NAMIBIA: My 2018 Free Range Namibian Plains Game Safari With Orpa Hunting Safaris

[Mekis]

I checked out and cross-reference a number of Namibian Outfitters. I was on my first African Safari and wanted to be in Northern Namibia so I could hunt Gemsbok, Greater Kudu, and a Mountain Zebra. Also if the hunting safari went well I wanted to take a tourist trip to Skeleton Coast for sight-seeing and surf fishing in the Southern Atlantic. I picked a winner in Orpa Hunting Safari with Dirk and Thea Smit and their free range hunting farm. Dirk's main hunting farm has 15,000 acres and he has access to other concessions totaling 101,000 acres. Dirk is an excellent PH and does everything to make you happy during your hunt.
I flew out of Minneapolis, Minnesota with Jet Blue on September 28, 2018 and the TSA agent was very helpful and pleasant with my safari rifle paperwork and inspection. She told me I was now checked through to Windhoek, Namibia with the other airline as well. My flight to Boston was 1 hour late and I only had a 2 hour layover to begin with. I had to run through the airport with my carry-on bag. I made it to my gate in time and then the ticket agent called several names including mine. Basically I still only had an e-ticket for Qatar Airlines and needed a boarding pass. The agent asked if I had anything to declare and I said I had an unloaded safari rifle and that I had already been checked by the Minneapolis TSA people. She immediately called her supervisor and then he called his supervisor to get the two forms needed for me to fill out so I could travel with my rifle. I took a few minutes as they did not have the forms I needed at this particular gate. They needed my homeland security form 4457 and my passport. They eventually got them to my gate but before I was done filling them out the person at the tunnel to the plane was calling my name and final call. I hollered, "Don't leave yet I'm right here!" They waited and I finished filling out Qatar's weapon forms and I was the last one on this 787 Dreamliner. The Qatar supervisor told me if I had NOT filled out these two forms and DECLARED my firearm, that in Doha, Qatar the officials would have confiscated my rifle. So the TSA agent, although helpful, was totally WRONG about traveling internationally with a safari rifle. Also at Qatar Airlines in Boston, the supervisor had to tell the pilot that there was a safari rifle with ammunition on his plane. The supervisor personally put my rifle on the plane in a special spot for checked baggage. I am so glad I declared my rifle for Qatar Airlines flight to Doha. While this seems like a pain, the people involved were pleasant and helpful. I have a feeling though that I was a rare case as Massachusetts is not hunter or gun friendly state. I did check with the Massachusetts state police months before my flight and they said as long as your firearm stays in checked baggage and you don't have any physical contact with it you there is no issue.
The flight to Doha, Qatar was uneventful except for the good in flight food, drinks, and the top of the line service and personal attention the flight crew gives everyone. I had an 8 hour layover in Doha and as it got closer to my flight to Namibia, I was concerned about any further issues with my rifle. If the TSA person was wrong then maybe the Qatar supervisor was wrong about me being good to Windhoek seeing I was just changing from one Qatar Air to another. I checked with the personnel at my gate two hours before my flight just in case there was more paperwork. The person in charge asked me if I filled out the two required forms with Qatar Air in Boston. I told him I did declare my safari rifle and completed the forms they need completed. He then told me I was good to Windhoek just like the Boston Qatar supervisor said. The flight to Windhoek, Namibia was uneventful as well but the airline food was very good and again the service was excellent.
Upon arriving in Windhoek, Namibia you must check in through immigration like any foreign country requires. Because three planes landed in a very short time the line to the immigration people was very long. Once I got up to the desk the lady asked a couple of questions, looked at my form 4457, my PH invitation letter, and my passport. This process took about a minute or so and I was off to get my suitcase and my rifle. When I got to the baggage claim my suitcase was coming to me. I waited but no rifle showed up. After a couple of minutes I asked a security guy where do safari rifles get picked up. He directed me to the Namibian Police check in room. As I got to the lady police officer's entryway I could see my rifle coming down the conveyor belt. I told her I was here to pickup my safari rifle and that it was arriving behind her right now. She looked at my paperwork and then told me to come inside and open my rifle case. She glanced at it and proceeded to stamp my already prepared Namibian rifle import permit. She then told me to lock it back up and go on my way. This took about one minute and she was smiley and happy to see another hunter in her country. I was then guided by a airport service person to where the people, including my outfitter wait for the passengers getting off the plane. Dirk and Thea were there and I was off to there hunting farm.

