I just got back on Tuesday from a hunt near Ohrigstad, South Africa. I flew over via atl-jnb delta. My buddy, Frank's, wife works for Delta so he got me a buddy pass and we flew over together. We were assured several times that our luggage was checked all the way through and seemed to have no problems with the flight going over. When we arrived at Tamobo, no luggage, no guns. They never left ATL. The swissport guys assured us that they would be in the next day and since we were non-revenue passengers they would not deliver them. We drove 5 or 6 hours to the Misty Falls Game Lodge near Ohrigstad. Org, called ahead to Kosie van der Wal, the Mgr. And had the beer cold and the fire going. We made our plan over brained steaks and castle light. Next morning, I would use Org's Musgrave .30-06 and we would go looking for zebra then head to town for essentials not in our carry-ons.
The next morning we woke early and sipped tea while we watched eland, kudu, zebra, giraffe, ostriches and warthogs from the veranda. It was quite a sight and reminded me why I love Africa so much. We saddled up and went looking around. Misty Falls is a 2000+ hectare game farm on a plateau 2000m in elevation. There was terrain from open plain to extremely thick brush and everything in between. we went out and verified that I could shoot and started scouting for zebra. There were several herds with good specimens but we had trouble getting close. We had a late breakfast back at the lodge and then ran into town for stuff that we didn't have due to the luggage snafu. In the afternoon we got in range of the zebra. I waited what seemed like forever for a shot. The range was 250m. After not getting a shot for a few minutes, I put the piece on safe. When the shot came, it was still on safe. When I pulled my head out of my ass and released the safety, I jerked the shot and missed.
My bad. Org didn't say anything but I could tell there was concern with my marksmanship. About 30 minutes later, we got a 100m shot on another Zebra. I put it down with 2 rounds. We went back for eland schnitzel cooked by Org.
Wed. Was my birthday and I was up early. Knowing my interest in South African military history, Org had a book awaiting me as a birthday present. We had a light breakfast and went looking for kudu. We saw all kinds of game but no kudu other than some cows and a young bull or two. After a full day, went off in search of baboons that were devastating a local farm. Hooker and Org had been shooting them for a while so the baboons had learned to move fast and keep their distance. I engaged them with Org's Musgrave .243 but only managed near misses on running baboons at 250m. I was missing my rifles. Org's weapons were in fine working order and very good quality, but I knew the zero and range hold overs on mine. Adjusting on the fly at moving targets would have been much easier with rifles I knew intimately.
Thursday was Kudu day. We immediately got on to a group with one large old bull, another good size bull and a young bull with a half a dozen cows. The grey ghost of Africa is apt name. They can just disappear in the thick brush. We hunted them hard into the early afternoon but could not get a decent shot at the old bull. I guess that is how he got old. Finally, we determined that the 2 large older bulls had split and we gave up the chase.....for now. We went back to the lodge for lunch and to plan our late afternoon stalk. We returned to the general area and started looking for spoor. We found my kudu at 50m standing broadside just back in the shadows. Unlike that morning, he was no so far back that he was obscured in the shadows. One round from the musgrave and he was dead before he hit the ground. It was around 5:30pm and the light was fading as they skinners picked up my kudu. He wasn't "the" old bull from the morning but he was respectable at 52". By his worn down teeth, Org judged him to only have a year or so left. We went back to camp and celebrated with sliced kudu fillet as an appetizer and eland steaks with pap and sauce for dinner.
Friday we found the veranda overlooking a large group of baboons at about 500m. Windage dead on, elevation too high. The baboons were living a charmed life. We found that no courier would transport the firearms to us and we didn't want to stop hunting to deal with getting the rifles up to camp due to the time and distance involved. We bags were supposed to be shipped to us via postal courier but they had not shown up yet either.
We hunted Eland most of the day but could not find decent bull. We saw waterbuck, duiker, klipspring, gemsbok, wildebeest, giraffe, warthogs, zebra all manner of game except a shootable eland. It was a nice relaxing day though with the kudu and zebra down. We decided the next day would be wildebeest. Kosie was building up a herd of wildebeest at misty falls so they were not yet ready to hunt. We drove about 30 minutes to another farm where they had some old bulls in need of dispatching. The weather had turned cold with high winds and the promise of rain. After a quick meeting over coffee with the land owner we were off in search of wildebeest. The weather situation was deteriorating fast. Unluckily, the wildebeest was cooperating. We quickly got onto to a nice bull. I told org to feel free to back me up as I wasn't looking forward to a follow up in the heavy rain that was coming in the very near future. At 50m I put a round thru the top of it's heart. In keeping with it's reputation for toughness, the wildebeest went down kicking. I bolted in another round but could see nothing but hooves over the grass. It regained it's feet and started to run. org and I fired at almost the same instance. Our bullets both entering the shoulder only a 1/4" apart. The wildebeest went down for good. The rain started as we loaded him up. By the time we got back to the skinning shed we were in a torrential downpour that lasted the entire day. The wind got so hard that sometimes the rain was damn near horizontal. The luggage had finally arrived and we picked it up at the post office and then repaired to the pub in Ohrigstad to start planning next year's hunt for the eland, warthog, impala, bush pig and hopefully buffalo and maybe
hippo.
Sunday, we headed back to Jo'burg to catch our flight home. I picked up my rifles and we checked in at the airport. This is when the fun really began. This was my first experience flying stand by. I was due back at work Monday afternoon. Frank had never flown standby beyond domestic and caribiean flights. We could not get seats. There were seats empty but due to the cargo weight and fuel issues, we were bumped. Frank's wife was watching the flight stats in Dallas and advised me that it looked like wed. Would be the earliest I would have a "chance" of getting a seat. She did find an Emirates flight jnb-Dallas via Dubai leaving the next day. Frank had a higher seating priority so she thought he could still make a stand by flight.
Having read on AR about the problems of transiting Dubai with guns, I called Org who was in Pretoria meeting his wife and organized storage for my rifles. Don Hooker set us up at the Birchwood over night. Luckily, we got our room before all the stranded due to strike lufthansa passengers flooded the hotel. Next morning, caught the shuttle and sorted out the emirates flight. I have to say that in my limited air travel experience, Emirates has the best looking stewardess, most comfortable coach seats and the best food served with real utensils. I was back in Fort Smith by 2pm and sorting out my paperwork in the office by 3 on 5 Tuesday. I received an email Tuesday morning from Org making sure I made it home and assuring me that the rifles were oiled down and awaiting my return in his safe with the proper storage permits from SAPS.
Was this the perfect trip? No. Did my PH help me make the best of it and show me a great time? Absolutely!!! Org and Kosie were great. Frank took a ton of pics as he was recovering from shoulder surgery and unable to shoot. Don Hooker was as always interesting company. From when we met at the airport and org learned of the luggage/rifle snafu, he immediately put me at ease. Don't worry, I have rifles, we will get you whatever you need. Let's go hunt!!! That us exactly what we did and I had a great time. Org and Kosie are coming to DSC and I will go back next year with hopefully more time to spend. I wholeheartedly endorse JG Boshoff Safaris and Trading and Misty Falls, those guys saved my trip and turned it into memories I will always cherish. Now if I can figure out how to post pictures, I will get some up for everyone's enjoyment.

