BOTSWANA: Two Weeks Hunting In The Kalahari With Kanana Safaris

[baas303]

WoW I love this report so far.
Not easy to wait for Day 3

Thank You
Dries

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

You'll just have to wait and see what kind of luck I had.

 

[BRICKBURN]

WoW I love this report so far.
Not easy to wait for Day 3

Thank You
Dries

Thanks.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Day 3

It's time for Jane today. I dearly want this young lady to be successful on her first hunt in Africa. She has gone big game hunting with me back home and one day she will get her first deer.
She has practiced on the sticks and shown herself to be an excellent shot. Able to hit moving helium balloons (windy day) with a .22 at 100 yards.

The furthest target is just over one hundred yards.

She has a small frame and she has been able to shoot the .270 very accurately as well.
I am hoping to sit in the "hot" blind this morning and have a good Warthog come in for her.


We are to be dropped off at the blind that my friend the dedicated Bow hunter had sat in yesterday. He apparently went a little wild yesterday evening and shot a Wildebeest AND an Eland at last light. I did not hear this until this morning.
Both needed tracking apparently, so he asked me for help on the ride toward the blind.
For some reason he did not want to tell the PH. (Probably in the hope they would both just be found quickly.)

We go to blind #1 and I ask for his directions for the possible direction of the “pair and a spare” and head off into the general vicinity of where I feel an Eland would go if wounded. All the while hoping to find a dead Eland in short order over the first rise. After the major disturbance at the blind this morning, sitting in the blind would be fruitless anyway, so assisting with the tracking was the option chosen.


Joyce, another new hunter (observer), found the first speck of blood and that started the tracking. PH Wills and co were off tracking the Wildebeest simultaneous to our efforts.

Eland Bulls tracks

Onto the exit trail.

Very shortly we found a Cheetah carcass. It would have made an interesting trophy but I found out that there is no hope in hell of exporting any cat from Botswana. Sadly, it’s still in the bush.

This was not an easy track to follow. Very small drops of blood that had dried over night. So think dried blood on reddish sand!
After several hours and only three hundred yards in the red sand and very heavy bush, it was now getting hot (for us) and I did not have a enough water or a radio (no Sim card for the phone yet) to make sure we were safe. So back to the road and Jason had sent his truck for us. It was a great experience for all of us to wander around and walk in the bush.

We jumped in to help the boys on the Wildebeest track. The Wildebeest had gone a very long way. At this point I loaned my buddy the 300WM to continue his follow up and explained that he needed to get the “big boys” to track his Eland so he needs to tell his PH.



They did find the Wildebeest and we later found out we were within 60 yards of the Elands bed and did not see him. (Martin tracked it down later that afternoon, through all of our very “helpful” human tracks.) Imagine a working out the track after four people had moved through the area. I know what a Buffalo or elephant tracker has to deal with. I did not tell the rookies to stay off the track. Oops!
Just goes to show the skill level of these guys.

The early morning was now toast.

We bummed a ride and left for Samson to sit in a blind and get Jane a Warthog. The Warthog comprises her entire trophy wish list.
On our way to the Samson blind we bumped into some Kudu and one of the other young guys had not taken his Kudu yet so we turned back and went on a short stalk. We blew it after a couple hundred yards on the trail. There were way more Kudu in the bush than we ever saw. Note to self: stalking herds in bush is much tougher than you might think.



At 10:30 we are at the new blind to sit for the rest of the day.

Vigilant Hunter


I have the bow along, just in case.


A very nice 55'ish Kudu bull and I am not ready. I discover that the broad heads are not unpacked and on the arrows yet.
Plenty of time to take pictures but not attach broad heads.

We also got to watch another nice young bull come in.

But we are looking for Warthog for Jane. Much bigger than what was showing up.

Other critters filter in to drink and rest. Amazing to watch them come in relaxed and bed down.

