I hunted with Stan Burger Safaris Link in the NW province. he has IIRC abotu 20000 aacres of his own and lot of other areas he hunts on as well.

I took 2 rifles.

One is a Sauer 90 in 8x68S (same balistics as an 8mm rem Mag) with a 200 gr Barnex X bullet at 3000fps and a Zeiss 4.5-14 scope.

The second rifle was a Sauer 200 in the venerable 30/06 running a Barnes Triple Shock
at 2800 fps and using an older Swarovski 3-9x32 scope.

Bushbuck. Yes that is the traditional blooding you get after your first animal and yes I did the traditional eat the liver thing.

Range 35 yards

Rifle 8x68S

These are spooky littel animals and I happened to have the 8mm in my hands when we spoted him. Spined him and he droped where he stood.



Blesbock

Range 125 yards

Rifle 30/06

Spottted a herd of Blesbock onthe way to take the Bushbuck to the skinners and there was a very nice one in the herd so we dismounted and stalked them about 250 yards and dropped this guy with one shot throught he lungs.



Red Hartebeast

Range 146 yards

Rifle 30/06

We were out glassing for game and some Hartebeast wandered by so we conducted a short stalk of about 100 yards and gave this guy a single round through the heart/lungs. He ran about 20ish steps and dropped dead.





Waterbuck

Range 164 yards

Rifle 8x68S

We were out in the Land Cruiser and sitting in the back and generally looking for game when we stumbled along this huge Waterbuck. My PH looked at him and then we decided to see if we could get a shot. We spooked him a couple of times so we let him go and continued glassing for Gemsbok and Black Wildebeast. We had dropped off a tracker and he had gone into a large stand of trees when this guy popped out again and ran a couple hundred yards to our right. My PH and I agreed that since he had been so spooky earlier that the best shot was from right where we were in the back of teh Land Cruiser. So I got on him and shot him through the near shoulder and then back into the vitals. He jumped and ran so I put an insurance shot into him and he promptly ran into another large stand of heavy trees and brush. When we waded in to find him he was dead as a doornail and necessitated a lot of recovery work to get him out and into the truck.







Warthog

Range 45 yards

Rifle 30/06

We were out the this day hunting for Kudu and while we had seen several taht i thought were nice ones my PH kept sayign we were looking for a nice one. After several stalks on animals we decided not to shoot we were back in the truck and spotted this guy. One shot through the front of the chest and he flipped in his own body length and went nose in deader than heck.



1st Impala

Range 112 yards

Rifle 30/06

We had put the Kudu down by this time and were out looking for an Impala when we saw a real monster impala and got out to put a stalk on him. the wind was not ideal for us an dhe got a whiff of us and was off running and over a hill. We were disapointed but got out and kept looking for another good one when we found this guy. We were down wind and screened by a lot of trees and bushes and after abotu 25 minutes we stalked withing range and I managed a nice shot through the lungs. he went maybe 50 yards and was down. However while we were taking the pics my PH kept mumbling aboutthe one we had missed and as we were headed back to the truck he looked at a heard of female Impala and kept saying "We are going to go kill your father". I was not sure what he meant but what the heck.



Kudu

Range 110 yards

rifle 8x68S

We had looked hard all morning for a great Kudu (this was the one animal I told my PH I really wanted a good one of and after passign on about 5 good males we spotted this guy feedign into an area we had set up on looking at another male that we had decided not to shoot. I had him dead to rights from the moment we saw him, however the issue was he always had another Kudu either in front of him or behind him and sometimes both. So I kapt him in my scope and waited and waited and waited and after almost 40 minutes I finally had a shot. Since I was on the scope so long I had ample time to turn it all the way up to 14 power. I hale exactly on the crease behind the shoulder and 1/3 of teh way up which is exactly where you want to shoot them and pulled the trigger. There was a resounding THWAP of the bullet strike and I commented that "Crap I shot him a foot too far back" Somehow I shifted the rifle at the lest second and shot him behind the heart/lung area instead of in it. Before I could bolt the rifle he bolted into the scrub and trees preventing a follow up shot.
We went to the spot where I hit him and no blood on the ground. We went off in the direction he had headed and for the next 90 minutes we tracked on him finding only single drops of blood here and there usually about 30-40 yards apart. this confirmed my muffed shot and tha the was not bleading badly enough for us to track him easily. We did glimpse him twice but could nto put a finisher into him. So we decided that we would leave and eat out lunch. We marked the spot we had last seen him and the spot of the last blood spoor and left.

