Just came home from a weeks of birdhunting with Andrew McLaren. We were mainly shooting Pigeons and Doves. We also went for Guinea-fowl and Francolin. The last afternoon we went for Egyptian Goose. I Shot altogether 1167 birds. We were staying near Kronstad in Free State. All the hunt was thrilling in their own ways. But I guess, we should have been some more guns on the guineafowl. I shot 5 egyptian geese and my friend shot 1 goose. So the waterfowling didn't live up to our expectations. We had hoped for some more.

The morning flight on Rock Pigeons on the sunflower field was new to me. That was really excellent flight the birds performed!

I really enjoyed the hospitality of Andrew McLaren. Those South african they just know something about treating their clients well. Our accomadation was over my expectations.


Greetings, Johannes

Hello Johannes.

Pictures?.

Hunting with Andrew is a good experience indeed.
J.

I'm sorry but the pictures are being used for a artikel, so I can't put the pictures public before they have been in the Magazine.

Well done, Johannes ! I was shooting guineas last year with Andrew and someone was talking about shooting Egyptian geese somewhere ... obviously this was the spot. Sounds like almost an Argentinian experience that many birds ... Wow !

quote:

Originally posted by JTK:
I'm sorry but the pictures are being used for a artikel, so I can't put the pictures public before they have been in the Magazine.

Come on JTK, the magazine can't be using all the pictures.

Shot a few Egyptian geese while in S Africa.
Just never got one that was fully mature.
Reeealllly wanted a mount of one.
Absolutely beautiful birds!

Lucky you! I always wanted to do this - also sandgrouse shooting. Man - can those birds fly.

One of the high lights of my hunt in Namibia with Boet Nel was the sand grouse and dove hunting! It was a blast!

You want to see pictures? To post a picture of 1167 dead birds will upset a lot of people! So I'll just post one with the early morning, before breakfast, bag! His friend did very much the same. Both these guys from Denmark could really shoot a shotgun!



Multiply or repeat this a few times and you get an idea of what JTK and his friend enjoyed? High Volume Pigeon Shooting at it's very best!

See you next year?

Thanks Andrew for some nice days. I will be back!
Just right now I am writing an article and reliving the trip!

Greetings, Johannes

Great post....South Africa is a great destination for wingshooting. They do not have the volume that Argentina has, but the variety of birds makes up for the low volume.

ABOUT WATERFOWL:
Every now and then someone has a good Goose hunt in South Africa and they scratch a good number of Egyptian Geese and even some Spur-winged Geese....but all in all that is the complaint you hear over and over from wing-shooting enthusiasts looking for volume....very few waterfowl in SA....everyone gets to pound the pigeons and doves though.

FRANCOLINS:
South Africa has a plethora of Francolin species and depending upon the province and seasons, you can hunt quite a different variety...some even over trained pointing dogs.

I have been very fortunate to have hunted Africa quite a few times over the years with different outfitters and here are some of the birds that were mentioned by JTK in his original post.



P.S. As of today South Africa has been put on the Avian Influenze list by the USDA and American hunters cannot bring back birds for taxidermy into the USA from South Africa. However, the birds can be mounted in South Africa and then brought over through proper channels (USDA, USF&W inspections). Lots of paperwork involved so get a good customs broker (I would recommend Fauna & Flora in a heartbeat).

Very nice results! No wonder why you recommend shot gun hunts in SA