South African Safari Report

Country : South Africa
Region : Eastern Cape (Adelaide, Grahamstown & Kenton on Sea)
Outfitter : Mr Kevin Kayn / Mr Frans Bussaihn (Mankazana Safaris)
Professional Hunter : Mr Graeme Hjul
Rifle : Remington 700 in .270
Bow : Elite 70lb Easton - Bloodline 360 Arrows - Rage Hypodermics 100 Grain Broadhead
Dates : 15 - 24th May 2018

Background :

I was just finishing a hunt back in December 2016 when I saw that Kevin Kayn had advertised a charity hunt with Mankazana Safaris on AR. It was set up as a package of 10 or so animals, it was a very attractive opportunity and of course a bonus being for a good cause. The only problem was that I had hunted most of the species, however when looking at Mankazana safaris website, I noticed that they had a very neat list of species that they offered. I decided to send Kevin an email and see what could be arranged. After a few emails back and forth and him being in touch with Frans who owns and runs Mankazana, we managed to come up with a plan and a list of interesting animals to try and hunt. However whenever I am hunting I always try and keep my options open, I feel that is one of many great things about Africa, that you really don’t know which old warrior is hiding around the next corner and you could have an opportunity to hunt. The hunt was planned for May 2018 and it didn't take long for that time to arrive, and my wife and I were on our way from London to Port Elizabeth.

Travel Day :

Having arrived early in Cape Town we had about 3 hours before our connecting flight to Port Elizabeth with SAA Express. However when waiting for our boarding gate to appear we were told to head back to check in, this became a fairly common trend for our flights to and from Port Elizabeth. They had cancelled the flight and we had to wait another 4 hours for the later one, no great issue and sure enough the later one went as and we were met at the airport by our PH Graeme. I was excited before meeting Graeme as I had read he was a bow hunting enthusiast which sat very well with me as I love my bow hunting. The drive to Kenton on Sea flew by and before we knew it we were at Frans’s in laws house where we were going to stay for a couple of nights.

Hunting Day 1 :

The first morning of the hunt we woke up at a reasonable hour with the plan to head to Frans’s farm in Grahamstown. The previous evening I had talked to Graeme and said what were the chances of hunting Caracal, as this was something I noticed was on their price list but I had not previously enquired about. He said he would send a message to a very reliable PH, who specialised in hunting Caracal with hounds. We were on the way to Frans’s farm that morning when Jeff, Mr caracal, phoned to say a farmer had just called him, saying he had heard bushbuck barking, very much in a manner that would suggest a cat was in the area. He was on his way with the dogs and said it may well be worth us heading in the same direction. We decided that it wasn’t a bad idea and would be interesting to see the hounds anyway. Sadly when we arrived the dogs had been at work in the area for a little while and picked up very little, a few barks at some cold scent but nothing worth getting too excited about. Now the morning was getting on, so we decided to head back for some breakfast and relax, we were booked in with Jeff’s son Dwayne in the evening for a sit waiting for Blue Duiker. The afternoon came and we met Dwayne at 2, it soon became very clear that Dwayne really knew what he was doing with Blue Duiker, he had designed these small waterholes which he monitored carefully with trail cameras, even keeping photo records of the different males at each place and selecting mature males accordingly. It was just a little after 3 and all of us were tucked into the blind just some 20m from the water, the waiting game began. It was quiet to start with, however about 1 hour before dark, I could see something had Dwayne’s attention, he carefully raised his binoculars and whispered young duiker. It was incredible to see this small animal appear, what was even more amazing it was every bit a like a young muntjac from the UK just a little darker in colour. It was fascinating to see it move and act just the same, it came and went and we all settled again in the blind. Time was ticking and I think Dwayne was starting to get the feeling, that all guides do, come on you were here last night, whats up. Then with about 15 minutes of light left, Dwayne lit up again, he raised his binoculars and this time he just smiled, and said, nice male. He didn't really need to say anything, it was obvious what that smile meant. I slowly positioned the rifle and the duiker appeared, he stopped and I squeezed. Now another interesting thing, Graeme had loaded some half measure .270 130 grain bullets to try and reduce damage, at the shot the duiker jumped and scurried into the bush. Everything seemed good, but you just never know, it wasn’t my rifle and like all these situations things happen very fast. Thankfully it wasn’t long before Dwayne came crawling back out of the bushes with this incredible little animal, the bullet had passed through both shoulders like a pencil causing no damage at all. The smallest trophy I had ever shot, however certainly one of the most interesting, Dwayne estimated him to be 5-6 years old and a very nice trophy. A great start all round to the safari and I also hope very rewarding for Dwayne as he clearly puts a lot of time and effort into these little duikers and ensures he is managing them correctly.