After a deliscious lunch we returned with myself, my PH and 3 trackers who are all as it turns out liscened PH's also. We handed out enough rifles t repel a determined assualt by any taliban Kudu we might encounter and off we went to find him. We had not only my 8x68, we had 2- 30/06's and a 30/378 Weatherby in the hands of the trackers and a ruger 458 Win with my PH. the idea being if we saw him we wanted more blood on the ground so we could actually track him. We went back to his last known location and begna an organized search for him with us spread out over about 50- 60 yards. after about 10-15 minutes Onias the head tracker pointed and said "Kudu". And there he was dead. turns otu I had hit his liver and he bled out. Oh and we found him about 90 yardsfrom where we had last seen him. the trackers back trailed where he had been and he had returned to the same area after circling back. When we looked at him the bullet was just under the skin on his far side and the entrance wound was exactly where I had called the shot.



2nd Bushbuck

Range 32 yards

Rifle 30/06

We were out looking and spotted this guy. My PH commented that he was actually bigger than the one I had shot previously so I askedif I could take hum knowing full well that he was abot to cost me an additional $450 over my budget but he was a great one. My PH said " Not sure why you want a 2nd Bushbuck but if you want him go ahead". And there was my big mistake. It turns out that I had not correctly remembered the price on him and did not confirm when I asked to shoot him. turns out he is an $1100 dollar animal.



2nd Impala

Range 212 yards

Rifle 30/06

Later in the day we saw that huge impala we had missed gettign earlier in the day and the wind was in our favour. So we got off the truck and ut in about 4-500 yards of stalking and creeping through some trees and brush. I had him dead to rights at 200 yards. Just as I was about to break the trigger on him broadside he stepped behind a bush ruining my shot. This would continue for abotu 30 minutes with him partially exposed but not offering an ethical shot. After abotu 30 minutes on the scope he finally stopped between two bushes and I took him. He ran maybe 30 yards and was down.

The next day at lunch I would enjoy a heretofore undiscovered Italian dish, Impala Lasagna.

Wildebeast

Range 165 yards

Rifle 8x68S

We had see tons of Wildebeast all week and could have taken any number of them. However now that we are specifically looking for them they don't want to be found. We most of the day trying to find a suitable Wildebeast before uttign in several stalks to get this guy in a suitable shooting position. We had spooked him a couple of times and also he has spooked in a wind shift. finally I had him quartering away at 165 yards and shot him through the vitals and into the far shoulder. He jumped at the inpact bucked a couple of times and ran off and stood at 227 yards like I had not even hit him. So I stuck another round inhim this time from the other shoulder back into his vitals. he bucked again and went down in a few steps. When we got to him both shots were killing shots. Wildebeast die very very hard.





Eland

Range 162 yards

Rifle 8x68S

We had been chasing Eland on and off for 5 days over some very rough hilly country. It was either the wind changing or we were not stealthy enough or one time after 2 hours of working into a shooting position we found it was a heard of females. Some of the terrain would have made it a other to get the Eland out of I I hAD shot him in there. Brushy thickets fuill if thorns and small trees and lots of hills and rocks. So had given up for the morning and we were heading in for some late lunch when we spotted the heard withthe big bull we had been chasing after all week. So we stopped quietly and executed a quick stalk into a shooting position. We had to wait quite a while for the bull to give us a good shot and when he did I drove taht 8mm right into his shoulder. He didnt fall so I bolted teh gun and drove another round right where the first had gone and he went down.







Gemsbok

Rifle 30/06

Range 292 yards

For the next 5 animals here we had journeyed 9 hours down to the area in the Northern cape known as the Karoo. The Karoo is a massive desolate flat area with mesas like western colorado or Wyoming. Beautiful place though.

