Well, I had a great hunt even with taking the gent I told you guys about before. The old boy could hardly walk or get in and out of the truck. We mostly put him in blinds over water holes or he shot from the truck. Not my cup of tea but it was ok for him and it was his first and I am guessing only trip. But back to the beginning. I had Gracy travel book us through Frankfurt and then to Windhoek via Namibia Air. The first hiccup of the trip. No day rooms available in Franfurt that weekend due to some international book fair. I was a little peeved at Gracy for not calling me in a timely manner with that info. In retrospect they may have not gotten the info in a timely manner either so I should cut them some slack. The seats were all good and everything else flawless with them. I have always had good serivce from them in the past and must give them the benefit of the doubt. Had I been by myself or some of my regular hunting partners we would not have stayed at the airport. Oh almost forgot, I got to the airport and the gent I took is in a wheelchair with an oxygen machine. I knew he was bad but not that bad. I am glad in retrospect I decided to hire guns for use as lugging weapons and this guy would have been a bit much. The crown room in Frankfurt was great to us but they actually close for a few hours between 3 and 6 pm.

After 2 long flights and the layover from hell we fianlly make it to Windhoek. Kobus is there to meet us on the tarmac. Because he is a pilot in and out of that airport he has more leeway than most. He had us in, through customs, had our luggage loaded in the cessna and ready to leave in less thwn 15 minutes. I must admit a very nice meet and greet. Even without Kobus's extra access the airport at Windoek is very user friendly. We loaded up the cessna and flew about 1 1/2 hours northwest to the lodge in Damaraland. We got in, settled at the lodge and met the staff. Yvette had one of many great meals to come waiting for us although after that long in airports I was off my feed a bit. I will say that the food was great and per my request we ate pretty much everything we shot. Anyway it is the afternoon of the arrival day and we head out to site in guns and then do some hunting.

Beore we head out Kobus throws me this tidbit. We have some problem elephant that the conservancies want hunted are you interested? If you are I will get the permit. Well there goes my budget! It is one of those being in the right place at the right time scenarios. I know I will have to sort it out with my wife when I get home but it is one of those once in a lifetime chances. I certainly could not justify the cost of hunting elephant otherwise so of course I jumped on the chance.

More to follow.

Loking forward to pictures and the sequel.

We head out to a makeshift range and put a few rounds out making the necessary adjustments. For most of the trip I will be shooting a 7mm mag that although heavy shoots very sweet. That said my overall shooting this trip was terrible. It was very apparent to me I hadnt picked up a gun in almost a year. Some old bad habits came back that I thought I had mastered long ago. As long as I thought about what I was doing it was fine but when I rushed my shots it was another story. It took me the first 5 days to settle down and start to shoot straight again. I also shot a 7/22 that I couldnt hit a pig in the ass with. The gun was fine but for whatever reason I was not. After realizing I couldnt shoot the 7/22 I went to the 22-250 with the silencer. Now that is the sweetest varmint rig I have ever played with. It is day one still. I see lots of animals as we crusise around the property. Kobus wants a couple of meat animals so off we go. I spine an old gemsbok bull who goes around 34. Although I shot high I hit the spinal process and pretty much poleaxed him. The ice is at least broken. Larry, the older gent I took sits in a blind and takes another gemsbok meat animal. first blood all around. We head back to the lodge after dark for a great dinner and a couple of Tafels for me. Tomorrow I start hiking the mountains after hartmans zebra. Besides hunting the mountain zebra which I very much enjoyed it will be a mini training program for the elephant hunt. Apparently the boys want to see if I can walk.

Day 2-the death march begins.

