Chukar
AH enthusiast
I had the pleasure of taking my first safari this past month with Kowas Safaris in Namibia.
Wow, what a complete surprise, completely beating my expectations. The land, the people, the travel.
It was booked as a cull/management hunt. My thoughts on this was that I'm a rookie, I want to learn how to hunt, how to stalk. What better way than to book a hunt with multiple opportunities to practice and train. I've hunted the state of Oregon, but this was something completely different.
Travel was difficult. I flew Emirates out of Seattle. I booked a business class seat for the long hauls (SEA-DXB and DXB-JNB). It was a treat for my upcoming 50th birthday. Flights were fantastic. The experience at DXB was fantastic. Grabbed a shower and some ch0w.
The problem with the flying is that I have a major problem with sleeping on an aircraft. The ambient noise, the other people... What are they doing? Are they watching me? Ahh, paranoia the destroyer.
Emirates, yeah, I can't think of anyway to fly long-haul other than them. Business class was fantastic. A380 on the leg back from JNB to DXB was nothing less than luxury.
To the hunting. I've been seeing a few things here recently on cull hunting. Shooting out of the truck/bakkie. It didn't happen here. Other than the extra warthogs, nothing was shot off the vehicle. Some warthogs were taken from the vehicle, the others from stand/foot. About 50/50 I would say.
So I had a deal for ten animals. When I arrived the targets were for Oryx and Red Hartebeest. The warthogs were a "bonus", due to a local rancher who wanted the hogs our of their cattle feed pens which disrupted the cattle feeding operation so needed during a drought.
The Oryx and Hartebeest were taken all spot and stalk. It was a learning experience. Not a well placed shot, you will walk! And walk and walk and walk..... I was warned on the first day that Oryx are tough and tough to hunt due to multiple eyes and a herd mentality..... Same with Hartebeest.
Thus, I am walking a good time a day to get rid of the nasty desk job that I have. I have hopefully learned.
Mattheus, my PH, was awesome. A man of few words. I can respect that a ton. The man can hunt and track like nothing I have seen. Michael, driver and tracker was awesome.
Staff and service was beyond reproach. Ansie and Danie were the perfect hosts.
I requested local foods and was so pleasantly surprised by the delightful meals that ended up on the end of my cake-hole! If Ansie is reading this, maybe next time some tongue and offal on the menu....
Would I do it again? You bet.
Memorable brain images include an Oryx running through a cattle fence at full speed, getting tossed ass over teakettle, recovering after about five seconds and concluding the escape. Fully broke two strands of wire and a few support branches.... An Aardwolf and Bat Eared Fox in daylight.
Images are poor. There is nothing more to see than the hog. One of the Oryx was a broken horned warrior that sported numerous battle scars and a broken horn that I truly respected.
The Wartpig was decent as I recon. Decent tusks and another wart over his left eyebrow which was kind of cool.
Wow, what a complete surprise, completely beating my expectations. The land, the people, the travel.
It was booked as a cull/management hunt. My thoughts on this was that I'm a rookie, I want to learn how to hunt, how to stalk. What better way than to book a hunt with multiple opportunities to practice and train. I've hunted the state of Oregon, but this was something completely different.
Travel was difficult. I flew Emirates out of Seattle. I booked a business class seat for the long hauls (SEA-DXB and DXB-JNB). It was a treat for my upcoming 50th birthday. Flights were fantastic. The experience at DXB was fantastic. Grabbed a shower and some ch0w.
The problem with the flying is that I have a major problem with sleeping on an aircraft. The ambient noise, the other people... What are they doing? Are they watching me? Ahh, paranoia the destroyer.
Emirates, yeah, I can't think of anyway to fly long-haul other than them. Business class was fantastic. A380 on the leg back from JNB to DXB was nothing less than luxury.
To the hunting. I've been seeing a few things here recently on cull hunting. Shooting out of the truck/bakkie. It didn't happen here. Other than the extra warthogs, nothing was shot off the vehicle. Some warthogs were taken from the vehicle, the others from stand/foot. About 50/50 I would say.
So I had a deal for ten animals. When I arrived the targets were for Oryx and Red Hartebeest. The warthogs were a "bonus", due to a local rancher who wanted the hogs our of their cattle feed pens which disrupted the cattle feeding operation so needed during a drought.
The Oryx and Hartebeest were taken all spot and stalk. It was a learning experience. Not a well placed shot, you will walk! And walk and walk and walk..... I was warned on the first day that Oryx are tough and tough to hunt due to multiple eyes and a herd mentality..... Same with Hartebeest.
Thus, I am walking a good time a day to get rid of the nasty desk job that I have. I have hopefully learned.
Mattheus, my PH, was awesome. A man of few words. I can respect that a ton. The man can hunt and track like nothing I have seen. Michael, driver and tracker was awesome.
Staff and service was beyond reproach. Ansie and Danie were the perfect hosts.
I requested local foods and was so pleasantly surprised by the delightful meals that ended up on the end of my cake-hole! If Ansie is reading this, maybe next time some tongue and offal on the menu....
Would I do it again? You bet.
Memorable brain images include an Oryx running through a cattle fence at full speed, getting tossed ass over teakettle, recovering after about five seconds and concluding the escape. Fully broke two strands of wire and a few support branches.... An Aardwolf and Bat Eared Fox in daylight.
Images are poor. There is nothing more to see than the hog. One of the Oryx was a broken horned warrior that sported numerous battle scars and a broken horn that I truly respected.
The Wartpig was decent as I recon. Decent tusks and another wart over his left eyebrow which was kind of cool.
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