quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Wow! The photoshop photos are fantastic!

Thanks

LB: That latest change makes that Oryx pop off the page.

quote:

Originally posted by LittleJoe:
LB: That latest change makes that Oryx pop off the page.

I like POP

Here's another...
Let's take it to email and I'll walk ya through


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Here's one of Erick and the original is a too COOL shot with a shallow DOF...

BUT if he wanted his face in focus too...
you could do stuff like this where HE and WARTIE is in FOCUS


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And another for Erick the BOWHUNTER specialist


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Here ya go

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Looks like you guys had a great time!!! Congratulations...great report and pics.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Hunting Day 11, Sunday, September 23rd

The last day; very bittersweet. We all knew it was time to go home and get back to family and work but at the same time it was so incredible none of us wanted to leave. Kanana is a place that dreams are made of.

Cody decided he wanted to get out of the blind for the day and have a whackem and stackem day with me. I was excited to have him come along. We headed out in pursuit of a Red Hartebeest as they had given Cody the slip so far on this safari and we would also pursue whatever else that might come along that was trophy quality. Right off the bat we came across a big herd of Impala with one really good ram. The stalk was on and in short order Cody was on the sticks and the Impala was down. What a great start to the morning. Off to the skinning shed and then again in pursuit of Red Hartebeest. We were working our way down the road after dropping off the Impala ram when we spotted a very large herd of Impala at quite a distance to our right. After glassing them for a while we determined one of the rams was for sure a shooter. Cody asked me if I wanted the rifle since he had just shot an Impala ram and of course I said yes. It was blowing really hard from right to left and the ram I was after was feeding and several others kept walking and feeding behind him. I had to keep focused on making sure there were none coming to him and behind him when it was time to shoot. Finally, he was clear and I took the shot. He instantly collapsed. Another great trophy Impala. I had taken three this trip and they just kept getting bigger. Great great ram; most likely the last Impala I will ever take but what a super group that I have taken on this safari. They were all trophies.





We then continued on to an area that we called the “cow area”. It is an area that has some cattle in it and wild game as well but I never did see any cattle but did see a lot of wild game. Almost immediately, we spotted a great Kudu bull. Jason was surprised to see a Kudu in this area and after closer inspection decided he was 53” or so. He was not in good health as you could easily see his ribs and his hide was not in good condition. Jason told Cody to go ahead and take him. On the shot the bull simply turned around; walked a couple of steps and collapsed. He is a great bull, 53” and was in such poor health he would not have survived much longer.



Cody had hunted a waterhole in this area previously and said there was a big Blue Wildebeest bull he wanted to look for along with Red Hartebeest. It was not long and we located a big herd of Blue Wildebeest. The stalk was on and it was not long until Jason, Morlen, Cody and David were surrounded by the herd as Happy and myself had taken the truck and driven off to watch the stalk from a distance. The big wide bull was finally located and in short order Cody was able to put him down. Great bull, old and very wide. A great trophy and Cody was very proud to get him after not connecting on him before when the truck bumped him before he came into the waterhole.



I kept kidding Cody that it was my turn to take the rifle and I wanted to find another Steenbok ram. Sure enough we continued on and found a great Steenbok. I was kneeling down and could not see him and did not dare move. I handed Cody the rifle as he was standing behind me and he made a great off hand shot and had his first Steenbok. I will get him addicted to the Tiny 10 yet!!!! I know before the safari that he commented he had no desire to shoot any of the little species. I guess the proof is in the trophy shot that his mind has been changed; even though he might not admit it.



We were going to make our way back to camp as I really wanted some trophy pictures with all of the trophies lined up when we came across a small herd of Oryx and they all took off running but one just put his head on the ground. We all immediately knew that something was wrong and parked the truck and snuck back and could tell that he was in poor health. We tried to see if he could move or what was wrong and he could not get up. Jason asked me to put him out of his misery. I am thankful that he does not have to suffer anymore. He was in bad bad shape. He is 36” and would be a trophy in New Mexico for sure. Once again, the cycle of life in Africa, something dies so many may live.



