Chasing The Tiny 10 South Africa - The Journey Begins

[Green Chile]

Nice job! Glad to see the R8 going to good use!

Just the beginning of the .416 speaking my friend. This is a T10 focused hunt but with a lot of .416 activity.

 

[Hunt anything]

Sounds like a good time. It’s going to be interesting to hear about the problems with the police.

Great nyala, definitely one of my favorites along with bushbuck!

 

[Pablo]

Great report so far, looking forward to the rest of your adventures. Nyala are absolutely gorgeous. It was the last animal I shot on my recent trip, and it nearly made me sad to see such a beautiful critter down. I'm durned sure going to treat him right when he is mounted.

 

[Green Chile]

Ok, so I got a little mixed up in my notes with the order of things. That doesn’t matter really to anyone but the first day of red duiker calling and the nyala were on different days. I’m writing these hunt updates in between client calls and got my notes mixed up a bit. This post will clear that up and bring in some other animals and experiences from day 1 and 2.

So we did the nyala on the first full day but while driving around we saw a pretty good steenbok that was on my list. I have seen many steenbok before but always while hunting buff, etc. This time I was prepared and looking for a good one. The 22 Hornet did a great job and exited the small antelope. Each of these T10 are quite beautiful and intriguing in their own ways. When you are focused on them, it's interesting how the other large PG just are passing by and then you see a T10, glowing like a little jewel among the riff raff!

 

[Green Chile]

So the 2nd full day was the red duiker calling mentioned above and the following experiences. On the way to call red duiker we were driving on a dirt road among houses on the edge of town (Louis Trichardt). As we came around a corner, Dieter said did you see that? I said no...and then he stops the truck and points...there is a caracal standing beside the road. Dieter says I've lived here all my life and never seen one in this area. I said that's the first one I've seen in the wild. It was beautiful standing there so still for a moment. You're used to seeing videos of them jumping 10 feet into the air to pull birds down but just standing there in a suburban area was outrageous.

After calling the red duiker without success, we changed directions and drove up further into the mountains to call klippies. This was a hunt I had been wanting to do for some time. Klipspringers are a really special animal and unlike anything else in the world. I don't think they have any close relatives. They have the most beautiful eyes and I've always loved how they stand on the tips of their hooves looking down at you with their head cocked sideways.

This area we drove back into was fairly remote and undeveloped. In fact, the landowner was building a road into the back part of his land. This road climbed up into the mountains and back behind them. We would climb a little and call for awhile then keep climbing up and up.

This was probably the hardest physical day of the hunts being up in the loose rocks and cliffs. We thought we would find a target soon but we kept climbing and didn't bring any water with us. We spent hours looking for them and were all surprised by finding none. This place should have definitely turned up a few klippies but not on this day. Still it was a great day calling up in the mountains! It was a real hunt not just shooting. Good times.

Here are a few photos of the area and the sets we called from. Due to longer distances, I was borrowing Dieter's suppressed 243.

 

[TOBY458]

So the 2nd full day was the red duiker calling mentioned above and the following experiences. On the way to call red duiker we were driving on a dirt road among houses on the edge of town (Louis Trichardt). As we came around a corner, Dieter said did you see that? I said no...and then he stops the truck and points...there is a caracal standing beside the road. Dieter says I've lived here all my life and never seen one in this area. I said that's the first one I've seen in the wild. It was beautiful standing there so still for a moment. You're used to seeing videos of them jumping 10 feet into the air to pull birds down but just standing there in a suburban area was outrageous.

After calling the red duiker without success, we changed directions and drove up further into the mountains to call klippies. This was a hunt I had been wanting to do for some time. Klipspringers are a really special animal and unlike anything else in the world. I don't think they have any close relatives. They have the most beautiful eyes and I've always loved how they stand on the tips of their hooves looking down at you with their head cocked sideways.

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This area we drove back into was fairly remote and undeveloped. In fact, the landowner was building a road into the back part of his land. This road climbed up into the mountains and back behind them. We would climb a little and call for awhile then keep climbing up and up.

This was probably the hardest physical day of the hunts being up in the loose rocks and cliffs. We thought we would find a target soon but we kept climbing and didn't bring any water with us. We spent hours looking for them and were all surprised by finding none. This place should have definitely turned up a few klippies but not on this day. Still it was a great day calling up in the mountains! It was a real hunt not just shooting. Good times.

Here are a few photos of the area and the sets we called from. Due to longer distances, I was borrowing Dieter's suppressed 243.

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I can only imagine that @Bob Nelson 35Whelen would tell you that your lack of success on that day was due to your choice of using a 243! Great report so far!

 

[Green Chile]

I'm not really a user of the .243 in particular but the 22 Hornet and 416 barrels were not going to work for this application. I could have brought a 3rd barrel and probably should have done so. That's one of the lessons learned as you transition among so many different types of hunting for a T10 specific trip. Nothing really covers all ofd the applications. Yes you could use a 257 Wby or 300 win mag for all of it but on the close shots you would have little steenboks and duikers raining down in pieces.