 

[gillettehunter]

Good start. Looking forward to the rest.
Bruce

 

[Mekis]

After arriving at Dirk's free range hunting farm, like most outfits we needed to check my rifle sight-in to make sure the baggage people weren't to rough with it. My Browning A-bolt II in 325 WSM was shooting 2 inches high at 100 yards as I wanted it to do. We ate a great supper and I showered and hit the bed with high expectations for tomorrow's hunt. In the first couple days I was seeing a lot of animals but they either busted us on the stalk or weren't up to Dirk's high standards or they weren't one of the trophy animals I was after. Originally I was going to shoot a male gemsbok, but after passing on a giant female gemsbok with 4 inch socks I decided if another big older female gemsbok presented a shot then I would take her. On page one of this report I downloaded a file photo of her and her 38.5 and 39 inch horns. She showed up the next day and I dropped her in her tracks with one shot from my 200 grain nosler partitions from my 325WSM. Dirk estimated her age at about 12 years.
Next we were off to the mountains to get an opportunity for my mountain zebra (Hartman's Zebra). The terrain in the mountains were unbelievably rough and it was very hot. The thorns were more plentiful and larger than at Dirk's main hunting farm and there was even more brush and shrubs. I knew the temperature would be hot considering I was hunting in early October in Namibia, but not this hot. We drank lots of water and climbed these rocky Kopis to glass for the elusive and intelligent mountain zebra. I was also hoping for a Greater Kudu if a mature male one showed up for a shot. The search from the first kopi produced no sightings after about 45 minutes. We then walked about a kilometer and climbed another kopi. We almost immediately spotted a nice male kudu but he was about 500 yards away and I told Dirk that I can't make that shot. As we looked around right away Dirk spotted another nice male kudu about 250 yard away. At first Dirk thought maybe he had a broken horn being he was partially hidden in the brush. Upon further observation he said the horn was not broken so take him. I took a nice rest aim on the big boulder in front of me and I made a nice shot on this male Greater Kudu. He did run about 30 yards after the hit and I was about to give him another as he fell over dead. We range-finded the shot and according to the Steiner rangefinder it was 263 yards and the furthest shot of my life. My Greater Kudu had nice curled 50 inch horns and I was a very happy hunter. After getting the range rover close via a dry river bed. The men from the mountain concession then used a electric truck winch and pulley system to guide and load the kudu. The men and the kudu went back to the skinning shed and Dirk and I walked a couple of kilometers searching for my mountain zebra. There were no bugs at Dirk's main farm to speak of. But here in the mountains if you kept moving I noticed no bugs, however if you stayed in one spot for 5 minutes or so the mopane flies showed up and tried to find moisture in your nose, eyes, and mouth. I found out later that these are actually mopane bees even though they didn't sting you. I guess their honey is really sweet and desirable. As it became noon we called the other PH landowner on the seriously large walkie talkies to come an pick us up near this kopi by a river bed they both knew. The day's heat was really serious and it was time for lunch and a seista to get out of the midday heat. You can check out my attached Greater Kudu photo below if you wish. Dirk estimated the age of my male kudu at 10 years. I'm 67 and NOT a techie guy so I don't know how the other hunters posted their photos directly sorry. More to come as this was only 4 and a half days of hunting so far.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on two nice trophies!!! Thats a great looking kudu!

 

[cagkt3]

Very nice start! Looking forward to the rest

 

[Ridgewalker]

Fine trophies so far! Great shooting at 263 yards!

 

[Nyati]

Great so far...

 

[flatwater bill]

Mekis..............nice report....................keep going. I also like northern Namibia, although I believe you can hunt those species in the southern part of the country too. 263 yards about as far a my old eyes will take a shot.....well done.....................FWB

 

[Mekis]