We head out at first light and walk until about 3 pm. No sign of the zebra. Lots of other animals but the word had spread throughout the Hartmans community. None to be seen anywhere. While in the mountains we found a cave with a lot of bones in front of it. Checked it out but no one home at the moment. Lots of leopard tracks on the ranch as well as cheetah and a brown hyena coming in to bait. Saw plenty of kudu and gemsbok. Still no zebra. It is hot! Mid 90's. Surprisingly to everyone me included I am keeping up fairly well. However I dont kid myself and know these guys could leave me in the dust anytime they want. I have seen young Francoise run and he moves like a gazelle. Makes me remember what it was like at 21, but time moves on. I get back to the lodge to find Larry has taken a fairly decent kudu at the water hole. It is a respectable bull going about 54 to 55 inches with a huge hole in its face from fighting. Not bad for the old boy. He will later shoot some animals that are magnificent and probably even now has no idea what he shot. Heinrich is at this point the ph for Larry and is being extremely patient and helpful. We could not have asked for a better crew. It was an unusual event in that we had the entire staff at our disposal, 2 clients and 5 phs. Because it was late in the season and I managed to time it accordingly everyone was available. We are going to head out after dinner and shoot some varmints untl it gets too dark to shoot. I had to have a letter in advance stating my motivation for shooting the smaller slightly more exotic stuff. Parks then agreed to issue the permits. Having been 5 times now I wanted to hunt some different things.

I might add the flies were particulary bad this trip. The shepherds bush also known as stink bush were in full bloom. Smells like human feces everywhere. Of course the flies were loving it. I understand the locals make a drink out of the yellow fruits that will appear later on. I sure hope it smells better than the flowers! Almost forgot saw an african wildcat during the middle of the afternoon out hunting. Couldnt get a shot on it however. Unknown to me this was a portent of things to come. We head out and one of the guys spots a genet. I cant even see the damn thing. I can see one eye briefly but that is it. I realize just how bad my vision has become. We go a little farther and Apry spots one in a tree. I try to hit it with the 22 but in part to my bad shooting and part the thickness of the brush the bullets are deflecting all over. We run up close enough to see it at full length and I hit it. It takes off out of the tree and thankfully for me Lady, Heinrich's little jack russel was after it in a flash. We all are running through the thorns after them. Lady prevailed and we got the cat. I also got very bloodied in the process but didnt mind a bit. It was a beautful animal and a fairly large one at that. I owe the dog for that one and she gets to sleep with me as a reward after we get back to the lodge and the sun sets. Heinrich dosnt know until now but his little lady got rewarded. She is a great dog like most jack russels and has the heart of a lion. I watched her face down things 100 times her size. The evening goes on and darkness is fast approaching. Soon it will be too late to shoot. We see a caracal cross the road. Off we go again. I cant see it in the spear grass until it moves and finally much to everyones relief manage to shoot it. It was rather comical really. I can hear the frustrtaion in Andre's voice as he is yelling shoot it shoot it! I go where? He yells in the body! I meant where was the damn cat. Like I said until it started running I couldnt see it.It is amazing how well these animals blend in with their surroundings, quite the camoflage job. I come to find out this is only the 4th or 5th caracal they have taken on this property. We load up and are off again. I see another african wildcat but I cant shoot it. No bullets in the gun. This was so soon after the caracal it was totally unexpected. My bad! This will be my last opportunity at an african wildcat this trip. Also saw a porcupine but couldnt get a shot on it as it headed into a hole immeadiately upon seeing us. Still 2 almost 3 cats in one evening. Not bad. It is now too dark to shoot so we head back to the lodge. Tomorrow Kobus is flying down to the kalahari to meet a client who is flying in for a leopard. We will remain here with the rest of the crew and continue hunting.

The next day Yvette says I look like I have been in a war. But I am going to add insult to injury. The guys wake me in the morning and want some pictures of my caracal. It was too dark by the time we got back last night and the skinners gutted the animal. I am still half asleep and paying not so very close attention. Bam! Down on the rocks I go as I climb down to get in position. I hit hard and am extremely bloody but nothing hurt except my pride. Like usuall whenever I get hurt it is doing something stupid. My first reaction is never to check out the damage but to see who was looking. Pretty much everyone. Good thing I dont have much of an ego or it would have been bruised and battered as well. Back to the mountains with Apry. Still no zebra. I Did see probably the biggest bodied duiker I have ever seen while crawling around through the scrub though. We see a baboon but I miss the shot. This will be my last day of crappy shooting. For whatever reason I start to settle down. I come back empty after a long hot day. Larry managed to take a decent jackal from the blind.It is over 100 today and the wind is blowing extremely hard. There will be no evening hunting before dark tonight as nothing is moving anywhere.

