avon_7
AH member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2014
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 92
- Location
- Northern Territory
- Media
- 9
- Hunted
- NZ, Australia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, RSA
The dream of bow hunting South Africa had become less of a pipe dream and more of a reality for me in the last few years. As I sat in a Qantas Boing 747-400 on my way to Johannesburg it finally sank in I was on my way.
My very own PH ‘Frans’ was waiting for me at Tambo airport and I was quite surprised to see my bow case and bag appear on the carousel as my gear had been checked through from Darwin. In-fact the whole travel process was very painless and seamless.
Frans dropped me at a hotel the first night, which was part of the package and picked me up in the morning.
We drove though Johannesburg to Pretoria. Both towns are very modern and there were plenty of BMW’s and Mercedes around, however as soon as we left Pretoria we had to travel through a couple of Shantytowns. These were literally towns of tin shacks with garbage everywhere. It demonstrated the massive wealth gap and huge social problems facing modern day South Africa. Beggars at every traffic light we stopped at humbugged us, some were quite aggressive and it pays to be switched on in these areas.
Anyway to the hunting. We drove to the Bush Veld area, which starts about an hours drive from Pretoria. The country is gentle rolling hills and savannah with plenty of thorn trees of various types. Fairly open country by NZ standards.
The whole area is segmented into hunting properties. Mostly cattle farms converted to hunting ranches. Predominantly owned by white Africana’s they have learnt that it’s more profitable to keep game animals for photography and hunting safaris than keeping cattle or crops. The game animals are much more hardy than cattle and more tick and disease resistant as well as needing less quality feed.
Yes each farm is fenced with high wire to keep the game in but other wildlife such as monkeys, warthogs, baboons, jackals and the odd leopard don’t let the wire stop them going where they want to.
The result is now there is far more game animals around in this area than when the Dutch Trekkers first arrived 300 years ago.
They also have breeding programs for Rhino and other threatened species.
Familiar irony isn't it that where hunters are involved the animals are thriving and where there is no hunting such as in Kenya, animals are being wiped out by poachers.
Arriving at our ‘Farm’ I met Nico the white Africana manager. It was interesting to see that Nico carried around a CZ-75 9mm everywhere he went and Frans had a Ruger Security six .357 magnum on his hip at all times. They told me they were for finishing wounded or injured animals but I did wonder..
We met our tracker ‘Jacob’ and camp boy ‘Leonard’ and unpacked at our lavish camp.
For a kiwi used to a fly sheet and a damp sleeping bag the camp was over the top.
Four star hotel conditions is the best description with all manner of Alcohol and service available any time I cared for.
The first evening we went to a near by property to sit in a blind for the afternoon. As we approached the pit blind, Zebra, Wildebeest and Cape Eland moved off. Unfortunately once we settled in nothing came in apart from Eland. They were in very poor condition as it was the end of the dry season and not much feed around.
We spent two more days at that place with nothing coming in apart from Eland and a Baboon. I was getting a bit pissed off at this stage as I had been there two and a half days in a 6 day hunt and not fired a shot. Frans and I were becoming great friends in this time so it was hard for me to put the hard word on him. He admitted he had only ever had one other bow hunter and that I was here right at the end of the dry season, which was not a good time. He promised me that Nico was trying to organise some more properties but the problem was that many of the animals were out of quota as it was at the end of the season.
