I'm not sure how appropriate it is for outfitters to report in this section but I thought I'd share my experience with a group of lever action rifle enthusiasts with you.

I was fortunate enough to host a group of levergunners on safari in Africa in March 2006. It all started when a client brought his Marlin lever action rifle in .357 Mag to hunt some of the smaller game species in South Africa with. Andy had been hunting with our company for 6 years – previously bringing his .375H&H Ruger No.1 and successfully bagging most of the SA plains game species on offer.

A couple of weeks after our hunt during which Andy killed three Impala and a Warthog with his .357 Mag, he wrote to me and said that he had been invited to post an article about his hunt on another internet forum. Well, the article ended up on the website and this got me thinking that there could be opportunities to market safaris to levergunners…

I ended up putting together a safari for levergun enthusiasts and booking the hunt for March 2006.

On March 3rd I picked the first two clients up from Johannesburg International Airport. John and Pat from Bellingham, Washington arrived two days before the rest of the group and we started hunting the day after their arrival. John had brought his brand-new Browning in .358 Win and killed a nice Impala early morning and a Warthog the same afternoon – both with single shots.


John’s Impala wasn’t huge but he got it the hard way – on foot which made the hunt satisfying for him and trophy size not all that important.


His Warthog was a nice specimen.

The .358 Win worked beautifully on SA game and I was as impressed with the caliber’s performance as I was with John’s marksmanship. I had to leave the following afternoon to pick the rest of the group up at the airport and John killed his Blue Wildebeest with another well-placed shot during the afternoon hunt.



Sighting in Rifles before the hunt

I got a call from JJ that evening advising me that his flight had been delayed due to engine problems and that he might be arriving later than expected. (It turned out much later as his flight ended up being cancelled altogether and he arrived a day later after diverting via Europe.) Although JJ was real tired by the time he arrived after spending 2 days traveling, he still volunteered to join us on the afternoon hunt.

JJ wanted to kill a Zebra with his .480 Ruger handgun and we virtually drove into a herd but they took off. Later on, as we cleared some shrub – still looking for a Zebra – we saw a Gemsbok standing perfectly broadside approximately 180 yards up ahead. The Gemsbok was pretty big for the area we were hunting. In the Kalahari and parts of the North-West Province seeing 40 inchers plus is not uncommon but here in Limpopo where we were hunting, 35†specimens were considered pretty good. The one that was standing ahead of us was over 36†so I told Frank he could take it if he wanted. The result can be seen in the photograph below.


Frank’s Gemsbok

Getting back to camp I learnt that one of the other members of the group (Roger) had managed to kill a Blue Wildebeest with his 45-70. Together with Waterbuck, Bushbuck and Warthog, Blue Wildebeest was on Roger’s priority list and I was glad that he managed to get one of the animals on his wish list on his first day.


Roger’s Wildebeest.

It was nice getting to know the group better that evening around the campfire. John and wife Pat bought a boat 5 years ago and made this their home. John bought a 358 Win rifle made by Browning to protect them against bears when fishing up in Alaska (probably also because it was “nice to haveâ€). When he learnt about the levergun safari, he and Pat decided that this was the ideal opportunity for them to come and test his new rifle on African game and do some sightseeing afterwards. Roger (also an AR member) is a pilot for American Airlines and he hunted Africa for the first time last year. He did not really intend coming back to SA so soon but it so happened that the levergun hunt was scheduled during his off-time and he decided to join us. JJ is a retired West Virginia State Trooper and we immediately “clicked†as law enforcement (and ex) law enforcement officers from all over the world just seem to do. JJ now runs his own PI business (something that I am also involved in when I’m not hunting) and there was a lot of common interest between us. Frank spent most of his career in law enforcement and is expert on handguns, leverguns and all kinds of rifles. He has a wealth of knowledge on firearms that he eagerly shares with those around him.


FLTR: Pat, John, Frank, Ché (the cook’s son) and Roger.

Over the next 6 days during which some had better luck than others, we hunted for the remaining species on the clients’ wish lists and were fortunate enough to get most of them:


JJ’s Zebra


Roger’s Waterbuck


Roger’s Bushbuck – taken with his 45-70


Roger was very happy with this Warthog – taken with his 45-70 levergun.


Roger’s Blesbok – taken with his .500 Linebaugh

I really enjoyed hunting with levergunners. They were an excellent bunch of people and we had a great time.


JJ and Roger discussing the skinning of JJ’s Zebra.


“Usual Suspects?†– Roger, JJ and Frank

For those who are interested, we have decided to make the levergun safari an annual event so if you’re interested to see how your levergun will perform on African game, why not come join us? The safari is scheduled for May / June next year.

Nice report, a good way of making like-minded friends!

Oh my ! You left someone use a 45-70 to hunt with in Africa? Let me ask how many bullets bounced off the side of that wildebeest before some DBL Rifle toteing lawyer from Utha finally put the poor critter down?

Chris,

Thanks for the report and photos.

Regards,

Terry

P.S.
Ignore Chugach he is just trying to be a

Chris,

I hunted with Roger in RSA last year and I can tell you he hunted hard for a wildebeest back then, but things just did not pan out so I know how pleased he must have been to get that one!

Both he and his wife Sernena were really nice people and a pleasure to share a lodge with...

All in all, it looks as if everybody had a great time over there..thanks for posting the pictures,

Regards,

Pete

Pete and others don't mistake my pun on the 45-70 with trolling. I'm a big fan of that caliber and also own several leverguns. To top it all off I'm registered at Leverguns.com and Marlinowners.com for a few years now.
As far as anyone killing a wildebeest with anything I offer my hand in support for them as they can be a real bugger at times to put in the salt.

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:
he hunted hard for a wildebeest back then, but things just did not pan out so I know how pleased he must have been to get that one!
Pete

Thanks Pete, yes Roger had a great safari and got everything he came for.

Pretty cool ... congratulations !

Hello Chris

Thank you for the report and the nice photographs.

Regards
Aziz

Ahh, that's Frank (Paco) Kelly. He has a very interesting background in law enforcement including a stint in Africa. He had an amazing career in drug interdiction and has seen the elephant as they say...several times. He's very knowledgable of ballistics and hunting in general.

Congratulations! Looks like a great hunt!

quote:

Originally posted by Chugach:
Oh my ! You left someone use a 45-70 to hunt with in Africa? Let me ask how many bullets bounced off the side of that wildebeest before some DBL Rifle toteing lawyer from Utha finally put the poor critter down?

I could tell you what happened to two wildebeest that were shot with a .375Win levergun...Maybe not

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
Ahh, that's Frank (Paco) Kelly. He has a very interesting background in law enforcement including a stint in Africa. He had an amazing career in drug interdiction and has seen the elephant as they say...several times. He's very knowledgable of ballistics and hunting in general.

That's the man (Paco Kelly) indeed. He was the guy that helped me put the safari together.


Paco Kelly and Charmaine (the chef)


Charmaine, Paco and yours truly

See, we also have prettier things to look at than African Game...

What a great hunt and set of pictures!! Wonder how a Browning Model 71 in .348 Winchester would fare? Something to dream about.

I hunted with Chris earlier this year. He runs a great operation.