Omujeve Safaris
PH Uys Shickerling 10 Days/Phillip Fourie 1 Day
Tracker Kabila
Hunters Chris Thompson, Tyler Thompson, Rachel Thompson

Firearm Straight Shot Gunsmithing 300RUM
Bullets Berger 190 Grain VLD

Animals Hunted: Kudu, Gemsbok, Impala, Warthog, Blue Wildebeest, Zebra, Red Hartebeest, Springbok
Animals Seen: Leopard, Lion, Hippo, Crocodile, Caracal, Grey Duiker, Nyala, Sable, Kudu, Gemsbok, Burchell Zebra, Hartman Zebra, Steenbok, Eland, Giraffe, Waterbuck, Blesbok, Warthog, Springbok, Red Hartebeest, Black Wildebeest, Baboon, Impala, Jackal, Art Fox, Aardvark .
Animals Taken: 5 Springbok, 4 Gemsbok, 3 Blue Wildebeest, 2 Red Hartebeest, Kudu, Giraffe, Impala, Warthog, Baboon, Jackal

I have been home a couple weeks and trying to get settled back into this world. Apparently my business world went slightly haywire while I was gone. This has delayed my hunt report. I find it very difficult to capture how incredible my first trip to Africa was. Omujeve was perfect. I am going to just add my daily journal entries with pictures. One day at a time.

See below excerpts from my hunting journal.

Day One
I am about to turn in early on July 9, 2013. I am tired from a 15 hour flight plus layovers. Luckily Debbie Gracy got me the seat on the Airbus 340 in the next to last row with the no seat in front of me for extra leg room. Maybe the Windhoek Beers I had around the fire tonight are a factor too. Maybe I am turning in early because I know or at least anticipate what comes in the morning.
The trip I have dreamed of since I was a boy is here….Before the sun rises tomorrow I will be ready. The same way I am ready for a Pennsylvania goose hunt. But this is no goose hunt. Tonight I got a glimpse of what is in store. The evening drive in the Land Cruiser revealed and African landscape more rugged, remote and beautiful than all those daydreams had constructed in mind. It also showed a preview of the tremendous game that I am to match wits with for the next two weeks. Warthog, Steenbok, Kudu, Gemsbok, Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Baboon, Impala, Waterbuck and Eland….all in one evening was a lot for a Pennsylvania hunter to take in on the drive after our trip to gun range. My 30-06 is now sporting a bent scope , courtesy of our skilled baggage handlers. Not sure how they accomplish such a task with a softcase inside a tuffpack, but they did. The optimist in me is happy the big gun survived.
We did get in a couple stalks at Red Hartebeest tonight. Nothing big enough in herd to shoot. I think my PH just wanted to see what I am like on a stalk with Rachel and Tyler along for the hunt. He seems like a good guy.
I shared dinner tonight with a hunter from Michigan named Bill who shot a bull elephant after 50 days of hunting on combined trips and a Rhino. What great stories to hear from someone after Big Five. Speaking of dinner that was my first taste of Kudu filet! Holy cow was it incredible. Like I said though….this isn’t Pennsylvania. I can’t wait to see what day two brings. Whatever Africa has waiting for me, I get to share it with Rachel and Tyler. That may be best part of all.


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Day Two
July 11 2013 45 Degrees at Sunrise
When we rolled in for breakfast at 6:00 the fire was already going. This was a welcome sight since it was 45 degrees outside and of course all of my warmer hunting gear was back at home. Isn’t the Kalahari Desert somewhere around here? We set out this morning in search of the herd of Impala we had seen last night. We spotted a couple groups with no shooter size rams. Then we came across a bigger herd. Our first 2 stalks ended with the Impala getting nervous and putting a hill or two between us but we kept after them….Trying to get the wind in our favor. We circled a hill to come up in front of them. My heart raced partially from the adrenaline of trying for my first African animal and part from trying to keep up with my 27 year old PH Uys as we climbed for elevation to get ahead of this herd. There were a troop of baboons in this thick dry river bottom. Very smart primates and they sounded the alarm and headed up the far side of draw at a dead run. This tipped the Impala off as well and they follow up the opposite side of draw trying to make a quick escape. A smaller ram in front of the herd held my attention as I wondered if he was a shooter. Then the big Ram came out of the bottom last. I knew when I saw him he was what I was looking for. Uys sized him up quickly and gave me a range from his Swarovski EL Range binos….”There is your ram Chris….250 yards shoot him” with that accent it sounded even cooler than it had in my imagination all these years. He was broadside and I wasted no time and squeezed the trigger. Nothing. I am so used to carrying a loaded round in action. I quickly cycle action as the ram gets on the move. I vividly remember a big male baboon getting out of harms way faster than the ram in my Zeiss scope. He is now quartering away and I aim for far shoulder. This time the 300 Ultra Mag sends a Berger 190 VLD where I want. My first African trophy dropped stone dead at the shot. Kabila says “straight down, great shot”. I hope to hear that a lot over the next 2 weeks. My first shot on the dark continent hits home and my wife Rachel and my son Tyler are there to witness it. What a start!

