NAMIBIA: May-June Namibia Trip Report With Schalk Pienaar Safaris

[AtlBGhunter]

Good afternoon! I have been back in the states for a little over two weeks so I think I finally have the time to post about my trip to Namibia with my dad. This trip was supposed to occur last September, but Covid threw everyone for a loop. I recently hunted with Schalk in 2019 and had an amazing one week trip. This time I was not going to rush and decided upon doing two full weeks. My lovely wife was not too excited about caring for a 4 and 2 year old, but I promised her it was just a scouting trip for when the boys get older. My father is a former special forces officer who recently retired from the practice of law. He is mostly a bird hunter and unfamiliar with most big game pursuits. However, he relished the idea of an adventure and really embraced Africa from the beginning until the end.
The flight:
After much research(thanks to this forum), we finally decided upon flying Ethiopian airways from DC to Addis Ababa to Windhoek. We decided to not take guns and honestly never regretted it. We spent the night in DC, ate some awesome Korean bbq, and got up early to fly the next day. The airlines advised us to get here 4 hours early...we had nothing better to do so we decided upon following their suggestion. The check in was smooth and we go through security with approx. 3 hours to burn. We splurged and opted for the cloud nine seats. The food and service were good. I knocked off 3-10 glasses of wine and was able to sleep for a good portion of the longest leg to Addis Ababa. We landed with an hour until our next flight. Luckily they were boarding when got to the gate. It was about perfect from a timing standpoint.(I've been told they will hold the plane if you are on another one of their flights). The next flight seemed like it took forever because of my anticipation, but it was only 5:30 hours! Upon landing in Windhoek we went through a quick customs check and were able to get our bags. There was some confusion about the protocol to get out of the baggage area, but we decided to plow ahead to the welcoming area. We were met by our PH Schalk Pienaar. He has been in the business for several years and had his own company since 2015. It was an easy 2:30 hour drive to his ranch with a brief stop in Gobabis for fuel. The sights and sounds of Africa were back and I couldn't be more excited!
The accommodations:
Schalk spent 2020 building out walled tents on his property. previously, we stayed about 30 miles away and these accommodations were even better! They were simply perfect. They are about 50 meters apart and start about 75 meters from the main house. They felt very secluded and had definite animal visitors outside them every night. The bed was amazing and had every creature comfort you could desire. It was way too nice for me, but my wife would be thrilled to stay in such nice accommodations. The pellet heater system worked great and kept us warm on some surprisingly cool nights. I had previously hunted in October where it felt like it never got below 90 degrees.

The Food:
The food was simply incredible. Every dinner was like coming home to a five star restaurant. Julia Labuschagne is from Germany, but has spent the last 7 years in Namibia. She was a delightful person and simply put one of the best chefs. They even let me give it a go and cook on sunday-game birds and SpringBok Osso Bucco. She incorporated wild game into every meal and was one of the best bakers i've ever been around. She truly helped make it a great trip.

tbc...with the hunts

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Namibia is sounding better each time I read about it, and it started well.

 

[AtlBGhunter]

The hunt:

We hunted at five different locations
-main camp for 7 days roughly 35k acres
-a friends ranch for 2 roughly 45k acres
-his uncles ranch for 1 day roughly 15k acres
-Kudu Ridge property for one day roughly 45k acres
-the khomas highland for two days roughly 50k acres
The truck-Beast land cruiser that really made me a believer after the highlands...

Rifles:
We shot a 30-06 and 300 win mag.

Day 1 main ranch-
Overall impressions-It is amazing to see this country with grass! The game was abundant everywhere we went. In 2019, it was depressing seeing warthogs with their ribs sticking out.
We started off our safari with a bang with a double red hartebeest to start the trip. We saw a group of blue wildebeest and while on the stalk happened upon two mature hartebeests. My dad was first on the sticks and shot his true...the RH ran about 50 yards and dropped. I then jumped on the sticks and took a moving shot at the other hartebeest. The shot was low and I was worried we would be in for a long track. Luckily, our truck was close so we sent dogs to try and track the wounded RH. Unfortunately, one of our dogs got gored by the injured animal. We heard the yelp and ran to dispatch the RH. The dog was gored, but miraculously he survived and was back hunting by the end of the trip.

Day 2:
Our typical schedule while at his ranch was breakfast at 7 then leave around 7:45-8 to go hunting. Hunt until 11:30-12:30 stop for lunch, quick nap then back in the field by 2:30 or 3. It really maximed the hunting time with out killing us!
We started the day by seeing a large lone oryx. We tried a long stalk, but he would never give us a shot. On our way back in we spotted a nice zebra which was on my dad's list. We made a relatively long stalk and waited for a broadside shot to materialize. My dad made a nice shot where the zebra ran about 100 yards and crashed. He was a big mature stallion. We spent the rest of the day looking and not seeing a ton of mature animals.

Day 3
Almost immediately after leaving that morning, we spot a great water buck that is on my dads list. He jumps off the truck and I stay behind because they are pretty exposed for the stalk. I wait for an hour before the familiar sound of a 300 win mag crack followed by a distinct thump. However, we find out later that it is not a clean shot. Apparently the water buck took a step a moment before the shot went off. We now are on the gut wrenching track. I was fired up because I truly marvel at how trackers/PH can do what they do. My dad was dispirited, but it was a good lesson that not everything goes to plan out there. After about 4 hours on the track, we finally close the gap and get a shot on a gut shot water buck. We are relieved to see a beautiful water buck put out of his misery.

