SOUTH AFRICA: 2022 Hunt With Umlilo Safaris

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Well due to my originally scheduled hunt with Graham Sales being put on hold, I kept my airline reservation and scrambled for a replacement. My friend Stuart Williams at Tallyho suggested Umlilo Safaris which he has used for CBL hunts before and I contacted Francois Dorfling and he was able to accommodate me in my time frame.

I have mixed feelings about CBL hunts, and after completing one, I still do, but there's no question they relieve the pressure on wild lions, and are a great value.

Travel dates: 17June2022 - 29June2022 (7 hunting days)
Firearms: Model 70 Safari Express in .416 Remington Magnum and Weatherby Vanguard in .300 Win. Mag.
Loads: 400 grain Hornady DGX at 2400 fps and 180 grain Barnes TTSX at 3050 fps
Game desire: Lion, Black Wildebeest, blesbok, and a kudu longer than my current best (51 3/4 inch)
PH: Cloete Hepburn
Trackers: Nao, Wizzy, and Gert
Location: @Umlilo Safaris has a place 7 hours drive west of JNB
Airline: Qatar Airlines

Qatar screwed up just as they did last year and told me they had no record of me notifying them I would be flying with firearms and one of their personnel told me I wouldn't be able to travel. As I was mulling this over, the same supervisor who helped me last year stepped in and took care of the paperwork. Whew!

On arrival at O.R. Tambo, I was met by Rifle Permits personnel and my PH Cloete Hepburn. All went smoothly and we were soon on our way to the camp which is about 150 miles north and west of Vryburg in the Northwest Province. I'm still not sure where we were exactly as the nearby towns aren't on the map, but I believe we were about 30-40 miles from Botswana.

This place is 7000 acres on one side of the dirt "highway" and 1000 acres on the other. The lion hunting takes place in the 7000 acres. I spent a lot of time in the 1000 acres and liked it because there were elevation changes. I unloaded my gear in my bungalow when we got there and got introduced around. It took me a few days to understand the set up. The property is owned by someone in the Free State and the on-site outfitter is Harvey Scalchwyk who lives there with his girlfriend and her two boys. Harvey's outfit is Kalahari Pride Safaris and I guess you can book directly with him. Umlilo subcontracts. I met Francois Dorfling who is a great host, and the three Canadian hunters in camp, Ray Moher, Justin, and Brendon. Ray is a very experienced hunter who knows Craig Boddington and Jim Shockey and he's the life-of-the-party type, so a good companion around the campfire (as were Justin and Brendon). It was late in the day so I just had dinner and went to bed.

The next morning I sighted in my rifles and we crossed the highway and began searching for game. We almost immediately came across a huge Red Lechwe, which I had added to my "hit" list. Unfortunately, I blew an easy setup when I flipped my safety off half-safety without holding it, and he heard this and took off. We searched for him the rest of the day with no success. Near sundown, I shot a zebra mare that was traveling with some gemsbok. It was a heart shot and she went about 80 yards and piled up.

 

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I should add here that this section of the Kalahari has received heavy rains the last two years. Normal rainfall is about 10 inches and they had already received 24 inches this year. Because of that the grass was long and plentiful -- really a great time to visit.

 

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The next morning we went back in search of the lechwe. We didn't see the big guy though. After driving around quite a while, we began what I call a cold track. That is, we found tracks crossing the road and began tracking. Nao is a great tracker, plus the sand was moist, which helped. We tracked for 3 miles before closing on our quarry. Cloete set up the sticks and I looked through my scope and saw - the rear end of a lechwe. I assumed that was the shot Cloete wanted me to take, so steadied and fired. Cloete said, you shot him in the rear! He had expected me to wait for the animal to turn but I never considered this because I felt when he turned he would be behind brush almost immediately. Fortunately, both Nao and Cloete breathed sighs of relief and remarked that he was hit hard. We followed a few hundred yards and found him lying down. I set up and when he came up I took a shot more hurried than I like and hit him in the head! Fortunately, the horns were broken in two. This lechwe measured 24 1/2 inches.

That afternoon it was cold and rainy and we decided to take the rest of the day off, but after the rain let up we went into the 7000 acre plot.

