still on 5x and that if he moves this range I'll lose him in the scope. So I reach up to turn the scope down to 1.75x and just as I do, the Klippie is off and running! Another 20m track finds him laying in the rocks where he fell off of a small ledge. Unfortunatley there are quills everwhere. His mad dash for freedom has completely ruled out a full mount and the completely bare batch on this shoulder may call for a neck mount. All in all it took the Klipspringer 30 minutes to die after a shot through both lungs. I would have put a finishing shot in my the second time we found him, but the risk of riccoshet in the rocks was too great. In THE PERFECT SHOT Kevin Robertson says "These little antelope are neither tough nor tenacious..." I have now crossed that statement out in my copy of the book. I still want a full mount Kiippie, so it looks like I'll be after them again next year!



The afternoon saw us tracking Steenbok for about two hours when we found one laying in the grass about 50m away from us. Almost the identical shot as on the Klipspinger anchored the Steenbok in place. Jaco and I have had a very good day and we needed one after having no trophies in the salt for the last six days of a 15 day trip.



On the way back from the skinning shed to the lodge, both Jaco and I were in the cab of the cruiser when who do we see standing about 10m off the side of the road looking at us, but our friend the Duiker. I try to slip out of the cab and uncase a rifle from the rack in the back, but the Duiker is smart enough to realize what is going on and bounds off into the bush to not be seen again that night. Remember, the hunt isn't over until you're in the Lodge.

Day Eight through Eleven became a constant gring of walking the river in the morning in search of a good bushbuck, we passed on four more during this time, checking Caracal baits, hunting Duiker in the evening and driving and sitting for Caracal after dark. During this time we had a great time and hunted hard. We tried to catch the Honey Badger that was eating our Caracal bait, but he escaped from the cage trap two nights in a row so we gave up on that bait site. We did see Genets, Civets, and Bushbabies; though we haven't seen a Caracal yet. We did hear a Leopard about 100m away one night in the blind which was cool.

Day Twelve: Morning walks of the river continue with evening walks for Duiker and nights sitting up for Caracal. The schedule is getting to us and we are both very tired. Tonight we are in the river looking for Duiker when we see a Bushbuck ram in the distance feeding. Jaco is able to get a decent look at him through binoculars and asks if I can make the shot. It is about 120 meters and the light is fading fast. I tell him I'm comfortable with the shot and am just waiting for him to get a better look at the horns. When we finially decide to take the shot all I can see in the 4x scope is a black shape. I settle on his shoulder and squeeze the trigger; I see muzzle flash and then the bushbuck fall backwards. He gets up and dashes about 40m and falls. He's not the biggest bushbusk we have seen horn wise, but he is a big old male with 13" horns and the darkest neck of any we have seen so far. He won't make a beautiful trophy, but he'll make an awesome trophy. He's neck is thick from the rut and the color is almost black and covered in scars from fighting other males.



Day Fourteen: We still haven't connected with that Duiker and this morning is our last chance because we have to take the trophies to the taxidermy this afternoon. Early in the morning we spot the Duiker we've been chasing from the truck and get off to stalk him. It is now or never. We finally spot him feeding towards us about 40m away. The wind is in his favor and it is only a matter of seconds before he smells us. Jaco and I take seated positions and I take the shot off of his shoulder as the Duiker walks towards us. The shot goes in the bottom of the neck and the Duiker falls where he was. An excellent end to an excellent hunt.



Since we had time we drove down the river so I could see wild Hippos in the river, which was also cool.

We never even managed to see a Caracal. Jaco had told me he has never activly hunted Caracal, only taken them as trophies of opportunity. We hunted them like Leopard and probably did something wrong. So, if anyone has any Caracal hunting tips/tricks please let me know; I still want a Caracal next year.

Here's a two non hunting pictures. We found an African Cameleon one day and I thought that was pretty cool.



And being in the communicaitons business I couldn't resist a shot of the Cellphone repair shop in Alldays.

Sounds like a great trip. Love the little guys.

Very nice report. I also like the comment about the driver ignoring the duiker and I can imagine what he was thinking about the "hunter" who couldn't tell a duiker from an impala.

Collin

Nice report and great trophies. These guys are some of the the most difficult animals to hunt. The little fellas drive me crazy. I hope to take the klipspringer on this next safari.

Mark

Your report got me psyched up! My wife and I will be in Limpopo starting May 26. Wish me luck!

Paul,

Good luck to you this month. The bush is still thick, but the leaves were changing color as I was there and the views should be awesome while you are there. Where will you be hunting and what trophies are you looking for?

Colin

Nice Report

Well wenn i was over there in the North Kaap, in the kuruman/dibeng area we hunted also on caracal.

First on day time, with dogs.
Then with a spotlight at night.
And if the PH had found a place where a caracal had made a fresh kill, he was looking for a position where we could wait for a caracal.

For game and catlle protection he was also placing (live) traps year around.

Colin,

We're hunting with Shingani Safaris. We hunted with them last year in the same area, about the same time of year as well. It was still pretty green.

My base package has Impala, Blue Wildebeest, Warthog and Blesbuck. I also have interest, depending on what we see, in Kudu and/or Zebra.

In addition, we're going to try to predator hunt as well. I'd love to get a Jackal and/or Caracal.

Congratulations again! I'll post a report when I return.

Great pics!

Colin,
Just returned from my second hunt with BushAfrica Safaris in the Limpopo, and I really enjoyed your write up of your trip to the same area. We had a superbly frustrating time hunting the little antelope too. With all that lush tall grass this year all you get to see are tails and ears, and despite seeing plenty of Duiker and Steenbuck, I didn't shoot one until I got to Namibia late in our trip. It appeared that all the male Duikers and Steenbuck were hiding in a pub somewhere and leaving the girls to harass the hunters. Klippies? They were hiding out too, although I did spot two of them in impossible shooting conditions. It's nice to leave some critters for that next African hunt !!

LLS

Great report! I`m a nut for the tiny ten myself! Thanks for sharing..

Colin,

Great report and nice trophies.


Hamdeni

I just got back from Limpopo and will post some pics in a few days once my wife has a chance to get them all off of the camera and sort them out.

Highlights: I got a nice Bushbuck, very dark color. I also got a Jackal and an African Wildcat. My wife, who was thinking about shooting 'an animal', ended up shooting 5 (2 Warthog, 2 Impala and Blesbuck).

Paul,

Looking forward to seeing your photos and reading the story. It sounds like your wife is hooked now too!

Colin