SOUTH AFRICA: Another Nice Hunt With LJ Safaris

[HuntingGold]

It is with my apologies to Lauren, Juan, and the rest of the crew at LJ Safaris that it has taken so long to post this hunt from May of 2019.

What follows is a tale of a very nice hunt but also a reminder that hunting is not shopping. We always have hopes and expectations, but should not go into the veld with a list, hoping to pluck a bushbuck or grysbok off the shelf on our way to the check out line. As it is not shopping, we should go hunting with the openness to be happy with what the veld provides. I am happy.

Story to follow.
Randy

 

[HuntingGold]

After finishing a hunt with Warren and Belinda Rudman (Rhinoster Hoek Safaris), we drove to a location near Addo to meet Lauren and Juan of LJ Safaris. After some farewells, I was off to LJ Safaris Coastal Lodge with a little list of species I was hoping to find, which included cull impala, cull warthog, a trophy grysbok, and more. Since I had last hunted with them two years ago, Lauren and Juan got married and their business has continued to grow. They had changed lodges and I was looking forward to seeing the new place.

We arrived at the lodge, a beautiful place of Italian design, which sits on a hill overlooking open areas below. From the lodge, we could regularly pull out our binoculars to see impala, nyala, eland, and other species wandering about the veld.

I took a short nap and then we drove off to get a once over of the property. During this time, I shot two of their rifles to see which I shot better. The first was a Howa in .300 Win Mag and the second was a Winchester in .243. The .300 Win Mag was the one I was the one I would use.

While looking over the property, we found a warthog that seemed to need closer inspection. We made a short stalk to get closer, but the little stalk failed. I was not disappointed as I did not want to “tag out” on the first night. We returned to the lodge where I enjoyed some Castles and a steak and much needed sleep.

May 25, 2019, my first official hunt day with LJ. We set out for a nearby farm to look for a big bushbuck. I had hunted bushbuck with LJ Safaris and other outfits before, but they seem to be my bugaboo and I was anxious to see if this trip would be any different. Though it was a beautiful morning, all we saw were 3 ewes.

After lunch and a nap, we went out to look about and found 3 cull impala in the fields below the lodge. We made a long but fairly simple stalk to get to about 200 yards away. Juan identified a pinch-horned ram he wanted culled. I went prone and started tracking him through the scope. I had to track him as well as the blesbuck ram that was behind him. I adjusted as necessary to stay on him but had problems with eye-relief. Finally, the little ram gave me the shot I was looking for and I tried to fire, nothing. I had failed to push the three-position safety far enough forward. This was quickly corrected by bursting forth with an expletive and shoving the safety forward. My cross-hairs found the ram again and I fired. The ram was hit and as I got back on him for another shot, the other rams gathered around him preventing a safe follow-up shot. I could see blood on a leg and continuously tried for another shot but the other impala or the blesbuck were always in the way. Finally, when I had a shot opportunity, the firing pin fell on an empty chamber. In my haste, I had short-stroked the bolt, and failed to pick up a cartridge. The impala then ran off and we gave chase. The rest of the evening was spent tracking through some very thick cover. I was very impressed with the tenacity of the team, especially Zulu, our tracker/skinner. In the end, the ram was lost. Through the rest of the trip we continued to monitor the area for the hit impala, watching for scavenging birds, jackals, and such but there was never another sign of this ram.

As a now retired policeman, and as a person who spends much time in the field shooting and what-not, I can tell you my confidence was now shaken. I asked to shoot the rifle again and we went and found some termite mounds. Several shots were fired at ranges from 200 to 300 yards and I shot the rifle well. The bad shot was clearly on my shoulders and the additional time shooting helped restore my confidence.

After dinner, we went for a night drive to look for my grysbok. We saw one grysbok ewe, lots of bushbuck, duiker, hares, and a baby genet.

 

[HuntingGold]

We started the morning in the plains below the lodge, we had seen impala and were making a go of it. We followed a little two-track on foot through the pasture and as we identified a cull we would use cactus as cover to move closer. The trouble was there was a continuous roll to the pasture and though we could see heads and tops of backs, we could never put the selected animal into my sights. We made three, four, or five little stalks without success. Finally, as it appeared we were done, an impala was spotted on the opposite slope just at the edge of the brush-line. Juan gave me the go-ahead on this ram, and I went prone and settled in. Juan asked that I aim just a little higher than normal. I settled in and fired and heard the immediate smack of the bullet. The ram went down in twenty yards. I was quite pleased with my cull ram and we took photos and then it was off to the skinning shed.

We then went to a high point and glassed the plains below. I watched two nyala rams shove each other around for a half hour or more. We also saw lots of warthogs and identified a large one to go after. We drove a bit closer then set out on foot. Unfortunately, about two-thirds our way into this stalk, a helicopter flew over and the noise seemed to clear the plains of everything but the two nyala bulls that had been sparring. After looking about for a bit, we returned to the lodge for brunch and one of my infamous naps.

