I am back from my second safari in Limpopo, South Africa with Ken Moody. We had a great trip and I would recommend Ken's operation without hesitation. Ken has picked up some new properties since our last hunt in 2009 and I hunted on six different properties and had a blast.



Date: June 27 thru July 7, 2011
Outfitter: Ken Moody, Ken Moody Hunting Africa
PHs: Tarek Jansen & Herman Scheepers
Trackers: Evans & Pete
Method of Hunt: Bowhunting from hides over waterholes, Rifle hunting was Spot & Stalk
Animals Hunted: Kudu, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Nyala, Impala, Common Blesbok

I booked this hunt as a combination bow & rifle hunt. Weather played a factor as a couple of days were very cold & windy. I had two slow days in the hides, but was covered up with animals the rest of the time. I was after specific animals so there were many shot opportunities that I did not take. I passed several shots at Impala rams... I killed one on the last trip and wanted another one, but was very selective.

Bow: Hoyt Maxxis 35, 31 inch draw set at 70 pounds
Arrows: Easton FMJ 400, decked out with National Champion Auburn Tiger wraps & 3 inch Fusion vanes
Broadheads: VPA Terminators, 125 grain
Total Arrow/Broadhead weight: 552 grains

Rifle: Ruger Hawkeye African
Caliber: 338 Win Mag
Ammo: Federal, 225 grain Barnes TSX

Bowhunting from a hide I had a Waterbuck bull with cows & calves come in late one afternoon. He drank at the waterhole, but had the other Waterbucks and some Impala around him making a shot impossible. As he walked away from the water I took a quartering away shot and hit him good, but just a little high as he was standing only 20 yards away and I thought he was farther out. After tracking him in the dark, we found him about 80 yards away in the thick bush. Not the biggest Waterbuck for sure, but I liked the horns and he is a fine trophy with a bow in my book.



I was bowhunting on another property that had some really nice Kudu on it and was waiting for them to show up at the water. I was covered up with Nyala all morning, but was determined to kill a Kudu first and then possibly go for Nyala. Tarek, my PH, was sitting in the hide with me and helped me judge the trophy size on the Nyala bulls as they continued to show themselves... first one, then two more. The mature Nyala bulls, females and young would come and go all morning. The fourth bull showed up late morning and was a beauty with lyre shaped horns. Tarek tells me if I wanted an Nyala this was the one to shoot, but I still have it in my mind to hold off for the Kudu. I had multiple broadside shots at all four mature bulls from 15 to 25 yards, but held fire.

A couple of photos of the lyre shaped bull...





Late in the afternoon I told Tarek that if the same Nyala came back I would try for a shot... and sure enough at 4:15 in strolls the bull. There are several Nyala ewes and young milling around making a clear shot very tough. Twice I draw the bow only to have to let it down as the other animals walk in front or behind the bull. I am surprisingly calm as I had been watching the Nyala all day and will wait for a good broadside shot. Finally the Nyala bull walks clear of the other animals and stops at 25 yards, very slightly quartering away. I draw the Hoyt for the third time, settle the 20 yard pin a little high, and the arrow is on the way. The arrow buries to the fletching as it contacts the opposite side shoulder. It is a perfect shot and we can immediately see blood spraying from around the fletching. As the bull runs away, his shoulders work the arrow out and we see it fall to the ground as he disappears down the hill. We know he will not go far.

Some of the other Nyala run off, but one of the other mature bulls and a couple of ewes hang around and calm back down, unsure of what just happened. With and hour and a half of shooting light left we decide to wait an hour and see if the Kudu come in. The Kudu are a no-show today and when the rest of the Nyala leave, we radio for the truck and exit the hide. The arrow shaft was broken off about four inches behind the broadhead and we found it laying where we had seen it fall.

The bull ran about 60 yards leaving a good blood trail and the tracking job was fairly simple as the light was fading. The VPA Terminator broadheads performed flawlessly and were easily resharpened and ready to go again even after breaking the opposite shoulder on both animals.

Everyone was excited with the Nyala and stated that it was a very large bull. I don't really hunt by the tape measure so to speak, but at the skinning shed Herman asked if he could measure the Nyala bull. The bull's horns measured 28 inches.





The next morning finds me in the same hide hoping the Kudu will come in. Nyala come and go all day, including the three mature bulls from yesterday and another mature bull I had not seen before. In the afternoon a Kudu cow & calf come in for a drink along with a nice Blue Wildebeest bull. A female Bushbuck comes in and drinks and as she is about to leave a very, very long horned Bushbuck ram appears in the bush behind her. Had he come into range I would have surely taken a shot... he looked like a good one to me and back at the lodge that night as I showed the guys a short video of the ram they all confirmed it was a fantastic ram. Probably about 16 inches.

Late in the afternoon I peek out a viewing slot in the side of the hide and there is a large Kudu bull coming down the hill out at about 200 yards heading my way. As i am studying him, another Kudu bull appears from behind the hide at 60 yards. Now I have got two shooter Kudus coming in to the water. I am hoping they both come in and I can size them up side by side. Just as both of the bulls are about to enter the kill zone, the most God awful sounds of a full out Bushpig fight start up in the bush behind the hide. Every animal at the waterhole and the two Kudus flee the scene. The pigs are about 50 yards from the hide and continue fighting for about ten minutes sounding like something from a horror film.

I hold out a small bit of hope that the Kudu will return today... but it is not to be.

From this hide I saw a female Red Duiker several times and she was very cool to watch.





I return to the same hide for the third morning with hopes that the Bushbuck and Kudu will return. It is very windy today and the animals seem nervous. Nyala and Warthogs are in and out all morning. At 12:30 the Bushbuck ram from yesterday appears like a ghost. I think I actually said out loud, "It's the bushbuck". A surge of adrenaline rushed through me like I have never experienced. After everyone telling me how good this Bushbuck was last night I was a nervous wreck. I tried to calm myself as the ram comes to the water and drinks broadside at 25 yards. I have never been this nervous attempting to shoot any animal before... I was "tore up" !

I draw the bow and try to settle the shaky sight pin on the ram. A deep breath and I am as calm as I am going to be on this shot. All of my mental preparations for the shot go out the window... no leveling the bow, no assuring the peep is aligned with the sight ring, no thought of a smooth release, nothing... I am in "kill mode auto-pilot".

At the release I hear the arrow strike, but do not see it hit the ram. I am confident the shot was good and radio the crew, "I have shot the bushbuck". I stay in the hide waiting for the truck which takes about an hour. I am still a nervous wreck and I can not sit down... I pace back and forth in the hide until I hear the approaching Cruiser.

There is no blood at the water and I start to worry. There is no blood trail at all. Ken and I look for the arrow as Tarek and Herman try to find any sign of a hit. Ken spots the arrow in the brush and it is clean as a whistle... no blood, no hair. No wonder I could not see where the hit was; it is a clean miss ! Judging from where the arrow was found, I shot over the Bushbuck and heard the arrow striking brush. The dang old Bushbuck jumped the string ! That's my story and I am sticking to it !!!

I have used up all my luck at this hide and move to a different property to continue bowhunting. Over the next few days I pass up a lot of shots at animals that I had taken on my last safari.

It is now time to hunt with the rifle for a couple of days. Tarek takes me up into the Soutpansberg Mountains to look for Kudu. It is quite a rough mountain with nothing but loose rocks.



Tough on a 52 year old with bad kness... but worth every minute. I loved it !
Here I am resting the legs and enjoying the view.



Up in the Soutpansberg Mountains we spot Kudu, Gemsbok, Zebra, and Blue Wildebeest. It seems odd that a lot of these "plains game" animals adapt so well to the mountain terrain. We had a couple of trackers with us, Evans & Pete, to help spot game, track animals, and haul the trophy down the rocky mountain. We also saw Mountain Reedbuck and about 15 Klipspringer, including one group of five rams.
No shots were taken on this day, but it stands out as one of my favorite days of hunting.