Hunting Day 2 :

The next morning we were up bright and early to meet Jeff. He had dropped off two packs of hounds at 5:30 am and we met him shortly after. I don’t think there are too many better ways to spend a quiet still morning than sitting on a ridge overlooking valleys of African bush and just listening to the place come alive. There was a few howls here and there from the hounds but nothing substantial, clearly Jeff and his team have been doing a very good job in these areas for the farmers. The morning was passing and at about 9 am his other pack picked up some scent in an area where the farmer had reported barking, we jumped in the truck and headed over. Jeff had said that it was getting a little warm now and that most of the dew was gone and that tracking for the hounds was going to become tough. When we arrived the hounds were in good voice, however Jeff that when he was speaking to his handler that the dogs where struggling to follow the scent and kept wanting to head back in the valley where the scent was stronger because there was more moisture and cool air holding the scent. After an hour or so Jeff decided to pull the hounds out, it was getting hot and of course the welfare of them is far more important than the hunt. I was still hopeful that later in the hunt we may get the chance to hunt with the hounds again. It was no great surprise that we got a message from Jeff the next day saying that they had caught up with the caracal that morning.

We packed up from Kenton on Sea and headed for Grahamstown, here we would stop and have a quick lunch before continuing our journey to Adelaide where we would be based for the next few days. The journey wasn’t too bad, 3 hours in total and we got to see some more of the beautiful Eastern Cape landscape and wildlife on the way.

We arrived late afternoon at the lodge, Toppingvale was to be our base lodge for the next few days and what a fantastic place it was. Located in its own private valley, with wildlife all around the lodge, even the Zebras would come in the evening and hang about with the horses. The lodge was just what you want from a hunting lodge, very spacious and clean, good heating and open fires which made for a very homely feel in the evenings as the temperature did drop off on a few of the evenings, but most importantly for me, it has a very traditional feel, you knew you were in a hunting lodge. That evening we settled in and had the first of several fantastic meals, the food was incredible and certainly plentiful, the ladies in the house were great, and always smiling and laughing to us and each other it added to the very warm homely atmosphere.

Hunting Day 3 :

We left from Toppingvale shortly after 6:00 just as the light was starting to appear over the valleys surrounding the lodge. We had a short drive to the far end of the hunting area where we planned to start our morning hunt. Although we had a list of species, I was very relaxed, my main priority was to hunt and see what we came across, I don't hunt for trophy size, I prefer the experience and like to hunt mature animals. We parked the truck and set off on our first proper stalk of the safari, the weather was perfect, it was a cool morning about 15 degrees C and with a very light breeze. We headed up the first ridge and it wasn’t long before our tracker Andelay spotted a small group of Mountain Reedbuck, we watched them slowly edging up the ridge for 10 minutes or so, there was a ram in the group however Graeme thought he was a touch young for the first morning, I was more than happy with this assessment and we carried on. It was only later that I would realise, that making the correct ethical decision would give me the opportunity of a lifetime.
We continued to work our way up the ridge, glassing on both sides of the valley, we spotted a young duiker ram and then in the early morning sun a Kudu calf sunning itself. It was on closer inspection we noticed a couple more Kudu were present and resting under the bushes close to the Calf. The night before Frans had told us that the Kudu were in full rutting mode now and that he had seen a lot of bulls the week before on the previous hunt. It wasn’t long before I spotted another cow and then the bull, I have seen many Kudu bulls in the African bush, however it still gets my heart racing, the picture of him moving though the bush in that first light was something I will never forget, he looked magnificent. I spoke with Graeme and asked him his thoughts, he said he is a good bull, maybe has a little bit left in him but not too much. I had promised myself that this hunt I would only take a Kudu with the bow and not with the rifle, this made things a lot more challenging. If I had been rifle hunting, I would have edged a little further up and down the ridge, come to 200m and I am sure would have been able to make a clean shot. However I was adamant that I was going to try with the bow. It was decided to leave Graeme, Andelay and Stephanie on the ridge to keep and eye on them and reduce, sound, sight and smell whilst I worked my way up the ridge, until I had enough cover to cross on the same side and the Kudu. I made my way down into the drainage at the bottom of the valley, fairly untroubled, the sun was working in my favour and there was just enough shade being created for me to move unseen. However the moment I crossed the through the drainage the wind switched, I could feel the wind on the back my neck, not just swirling but consistent, I thought the game was up, the Kudu were no more than 150m in front of me. I was just waiting for the sound of crashing or alarm barking from the kudu, however I carried on, I decide to keep edging left, hoping that the wind was just going to evade them. I had climbed a fair way up the ridge and knew I must have been getting pretty close to their level. I look back through the binoculars and could just make out Andelay holding is hand out to his right, I was more expecting to see them walking towards me indicating the kudu had gone, but it seemed I was still in the game. I couldn't see much as the bush was very thick, however I found a large anthill and stop on top, suddenly I could see just the tips of the bulls horns, I never ranged them however he couldn’t have been further than 40m, I now had a near perfect wind and knew that I really did have a serious chance of completing this dream. I slowly edged closer and close until I spotted him again, he hadn't gone far, now probably about 30-35m. He moved a little further away and I followed, it seemed that all the cows and calves were below him as I hadn't seen them at all. I then spotted him again behind raking a bush some 25m away, there was a good shooting lane on my left and on my right there was a lane however I had a bush right in front of me, although there was a small hole in it which I decided I could probably shoot through because I was so close to it. I got ready and knew now all I had to do was wait and just hope he didn't walk straight away from me. It wasn’t long and just a few more rakes and he walked straight right, as he entered the lane I drew and he paused immediately staring in my direction, I lined up the arrow with the hole in the bush and focused on the chest of the bull, I squeezed and the arrow flew true, I knew I had hit him a little back but it was going to be a fatal shot as he crashed off through the bush. Graeme and Andelay had watched the bull run down into the valley out of my sight, however it wasn’t long before some whistles came which indicated me to join them. The feeling of success with a bow in this environment on such a challenging animal was very special and a memory that will last long in the memory. It was a great start to the bow hunting side of the trip and gave me a lot of confidence going forward.