The day before three Danish blokes turned up. They were essentially tourists and wanted to shoot an animal to two as part of their experience. They had done zero hunting and hardly ever fired a gun. Nico took them out and their very first evening had shot a Zebra Stallion and Blue Wildebeest. That night we celebrated their kills and they were great blokes and heaps of fun. I was surprised to find out that they often had people coming over with absolutely no hunting experience and managed to give them a successful safari. Most of these animals are shot off the back of the truck on these hunts but this is how they do it in Africa sometimes
The following day Frans took me to a new property, we had only been in the blind a few minutes before there was a plethora of game animals around us, drinking and feeding. Eland, Zebra, Warthog and Wildebeest. The Eland were giving the Wildebeest ‘what for’ as they tried to push in for a drink. Finally Frans managed to identify the Stallion Zebra and I prepared to set up for the shot. Very stressful and they moved around and in Africa if you draw blood you pay! With this in mind I finally got a clear shot at the Zebra and at the shot he took off at warp speed. Changing directions we could see him charge the other way over 200 meters. I could see blood behind his shoulder so was hoping for the best. Well Frans was jumping up and down and more exited than me. He was shaking my hand and on the phone to the Safari office to report our success. I wasn’t so sure myself as I don’t congratulate myself until I find the animal down.
We found his tracks and followed a reasonable blood trail for around 100 meters. I was looking for more blood when suddenly Frans starts patting my back and shaking my hand. I look where he is pointing and there is the Zebra, down and out for the count about 200 meters away.
A dream comes true for me at last.
The little 400grain arrow had zipped through him, no problem and caught the back of both lungs. He had bled out completely.
We moved onto the next blind and repeated the process with a nice Blue Wildebeest. They weren’t actually on my hit list but Frans said the bull was a nice one and when he presented a slight quartering away shot at 28 meters, it’s a hard for a kiwi bow hunter so say no.
Blue Wildebeest – Hard to pass up at 28 yards
Dropping the animals at the skinning shed we headed back home, as we drove past Nico’s wife’s horse paddock we spied a nice Warthog eating the luscious green grass. He took off when we drove past but after a word with Nico’s wife we hid in the stables in case he came back. I was a bit nervous as there were some very expensive Arabian ponies around and I had visions of my bank balance taking a huge hit if one of my arrows went astray.
Only few minutes later the Cheeky Warthog had come across the road, out of the scrub and was back in the field. There was one and only tree in the way between the pig and myself so I decided to put an Aussie style spot and stalk. I managed to get to the tree with the horses following me like the pied piper, snorting and looking for sugar cubes. The pig was still unawares and I groveled under the fence to get away from the horses. 33 yards he was and I put an arrow right through his shoulder. He gave out a squeal and took off back the way he came. He got to his hole that he had dug under the fence and then expired. Once again Frans was jumping up and down again as he had not witnessed much in the way of bow kills.
For me this was the highlight of the trip, stalking and shooting a Wart Hog.
Jacob our tracker/skinner seems pretty happy with my warthog effort
He almost got to his hole under the fence but didn’t make it.
Last full day of the trip we went to a small bow hunting property and I managed this Impala Ram. The arrow went along his back steak, exited and went into the back of his neck and then out the front of his neck. Blimey..
We also drove around with me on the back on the truck and I shot a Franklin for the pot.
Each night we were treated to game meats and I have to say that I have never eaten such succulent, tender, flavorsome meats until I came to Africa. The best being Zebra, which was superb.
I developed a real affinity for the Africana’s who are polite, respectful no nonsense people doing the best in difficult circumstances.
We drove back to the office where I settled my bill. I met the entire company team and they spent an hour with me in their board room getting my feedback. Although the first two days hunting were crap in my opinion they were not really geared up for Bow hunting, I would still recommend Africa Sky to someone looking for their first trip to South Africa. However I would also say that there seems to be some other excellent Bow Hunting outfitters around as well so it will be very difficult for me to choose for my trip next year.
Despite all this we worked out some expectations and guidelines and after them taking me to a restaurant lunch on the last day I caught my flight back to Australia very happy indeed.
For a bow hunter, Africa is well worth the effort. Where else can you shoot 4 different trophies in 5 days?
I took a few photos; potential animals on the hit list for next year. Hope you like.
As always cheers for reading..
Oh for those that are interested the gear I used..
Archery:
Matthews Monster Chill 70LB @ 26"
Easton Axis 340 shafts with 2" blazer vanes and 100gn Steelforce Phat-head broadheads
Sight is a Trijicon Accudial single pin.
