I hunted with Helmke Sartorious von Bach, owner of Kamanjab Trophy Hunting, from June 11 - 22.



The hunting area is to the east of Kamanjab, 160 miles west of Outjo, in the North/Northwest part of Namibia. The US booking agent for them is Mims Reed, who posts here as Harry. You can visit his website at: Kamanjab Hunting page



First, some general information of the area...



Most hunting is on the private ranch of Helmke and his wife, Dagmar, which is about 28,000 acres. It is part of a conservancy of around 800,000 acres, all contiguous to the ranch. We only hunted off the ranch one day, as there was more than enough game on the property for our needs.



The area is quite rocky and hilly, with brush-covered flats between the hills.



My battery consisted of:



Remington 700 300 Ultra Mag, teflon-coated stainless steel, Brown Precision stock, Ziess Diavari 3-9x36, S&K rings/bases, total weight around 7.5 lbs. and 180 gr Nosler Partitions.



Winchester 70 Classic 375 H&H, blue/walnut, Talley QR rings, Nikon Monarch 2-7x33 and 300 gr Winchester Fail-safes.



We hunted 2x1 with Helmke as PH and Penti, a black tracker. Both were very good hunters. We saw dozens to hundreds of Kudu, Warthog and Gemsbok daily, as well as lots of Hartebeast, Zebra, and Giraffe. Springbok were less common, and Steenbok were seen as we were driving several times each day.



Gemsbok: taken first day. 38" on long horn, other horn had about 3" broken. Very old bull. Shot twice through right shoulder from broadside at about 150 yards. Stumbled around and rolled over backwards, didn't travel more than 20 yards. Neither bullets recovered (altough neither exited).







Kudu #1: second day. 55.5" on long horn, other 54.5". Rowland Ward. Shot broadside at about 75 yards, bullet entered just in front of facing shoulder, exited off shoulder. Collapsed immediated on impact.







Kudu #2: 50.5" on long horn, 49.5" on short side (slightly broken, very old bull). Shot broadside at about 250 yards. Bullet entered on the top-front part of shoulder, was recovered in opposite shoulder. Ran about 50 yards.







Hartman's Zebra: these things are really, really tough! Shot at about 75 yards, full front facing. Bullet entered through sternum, was deflected and imbedded in rib on right side (of animal). He ran about 400 yards before falling.







Springbok: about 12 inches, shot at around 75 yards, quartering forward. Bullet entered inside closest front leg, exited center of off side rib cage. He "sprung" about 6 feet in the air at the shot, and ran about 75 yards, leaving a blood trail 3 feet wide. It was quite a surprise to see him jump like that!







Steenbok: only animal shot with 375 (thought the hole would be small for a full-mount...we were wrong). Shot at about 100 yards through ribs. Dropped immediately. He is just a little over 3", and barely made the Namibian minimum score, but he is one of my favorite trophies...we looked for a shootable one for 6 or 7 days.







Baboon: shot at 278 yards (measured), sitting in tree on top of a hill, making life miserable for us by scaring off all the other animals.

Good report. Thanks. I couldn't get the pics to show though.

Anyone else having trouble with the pics? I checked on two computers, and don't seem to have any problems.

I can't get the photos to come up either.

They are coming up fine for me.

Here they come, must have been a glitch in the mechanisim. Some fine looking animals. I'm sure you had a great time. Are all the Baboons there that dark?

They're coming up fine now. Great pics. Thanks.

Yes, all the baboons we saw in Namibia were quite black. It was interesting that the baboons we saw around Victoria Falls/Chobe Park were much lighter in color.

That baboon looks like pure evil! Look at the size of those forearms and canines!

Hi TT:

Man it looks like you had a great hunt, and some very impressive animals to boot.

There are some striking simulatories in both are recent hunts. The first is, my two rifles I took were a Model 700 SS/ Laminated 300 RUM, shooting 180 grain Nosler Partitions and second, a 375 H&H Model 70 Winchester as my back up. And third, we both ended up shooting two Kudu.

Unfortunately I never even had the chance to shoot my 375 H&H at any live game. The only shot I took with it in Africa was one to verify my zero.

I think the 300 RUM is an outstanding African caliber for Plains game. I shot 14 out of my 15 African game with the 300 RUM, all with factory Remington 180 Noslers, and YES I am an avid handloader.

Very good pics also... again congrats...

Regards.... Jim P.

PAHunter,

My rifle started life as a Stainless/Laminate. I (used) to handload alot, as well, but the factory Partitions for the 300 RUM all shoot really well, and all the factory ammo I've shot shoot to the same point of impact in my gun, so why mess with it?

I did conclude that I will use 200 gr Partitions or a tougher bullet in the future for the large animals. Luckily, most of mine died very quickly, but I rarely had an exit hole, even on broadside shots, and usually zero blood trail.

As noted, the Zebra bones did quite a number on the partition, and it actually looked like a ballistic tip when it was recovered. My hunting partner was shooting 180 gr partitions in a 30-06, and of all the recovered bullets, only one looked anything like a "good" expanded bullet. The rest were really deformed and torn apart. I was disappointed at this, although I can't really argue with the end results.

I enjoyed carrying the 375 the last 4 days, as I looked for a Steenbok. I found it a little ironic that I carried the gun I had brought for Giraffe or Eland when looking for a 30 lb antelope.

What area did you hunt?

Hi TT:

I just got back from Zimbabwe on June 14th, my hunt report is farther down on this forum with some pics.

I also came to the same conclusion about the 200 grain Nosler Partitions. My rifle shoots the 180's and the 200 grain factory fodder to the same point of aim, and sub MOA. I had 200 grainers with me, but again, I didn't want to mess with anything.

I have five recoverd bullets, and had two exits, with 10 game animals taken this trip. I should have used the 375 H&H on my Griaffe, but I had the 300 RUM in my hands at the time.

All five bullets recovered blew the first half of the partition off, and the second half acted like a solid. They reatined approximately 60% of their original weight. But this is how a Partition supposed to act at our velocities. If you don't hit any heavy bone it will blow through a broad side shot, say on a waterbuck, and do extensive damage. If it hits bone it shatters the bone and usually breaks it. At least it did on my Kudu, Waterbuck and Warthog.

Regards... Jim P.

TrademarkTexan,
Looks like you had a great hunt and some excellent heads harvested. Your first kudu bull was a hoss! Speaking of hosses though, my favorite trophy animal in Namibia is the Hartman Mountain zebra also. Tough to hunt and tougher to bring down. Mine took four 250 grain 338 Trophy Bonded bullets to get on the ground back in 1999! Looks like the newer models are just as tough. Congratulations!

Very good!!
Incredible pictures, thanks for sharing them. I'm leaving for Kamanjab in three weeks
LG

Lorenzo, who are you hunting with?