Part 3 of My 2018 Free Range Namibia Plains Game Hunt with Orpa Hunting Safari
After the seista we drove through these rugged mountains on rough rocky roads which looked like at best a goat trail. At times I could not tell if this was the road or just riding in the bush. We stopped a glassed several times with no mountain zebra sightings. We actually had to go a different way than originally planned as the wind was not favorable to go our original route. After we crossed a dry river bed and up another mountain side, we spotted some zebra about two kopis over. Dirk told me that we should head back on foot to the dry river bed and try to get closer. By the time we got to the dry river bed the mountain zebras either smelled us or knew something was wrong and took off over the kopi they were on. We ran down the river bed and climbed up yet another kopi in hopes of seeing them. When we got to the top of that kopi the zebras were running up another kopi. There was only one opening before they went over the top. Good luck shined on us as the lead stallion stopped in the only place were an ethical shot was possible. Dirk told me to take him! I rested my rifle on another huge boulder and shot. The mountain zebra fell as my 200 grain nosler partition from my 325WSM hit him. The other zebras then ran pass their fallen comrade over the top of the kopi. My zebra tried to get up but finishing shots ended that idea. Later when skinning and butchering it was clear I broke his spine on the first shot and he really wasn't going anywhere. I now had a nice Hartman's Mountain Zebra. Where the zebra dropped presented a big problem as the nearest our recovery vehicle could get was the dry river bed. There were two kopis and a rocky thorn ridden valley between them and then down the kopi to the river bed and our land rover. The other PH drove back to get another skinner for the task ahead. After photos the two skinners went to work skinning, butchering, and packing the zebra out to the river bed. When all the skin and meat was finally packed out it was an hour after sunset. We headed back to the mountain PH's lapa for celebration beers and supper. The next morning we headed back to Dirk's main hunting farm and made plans for my tourist trip to Skeleton Coast. We did stop at a Himba village for me to learn about these primitive people. The trip to Skeleton Coast was interesting for me seeing shipwrecks, Dune # 7, the Namib Desert, the petrified forest, old diamond mines, and a number of animals in a desolate place. The surf fishing was not as good as the hunting was at this time. About this time I told Dirk I would like to add an old warthog to my trophy list even though it was not part of my original safari quote. Back at his main hunting farm after over a thousand miles and two and one half days of playing tourist, I was back to hunting warthogs. Dirk's main farm has tons of warthogs, elan, and gemsbok. Of course he has a wide variety of free range plains game as well as leopard, cheetah, and hyena there too. Early in the hunt when I was NOT hunting for warthogs, several nice trophies with very good tusks had presented themselves. Now when I was trying to get an opportunity to shoot one, we kept seeing females, young ones, broken tusk older males, and less than than ideal male warthogs. We saw some other good ones but wind or something seemed to wreck my chances. Near the end of the second day of searching for an old male warthog lady luck shined on me. Several females and youngsters had just left a mudhole when from the opposite direction came this very old male warthog with nice unbroken tusks. Dirk said, " he's a shooter!" so I shot and the old warrior dropped in his tracks. Attached below are both my mountain zebra and my male warthog. Dirk estimated the age of my Mountain Zebra at seven and my old male warthog at 10. The warthog was really on his downhill slide as he was very grey, wrinkly, and loosing weight. So he was an excellent one to take out. I still had two more days left on my safari and earlier I told Dirk maybe I could go see the world's largest meteorite. He then asked if I would like to see the Bush people's village as well. I said yes and the next day I checked them both out. Probably the most interesting part about the Bush people is that they use primitive bows and arrows. The arrows are poison tipped with a poison from a beetle larvae. Small animals shot die in about 4 hours. Large animals like a giraffe take 4 days to die and then the village moves to the downed giraffe. Back at Dirk's main farm I started packing for the trip home. The next day we headed to the Windhoek airport and I filled out the two forms for Qatar Airlines and my transfer in Doha. This was not a problem and Dirk and Thea stayed with me until I was cleared and off to my gate. Qatar Airlines again had great food, free drinks, free movies, and great service on the flights back to the USA. Upon entering Logan airport everyone was told to pick up their hold baggage. I told the lady security person that I had a unloaded safari rifle and I would not touch it without a Homeland Security person involved. She told me to stay in line and tell the person at the immigration check-in. I did that and was told to go to another check-in spot. When I got up to the desk the officer listened to me and had me stand to the side and wait. In about 5 minutes a homeland security guy came up with my rifle and I followed him to an inspection table. All this time I never touched my rifle. On the table he told me to open my locked metal gun case which I did. I had already handed him my form 4457 and my passport and my safari invitation letter. Upon opening the rifle case he saw my copies of the same forms and immediately lightened up. He looked over my papers and checked the serial numbers on my Browning. I then thanked him for keeping us safe. Thank you Africa Hunting Forum for advising me to have your rifle with the serial number facing up and having extra copies of all my paperwork. At no time am I aware that any security personnel ever actually removed my rifle as they could read the serial number easily. This was a very good tip! Next I had to go through the Massachusetts State Police inspection. This was within 5 minutes of Homeland inspecting. I told them Homeland had just looked over everything. They told me they were a different department so I just smiled and we repeated the same process with the state people. After that I was guided to a place where some supervisor took my rifle from my escort person to have ready to put on my Jet Blue plane to Minneapolis.