We arrived back at the main camp and Cody wanted to go out for one last evening hunt while I had my trophy collection photo shoot. I had such a tremendous safari that I wanted a photo that I did not get on the last trip. I wanted a photo with all the horns and animals together.





This does not even include all of the horns/skulls as several were still in the boiling pots.

Cody and Erick headed off with Patrick looking for a Springbuck or Red Hartebeest.

Jef decided to take the day off and enjoy his last day on safari. He had hunted hard and just wanted to savor in the moment and relax.

I did not see Cody again until after dark and knew that he had shot something. When he finally got back the smile told it all. He had shot a huge Kalahari Springbuck. By far the biggest ram seen on the trip and the biggest taken on Kanana in a very long time.



What an ending to an unbelievable safari.

A summary will follow with my final thoughts, misc pics and other stuff I thought was interesting.

CONGRATULATIONS to all...VERY NICE!

LB: I am reviewing the photshop blurring and sharpening that you recommended. Thanks! I will be in touch after I try it a couple of times.

quote:

Originally posted by LittleJoe:
LB: I am reviewing the photshop blurring and sharpening that you recommended. Thanks! I will be in touch after I try it a couple of times.

It's amazing what a difference the photoshop can make!

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
It's amazing what a difference the photoshop can make!

Yes...Just a "little-da-ba-do-ya"

These guys invested so much into this safari just thought I'd lend a hand to tidy-up some pics.

I gave him some instruction and some tools/techniques to try and get familiar with them.

He'll be putting out some enhanced stuff on his own in a matter of time

Beautiful trophy display


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Congratulations on a most amazing hunt. Kanana seems to impress again. Would love to have a "full bag" Kanana style in the future

Thanks for the comments. I will post a summary that I am currently working on and more misc pictures as well.

Just a couple of random pics that I liked.

Deer crossing on the highway as I drive to work, Kudu crossing in Botswana.



The new skinning shed that is being built a few hundred yards from the main camp.



Liked this picture for some reason. Just so quiet and peaceful first thing in the morning.

LittleJoe, is the Steenbok your first of the TT? If so you have a lot of fun ahead.

Shot a huge Brown Bush Duiker in RSA and a very nice Cape Grysbok as well. Still many to go but they are truly special in their own way.

Hey guys! I was the videographer and photographer on this fantastic safari. First off thanks to Justin again for allowing me to record this fine trip for him to relive again and again. Justin, Jeff, Cody, and Erick are all first class guys and a ton of fun to hunt with. To Late-Bloomer on the pics, I always sharpen and bump contrast and fine tune all my pics before they go to the clients, in this case Justin had requested a copy of the pics before hand because I was going to be in Botswana for awhile and he wanted to be able to show what a wonderful adventure he had. Thank you for adjusting the pics you have, they look great. Filming a safari is a big investment but one that can be well worth the money in the long run when sitting back on the couch during the long winter months and being able to relive the moment...

Hey David...you did a great job!

Justin told me you would do the PP when you got back...no probs I enjoyed helping out!

LB: thanks for the Photoshop advice I am still learning and trying. Baby steps I guess.

David, thanks for the hard drive with all the pics. Thanks so much for doing the PP on them; they are great and will be great for the photo book I am starting to put together for Xmas.

The trophy shots are great but there some very unique animal, scenery and camp photos in there that I did not know that you had taken. I hope we will be hunting together again my friend.

I learned a considerable amount about filming and just changing this or that setting on the camera to make the photos just that little bit better. Thanks again!

Cheer, Justin

Great report, Justin.

Between great information from you and TWL, my July 2014 trip to Kanana cannot get here soon enough.

I'll be in touch!

Jeff

Jeff, go ahead and contact me with any questions. You are in for the trip of a lifetime. You will not find any better people to be around and deal with than Claire and Jason.