SUPERNOVA 172 by christhompson7, on Flickr



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Shortly after getting the Impala loaded in the Land Cruiser we see fresh Leopard tracks in the river bottom. I snap a few pictures looking down the dry river bed this leopard used to cruise the area. Rocky on one side thick on the other. Looks like I had pictured it. I want to pinch myself. I hope my son is taking all this in. We get back to the business of hunting. We come across a big heard of Blue Wildebeest on opposite hill already on the move. They are stunning to watch in person with that loping gate. Suddenly they slow and stop. Either they weren’t sure what had bumped them or they thought they were at safe distance. Blue Wildebeest have always been high on my list. Something about them feels very African and I have heard how they can soak up lead in legendary fashion. Uys and Kabila glassed the herd while I snapped photos with my 300mm lens. I almost gave up that this not my herd. Maybe just lots of young bulls all with some brown on the face. Then I hear Uys and Kabila speaking in Afrikaans with urgent hushed tones that doesn’t need to be translated to me. I have already put the camera down when Uys grabs the sticks and nods for me to follow. He directs me to a bull at the back of the herd. There is enough back and forth of me trying to zero in on the right bull that just as I get on him and about to touch it off they get nervous and the start to run. I hold my fire. They stop again and I get the instructions “bull on the right facing left just above that young bull”….got him…”265 yards shoot him!” Boom. Shot feels good and the big Blue Wildebeest whirls up to run….as the entire herd thunders uphill I immediately think I can’t find him to hit him again with all those animals. Then he spins back down hill after going on 30 yards. As I get him in the scope he falls like a tree…..dead. I hear Uys say “Cracking shot!” I hope to hear that one a lot too!


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Me, PH Uys Shickerling and Kabila


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Afternoon hunt

We head back out after lunch and cover a lot of ground in the land cruiser. We are headed to a spot to look for Gemsbok, or Kudu. We saw a ton of game this afternoon. The terrain was a little more rolling and thicker. We glassed a lot of animals. I kept thinking every Gemsbok I saw was a shooter. We eventually come up on a old Gemsbok bull in a thick bottom. I check him in the binos and get a few good photos of him, Uys studies him for a while and estimates him to be 32” and very big and old. He asks if Tyler wants to try take him as a cull. I knew Ty was going to get to shoot and we spent a lot of time at the range but now my adrenaline is going thinking my son who just turned 12 is about to try and take his first animal ever. Not a 6 point whitetail…or a squirrel…or a duck or goose. He is about to take a crack and a big old Gemsbok bull. He may be ready but I don’t know if dad is! I hand Tyler my big 300 since the 30-06 scope is out of commission. The Gemsbok is at 90 yards and becoming nervous. I am silently praying my son can pull this off. Ty gets the gun up and struggles to find the big bull in the scope as the bull is quickly putting distance between us. Uys is calling out yardages and I am trying to talk Tyler through it. I don’t really want him to shoot a Gemsbok on the move. In very short order the Gemsbok tops out on the opposite hill and stops in some thorn bush. “255 yards Tyler can you see him”
Ty has shot consistently out to 300 but if his nerves are anything like mine this is a tougher shot than I had hoped for him….especially since I have heard of the Gemsbok’s ability to take lead. I don’t have time to second guess it. Tyler replies yes as he flicks off safety. I am about halfway through my next silent prayer when he sends a round down range with the thump I was hoping to hear. The Gemsbok reacts to a hard hit but it is a little too far off the shoulder to drop the big old bull. Tyler works the action like I taught him and gets another round into the Gemsbok before he gets out of sight. We all take off after the bull as it is apparently hit hard. We quickly top the hill and the old bull hasn’t gone far. Max tears after him and the bull stands his ground with horns leveled at the approaching miniature menace. I actually get a few more photos of him as my son is leveling gun to finish the job. A shot right on the low shoulder that this impressive animal takes and still manages to stand for a few seconds before he stumbles and goes down for the last time. My son looks dazed through all the backslaps and congratulations. I am keenly aware that I am only going to witness my sons first kill once. The azure skies, the rocky, thorny terrain and the look on Tyler’s face is something I won’t forget. The bull turns out to be a big old bull and tapes out at 34”. Some cull.

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Uys blooding my son....He looks a little unsure of this!

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My wife is not a hunter or even a meat eater. She was just as unsure of her baby boy getting his first blood .