 

[Mekis]

My Namibian Plains Game Safari With Orpa Hunting Safari (Conclusion)
My suitcase with my clothes and ammunition was handled by my escort person. I had a six hour layover but was now closer to five hours. While some of this returning to the USA with a safari rifle in Boston seemed overboard, really it went fairly well and I was never treated poorly or looked at with suspicion. I did smile a lot and thank the people involved for helping me.
Upon arriving in Minneapolis airport I retrieved all my luggage and my rifle with out any issues. Then the 4 hour drive home to Northern Wisconsin. If you are thinking about going plains game hunting and want, like I did, free range hunting then you would be hard pressed to find a better PH than Dirk Smit at Orpa Hunting Safaris. Dirk only has you or your group or family hunting with him at one time. You have all his hunting properties to yourself or your group and Namibia is very hunter friendly. My room was very nice with a large bathroom with a large walk in type shower and it was below their giant lapa and far enough away from the main house for your personal space. There was always hot water. He has his own osmosis machine and bottling operation so you have all the bottled water you want daily. If you need a swimming pool or a hot tub then this is NOT your place. But if you appreciate personal attention with a PH dedicated to getting you good opportunities to get your trophies, then Dirk at Orpa Hunting Safaris is your guy. Also we always ate supper in the lapa which had food cooked on the "Briia" and beer or soft drinks ready daily after the hunt. We did both spot and stalk and sit in stands near one of his 11 cattle waterholes on my hunt. We really only used a vehicle for the mountain zebra as we mostly used shoe leather instead. The amount of animals I saw on this safari was amazing. I had three large meals with fresh vegetables and lots of meat including wild game every day. Thea is an excellent cook and all the food was delicious! If tracking at his main farm is needed he has fox terriers for the recovery. My clothes were washed and folded every day and my room was cleaned every day. I was treated very well on this hunt and as Dirk told me "When you are happy then I am happy." Dirk clearly means this and is a direct man with a gentleman's agreement on what he says or what you want or need. This was an awesome safari and I got my trophies in very good time so I could do some tourist things and check out the original Africa. After just one day without firing a shot I was bitten by that African disease.........wondering how and when could I get back here. I hope you enjoyed my story about my first African safari. The end.

 

[gillettehunter]

Nice trophies. You did well. Congrats
Bruce

 

[Red Leg]

You were very, very, very lucky with your rifle. Qatar and Emirates are great airlines, but you must follow their procedures (just like all the others). TSA agents know absolutely nothing about such rules - nothing - at all. Airline booking/ desk agents only slightly more - and nothing about their competitors - at all. I would really urge anyone making an "armed" trip anywhere outside the US to use a recognized travel agent who specializes in such bookings.

Glad it all worked out and that you obviously had a great hunt.

 

[cls]

Congrats and thanks for the report. Nice critters.

 

[Rick Cox]

