15 August 2022, 22:59
larryshoresPG with Hunters Namibia - some pics added
Outfitter- Hunters Namibia
Hunter- Larry Shores
Dates- August 1, 2022 to August 14, 2022
PH- Johnny Hochobeb. Johnny is in his late 50’s. Very nice guy. Hard working and very skilled. His eyes are incredible. Great tracker .
Weather - varies . Some nights in the 20’s , others in the 40’s. Daytime temperatures ranged from the 70’s to the 90’s. The first few days were heavily overcast and the wind was howling . Most unusual.
Rifles- my old reliable Rifles Inc. 416 and my new Christensen 300 Win Mag.
General comments - this is a postponed hunt . I bought it in 2019 at a DSC auction . Mark Geist, one of the Benghazi survivors was supposed to go. Due to COVID, there was a major delay. I did not contact Mark to go.
Also the property of quite large. 55,000 acres.
Style of hunting - we either rode around looking to spot something which was stalked or we got out and walked looking to find something. No shots were allowed to be fired from the truck.
Shots- all shots were off sticks . I have been on many safaris . I have never taken shots this long . My longest was an ostrich at over 400 yards .
I will discuss each species hunted separated below:
BLUE WILDEBEEST- they have a very good population of these . We saw many daily.
The first one was taken the afternoon the day we arrived . He was the single darkest BW I have ever seen. We spotted him in the distance from the road . We got out and made a stalk . I hammered him from about 160 yards . He went straight down. No drama .
The second was a couple of days later . We were walking to see what we could find. We bumped into this lone BW bull. I shot him from about 125 yards . Down he went. When we approached , he was still breathing . I shot him again to end it quickly .
The third is rather bizarre . We were driving after shooting the second BW. All of a sudden , Johnny said to stop. He told me that I must cull this BW. We made a short stalk and I hammered him from about 100 yards. Down he went .
As we approached , I knew right away why Johnny wanted him culled . He was emaciated. He also had a broken leg which was infected according to my orthopedic surgeon wife . This was ugly and not fun. It needed to be done.
I might add that we ate BW a couple of times . I found it outstanding.
GEMSBOK- they have a massive population of gemsbok. I took two. We spotted the first from the truck. Got out and made a long stalk. I shot and hit him at about 150 yards . Unfortunately, he had to be followed . He was recovered .
The second and largest (about 38 and change ), we bumped into on a 4 mile hike. Hammered him and down he went .
These are excellent eating . We ate them several times . Also very beautiful.
ELAND - they have mass quantities of eland . On the last day , we saw a herd that had over 100 in it . Absolutely amazing .
I wanted to take one as these are my favorites to eat .
We saw some cross the road about a half mile ahead of us. We got out of the car and closed the gap with a long circuitous stalk. The stalk was absolutely masterful.
We got reasonably close and were hiding in a big bush. The eland fed closer and closer . I feared this one cow would come and feed on the bushes we were standing in . She was heading directly for us. Fortunately, she turned .
We saw the big bull. He was feeding along . We estimated he wound clear the bush at about 80 yards . At some point , he turned around . I adjusted and shot him at about 165 yards with my 416. A loud smack could be heard. He just stood there. I hammered him again . He ran off a few yards and laid down.
As we approached , I could see this reddish lump near the bull. Oh hell no I thought . I feared a pass through that hit an unseen cow . Fortunately, it ended up this red lump was a small termite mound.
This was a very big bull. Great horns but I could care less about that type of thing .
RED HARTEBEEST- they have a good population of RH. We saw quite a few daily .
One day we went out . I was carrying my 416. I shot at one 4 different times at about 175. I could not believe I missed.
Subsequently, we went to the range. This gun was 4 inches to the left at 25 yards . That is almost 3 feet off at 175 yards . This gun has never moved since I put the scope on it in 2007. It was way off when I checked the zero. I fear something is wrong with the scope .
I switched guns and picked up my 300. We were out walking and looking when we spotted and excellent specimen. I dropped him dead on the spot at about 160 yards .
OSTRICH- they have a fair number of ostrich . I wanted one .
These are very difficult as they have great eyesight. We made several attempts to get close enough to shoot without success.
We walked up on a big open area by walking through some thick bush . I peered out from behind a bush and I could see 2 male birds WAY out. Johnny put up the sticks. Boom. I could see him pile up. I used my range finders later . It was over 400 yards . Definitely one of the two best shots I made .
WARTHOG- These were difficult. I believe there to be a good population based on the sign I was seeing . However it was hard to spot them as the grass was so high.
One day while heading back to camp, we bumped two. A male and a female . I jumped out and set up the sticks . They told me to shoot if I could . I shot him in the ear at about 60 yards . The bullet exited the middle of his nose . Needless to say, he was down.
At 10 yards , we could not see him. All I could think was that this place would be a terror to track a wounded leopard.
This is the smallest warthog I have ever taken.
BURCHELLS ZEBRA- we saw a fair number of these . Certainly not an over abundance of them.
We spotted a herd one afternoon. We got out an followed . I shot one at slightly over 100 yards . Down instantly.
I might add that we ate zebra twice . It was quite good .
HARTMAN’S MOUNTAIN ZEBRA- these seemed to be concentrated in one area . We only saw them a few times . Frankly , I wasn’t sure we would get one .
Driving up the road one day , I saw something in the road several hundred yards away . Out come the binos . They are clearly HMZ. Unfortunately, the wind is blowing straight to them. I figure we have no chance.
Much to my surprise, Johnny want to go for it . We moved out of sight and got to about 275 yards . Up came the sticks . I shot and immediately heard the loud clap of a hit.
We took off and found where the zebra were standing . No blood. I was worried . We did not follow far when we found the zebra laying stone dead .
WATERBUCK- I did not see a lot of waterbuck. We managed to determine that some were in a particular area. In we go anticipating a long walk to look for them. As we drove in, I spotted two that were relatively close . They ran before a shot could be taken.
Off we go to follow them . I see them standing in the distance a long way away . About 350 yards . Up go the sticks . Boom. I hear a loud smack and I could visibly see the WB react.
Off we go to look. I fully expected to find him dead in short order . Wrong ! We tracked him most of the day for 2 days . Never saw him again . I was depressed .
Four days after the shot, Murray Osborne my long time cameraman came to my room. He was in his room and looked at a nearby waterhole . The WB was standing there. He climbed out the window and came to get me. As soon as I arrived and peered around the corner, he ran. We gave chase and tracked for a while . The track was lost . Two more seconds and I could have shot him.
We sat at waterholes waiting on him to drink . He never did .
I suspect he is still alive .
BLACK WILDEBEEST- there is an excellent population of black wildebeest. It had been a long time since I have been in an area where these existed. I decided to take the opportunity. I was allowed to take two.
The first was on the second day I believe . We spotted it. It was in a very open area. We took our time and used bushes for cover . We closed to about 150 yards . Up go the sticks . Just as I shot , he turned . While clearly hit, I was 100% convinced it was way too far back due to him turning . The others thought it was simply too low . Upon recovery, it was clear that I was correct .
The second was near the end. We went to this lake on the north end (I think) of the area. We spotted this large lone bull on a flood plain. We waited as he was walking our way. He stopped broadside and I hammered him. He ran and I shot him again as he ran. I hit him running at about 300 yards.
JACKAL- this place has a pile of jackals . I was encouraged to shoot as many as I wanted . I could have shot quite a few from the truck. I didn’t have enough ammo not to mention there was no shooting from the truck .
One day we walked on a waterhole. A lone jackal was drinking . As he walked off, I shot him at about 40 yards .
SPRINGBOK- we saw a fair number of springbok. Not as many as I expected . Most were females or young males. We saw a grand total of two mature males.
I took a shot at one off sticks at over 200 yards. I shot just over him. It is a very small target .
CHEETAH- I really wanted a cheetah. Upon arrival and driving the property, I believed it would be damn near impossible due to the volume of very high grass. At 20 yards, it wound be impossible to see one in most places.
Guess what? I was right . We never saw one.
SABLE- we never saw a track much less a sable .
SNAKES- I have to say that is all my travels to Africa , I have seen a relatively small number of snakes. We only saw one this trip but it was a dandy. If was a monstrous puff adder. We let him crawl away.
PROBLEMS- I believe I have already mentioned the scope on my 416. Little doubt there is a problem.
A few days in, while driving home I felt my energy level dropping. When I got out of the shower, I felt something on my back . I showed my wife . She thinks I was bitten by a spider . I spend the next day and a half with a fever . Then it went away although the mark is still there.
The grass is very high . It made it difficult at times to see anything . I remember seeing a group of gemsbok one day . All I could see were the horns .
My ammo did not perform well . I am not sure I got the bullets I ordered for the 300.
We had a super moon late in the hunt . The day before and after were difficult. I’ll bet we saw less than 10% of the game we normally saw.
