13 October 2010, 05:38
dlroxbyPlains Game With Shona Adventures
Hunter: Donald L. RoxbyTraveling companion: My wife Denise
Dates: September 13 through September 29, 2010
Shona Hunting Adventures
Po Box 407, Hentiesbaai, Namibia
Tel: +264 81 128 3105
Fax: +264 64 500 839
Email: hunting@shona-adventures.com
Web Site: www.shona-adventures.com
PH: Johann Veldsman
Hunting Guide: Tjokkie (pronounced "Chockey") Tsiveze
Hunting Consultant/Booking Coordinator: Rick Wilks’ Hunting Adventures, 9269 Whitetail Way, King George, VA 22485, web site: http://www.wilks-hunting-adv.com, email: rbwilks@crosslink.net, Tel. 540-775-4625
Travel: arranged by Doug Gray of Gracy Travel International, Inc., 6865 Camp Bullis Road, Suite B, San Antonio, TX 78256, web site: http://www.gracytravel.com, email: debbie@gracytravel.com, Tel.: +1 (800) 299-8558
Rifle: Remington 700; 300 Ultra Mag.; Bullet: Remington Premier, Power Level III, Extreme Range 200 GR A-Frame
Animals Harvested: Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Gemsbok (cull animal), and Warthog.
Taxidermist: Otjiwarongo Taxidermy, 2nd Avenue, P.O. Box 1020, Otjiwarongo, Namibia, Tel.: +264 67 302692, Fax: +264 67 302483, Mobile: +27 81 124 1484
Email: otjtaxi@iafrica.com.na
Report: We travelled via Delta Airlines from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia where we picked up a connection to Frankfurt, Germany. Our Air Namibia flight out of Frankfurt on Tuesday, September 14th was cancelled to replace an engine. Gracy Travel helped us locate a room at the Mercure Hotel near the airport. We returned to the airport the next day to find out that our evening flight was delayed because the engine change could not be completed in time. Because of an Automobile Expo being held in Frankfurt, all the local motels were booked, including the Mercure which we had just left. Consequently, Air Namibia bused us to Bad Homburg Vor Der Hohe, two hours north of Frankfurt, where they put us up in the Steigenberger Hotel. While there, Air Namibia wined and dined us at no charge. We were bused out at 5:00 AM the next morning to catch an 8:00 AM flight to Windhoek.
We arrived at the Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek, the capital Namibia, in the afternoon and hooked up with our Professional Hunter (PH), Johann Veldsman. Because we were very tired after four days of travel and arrived late in the evening we spend our first night in Windhoek. Johann got us a room at the Galpinii Guest House (http://www.galpinii.iway.na/). The Galpinii Guest House is an up-market guest house situated in the quiet suburb of Pioneer Park in the centre of Windhoek.
The following morning we made the 3 hour drive to the Omuzire (Shadow) Bush. This camp is located on 50,000 acres of pristine, free-range African thorn-bush feld. The farm, where most of our hunting was done, is called Avondschaduw and totals about 12,500 acres. After arriving, we sighted in my rifle and then drove around to look the place over. During this first venture out I saw 2 Steinbok, 1 Black-Backed Jackal, 12 Warthogs, 1 Kudu cow and 19 Gemsboks. The game at this camp is too numerous to count. I shot at a Gemsbok cow to use for camp meat, but my bullet deflected off a branch and missed the animal completely. While we were out this first afternoon we saw Leopard sign and came across a Kudu that had been taken down by one of them.
[/IMG] Leopard Kill – Kudu Calf
The next morning we focused on taking a Warthog. We drove to many of the numerous waterholes on the property, parked some distance away and then stalked in looking for hogs. During the heat of the day we took a stand at one of the waterholes and took a nice hog 15 minutes after settling in. The old boar had teeth worn to the gums and was probably in his last year of life. His heavy tusks were worn down, but he still scored 36.3 inches (silver metal), qualifying it for entry into the Safari Club International (SCI) record book.
Warthog Boar
With the warthog under our belt, we tried again to locate a Gemsbok for the kitchen. After a few hours we located a fat dry cow with a deformed horn that Johann wanted to remove from the gene pool. She offered an angled shot that allowed me to place a shot in the neck that would exit on the far shoulder. The shot broke her spine and put her straight down.
Kalahari Gemsbok Cow – Cull Animal
The next morning we moved to Okazeni to hunt Blesbok. The 10,000 hector Okazeni property is about a one hour drive from the Omuzire (Shadow) Bush Camp. Okazeni is shadowed by the majestic Etjo mountain range and is located on the East-West watershed, in the central part of Namibia. The landscape varies from mountainous terrain in the West, to the wide open Omaheke plains in the East. The Omaruru and Omuramba Omatako rivers wind their way through this diverse landscape.
After hunting most of the day we located five Blesbok in an open plain. They were surrounded by Kudu cows and calves, Springbok and Plains Zebra. We tried to close the distance, but there were do many eyes looking our way. When it looked like they were going to break, we tried a long shot off the sticks and missed. It was a fun hunt and I enjoyed the experience.
