Just returned from my first hunt--ever. Did a seven day safari with Jaco Vissir, PH and owner of Nkwe Safaris in Ghanzi, Botswana. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING HUNT--completed my list in a day and a half.

Mind you, I'm a sporting clay shooter. Outside of the occasional duck and unlucky red squirrel taken with my 12 gauge, I've never hunted a day before in my life. And to make the situation even more nerve-racking, I'd only begun practicing with a rifle. a .308 specifically, three months before my hunt. Due to my lack of experience, I opted for a cull hunt rather than a trophy package. And I have to tell you I'm not sorry in the least. Everything I bagged was a trophy to me. And truthfully, despite the drought, every one of them was still in good health.

Day One:
Spotted and stalked blue wildebeest cow.
Two false starts, third time was the charm.
One shot at 75 yds. in right shoulder with the camp's suppressed.243.
Ran 150 yrds and dropped--stone dead.

gallery pic upload

Shot sleeping jackal off truck on the way back to camp for lunch. One shot; it never woke up.



Early Evening:
Spotted and stalked eland cow in thick brush.
Guestimated shot placement.
One shot in left shoulder at 40 yds with suppressed .243.
Ran 10 yds--dropped dead.
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Day Two:
While stalking a herd of zebra, ran into lone male warthog, who'd probably never seen a human a day before in his life. He literally walked directly toward us.He never showed the slightest apprehension' got within 20 yds of where we were standing. As he turned away, I dropped him with
one shot to the left shoulder with the .243.
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But that's where the last of my beginner's luck wore out. We continued tracking the zebras, the last animal on my list. As we came upon the herd, they began to run. I pulled up randomly, locked the cross hairs on the right shoulder and pulled the trigger. Shot placement was perfect--the trajectory was awful. Broke the shoulder as it should have, but exited through the rib cage between the front legs, completely missing the vitals. Tracked the young stallion for seven miles on foot. Two shots later, we put it to rest.


Remainder of days, I "donated" to my husband. This was his 12th safari; first in Botswana.He took an eland bull; a warthog; a zebra; and a blue wildebeest.

Last day at camp, we opted to shoot turtle doves and sand grouse--and I was deeply humbled. Remember, I'm a sporting clay shooter. Twelve shots, I didn't hit a thing. On the thirteenth, I pulled the trigger and handed the 12 gauge to Jaco, just as my only sand grouse fell out of the sky.

Anyway, TREMENDOUS HUNT. HUGE THANK YOU to Jaco, Ampie (Apprentice PH), Nkge Safaris and all their staff for making my first hunt the time of my life.



Katrina Mancini

Congratulations! It will never be the same! LOL!

Now that you have been infected, what’s your next quarry?

Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

BH63

Great job! There really is nothing like a safari.

Here is a tutorial on posting photos using Postimage.
http://forums.accuratereloadin...0106691/m/7521061352

Jeremy

Great job! Welcome to the crowd.

Congrats, nothing quite compares to one's first safari! Nicely done...

Wonderful!

Glad you enjoyed your hunt!

Congratulations! Thanks for the report and photos.

Congrats!!!!!!!! Wonderful first hunt.

Fantastic first hunt and great report. I'm glad that you had fun!

Bet your kicking yourself for letting your husband go to Africa 11 times without you. So where will the next hunt be? Glad you had a good time my wife loves it there.

Nice shooting!!!

Outstanding shooting. How did shooting animals compare to clay targets? Did it get your heart pumping more?

There is nothing like your first safari! Thank you for sharing it with us.

Sam

DPM

Lovely! All with a borrowed 243. Good for you.

Mark

Looks like you know what you're doing!

Very nice. Thanks for posting.

Looks as you had real fun. Super!

The next 11 safaris should be focused on you! Now the fun starts - rifle(s), shooting sticks, etc. Congrats.

Congrats on your hunt. I also hunted with Jaco and company earlier this year. Game is plentiful and he runs a very good outfit. My hunt report was posted on this site. Well done for your first safari.

That warthog is definitely trophy-class ..

Correction. It looks like only a partial cull hunt. The warthog is a wonderful trophy and so is any mature zebra. Well done!

Jaco runs a great outfit. I was there last July-August and it was the hunt of my life. I will probably go back in 2021 for four trophy animals: 60" kudu, 40" eland, 15" warthog, and 16" springbok. I have 100% confidence Jaco can do this in a week or so.

Congratulations on a hunt well done!
Cal

How refreshing was that

Congratulations and great shooting