I awoke from my nap early so we made a quick run out to see what we could see. We headed for a part of the farm I had not seen before. A hot, dry wind had developed while I was asleep and as a result many of the critters had gone into the brush. We set out on foot and soon found ourselves at the top of a long, brushy draw. Zebra, eland, warthog, hartebeest, baboon, and impala all seemed to be in this little spot, presumably driven in there by the wind. Juan saw a warthog he wanted to take a closer look at. We then set out slowly, dodging other sets of eyes that could give us away. We worked our way along a two-track until Juan paused and looked with his binoculars. He told me it was a big pig and moved a touch closer and put up the sticks. As I was adjusting onto the sticks, the warthog only 75 yards away looked up at us. After a few long moments he put his head back down again and I found his shoulder and fired. The bullet slap was loud and immediate. The boar rand a short distance and tumbled. We took photos and made the trip to the skinning shed.

After dropping Zulu off at the skinning shed, we drove to another farm to look for bushbuck. Lauren and I were assigned a hillside to watch while Juan would look elsewhere. At one point I saw a ewe dart out and then back into the brush. My focus remained on that spot for the rest of the evening. Cattle moved through that brush patch as did other little animals, but the bushbuck seemed to have disappeared. I knew better and continued to watch. Just before dark, a very large ram suddenly just sprang from the same brush patch and Lauren and I saw it almost simultaneously. Looking back on it, we should have found a spot and set up for a shot from there as it really wasn’t far. However, in our excitement we immediately went after the ram, hoping to get a good shot before it was too dark. Lauren very gracefully made her way through the brush while I followed, but without all the grace. I got caught up in thorns here and there and finally grew frustrated and forced my way through resulting in tearing up my arm.

I caught up with Lauren who was waiting for her clumsy oaf of a client. We then slowly set out after the ram again. It wasn’t long and we were close and light was fading fast. Lauren suddenly just stopped and stared ahead. She took half a step back and told me a ewe was staring at her. Lauren moved forward and a ewe tore out of there at blurring speed. I thought we were done. Lauren took a few more steps and said he is right there, pointing to a white spot in the brush 40 yards away. She said to wait as she needed to see if it was the right ram. When she lowered her binoculars, her eyes were wide and excitedly said it was him. She set up the sticks and I moved to get on them. As I was moving the rifle to my eye, the ram bolted, never to be seen again. I only needed one, maybe two seconds more, but alas that was my chance. The bushbuck continues to be my bugaboo.

We had dinner then went out again for a short hunt for grysbok. None were seen and we called it a night.

 

[HuntingGold]

 

[HuntingGold]

The next morning, we set out for the farm to look again for the big bushbuck. Four of us were glassing for the ram but we failed to find it. We then drove to Kenton on Sea and ate at a nice little restaurant. I met Lauren’s father and brother and bought a bottle of wine for my wife.

We returned to the lodge and found the winds had really picked up, bringing the first few drops of rain. We looked for a big nyala bull known to inhabit a particular part of the farm but failed to turn him up. We then drove to a neighboring farm to look for nyala. We met Andre who showed us around but we did not find but one very small nyala.

After dinner, we made a try for grysbok on a new farm. The weather was wet and miserable. We saw tons of springhare and a few duiker but no grysbok. We gave it up and went back to the shelter of the lodge.

It rained all night with a big push of rain coming between 2:30 and 4:30 a.m. I met Juan at the lunch table and we decided to re-evaluate today’s plan after we ate breakfast. I took the time to catch up my journal.

The morning was a bit of a bust because of the rain and because it left the farm roads in poor condition. We made a run at a large nyala bull but it was unsuccessful.

Later we drove to the adjacent farm again to look for nyala. We met with Andre again and set out on his farm. We hadn’t gone far when Andre said he had seen some nyala move into the brush along the river. We then set out on foot and soon found ourselves overlooking an overgrown pasture which bordered a little river. Juan found a nyala bull laying along the brush line adjacent to the field. Nyala ewes had started to move into the field so we waited to see what would happen. We discussed whether or not this was a bull to take and after some time, we decided it was. The bull had gotten up and began moving towards the ewes in the field, which in turn meant he was walking closer to us. We adjusted our positions and waited. I took my time and found a spot to go prone and set up the rifle. The bull continued to move closer to us. The bull paused around a patch of prickly pear and we decided it was between 250 and 300 yards. As I was preparing to make a shot, our bull decided to lay down again. He lay facing the ewes which meant he was facing us. We just waited.

