SOUTH AFRICA: A Second Trip To the Eastern Cape With GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS

[Tundra Tiger]

By the numbers:
Hunt report: South Africa, Eastern Cape
Outfitter: @GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS, Grahamstown
Professional Hunters: Don Laaks, Wikus Coetzee
Dates: June 6-15
Original species targeted: Somewhat open ended, but kudu, warthog, gemsbok, Cape buffalo
Harvested: impala, kudu, black wildebeest, zebra, cow water buffalo, warthog (x2), gemsbok
Shot distances (yards): impala – 130, kudu - 220, warthog – 150, 30, black wildebeest – 240+50, zebra – 150+30, buffalo – 40, gemsbok - 170
Guns used: Marlin 1895GBL .45-70, Savage 99EG .300 Savage
Ammunition: .45-70 – 325 grain Cutting Edge brass solid handloads, .300 Savage – 180 grain Accubond handloads
Services used: Jennifer (she rocks!)– Travel Express, Rifle Permits (thank you Anna and Marius)
Airlines: Alaska Air (Dillingham to Seattle), Qatar Airlines (Seattle to Johannesburg), Airlink (Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth)
Air hours (one way): 1 (DLG to Anchorage), 3.5 (Anchorage to Seattle), 14.5 (Seattle to Doha), 8.5 (Doha to Johannesburg), 1.75 (Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth)

Preamble:

I’m a 56 year old lifetime hunter who has lived most of my adult life in SW Alaska, in the hub community of Dillingham. I went to Africa in 2021 for the first time, after a lifetime of dreaming of hunting there.

While it took me forever (or so it seemed) to make it to Africa the first time, the second time had a much shorter wait time, at just over two years. My game plan – we’ll see if it holds – is to try and get back every other year. That said, I am exceedingly grateful for the two trips I now have under my diminishing belt.

I have had some health issues (diabetes, heart disease) though I have been diligent at improving that part of my life. I’ve lost 70ish pounds and have been very regular with exercise in 2023. I honestly feel the best I have since college. I decided to add that bit for those that might have health conditions and are wondering if having such will slow them down: it does not have to, based on what I have seen during my two trips. I have spent most of my life living and working in rural southwest Alaska, first as a teacher, and for the past 16 years as a staff member at Togiak National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). I currently serve as the Visitor Services Manager/ Lead Park Ranger for the Refuge. I consider myself a competent hunter and outdoorsman. I’ve harvested my share of moose, caribou, and deer, along with a few bears (black and brown) – and now my Africa animal count is up to 18.

This was supposed to have been a daddy – daughter trip, with both of my daughters going with me. My oldest begged off to be a bridesmaid for a close friend. My youngest was a late stage drop out after her former foster mom passed away, and a celebration of life was planned during the time of the hunt. Sooo… dad went alone. Again. Hopefully the next time I will not be alone.

During my first trip I whittled down potential places to hunt with an eye towards finding someone who would be a good fit for my daughter. While there were several possibilities that emerged, after a number of phone calls I settled on Game 4 Africa. I had such a great time with Wik and his family that I decided to use them again, at first believing my daughters would be going with me this time. Still, they (Game 4 Africa) are, IMHO, a superb destination, irrespective of who’s going or not.

I feel competent planning trips. That said, for this trip I once again used Travel Express and Rifle Permits, after reading so many great things about them on this site and having been thoroughly satisfied during my first trip. Twice now I have been delighted I chose them to help with my trip. Jennifer was phenomenal, and kept me informed. I made it there and back without any issues or hassles at all, for yet a second time. Also, Rifle Permits made it so easy in Johannesburg. Marius and Anna made that stop a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. I am so thankful for the assistance of these talented people. I would add I don't own a cell phone - never have - so I like to have my ducks in a row in as much as possible before I begin.

The hours in the air seemed a bit longer, though I am not sure why. I did not have very long layovers, particularly on the way back. I like to read, and Qatar has so many things to watch and listen to, so the time in transit was no big deal. I had a well-stocked Amazon tablet (music, movies, books) to keep me occupied. I was comfortable during the course of each and every flight. Qatar Airways absolutely rocks, with their customer service, in-flight service, and entertainment options. In short, all that air time was no big deal at all – just a part of the adventure!

Wik and Brittany were there to pick me up at the airport in Port Elizabeth. My flight got in somewhat late, so it was a drive in the dark to the lodge. Once there I had supper and settled into my chalet (Game 4 Africa has 3 chalets that guests stay in).

I told myself in writing this before – and now as well – I would try to not be too long-winded, but now that I’m typing it – and trying to anticipate questions people might have – it’s taking on some length. Ugh. My apologies in advance. The subsequent reports shouldn’t be as long as this one. If you have questions, please ask. If you wonder if I have photos of something I didn’t post, please ask.