 

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The next morning we went back in search of the lechwe. We didn't see the big guy though. After driving around quite a while, we began what I call a cold track. That is, we found tracks crossing the road and began tracking. Nao is a great tracker, plus the sand was moist, which helped. We tracked for 3 miles before closing on our quarry. Cloete set up the sticks and I looked through my scope and saw - the rear end of a lechwe. I assumed that was the shot Cloete wanted me to take, so steadied and fired. Cloete said, you shot him in the rear! He had expected me to wait for the animal to turn but I never considered this because I felt when he turned he would be behind brush almost immediately. Fortunately, both Nao and Cloete breathed sighs of relief and remarked that he was hit hard. We followed a few hundred yards and found him lying down. I set up and when he came up I took a shot more hurried than I like and hit him in the head! Fortunately, the horns were broken in two. This lechwe measured 24 1/2 inches.

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That afternoon it was cold and rainy and we decided to take the rest of the day off, but after the rain let up we went into the 7000 acre plot.

I took a blesbok at 120 yards with him facing and he went about 200 yards before collapsing.

 

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I also took at 4 1/2 inch steenbok:

 

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The next morning was lion day. The way they hunt lions here are to find their tracks entering a block, circle the block to make sure it is still in that block, and then track.
I really, really, didn't want to blow my shot because I didn't want to endanger anybody with a wounded lion and also didn't want someone else to finish off my lion. I was presented with 3 shots at 60, 60, and 50 yards, all partially obscured and declined them. The next time we got to 20 yards and at my shot the lion circled twice and then stood facing in the same direction he had been. A second shot put him down but my first shot was fatal. It took him in the near quarter and exited back on the opposite side. The Hornady DGX performed admirably.

 

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That afternoon I shot a nice springbuck, facing, at 75 yards, and he dropped in his tracks.

 

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We had so far not seen any Black Wildebeest, so the next morning we drove up to a cattle ranch on the Botswana border, and found one. We did what I call sight trailing, and went after him about 3 miles before I got a shot. He was at 80 yards and ran another 80 yards before crashing down.

 

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On the ride back, we saw a jackal that I shot.

The next morning I shot an impala ram on a hill at about 40 yards and even though my shot took out both shoulders he still ran about 15 yards before coming down. As we were hauling him back to the truck, the tracker noticed another impala down. This was a ewe that my bullet had struck through the hindquarters.

 

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Late that afternoon, Cloete excitedly yelled "big kudu bull". We jumped down and went about 100 yards before getting a shot at 80 yards. The kudu ran about 200 yards before collapsing. This animal had a very large body and was old. His horns went 51 3/4 inches.

 

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The next morning we decided to make another search for the big lechwe we had seen on the first morning. While driving around we came across another nice impala which I shot at 60 yards, it dropped in place.

 

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In the afternoon we hunted the 7000 acre side. We saw a good duiker which I shot at 60 yards. It dropped but as I walked up to it it ran and I had to give it another shot. This had good horns at 5 2/8 inch.

 

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I'm losing track of the days but I know each morning we went to the 1000 acre side to try to find the big lechwe. He was very smart and we would bump him and he would run off and not give us a chance at a shot. On the last morning we admitted defeat and he's still there waiting for another hunter.

On the 7000 acre side I shot a blue wildebeest at 80 yards. He went 300 yards before I could get in another shot to put him down.

 

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While scouting for the lechwe we came across a nice gemsbok. I took a slightly hurried shot and hit him in the upper neck. I don't think he even knew he had been hit and ran about 100 yards and turned and looked at us. I made another hurried shot and hit his liver but he went right down. He was 37/37.

 

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Later, we bumped a small herd of youngish eland. I took aim at the largest of the males and fired. The group went off but it was obvious he couldn't keep up. The group went back to him and ran past and he turned but didn't go far before stopping. I fired again and he went right down. My first shot hit six inches behind the shoulder (Cloete had said to shoot behind the shoulder but I don't think he meant that far back) and exited the far shoulder. The second shot was the reverse. I hit in the near shoulder and the bullet exited about six inches behind the off shoulder, near the first bullet's entry. I was pleased with the performance of the .300 Win. Mag. and the 180 grain TTSX. I was also pleased with the horns.

 

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On the last day, I shot a Red Hartebeest and 100 yards. Perfect shoulder shot and he went 50 yards before crashing down.

 

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And finally, I shot another kudu at 40 yards. It ran 200 yards and gave me a standing broadside shot. I fired off-hand and he came down. The first shot had hit him just inside the near shoulder and didn't exit. The second shot hit the opposite shoulder and also didn't exit. I recovered both bullets. He scored 49-50 inches.