Safari Company: Kei River Safaris

Booking Agent: Crosshair Consulting/Wade Derby

Professional Hunter: Andrew Renton

Location: Eastern Cape, South Africa

Number of hunters: Two

Calibers Used: 7mm Remington Magnum, .270 Winchester, .308 Winchester, .223 Remington

Species Taken: 2 Eastern Cape Kudu, 3 Impala, Red Hartebeest, Black Wildebeest, Blue Wildebeest, Mountain Rhebok, Warthog

Hunt Dates: June 2017 – 10 days

I booked my first hunt through an offer on AR, and I have nothing but great things to say about it. I decided to take my son, Dan, to South Africa for a high school graduation gift. This would be my fifth trip to South Africa, and my son’s second. Three of my prior trips had been with a PH named “Kobus de Villiers” of Jakkal Skuil Safaris. Kobus is an excellent PH and his Karoo territory is outstanding. You can’t go wrong hunting with Kobus and I recommend him strongly. I was looking for an experience different from the open plains of the Karoo this time, however, and a post on AR for Kei River Safaris through Wade Derby of Crosshair Consulting for a hunt on the Eastern Cape of South Africa caught my attention.

The hunt was with Andrew Renton of Kei River Safaris. Renton’s Package was well-priced; his references were excellent; and Wade seemed very honest. Wade described this hunt as pure spot and stalk. Wade assured me that Andy Renton is a true hunter and that Andy believes in wild game and challenging hunting on foot. I booked.

Andy met us at the East London, South Africa Airport as planned. He drove two hours north into the hills to a lodge named “Mawani” in the heavily-bushed mountains of the Eastern Cape. The lodge was outstanding, with comfortable cabins and some of the best food and drink I’ve ever experienced. The hunting area was expansive, consisting of multiple mountains, valleys and plains. Perhaps best of all, Dan and I were the only hunters on the property for the entire 9 days we were there.

I will summarize my experience with Any Renton as follows. I’ve hunted with 8 different PHs in South Africa. Before hunting with Andy, I would recommend only one – Kobus de Villiers. I will now enthusiastically recommend Andy Renton as well.

Although there were multiple species in our package, my primary goal was a big Eastern Cape Kudu. For the first several days, each morning began glassing with Andy on a peak of one of the many mountains on the property. With Andy’s guidance, I saw multiple bulls that I would have gladly taken. Andy’s comment was always: “we can do better.” It was not until the afternoon of day 3 that we saw a bull that met Andy’s standards. Once the bull bedded down in the acacia, we started a stalk through the heaviest cover I’ve ever experienced.
We eventually reached a slightly elevated rocky point on the face of a slope from which we could see one horn of the bedded bull at 250 meters. Andy made sure I had a steady rest from the shooting sticks and we waited for the bull to stand. When it did, I was able to bag the most beautiful Kudu bull I could have hoped for. I don’t believe in measuring my game. If it is a beautiful animal, I am happy with him, regardless of his measurements, so I will say only this: my bull easily exceeded the 50 inch benchmark of an exceptional trophy Eastern Cape Kudu.

Dan and I bagged every animal in our packages. Each animal was hunted in similar fashion: spotted, stalked, and earned. Every animal was of excellent trophy quality. The evening meals consisted of the best cuts of the animals we harvested and to describe the meals as outstanding would not do them complete justice.

I will try to add photos of some of the animals Dan and I took on the trip - so far I've had no luck adding photos! I believe the photos will speak for themselves. Perhaps the best thing I can say about hunting with Andy Renton of Kei River Safaris is that I can’t wait to hunt with him again. This was also the first hunt that I booked through Wade Derby of Cross Hair Consulting. Wade not only booked me on an outstanding hunt, but his service was top notch. I will turn to Wade Derby first for future hunts.

If any AR member wants further details about the hunt with Andy Renton of Kei River Safaris, I would be happy to hear from you. Please feel free to PM me.

Congrats to you and your son! Sounds like a great hunt!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Hunted with Andy in May. He runs a top notch operation. Can't wait to see the pics.

Will

Todd, thank you for the kind words and for allowing us to assist you. Making great memories with family and friends is what it is all about. I look forward to collaborating on the next one.

Andrew is a class guy with fantastic game available. Used him twice. He'll be #3.

Heard a lot of good things about Mr Renton and well done on your splendid safari with him.

That sounds like a nice Cape Kudu. Congratulations!

Good for you, eagerly looking forward to the photos.