We were hunting all 4 of the different Springbok here and I did not even realise that way when we leaft that we were looking for Gemsbok. Had I known I would have toted the 8x68S along!

We were hunting with a PH known as Jules of the Karoo and his son Izak also a liscesed PH. I hunted with Izak most of the time. great guy and very very knowledgeable. When we had ben on the road about 20 minutes to a friends ranch he started telling me about how he had seen some great Gemsbock there recently and we should nto really hace a big problem finding a nice one. I am now thinking oh great wrong rifle for that I thought we were hunting Springbok. So we get to the area and it is a farm taht is about 40,000 acres with nothing but low cattle fences on it so the animals come and go as they please. after about an hour we finally spot a decent pair of Gemsbock and proceded to try and get into a shooting position. On and off teh truck stalk after stalk for several hours. Each time we would get almost into a good position off they would trot and mock us from 500 yards out or farther. After a few hours of this we finally had them at just under 300 yards and seperated from each other. We had long before determined to shoot the one with the shorter horns as he had thicker bases and would score higher. At this point my problem was that he was facing us head on and not offering a shot through the lungs or a shoulder to break down. After staring at him through the scope for several minutes and him not moving
and the PH saying "wait he will give us a shot" several times I mentioned taht I could make the shot. He asked if I really could and I said yes. "Ok hold under the chin" he told me so I held there and just on the left edge of his left leg and took the shot.

He went down in his own hoof prints. Not only did I severh the arteries of the heart I broke his spine on the way out. In all the years I have hunted this is the only animal that has never taken a single step when I shot him.





Copper Springbuck

Range 208 yards

Rifle 30/06

We were nearing the end of the day around 4-5 pm and had been driving around glassing various groups of Copper Springbok when we finally found one we wanted to take. We pulled behind some rocks hoppe dout and moved a ways into a shooting position and set up for the shot. Unfortunatly the wind had picked up and was blowing harder than I thought. I was holding on his rear hip and the bullet hit him in the throat. Got a little work for the taxidermist there.



Black Springbuck

Range 236 yards

Rifle 30/06

This was the hardest of the 4 different Springbok I took. We chased these guys over hill and dale for about 5 hours. Finally we managed to get the ram in a clear shot and I had about 8 seconds to take the shot. Unfortunatly the wind was still blosing and i hit him farther back than I intended to and hot to put a finisher into him a couple minutes later.

And yes it was so cold that day I broke out a hat and yes it is a "jayne" hat from Firefly for you nerds



White Springbuck

Range 164 yards.

Rifle 30/06

The White Springbock was a heck of a lot easier than the previous two or the Gemsbok. Since they are white they look like little herds of white cotton balls. So we drove around and glassed probably 12014 heards of them before we found a ram we really liked. We got off teh truck moved a few hundred yards and took the shot off teh sticks. He went down in his tracks and as we were walking over he popped up and ran off. I had misjudged the wind and hit him in a non vital area of the neck and only stunned him and caused some minor bleeding. My hurried shot to keep him from gettign away was a complete miss so we had to wait for him to stop running and sort him back out from the heard so that i could put a finisher into him. fortunatly there was enough blood on him to make identification easy and we got him sorted out in short otder.



Common Springbuck

Range 270 yards

Rifle 30/06

this was the last animal I was to shoot while we were in the Karoo. There was not enough time left to pursue a black Wildebeast as we had to leave the next morning to return to our first hunting area so I could finish out my last hunting day and head out home. I was hunting with Jules the owner of the concession this time instead of his son Izak and not 5 minutes into the area where he knew the commons Springbok frequented he commented "that is probably as nice a one as we will see right there. However let's look around just to be sure." Well low and behold abter two more hours of kidney busting travel mostly NOT on the tracks through the area we didn't find a better one and decided to go back and look for this guy again. Unfortunatoy he was not where we had last seen him and it took another 90 minutes of kidney busting before we located him again. Off the truck and a fast stalk into position and he was down.