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This is when we first came over the rise and saw him close.

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This is just before the shot!

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Day 3 July 12 40 Degrees at Sunrise 65 and not a cloud in the sky

Today we hit breakfast at 6:00am again. They make us anything we request. Bacon, Eggs and toast and we all love the Guava juice. A cup of coffee and we are ready to roll. I am hunting with Phillip Fourie who is covering for Uys today. I have met Phillip at dinner and around the fire the previous two nights and I am happy to hunt with him. Kabila is riding in the back with me as is Max. Max is a German terrier who is a hunting machine.
For some reason I thought Red Hartebeest would be easy. We drive to the top of a very scenic hill in the land cruiser. Phillip I using the sticks to steady his binos to look over a herd of Red Hartebeest on the other side of the valley. Seemingly a mile away. Rachel and I take the opportunity to take some great pictures of the beautiful views in the early morning low sun. Phillip determines there is a bull in the heard we want to go after. Our stalk starts from here. We slip down the rocky thorn covered mountain. As I slip quietly behind Phillip from bush to bush and keep track of Tyler and Rachel behind me I am struck by how much sign and tracks we see in the valley floor. Ty gets several doses of the thorns of Africa. Pretty soon I will too!


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A herd of Blue Wildebeest up the valley spook and as they race down the valley and over the hill they alarm our Red Hartebeest too and the herd works over the far hill from us. We press on. Picking up the pace while they are out of site. At 6,000 feet I notice I am no longer a 20 or even 30 year old athlete. I am fine until we get going up the hills! So much for Red Hartebeest being easy. This is my 3 or 4 stalk already. We angle over the next hill to cut some ground and keep the wind. Phillip stops to use the binos. I am happy for the break. The big gun is starting to feel heavy. But I am loving every minute of it.
Phillip watches them calm down and tried to see which way they will feel. They like the grassy open bottoms. Inexplicably they feed up and over another hill…. I look at my wife and silently shake my head no. We are several miles into it and they are going away more than 900 yards out. I assume we call the truck and regroup. Wrong again. We cross another dry river bottom loaded with warthog holes. Again we move it out to gain some ground while they are out of site. This time angling hard to get in front and get a shot. I tell Phillip to get me within 500 yards and I can take him. This turns out to sound even worse in an hour or so. This hill is pretty sparse and rocky and as we top out we see them….250 ish across the bottom….alert to something. Then I see Gemsbok and Blue Wildebeest to my right eyeballing us. Phillip sets up the sticks. 250 yards or so. Nice bull standing broadside. He reacts when I shoot but doesn’t go down. I watch instead of shooting again. Mistake on my part. He disappears circling to our right but not keeping up. What did I just do? I immediately get that feeling I didn’t pick a small enough spot. Turns out I hit him high and mid ship. The chase is on! No blood. Phillip calls in the Cruiser and he follows the tracks and turns on the game face. I start to wonder if I missed. 30 minutes of searching and there he goes. Moving pretty good but he let us get pretty close and I think he has to be hurt. I don’t get off a shot. Now we are on the run. I plow through thorns to try and cut corners and keep up with Phillip. We jump him a second time and I get on the sticks. I try to get one in him and slow him….miss. Now 200 plus on the run and I hit him in hind quarter. That slows him. We cover two more hills racing after him. Bump him again and he seemingly vanishes. By then Kabila has brought up the Land Cruiser Max is ready to hit the trail. I am sweating, bloody and gasping for air and my confidence is shaken. Max gets his tail and now I am racing to keep up with a dog. We crest another hill and this Hartebeest his heading across the dry bottom now going like he is unhurt and I am immediately discouraged. I get on the sticks and he is straight crossing at 300 yards dead run…..I have to try and hit him again. (Before I run out of ammo).
I instinctively shoot and the splash is right on him but not a hit. Phillip stops me “too far”. I can’t get steady at this rate. Max is a pro though. He dogs the Hartebeest and stops him in some thick stuff. We find a path to sneak in to take a shot and I calm my breathing. The Hartebeest is backed into a thorn bush and Max is keeping him there. It is too thick for me to shoot with Max nearby so we slip closer. Phillip gets the sticks up at 75 yards and the bull sees us and stands to leave. I finally get a good shot on him! I connect right on shoulder and he drops stone dead. Like I said…..Red Hartebeest should be easy.
I am happy I have him. Though a little embarrassed I didn’t perform behind the gun like I should have.

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Max ready to go!
christhompson7, on Flickr

Day 4 July 13

Tyler and I left camp today without Rachel. She is suffering from a stomach ailment and opts to take a break. We are headed to the mountains today after Kudu. Tyler and I leave the big camera and video at home. We are all business today. The sun is not too high in the sky and we see a Jackal which I have already been instructed to shoot on sight. He pauses to check me out at 200 yards and the 190 VLD blows the opposite side off of him. After my shooting yesterday I needed this.