After arriving at Dirk's free range hunting farm, like most outfits we needed to check my rifle sight-in to make sure the baggage people weren't to rough with it. My Browning A-bolt II in 325 WSM was shooting 2 inches high at 100 yards as I wanted it to do. We ate a great supper and I showered and hit the bed with high expectations for tomorrow's hunt. In the first couple days I was seeing a lot of animals but they either busted us on the stalk or weren't up to Dirk's high standards or they weren't one of the trophy animals I was after. Originally I was going to shoot a male gemsbok, but after passing on a giant female gemsbok with 4 inch socks I decided if another big older female gemsbok presented a shot then I would take her. On page one of this report I downloaded a file photo of her and her 38.5 and 39 inch horns. She showed up the next day and I dropped her in her tracks with one shot from my 200 grain nosler partitions from my 325WSM. Dirk estimated her age at about 12 years.
Next we were off to the mountains to get an opportunity for my mountain zebra (Hartman's Zebra). The terrain in the mountains were unbelievably rough and it was very hot. The thorns were more plentiful and larger than at Dirk's main hunting farm and there was even more brush and shrubs. I knew the temperature would be hot considering I was hunting in early October in Namibia, but not this hot. We drank lots of water and climbed these rocky Kopis to glass for the elusive and intelligent mountain zebra. I was also hoping for a Greater Kudu if a mature male one showed up for a shot. The search from the first kopi produced no sightings after about 45 minutes. We then walked about a kilometer and climbed another kopi. We almost immediately spotted a nice male kudu but he was about 500 yards away and I told Dirk that I can't make that shot. As we looked around right away Dirk spotted another nice male kudu about 250 yard away. At first Dirk thought maybe he had a broken horn being he was partially hidden in the brush. Upon further observation he said the horn was not broken so take him. I took a nice rest aim on the big boulder in front of me and I made a nice shot on this male Greater Kudu. He did run about 30 yards after the hit and I was about to give him another as he fell over dead. We range-finded the shot and according to the Steiner rangefinder it was 263 yards and the furthest shot of my life. My Greater Kudu had nice curled 50 inch horns and I was a very happy hunter. After getting the range rover close via a dry river bed. The men from the mountain concession then used a electric truck winch and pulley system to guide and load the kudu. The men and the kudu went back to the skinning shed and Dirk and I walked a couple of kilometers searching for my mountain zebra. There were no bugs at Dirk's main farm to speak of. But here in the mountains if you kept moving I noticed no bugs, however if you stayed in one spot for 5 minutes or so the mopane flies showed up and tried to find moisture in your nose, eyes, and mouth. I found out later that these are actually mopane bees even though they didn't sting you. I guess their honey is really sweet and desirable. As it became noon we called the other PH landowner on the seriously large walkie talkies to come an pick us up near this kopi by a river bed they both knew. The day's heat was really serious and it was time for lunch and a seista to get out of the midday heat. You can check out my attached Greater Kudu photo below if you wish. Dirk estimated the age of my male kudu at 10 years. I'm 67 and NOT a techie guy so I don't know how the other hunters posted their photos directly sorry. More to come as this was only 4 and a half days of hunting so far.

View attachment 258818

Congratulations on some very nice trophies! Always nice to see the gun case coming down the belt...

 

[jeff]

After reading your report it just reinforces my resolve to never fly with a firearm, they have made it so difficult that it's not worth it to me anymore.

 

[Beretta391]

Great hunt. Thanks for sharing. We have flown to Namibia 3 times with guns. We went thru Frankfort once and twice thru joberg. Used Steve’s Travel with guns each time. Piece of cake!!! Never a problem entering any country or the USA. Maybe we were lucky!! Except the lady in front of us in Atlanta that was coming back into the USA and her rifle was loaded when customs checked!!!! That woke everybody up!!! In February we’re going to try Qatar airways. Travel with guns says it’s not a problem. We will see! But we have never had a problem traveling with guns. We like shooting our own guns. Could be we don’t fly thru any of the northern cities. Dallas is as far north as we go!!

 

[Mekis]

Great hunt. Thanks for sharing. We have flown to Namibia 3 times with guns. We went thru Frankfort once and twice thru joberg. Used Steve’s Travel with guns each time. Piece of cake!!! Never a problem entering any country or the USA. Maybe we were lucky!! Except the lady in front of us in Atlanta that was coming back into the USA and her rifle was loaded when customs checked!!!! That woke everybody up!!! In February we’re going to try Qatar airways. Travel with guns says it’s not a problem. We will see! But we have never had a problem traveling with guns. We like shooting our own guns. Could be we don’t fly thru any of the northern cities. Dallas is as far north as we go!!

 

[Mekis]

Beretta391, Qatar is very good but make sure you have plenty of time before your flight to fill out their two forms. Their supervisor needs to sign it and they keep the forms and all Qatar related parties are aware that you DECLARED your safari rifle and completed their form. If this is completed as such you will not have any issues with your rifle. Best of luck on your hunt. Thanks to you and all the others on this forum with kind words and congratulations.

 

[flatwater bill]

Mekis........thanks for posting the rest of the report. Liked most of your trophies. Not the warthog. I have what Sigmund Freud called "warthog envy". Having tried 20 or more times, have never gotten a big hog! Damn man, it was not even on your list! I always thought that the 325 would be a hammer on plains game, and your success proves it.....along with some good shooting. The short little 8mm packs a lot of punch. As to travel with firearms......well, beginners luck, maybe? Your time will come, I fear. I have had many trips, and many difficulties....fines and missed flights to name just two......but I am happy yours went well. Your trophies are great......love the Hartmann's, and actually, now that my green envy is fading a little, like the pig too.......FWB

 

[Powdermaker]

I'm heading to Namibia in August, with my wife and youngest son. Since both my son and I are left handed, I want to bring my own rifle. I think I will hire one of the specialized travel agents to smooth out the uncertainty of traveling with a rifle. This forum is such a great resource for traveling hunters!
Congratulations on a successful hunt and thanks for the great report.