A decent boar comes in and he will be the target of the day for me. He is not in Jane’s category but I decide he is good enough for the bow.
Down he goes at 20 yards. I hit him a little high but it is perfectly effective.

A picture immediately after the arrow struck.

We set him up for some trophy pictures and then leave him in that position right where he is. It is a sleeping Warthog decoy for the rest of the day.

No other Warthogs come in for the rest of the day. That's hunting.

But the usual end of the day suspects arrived.

Note to self: Perhaps being prepared as soon as you get into the blind would be a good idea.

 

[James.Grage]

Ahhh Brickburn,

The smell of blood kept the other animals away...

Keep going..

 

[BRICKBURN]

I was not about to bring that Warthog into the blind with me.

 

[Pheroze]

Thank you for this great series! I am really enjoying the read at the end of a long day.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Ahhh Brickburn,

The smell of blood kept the other animals away...

Keep going..

You just got me thinking. I had never thought about the blood potentially scaring other critters off. Since most of the time you are "one and done" with hunting game animals.
It brought to mind a memory of my first hunt in Namibia.
I watched a large boar coming into the blind area. He had to cross a fence where a Boar I had shot earlier had gone under and died.
He sniffed that blood and turned 180 degrees and left the country.
Perhaps you are right on the money James. Maybe I'll remember that one for next time.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Thank you for this great series! I am really enjoying the read at the end of a long day.

You are most welcome. Glad you are enjoying it.

 

[James.Grage]

You just got me thinking. I had never thought about the blood potentially scaring other critters off. Since most of the time you are "one and done" with hunting game animals.
It brought to mind a memory of my first hunt in Namibia.
I watched a large boar coming into the blind area. He had to cross a fence where a Boar I had shot earlier had gone under and died.
He sniffed that blood and turned 180 degrees and left the country.
Perhaps you are right on the money James. Maybe I'll remember that one for next time.

I shot a Porcupine at a Bush Pig bait and the spot has never been visited by bush pigs again... i have been repeatedly told... they moved the bait location about 100 yards away and that is the new one of the new bush pig setup Trevor Lake Uses... That why we have the continual topic at the camp fire about no shooting a porcupine at a bush pig bait... i think it is a friendly reminder. Haa Haa

 

[BRICKBURN]

Day 4

Up early. I am alone in the lodge and the benefits are you get to enjoy the sunrise over the Leadwood tree.

It never gets tiring to see the crescent moon hanging the "wrong way".

I am playing PH in the blind and hope we can have some luck on Warthogs today.

After breakfast we head north to sit in Blind #1.

We set up and today someone was smart enough to bring some cards along for those periods when the action slows. (I was not smart enough)

We start to get some animals coming in.

This male Ostrich stood off an did a whole process of preening and cleaning himself.

When you are in a blind below ground level you get to notice things you have never seen before. The bright pink shins on the Ostrich were quite shocking just how bright they are.

Scooping water to drink was incredible to watch.

Having Vultures walk into the water was a surprise. Dropping onto the ground at a distance and then walked in to drink.




I am not sure what is happening this morning. The wind must be wrong and letting the critters know we are here.
Not too much happening and I can not look out the back of the blind to see if the game is standing off at a distance and avoiding the water.

After a few hours of nothing coming in it is time to go for a short walk in the bush to try and reduce boredom and stretch our legs.

After we get back to the blind and watch some card playing a mangy Jackal comes in to the clearing to investigate and old bait on the other side.
We watch for a while and he gets closer and then we try to get Jane onto it. It's not on her list but stopping the suffering is high on my list. We try but this Jackal will not stand still long enough for a safe shot. He finally leaves the clearing and is not seen again.

I am not sure if the group is actually giving the blinds a rest. After picking up some pictures from the trail cams, it appears drive by's are occurring. I wonder if its the traffic or the wind and our scent.
Hmmm.

We moved to Samson blind and sit the rest of the day. This is apparently the Eland blind and everyone is seeing them except me.
I have not even seen an Eland calf in my time in this blind.

