Yo!

Just returned a few days ago from my beloved Namibia.

I have been going to Africa since 1977 every couple of years or so and this year was by far, the worst for hunting.

I was told that it was year #4 of a drought in that area and I was hunting either in a gravel pit or sand bar ... Beyond sad.

This was in northern Namibia .. took me 7 or so hours to get there being a Canadian driver .. the Namibian folk get there a lot lot quicker .. Yikes!

Where I hunt it is not high fenced and obviously (good on them) most of the game was gone .. a nearby high fenced area was full of dead and dying gemsbok, vultures everwhere ..

I saw too many animals that were skin and bones ... I am still haunted by an emaciated kudu cow that I probably should have shot .. but then she had no chance to survive.

They are feeding the game now but I think only rain can help and that will not come for a while.

I just found out that a 21,000 acre place south of Windhoek owned by a legendary PH had 1,000 Mt. Zebra come onto the property and ate most of the grass ...

I know both farms had cullers take out a lot of game earlier ..

I hunted the Devlui Ranch in 1992 in Zim .. no grass but the hunting was still great ... must have been year one of that drought ???

Horrible news!!!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Scruffy

Unfortunately your story is not uncommon. There are vast areas that are in big trouble.

Many of the owners with fenced farms have been feeding for several years already and have had to shoot out a lot of their game, terrible thing to have to do.

I am on my way back up next week, its just started raining here in SA but the outlook in Namibia is not good yet.

Which area did you hunt?
Cheers
Ian

Yo, Ian,

I was just about south of Kamanjab.... Driving towards Outjo I swear there was no grass for 75 miles .. then a bit .. then rock and sand again .. Too sad ...

Yep it is indeed dry. The cattle loss is in the area of 70% in the Kunene region and most of the game animals on the conservancy lands have moved much further north. Those with high fenced operations are faced with either feeding, releasing or culling their animals.

There has been a lot of culling this year just to reduce the animal population to survival mode levels. Never have culled so much before. We are praying for the December rains to remain long enough for healthy grass to develop. Fortunately with the cattle loss, the game animals will have a fighting chance regardless. Now if we can just convince the locals that cattle are the problem.

It is amazing how the elephant, Oryx, lion and leopard populations survive and actually some thrive during the drought years. The lion populations are healthy as long as we can keep the local from killing them and I see more elephant in the region than before the drought. Oryx simply seem to ignore the drought and are as big and round as always.

The only thing more scarce up north than a blade of grass is a raindrop. We are praying for both...

That's tough. In Zim (Nuanetsi) we found a warthog and a zebra that looked to have died of starvation. It had been really dry there as well.

BH63

quote:

Originally posted by scruffy:
Yo, Ian,

I was just about south of Kamanjab.... Driving towards Outjo I swear there was no grass for 75 miles .. then a bit .. then rock and sand again .. Too sad ...

When I have hunted just south of Kamanjab in 2012, 2013 and 2015, I have gone weeks at a time without seeing a SINGLE CLOUD in the sky! It makes for spectacular star watching at night- you can actually track satelites with your naked eye, and the moon leaves a shadow when it's fairly full. Great when you're hunting hyenas without artificial lights. Praying for rains in the next few months, since I head back in April 2017.

My son, wife and I returned from a hunt to the east of where you were about 3 months ago. Very dry, but we were lucky. Had a great hunt. So I guess it can still happen. Very sad that the wildlife are struggling so much.

Yo, Bud !

You are certainly right about the cloudless skies filled with bazillions of stars ... It is always incredible ..

I wonder if all of this starving game will have healthy calves or calves at all ? I know that the land can rebound very quickly ... if it rains .. the game to rebound might take longer ... plus with so much culled .. sigh ...

Hello Scruffy,

Sorry to hear about you trip.

A bit off topic but I was wondering if you knew what was going on with Christies widow Madelaine and the operation there.

I had a wonderful time with Christie in 2005 so I think of him often andhow his family was doing since his tragic death.

He had an incredible operation with beautiful hunting areas.

He was a great guy as well

I shall send you a pm. We all miss Christie very much.

Very sad to hear

Witnessed what you are talking about at Erindi Game Reserve a couple of weeks ago. Elephant were devastating the trees and needed to be culled IMO.
Fortunately we hunted about 100km South of Windhoek and also on a property nearer the Kalahari. Still dry but not anything like the North. We all took some great trophies and the game was in good condition. It tried to rain a couple of times just before we left on the 19th so hopefully the wet season isn't too far away.

I hunted Namibia in June with Sebra Safaris, my second hunt with them. The first time I saw gemsbok all over; this year, no big ones and very few small ones. No shortage of browsing animals like kudu (shot at 54, not my best, but respectable) and a 15 3/4 springbok. No shortage of hyena (shot one of those).

I know a lot of guys say high fenced areas are "fair chase" if you never see the fence, but trust me, when there is no grass, the animals are free to leave.

Was I disappointed? No - that is hunting. I would rather hunt free range and strike out on a big gemsbok than shoot a 40 behind a fence.

Most of the greater Kalahari and Namib deserts has suffered from servere droughts in 5 years. Game is becomming more scarce as I understand.