Second part of my hunt with Gausshunt in Namibia SA.
We got up the next morning to a beautiful, cool clear day. We had to depart Hartmut's uncle's ranch and drive to the next one that had an abundance of Hartebeests on it. After a long drive on mostly gravel roads we came to a very modern ranch out in the middle of nowhere. We were shown to our private and very modern guest house about 40 feet from the main entrance to the main house. After again putting our gear in the private and almost new bedrooms we loaded up for a afternoon of hunting, again, darn. We got into the Toyota and started out. The vegitation on this ranch is quite dense and heavy. The PH spotted some Hartebeests and he and Joe went on a stalk to see if he could get his. We continued on in the truck. Luck was not with us that afternoon. We retired back to the ranch, got cleaned up, due to the dusty conditions, and sat down to a great meal. One thing that suprised me was that all the women can cook great meals there.
After getting to know our hosts better and a few barly pops we retired for the night. The next morning we again headed out for the Hartebeests. Joe and Hagen went their way and Hartmut an I went ours. I hate to admit this, but I missed on a very good one. About a half of an hour later we heard Joe shoot and actually heard the bullet hit the animal. Then about ten minutes later another shot. Finally the radio came to life and Hagen advised us that Joe had gotten his Hartebeest. By the time we arrived to the sight it was dark and the scene was awash in light provided by the headlights of the Toyota, and the strobes of many cameras going off. It is funny how dark it gets so quickly there. One minute is seems it is daylight, and the next it is dark. Mabye time flies by when you are having fun. We drove back to the farm and droped off the Hartebeest to get processed while we had dinner and a few barley pops. I was very disapointed with myself for missing on my Hartebeest as it was a head on shot and very close. I guess that I was trying too hard to get low in the chest area and shot between it's legs. We looked and looked but never did find any hair or blood. We had 5 men looking and did not see anything at all. Chalk one up to the hunting gods. It just was not my turn. But that is why they call it hunting. If it was too easy it would not be hunting.
We got up the next morning, packed out belongings, had a great meal ane were off after saying our goodbys to some again wonderful hoasts. Next stoop Hagens' house.
We drove fo most of the next day in Hagens' VW buss, following Hartmut inthe Toyota with our trophies. We arrived well after dark and after unloading our belongings went straight to the now gueat house. What a suprise it was there. New rooms, two twin beds, a tiled bathroom as big as anything you could ever want, two sinks the works all for one person. Very comfortable beds all of it vry clean and modern to say the least. Geting up around sun up there was more suprises in store. Next to the guest house was a swimming pool, and a thathed roofed outdoor dining area, bar-be-cue area, fire pit the works. We went intothe main house and sat down to a linnen covered table to again feast on the meal that was provided. At Hagens' place the brush and trees are dense and heavy, with open fields and watering oles, most of which have perminate blinds installed. You would have to se these blinds to believe them. Very comfortable and well built, not sticks , but of steel very secure.
During our stay at Hartmut,s we took a great deal of game including Kudu, Eland,and Warthog. At Hartmuts I took my Kudu, Blessbok, Gemsbok, Hartebeest,and a Black Wildebeest. It is on Hartmut's place that we counted 107 Black Wildebeest in one herd alone. He also has other animals that come and go on his place. Hartmut's terrain is very different from Hagens in that it is very open flat plains and mountains surrounding it.
We had came across a Black Banded Cobra on Hagen's place and dispatched it into the nether world post haste. It turned out to be 8 feet in length. I tell you it looked like a 4 inch black pvc pipe in that grass, but with it's flattened neck there was no mistake as to what it was. Joe shot it and he now has a very rare trophy on his wall. I remember telling him at the time "who else do you know that has a Cobra skin on his wall". With the openness of Hartmut's place it is difficult to get a close shot if the animals don't get to the watering holes. My Hartebeest was shot at over 350 yards because he was on the other side of an open field, no cover to get any closer. It was probably the best shot of my life bar none. I still can see how small he looked through the Leupold scope. But with the help of a tree branch and some deep breaths he fell to the .338 magnum, what a devastating round it is. At this time I had put away the 7mm. magnum