At the airport getting ready for the red-eye to Atlanta:


Waterbuck from Thorngrove:






Hartebeest from Thorngrove:

Moketsi Room:






Tame Springbok:


Lion:


Black Wildebeest:


Autopsy of found Wildebeest:


Lion Dragging out Wildebeest:

Excellent report!

Steenbok:




Nyala:


Hippo:




Sable:

Lisa and I at the bakkie:





Stuck Cases (normal on the left, bad on the right):









Richard Shooting:





Topi Shooting:

Eland:



Great White Hunter:





Gemsbok:


Springbok:


Blesbok:



Mountain Reedbuck:

All,



Here is a diary of my hunt with Riaan of these Forums. Had a great time. I will post photos in a series in follow-up posts.



June 13, 2004



Arrived in Atlanta after a red-eye flight from Portland. Met Kino (AR member) and his wife by the Starbucks. Spent a couple of hours talking. Very nice couple. Getting ready for 18 hours of being folded into economy class.



June 14, 2004



We cleared customs in Johannesburg with the assistance of Air2000. Got through the whole thing in about 15 minutes. Best $70.00 I every spent. All the paper work was filled out the and a young man met us a the end of the jet way. After getting our rifles we went right to the beginning of the line and got the permit. The young man the assited us all the way to our connection to Bloemfontein. Painless. Found out that Air2000 contracts with a third party that does gun clearances. The outfit has been doing this for several years.



Arrived in Bloemfontein and was met by Freddie (PH) and Riaan. Lisa went to town to cash checks. I went out to sight in rifles. Ended up looking for a wounded impala (didn�t find) and shooing AT guinea fowl. Never hit one� Slept great.



June 15, 2004

Arrived at first hunting lodge around noon. Thorngrove. Nice accommodations. Very cold however.



Shot waterbuck around noon. He was about 225 yards across pond, facing me. I hit him in the center of chest. Hit him in the top of heart. He left very little blood spoor. Used the 375 with 300 gn Swift A-Frames. We found him dead about 100yds from where he was shot. Wow. I thought that Waterbuck would be a hard one. Ain�t that the way it is.



Lisa went with us on the stalk!! She was there when shot fired. Finally approached animal. Ended up taking some of the trophy photos. This is quite a big deal for her. I like to joke that she�d be a member of PETA if she hadn�t had twenty years of indoctrination from me. She still doesn�t eat red meat.



Trackers: Richard, Topi, Tsorami



Cook: Jean





June 16, 2004

Went hunting for Gemsbok and Red Hartebeest. Made a few stalks. No happiness. Lisa stayed in camp the morning and went out on the afternoon hunt. Temperature very cold in the morning, warm in the afternoon.



Stalked up to a herd of Gemsbok. Got to about 100 yrds away. Had to sit and glass them for about 45 minutes as we couldn�t see all off them. Ended up with springbok, zebra and warthog joining them. Lots of eyes.



Lisa says that she enjoyed herself.



Shot a female warthog for the pot.



Game Seen: Sable, Gemsbok, Red Hartebeest, Black Wildebeest, Springbok, Nyala, Warthog, Zebra, Waterbuck, Mearcats.





June 17, 2004

Shot a red Hartebeest at 8:15 AM. Spotted them from the top of a hill. Put a stalk on them. Involved crawling for about 80yds to a shooting position. Quartering away at a shallow angle. Entered behind the left rib cage, bullet found on the off right shoulder. Took out the lungs and arteries at the top of the lung. Took about two steps and died. Used the 375 again.



Learned how to cape on the hartebeest. I�d better keep my day job.



Afternoon put on a stalk on some Gemsbok. We spotted them as we were getting close to the gate. We decided to ego way around and and circle in on them. This required us to avoid the gate and climb through the fence. This area has buffalo so there�s a hot wire about two feet inside the game fence. Got zapped by the game fence as I was being handed the rifles though the fence. Harshly whispered obscenities at the event. Riaan got the crotch of his pants hung up on the barbed wire. Richard was standing on the hot wire and kept trying to help Riaan. Riaan was trying to get Richard to stop helping him as I was afraid he�d get his bits-n-pieces zapped. We all couldn�t stop laughing at the whole charade. Thought we blew the stalk. But the Gemsbok were still there.



