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Namibia : Khomas and Bushmanland
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Dates : April 5th 2017 untill April 17th 2017

Outfitter and Area : Daggaboy Hunting safaris in the Khomas region and Allan Cilliers Hunting safaris in the Otjozondjupa region (Bushmanland)

Professional Hunters : Dawid Muller & Wayne Cilliers.

Airline : Air Namibia from Frankfurt to Windhoek. I bought my plane ticket on Air Namibia's website.

Rifle : Blaser R93 Professional camo in .300 Winchester magnum with a match trigger (Bix'n Andy) and topped with a Swarovski Z6i 3-18x50 SR BT. This rifle is fitted with a Sound Moderator Hausken WD60. I also took my other R93 in 375 Holland & Holland magnum as a back up rifle but I didn't use it.

Game hunted : Khomas : baboons, jackals, blue wildebeest bull and Hartmann's mountain zebra.
Bushmanland : Management hunting ( blue wildebeest cows, kudu cows, eland cows and Gembsbok cows)

Accessory : Viper-Flex Journey , the best shooting stick I've ever used.



This was my 7th hunting trip in Namibia and I had a blast.
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As usual, the car slept on the holiday parking at Frankfurt and the night flight was long...but this time I had a very interesting neighbour. He was not hunter but we had a very pleasant talk.

Dawid picked me up at Hosea Kutako and we went to Windhoek for a breakfast before the openning of gun shops at 9 A.M. I didn't want to take my own ammunitions for this trip and I decided to buy them in Namibia. We stopped at Rosenthal gunshop and I bought 4 boxes for my .300 Winchester magnum (Sellier & Bellot loaded with Nosler Partition 180 gr) and one box for the .375 Holland & Holland magnum (PPU 300 gr soft point). An interesting thing, one of the sellers spoke a very good French.
I wanted to find Rhino bullets in .308" and .375" for reloading...but they were not available in these diameters and in the 2 others gun shops we visited too.

We saw many baboons and also mountain zebras on our way and as Dawid's farm is near to Windhoek we arrived early where I met his wife Laurenza and the staff.


My room

After a short nap and a very good meal we went to the shooting range.


At 100 meters, it shot a bit at right but after 3 rounds all was ok. My bullets touched the target 4-5 cm above the bullseye as I like.

Even if I planned to hunt plains game in that farm, one of my main purpose was to hunt baboons....yes I assume. As Alexander Lake said "If a man wants to test his hunting ability I suggest that he tries chacma baboons. No animal, not even the African buffalo, ever led me such a futile chase as did those grey rascals. To this day I'm not sure that I have more brains than a baboon."

I already hunted them elsewhere before and those animals are really difficult to hunt especially in places where they are used to being hunted by farmers.


Here we hunt on 21 000 ha and the first outing was good. I killed 3 jackals and I missed a baboon when it was running. We also saw plenty of gembsboks and then few kudus and moutain zebras.


The next day was very quiet. Quiet means I killed nothing, but the beautiful landscape and the nature is enough for my spirit. Of course, we saw many baboons (and also gembsboks, warthogs and zebras) but very far and very often they were running. When they stopped, they were at 500 or 600 meters meters away. Not the best distance when the wind is blowing and especially irregular.


Day 3: We tried to find baboons next to a lake but nothing, except gemsboks and zebras.

Dawid's dog, a beautiful Rhodesian Ridgeback called Moscow.

Further I shot a female baboon next to the road.

We passed in the other side of the property and I spotted a jackal behind bushes. It ran away but like a fox I whistled it and then it stopped, unfortunatly for it.


While we were on the way back. A group of baboons crossed the road not far from the farm. I took the R93 and like in driven hunt I shot a big male running at the back of the group. At 153 meters it rolled like a rabbit.

Very big guy.

Day 4: Early morning, I had the opportunity to shoot a lone wildebeest bull but impossible to approach him at close distance due to the open territory. There was no wind this morning and as the bull was facing us, I decided to shoot him. He dropped on the spot but when we were next to him I shot an other bullet for insurance just behind the head. It was not my first wildebeest but a good memory.

Dawid and me.

The afternoon we saw many zebras, gemsboks, warthog and also springboks but none baboon. I shot an other jackal next to the farm before the sunset.