As the phrase goes, your mileage may vary. This is what worked for me. I have tried to include stuff that was information I have looked for in planning my two trips.

OK, now to post the beginning, and then I will try to finish it in the next day or so... Onward!

On the tarmac in Dillingham...

My check-in baggage on the scale at the Qatar counter in Seattle...

At Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar...

Not sure what the bread was, but it was tasty...

Something I thought/think is super cool with Qatar are the cameras mounted to the planes. This is coming into O.R. Tambo. Yes, I AM easily amused by simple things...

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Day 1:

I spent the first day having a nice breakfast, and checking the guns at the range. Everything seemed to be in order.

We decided to hang close to start, and hunted on the property the lodge is situated on. In short order that morning Don (I will sing his praises more fully at the end of this report) got us on some warthogs. I shot one on my first trip but wanted something larger. In almost no time at all, I was looking at a very nice one at 150 yards.

I'd like to tell you that I squeezed the trigger and down he went. However, that's not what happened. I squeezed the trigger, and off he went, at break-neck speed into the pucker brush.

We found blood. Not a lot but blood. And we spent the rest of the day looking for him, to no avail. Our working theory is I hit low, clipped his brisket - but nothing actually in the chest - and he'll almost certainly live to breed another day. I am not sure why I shot low, but it became something of a theme. I have not hunted with this rifle NEAR as much as some of my others, though I did put in a lot of time at the range. And I was hunting off the quad sticks for the first time, which felt... different. Frankly I think it's a simple matter of I was off. Irrespective of him still cavorting around over there as I type this, the fact is I drew blood, which means I spent money on day one.

I will NEVER tire of this view: sunrise on day one...

Don, trying his hand with my .45-70 at the range...

I did not spend much time online while over there. A few days ago, a friend hit me up online and said "I was beginning to think something ate you or stomped you to jelly." I responded "Nope. If anything I would have bled out. At times I was leaving a better blood trail than the animals I shot."

The guest chalets...

PH Don Laaks doing his thing, or one of his many things. He should be outfitted with a utility belt and cape. If you have a choice of PHs and Don is one of the choices? Choose Don. You will not regret it. More about this outstanding fellow at the end.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Day 2: on the board!

I'll keep this post simple. Don is a "get back up on that horse and go again" sort - and one of the most cheerful, optimistic people I've EVER met. So day two started with "Let's find you another warthog Mr. Terry." And we did.

That morning we found a nice big warthog. Shot distance was - once again - 150 yards. This time the blood trail was about 20 inches, straight down.

In the evening we set out looking for a mature kudu bull. Side note: I am a big fan of a specific type of horns on an animal. My joke to Don was that I like my horns like I like women: short, thick, and tight. So that is the type of horns we sought on everything we hunted. My kudu is evident of that. Don got us to 220 yards away from this an old bull, in the pucker brush and across a shallow wash. I could not be happier with this bull, or the warthog.

Don and our tracker, Norman...

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Day 3:

My third hunt day was for Cape buffalo. I previously shot a cow in 2021 - a single frontal shot at 45 yards; she was down in around a ten count. That hunt was with my Marlin GBL in .45-70, with handloads using 325 grain brass Cutting Edge bullets. I guess maybe I wanted to hunt buffalo again for a couple of reasons. First, it was freaking fun, and I wanted to experience that again. Second, I wanted to prove to myself that the first, with this rifle, wasn't a fluke.

Owner/PH Wik Coetzee took the lead on this hunt. He had been my PH on my first trip. Wik is fabulous. He's also 30 years old and in superb shape. (Read: walks the pudgy Alaskan into the ground) We spent pretty much the whole day finding the herd and trying to get close. They were along a thickly choked mostly dry creek bottom, and the wind was swirling. A couple of times we were busted and they moved out quickly, and we had to spend time catching up.

I was hunting for a cow again. I aspire to hunt for a bull someday, but for me - at this time - it's a budgetary consideration. So a cow it was. (BTW - ZERO regrets)

Side note: we hiked 5-9 miles every day we hunted. It wasn't a "ride around all day" kind of hunt.

At mid afternoon, we finally got out in front of the herd. As they trotted by at 35-40 yards, a mature dry cow separated herself and I took the shot, as she was trotting. I caught her just behind the shoulder. She broke out in a run - as they all did - and at 30 or so yards, fell over, kicked a few times, and was finished. We found a lump on the far shoulder, the bullet just under the skin. After we dug it out, we discovered it had mushroomed ever so slightly.

