When I got back from hunting with Vaughan Fulton in Namibia last fall I fully intended to put this on line right away, but because I am so computer-stupid I have not yet been able to figure out how to put photos in, in spite of the detailed instructions availible on the site. I guess there's a reason I have a secretary!

Anyway, here it is. Hopefully I can add pictures in the near future.

I flew from Madison, WI to Windhoek, via Chicago, Dulles and Joberg on United and SAA using frequent flier miles. I paid Doug of Gracy Travel to handle the ticketing for me. Money well spent. The flight went fine. Everything on time, no lost or damaged bags. Security in a small airport like Madison is the way to go when flying with firearms, in my opinion.

I spent the night in Windhoek at a B&B Vaughan had arranged. He came to pick me up that afternoon and we caravaned up to the Tsiseb Conservancy camp with Vaughan's lovely wife Patricia and their new baby daughter Savannah. I must say at this point that I got to spend a little time with Vaughan's family (a lot more with Vaughan, of course) and they are really very nice folks. I thoroughly enjoyed being around them.

The camp in the conservancy is on the edge of the Namib Desert, about sixty miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Because of that relatively close proximity to the sea it got very cool at night, in the forties and fifties, I would say. During the day it would get up near ninety, but very dry. The camp itself is old-style walled tents with very comfortable beds and attached bathrooms, pitched in the shade of camelthorn trees. The dining area has a concrete floor, poured next to an old volcanic rock formation and shaded with an awning. There was very little vegetation in the area, and most of that was along small dried riverbeds, such as the area where the camp was set up.

Our hunting took place along the lower slopes of the Brandberg mountains, a very old extinct volcano. I loved hunting in the desert and spent about five days there. The subtle pastel colors of the rocks and sparse vegetation, particularly in the morning, were really quite beautiful and I was sorry to leave. I certainly hope to talk my wife into taking our whole family there for a few days in the near future!

I saw a lot of game: hundreds of springbok every day, ostriches, kudu, gemsbok, a few steenbok. We even saw a pair of cheetahs on the road one morning when a heavy fog had rolled in off the coast. My primary objective, though, was mountain zebra. I would describe hunting for them as similar to a low-altitude (about 3000 ft) elk hunt. In the morning we would drive along the sandy two-tracks in the area, looking to cut fresh spoor, or we might spot a herd and try to put a sneak on them. My second morning at Tsiseb we followed a track over sand and rock for most of the morning. We got within about 80 yds of a small herd only to get busted before we could set up for a shot. I eventually got my zebra, a stallion with very worn-down teeth, late on the afternoon of my fourth day. We had the tenderloins over the camp coals for dinner the next night. Excellent!

Next day we looked for a mature gemsbok bull, with no luck. Since we knew we would have to transfer to another area for the eland I wanted to hunt (there are none on quota in the conservancy) we headed to another property, a private ranch north of Windhoek, where we found huge numbers of gemsbok-- and warthog. We made many stalks on gemsbok spotted from the road, but no shooting. We got up in the dark the next morning and as I looked out the window of my room I saw a beautiful shooting star streaking across the sky. That turned out to be a good omen. We stalked several groups of gemsbok that day with no shooting opportunities. Then, about mid-afternoon, we found a group with two mature bulls in it. We got into position and I touched off what should have been an easy broadside shot. He ran off after the rest of the herd and it quickly developed that he was hit, that the shot went through, but the blood was very light: a spot here and there every ten or twenty yards. (I later found out that my shot was a bit too far back, in the liver.)

While I certainly wish he'd dropped at the shot, this did allow me to watch our trackers, Matthew and Manfred. It was truly amazing. The ground was mostly bare dirt, there were tracks of various animals and age everywhere and a very sparse blood trail. Just the same, they followed it with such ease that at times I was almost jogging to keep up. The gemsbok never bedded down. We followed him for a close to a mile before we jumped him, and followed at least a mile further. He would flush, I would try to get off a finishing shot, he would run, I would run after him. Eventually it was getting dark, and he was getting sick enough that I was able to put a finishing shot in him. I had wanted a gemsbok for many years, and finally got one!