 

[Hunt anything]

When I first saw the mountains I was going to be hunting klipspringer in I definitely thought I had bitten off a lot more than I could chew!! It took 2 1/2 days to get a pretty good ram. This was in Limpopo also near Thabazimbi..

 

[Green Chile]

When I first saw the mountains I was going to be hunting klipspringer in I definitely thought I had bitten off a lot more than I could chew!! It took 2 1/2 days to get a pretty good ram. This was in Limpopo also near Thabazimbi..

Dieter had a klippie hunt with an older gentleman in this same area end very quickly on the first or second set of calling. It was almost at the bottom of the mountain. In comparison, we found mountains that we didn't even know were there on this day of calling. At one point, I asked Dieter where did the other guy get his...Dieter pointed way down the mountain and said down there where we parked the truck!

 

[TOBY458]

I'm not really a user of the .243 in particular but the 22 Hornet and 416 barrels were not going to work for this application. I could have brought a 3rd barrel and probably should have done so. That's one of the lessons learned as you transition among so many different types of hunting for a T10 specific trip. Nothing really covers all ofd the applications. Yes you could use a 257 Wby or 300 win mag for all of it but on the close shots you would have little steenboks and duikers raining down in pieces.

Just trying to get a rise out of Bob. I would think the 243 would do a lot of damage as well on those smaller animals. Even a 223 would probably be pretty tough on them, unless you use a really tough bullet, like a TSX.

 

[Gemsbok45]

I like hunting at night for the little critters but Bushbuck should be hunting during the day. You made the right call whatever your motivation. Now if you have shot a bushbuck at night your choice.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

3 grand is a lot for Sharpe's. Time and $ are big factors in how you approach taking the T10. There is nowhere you can get all of them in one location. Some places are higher cost than others but more convenient since you are there. In this case, trophy fees were 2500 for Sharpe's grysbok and 2300 for red duiker. There is almost no place in Limpopo where you could get both of those at any cost but you can here...for some cost.

If you think that’s a lot, start shopping Suni prices in RSA. $7-10k (trophy fee, doesn’t include daily rates) is the pricing I was quoted by 5 or 7 different outfitters over the last 2 years. For that amount of money I’ll go to Mozambique.

$3k on a Sharpe’s is a lot. I think mine was like $450 or $500 in Zim granted I was DG hunting and paying a much higher daily rate.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I can only imagine that @Bob Nelson 35Whelen would tell you that your lack of success on that day was due to your choice of using a 243! Great report so far!

@TOBY458
Longer distance with a 243 is anything longer than the barrel.
If your barrel is 22" in a 243 that's what you restrict your shots to. No that's not 22" from the barrel that's at the muzzle. That cartridge should not be allowed out in any hunting field
Bob

 

[Sabre]

One thing of note when going through OR Tambo airport in Joburg...the panhandlers and "shoe shiners" are getting much more aggressive in their tactics. When you go through security screening to go downstairs to Skylink domestic gates, you will find them just past security. They will try to detain you sounding official to get $20 out of you. This time I just said no thanks and kept walking BUT he tried to stop me and said, "Don't do that!" to stop me so I would talk to him. I looked at him and said stop...then moved past him. Don't let them get you as they have nothing to offer and are just looking for money. Move past them to get to your gate. The flight to Polokwane is about 1 hour and was uneventful.

Yes, it feels insane to me that they let the fake workers run around the airport like they do. I had so many try and get me to talk to them and use crazy official sounding things and just insane level pestering.

They like to stand near the departures TV screens and obnoxiously pester trying to get you to accept their fake official help even when you don't need it or want it, thinking they can then extort you for a tip.

I also had one follow me for quite a ways. First he was offering a "shoe shine" while I was in shoes that you wouldn't ever shine. When I didn't stop and said no, he started following me telling me he was an airport official and I had to let him disinfect my shoes because it was the law. After many times of saying no and walking, I eventually told him to get the f**k away from me and that finally did the trick.

 

[Sabre]

@Green Chile - Do you plan on posting about those sidetrack topics you mentioned in this thread, or are you creating separate threads for them?

 

[Green Chile]

@Green Chile - Do you plan on posting about those sidetrack topics you mentioned in this thread, or are you creating separate threads for them?

I will post them separately to keep topics on track. I would like to keep the hunting report focused on that experience as the other 2 topics should also be focused.

 

[Green Chile]

Here we go for red duiker again! This was one of my most important goals for this hunt along with the Sharpe’s grysbok. We have now gone to plan B and gotten onto a different property, which is an avocado and nut farm. I really liked this property with its large fields, groves of trees and watering points in an area next to the mountains. The variety of habitat was incredible with lots of transition zones. It just looked like it had to hold lots of game.