Finished putting on the stalk. We glassed them for about 45 minutes. At the last we found a shooter in the bunch. I took a shot with the 375 and it was WAY high. Tried to chamber a new round and couldn�t work the bolt. It was stuck. Had to hit the bolt with the butt of Riaan�s rifleto get the bolt open. The primer fell out. The spent case remained in the chamber. Had to take a cleaning rod and hammer to get it out. Not sure what the hell happened. Will try shooting a round from that box again tomorrow to see how it goes.



June 18, 2004



Shot more rounds from that box of 375. They worked fine. Only conclusion was that I got something in my barrel that caused the pressures to go high. We did a bunch of crawling to get to that herd of gemsbok and I could have picked something up. I was trying to keep an eye on the muzzle when crawling. No visible bulges in the barrel.



Several stalks on Gems buck. Got close several times, but no shooters in the herds.



Shot a springbok ewe, with the �06, for a previous client who had a blown out cape.



June 19, 2004



Still hunting for Gemsbok. Lots of stalks. One blown after sitting to about an hour and a half at about 40 yards from a group that contained a nice bull. We couldn�t get a shot at him as he was bedded down in cover. A warthog came in and spooked them. The entire herd exploded out and we couldn�t get a shot.



Earlier a herd of buff spooked a group of gemsbok that we were stalking. To thick to see the buff, but heard them and saw the dust.



Shot a �female� warthog for the pot. Ended up being a young boar with very small warts. Shot him from about 60 yards with the �06. Aimed for a brain shot. It was too back and ended up though the shoulder (slight quartering away). He was walking when I shot, but it doesn�t explain it all. But it died in its steps.



Twisted my ankle again when powering through the velt to get at some gemsbok before we lost the light.



Richard and Topi shot my 375 to see what it was like. The enjoyed it.



June 20, 2004



Went to Kimberly and saw the Big Hole. Spent a few hours there. Went for lunch at the Spur restaurant. Good ribs. It was Father�s day so had to wait a bit.



Drove back through Bloemfontein on the way to the next lodge. Riaan got Father�s day kisses and hugs from his family. Both the kids (Addy and Peter) tried to sneak along in the back of the bakkie. We went along with it for a few miles. When we went back to �discover� them, Addy had his finger to his lips, shushing me, trying to prevent me from blowing the ruse. On Riaan�s side Peter busted out laughing immediately upon being discovered. It was great.



Drove on to Colcoran and the Moketsi Lodge. Wow!! Hope it looks as good in the day light as it does at night. Had a great dinner.



Cook: George

Laundry: Ivy

Trackers: Topi, Tsorami, Peter



June 21, 2004



Wow!! Moketsi is even better during the day. The grounds have �tame� springbok roaming freely. There a several lion �prides� surrounding the grounds. A 40KV fence protects us from the cats. These lion are for breeding and the hope is to use them as breeding stock if feline AIDs affects the population of free roaming animals, significantly.



Lots of white rhino, hippos, and buffalo. Riaan got me in a photo �holding off a Rhino charge�. Was about 30 yard from them Fun. Got back in the truck when they started getting too nervous.



Stalked up on a herd of black Wildebeest. I shot what Lisa called the �over achiever�. He ran about a mile after the shot. After my shot he and the rest of the herd picked up a bunch of blesbok, eland, rhinos, and zebra. Looked like a seen of animals headed off to Noah�s ark. We watched them as the crossed a dirt dam to the other side of a river/creek. One of them immediately lay down. Then the rest lay down.



Lisa stayed to keep an eye on them as we looked for blood. We found the blood. Lisa noted the group was trying to get up to move, but one wouldn�t. So the herd stayed put. We got down to the earthen dam and picked up more blood. About then another herd bull came up and chased the herd off. Our boy snuck off to lie up in some light cover. We watched as the other bull came back. Our bull laid his head down trying to hide, but the other bull found him and started to horn him. This got him up and he ran out of the other bulls range, into some bush. We stalked up until he stepped out. Riaan confirmed blood and we started shooting, hitting him at least three more times. He ran a bit then stopped, shaking his head to clear his nose from the blood.