The late morning / early afternoon was spent recovering the bull and preparing him followed by some relaxation in one of the other lodges prior to the evening hunt. I have already ear marked this lodge for my returning hunt in the future, it wouldn’t be a lodge for everyone, however the adventurer would be right at home here. The afternoon hunt we were back in the same area continuing our way through the valleys and ravines looking for game, it wasn’t long before we spotted a herd of Blesbok, there was a mix of common and white ewes and calfs as well as a young bull. We had been informed that a couple of the older bulls had been pushed out of the herd but had been hanging around close by, Graeme decided to back out and head around the other side of the herd and see what else we could come across. We were just stalking carefully through the bush when we spotted a lone white Blesbok, although we couldn't see his head, being a lone animal we knew there was a good chance it was what we were looking for. Carefully we edged closer, Graeme said ready your bow we have a good chance here. He was moving nicely right to left whilst grazing between the bushes, I ranged him at 54m and set my pin. As he appeared into my shooting lane Graeme confirmed he was a good ram, I drew and let the arrow fly. The arrow struck the shoulder, I knew the line was perfect and initially i thought so was the height, however Graeme wasn't sure, the ram took off and we just backed out a few meters and found some shade. I knew Graeme was worried, I was just praying that I had missed the shoulder blade, and made it into the chest cavity. We went to the shot sight and could find no evidence, we followed a little in the direction the ram headed but couldn’t find anything, we decided that this follow up was best left until the morning. That night I must have replayed the situation a hundred times in my mind and I was still fairly confident, I was just hoping that it had somehow sneaked under that blade and into the chest.
The next morning we headed out, the long story short is that we walked and checked and did everything we could that morning to find something or some sign of that animal but to no avail. 12km’s later and a lot of K’s from Graeme and Andelay we decided that we just had to let this one go for now and hope that something would turn up in the coming days. Even by the end of the safari and a couple more attempts to locate this ram close to the herd, that came to nothing, I think its fair to accept that the shot probably was fatal however the ram must have covered a fair distance and moved out of these areas before passing. Bowhunting really is a story of fine margins, 1 or 2 inches lower and I am sure that the outcome would have been very different, all I can say is that the effort Graeme, Andelay and I put in to recovering this animal was extremely high and it was only at a point when we were lost for places to look that we called it quits.
There wasn't long left in the day now and we decided to spend the last couple of hours in a different area looking at a few of the valleys, we saw several warthog and then just as the light started to fade a small herd of Kudu bulls, with one fantastic bull. He was certainly big and fully mature, his tips right out at the top. As we watched him work his way up the valley face he eventually crested the ridge and stood on the skyline scanning back into the valley, it was again another amazing image of these truly majestic antelope and was a good end to a tough day.

Hunting Day 4 :

The next day we found ourselves up early and with an hours drive to another hunting area in search of the unique Vaal Rhebok and also the possibility of finding a Mountain Reedbuck. As we entered the base of the hilly mountainous area it wasn’t long before we saw some “Vaaly’s” as Graeme and Franz referred to them. It was a batchelor group of males, two young males and one mature male. Graeme had said that the Vaaly’s were doing really well in this area and I guess this was proof of that. We moved past this group as Graeme thought we could do better, and continued into the next valley. It wasn’t long before Andelay spotted another group, however the incredibly sharp eyed animals had us spotted already and moved off up the steep hillside, we tried to close the gap a couple of times but they were just too wild and eventually we backed out and continued to another valley, plenty of animals to keep us interested that was for sure. As we entered the next valley, in a small gulley out of the strong wind we spotted a small family group of Vaaly’s. They were some 7-800m away and it was hard to tell if there was a male / mature male with the group however Graeme said it was very likely. We ended back around the ridge so we could get out of sight and managed to stalk up the adjacent gulley to a ridge overlooking where they were laid. As I slowly edged over the ridge I ranged the group at 175m, I then carefully looked through the animals, first a young male, then a female and her young from this year. I started to fear the worst but it didn't take many seconds looking at the last animal to know he was a fantastic ram. I didn’t want to hang about, I got into position and set the rifle on my rucksack. Suddenly a couple of the group stood up, I thought they must have seen me but they weren’t looking at me, I still am not sure whether they caught some smell or it could have been the birds which alerted them, however luckily I was in position and the nervous behaviour of the group made the big ram stand up and he stood perfectly broadside, I squeezed the trigger on the .270 and the ram dropped on the spot. A really unique hunt and a very interesting animal, its no wonder they can see so well with those huge great eyes.