Next day we drove to another ranch about two hundred miles to the east where we hunted for eland. There were also many warthog, bigger in the tooth than those I'd seen earlier, as well as a lot of kudu. (A fellow AR poster and his buddy were in camp as well and they took some very fine trophies.) I love hunting eland! Mornings we would drive along the roads looking for fresh spoor, which we would follow if it looked promising. If that didn't work we would go from one water point to the next, looking for spoor. We saw dozens, if not hundreds, of warthogs each day.
One afternoon we were driving down a road looking for tracks when we saw a warthog looking to scoot under the fence (a very senile and probably deaf warthog, as it turned out). Vaughan said, "That is one big pig." "What do you think I should do?" "I think you should shoot it." A short stalk and a 25-yard shot later, there he was. My first. (I was later given video of the pig from a couple days earlier as it drank at a water point.) He was ancient, skin and bones, and would very likely have been dinner for the leopard whose fresh tracks we had seen so often on the ranch.

The third morning on the ranch had a less-than-auspicious start. I slept through my alarm, making it to the breakfast table just in time for a quick cup of coffee. Then as we rolled along the road looking for tracks we got a flat. No big problem. Matteus jumped out of the back, put the spare on and we had only lost a few minutes. Off we went. Then another flat. Since Vaughan only carried two spares we headed back to the house, several hours ahead of schedule, to effectuate repairs. That resulted in much ribbing from our friends-- who were elanded out already. But the delay was just what we needed. As we looked for tracks at the first water point we checked, we spotted a bull eland on the edge of the bush, a few hundred yards off. We made a big circle in the bush looking for him. Suddenly Matteus stopped and pointed, putting up the sticks. Vaughan then diected my attention to an eland horn floating in the scrub, about seven feet off the ground and urged me to shoot. I had to tell him that I couldn't see enough of this huge animal to shoot so we waited several minutes with me on the sticks before he finally took a step forward. That was all I needed. I touched off a round and heard that most reassuring smack! and watched him lumber off through the brush. I think I shot five more times. I know I hit him at least four before he finally collapsed. He was a huge blue bull, with one very broomed horn and the other broken half-way down. We didn't see the break until we pulled his head out of the brush. Matteus let out a groan of disappointment when he saw it, but I like it. He was an old bull that earned those scars fighting for breeding rights and he'll look great hanging on my wall.

I know several posters here are headed out to hunt with Vaghan this season; I envy you! I know I can hardly wait to go back.

Great report, now we need the pictures!

Great report, but we need to see pictures!! Especially of that eland bull.

Did you hunt the eland at Wolfgang's place?

George

Scott it is good to hear from you-I sure enjoyed our hunt and time together and this brings it all back-thanks.

I'm glad you had a good time. The Tsiseb is awesome isn't it? We need to see pictures!

quote:

He was a huge blue bull, with one very broomed horn and the other broken half-way down.

I NEED to see this bull!!!

Email me the pictures and I will be happy to post them for you. My email is bill@wyodata.com

And congrat's on a good hunt!

quote:

Originally posted by wihntr:
The camp in the conservancy is on the edge of the Namib Desert, about sixty miles from the Indian Ocean.

Have your secretary check your geography.

Well, yes of course I meant to say "Atlantic." When you write this stuff at work, you're bound to make some sort of mistake. I went back and edited.
I will try very hard to get pictures up, but don't hold your breath, guys.

Here are Scott's pictures. What a GREAT eland!!! Amazing force would have been required to snap a horn like that. I saw in Cameroon how the Lord Derby's wedge their horns around and "twist" good-sized trees, breaking them to get to the upper leaves. I would guess this is how this old boys horns snapped, as at least the LDE are said to not be too aggressive with one another when competing for females.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful pictures and great looking trophies.

Question, how on earth were you able to get a picture of Mathew when he was not smiling? That's as rare as a 40" Gemsbuck!

I'm in full agreement with you on Mountain Zebra tenderloins, if my horses would taste that good they would be in serious trouble! Good thing I got rid of them before I tried Mountain Zebra!

Greetings wihntr,

Congratulations on a great hunt.

I'll be hunting with Vaughan the first two weeks of September, 2008 and hope to take a Mountain Zebra also. Only six more months!

Great photos and report. Many thanks for posting.

Great trophies. The zebra photo looks awesome with the mountains in the background!

Awesome pictures. Oh man. I can't believe I will be there in a little over two months!

Nice, great pig and I love that eland... congrats!

No worry about a broken horn! That eland has character! Thanks for sharing..

Congratulations. That eland is quite a trophy. I like a trophy with character and that has it in spades.

Hey!! You slept in my tent. See that hill behind your Zebra, I think that is where I got mine.
Tsesib is a very beautiful place.

We did not get to meet Savanah, she was born on the third or fourth day of our safari!

Keith

Great story and pics. Congratulations! The zebra has a great skin....the pic with the mountains is great.

Thanks for the kind comments. Yes, the eland came from Wolfgang's place. Samwise also took a very nice one there just before Vaughan and I arrived.