Soooo... I am two for two on cow buffalo with my Marlin. Hooray!!

Sunrise on the day of my buffalo...

PH and owner of @GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS Wikus Coetzee. Side note: their "winter" is what we call "summer" in Dillingham...

The bulge of the bullet under the far side...

 

[IdahoMo]

Nice write up! Looking forward to the rest

 

[everett]

Outstanding!

 

[Trogon]

Fantastic so far, looking forward to more!

 

[Trophyhunter01]

Excellent!

 

[jpr9954]

I love that you are using a Savage 99 in .300 Savage! It obviously did the job based upon your kudo and warthog.

 

[Drywaller44]

I’ve been waiting for this write up, congrats on an excellent hunt. Sounds like you enjoyed hunting with Don as much as I did. He’s a very good PH and a great guy.

 

[xbr897]

Sounds like a great trip. For the hunting, is it all on same property as the lodge? If not, was there much driving involved each day to get to hunt location?

 

[Ravensview]

Sounds like another great trip, love your choice of rifles

 

[Drywaller44]

Sounds like a great trip. For the hunting, is it all on same property as the lodge? If not, was there much driving involved each day to get to hunt location?

I hunted there a month ago. The majority of the hunting took place on 3 properties. We hunted the lodge property 2 days and drove an hour for the other 2 properties. What’s nice about the other 2 properties is that they are right across the road from each other. So you could hunt their plains property and then drive right across the road and hunt the hills without wasting time driving all over the place. All 3 properties are large. I hunted on their concession called Mountain Top 4 days and saw maybe half of it.

 

[Houston Bill]

Nice buffalo!

 

[Mekaniks]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing. Cant wait for the rest

 

[MontanaPat]

Have to agree that Don Laaks is a great PH and just a lot of fun to hunt and hanging out with him. We hunted together in 2022 at Hunters Hill. Nice animals, congrats on a good trip

 

[Hunt anything]

Great start, love the shape of the kudu and the buffalo cow is superb! I liked the picture of the landing- takeoff, we took of from Doha in a sand storm and that was interesting to say the least!

 

[7mmFan]

Excellent report so far. Sounds like you had a great trip. I'll bet they don't see too many savage 99s over there. Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[Firebird]

Moooooore! Please

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Day 4

This trip was not a fairy tale. I was not at the top of my game. Fortunately, Don was, as was Norman, our tracker for much of the trip. On the fourth day, the wheels fell off just a bit.

I had an issue with the 99, though I think the issue was user error. I was pulling things just a bit low. Again, I think it's on me. The only time it had a lasting marring effect was on day one, but I had a couple of other struggles. One was on the fourth day.

We started out looking for a blesbok. Frankly, my wish list shrank a bit when I shot the buffalo: I did not have an unlimited pocketbook. Maybe having shot a buffalo cow the first time, I should have let it go this time. But I didn't, and no regrets at all. Still, species with a smaller price tag moved to the front of the line.

While traversing the terrain, heading to where Don thought we'd find blesbok, we happened upon a really nice warthog, headed our way with the wind in our favor. Don asked if I wanted a crack at a second pig and I quickly said yes. The shot was not long - maybe 30 yards. And I used my .45-70 with the brass solids. At the shot, Don thought I missed - he saw dirt kick up on the far side. It turns out that's because the bullet didn't slow down going through. There was an ample blood trail, and a dead pig about 40 yards away. I am very happy with this hog.

Our journey continued, and we found a nice blesbok. The weather had changed - the wind was very strong, and rain was on the way. I passed on the shot - 265 yards. I wish I'd had the good sense to do the same a bit later. We continued to hike and got within a few hundred yards of some blesbok and black wildebeest. A black was on my list so Don got me set up on a nice bull. The distance was 240. The wind was screaming. Rain was starting to fall. When Don asked about the shot, I said yes... and promptly hit it low, in the meat on the front leg, right about brisket height. Off everything ran, including the bull, favoring the leg.

I won't go through all we went through that day, but we hiked well over 8 miles, many of those miles following that bull. He took us through some hellish, prickly stuff, up and down the sides of a steep sided canyon. The blood trail was sparse, and that's using the term loosely. It rained on us several times, hard, further diluting the blood trail. What was constant was Don. He was sure we were going to find it - he never wavered on that. But despite his optimism, we went back to the lodge (an hour plus drive) in the dark, without a wildebeest. I was thoroughly deflated, as Don did his best to get my spirits back up.

On the way to where we would hunt...

Warthog #2... Ain't he a dandy?...

On a very steep sided, prickly hillside - as we searched for the wildebeest - we saw several incredible rainbows. Beauty in the face of anguish...