After the customary photos we headed back to the truck, Andelay had said he had seen some more Vaaly’s in the next valley and possibly some Mountain Reedbuck. It didn't take us long to spot the animals, they were well up above us, some 600m at the top of the steepest ridge in the valley. Graeme said he was unsure which side of the fence they were, it was hard to see as the boundary fence was hidden in a small gulley running up the mountain of which there were plenty. Anyway we had a go and climbed up the ridge face and planned to come around the ridge at about 200m. After some hard work and a few breaks we made it to the place we thought would give us a good vantage point to make a shot from should a suitable Reedbuck be there. As we rounded the corner we could see the Reedbuck laid down and there was a very good Ram with them, now the next question where was the boundary fence, there it was between us and the Ram, it was very disappointing for all of us especially having put in some hard yards to get there however we couldn’t really be too disappointed we had a very successful morning and the thought of heading back for a well earned brunch sounded great.
That afternoon we relaxed and just before dark we went to sit in an area for Bushpig. This was one of two animals that I did really want to take on this trip. I love hunting pigs and have done a lot of wild boar hunting in Europe so I was excited to see how it was done. We met with Rudi who was the local expert for Bushpigs. The weather for the trip so far had been fantastic and would you believe it the first night we needed a quiet still evening, the thunderstorms rolled in and the heavens opened. Just as we were about to call it quits there was some noise at the bait, Rudi said the pigs had arrived. He waited a few minutes and looked with his night vision binoculars, he said its a big female but he is sure the male will come. After some 20 minutes Rudi said how she must have been on her own and that he was very surprised that she seemed to be alone. He asked if I wanted to shoot her, I was half hearted but I didn't know when i would get another opportunity to go for Bushpig. What happened next was shall we say embarrassing, basically I missed, it was the classic “oh this is a chip shot” and not concentrating and poor technique. The relief was that it was a clean miss so no real damage was done. However one thing for sure was that I loved the experience, there is something fascinating if you ask me about just sitting in the dark listening to all the sounds of the bush at night and waiting for that sound of crunching corn to alert you to the arrival of the pigs.

Hunting Day 5 :

My nemesis in Africa has always been Bushbuck, this was my 6th trip to Africa and every time there had been a chance of a Bushbuck Ram however for whatever reason it just hadn’t happened, however I had always been told that the Eastern Cape was the place for these evasive antelope. We had planned that day 5 was going to be Bushbuck focusing day, due to our late evening the night before we would hunt in some of the thick bushy valleys near the lodge which Graeme and Franz had said were home to some good Rams. The plan was to get up at first light and we would split up and glass two separate valleys in the hope of picking up some Bushbuck coming out to feed and enjoy the early morning sun. The first hour was slow with very little movement, however it wasn’t long after that, when the radio went and Graeme said he had seen a ram briefly but it was too quick to identify him. He suggested that it wouldn’t be far and that it was worth a closer look. We covered some ground along the main valley before going up a gulley next to where he had spotted to Ram. In places it was very thick but after 30 minutes or so of climbing we managed to find a way out onto the open hill side where we could glass into the next thick bushy gully where he has seen the ram. We sat and glassed where he had seen the ram for about 15 minutes with no sign, we had discussed that this was a good place to be anyway and now the plan was just to sit back and keep glassing to see what appeared. A few more minutes went by when I spotted the glint of something in the thick bush at the bottom of the gully, I raised my binoculars and just caught the sight of some Bushbuck horns, it was ever so brief but he looked good and then he disappeared. A few moments later a Ewe appeared only a few meters away from where he was stood, he was nowhere to be seen however she just stood there without moving for what seemed like an age however it must have been over 20 minutes if not 30 or 40. Then suddenly he appeared again and Greame said yes he is a good mature Ram, now was the fun part, I had a set of double sticks and needed to try and get them set up to take a shot at this Ram. There was no chance to get closer as we needed the elevation to see him in this thick bush, eventually I got settled and although I was by no means comfortable, I felt that this was as good as it was going to get and when he presented I would take the shot. He turned to give me a quartering away shot, at 220m downhill I held the rifle just on the top of his shoulder and squeezed, I really wanted this and was concentrating as much as physically possible, at the sound of the shot and strike the Ram reared up into the air and spun around, the shot and reaction felt good but still in this bush I didn't want to take a chance, I chambered another round and took the insurance shot, he was now quartering too and I dropped him with the second bullet at the base of his neck. It was a special moment and I was happy to have an such an exciting hunt to take a species that had evaded me for so long. The fun wasn't over then, we had to get to this Ram, it was a thick as you could imagine with thorns and brambles galore but after fighting our way through we came to the Ram and made our way down into the bottom of the valley for some photos and to reminisce a great mornings hunting.



After another great meal at the lodge we decided to head back to the area we had lost the Blesbok to see if there was any sign of him. We climbed up to a peak which overlooked the valleys where we had last seen him. We glassed away but no sign of him. As the sun started to set we noticed some Kudu with another lovely Kudu bull with them. I looked at Graeme and said shall we have a go, I could see that smile and look that he replied with meant there is no chance you are going to get another shot spot and stalking kudu with a bow, and yes he was right, we made our way down the valley and when we got to where we had last seen them they were gone. I think this is more the norm when hunting Kudu than my first experience. Anyway we carried on around looking for the Blesbok, we were heading back to the truck and we spotted a Steenbok, he looked really good to me and Graeme confirmed, he had seen this Ram last year and had mentioned it earlier on in the hunt that he thought it was a really good one. It had spotted us and was just too far for the bow, especially being such a small target. I got on the sticks and again squeezed the trigger from the .270 he dropped on the spot and luckily the bullet had made a clean pass through, causing very little damage to the cape. He was a fantastic Ram, although these animals maybe small just like the duiker they fascinate me.



Hunting Day 6 :

The next morning we decided we were going to have a look for Mountain Reedbuck again, however if we had the chance at either Bushbuck or Kudu with the bow I would be up for it. It was incredibly windy that morning, however we still saw a huge amount of game, within the first hour we had seen, Kudu, Fallow Deer, Mountain Reedbuck, Eland, Gemsbok, Impala, Blesbok, Hartebeest and Black Wildebeest, now don’t get me wrong it sounds like a farm but its really not this is all low fenced free range areas, there has just been a lot of investment from Franz into different species, some of which have done well and some of which have not, but credit to Franz for trying at his own expense to develop such areas for the future. We had seen one group of Mountain Reedbuck, about 8 in number but the herd Ram was a promising young animal and we decided to pass. We then headed back around to another valley which was now catching the early morning sun and out of the wind. We spotted a lone Mountain Reedbuck in a small gully right at the top of the valley, we couldn't see what he was however he looked like a mature animal so we decided to take a closer look. We circled around the valley and came over the top above him, we crept closer and closer but couldn't see him, we said he cant have left the gulley as we must have seen him. Then suddenly Mongezi, our new tracker, froze and pointed, you could just see the Rams head looking at us in the bush. I got quickly on the sticks and readied myself, we could only see one side of his head, straight away you could see that his visible horn was heavily worn and that he was an old Ram, Graeme said if you can get a shot then take him, I could just see part of his shoulder through a gap in the bush. I decided to take the shot, if I hadn't I fear that he would have broken cover and may not have stopped. He again collapsed on the shot and I turned to Graeme to thank him and shake his hand. However we were quickly interrupted by Mongezi, Bushbuck he said, just 10 meters from where the Reedbuck had been standing was another fantastic bushbuck, only some 40m away, he had heard the shot but had no idea what had happened, sadly I didn't have my bow, and before long he had disappeared into the thick and was gone. We left everything calm for a few minutes and headed to find the Reedbuck, when we found him it was clear he was an old warrior, very thick, completely warn tips and only one horn, broken right at the skull, for me he was the perfect trophy and I was just glad to have taken him as I don’t think he would have had much left in the tank.



The plan was to have brunch and then leave Toppingvale and head to Grahamstown. It was sad to leave Toppingvale, our time there was really enjoyable and even in just a few days I had experienced some of my best hunting memories to date, it certainly left me with the feeling that one day in the future I would love to go back there and hunt just in those thick valleys for Kudu and Bushbuck with my bow.
Franz had booked a nice Bed and Breakfast in Grahamstown for Stephanie and I which was certainly well received by my wife. This was going to be our base for the next 3 nights before heading back to Cape Town. After the two hour drive from Mankazana to Grahamstown, Graeme dropped us off and let us settle in whilst he headed off into town to top up on supplies for the remaining few days. The plan was he would pick me up later that afternoon so we could head to Franz’s local farm to have a look for some game in the remaining couple of hours of the day. We set off stalking through the river valley that runs in the middle of Franz’s farm, it wasn’t long before we saw some Kudu Cows & a pair of Duiker making their way away from us. As we came up out of the valley on one side at about 170m we could see a loan springbuck ram resting in the grass. He was certainly a mature Ram now was just a decision whether to try with a bow, I didn’t think I had a chance, apart from there being one anthill at about 50-60m from the ram that maybe I could crawl up to. As a secondary option I took both the rifle and my bow and crawled along in pursuit of the anthill. After a lot of effort and a fair amount of perspiration I had managed to crawl up to the anthill, I ranged the ram at 56m, I hadn't expected to get this close and so was now trying to work out what to do next, then the Ram stood and started grazing. I set the my range pin to 55m and drew my bow, I released the shot but just pulled it fractionally clipping the front of the springbuck, he ran about 50m and looked around almost unaware of what had happened. I decided that he was still the right ram to take, therefore I changed to the rifle, steadied myself of the anthill and made a clean shot on the ram, who just ran 20m before piling up. It maybe a little unconventional to swap weapons, however it was exciting and the outcome was harvesting an good mature springbuck ram which was something I hadn't hunted before.