The next day we rifle hunt the property next door to Lianga, Ken's Base Camp.
It is a stellar day of hunting with three animals in the salt!



After passing shots on several different Impala rams I take a Blesbok in the morning after a good stalk. There were several Blesbok and a few spooky Impala to deal with, but Tarek led me on a cat & mouse stalk that ended well with a 60 yard shot.



We return to the lodge for a hot brunch and nap. After a couple of hours we return to the same property to continue the hunt. A group of Impala with a nice looking ram in the bunch are spotted from the cruiser. Tarek & I bail out for a stalk. The Impala ewes spot us at one point and get nervous, but do not run. The herd simply walks away and we swing wide around them getting the wind in our face. Every time we can see the ram through the thick bush there are ewes in front or behind him and there is no clean shot. We finally catch up to the unsuspecting herd and the ram is standing broadside. I get the rifle on the sticks, wait for the ewes to clear, and squeeze the trigger. Impala explode in every direction, but the ram only goes 15 yards and piles up behind a thornbush.



After loading the Impala in the cruiser we continue on. Herman spots a nice Kudu and we go have a look. I think he looks big, but both Herman and Tarek say not to shoot... they say he is only about 48 inches and needs another year or two to get longer tips. We pass a couple more Kudu that are definitely smaller. Late in the afternoon I am starting to wish that the PHs had told me to shoot the 48 inch Kudu bull, but they are the pros and I am only a novice.

My regrets were short lived when two Kudu bulls are spotted and I can tell from the excitement in Herman & Tarek's voice that this may be the moment of truth. The Kudu had spotted us about the same time we saw them and I had a small opening between the bush to shoot. Herman says get the gun on the left bull. The guys study the Kudu for a few seconds to confirm he is big enough and instruct me to shoot the bull on the left. The Kudu is facing me, slightly quartering. "Put it in front of his right shoulder"..."Shoot". I steady the rifle and make the shot at a little over 100 yards. We hear the rifle report followed by the thud of the bullet strike. "You got him, you got him".





Another wonderful safari has come to an end and planning the next has already started !

Some good animals . You too My knee are still killing me from April Hunt in Africa.

Great nyala! Those on-the-hoof pictures are great too.

Nice trophies. Love those nyala.

Super nyala and welcome home.

Mike

Wow, lots of very nice trophies! The red duiker shots are way cool, neat little animal.

Love the Nyala and that is a dandy Kudu.

Thanks for a great report - looks like you had a fabulous time and you collected some quality trophies.

Very nice report, I'll second the Nyala love.

If you were hunting anywhere near Hoedspruit, I'd say you killed the brother of the Nyala I killed last year. I'm still waiting on the mount, but had to look at my pics from my safari. My Nyala had the exact same shaped horns with the same slightly longer left horn and also measured 28". Love that Nyala you got and with a bow to boot! Congrats!

Well done!

That's a killer Nyala! Congratulations on a very successful safari!

Congrats on a great safari!

Congrats on a great hunt. Beautiful pictures! Super Nyala, and with a bow.

Great report and exceptional photos. Thanks for sharing.

Best regards, D. Nelson

I have been sorting thru photos and thought I would share a few more.

















A couple of sketches from my daily journal of my Nyala & Kudu

Great report with outstanding pictures!Your "grip & grin" pictures all show some time, thought and effort were put into setting them up.

I like your sketches also.

Excellent photos....thanks for sharing!!

very nice!
Congratulations

Congrats on a great hunt.

Very nice photography as well.

quote:

Easton FMJ 400, decked out with National Champion Auburn Tiger wraps & 3 inch Fusion vanes

Proper. War Eagle.

Also, I love those sketches. Andy is a true artist, a renaissance man.

Congrats!

Thank's for shareing!

Nils-Ole