S

Great stuff under trying circumstances. Look forward to seeing the pictures when you get them sorted.

If you guns are in RSA then when you going back?

Good report. Sucks that your guns did not make it. I bet you would not have missed a single shot if you had your own weapons....

Tim forgot to mention he had a world class case of buck fever the first day but he got over it fast. I know about the buck fever it happen to me in Uganda

Read it again don and see comment about pulling my head out of my ass after the first zebra shot. it was a great trip. Org is a great PH and a world class braai chef.

quote:

Originally posted by ddrhook:
Tim forgot to mention he had a world class case of buck fever the first day but he got over it fast. I know about the buck fever it happen to me in Uganda

That would't be 'cause you introduced him to your young "sweaty pie?"

It's hard to concentrate on trigger control with don drunkenly romancing every bush pig in the province. By romancing, I mean like the new guy's first night in prison romance.

quote:

Originally posted by ddrhook:
Tim forgot to mention he had a world class case of buck fever the first day but he got over it fast. I know about the buck fever it happen to me in Uganda

No shit?

quote:

Originally posted by timg953:
It's hard to concentrate on trigger control with don drunkenly romancing every bush pig in the province. By romancing, I mean like the new guy's first night in prison romance.

I'm helluva surprised they hadn't all migrated to Botswana to avoid his romantic intentions?

quote:

That would't be 'cause you introduced him to your young "sweaty pie?" Roll Eyes

That wouldn't be "Buck Fever"....more like "Swine Flu" !!!!!! :-)