SUPERNOVA 192 by christhompson7, on Flickr

We spend the morning slipping through incredibly scenic valleys in the Land Cruiser. Lots of baboons that won’t stop within 700 yards of me. Giraffe, Gemsbok and Grey Duiker. Soon we spot a couple kudu on opposite hill. Standing in shadows I can make out a cow and Uys spots a bull off to the left frozen and eyeballing us.


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When I get the Nikons on him I immediately think he is the one. He is hard to judge as he won’t move a muscle and is deep in the shadow of a thorn tree. Finally he flinches and moves to give us a better view. I am waiting to hear a yardage from Uys. He and Kabila discuss and he tells me “51 or so too small.” We press on. Now a couple hours into the mountains and it is so scenic I can believe much lives here. Uys assures me it is thick with Kudu and also a good area for leopard. We see a few leopard baits. We pass a couple more groups of Kudu with nothing big enough to shoot. Eventually we turn the Land Cruiser to descend into a deep valley. So steep the Cruiser slips on the rocks in low gear.

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I am sitting in the safari seat high in the back in awe just taking it all in. This knife edge ridge drops off deeply to both sides. This looks more like sheep country to me than Kudu country. I am staring at opposite spine that parallels our descent about 300 yards to my right. I already realize it was a bad idea to leave my Nikon behind for the day. As we crawl down this finger of the ridge to the valley floor. About half way down Kabila excitedly taps my shoulder….”big bull”. He points it out to me and gets his Zeiss binos to get a closer look. I have already come to accept what he sees with naked eye I struggle to find in my crisp Nikons. There he is. Out there on this steep, rocky ridge. He is laying under lone thorn tree. He is watching us. I find him by looking for the sun glinting off his big horns. His first turns are absolutely huge. More than anything else this has been the animal that has brought me to Africa. I have been in love with those big spiral horns as long as I can remember. Even before I ever read of Hemingway’s romantic struggles with the gray ghost. My senses were dialed in immediately as I notice the wind drifting down this valley and start focusing on the moment I have traveled so far for. Uys quickly studies this bull and while his first turns are deep and well past his ears Uys and Kabila agree he is young. He is a giant in the making in a few years. Not today. The predator in me stands down for now. We keep headed for valley floor. 45 minutes later we are weaving our way up the valley. The opposite side of valley is a sheer cliff in some spots.
Suddenly Kabila is tapping my shoulder more excitedly than normal. "Leopard" There about 90 yards nearly straight up is a Leopard. Walking the edge of the cliff. I get him in binos for a few seconds. Could have been my camera if I had brought it. His casual confidence was something since he had certainly watched us come his way for a while. He crosses spine like ridge that climbs out of this valley…similar to the one we came down an hour or so earlier. We hustle up to where he was and don’t see him. The canyon that he dropped into is perfect terrain. Steep, deep (couple hundred feet) and rocky. Narrow enough I could hit a 7 Iron across it. Uys decided to have a little fun with Kabila. He tells us on the count of 3 to scramble back up the way we came like we saw Mr. Spots. He shouts something urgent in Afrikaans to Kabila who is out at the edge of rocky overhang. Tyler, Uys and I all run as if the big Tom is coming for us and poor Kabila buys our ruse hook line and sinker! After a good laugh I think to myself....he is down there somewhere though.
We continue on our way. Not far up the ridge though we spot Kudu on far side of canyon. Several cows and a small bull. After we watch them a while four of them try to climb up and around ridge and a few sneak down into bottom of this draw. Uys thinks maybe we didn’t see them all. We rush up our side farther to get a vantage point to see them when they come out of bottom. We get to a good spot and I am set up to shoot when they start coming out and heading up other side. Cow, cow, cow, young bull, cow already more Kudu than what we had seen go into bottom. Then I see a glimpse of horns coming. I tell Uys I saw a second bull coming. He steps out from behind thorn tree and and Uys says "that is your bull smoke him!" The kudu bull spins broadside and looks up at us. I squeeze the trigger. Nothing. I don’t have a round in again! You have to be kidding me. I work the bolt and he turns to leave. I am shooting down on him now quartering away. I start to squeeze again…in a millisecond I realize a life-long dream. The Berger VLD hits him in the lungs on a line for opposite shoulder. 600 pounds of Kudu drops to the ground and slides down the steep slope. The terrain so steep he loses a lot of cape sliding to a stop. He trys to push himself up against a thorn tree as we close to 50 yards across the canyon. I hit him low in the shoulder /heart and he stays down. I cross the bottom with Tyler and we get up to him quickly and see him face to face before the life is completely gone from the bull. I find it hard to put the moment into words.