The next morning we traveled north to Shona’s Tualuka Safari Lodge. This beautiful, five star lodge is located in the north western part of Namibia. It consists of 16,500 acres of privately owned land situated on the banks of the non-perennial Huab River. The area in Damaraland is part of the Loxodonta Africana conservancy area. While here, we focused on harvesting a mature Kudu bull. When we first arrived at Tualuka we were seeing 40 to 80 Kudu a day in the Huab River drainage feeding on Acacia Pods. But a full moon and a cold front changed their movement patterns. After hunting hard for two days in the river basin and flats without success, we moved to the mountains. We located a nice kudu bull (mid-fifties) at the top of a mountain drawl. He was standing broad side at >300 yards with a strong cross wind. With no way to approach any closer we waited for him to move. Tjokkie then whispered that he saw a second smaller bull at 200 yards standing behind a bush. As I lined up to look at this bull, Tjokkie, in an excited voice whispered for me to stop and said he could see a third bull at 150 yards. He had heavy dark horns with worn ivory tips and was the largest bodied of the three. After some shifting around on the side of the huge boulder we were glassing from, I was able to place a round through his shoulders. He ran 30 yards and crashed into a rock pile. From the wear on his teeth we guessed this huge bodied old timer to be 10 years old.
Southern Greater Kudu Bull
The next day we moved further north to Shona hunting property located in the Kaoko-Etosha Conservancy hunting area northwest of Kamanjab. This property is surrounded on three sides by Etosha National Park. Our plan was to spend two days there to seek out a nice Impala to complete my wish list. In the morning, we located fresh lion tracks and later saw vultures concentrated in a group of trees. Lions are a problem on this ranch and we moved in to check the site. We located a dead Eland bull that had been partially devoured. It was spooky going in, but the lion was not on the kill when we found it.
Lion Kill – Southern Eland Bull
While searching for Impala, we located a herd of Wildebeest with two very good bulls. Our first stalk was blown when we spooked a group of Kudu cows and calves. The second approach failed when we bumped into a group of Cape Eland hidden in the thorn bush. We then took a lunch break to let the herd settle down and found them again in the afternoon. We made a successful stalk this time. As we got to less than 150 yards, one of the bulls stepped out of the cover and offered a good broad side shot. He was huge compared to the rest of the herd and his ears did not reach the inside of the horn curl. Johann was whispering shoot and I aimed for the point of the shoulder and fired without hesitation. The Gold Medal bull scored 195.
Blue Wildebeest Bull
During our second day in Damaraland, we ran into a herd of Red Hartebeest. The group contained a good herd bull that we agreed should not be passed up. After a short stalk through the thorn bush I was able to get off a shot. The bull is 1-inch short of making the SCI record book. He scored 156.
Red Hartebeest Bull
Having exchanged my Impala for a Wildebeest and Hartebeest (good trade), we headed back to the main lodge to pick up Denise and go sightseeing.
Side Trips: We made four side trips during our stay with Shona Hunting Adventures to break up the hunting and allow me to vacation with my wife. We visited a Himba village, the Ancient Rock Carvings on Peet Albert’s Koppie, a Cheetah farm that rehabilitates injured Cheetahs’ and the Etosha National Park. All of these sites are within easy driving distance from Kamanjab. I enjoyed them all would recommend that anyone hunting in northern Namibia to take some time out to enjoy these places. We also took an extra day to shop for gifts in Windhoek.
Accommodations and Service: My wife had never been to Africa and she had reservations about going with me. Consequently, I focused my research on finding a family oriented operation that could provide great hunting opportunities and also occupy and please non-hunting family members. This is a hard mix, but Shona has it down to a science. The accommodations and services provided by Shona are top notch and my wife thought she had died and gone to heaven. She arrived to find luxurious accommodations and personalized gifts on her bed. She was surrounded by friendly staff members that are service oriented and who catered to her every need. She slept in while we hunted and was greeted each morning with snacks and coffee, excellent meals cooked to perfection and activities to keep her occupied. Not a detail was missed.
Memorable Events: Aside from the highs and lows of great far chase hunting, there are many other happy experiences burnt into my mind. The most memorable of these are the many little things that made us laugh … like the democratic bird that kept squawking Barack, Barack, the plant with the invisible thorns that kept ripping at me that we appropriately named the Son-of-a-Bitch bush, teaching little Zoe how to shoot spit wads in the restaurant, scaring everyone when I snored aloud while sleeping in the van, stalking the Rock-Dancing Klipspringer to capture a good photograph. I also have fond memories of the discussions we had at the dinner table that always seem to drift to slimy foods (slimy okra, oysters, etc.), and the sights and smells of Baboon Mountain. I miss it all.
Trophy Processing: Shona took great pains to quickly process my trophies and delivered the skulls, cape and hides to Otjiwarongo Taxidermy (http://www.namibia-taxidermy.com) within a few days after our departure. I elected to use Otjiwarongo Taxidermy to prepare the skulls and too do the hide tanning work for me. Because I have very little space left in my home for trophies, I asked the taxidermist to prepare European Mounts for my wildebeest, hartebeest and warthog and prepare the Kudu skull and cape for shipment to my taxidermist for mounting. I am hoping that this will save me time, reduce costs and simply entry of the trophies through customs.
Summary: Except for the Air Namibia flight cancellations that resulted in us taking four days to get to our destination, the trip exceeded my wildest expectations. My wife and I have already started saving for our return trip.
Wildlife Photographs:
I have included a few of the hundreds of wildlife photographs that we took on our trip.