It was pretty much freezing cold and I used my Woobie a lot of nights and ran my Kifaru Maruader as my daypack/carry on on the plane.

On the flight home the plane was VERY cold. So I broke out my woobie and snuggled very comfortably for the 17 hours of flying from Joberg to Dakar to DC.

You had one hell of a safari!!!!

Congrats.

Thanks.

Unfortunatly I now have to pay the piper (taxidermist).

Anyone want to buy my extra kidney?

Wow! BTW- that waterbuck is outstanding. The gemsbuck is also fab.

You shot a load of animals
Congratulations on every one of them

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Wow! BTW- that waterbuck is outstanding. The gemsbuck is also fab.

Kathy thanks. My Ph said they were good ones but for me I don't have a ton to compare to so than you very much.

Congratulations on a very successful safari!   That's a great second bushbuck!

I'm trying to think of something funny to say about the warthog photo of you next to the pig, but I think you may have been set up. Lol

Congratulations on a successful hunt with some great animals.

When are you going back ?

quote:

Originally posted by Code4:
I'm trying to think of something funny to say about the warthog photo of you next to the pig, but I think you may have been set up. Lol

Congratulations on a successful hunt with some great animals.

When are you going back ?

I am going to try for nest year but with the taxidermy billto pay it might be 2013. Sigh we will see.

Whew, that's a boatload of critters!

Congrats on a great safari! I do feel your pain on the taxidermy bill.


Mad Dog

Congratulations! Great pictures.

Thanks for the kind words.

I am having Trans African do the taxidermy.

Anyone have any blackmail pictures of Rodney so I can get my costs down?

i am sooooo jealous. congratulations on a great hunt.

Hasher, don't feel bad...when I went on my first African hunt, it was a package of 7 Plains Game animals in RSA. I wound up bringing home 16. Tough to know when to stop!

Good shooting.

Great trip it must have been

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Hasher, don't feel bad...when I went on my first African hunt, it was a package of 7 Plains Game animals in RSA. I wound up bringing home 16. Tough to know when to stop!

My base hunt was 5 animals and I knew I was going to hunt extra so I had a total of 12 hunting days planned. Well before I came over they told me "give us the list of animals you would really like to hunt". So I gave them a list of 16 animals. I NEVER ever thought they would get me on all of them. I was thinking based on hunting in the US that maybe just MAYBE I might get on 10 or dare I hope 11.

Our first day we drove and drove and looked at tons fo animals with Stan always saying " achh we can do better". So i figured ok I was about right and when we didn't shoot anything the first day I thought my extimate was correct. Well I was mistaken. You cna see the animals he put me on and the reason we didn't shoot the 16 species wast that;

1. I had shot an additional Bushbuck and an adiational Impala.
2. I had secretly arranged to pay for my hunting partners Common Springbok as a thank you for all the help in planning my trip and getting evverythign organized. (they had hunted with him 5 times previously).
3. We only had 1/2 a day left and I didn't want to be out trying to hurry and find one last animal so Idecided to leave somethign to shoot next trip.

I am already plottign my return.

Congrats! Looks like you had a wonderful trip.

quote:

I am already plottign my return. Big Grin

Can you say "Cape Buffalo" ?????

Biebs oddly I am gong to try for Buff in Zambia.

My battery may very well consist of my Kreighoff 470 Ne and a Savage 99 in 250 Savage for all teh littel dik dik's and klipspringers and such.

Or the 9.3x62 I just bought.

quote:

Biebs oddly I am gong to try for Buff in Zambia.

Hash, nothing "odd" about that at all...it's the natural transition to a newly-addicted African hunter. Bring the 9.3x62 instead...it can serve as back-up on Buffalo if the 470 were to go south on you for some reason, or if the Buff are out in the open fields, forcing a shot longer than advisable with an open-sighted DR. Just shoot the little stuff with 9.3 solids.

Love that Bushbuck and the Eland.....and the Copper Springbok aint too shabby either

Eland thanks for the kind words.

Hasher - Holy cow! Lots of nice trophies for a first safari, congrats.