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Day 5
July 14
We headed out today after a great breakfast and coffee.
I always grab a little time around the fireplace with a cup of coffee in the morning. We have no luck finding a big warthog. Still a great morning though.We pass on some really nice Gemsbok and Springbok chances. Uys wants me to go down to Schonnbrunn their south camp later this week to pursue these two and mountain zebra. After a great lunch we head out for an evening hunt. I learned a valuable lesson about gun zero. My big gun is sighted at 2 inches high at 100 because I like to do a lot of long range shooting. This is a mistake since I have a scope with turrets and could dial up long shots. We come across a big caracal laying down staring at us. I settle the cross hairs on his face and shoot quick at about 80 yards. I whistle one right between his ears. I am soon reminded that bad shooting means exercise.
Max takes off after caracal as Uys and Kabila try and stop him. He doesn’t realize I missed and thinks he is trailing a cat about to expire. We join the chase. You can surmise from the photos I am no danger to run down a caracal on foot. We come up on cat several times and struggle to calm breathing and get on sticks about 4 times. Max keeps stopping cat. I keep digging deep to run like I am back in HS football. Finally I get a few good looks at cat but Max is too close to shoot safely.
We finally call Max off the trail. The caracal was big and Max is bloodied. I know this great little dog lives for this stuff but my miss earned him some bloody shots to the head and ears from the cat. I felt bad enough for missing. Max’s injuries make it worse. My wounded pride aside it was an exhilarating experience.
After my pulse and breathing recover we get back to hunting. We spot a big herd of Blue Wildebeest and Uys asks if Tyler wanted to shoot. I don’t think Ty realized he was up. As we start making our stalk I direct Ty into second position behind Uys. He whispers to me wide eyed…”Dad am I shooting?” I smile and nod and he looks surprised but ready. Being third in line watching my son follow our young PH is quite a sight for a dad. He just turned 12 and seeing him instinctively step where Uys stepped, freeze when Uys froze and slink low behind thorn bushes was a proud moment. Nothing I could shoot or pursue myself can compare to this. We close in to 200 yards and Uys sets up sticks as Ty eases out behind the thorn bush. Uys directs him to a group of 4 cows standing right of the main herd. I realize at that moment he can’t see over the brush as well as we can. He struggles to find his target in scope and the cows sense danger and bolt. As I watch that wildebeest gallop that I love my heart sinks. My son will have to handle it like I have so many times as a hunter. Just about then Uys whispers…”Tyler do you see the bull on the right?” “Yes”, “can you get on him he is 200 yards” “I got him” I hear the safety click off . I am wondering then again can he hit him perfect at this range. This Blue Wildebeest so notorious for taking copious amounts of lead and running all day. Somewhere in that thought the 300 RUM sounds off again. I hear the thump and see the bull react to a hard hit. I instinctively start barking for him to cycle the long action of the gun! I know our PH is watching the bull. Then I hear Uys say, “cracking shot Tyler he is going down!” The bull travels 30 yards uphill and stumbles and falls. Ty hit him right on crease of shoulder. Minutes later during backslaps and pictures he jokes about helping me with my shooting. I am loving every second of it.
I am very grateful that Uys quickly turned our missed opportunity on a cow cull into a Blue Wildebeest bull cull!

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Day 6 July 15
I am up a long time before the alarm today. Ready to go. My wife had been battling a little stomach issue and is feeling a little better. There is another family in camp the last few days. They are local and just vacationing here and are great people and very friendly. Ernu is a doctor and luckily he helped my wife get back to 100%. Their kids are younger than Ty but great fun to be around. Since my wife missed the day I rode into the mountains after Kudu I had asked Uys if we could take a drive in the cruiser back to the same area. We are having great success and not pressed for time so I thought my wife would love it. We had a great long day on the cruiser. We stopped at the neighboring ranch Burg Gusinde What a view from here.