Monday, September 24th

All of us got up and packed up for the very long trip home. Will took us to the airport without problem and it is a good thing we arrived 2 ½ hours early as it took what seemed like forever to find the three people that had to sign off on taking our rifles back out of the country. It was a lot easier bringing the rifles into Botswana then taking them out of the country. We then took the 1 hour 40 minute flight to Johannesburg. There we had a three hour layover and then the big flight back to the states was 16 ½ hours. We arrived in Atlanta at 4:30 A.M. mountain time and had three hours to clear customs, get the luggage, bows and rifles rechecked and to the gate. Good thing that we had the time. The customs line took over an hour and it was 4:30 in the morning!!!! We then had to go and collect our rifles and have the serial numbers inspected in a specially designated room where they call each rifle owner in one at a time. They would not check our rifles until we had found our luggage and could bring over our hunting boots to be dipped in a solution and sprayed with a solution; no idea what this was all about. There were well over a dozen people with rifles that needed to be checked and they did them one at a time. No choice but to hurry up and wait. Finally we got everything in good order and made it to the gate. Another 3 ½ hours from Atlanta to Salt Lake and we were back in Utah. Amazingly enough all of our luggage made it home but of course they destroyed and mangled our TSA locks on our ammo boxes. Take extra TSA locks!!!!!! An hour and a half drive and we were home. It was very bittersweet. I am thankful to be back with my wife and kids but I know that a little part of me will forever be at Kanana in the Kalahari desert. I love Africa!!!!

Thanks to Jason, Claire and the entire Kanana staff. We came as complete strangers on a wing and a prayer and walked away as friends. Jason and Claire are welcome at my place anytime. I cannot wait to hunt with them again.

Had to post a few more live photos of the Gray Ghost. We saw so many of them I was fortunate to get some pictures of some bulls while we were out and about.

Now that's what you call a whack & stack. Congrats on some great trophies. Skinners must have had sore hands by the end of that hunt???

Late-Bloomer, gd work on the photos. The difference is incredible

Wow. Very proper safari indeed.

A unique collection of superb animals and the composition of the photographs is absolutely first class.

I am quite sure the skinners and trackers had enough of us by the end of the safari. They worked non-stop. Stone ran the skinning shed and it is a well oiled machine. They get it done!

I know that we shot and shot and shot somemore for 11 days and had the experience of a lifetime but created alot of work for a lot of people. I am sure they were totally shaking their heads when we took two big old stink bulls two days apart.

More random pics to follow.

Does that Botswana "hunting ban" that I read a little about affect private properties like Kanana? I hope not.

quote:

Originally posted by Thierry Labat:


Late-Bloomer, gd work on the photos. The difference is incredible

Hey Thierry...Thanks

BenKK, the private land in Botswana is not affected by the ban. They will continue doing what they are doing and only get better.

I had to include a few pics of the Giraffe recovery team. I am dying of heat stroke and these guys look like they are freezing.

Thanks, LittleJoe.

Those rugged-up recovery crewmen remind me of the aborigines here - no matter the temperature, there is always one like that.

Had to post a couple of pics of the Black Mamba that came to visit Erick and Patrick at their blind. It amazingly came in for a drink at the waterhole and then climbed this tree. Glad it was them; I am not a big fan of snakes.

Some of the Kudu look thin, everything all right on the property?

The property is so so amazing. A couple of the bulls that were taken were cull bulls but other than that we took some really big bulls. I did not think any of them were thin horned or the other bulls we saw to be thin horned either. I know the first bull that I took was by far and away the heaviest bull that I personally have ever seen and knew without a doubt from the second we spotted him. The Kudu there are amazing and there are lots of them. Hard to comprehend how many they really have on that property.

Look closely at this pic and you can see that the Mamba has it's mouth wide open. It's my understanding that's a "threat display", so your friends must have been sitting pretty close by! While I'm sure the snake didn't need to worry about anyone climbing up there for a closer look, just seeing the pic gives me a major case of the "Willies!!!!"

quote:

Originally posted by LittleJoe: