SOUTH AFRICA: Back From the East Cape

[Bobpuckett]

Well Folks the wife and I just returned from the Eastern Cape and had an Awesome time. This will be a 2 part report as we spent 5 day Hunting with Father and Sons Safaris http://fatherandsonssafaris.co.za/ and 5 days hunting with Huntershill Safaris http://huntershillsafaris.co.za/

Well to start out we left Memphis Tn On American Airlines on 8 May and flew in to Philadelphia for a 6 hr layover then switched to Qatar Air to fly to Doha for a 9 hr layover I will add this the airport in Doha is one of the nicest and Cleanest airports I have ever flown into and out of but the layovers are long going over. I was also traveling with Archery equipment a Crossbow but had no issues with that at all they put a sticker on the case that said it had been inspected in Doha so I just left it on there for the return trip. We then flew Qatar to Jberg for another 3 1/2 hr layover then on to Port Elizabeth on British airways arriving on 10 May 47 hours later.
Now for those of you wondering about Qatar Air the long flight from Philadelphia to Doha was great very comfortable flight with plenty of leg room we flew economy and the flight was as good or better then Delta paying extra for the comfort seats. the other shorter flights were about the same as American Airlines.

Well Rusty and Jami met us as we came out we collected our baggage and was on our way to Cradock to spend the next 5 days hunting Duiker, Bushpig, Blesbok and Fallow deer.
That evening we enjoyed an awesome meal and planned our hunt for the next 5 days, we were planning to take all of our animals with a crossbow if at all possible so early the next morning Rusty sets up the target to check the crossbow we decided to make it 60 yards max for the range as we showed Rusty we could shoot sub 1 inch groups with our Piledriver crossbow shooting at 390 fps even with a slight breeze. So after checking the Crossbow we head out to find Deb a Blesbok, we spot 2 off on the hillside and the stalk is on. One had already spotted us as we made the stalk so he decided to stay out at about 150 yards and in the brush whenever we saw him so we decided to try for the other one and we got to within 42 yards but couldn't get a shot as he always made sure there was a bush of some kind between us and him. Well after a couple of hours of playing games with us and I was getting tired of climbing all over those hills with those dang round rocks rolling under my feet I looked at Rusty and said time to switch to the 300 and at 130 yards Deb quickly put an end to his game of cat and mouse.

Now it's time to get a bite to eat and plan for this evenings Poor Man's Leopard hunt!

 

[Bobpuckett]

Ok so now that I'm rested after this morning cat and mouse game with the Blesbok we head out about 4:30 to go to the bling for Bushpig. Rusty calls this the Poor Man's Leopard hunt because you hunt them the same way as you do a Leopard at night and over bait. Rusty had started 3 different bait sights in January hoping to have me a Bushpig on bait got the feeders setup cameras in place and sure enough all 3 sights were getting hit by Bushpig's But this one sight had a really nice big old boar and a sow coming in every night like clock work So we get in the blind at about 5:30 because they've been coming in between 8:00 and 10:00 every night. Well we spend 6+ hours in the blind and no pigs. Rusty makes a radio call and about 10 minutes later Ou John is there to pick us up Rusty said well we'll try for Fallow deer and Duiker tomorrow then back in the blind tomorrow night.

Well the next morning we grab a quick bite to eat and it's off to hunt Fallow deer. As we drive we spot several but not good one's to young or already have broken horns. We spot an older bull tall antlers but the palms weren't that great so we move on to look for the bigger one Rusty had been seeing, I told Rusty if on the way out and we don't take the big one I'll take that old one just in case better 1 in the hand then 2 in the bush. Well we found the big one about 2 miles away we come around a bend in the trail and there he is 200 yards up hill standing broadside with a younger bull following him, I quickly get on the sticks take careful aim.... a yeah I shoot 2 feet over his back next time I see him he's 400 yards away and still running. btw on the way out we didn't see the other one again either. That afternoon we go out looking for Duiker for Deb and we spot a bunch mostly female or young males not quite ready for the taking yet Oh they were big enough to make the books but not old enough for us as they still had plenty of breeding time left in them to make a long story short over the five days of hunting we counted over 26 Duiker females and young males we did spot a few older ones but couldn't get close enough before they busted us and left out of there like someone had set their tail on fire.
So That evening we head back out for bushpig again we get in the blind about 5:30 and spend another 6+ hours waiting for nothing to show so this time Rusty went and checked the camera. For 3 months these pigs have been coming in at 8-10 Oh but I show up and they change their pattern now they are coming in from 2:00 am til 4:00 am so we make a plan and tomorrow night we come in at midnight That'll teach them.
So the next day we again spend the day looking for Duiker but no luck. This time we eat before we go to the pig blind and about 11:00 pm we head out for another 6+ hours in the blind, yeah you guessed it no pig so Rusty radio's for Ou John and as we wait he goes over and checks the camera and calls me over, Look at This the pigs were there on bait I looked at the time on the Camera 11:30 pm the next picture was our headlights coming in yep we had run them off the bait.

Well the next morning we decide to go look for Fallow deer again as we had given them a couple of days to let things cool off in hopes that the big one would be back. That morning Rusty ask which rifle do you want to take 300, 308 or the 243? I told him the 243 love that rifle, Boyd left hand stock with a right hand glass bedded Mauser action with a 243 Ackley Improved bull barrel with a Suppressor and a Knight Force Scope setting on top, I swear you could knock the hair off a fly's butt at 400 yards without hurting the fly with that rifle. So we head out and it ain't but an hour or to we spot two bulls on the hillside about 160 yards out but they seen us too. I grab the 243 get on the sticks and get ready they start to move out going straight away up hill so I place the crosshairs on his back so the bullet will exit his chest going threw the lungs, I squeeze off a shot and drop him in his tracks. Rusty jumps up and yells THAT"S how you shoot.