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Throughout the week I have taken a few ultra long shots at baboon. They seem very wary and once they start running they don’t seem to stop. Yesterday right before night fall I set up for a long shot off the bipod on Baboon. I know the ranges out pass 1000 yards and love to shoot long with the gun.
I narrowly missed one at 857 perched on the mountain not far from the lodge. This morning I splashed dirt on a big male just over 900 with a bullet between his feet. I am burning some ammo but having fun.
We cruised the mountains and I get some great photos. We saw everything today. I am still looking for Warthog, Zebra and saving Gemsbok and Springbok for the trip down to their south lodge Schonnbrunn.
Later in the morning as we surprise a group of Baboons while we are watching kudu in a remote valley. Uys quickly notices a giant male at the rear who was reluctant to turn tail and run. By the time I get on the gun he is on a dead run. I wish I had grabbed the .243 as my big .300RUM is not the best for closer running shots. I get the big male in the scope and instinctively get a lead and touch the trigger. I hit him low and roll him at a little over 100 yards. I set my gun down and realize the Baboon is not dead and little max is on a dead run for the baboon. I step around to get a clear view off hand and grab Uys' .243.
I hear Uys urgently tell me to finish him he will kill Max. As I chamber a round I hear Kabila yelling to try and stop Max who is on a full charge! The big baboon has sat himself up waiting for Max as he closes in. I try to settle the cross hairs and can hear the panic in Tyler’s voice as he yells “hurry dad hurry” at the report of the gun I lose my sight picture and frantically work the bolt again as Max arrives on site and I desperately ask Kabila did I hit him????he usually knows exactly where I hit every animal. I can see Max is on the big Baboon and realize there is no fight Max.....is doing his thing and the round from the .243 took the baboon in the center of chest just before Max got to him. My heart was racing and I take a moment to take in the setting. What a place to have such a hair raising hunt.

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For comparison sake I am 260lbs. So tht is sbig baboon

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Day 6 Afternoon Hunt
After the long morning we hung around camp today for a little extra time and relax and enjoy some time in the lodge and deck. When we head out we don’t have a lot of time for an afternoon hunt. We are enjoying the late afternoon with the sun low in the sky. Winding through the hills and just kind of seeing what happens. I really wanted to get Rachel on the gun. She is not a hunter. I think the long shots and chase I had on the Red Hartebeest scared her a little. I knew though if Uys asked her to shoot she would. We spotted a pretty big herd of Blue Wildebeest not too long before the end of the day. We just keep on driving up the valley out of sight. Uys pulls over and shuts of the cruiser and tells Rachel to grab the gun. Japsie Blaaw is one oftheir other PHs and is along for the ride with Ty, Rachel, Kabila, Uys and myself. I decide to hang back a little with Tyler and run the video. Uys leads the way with the sticks, Rachel follows close behind and Japsie carries my big gun for her. I got a little bit of the stalk on video but position myself to see the herd. I can see Uys set up the sticks. I zoom in on the herd and they are facing her and nervous. I don’t know if I have ever been so nervous. Will she be disappointed if she doesn’t get a shot. The herd turns to run and goes about 50 yards up the opposite hill. They stop again and look nervously in her direction. She would be even more upset is she misses an animal. I know what is going on up there. Uys is trying to find her a good cull. If she wounds one this might the only animal I ever get her to pull the trigger on. There is a lot riding on this shot. With this big of a herd talking her to the right animal is not easy…especially as my wife in brand new at looking through a scope at partially obscured moving animals at 260 yards. Seconds seem like minutes. I am straining to hear the boom of the gun. Praying to whatever gods of the hunt to make these Wildebeest stand still for her. Suddenly they start to move again…..on the run and headed up the ridge again. I am praying again…give her one more look. They do. The one Uys has picked out for her is on the far right…easy for her to find. I can see her nestle in the gun as I square the entire group of Wildebeest in the camera to get the shot I am hoping to hear. Boom….whummmp! I clearly hear the deep thump of the bullet hit home. The herd starts to rumble over the top of the hill. When the Wildebeest reacts I focus in on the right animal trying to see how hard she hit it. I am barking order to work the bolt like she is right next to me. She can’t hear me….she doesn’t need to. Just like my Tyler, She has delivered on her first shot ever on and animal, an African animal nonetheless. A pretty long too. The Berger VLD hit right behind the shoulder and exploded the heart and lungs. I catch sight of the beest going down after only 30 yards or so. Tyler and I high five. He says did mom hit him. I reply “she hammered him, he is stone dead!” I enjoy the sight of her getting blood on her face and her own pictures with her first animal more than any of my own. I think we have a new hunter in the family!

DSC_0528 by christhompson7, on Flickr

DSC_0537 by christhompson7, on Flickr

DSC_0541 by christhompson7, on Flickr


Looks like I have maxed out the single post so updates are down BELOW

Beautiful ram. Can't wait for more.

Lovely ram...

wow, nice pics, off to a great start

Great report. Keep 'em coming.

Gooseblitz:

Congrats on a great first trip to Africa: We spoke briefly about your upcoming adventure at JFK while waiting for the Port Authority to inspect our rifles. Glad it went as planned.

You are correct, Africa is nothing like bird hunting back home. Excellent report and welcome to AR.

Thanks Hutty Congrats on your tuskless!
My wife is already talking about going back to Africa.

Great to see the whole family on safari! Well written report, looking forward to the rest... thanks for posting.