Day 4 Decide I need to listen to my body and take a day from the mountains. In retrospect I should have continued. Today would not be my finest hour. I head out to the skinning sheds to pick up Elvis and Moses. On the way there I see the first really good warthog of the trip. He was a smart old boy and always kept something between himself and us. We moved forward he moved forward, we moved back he moved back. In the end no available shot but what a good pig. I had noticed the absence of many decent pigs this trip. I did see a lot of sows with little ones. The drought of the last couple years had really hammered the population. Today I buggered a shot on a mountain zebra. I could have dropped it with a seond shot and had it dead in my sights but wasnt sure it was the same animal so didnt take the shot. The phs were unable to determine at that point either so I shouldnt feel so bad. It is however the first animal I have ever lost. I have wounded a few but always was able to follow up on them. I had picked a mare from the middle of the herd like I was suppoosed to but plain jut blew the shot. Francois was off like the wind and stayed with them until it got too dark to see. Boy can that kid run! We got one more opportunity at about 700 yards. You heard the bullet going for what seemed like forever before we heard the thwack. Still we did not recover the animal. I dont care about the fees but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to leave a wounded animal in the field. Anyone ever tells me shooting a zebra is like shooting a horse again and I might have something to say about it. The moungtain zebra is a whole different hunt than the Burchells. you wouldnt even know they are the same animal the behaviour is so different.

I like your story better then mine.

John

Day 5 Out looking for pigs for larry. Lots of great steinbok running around. I see my first Damara Dik Dik. Again no sign of the zebra but some decent leopard tracks on the road. Later in the day I take what at first was thought to be an average Dik Dik. Measured out at 3 1/4 inches. Just didnt quite have the mass at the base to make top 10. missed it by 1/8 inch. What a beautiful animal. This was the number one animal on my list for this trip so I am very pleased. What a beautiful animal and my shooting has finally started to settle down. There is something equisite about the little ones. I also think they are every bit as tuff to hunt as the big stuff. I will probably do something with the taxidermist having the dik dik and caracal together. After lunch we head over to a neighbors property to see if we can get a decent pig for Larry. This property has a very large dam and a substantial amount of water. We get there an several pigs come in as well as kudu, springbok, pelicans, gemsbok and assorted others. Still no pig good enought to shoot. Larry does get an opportunity on a really nice jackal and makes the shot. It is probably the nicest pelt I have ever seen on a jackal. It will make a nice full mount. I have passed up some shots trying to make sure Larry has a good time. I hope it pays off for him. I had thought about south africa but decided if there was only going to be one trip I wanted him to see real hunting. In 20/20 hindsight I dont think it mattered but it was a part of my decision. The brown hyena hasnt been back so no opportunity there. Tomorrow is Sunday and I have decided will be a down day. We will rest and recoup. Watch th sunrise and sunset from the chalet. What a great view. the properties stretch as far as you can see in 3 directions going up into the mountains. Temp is still climbing during the days but plenty cold at night. Shook out one scorpion today. Nasty little black bugger. He scurried into the rocks and quickly dissapeared.

Don't think I would head to ANYWHERE hunting not having fired a shot in a year. Owe it to the animals to be the best you can be!!!!

No argument you are absolutely right. However some times things happen that dont allow you to do what you want or need to do. Not an excuse just a fact. This trip came together very quickly without much prepration. It showed on my part. This is not my norm believe me. I would however prefer to portray things accurately rather than gloss them over as some would. It is what it is and no one to blame but me.