and switched to a Browning Stainless steel Stalker with a boss system shooting Federal premium 225 grain Trophy Bonded bullets. The next day on Hagen's ranch with a very good view on a field which always has game animals in it, you get something to look at while you eat your meals, it was time to try for an Eland. Joe had taken a very good one out of the wild and free herd two days earlier. We went to the blind that is built into the side of the dam at the end of the field. It did not take long to find out that the wind was swirling and coming from the wrong direction so we went back to the farm and got the portable blind and set up on the other side of the field. In the late afternoon the Eland, which numbered at 40 plus started coming in. I now understand that this is not the norm for this animal as they are said to be the ghosts of the plains. We spotted the biggest bull of the herd but could not shoot for all of the other Elands that surrounded him. After they got their water they started grazing and moving in our direction, this was getting very exciting to say the least. We had made an opening in the twigs on a branch of a long dead tree so I could shoot without moving from my chair, you got to have your creature comforts after all. After getting the OK from the PH that this one was a good bull I started getting ready for the shot. But now they had started moving away from the opening and our shooting scenario had been changed for us.
The sun was making it's journey down to the earth and it was becoming dark very fast. With the sun at the Elands' back he was silhoueted against the forest making for a difficult shot. With all of the female Elands around I could not shoot for fear of hitting any other animal. Looking throught the scope it was geting harder and harder to see the cross hairs. Finally the femals started moving away and gave my opening that I was waiting for. All that I remember from that shot was a huge ball of flame in the scope, and then the thundering of hooves and the dust cloud that followed. After the dust cleared there he was laying down on the opposit side of the field. On the radio they started yelling that I had missed, they were looking at another equally impressive Eland which naturally ran away. They thought the one they were looking at was the one that I had picked out. After all of the confusion, dust, and thundering of the hooves the hand shakes and back slapping commences. "Great shot" ws heard in that blind area several times.
During my hunt at Gauss Farms I took nine trophy animals, seven of which made it to the Gold catagory in the Namabian scoring system. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream of having a trip like this. On all of the ranches that we hunted there was a great abundance of game animals. All of the people were very friendly and courteous to all of us. We did not even put a dent into the herds they have over there. There are many more trophy animals in their herds. If you ae looking for a great time, great hunting, great home cooked meals, clean and comfortable living quarters then this is the place to go. Here is a list of what was taken: 2 Sprinbok, mine measured 104.5 cm or 41.14 inches, 2 Zebra, both Mountain Zebra, 2 Oryx, mine measured 209.5cm or 82.48 inches, Black Wildebeest 225cm or 88.58 inches, 2 Hartebeest mine 173cm or 68.1 inches,2 Blessbok, mine 121.5 cm or 47.83 inches, 3 Kudus the biggest one 53 inches, mine 50 inches, 2 Eland mine 238.0 cm or 93.7 inches, 2 Warthogs, mine 42.5cm or 16.73 inches. As you can see these are fine animals. At this time I am trying to post pictures in an album that T.Carr gave me information on. I will let you know when and IF I get it done. Great hunting to all, Mike.

Again Congratulations on a Wonderful hunt!
I look foward to viewing your pictures!

There is a wee bit more to this hunting story that Mike neglected to mention. I was there and can report on it first hand.

First, following the way-to-close encounter with the snake, Mike could levitate from a sitting position whenever somebody snuck up behind him and pinched him on the back of the leg. He could put the whole 250 pounds straight up in the air with surprising agility when he thought another snake was latching onto his leg. He makes a peculiar squealing noise while levitating too.

Then a very realistic rubber snake showed up in camp. His hunting partner Joe, who is quite the prankster in his own right, discovered said snake in his bed after lights out. He claims it didn't startled him but the shrieking we heard indicated otherwise. After an hour or two he thought it was funny too.

Then in due time my wife opened a silverware drawer in the kitchen while helping out and discovered the rubber snake. She got a case of happy feet: they were going up and down but she wasn't moving. I know nothing about how it got there.