Back in April 2004, a friend of mine and I visited South Africa to attend a hunting rifle shooting competition. Given the cost and distance involved in travelling from the UK for this competition, we decided to undertake some hunting while we were in SA.



We booked a hunting trip through professional hunter and outfitter Jaco Human who operates the South African Hunting Experience. So on the 20th April we met Jaco at his house in Centurion after visiting the Rietvlei nature reserve. From Centurion we then proceeded to drive in Jaco's Land Cruiser to the farm called Victorius, which lies near Ellisraas.



It was dark when we finally arrived at Victorius, but we quickly made ourselves at home in the thatched bungalows that formed the accommodation at the farm. The remainder of the evening passed with the consumption of a quantity of beer and some superb steaks cooked by Jaco. After the evening meal Jaco and Petrus (the owner of the farm) took us out for a night game drive which introduced us to several of the game species to be found on the farm as well as several smaller species such as Bushbabies.



With the breaking of the following we finally got to see the terrain in which we would be hunting. Although the farm is not as large as some, the terrain is surprisingly varied. The farm is split into two halves by the course of the Klip River that passes through it. On the side of the river occupied by the camp the land is gently sloping towards the river with a small kopjie as the highest point. On the other side of the river the land rises steadily to the top of a mountain. The land is heavily grown with thorn scrub and trees occasionally separated by areas of grassland.



After a quick breakfast the first task was to zero in the rifles, a few shots soon established that the .375 H&H Sako 75 that I was using was shooting exactly where I wanted. My friend Steve found that the Ruger No.1 Tropical, also in .375H&H, that he was using needed a little correcting for him. After zeroing the rifles we set out on the first stalks. At this point I should point out that all hunting on Victorious is carried out on foot, vehicles are only used to take the hunters to the area that they will be hunting.



My first stalk of the trip took place on the far side of the Klip River, up the side of the mountain. During this stalk I saw several game species although not the Impala and Warthog I was specifically looking for. None of the animals I saw on that stalk presented an opportunity for a shot. Although on the first day neither Steve nor I had the chance of a shot we were not disappointed as the scenery and sheer experience of being in Africa more than compensated for it.



On the second day I changed places with Steve taking the mountain side of the river and I staying on the camp side. Jaco drove me to the farms boundary where we parked the vehicle and proceeded to move back in the direction we had come passing some way to the east of the camp and moving toward the kopjie. Close to the kopjie we came upon the tracks of a small herd of Impala which we then tracked for a short distance and came upon them amongst the bushes at the edge of a small clearing. I selected a likely looking animal and Jaco indicated to take the shot. I have to say I don't actually remember the sound of the shot, but what sticks in my mind was seeing the Impala drop straight down in its tracks just before I lost the sight picture with the recoil.



The third and final day of the hunt saw me back on the mountain side of the river once again tracking impala. Having seen two animals in amongst the trees, Jaco indicated to take a shot, so kneeling to avoid a tree branch I carefully line up on the chest of one of the Impala and squeezed the trigger - only to see the Impala run away totally unhurt. A thorough inspection of the site where the Impala had been standing showed no sign of blood indicating a clean miss. Looking back towards my shooting position I suddenly noticed that a small branch on a sickle bush was showing signs of damage. A closer inspection indeed showed that this branch, which was barely 25mm in thickness, had a bullet hole through its upper third, this hit had deflected the bullet up and over the Impala's back. Definitely a case of bad luck as I had not even seen this branch when lining up the shot.



Shortly after my miss, the sound of a shot from the other side of the river signalled success in Steve's first ever African hunt. When we met up with him later it turned out he had bagged a nice Impala ram, which is now being made into a shoulder mount for him.



All in all it was an excellent three days and superb value for money. The experience was not solely the hunting, but was as much about friendship and enjoying the wonders of the African bushveld. I would thoroughly recommend a trip with Jaco and I will be returning - although next time it will be for a five day trip rather than the three days I have had so far.



If you would like to find out more about the SA Hunting Experience I would recommend you visit Jaco's website which can be found at www.sahuntexp.co.za



Regards



Dale Foster

Dale,

Welcome to the forum.

It is always great to hear positive reports of our fellow hunters safaris.

Sounds like a nice hunt. What kind of competitive shooting did you go for?

I attended the South African Hunting Rifle Shooting Association's championship competition that was held at Bloemfontein on the 17th April.

It was great fun even though my score could have been better.

The competition is shot on life size colour targets of Springbok, Warthog and Impala set out to simulate hunting encounters and on 8 inch steel plates set out to a maximum of 350 metres.

If you have access to the August issue of the UK shooting magazine Gun Mart then have a look at pages 176/177 where I have had a report published.

Dale

Hi Dale,
I'm glad you and Steve enjoyd the trip. It was a pleasure for me and Thea to have you here. The friendship we build will always be something special for me and Thea.

I went on my own hunting trip with Preller my son. My freezer strarted getting empty. We've taken Kudu, Blue Wildebeest 2 Impala's and a Warthog. Preller took a Impala and the Blue Wildebest with the 308, the Kudu and other Impala was taken with the 375 by myself. The Warthog was taken by myself using a bow. We used Impala bullets and the performed very well. Both the Impalas dropped on the spot and the two bigger animals only went 35 meters. I brought home about 350 kg of meat.

Next time you come there will be plenty of venison to feast on.

Regaeds
Jaco and Thea Human
jacohu@mweb.co.za SA Hunting Experience