Day 5. The weather was quite cold, very windy and I was not in good shape.
I killed a jackal just after our departure.


Further I killed an other jackal. I tried to shoot the other one running but it turned at the same moment...missed.


I had several opportunities on baboons but as I said I was not good this morning and I missed every baboons I shot but the wind didn't help me.

After we tried this time to find a zebra but unfortunatly a big thunderstorm was arriving and we returned to the farm really quickly.

As you can see, we have had a lot of hail.

The afternoon, we returned for a zebra and after one hour we spotted a group quite far in a valley. We approched them but there was a problem, a group of gemsbok were between us and the zebras. They moved a bit at left and I had an opportunity but the zebra started to walk. But an other zebra arrived just behind it and stopped. Dawid told me to shoot that one. At about 150 meters, well rested on the Viper-flex the shot is not difficult. Hit by my bullet, the zebra jumped into the airs and turned at 180 °. I didn't have the time to shoot an other bullet with the thick bushes but it was not necessary. We recovered the zebra dead and it ran only 30 meters before to collapse. My bullet went through both shoulders. My 5th Zebra but the 3rd Hartmann.


That was the end of my hunt on that farm. Back to the farm, I enjoyed my last moment here :

Day 6 : The morning, we went to Windhoek where we have made an appointment with Wayne in front of Rosenthal Gunshop. I bought one box of S&B by security and also one box of North Fork bullets (.375" 300 gr SS) for reloading, I didn't see them the first time. This brand is unfortunatly not available in Europe. I think it should be good for the buffalo in 2018.

I said a big thank you, goodbye and see you soon to Dawid & Laurenza and then en route to the Bushmanland with Wayne.

Little stopover near Grootfontein.

The road transfert is very long but we had a lot things to say so it was not so long and we arrived at Sandveld at the end of the afternoon.

On the farm, I met Steven (Wayne's brother) and also Allan & Jacqui (Wayne's parents). The place is very nice and situated next to Eden and the Nyae-Nyae conservancy. It's a big farm and its size is 24 000 ha.

Day 7:

After a nice breakfast, we tried my rifles. No problem with the .300 Winchester magnum. I also tried the .375 H&H mag to be sure but as I said it's my back-up rifle. It shot also a bit at right but few bulets later all was ok.

I've collected many trophies in this country but I don't have place at home anymore and the other problem is the increasing of the shipment and other fees in my country. Nowadays it's very expensive to bring back trophies at home with a 20% VAT and other fee at the airport. I prefer when it's possible to hunt non-trophy animals and I like management hunting. I met Wayne last November and he told me he had an offer for this type of hunt in his farm which was very interesting.

The bush is very thick in his farm and even more at this seasons and for hunting we approched the open spaces, salt lick and water hole.

Two dogs came with us. Tju-Tju the old Jack-russel who stayed in the front with us and Scarlett a young Staffy who stayed on the big seat at the back


We tried our first approach on a salt lick. We spotted a couple of gemsboks but too far to see "the trophy" with accuracy. But during the approach Wayne heard a noise, we continued and we heard the noise again. I was not able to identify it but Wayne was sure of him. A pack of wild dogs is close to us. They come sometimes from Nyae-Nyae and gemsboks heard them too and they escaped. That's hunting ! Unfortunatly I didn't have the opportunity to see this elusive animal.

Further we tried to approach an open space but nothing. Wayne looked through his binoculars and silently he said me. "Look at the leopard in the tree".
Yes there was a leopard sleeping in the big tree at about 200 meters away. I was so happy to see a wild leopard and I wanted to keep a memory. Well rested on the Viper-flex, I took few photos with my little camera through my Scope.

In Namibia before this trip I already saw lion, cheetah, caracal and wild cat but none leopard. Very happy of the result. Sorry if I tagged those photos but I've already seen people who had stolen my photos before and using them for their own hunting story.

It didn't last a long time. The leopard saw us, jumped and ran away.
We checked under the tree and Wayne confirmed me what he thought. It was a female.


It was our last approach of the morning when Wayne saw a blue wildebeest cow with a big injury in its cheek. It was a broadside shot at about 60 meters. Perfect shot but she ran 30 meters before to collapse.