Right after lunch, I spotted a springbok grazing and we very quickly got up on him and made a shot. He was a great old animal and unlike the waterbuck was quickly dispatched. I had never shot a springbok and was glad to connect on such a fine specimen. We would later use the leg shanks for osso bucco.

Shortly after that, My dad turns a sable stalk into a great warthog. We spotted a greta sable with a a few younger bulls and decided to make a stalk at him. En route, we are winded, but we happen upon a great warthog. My dad is quick on the sticks and drops him.

As we are heading in around 6 pm, we see two blesboks grazing... I quickly hop off the truck and let them continue down the road. We are lucky to have the sun to our back so its hard for the blesboks to see us. At around 75 yards, I hop on the sticks and aim true on a great old blesbok. I had wanted one last trip, but was never able to connect so this is a special trophy for me.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

The benefit of having plenty of animals on your joint ticket is there is continuous action.

 

[AtlBGhunter]

Day 4
We started out the day with a pretty cold morning. the moon was starting to affect us potentially because the animals did not seem to be out and about that morning. We never left the truck that am and I was a little worried about the prospects for the afternoon. Per usual, I was wrong.
After lunch we weren't on the truck 15 minutes before laying eyes on a beautiful sable bull. I have a special reverence for sable's and their sight always brings me great joy. My dad and Schalk went on the stalk because I did not want to screw anything up. After about 15 minutes, we hear the familiar crack and quickly realize he dropped the sable from about 100 yards.

After loading up the sable we headed to a new area on the ranch. Not 30 minutes into driving, I see a red lechwe. They were on my bucket list and I wasn't going to let this one pass. We do a standard 300 yard stalk and get right up on the lone bull. My heart was racing, but I was able to steady and make the shot. I was ecstatic to see my bull drop and stay down.

As we were heading back to the lodge, Schalk spots a large blesbok. What an afternoon! My dad goes on the stalk and quickly dispatches the blesbok. Like clockwork, we had taken three animals on our list without much hustle...It was a great day to be alive!

Day 5
We decided to try and go out a little earlier in the morning because the moon was clearly affecting the mornings. Right at shooting light, we were in the field. Our plan certainly came together after about 45 minutes we were on an eland stalk. I took an epic eland in 2019 and love those animals. We followed a big herd for about an hour looking for a big bull. This was a classic slow methodical stalk that I truly love. We were about to cut bait when Schalk spots a big bull that was on the periphery of the rets fo the group. We circle around and get to about 200 yards. My dad had to hold on the stick for probably 20 minutes waiting on the shot. The eland finally presents a quartering shot and my dad made a great shot. The eland ran for maybe 50 yards and crashed.

We load up the eland and drive around the rets fo the morning without much luck. We go in for an earlier lunch with the idea to hit the field a little earlier in the afternoon. It is still pretty slow for a couple hours after lunch. We go check a watering hole and see a group of black wildebeests. While on the stalk, Schalk spots a nice springbok. My dad immediately jumps on the sticks and nabs him. He was grazing about 30 yards from us...They are one unpredictable animal!

Once again on our last drive of the night, We spotted a warthog. I had to make an awkward shot from the truck while he was moving. I wish I had waited and got myself into a more stable position. I gut shot the warthog and he took off. We had dogs on the ground quickly and we made a mad dash to him. It was a chaotic scene with large aardvark holes all over the ground. My dad ended up to his waist in one...The dogs bayed the wounded pig and I was able to get a shot to end it. I had some much adrenaline pumping, I did not realize until later how dangerous that situation was...Alls well that ends well...punched my warthog ticket on a great old hog.

 

[cpr0312]

Looks like a grand adventure up to this point! Congrats so far ans look forward to more!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

A lot of great action and outstanding variety of animals. Really enjoying the report so far!

 

[AtlBGhunter]

Day 6
We moved to a new property to hunt. I had previously hunted this property in 2019. It is loaded with game and is owned by some great folks. We started off the day on the kudu trail but are quickly diverted to a lone Roan bull. We tracked him for most of the morning, but the wind would not cooperate. Our tracker told us they can be territorial so we should check back later. On our way in for lunch, we spotted a group of black wildebeest around a watering hole/wallow pit. The wind was wrong so we made a plan to circle the group and try to head in from another direction. The watering hole had very little cover around it and this was a big herd. We slowly crept around and just as we were within 500 yards something spooked the herd. Good news is that they spooked right towards us. The bull we were after stopped about 250 yards and stared straight at us. I steadied myself and took a shot directly in his chest. He ended up being a damn fine wildebeest.

we hunted the rest of the day for the roan, but never could catch back up to him. We had cocktails with the ranch owners until way too late...
Day 7
we moved to yet another property owned by schalk's uncle. I previously took a nice eland and enjoyed this property immensely. Our main goal was kudu and an oryx for my dad. Once again the morning was extremely slow. We had one stalk on an oryx before lunch and he boogied before we could get close. The full moon was definitely messing with the game. After a great lunch, we headed back out to the field. We saw a few young kudu bulls, but still no signs of the boss I was after. As you may know, Namibia has been ravaged by kudu rabies and their population is way down. Regardless, we hunted on until about 4 pm that afternoon, we stumbled upon a large oryx bull. He was right by the road so we kept rolling and tired to stalk back to him. He surprised us and was only about 20 yards in some thick stuff. he ran but stopped about 100 yards out and my dad took a shot...unfortunately it was a bad shot, but enough to get a blood trail. We tracked him for 30 minutes and realized he had his lower leg blown off. My dad finished the drill and he had a great old oryx.

The rets of the afternoon was spent looking for kudu to no avail...