The neighbor of Dieter who helped us with the grysbok had said if we wanted to hunt with him on another property that he leased we could do that. I’m very grateful to Richard for his assistance to us on these hunts. Again, relationships with landowners is critical to being able to make alternate plans from time to time. Dieter has a lot of trust with these landowners and it really made the difference.

We had an incredible day moving around making different sets for calling. The animals seemed a little off today with the changing weather but we saw 11 different red duikers. None of the males presented shots but some of the females stood on the edge of cover and that was a lot of fun to see them standing there like a big red rabbit. They are so small and skittish but that’s what happens when you are on the bottom of the food chain for every predator there.

One dramatic moment happened when we came back to the truck after crawling around in the brush for a few hours. As we moved to the next spot, the tracker noticed a huge mamba in the brush beside us. Dieter’s next comment was classic…we aren’t going in there anymore!!! Nasty snakes and this property seems to have a lot of them.

One of my favorite moments of the day was after the workers left the field and the sun was dropping, we set up under the rows of cultivated trees to call. You know how some sets for calling just look perfect and this was one of those. We saw a lot of bushbuck, blesbok and some warthogs but the red duikers weren’t cooperating at this time. Still it was a fantastic experience and we truly hunted hard that day. I think the hard days without results make the outcome even greater. Some things come easy and some things come much harder.

Some photos of the calling setups...

We were calling from behind the hay bales on the left to this spot where they had discarded the nut reject pile...but the red duiker were all through the cover on both sides

22 Hornet on the sticks

 

[Green Chile]

 

[Philip Glass]

The first day back in Africa is always interesting and a little crazy as you get moved into the area by plane, truck, boat and whatever else is needed. Thankfully there were no issues with the travel this trip. I learned early on to rely on the professionals when traveling to other countries and as always, Darren and Jennifer Ginn at Travel Express got everything in order for this trip. It wasn’t a complex travel plan but it’s worth a LOT to know that it’s going to be right and they are standing by if needed. I did some experimenting last year in my 2 trips to Africa with Darren’s help. I tried flying from Dallas to Paris to Joburg to Polokwane (SA) on 1 trip…and Dallas to Istanbul to Joburg to Bulawayo (Zim) on another trip. Those options added too much time getting there and weren’t relaxing to me. I would rather push hard and get there fast. So my 2 trips this year were getting on Delta and doing the long hop from Atlanta to Joburg to get in country. Yes it’s a long flight of 15 to 16 hours but you get it out of the way. As always, your mileage may vary but for those who don’t have millions of airline miles and you are wanting to get to Africa quickly, consider the economy routes that get you there faster.

I’ve used Rifle Permits many times without issue but this time, my PH asked me to try using Africa Sky’s VIP services and that was a great experience. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to skip the long lines at Africa Customs after getting off the plane. I was met before that point and walked through a very short line that had me done with Customs in 10 minutes. They also had my firearms permit and we gathered the guns at the SAPS office and went to Africa Sky’s lodge for the night. Great service, great steak dinner and back to the airport for the final flight to Polokwane.

Some photos of Africa Sky...

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One thing of note when going through OR Tambo airport in Joburg...the panhandlers and "shoe shiners" are getting much more aggressive in their tactics. When you go through security screening to go downstairs to Skylink domestic gates, you will find them just past security. They will try to detain you sounding official to get $20 out of you. This time I just said no thanks and kept walking BUT he tried to stop me and said, "Don't do that!" to stop me so I would talk to him. I looked at him and said stop...then moved past him. Don't let them get you as they have nothing to offer and are just looking for money. Move past them to get to your gate. The flight to Polokwane is about 1 hour and was uneventful.

At this point of the story, we encountered massive problems with SAPS in Polokwane. I will detail that in a separate topic to keep the story moving here. Suffice it to say, what you have experienced before in Africa is NO guarantee that you will have the same experience next time. TIA!

Enjoying this journey! Africa Sky is so very nice if you have time to enjoy it. We had nearly a full day there this year due to schedule changes. It has that safari camp feel.
Tell all the porters " no thank you" and keep walking! They are getting to be a problem again.

 

[Green Chile]

Enjoying this journey! Africa Sky is so very nice if you have time to enjoy it. We had nearly a full day there this year due to schedule changes. It has that safari camp feel.
Tell all the porters " no thank you" and keep walking! They are getting to be a problem again.

I really enjoyed using Africa Sky on the return a few days ago. My layover at JNB was going to be 10 hours and Africa Sky came and picked me up and gave me a day room rate on a suite where I could shower and rest, a nice meal and airport pickup and return for not much more than $100.

Agreed on the "porters"...best not to stop but they have gotten clever in how they approach and sound official. Basically, I suggest walking straight from security downstairs to Airlink terminals or wherever you are going without looking like you need help. OR Tambo is a little confusing though and they take advantage of that. Just don't get pulled off to the side or sit down with them. Don't hand anything to them or even ask questions.