The afternoon we still saw many animals but impossible to shoot one. The thick bush and the wind didn't help us. Just before the sunset we were in the middle of kudus and this time the wind was extremely good. They were everywhere and we saw several big bulls, the biggest was a 57-58" bull.
I shot a kudu cow but the noise of my shot thanks to the sound moderator didn't really bother other animals but we didn't have an other opportunity because we don't shoot the first cow we see.

Day 8:

It had rained during the night and this morning we spotted really quickly two elands very far away in an open space from the trail. We went into the thick bush to approach them as close as possible. We arrived at about 60-70 meters of them. A big cow was with a young bull but impossible with the angle to aim the chest. It lasted a moment but as we are not here for trophy hunting I decided with Wayne to aim the head. At the distance, well rested on the Viper flex with this rifle it's not difficult at all. She dropped on the spot.


We returned to the farm to bring back the animal.


Refuelling by security.

It was not late and we continued our hunt.
In the place where we heard wild dogs yesterday we spotted again gemsboks. We approched them but it was very difficult because they looked very often in our direction. But with the thick bush after one hour of waiting and crawling we arrived at 30 meters when the wind turned. A female with skew horns started to walk but stopped. My bullet in the shoulder dropped her on the spot.


We loaded her onto the 4x4 and we decided to try another place before to return on the farm. In our way, we saw a puff adder crossing the road. We stopped and I took a couple of photos. I hate snakes but this one was lucky because Wayne was with me.


Gemsboks were there but we approched them closer to see if one with broken horns, an abnormal trophy or a weak genetic was in this group. Wayne looked through his binoculars and told me one was good for us....a gemsbok cow with a trophy like "Sable horns".
Thanks to the thick bush we can approach at close range but the gemsbok saw us and looked at us. A bullet between the two eyes did the job.

It was a great outing and lady luck was with us.

The afternoon was quiet. We saw animals but impossible to shoot the right one.

Day 9 :

This morning was also quiet. We saw animals but none opportunity to shoot one. When wayne was driving, he discovered on the sand a bad news for him : an elephant track.
Elephants are back and its means they destroyed the fence but where ? It didn't take a long time to find the place where they passed. About 70 meters of fence are on the ground.

Wayne called with his radio his workers to fix the fence and then we tried to find the other place where they came in.


If a big fence doesn't stop elephants, a small gate wouldn't.

On our way we saw a familly of bat-eared foxes and a giraffe bull

The job is almost done but Andreas and Sam (Wayne's workers) are used to fixing the fence because it happens very often.

That's all for this morning.


What is that ?

The evening, a big thunderstorm was arriving with many lightenings but at the last moment we found a group of blue wildebeests. I shot a cow with a broken horn and an other cow 1 minute after.

A modest cow but she was my 150 th Namibian big game.



Day 10 :

The quietest day of the trip. We saw few animals and impossible to hunt the good one.

Day 11 :

It started very well. At our first approach we arrived very close of an eland cow.


Further we tried to approach a water hole. We waited a moment but except a gemsbok bull nothing. When we returned to the 4x4 we saw a leopard track turning all around this place and followed by a brown hyena track. Wayne told me "There is a kill somewhere !" and he had reason. A zebra foal killed by the leopard was hanged in a tree next to us.

Next to the 4x4, we met a young gemsbok bull and that guy was not very wild or maybe a bit stupid ? At only 30 meters he ran away.


Wayne decided to put a camera to check the size of the cat.



We tried an approach into an open space but a kudu cow saw us. We were hidden behind a small bush but she had seen a movement and she stared at us. She even approached us but after a moment we tried to move slowly to the right to see what would happened. The kudu barked and started to run...but she stopped at about 100 meters. A shoulder shot dropped her very cleanly.



Just after this success, we heard a baboon barking and we tried to approach in its direction but nothing.

We returned to the farm but we had a flat tyre.


It happens quite often and usually it's easy to change a tyre. However this time we had a problem : the jack moved and fell...and the car too.


We called the farm with the radio and 10 minutes after, Andreas & Sam arrived with a big jack usually used for the tractor.


