Wheels
AH ambassador
Bos en Dal 2015, Botswana
My flight from Dar es Salaam landed in Johannesburg at 10:30 pm. Gerrit was waiting for me and we took off for the Tuli area of Botswana. After overnighting at Bela Bela, we got up and took a leisurely drive toward the Limpopo. The trucks were backed up a half mile at the border. Gerrit maneuvered around them. We spent about 30 minutes getting through the RSA side and about 5 going through the Botswana side. After driving further, we arrived at the concession around noon.
Customs. Which will go first. The tree or the buildings?
Camp was great, setting on the banks of the Limpopo. The ranch is about 35,000 acres with a few miles of river frontage. We met Erhardt who is the ranch manager. A tracker was named One One. This was evidently a nickname he received from the mines. The other tracker was significantly smaller, so I asked if he was Zero Zero. A laugh was had by all. Matanta was his real name but Zero Zero stuck for the rest of the hunt.
We grabbed a bite to eat and went to sight in the rifles. Due to other business on this trip, I didn’t bring my own rifles. Gerrit has a CZ550 in 375 that is just like mine. He brought a Musgrave 7x57 as a second gun.
The 375 would not zero. We could only keep it in an area the size of a dinner plate. There was a problem with the Leupold scope. This was a concern since I prefer hunting plains game with a 375. I shot the 7x57 two times and the bullets were less than an inch apart right on the bull. I began thinking, is this enough gun? Then, when I remembered that Bell shot a few hundred elephants with a 7x57 I felt better about being able to take an eland on down with it.
We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around, looking at the ranch and looking for game. We were on the sticks on the dumbest or the deafest wildebeest on the property. He was a nice old bull, but Gerrit thought we could do better if we waited. When we got back to the truck, Erhardt said next time go ahead and shoot it. He gave us permission to shoot extra wildebeest and impala as meat for his staff. I’m liking Botswana even more!
We got back to camp, Petros, the chef/camp manager had a great meal prepared for us. All the meals throughout the hunt were top notch.
Petros
Day 2
Erhardt thought the best time to hunt bushbuck would be the first hour and a half of the day. After breakfast, we started working our way along the river incurring the wrath of monkeys and baboons as they scurried way. After about an hour, we came upon two bucks feeding in the river bottom. Gerrit thought we should take the largest. The little 7mm proved itself dropping the ram in his tracks. How appropriate is it taking a Limpopo bushbuck in the Limpopo river bottom within 20 yards of the water?
At lunch that day a hippo bull that looked like he had lost a significant battle with a rival a kilometer up river hung out below camp. He would nurse his wounds below camp throughout the rest of our hunt. Occasionally crocs would be seen, but I saw nothing over 7’. There was also a monitor lizard that hung out in the big trees around camp.
There was a large hot tub filled with fresh clear well water in camp. The water was around 27c and felt great to chill out in (pun intended) with daytime temperatures in the 38-41 range.
That afternoon we spent most of the time walking and took an impala out of a large herd. On the way back to camp that evening, Erhardt wanted me to take another impala for the staff. I was happy to oblige. He then proceeded to thank me for saving him a bullet. Gotta love it!
Day 3
We spent most of the morning trying to find eland but were unsuccessful. We came upon a waterbuck that looked good but we couldn’t see the tops of his horns that were above the browse line. I was on the sticks for a minute with a 75 yard shot but no verification if he was a great one. As he took off, Erhardt said to shoot if he stopped. We never got the chance. Erhardt said he would go 32”. We stalked him for 45 minutes and busted him three times. After the third time we determined it was better to let him settle down and not run him out of his territory.
On our way into lunch we came across a herd of impala rams with a monster in it. We started stalking them. Two rams separated a few yards from the herd including the big boy. Only the bottoms of the horns were visible with all the underbrush. Erhardt thought he had the correct one picked out and told me to shoot it. At the shot the ram ran 30 yards, crashed into a tree and collapsed. Unfortunately it was the smaller ram. Erhardt thanked me for shooting a meat ram for him and saving him a bullet. Don’t you love hunts like this?
Tree the impala ran into. Yes, the 7x57 did it's job.
No, this didn't turn into an impala hunt. Last one, promise.
At lunch we watched a real nice bushbuck work his way along the bank on the South African side of the river. I have never hunted a property overlooking another country before. Unique experience.
We decided to forgo the long siestas after lunch and spend the time setting at waterholes from here on out. It proved worthwhile. As we saw a nice steenbok and were fortunate enough to take him.
Zeiss is Erhardt’s GSP/weimaraner mix. This is the only photo I have of him. He would later prove his worth. He was also great at cleaning the blood off animals for photos.
It has been said that the signs of a well maintained hunting area with little or no poaching, is if you see a number of small antelope and leopard tortoises. If that is true, then this is a well maintained ranch. We saw multiple tortoises every day and there were more steenbok on this ranch than I have seen anywhere else.
The evening hunt was spent looking for eland but we couldn’t find them. As light faded, a jackal tarried too long.