After a lengthy period of time, the ewes started feeding back the way they had come and had been joined by two very small bulls. Suddenly and for no apparent reason, the band of ewes spooked, and bolted out of the field on a path that took them right underneath our overlook. They made an alarm bark and re-entered the field heading towards the bull. As they approached him, he stood up and scent checked one. They moved past and he then slowly started to feed towards us. I found the bull in my scope and settled in. I then took a dry shot and found it all felt good. I loaded a live round as the bull moved closer. Finally, the bull moved somewhat broad side and I focused in on a single white stripe on his hide and fired. I heard the bullet hit and heard one of the group say he was going down. Fearing of losing him like I had lost the impala earlier I prepared for another shot. I fired again and after a short little dash, he went down for good. We took a few photos and got him loaded just as the rain began to fall again. We said our good-byes to Andre and headed back to the lodge.

 

[HuntingGold]

 

[HuntingGold]

The next day we again went out to look for our nemesis bushbuck. We glassed our hillside for several hours without finding him. We went back to the lodge for lunch and there we discussed our options for our time that remained. One of the games that I like to play with Juan is “let’s make a deal” and he too enjoys the wheeling and dealing. We made the deal to end the last of this hunt as we had done on our previous hunt, by hunting culls.

We set out for a patch of brush in one of the pastures. We had noted that impala will often stream by that location when pushed a little bit. The plan was to sneak into the brush, set up while Zulu would move to the opposite side and put a little pressure on. It didn’t take long and we had dozens upon dozens of impala headed our way. At one point Juan picked out a large cull but it didn’t work out for one reason or another. The last group headed our way and a small pinch-horn was among them. This group ran through our field of fire and I spun my body out and around to stay on them. At the last minute, they stopped and I found the little ram and fired. He made a short dash and expired.

After photos and loading the ram, we head out to the shooting range where we had seen a cull warthog earlier in the hunt. We walked through the area without seeing a single warthog. This was strange as the place was usually loaded with them, just not this time. We then made a stalk on a group of warthog seen on a hillside. As we were walking in, an unseen warthog flushed out and took nearly everything with it. At this point the plan changed when Juan started moving toward some impala. All the sudden the cull warthog hunt magically turned into a cull impala hunt. I’m cool with that! Along the way, a mediocre bushbuck was found and he was offered to me. It just wasn’t the size I was looking for. We resumed towards two impala rams. Finally the sticks went up and a moment later I fired. The impala made a made dash straight down hill before expiring. More photos and then we were off to the skinning shed with the two impala.

We dropped off the impala with Zulu and made a made dash to the adjacent farm where we had spent so much time looking for a monster bushbuck. We kept a vigil for the big ram but while doing so two ewes were seen dashing on a hillside behind us. This was a bit of a clue that we almost ignored. As it got dark, Juan said it was time to go but stopped to look back where the ewes had been playing and wouldn’t you know it a good ram was now with them. What ensued would normally be called a comedy of errors but as mentioned before, bushbuck were my bugaboo and we wanted to close on this deal fast. Ultimately a shot was presented but foiled by a ewe immediately behind the vitals of the ram. Then the ram moved and I had difficulty finding him in the fading light. The comedy continued but the curtain closed without a shot fired.

After dinner we made another run at grysbok. We found one right off the bat that appeared to be a ram but as we got closer lost him to the brush. We saw a few ewes but that was it. My hunting was Africa was done for 2019.

 

[HuntingGold]

 

[R.M.C.]

Great story!!!

 

[HuntingGold]

 

[R.M.C.]

I like that wart hog!!! Congrats on a great hunt!!!

 

[HuntingGold]

Great story!!!

Thanks much.

Several of the photos are courtesy of Lauren of LJ Safaris. In addition to being a quality PH, she also took photos and made a little video of the hunt. Thanks Lauren.

This is my second hunt with LJ Safaris and they do a great job. The weather caused some problems for us but both sides of the team (hunter and PH) remained flexible and it all came out quite well.

Randy

 

[gillettehunter]

Congrats on a great hunt. Looks like you did quite well except for the Bushbuck......
Bruce

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on the hunt and thanks for sharing!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Excellent report, great photos too! Yes, the bushbuck is a tough critter to hunt but now you have a reason to return.

 

[cls]

Congratulations and thanks for posting, it's never too late to post a hunt report here especially this year!

 

[Vanguard2279]

That was a great pig. Congratulations on making it to retirement. I have a Countdown Star for mine which is six years, one month and twenty-six days away. Thank you for sharing your hunt with us.

 

[Nyati]

Congrats on your hunt and thanks for sharing !

 

[Randy F]

Congratulations on a nice hunt! Thanks for posting!

 

[gesch]

Thanks for the report. I enjoyed it. Our hunt was canceled this year. I need to read about others. Thanks. Brian