Hi everyone.

I recently returned from hunting PG at The Gras Ranch in Namibia. This was my first hunt in Africa and it was memorable to say the least.

Errol Lambrechts was the PH for my friend and I and it was Errol who picked us up at the airport just outside Windhoek.

It was an adventure right from the start. My friend's SKS case did not arrive so we left for the ranch without it. Due to recent heavy rains in the Fish River drainage system, the ranch radioed Errol recommending he switch the new VW van he picked us up in for a 4x4 rental truck crew cab. The first time we turned the engine off, the battery wouldn't turn the motor over and we had to push start it. Then we received word that my friend's rifle case had turned up at the airport, it seems it was in the cargo container all along.

The highlight of the drive to the ranch was taking photos of the raging Fish River, the rapids must have been 4 feet high.

Once we arrived at the ranch, we settled in to a very comfortable, spacious room with 3 beds, a table and a modern bathroom. It was our first time ever to sleep in a bed protected by mosquito netting.

Soon after unpacking in our room, we joined the others for a few drinks in the 'gazebo'. Everyone was friendly and fun. Errol and I stayed up chatting and drinking until the wee hours.

The next day, we sighted in our rifles and went out for a drive that afternnon. Although we saw what we then believed to be alot of animals, it was only a mere glimpse of the numbers we would view each day from then on. On average, we must have viewed at least 500 animals some days and as many as 1000 on others. There was springbok everywhere, sometimes just a few, sometimes a group of 20-30 animals, and sometimes herds of hundreds. We saw giraffe, blue and black wildebeest, gemsbok, blesbok, red hartebeest, zebra, baboon and, of course, the coveted kudu. Gras Ranch is very well managed and the game is super abundant.

As we began to settle into a daily hunting routine, we were struck with the beauty and vastness of the land. Our 'team' consisted of us two hunters, Errol as PH, Picky as the tracker and Stefan as the driver. The ease in which Errol and Picky could spot and identify game was impressive, their ability to then assess and judge trophy size on distant animals, on animals moving through brush, on animals mingling about, was absolutely astonishing. I quickly learned to heed their words and my confidence in their skills was simply solid. Equally impressive was the way the three of them worked as a team negotiating rivers, ravines, steep slopes, thick thornbush, etc..

In addition, Errol was simply a great guy to spend a day in the field with. He has a truly funny sense of humour and had Oran and I were always smiling and laughing at his different stories and comments. No matter the number of questions, Errol answered them as though we were the first to have asked.

We shot good trophies and had a lot of fun doing so. As to be expected, Oran and I both shot more animals than we had initially planned for. No matter, I want to return and hunt more, next time for eland and waterbuck.

Oran was using a 7RM loaded with 160 Accubonds and I was using a 7RM loaded with 168 Berger VLDs. Errol was quite skeptical about my choice of bullets, but after dropping my first 4 animals with 1 shot each, he reversed his position.

I would really like to share my trophy photos but am more than a little computor challenged. If someone would be kind enough to help me out, it would be greatly appreciated.

And thanks to this forum for all the information it's provided, and all the inspiration. If not for AR, Africa would have remained but a pipe dream.

Bobby B.

Gras was a great place for my hunt a few years back. Glad you had a good time. Facilities, food and hospitality there are hard to beat.

Stefan, the stud bull, great driver and tracker.

send pics to hikerbum at hotmail.com and i can post for you.

Hikerbum,

From what I was told, Stefan now has 17 children, and all with the one wife.

Thanks for the offer to post my photos. I'll e-mail them right away.

Bobby B.

I think I may have missed one, but here they are.
Great pics and Trophies. They do have alot of trophies on their property. Its something like 90,000 acres or so isnt it?

Thanks! I really needed that. This time of year sucks for me.

Good work sir!!!

Brett

Way to go Bobby!
Nice animals.
Now you are hooked

A couple of the pics i missed posting the first time. Great black wildebeest and the blue isnt too shabby either. I am sitting looking at my Blue wildebeest from Gras as I type this.

Bobby,

Fantastic hunt and I enjoyed the report

Looks like you guys had a fantastic time,good on you

Care to share your load with the Berger 168VLD hunting bullets?
Peter

Peter,

The load data is as follows; WW Super brass, WLRM primer, 69.5 grains of RETUMBO and the VLD seated .005 into the lands.

Bobby B.

Thanks! I do not have Retumbo. Did you try any other powders? I have a Blaser with several barrels, one of which is a 7mm Mag.
Peter.

Very nice trophies.
Congrats!!!

Nice animals. I hope to hunt with Gras some day. Thanks for the report.

Waidmannsheil Bobby B. Glad to hear you enjoyed your time on Gras. A great place to hunt with great people, I know as I was there last year, Dom.

Bobby -

What a hunt! You got some really beauties in there, for sure. I'm particularly jealous of that springbok and your warthog you guys hauled in. That wartie - that's one helluva tusker!

Congrats on an awesome time and I hope you get to return for your waterbuck. I've got my eyes on the same thing.

Congrats on a great hunt! Sure is nice to see some hunt reports again.

quote:

Sure is nice to see some hunt reports again.

You can say that again.

Congratulations on your hunt! Enjoyed your report and the pics.

Sounds like you have "The Incureable Bug" now, no remedy but to return to Africa for more.
Thanks for the report and pictures.
Love those springbuck on the dinner table.

Congrats on a great hunt

Hopefully I'll be able to return to the Gras ranch soon. Errol and Jannie run a top notch outfit.

Bobby, glad to hear you enjoyed yourself with Errol and the gang at Gras. It pleases me to say I told you so.

The property looks much different than when I was there last fall in the dry season. The Fish River was dry in many places then. When I head to Gras again I will consider going earlier in the season. The green adds to the beauty of the place.

You may remember that I had my doubts about the VLD bullets on plains game as I had used Barnes TSX in a .338 Mag. and thought that was about right. Based on your experiences I will reconsider my position. Congratulations on a great hunt and a really great time. I can't post pics worth a darn either. Perhaps I can also find a volunteer as easily as you did.
Jay

Great report and excellent pictures.

Thanks,
Jason

Well done, sir, and thanks for the pics. I think that you did this one exactly right.

Bobby, I DID find a good load for my 7mm RM, Berger 168 VLD and IMR 4350!
Peter.

Bobby B: Enjoyed your report and the good photos. My wife and I hunted at the Gras Ranch in August 2008. At the time the river was mostly dry with a few pools of water, and the grass was a rich golden color. It was nice to see how the ranch looked at a different time of the year.

I had dinner with Errol and Jannie at the recent SCI show in Reno. My wife and I had planned to return in August this year along with a couple of friends who would be making their first trip. Unfortunately one friend encountered some health problems so we had to cancel, it about broke my heart!

We hadn't really considered going earlier in the year, but based on your good experience maybe we should be thinking about it for next year.

Were you there in March? I was wondering what the weather was like while you were there, for example what kind of day/night temperatures you encountered, was there any rain, was the grass high? Another consideration is airfare, maybe rates are lower before the peak summer season.

Also interested in your results with the Berger bullets. As you know Errol and Jannie don't care much about which cartridge you use (within reason) but they are fussy about bullets. If the Bergers impressed Errol they must have done very well indeed!

Great ranch and great people, can't say enough good things about their skill and their absolute integrity.

Dave,

Sorry for not responding to your questions any sooner, my computor has been on the fritz for about a week or so.

I was at Gras for roughly the first two weeks of March 2010. It rained heavily the day before we arrived and the Fish River had 4 ft. rapids. Every day was sunny and 35-37C and abit windy at times. Can't say what the night time temps were but it was comfortable to sit outside without a jacket at 3:00 am, in fact it was the most comfortable part of the day. It rained twice while we were at Gras, once as spotted showers, the second as a serious downpour. Can't comment much on the heigth of the grass as I've no previous experience to compare it to.

I'm sure Errol would be happy to relay to you his thoughts of the bergers if you e-mailed him. Errol knew me as Bob Boychuk rather than Bobby B.

Bobby B.

Bobby,

Thanks for the information, it's exactly what I was looking for. 35-37C sounds a bit hot for long walks/stalks, I'm thinking late April or early May might work as an alternative.

I didn't notice until this post that you are located in Edmonton. I know the city fairly well as my daughter lived there for several years, also one of the magazines to which I contribute (Western Sportsman) is published there. Nice city!

Next time I communicate with Errol I'll ask him about the Berger bullets. Reading between the lines of your report I got the impression you're a pretty good shot so I'm sure shot placement was good on the game you took.

You surely took some nice trophies, I thought your black wildebeest especially was a beauty.

Dave,

It was hot enough, even for me. I love the heat. But, for most, early March is too hot for walking. Due to the nature of my business (roofing), I'm stuck in Edmonton from the latter part of March until early November.

Thanks for the compliment on the Black Wildebeest, it scored 14.5 cm and Gold Medal starts at 192. The Blue was pretty good as well, he scored 215.5 and Gold starts at 187. Errol jokingly called it a Platinum.

Wish I was there right now.

Bobby B.

I just got back from Gras ...hunted with the same team...everything you said was true about them...you guys did really well...i did too ...congrats

Awesome hunt!
I need to get myself in gear one of these days & head on over to Namibia.

Thanks Bobby B for the kind words about me and Gras Hunting Ranch. I have said this once before that as a PH I have one goal. That is to make a hunter’s dream a reality. With the economy as it is to-day many hunters save for a long time for that once in a lifetime hunt in Africa. We at Gras Hunting Ranch collect you at the airport as a hunter/client, during the hunt you become a friend and hopefully leave as family.

With regards to your bullet. As most hunters know I am a Barnes TSX man. The VLD bullets you used did a wonderful job. What you did not mention was that you are a perfect marksman.

Errol,

I look forward to hunting with you again this March for Eland and Waterbuck. We'll see how well the 168 Berger works on them.

Bobby B.

Bobby B.....I hunted with the same team the last half of May 2010....with about the same results...Errol is too much fun to hunt with...I agree with all you said about Errol and Gras Ranch....I need to go back...glad you had a great hunt

Bobby B, Errol showed me a really nice waterbuck on our 2008 hunt, I passed as I already had one about the same size from an earlier hunt. I'd be willing to bet Errol will find you a good one.

Never hunted Afica in March but have been considering it, mainly I think airfares are cheaper then, plus this summer is shaping up to be a busy one.

Gras is such a wonderful place it makes me envious reading of the planned hunts of others, I hope to make it back soon. Good luck and I look forward to reading your report when you return.

My wife wasn't interested in joining me last March but is very enthusiastic about joining me this upcoming trip. In fact, she organized for us a 4 week self drive tour of Namibia and Northern Botswana before we head back to Gras. Great wife.

Bobby B.