My initial shot was too far back. (This was to begin a bad trend that took a bit to self correct)



Got back to camp and the staff had another black wildebeest that had been gut shot by a previous client (not Riaan�s). He was found near the road by the fence. Interestingly several pieces of the animal had been cut off with a knife. Lower lip, scrotum/testis, rectum, right eye and left nostril. Supplies for black magic�



After finding the bullet the carcass was fed to the lions. It was amazing to see the lion pick up the entire carcass (minus gut) and drag it out into the compound. It took four of us men to pick up mine (with gut) to load it into the bakkie. Wow!



After the lion had the carcass, we stepped in to the �feeding area� that is gated to both the lion compound and to the resort area to get a better view of the feeding. As we were in there, we heard the gate close behind us. We turned to see the staff smiling behind our exit. I said �Hey, hey� and told them that I would be able to squeeze myself through the eight inch fencing the covered the top of the feeding area, if need be. They opened the gate and we all had a good laugh. But we exited immediate, nonetheless�



Later that afternoon Riaan go word that a nice eland bull was spotted, so we took off. We ran into a bunch of rhino that wouldn�t get out of the road. They�d back up, run, turn around to stand us off, several times. The way they turned the reminded me of trucks backing up and turning using three points turns.



We got out and after a quick circular walk we spotted the eland. There were three in the heard with zebra. We were stalking but they kept moving away, toward the horizon. It was starting to get late and we�d not have much shooting time. We were hoping that they�d work there way over the horizon so that we could close on them. Then the eland broke from the zebra and started working our way. When they got closer we got a look at them. After a quick discussion and setting up. I shot. The Eland was quartering towards me at about 150 yds. At the shot he reared up, turned and ran away. It was getting dark and Riaan shot into his hip that anchored and stopped him. I shot him twice more in the heart and he was down seconds later. Again my initial shot was too far to the left (forward) (same direction off as the wildebeest). Clearly I�d started pulling my shots. But he was down.



That night I had to ice my ankle down as it was complaining a lot.



June 22, 2004



Gemsbok hunting again on the agenda for the morning. 30-06 again. Spotted some below a rim that borders a creek valley. We worked along the rim, paralleling the gemsbok. After about a half-mile of stalking we go to a spot where we could ambush them. A nice bull showed and I took a shot. Again to the left and too far back. Jesus� This was the one animal that I didn�t want to screw up on. Really didn�t want to face down a charge. I hate screwing up!



We looked for blood and the antelope for about an hour. We were very anxious about charges. Finally Riaan decided to go back to collect Lisa who was in the Bakkie with Tsorami. He was chased onto a rock out cropping and around a tree by a rhino on the way back.



While Riaan was getting the truck, Topi got to the top of a point and was first able to smell then sight the downed animal. He was dead. The shot was far back, but the bullet found behind the offside shoulder, about six inches back. It got both lungs, thank God.



I�m thinking that the Swift A-frames I�m using might be too good. They�re not exiting and therefore not leaving much of a blood trail.



After lunch we went springbok and blesbok hunting. We went to a new section and found a heard after about a hour. Staked around and took the shot. Once again too far to the left. I took another that went though both shoulders and he lay down and died.



After the requisite photos and putting the ram into the shade to keep him cool, off to hunt blesbok.



We found them in the field and they spotted us. After a couple of missed shots (200-300 yds) they ran off and we went after them. Went up and down this hill about 5 times. My ankle was getting pretty sore and I was worried about the Mt. Reedbuck hunt coming up. Finnlay stopped at a cabin that had a target to sight in on. The rifle was shooting fine. That left one thing. Me.



As it got dark we gave up.



Leg up, ankle iced, and a sundowner. Ummmmm.



June 23, 2004.



One last shot at blesbok. We leave around 1:00 PM for Bloemfontein and agreed to meet Lisa in camp around 9:30.