Great start. Just waiting to read more. Talked to Nic and Corne quite a bit. Hope to hunt with them someday

I'm enjoying your report and photos. I also hunted Omujeve for my first African safari and enjoyed it greatly.
Looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

Fantastic report and pics so far...a special safari indeed with family!

Looking forward to reading more here about your wonderful time...

Roland

Thanks guys. I added my sons Gemsbok...His first animal ever.

Great report and pics! Congrats on some terrific trophies. Could you post some pics of the accommodations? Sounds like an excellent operation.

Here you go.
I stayed at main lodge and Schonbrunn South Camp. Both were luxury style lodges.


DSC_0212 by christhompson7, on Flickr

SUPERNOVA 516 by christhompson7, on Flickr

My sons room


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my room

DSC_0001 by christhompson7, on Flickr

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our separate house at south camp

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our rooms at main camp

DSC_0245 by christhompson7, on Flickr

Goosebiltz fantastic and Africa has got you and your family.

Mike

Lekker.

Looks like your having a great time. Some good looking animals. Nicely written report. keep it coming. Bruce

Great stories, great photos, and superb trophies. I hope you son appreciates what a fortunate young man he is being able to hunt Africa with his Dad.

Great safari, I have enjoyed reading it very much. Cannot wait to see and read more. I dream of watching that leopard in the wild. What a cool experience.

Kudu are such an amazing animal. I cannot get enough of them. Well done.

Great report and some beautiful animals taken.

Nice report, Great hunt. Congrats

Super report, and nice pictures. Glad you had a great trip.

Thanks for the kind words guys I will keep adding daily. I am almost halfway done!
I wish I had photographed our evening more. Our meals were over the top fantastic. I would say for me being a steak connoisseur I have a tough time picking between Kudu, Gemsbok, Springbok, Eland. The home made bread and salad with avocado was fantastic and once they realized I like good cabernet with dinner Uys always grabbed us a bottle from wine cellar. The customer service and vacation portion of the trip was so perfect it is hard to describe without being there. My wife doesn't eat red meat and they made seafood for her every night. They actually won her over with their schnitzel and also got her to try Sprinbok. I usually stayed up a little late hearing stories and sharing a drink or cigar with my PH after Rachel and Ty turned in. As great as my hunt part of the safari was the vacation part was just as good. I felt like I made some life long friends there.

Great report, looks like you had a good time and got some amazing trophies, will you have them shoulder mounted? Thanks for sharing.

db

Wonderful family hunt and memory. Outstanding report!

quote:

Originally posted by R8 PRO:
Great report, looks like you had a good time and got some amazing trophies, will you have them shoulder mounted? Thanks for sharing.

db

The taxidermist is getting shoulder mounts for Kudu, 2 Gemsbok, Impala, Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest and pedestal mounts for Zebra and Giraffe with european mounts for 2 springbok, 1 wildebeest and 1 hartebeest.
Baboon Skull and Warthog Tusks.
That is gonna hurt the wallet.

Very well done report, Chris. I went on my first safari to Namibia in August 2012, and as many here on AR predicted, I was hooked. Went back in May 2013 and had an even better time.

Gooseblitz.

Great time of the year with a lot of fine and well written hunting reports on the Forum.

Yours is certainly no exception.

Congratulations to you and your 12 year old son Tyler. Great report, some very good pictures and trophies as well.

What a perfect first time African hunting safari experience for the three of you.

Jytte

Congratulations on your Family Safari!!
Great Report

Good post. I enjoy coming back and reading more. Keep it coming.

I added a couple pics of my Baboon. My wife left these off facebook fearing her friends would not understand a few of the animals I hunted.

Day 7 July 16
We didn’t have too many animals on my “list” left and we were waiting to head down south to shoot Gemsbok, Springbok and Zebra. We have been seeing all three here at Omujeve main lodge but I am trying to be patient. Been trying to talk my wife into and extra …..like an Eland or Giraffe! We do have warthog left on the list though. We head out to the spot near where Ty sho this Gemsbok. There is a water hole her and we build a blind and settle in.
This is my first ever water hole sit. I read a book and relax and marvel at another blue sky African day. The stand hunt in me though can seem to keep reading. I am on high alert even though I don’t need to be. We have an Egyptian goose land in the water hole. My goose hunting biddies would freak out if they knew I didn’t shoot this Egyptian goose. I get good video of some smaller warthogs and enjoy watching them relaxed and kneeling at the waterhole. I also see a yellow mongoose and the usual suspects. Kudu, Red Hartebeest, Baboon, Steenbok, Giraffe and Gemsbok. The second group of warthog contains a nice male. Uys says he is OK but we may see bigger. I watch him in scope and quickly decide. I tell Uys he looks good to me and he says go ahead and shoot him. I am on the sticks and just the barrel sticking out of the blind. I get a good hold right on the shoulder. The big 300 sounds off and the warthog bounces off the shore line when the VLD does it’s job. The tough little bugger actually tries to stand but can’t and falls one last time right at edge of the water.
We stick around for het rest of the morning and see more kudu and then I see motion out of the corner of my eye. We are seated about 9 yards from the dry riverbed that feeds this water hole. At very nice warthog trots right by us point blank. Ty is on the gun now and reading his book. I tap him and spur him into action. I probably get him on the gun too soon. I should have let Warthog get farther out and relaxed. As Ty makes hi s move the female following is right behind us and picks us off. One grunt and the big male leaves. As he weaves up through the rocks I could have smoked him but this was my sons shot and I wasn’t going to intercede even if it meant losing the shot opportunity. He slipped into the thorns and was gone. He came back two more times and stood behind us in river bed very close….very cool!
Great day!

20130715_051227 (2) by christhompson7, on Flickr


SUPERNOVA 289 by christhompson7, on Flickr


SUPERNOVA 296 by christhompson7, on Flickr

Nice porker. I love hunting Warthogs. Cannot have to many of them. Keep it coming.

Afternoon Hunt
After a great lunch we head back out to the waterhole later in afternoon. We re-position due to the wind and set up the chairs and camo netting. I offer the gun to Rachel and she accepts! From left to right it is Uys, Rachel, me then Tyler. My mind is in the perfect place at the waterhole. The sound of the wind mill out in the middle of nowhere as it twist in the breeze is relaxing. Not really thinking about anything. Reacting to my surroundings but that is it. No business, no deadlines, complete freedom. The afternoon is busy though. A couple small warthog, and a group of Kudu. Just enough to give me something to dissect with binos. I am also on the video camera today! Then at the top of the opposite hill Uys spots a big Red Hartebeest coming down headed for the water. It is a great bull and he lets Rachel know to get ready to shoot. I get the camera on just in time as the Hartebeest is on a brisk walk down theh hill. Rachel gets the gun out the hole in the blind and the big Kudu cow sees the motion and barks a warning. Immediatley the Hartebeest turns and starts headed away. Rachel only has seconds to fire at a moving Hartebeest. She doesn't take the shot. I am worried she is upset with missed opportunity. Just before dark a Gemsbok with one large horn and one horn that has grown back low and is sticking into the cows neck comes to the water hole on our side....it is close. The horn is actually rubbing the Oryx and preventing it from turning it's neck to the right. Uys quickly asks Rachel to shot her.
Again this Gemsbok senses something is wrong and as Rachel is pulling up slack in the .243 trigger the Gemsbok turns to run. A clean miss. Rachel seems to be fine with the ups and down of hunting. The sun is getting low so we call in teh cruiser and pack up the blind and chairs. As we start the 45 min or so ride back to the lodge we make our way back up the ridge weaving through the thorn trees Kabila spots Gemsbok on opposite side of the valley. A quick study with binos reveals the one Rachel had shot at moments earlier. They quickly get her set up on the sticks with my 300. Uys gets her a range..."270 yards she is behind that thorn tree" then the oryx steps out and Rachel flicks off the safety. I am nervous all over again at this range. She squeezes the trigger and I see the Gemsbok fold and drop straight down before I hear the whump of the bullet hit home. She hit it in the neck and doesn't enjoy seeing the tough old Gemsbok being finished when we get up to it. Part of hunting I later explain to her and she seems to take it in stride. I am thrilled to see her shoot well and enjoying being a hunter.

SUPERNOVA 303 by christhompson7, on Flickr

DSC_0555 by christhompson7, on Flickr

Way funky but cool none the less. We shot a few culls at Kanana as well. One with a big growth, another that has broken down on the back end. I was glad to see them suffer no more.

Really great reports and pictures!

Congratulations to you and your family, well done. I especially like to see the making of two new hunters!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Congratulations on a great FAMILY safari. I think it is fantastic that you took them along. Omujeve looks like a wonderful place to experience Namibia through. How long until you make your next trip over there?

I gotta ask, would you take that same rifle when you go back next time? Or, would you take something less heavy and a smaller caliber that doesn't require a muzzle brake to shoot? No offense intended, but I have to wonder what your PH thought when he saw that rifle. African PHs tend to hate muzzle brakes as they like to keep some of their hearing.

Funny you mention the muzzle brakes. When I pulled the 300 and 375 out of the case on both safaris I have been on. You could just see them shaking their heads. I won't take anything but those two rifles, personal preference, but I agree 100%. Muzzle brakes in Africa are not smiled at for sure.

Great report. Keep on posting.