Sun, most of the team loads up and heads north to opuwa. We will follow tomorrow when Kobus gets back with the cessna after finishing his leopard hunt and then picking up Kuhn. Kuhn is the head ph for the conservancies we will be hunting. It is about a 3 hour flight north to the Angolan border then 60 klicks east to the conservancies. This is a high fence conservancy. The pan is probably about 140,000 hectares so the fence is really a non issue. That said I will hunt outside the fence hunting elephant while Larry is inside huntng eland etc.
Day one he takes a good burchells zebra. Outside no sign of the elephant.
Day 2 It is over 100 again and a strong wind. I figure I am in for a long hot day. Only one way to hunt elephant and that is on your feet. The red gods however smile on me this day. We pick up on the ele after only a few hours and we are off. The stalk ends up being realtively short at about 2.6 klicks. We had a distinct advantage as the wind was blowing straight at us most of the time and moving them toward us at the same time we closed. We had to circle off a couple of times because of the wind swirling but for the most part it was in our favour. A few years ago my friend Matt Norman got a shot at a problem ele that had been wounded by poachers with an ak. His hunt was all filmed by a German documentary crew who were there doing a piece on poaching. Matt says that knowing this whole thing is on television made him a bit nervous. He said all he could keep thiking was Lord dont let me f this up. Although all I have is one of the ph's with a viedeo camera I am nervous as well. Those words echo over and over through my head. Thanks Matt! We make the stalk over an hour or so and finally move into position. We are about 30 yards from 3 bulls trying to decide which one to take. Kobus decides which one is the leader and up go the sticks. I am taking the heart shot as I dont trust myself to do the brain shot at this point. I fire and the shot is good. I fire twice more. The bull is down within another 30 yards and the other two are heading out for points unknown. He is up again. Two more shots and it is all over. This is the first time I have never felt the recoil or even heard my shots. The adrenaline was pumping. Although the 375 hh was a bit smaller than I would have liked it performed flawlessly on the old bull. The solids I used hardly even deformed except for a finisher through the skull and down into the jaw. I am mixed with elation and a bit of sadness. Nothing I have ever hunted has evoked an emotion like this. For those of you who have done it I think you know what I mean. Now the work begins as after taking pictures the villagers begin arriving. You can read all the books you want and ask questions until you are a nuisance but nothing really prepares you for this until you have done it. I dont know how else to explain it. It takes 8 hours to go from the full animal to the proverbial wet spot on the grass. Even knowing how much protein is at a premium until you see it on this scale it still isnt the same. we turned on the gps and found we were right on the border of 2 conservancies. As such each village gets part of the fees and half the meat. The axes, pangas and machetes are flashing widly and it is amazing no one looses an arm or a hand. The people just keep coming and coming. We go to get lunch out of the coolbox and find that the Opuwa Country Lodge has packed everything on real china. Eating on real china in the bush, another first. The others take off hunting but I opt to stay with the ele untill the process is complete. Larry takes a magnificent kalahari springbok that I must admit I am a bit envious of. He still has no idea of the quality of the animals he is getting an opportunity at. It is very late before we head back the 60 klick drive to Opuwa. Damn donkeys and cattle as well as game all over the road. We are all very tired and it is a long drive back for the guys. I can see they are beat as well. Brandy and coke and Tafel around and spririts lift. The fatigue is forgoten as we relieve the day.

Next day we are back in the conservancy again. This time I make a great running shot on an eland and take a very good Livingstone. Larry takes a great old red hartebeast that will be a field gold it is so old and worn. Today we are driving along and I look down in the grass. I yell stop! Back up slow and straight. There is an old rpg round between the front wheels. On closer inspection the detonator is blown but everything else is intact. A reminder of days gone by. That would have ruined my day. Today we get a little too close to a black rhino and he false charges us. That was great to watch. Having hunted white rhino all I can say is it is a totally different animal with a different disposition. This old boy dosnt play well with others. I pass on a couple black faced impala because they are not what I am looking for.

Next day after much work Larry takes a good livingstone eland as well. A very old worn bull as blue as can be. It is getting late. there are several giraffe milling about in he distance. I say to Kobus as nonchalant as I can "Since I cant seem to find a black faced impala I want to shoot how much for a giraffe." I couldnt pull it off and he knows I am up to shit. It was a good laugh for everyone though. It appears there may be some poaching going on as we see a couple of animals with blood on them. That and everything is really spooked. Not our doing but something is going on. We actually get back relatively early and enjoy a couple of drinks before dinner. While Andre and I are outside having a drink and abusing the lungs we see a group of the black men on the staff over by the stairs acting very nervous. We go over to look and find a tiger snake. The men are all standing around until this gal comes out. I cant tell what she is saying but is obvious she is giving them hell. Translated roughly, " You call yourselves men? How can you proect us if you are afraid of a little snake?!"
Fianlly the guys get some petrol and poor it in the hole. A well placed match and all the oxygen is gone. They will later bring trhe snake to the table for me to see. It is a tiger snake and although venomous not particularly nasty. However on the way out after dinner I must avoid a rather nasty looking very fat tailed scorpion on the patio. Funny that the only poisonous things I saw this trip were at the lodges. Tomorrow we will fly down to Andres place at Mariental. Also saw a female black rhino with a little one today in the conservancy, pretty cool.