Day : 12

We saw several animals as usual but shoot the right one is sometimes a challenge and we had a bad surprise when we wanted to check the camera. With the rain we didn't see any tracks on the sand but next to the tree we saw the zebra foal was eaten. We were a bit excited to see the cat but unfortunatly the camera was no longer on the tree. Just the screw was on the spot and bent. No doubt, the hyena stole the camera. We tried to find it but no luck and we continued our hunt.


We got lucky at the end of the morning and I was able after a very nice approach to shoot a very big eland cow at short distance.
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Definitely the biggest eland cow we shot. Even with the winch it was not easy to load her onto the 4x4.

Day 13 :
The day of the departure.

We shot few bullets on target with Wayne for my last hour at Sandveld and after with Steven we left the farm for the airport.

It was a great hunting trip with two great outfitters and guides. Can't wait to be back Wink

Back in my country, Wayne sent me a message on WhatsApp. With his father and his workers they turned around the place where the camera disapeared. They recovered it at about 100 meters away and destroyed but the SD card was ok.

The leopard came early on his kill



And a brown hyena was well guilty.
 
Posts: 46 | Registered: 08 April 2014Reply With Quote
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Thanks for the report! Well written. Really enjoyed all your photo's.
 
Posts: 835 | Location: Plover, Wi | Registered: 04 October 2009Reply With Quote
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Great report!!!


DRSS
 
Posts: 2283 | Location: MI | Registered: 20 March 2007Reply With Quote
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I love hunting those Mt. Zebra!!!
 
Posts: 2694 | Location: East Wenatchee | Registered: 18 August 2008Reply With Quote
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Great report and very well done on your shooting. Indeed Baboon can be extremely difficult to hunt if they know that you are after them.

Must have been quite a Leopard that dragged a Zebra foal up the tree.


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Posts: 10003 | Location: Zambia | Registered: 10 April 2009Reply With Quote
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thanks again.
 
Posts: 1887 | Location: Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. | Registered: 21 May 2006Reply With Quote
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Looks like you had a great time! Congratulations.


Guns and hunting
 
Posts: 1137 | Registered: 07 February 2017Reply With Quote
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Great report! What a mixed bag. I bet that they loved you for shooting all those jackals.


Frank



"I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money."
- Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953

NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite

 
Posts: 12764 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: 30 December 2002Reply With Quote
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Wonderful report.

Some great shooting. I think hunts like this with lots of shooting and the focus on having a good time are a hell of a lot more fun than trying to kill and SCI everything and driving yourself nuts.
 
Posts: 7782 | Location: Das heimat! | Registered: 10 October 2012Reply With Quote
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Thank you, and congratulations for a great adventure! I noticed a mix of brain and chest shots? Are brain shots sometimes a requirement in this kind of hunt?
 
Posts: 1077 | Location: NT, Australia | Registered: 10 February 2011Reply With Quote
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Thank you gentlemen Wink

Of course my PH was happy that I have a good success on jackals and me too. I like this animal which looks like to our european red fox, a small game by the size but very interesting and no shooting fee.
Management hunting is very interesting for me because I've already collected many trophies in this country. The hunt is the same but at a lower price and not so easy. Many times when we used to look for those animals we didn't find them but we saw nice trophy games.
I know many PH who are used to aiming the head when they hunt animals for themselves (cull hunt and management hunting). For clients there is no obligation but if they see you're accurate with your rifle, sometimes they suggest you to do it but you could refuse if you want.
In 2015 during a culling in the south, a farmer advised me to shoot springboks in the head because the .338 Winchester magnum loaded with Hornady SST 225 gr used for this hunt destroyed to much meat the first day. I did it and it was a good experience.
 
Posts: 46 | Registered: 08 April 2014Reply With Quote
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Great report and pics! tu2
 
Posts: 18581 | Registered: 04 April 2005Reply With Quote
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Thank you, Kevin.
 
Posts: 1077 | Location: NT, Australia | Registered: 10 February 2011Reply With Quote
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Fantastic hunt. You had a lot of fun.

Well written too.

Nice to see wild leopard in the day time. Always adds a special buzz to the trip.


"When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick."
 
Posts: 11400 | Location: New Zealand | Registered: 02 July 2008Reply With Quote
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