If you close your eyes in a blind you will notice the behaviour of different animals when they come in to water.
Wildebeest charge right in to the water en mass and start drinking. they drink very quietly. Whereas Kudu have to be the sloppiest drinkers on the planet. They remind me of a spaniel drinking. Slurping and water running and dripping from their mouth.

Finally a Warthog comes in. With the size of the tusks it takes a minute to figure out that it is a very large female.

Pictures are the biggest product of my day.

I am impressed with those bow hunters that can sit all day in a blind. Hats off to you.

My young partner is now quite bored and playing cards. Still no Warthog.

Perhaps tomorrow would be a good day to do some long walks.

 

[James.Grage]

Sitting in a blind is kind of hard to do and be absolutely quiet. I did it a few times for bushpigs and one time for Nyala. Hard to sit still. Every thing has to be in place for as little and and movement as possible.

We had the same results, maybe it was a swirling breeze, we had zebra come up and snort and stomp and then leave with out seeing them. We had Kudu about 15 feet away. Sometimes what you are looking for just does not come in.

Some nice pictures and a good story line...

can i get a copy of your standing ostrich picture? I just have not had any success in getting a good ostrich picture.

 

[Royal27]

I love the first day three pic of Jane on the sticks. Those suckers are spread out wide! And all of the wildlife pics are great. I will never get those good of pics simply because I'm not willing to carry the big camera, so I really enjoy yours.

I've never thought about the smell of blood potentially bothering the other animals either. I know it doesn't seem to bother the deer back home, but we obviously don't have the predators either.

 

[Wheels]

Brickburn,

You taught me something in your day 1 post.

You have a photo you have captioned as "Bush willow seeds". Those small seed pods were always known to come from the combretum trees when I was younger. I have heard/read the word bush willow before but figured it was a tree I was not familiar with. Did a little internet search today and found out that they are one in the same! Thanks.

Enjoying the detail and photos in your report as always.

All the best.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Sitting in a blind is kind of hard to do and be absolutely quiet. I did it a few times for bushpigs and one time for Nyala. Hard to sit still. Every thing has to be in place for as little and and movement as possible.

We had the same results, maybe it was a swirling breeze, we had zebra come up and snort and stomp and then leave with out seeing them. We had Kudu about 15 feet away. Sometimes what you are looking for just does not come in.

Some nice pictures and a good story line...

can i get a copy of your standing ostrich picture? I just have not had any success in getting a good ostrich picture.

Pictures are on the way James.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Brickburn,

You taught me something in your day 1 post.

You have a photo you have captioned as "Bush willow seeds". Those small seed pods were always known to come from the combretum trees when I was younger. I have heard/read the word bush willow before but figured it was a tree I was not familiar with. Did a little internet search today and found out that they are one in the same! Thanks.

Enjoying the detail and photos in your report as always.

All the best.

Darned PH school puts all kinds of stuff in your head.
Glad it was useful for you.

Red Bush Willow in the pictures.
http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantcd/combretumapicapic.htm

 

[Bobpuckett]

awesome Kudu Wayne and thanks for finally getting around to the report I've been waiting on this bugger for over a year. LOL Congrats so far Awesome pics.

 

[enysse]

Nice picture of the AH hats, I noticed mine are different than yours.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Nice picture of the AH hats, I noticed mine are different than yours.

That light coloured green turned into my favourite hat. It became my lucky charm. When I was not wearing it I did a lot less seeing game. (Everywhere. RSA, Botswana and Namibia)
How superstitions are built.
I thought I lost it for a while. I was not happy. It turned up in my truck 6 months ago.
Now I'm set to do some more hunting.

 

[BRICKBURN]

awesome Kudu Wayne and thanks for finally getting around to the report I've been waiting on this bugger for over a year. LOL Congrats so far Awesome pics.

Buddy, I have been waiting a long time too. Hope everyone enjoys it.