Fly to Mariental and Andre's territory. Stay at Lapa Lange, very nice. I take a good sized aardvark that had been digging wholes everywhere. Thing weighs about 70 to 80 lbs. Claws are impressive. Also take a decent common impala. We will hunt here for the next few days. I spend an afternoon with Andre coaching my shooting. He can see nothing particularly wrong that I dont already know about. I am shooting this wildcat 7mm he has that just screams at around 3800 ft per sec. It is necked down with a 40 degree shoulder if I remember right. The gun weighs a ton but absolutely no recoil. Only a guy as big as Andre could carry a gun like this all day. The trigger is so light and crisp. I love it. The lodge needs some meat so we go out and cull a couple springbok. Next day we go to another ranch to shoot some gemsbuck. I shoot a very nice 40 inch bull. There were actually some cows that probably went 43 or 44 but we passed. All the cows were either pregnant or already had calves. We stopped at the farm for lunch and had a great spread. The Mrs brought out her best china for us. She also brought a liter jar of clotted cream. I was in heaven. the hospitality of everyone is great. Next day we head to another farm and Larry takes a good gemsbok after a long wait. This guy has white faced gemsbok and a couple that are almost all white. He obviously didnt want those shot as he is trying to get the trait to be dominant in his population. The herd had 30 o 40 gemsbok in it and all stayed very closly bunched together. We just had to wait them out until this bull made a mistake. I also saw an aardwolf in the midle of the afternoon. Unusuall to see one so early. It will look great in my trophy room. No game fences here on these ranches, sheep fencing only. The next day we head to another neighbors ranch. Larry is after a blue wildebeest. We come across the herd and there is no doubt about which one to shoot. This bull really stands out. His horns go about 6 inches on each side past his ears before starting to curl upwards. What a monster. Larry takes the animal but really dosnt realize what he has shot. It will be the new #3 in Namibia and probably make top 20 in the world. The lord is really looking after this old boy. Not only has he shot several animals but not one of them is even average. They are all magnificent. Next day we go to do some springbok culling then later go to war with the baboons. Vile ugly creatures. I dont know why I hate baboons so much I just do. Larry is bringing one very big old male home for his trophy room. Tonight there is a black wedding at the lodge. We have a great time but everytime I turn around someone is handing me something different to drink. A good time is had by all but I know I will pay for this tomorrow. Go to see the dam and do a game drive to fill the afternoon. Our trip is comimg to an end but has been great. I have left out a lot but even at that this has been long winded. My thanks to all who made this trip great.

I enjoyed the updates but need to see pictures of all this when you have a chance.

Great report and it sounds like terrific trip, but like Charles said, we need pictures!

I hope I did this right. Sorry I cant figure out how to upload the video but here is the link to a few pics
http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f160/mdshunter/

Great pics Mike. Thanks for posting the link. I might have missed it above, but did you get the weights on the tusks?

Not yet but am estimating 40 to 45 lbs. They are very heavy at the base. Around 14 inches if I remember right. Pretty good for a problem ele.

Congratulations Mike...we had a great hunt with Kobus as well!

The pics are great.

Dr. Tim

Thanks Tim. Everything was first rate. Absolutely a great hunt with Kobus and the guys. Hell, he didnt even charge me a higher day rate for the ele. We were very well taken care of for sure. Go to Africa for a plains game hunt and get an ele hunt in addition for just the trophy fees. Great deal in my book! I have to believe that my hunt as well as yours is the norm and not the exception. I know too mnay people who have hunted with Kobus who say basically the same thing we do.
Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Smith:
Not yet but am estimating 40 to 45 lbs. They are very heavy at the base. Around 14 inches if I remember right. Pretty good for a problem ele.

Indeed.

Update on the elephant! Apparently this bull had little or no nerve in the tusks. The old boy went 52 lbs per side and is very evenly matched. Now that is a great problem animal. It is better than I would have ever expected. A true bonus! Thanks again Kobus! Now I have to figure out how to get the video up for you all to see.