Basically it went the same as the night before. Missed shots and running animals. I could barely walk on the ankle anymore. As we were headed out, we spotted a blesbok. Riaan asked if I�d like to try and take him from the Bakkie. I thought for a second and decided to go ahead. He was about 225 yards away and walking. I hit him through the lungs and lay down. About that time a herd of zebra and ostrich ran by him. He got up and I shot him again. Down.



Now I know what some may say about the bakkie shooting. I hear you. But basically I wasn�t able to walk more than about 100 ft and the thing was quite swollen. To be quite honest, I�m still thinking whether I should have let it pass. To my defense all the other hunting was done entirely on foot (and hands and knees). But it was my decision and I can live with it.



Packed up and left for Bloemfontein to spend the night a Riaan�s house. They took me out for a wonderful early birthday dinner at Kalahari.fish. Delicious.



June 24, 2004.



My 44th birthday and we�re off to the Eastern cape for Mt. Reedbuck. After about a four-hour drive we arrived at his cousin, Martine and his wife Marta�s ranch. After a home cooked meal we were off for Mt. Reedbuck. Climbed up about half way up the side of this mountain and started side hilling it. Lots of loose baseball sized stones. My ankle was complaining. On the way up Riaan asked me if I was okay and I said let�s keep going. It would be easier to haul me down hill than up. He commented that he had staff for that kind of thing. After about half an hour of still-hunting, we spotted a herd up hill and about 150 yards away. After some initial hesitation about size, Riaan said go for it. I shot and hit him. He was still going put behind the six ewes. I hit him again in the hip to anchor him and again in the chest to kill him. Ended up being a Roland Ward buck.



One hour, one sprained ankle, one record book ram. Not bad. Riaan said that it�s not rare to end a Mt. Reedbuck hunt with a bad ankle, but he�d never heard of starting one with one. In reality I was glad that it ended that quickly as there was no way that I could have gone the whole next day on that ankle.



Trackers: Topi, Tsorami, Simon



June 25, 2004



Went hunting for roebuck. I didn�t want one but Martines wanted one. Hunted all morning with no luck. Shot some Dassies for Simon (local scout) as he likes to eat them.



Left for Bloemfontein after lunch.



June 26, 2004



Lisa and Riaan went to the Women�s War Museum and shopping. I went out with Freddy (Riaan�s PH and friend) for Steenbok. Using his 22-250 with a silencer. Cool setup. My ankle was sore but not unbearable. Stalked up to about 40 yards from a ewe and older lamb. Went up the side of a koppie to glass. Spooked a HUGE duiker, but alas it wasn�t on license. At the koppie, Freddy saw one bed down, but couldn�t get a good enough look to see horns.



We waited about an hour and a half to see if the bedded steenbok would get up to stretch. It never did so we decided to put on a stalk. Got to some cover and started throwing clods at the area to get it to stand. Finally Freddy got up to get closer. I stayed in the cover. He threw a couple clods and �she� got up. No horns.



Back to the Bakkie for a quick bite and drink. As we were working up the hill to our glassing spot we jumped a ram. I shot him and he ran around a bush. We jumped him again and he ran about 30 feet and lay down and died. Wahoo! Full Bag.



Shot a couple of Guinea fowl for breakfast.



Had a wonderful dinner that night with Riaan, his wife Gerri, Freddy and his wife.



June 27, 2004



Said our goodbye�s and got on the jet plane for Capetown and on to Atlanta.



Postscript.



I had a GREAT TIME. Lisa is not a hunter and did get a bit bored at times. She complained very little however and has a better appreciation for the whole thing now.



This was my second trip to Africa and I had a great time. We had lots of laughs and hard hunts. Riaan worked his ass off and was always the consummate host. I hope to hunt bushbuck and nyala with him either next year or the following.

gpauld,

He was either 30.5 or 31.5. I can't remember. That's what I get for having sundowners before taking notes...

He'll make both SCI and RW. Riaan is supposed to be sending me forms and I'll know for sure then.

-Steve

Great story and pictures. How big was that waterbuck? He looks huge! Thanks for sharing.