Hunting Day 7 :

This was really our last full day of hunting that we had planned and so I wanted to make the most of it and I decided to just hunt with the bow during the day, I told Graeme I was flexible on the species I just wanted to enjoy the day and hunt hard with the bow and see what luck we had. We arrived at first light and started stalking along a small valley with sporadic bush surrounded by open areas, this seemed perfect for bow hunting. We were moving along very slowly when suddenly Mongezi pointed into a small clump of bush, Impala he said, Graeme confirmed with him it was a good ram and said if you want to have a go at stalking him carry on. I was about 40m away however he was now behind a bush, I had good wind, so i decided to move in closer, I carefully rounded a couple of bushes when I saw the back half of an impala, I carefully edged around to just catch a glimpse of horns, it was still the same Ram. He moved again and I drew, fully drawn I kept edging around the bush until I could see his shoulder, although I hadn't ranged him I knew he wasn't more than 20m by this stage and I put the pin in the crease behind his shoulder and squeezed my bow release, there was a huge thump and he jumped and took off. I slowly moved forward to find my arrow had exited at the place the ram was standing, it looked good, covered in aerated lung blood. Although everything looked good, we did the customary thing and backed out for 30 minutes just to make sure. Although the blood trail wasn’t overly good after some careful work, Graeme eventually found the ram in some long grass, the shot was good and a perfect double lung shot, however the Ram still made it 100m. Its a nice mature ram but by no means a monster, however its the first I have shot with the bow and the most fun by far, I really can’t stress how much enjoyment I was getting out of hunting with my bow on this trip.



We loaded the ram up into the truck and headed back to the lodge to prepare him and then break for brunch before heading back out for another stalk with the bow. Mongezi suggested that we stalk the river bed valley again that we had done the night before, he said in the middle of the day its a good place for Warthog and possibly duiker. We hadn't been stalking long before I spotted a huge bodied warthog, however on closer inspection it was a sow with young, a bit further on a couple of young boars, were heading in her direction, we came to about 12-15m of these two young boys before they took off back behind us. The rut for the warthogs had just started and the boars where starting to become more active. We continued slowly making are way along the river, seeing a few other animals along the way including some Gemsbok. A little way after this, Graeme paused, he acted like he had seen something however then carried on, two steps later he froze, just 15m in front of us was a sow and 2 young sows feeding away completely unaware of our presence, then trotting through the bush came this big boar, this was what Graeme must have seen in the distance. I readied my bow and watch for the boar, he seemed to move to our left which worried me because of the wind so I moved a few paces to look down a shooting lane, he never appeared, the next thing he is just in front of us with the sows, it would have seemed a done deal, however then one of the sows realised something wasn't right and snorted, to which the pigs headed off slowly in the bush. However it was clear they weren't overly alarmed and eventually started moving back to the left, I decided I would move 15m or so into a slightly more open area where they were heading, this would allow me better wind at least. They move back and forth a few times out of the river bed and with the boar always following them, finally the sows crossed though a shooting lane one by one, I ranged them at 29m at set the pin to 30m. As is typical with hunting, all of the females who entered this 2m lane stopped and had a look around as they crossed, as the boar entered the lane I drew, I very quickly realised he wasn't going to stop, I made a quick squeak which stopped him in his tracks, I held steady and squeezed. Sometimes if the light/background is right with bow hunting you get to see the arrow fly clearly, this was one of those times, I watched the arrow fly like a tracer and disappear behind the boars shoulder and out the other side, he took off like a train, running as if nothing had happened. Graeme came and asked about the shot, I said I was very confident that it was a good shot, we again backed out and waited some 30 minutes. On resuming to the shot sight we found the arrow again, covered in good blood, its nice when you have something that you can look at immediately to give you an idea of the outcome. It took about 30m before we started to get a very good blood trail, after about 50m it was pretty straight forward although incredibly this boar had gone over 250m from shot to where he dropped and really with no adrenaline in his system. Again he wasn’t no record book Warthog but again it was certainly a lot of fun and a very satisfying feeling of hunting him with a bow. What a day we had already had and I really couldn’t have asked for anymore.



Since we had failed on Sunday on a Bushpig we had been trying to arrange with Dwayne to go out with him, he had phoned us to say that if we could get to Kenton tonight by 5 then we could head out. If his ability to hunt Blue Duiker was anything to go by this was going to be a very successful day, especially on the pig front. We met Dwayne just after 5 and he ran through his kit with me. (He had already been in and prepared the blind ready for our comfortable sit). After a quick run through and a dry fire of the trigger a few times I felt comfortable and he said we could relax for a few minutes before going to the blind. This allowed us to get some information about how Dwayne was setting up hunting for these elusive wild pigs. He said he has an automatic feeder which feeds 15 minutes before dark every night and that his camera had shown that these pigs had been coming in every night between 6:30 - 8:00, however as you know things change when you sit, somehow the animals seem to know something is up and of course there is the potential of smell etc. We got settled into the blind just before 6 and the wait began, again we sat and listed to every little noise and wondered if that was the pigs arriving. There was an ever growing moon and tonight it seemed fairly light, even with your eyes you could have seen something moving 30m in front of the blind in the open. At about 7:15, Dwayne said they are hear and at that moment I saw a couple of shadows appear in the feeding area and the crunching start. The adrenaline started to rise as Dwayne looked through his nightvision optics, he then said the male is there and turned on my scope. Dwayne could see the laser from my scope, this allowed him to direct me onto the right animal, when he had done this, the boar quartered nicely towards me and I squeezed his .30-06 and the boar dropped in his tracks motionless. It was very exciting and certainly something I would look to do again sometime, maybe even with the bow. We let everything quieten down again and headed down to the boar, he was a nice sized mature boar, and as a bonus had an incredible mane and colour he will certainly look beautiful in the trophy room.



Hunting Day 8 : The last day…..

The last morning we had agreed to go and meet Jeff again to try and get a Caracal. He had two packs running again, as well as a pack on a private estate about 30 minutes away. It wasn’t long after we arrived at Kenton that he had a call saying the pack 30 minutes away had treed a cat and did we want to try and get there. I had experienced all the excitement of listening to the hounds earlier in the trip so we decided to go and try and get this cat, than risk waiting to see if his packs would come up trumps. We arrived there in good time, despite a bit of early morning traffic and was met by one of the handlers on the road, luckily they ha treed the cat not too far from a track and therefore we could access it fairly easily, which by all accounts isn't always the case. After following the sounds of the howling hounds for a short distance, I could see a large tree, underneath of which several of the hounds where circling and howling. I had been given an over and under 12 bore and wasn’t really told much else just to shoot it by the handler. The cat was sat high and facing away from me and all I could see was his backside and head, I wasn’t sure how jumpy he maybe so decided to take the shot from where I was and shoot him in the neck / head, I shot and he hung in the tree. It was a good clean shot and it took one of the handlers to climb the tree to retrieve him, it was in fact a nice female cat, a few small bits of damage to its face however nothing I am sure the taxidermist wont fix, another great experience and interesting addition to my collection.



On my return to Grahamstown, Stephanie and I went for a brunch / lunch in town whilst Graeme and Mongezi took the cat back for skinning and had lunch themselves. We were going to spend the afternoon bow hunting for a few more hours before calling it quits on the hunting. I armed again with my bow, set off with Graeme back through the river bed valley, we hadn't been stalking long before we saw some Impala and again some Warthogs feeding their way slowly on the lush grasses by the river, however it was all females and young males. Making our way along, I spotted a big bodied warthog move between the bushes, however I never got chance to see his tusks or identify if it was a boar, we carried on slowly and it wasn't long before we caught up with him feeding away. We crept up to less than 20m away from him and had a really good look, he was a nice boar but nothing better than what I had shot the day before and maybe younger, Graeme thought he had good potential to be a really good trophy in a couple of years so we decided to pass on him and leave in be.
We made our way right the way along the river bed until we came to the end of the hunting area, we saw more pigs and some impala and kudu but nothing of any maturity. We decided we would circle back around keeping the wind quartering and see what was more out in the open, most likely looking for Springbuck. It wasn’t long before we spotted a small group of Springbuck, including some black and white females, Franz didn't want these breeding groups disturbed so we just carried keeping out of their way and let them feed away from us. As we came up over a ridge onto a patch of rough grass and bush, we spotted a couple of Springbuck feeding there way towards us out in the open on the other side of this cover. It turned out to be a bachelor group of 9 rams, all bar one being common, the black ram was still a touch young, however there was 3 mature common rams in there. It looked like they were feeding towards one bush in the middle of the open area, I managed to back out and circle underneath the ridge and then use to the bush as cover and get up behind it. However when I reached the bush, the rams had stopped feeding and laid down. I stayed here for 1.5 hours with the rams moving a bit towards me and a bit further away. The closest they got was 105m. Then one of the rams started to move off to the left, it looked like he was on a bit of a mission so I decided to back out again and circle all the way around them and come up a small valley, which it looked like they were heading for. I made my way around as quickly as possible, when I reached the end of the valley I could see there was 3 rams slowly grazing past the last bush, I had about 40m of slightly open ground to get passed and then I had a couple of bushes as cover to make it to the last bush and hopefully a shooting position. I ducked down and made my way across the open area watching should any of them lift their heads, luckily I made it across, I think there was just enough grass to cover their eyeliner when they were grazing. I then loaded an arrow, and ranged the rams, the back one was at 67m. I knew they weren't going to get any closer, I set the pin and gave myself a few seconds to control my breathing. The back ram who looked to be the most mature was slightly quartering away, I drew and started to settle the pin, a couple of extra breaths and I held the pin just on the rams back and slowly squeezed the release. The shot felt good however I didn't see much of a reaction and the sun was in my eyes so it was a little difficult to see any sign on the body of the ram as he took off, I did think I heard a strike however is wasn't 100% sure. I slowly edged up the bank to where the ram was stood and on the skyline I could then see 3 rams, I checked with the binoculars but no sign of any marks on any of them, something was up though, the way they reacted it was like they didn't want to leave, I have seen similar behaviour in deer. Eventually the 3 rams moved off and I could move forward and find the arrow, it didn't take me long as it was laying on top of the grass, the sign looked pretty good, although there was some green on the arrow I wasn't too concerned by this as he was quartering and so I had the angle working in my favour. We decided to move forward to where the rams where standing when I last saw them and sure enough there laid this lovely mature spring buck ram. I was ecstatic, my hunt had finished with an amazing stalk, with my bow and with a good shot leading to a clean kill. It was very fitting to be joined by Franz and his son when we took some photos, a great way to finish the safari sitting in the bush with Graeme, Franz, Franz’s son and Mongezi enjoying Africa at its best.



The next day we were off to Port Elizabeth for our flight back to Cape Town and a few days exploring around there before heading back to the UK.

Finally I would like to thank Kevin, Graeme and Franz as well as everybody else who was part of this safari, the whole team at Mankazana Safaris were incredible and I really couldn't have asked for anything more. I really hope its not too long before I am back in Port Elizabeth being a part of all the great things you are doing in this amazing continent.

Great report and excellent photos. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. Kudu bull walk & stalk with the bow! Epic trophy!

JCHB

Congratulations. Very nice trophies.

Some great trophies. You did very well with your bow. You were obviously well prepared. Congrats and well done.
Bruce

Well done my friend and thank you very much for your sharing
Can't wait to hunt with you again
Cheers
Kevin the French

Alex,

Waidmannsheil! A great report and obviously a super hunt with both bow and rifle.

I have been fortunate to have hunted with Frans on two occasions and more than likely will again. Great PH/Outfitter with access to many locations in the Eastern Cape.

Glad you enjoyed the trip. Wish I had prior knowledge of you staying in Cape Town on the return trip - could have shared a bottle of local vino and hunting stories.

Don

What trophies?

Hi Alex,

long time no talk. I am the Norwegian aquaintance of Swedish Mr Robin :-)

Seem that you had a very good time in Eastern Cape. Recommendable ?


Morten

Thank you for the kind responses.

Kevin, Good to hear from you. I hope you are well and of course look forward to having you in the UK again soon. Take care

Best

Alex

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin375:
Well done my friend and thank you very much for your sharing
Can't wait to hunt with you again
Cheers
Kevin the French

Hi Don,

Thank you and as you say he does have some great locations, with more and more all the time it appears.

Yes shame, we spent a night in Camps Bay then a couple in the Stellenbosch and Franschoek, had a really great time.

Best

Alex

quote:

Originally posted by Nevadan:
Alex,

Waidmannsheil! A great report and obviously a super hunt with both bow and rifle.

I have been fortunate to have hunted with Frans on two occasions and more than likely will again. Great PH/Outfitter with access to many locations in the Eastern Cape.

Glad you enjoyed the trip. Wish I had prior knowledge of you staying in Cape Town on the return trip - could have shared a bottle of local vino and hunting stories.

Don

Hi Morten,

Good to hear from you.

Certainly highly recommendable!

Best

Alex

quote:

Originally posted by The Norwegian:
Hi Alex,

long time no talk. I am the Norwegian aquaintance of Swedish Mr Robin :-)

Seem that you had a very good time in Eastern Cape. Recommendable ?


Morten

Very nice trophies. Well done. Looks like a great time had by all.

WOW!!! You Slayed them.

Fantastic report. Thanks for sharing.

Great write-up and certainly some very nice trophies!
Congratulations

Well, at least YOU didn't shoot my red hartebeest. Great pics!!.