He was an old bull teeth worn down to the gums face full of scares Cape was in such bad shape from old age that Rusty gave me a replacement cape because it just wasn't worth trying to save.

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Thanks for sharing. Very good report.
Nice pictures and great trophies.

 

[Royal27]

Glad you had another great hunt.

Keep it coming Bobby. Nice to see you posting again!

 

[Bobpuckett]

Well the Next day it's the same routine up for breakfast out looking for Duiker then back in for lunch and a quick nap and back out for Duiker. That evening we had changed up our plans again and was in the blind at 9:00 pm with the idea if we had to we weren't coming out til daylight. It was about 10:00 pm when I heard something coming "now just for note I'm hard of hearing from my military days so if I heard something coming it had to be big" sure enough in walks a great big Porcupine wait there's no way I heard that not even at 25 yards and about that time 15 cows come walking in front of the blind. Ok that's more like it, they spread out and start grazing and about 10:30 Rusty taps me on the arm they they come both pigs but they are acting real nervous they don't like the idea that the cows are in the area but a few minutes later the cows moved off and the pigs came in they weren't worried about the porcupine but the Porcupine was worried about them he wanted that corn for himself. Well they came on in anyways and it was everything I could do to keep from laughing that porcupine was holding his own against those bushpigs and by golly he was reading them the riot act to. well a few minutes later the big boar got broadside and Rusty gave me the signal I had my crossbow on the shooting pod and was just getting ready to squeeze the trigger as the crosshairs came to rest when the wind swirled and they got wind of us and I had no idea a stinking pig could move so fast but just like that they were gone. This was suppose to be my last night hunting bushpig but these suckers had made it personnel so the next morning I what's app Greg and ask him to let Cherelene know that I would not be in tonight it would be tomorrow morning I had a pig I had to get. so that morning we left the blind just like it was but moved up the hillside about 25 more yards and built a ground blind I packed the Crossbow away and Rust pulled out the Sako 308 so 9:00 pm we moved back to the ground blind and waited we were planning on another long night Rusty even brought two Jackal skin quilts to cover up in to help us stay warm. My cell phone has an app so the screen stay black but you can still see the dim numbers for time so I look at my phone to check the time 10:00 pm I pull the quilt up and look back at the feeder and there they are feeding at the feeder I tap Rusty and he raises up real slow and I hand signal left-right left-right he signals back left I knew that but wanted it confirmed before I shoot. So I put the crosshair on his shoulder and squeezer her off, That big boar spun 3 times squealing then took of in the direction they had been coming from all week, so we go down and start the search Rusty finds the first blood then we head in the direction the pig had went and found more blood then we came to the edge of a deep ravine about 40 feet deep so we take the same trail that we thought the pigs had taken and half way down we find a couple more trails but no sign of blood so rusty heads off to the left a few minutes later he said bobby look here so I go over to look and he's pointing his torch down the trail and said I think he was going here! Then starts laughing but he's dead and turns around and points the light right there! I had taken him through the boiler room and half way down the slope he had ran out of steam and rolled the rest of the way down the hill.

9 Years and 7 Safaris chasing Bushpig and finally connect with this big Boar 3 inches of tusk showing outside the gums very good chance he'll make top ten SCI Books. well in the Morning it's off to Umlindi Taxidermy to drop these 3 off and then off to Huntershill for some more great hunting.

 

[BnC 04]

Great write-up thus far Bob...keep it coming. Awesome job on the piggie!!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Persistence pays off Bob.
Well done.

 

[cagkt3]

Nicely done on that pig!

 

[gillettehunter]

Thats a pig that you'll remember for a long time. The harder you work the more important that they are to you. Great hunt and lots of persistance.
Congrats
Bruce

 

[CAustin]

Congrats on the pig sir!

 

[Bobpuckett]

Thats a pig that you'll remember for a long time. The harder you work the more important that they are to you. Great hunt and lots of persistance.
Congrats
Bruce

You are right there Bruce all the years and I don't have enough fingers an toe's to count the hour I put in for this one, he was suppose to be a shoulder mount but by the time I got him and took one look and seen how big he was he'll be a full body mount.

 

[Bruce]

Great hunt and report...really good pig and fallow deer taken CONGRATS!!!

 

[Bobpuckett]

Persistence pays off Bob.
Well done.

Thanks Wayne, it did take persistence I'm not the most patient guy at times but I was determined that I was going to get this guy one day and this was the day and one I'll not soon forget.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on your hunt and thanks for sharing!

 

[buck wild]

Good deal Bob- great pics of the bushpig. My bushpig pics didn't come very good, I should have taken a little more time

 

[Nyati]

Congrats Bob, that is a very nice pig !

 

[Bobpuckett]

Good deal Bob- great pics of the bushpig. My bushpig pics didn't come very good, I should have taken a little more time

Thank You! You got the Bushpig that's the part that counts.

 

[One Day...]

Great hunt and great report Bob.
Nice bush pig.
You do it better than me, "mine" never showed up that night...
I will give it another shot (well, hopefully a shot!) in about one month. I fly there for another 12 days on July 5.
We shall see...

 

[Bobpuckett]

Great hunt and great report Bob.
Nice bush pig.
You do it better than me, "mine" never showed up that night...
I will give it another shot (well, hopefully a shot!) in about one month. I fly there for another 12 days on July 5.
We shall see...

Thanks and Good luck, post us a report.

 

[jeff]

Love that bush pig!! Congrats.