Photographic gear:
Canon 100D body
Canon 300 L series f4 lens
Canon 40mm Kit lens
Canon G12 compact for grab shots
Canon 580EX flashgun
Manfrotto Monopod
My very own PH ‘Frans’ was waiting for me at Tambo airport and I was quite surprised to see my bow case and bag appear on the carousel as my gear had been checked through from Darwin. In-fact the whole travel process was very painless and seamless.
Frans dropped me at a hotel the first night, which was part of the package and picked me up in the morning.
We drove though Johannesburg to Pretoria. Both towns are very modern and there were plenty of BMW’s and Mercedes around, however as soon as we left Pretoria we had to travel through a couple of Shantytowns. These were literally towns of tin shacks with garbage everywhere. It demonstrated the massive wealth gap and huge social problems facing modern day South Africa. Beggars at every traffic light we stopped at humbugged us, some were quite aggressive and it pays to be switched on in these areas.
Anyway to the hunting. We drove to the Bush Veld area, which starts about an hours drive from Pretoria. The country is gentle rolling hills and savannah with plenty of thorn trees of various types. Fairly open country by NZ standards.
The whole area is segmented into hunting properties. Mostly cattle farms converted to hunting ranches. Predominantly owned by white Africana’s they have learnt that it’s more profitable to keep game animals for photography and hunting safaris than keeping cattle or crops. The game animals are much more hardy than cattle and more tick and disease resistant as well as needing less quality feed.
Yes each farm is fenced with high wire to keep the game in but other wildlife such as monkeys, warthogs, baboons, jackals and the odd leopard don’t let the wire stop them going where they want to.
The result is now there is far more game animals around in this area than when the Dutch Trekkers first arrived 300 years ago.
They also have breeding programs for Rhino and other threatened species.
Familiar irony isn't it that where hunters are involved the animals are thriving and where there is no hunting such as in Kenya, animals are being wiped out by poachers.
Arriving at our ‘Farm’ I met Nico the white Africana manager. It was interesting to see that Nico carried around a CZ-75 9mm everywhere he went and Frans had a Ruger Security six .357 magnum on his hip at all times. They told me they were for finishing wounded or injured animals but I did wonder..
We met our tracker ‘Jacob’ and camp boy ‘Leonard’ and unpacked at our lavish camp.
For a kiwi used to a fly sheet and a damp sleeping bag the camp was over the top.
Four star hotel conditions is the best description with all manner of Alcohol and service available any time I cared for.
The first evening we went to a near by property to sit in a blind for the afternoon. As we approached the pit blind, Zebra, Wildebeest and Cape Eland moved off. Unfortunately once we settled in nothing came in apart from Eland. They were in very poor condition as it was the end of the dry season and not much feed around.
We spent two more days at that place with nothing coming in apart from Eland and a Baboon. I was getting a bit pissed off at this stage as I had been there two and a half days in a 6 day hunt and not fired a shot. Frans and I were becoming great friends in this time so it was hard for me to put the hard word on him. He admitted he had only ever had one other bow hunter and that I was here right at the end of the dry season, which was not a good time. He promised me that Nico was trying to organise some more properties but the problem was that many of the animals were out of quota as it was at the end of the season.
The day before three Danish blokes turned up. They were essentially tourists and wanted to shoot an animal to two as part of their experience. They had done zero hunting and hardly ever fired a gun. Nico took them out and their very first evening had shot a Zebra Stallion and Blue Wildebeest. That night we celebrated their kills and they were great blokes and heaps of fun. I was surprised to find out that they often had people coming over with absolutely no hunting experience and managed to give them a successful safari. Most of these animals are shot off the back of the truck on these hunts but this is how they do it in Africa sometimes
The following day Frans took me to a new property, we had only been in the blind a few minutes before there was a plethora of game animals around us, drinking and feeding. Eland, Zebra, Warthog and Wildebeest. The Eland were giving the Wildebeest ‘what for’ as they tried to push in for a drink. Finally Frans managed to identify the Stallion Zebra and I prepared to set up for the shot. Very stressful and they moved around and in Africa if you draw blood you pay! With this in mind I finally got a clear shot at the Zebra and at the shot he took off at warp speed. Changing directions we could see him charge the other way over 200 meters. I could see blood behind his shoulder so was hoping for the best. Well Frans was jumping up and down and more exited than me. He was shaking my hand and on the phone to the Safari office to report our success. I wasn’t so sure myself as I don’t congratulate myself until I find the animal down.