More to come.
My flight from Dar es Salaam landed in Johannesburg at 10:30 pm. Gerrit was waiting for me and we took off for the Tuli area of Botswana. After overnighting at Bela Bela, we got up and took a leisurely drive toward the Limpopo. The trucks were backed up a half mile at the border. Gerrit maneuvered around them. We spent about 30 minutes getting through the RSA side and about 5 going through the Botswana side. After driving further, we arrived at the concession around noon.
Customs. Which will go first. The tree or the buildings?
Camp was great, setting on the banks of the Limpopo. The ranch is about 35,000 acres with a few miles of river frontage. We met Erhardt who is the ranch manager. A tracker was named One One. This was evidently a nickname he received from the mines. The other tracker was significantly smaller, so I asked if he was Zero Zero. A laugh was had by all. Matanta was his real name but Zero Zero stuck for the rest of the hunt.
We grabbed a bite to eat and went to sight in the rifles. Due to other business on this trip, I didn’t bring my own rifles. Gerrit has a CZ550 in 375 that is just like mine. He brought a Musgrave 7x57 as a second gun.
The 375 would not zero. We could only keep it in an area the size of a dinner plate. There was a problem with the Leupold scope. This was a concern since I prefer hunting plains game with a 375. I shot the 7x57 two times and the bullets were less than an inch apart right on the bull. I began thinking, is this enough gun? Then, when I remembered that Bell shot a few hundred elephants with a 7x57 I felt better about being able to take an eland on down with it.
We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around, looking at the ranch and looking for game. We were on the sticks on the dumbest or the deafest wildebeest on the property. He was a nice old bull, but Gerrit thought we could do better if we waited. When we got back to the truck, Erhardt said next time go ahead and shoot it. He gave us permission to shoot extra wildebeest and impala as meat for his staff. I’m liking Botswana even more!
We got back to camp, Petros, the chef/camp manager had a great meal prepared for us. All the meals throughout the hunt were top notch.
Petros
Day 2
Erhardt thought the best time to hunt bushbuck would be the first hour and a half of the day. After breakfast, we started working our way along the river incurring the wrath of monkeys and baboons as they scurried way. After about an hour, we came upon two bucks feeding in the river bottom. Gerrit thought we should take the largest. The little 7mm proved itself dropping the ram in his tracks. How appropriate is it taking a Limpopo bushbuck in the Limpopo river bottom within 20 yards of the water?
At lunch that day a hippo bull that looked like he had lost a significant battle with a rival a kilometer up river hung out below camp. He would nurse his wounds below camp throughout the rest of our hunt. Occasionally crocs would be seen, but I saw nothing over 7’. There was also a monitor lizard that hung out in the big trees around camp.
There was a large hot tub filled with fresh clear well water in camp. The water was around 27c and felt great to chill out in (pun intended) with daytime temperatures in the 38-41 range.
That afternoon we spent most of the time walking and took an impala out of a large herd. On the way back to camp that evening, Erhardt wanted me to take another impala for the staff. I was happy to oblige. He then proceeded to thank me for saving him a bullet. Gotta love it!
Day 3
We spent most of the morning trying to find eland but were unsuccessful. We came upon a waterbuck that looked good but we couldn’t see the tops of his horns that were above the browse line. I was on the sticks for a minute with a 75 yard shot but no verification if he was a great one. As he took off, Erhardt said to shoot if he stopped. We never got the chance. Erhardt said he would go 32”. We stalked him for 45 minutes and busted him three times. After the third time we determined it was better to let him settle down and not run him out of his territory.
On our way into lunch we came across a herd of impala rams with a monster in it. We started stalking them. Two rams separated a few yards from the herd including the big boy. Only the bottoms of the horns were visible with all the underbrush. Erhardt thought he had the correct one picked out and told me to shoot it. At the shot the ram ran 30 yards, crashed into a tree and collapsed. Unfortunately it was the smaller ram. Erhardt thanked me for shooting a meat ram for him and saving him a bullet. Don’t you love hunts like this?
Tree the impala ran into. Yes, the 7x57 did it's job.
No, this didn't turn into an impala hunt. Last one, promise.
At lunch we watched a real nice bushbuck work his way along the bank on the South African side of the river. I have never hunted a property overlooking another country before. Unique experience.
We decided to forgo the long siestas after lunch and spend the time setting at waterholes from here on out. It proved worthwhile. As we saw a nice steenbok and were fortunate enough to take him.
Zeiss is Erhardt’s GSP/weimaraner mix. This is the only photo I have of him. He would later prove his worth. He was also great at cleaning the blood off animals for photos.
It has been said that the signs of a well maintained hunting area with little or no poaching, is if you see a number of small antelope and leopard tortoises. If that is true, then this is a well maintained ranch. We saw multiple tortoises every day and there were more steenbok on this ranch than I have seen anywhere else.
The evening hunt was spent looking for eland but we couldn’t find them. As light faded, a jackal tarried too long.
More to come.