We found his tracks and followed a reasonable blood trail for around 100 meters. I was looking for more blood when suddenly Frans starts patting my back and shaking my hand. I look where he is pointing and there is the Zebra, down and out for the count about 200 meters away.
A dream comes true for me at last.
The little 400grain arrow had zipped through him, no problem and caught the back of both lungs. He had bled out completely.
We moved onto the next blind and repeated the process with a nice Blue Wildebeest. They weren’t actually on my hit list but Frans said the bull was a nice one and when he presented a slight quartering away shot at 28 meters, it’s a hard for a kiwi bow hunter so say no.
Blue Wildebeest – Hard to pass up at 28 yards
Dropping the animals at the skinning shed we headed back home, as we drove past Nico’s wife’s horse paddock we spied a nice Warthog eating the luscious green grass. He took off when we drove past but after a word with Nico’s wife we hid in the stables in case he came back. I was a bit nervous as there were some very expensive Arabian ponies around and I had visions of my bank balance taking a huge hit if one of my arrows went astray.
Only few minutes later the Cheeky Warthog had come across the road, out of the scrub and was back in the field. There was one and only tree in the way between the pig and myself so I decided to put an Aussie style spot and stalk. I managed to get to the tree with the horses following me like the pied piper, snorting and looking for sugar cubes. The pig was still unawares and I groveled under the fence to get away from the horses. 33 yards he was and I put an arrow right through his shoulder. He gave out a squeal and took off back the way he came. He got to his hole that he had dug under the fence and then expired. Once again Frans was jumping up and down again as he had not witnessed much in the way of bow kills.
For me this was the highlight of the trip, stalking and shooting a Wart Hog.
Jacob our tracker/skinner seems pretty happy with my warthog effort
He almost got to his hole under the fence but didn’t make it.
Last full day of the trip we went to a small bow hunting property and I managed this Impala Ram. The arrow went along his back steak, exited and went into the back of his neck and then out the front of his neck. Blimey..
We also drove around with me on the back on the truck and I shot a Franklin for the pot.
Each night we were treated to game meats and I have to say that I have never eaten such succulent, tender, flavorsome meats until I came to Africa. The best being Zebra, which was superb.
I developed a real affinity for the Africana’s who are polite, respectful no nonsense people doing the best in difficult circumstances.
We drove back to the office where I settled my bill. I met the entire company team and they spent an hour with me in their board room getting my feedback. Although the first two days hunting were crap in my opinion they were not really geared up for Bow hunting, I would still recommend Africa Sky to someone looking for their first trip to South Africa. However I would also say that there seems to be some other excellent Bow Hunting outfitters around as well so it will be very difficult for me to choose for my trip next year.
Despite all this we worked out some expectations and guidelines and after them taking me to a restaurant lunch on the last day I caught my flight back to Australia very happy indeed.
For a bow hunter, Africa is well worth the effort. Where else can you shoot 4 different trophies in 5 days?
I took a few photos; potential animals on the hit list for next year. Hope you like.
As always cheers for reading..
Oh for those that are interested the gear I used..
Archery:
Matthews Monster Chill 70LB @ 26"
Easton Axis 340 shafts with 2" blazer vanes and 100gn Steelforce Phat-head broadheads
Sight is a Trijicon Accudial single pin.
Photographic gear:
Canon 100D body
Canon 300 L series f4 lens
Canon 40mm Kit lens
Canon G12 compact for grab shots
Canon 580EX flashgun
Manfrotto Monopod
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