joker2400
AH veteran
Aside from the last couple of paragraphs I try to give an accounting of events without incorporating too much of my thoughts/feelings.
By now the quota issues for the hunts Kwalata was advertising on their new reserve are old news on the forum. I did reach out to Jaco after this came to my attention (end of June), he offered a refund of the deposit. He felt confident that he could provide us with a good bow hunt despite this hiccup. After discussion with the rest of the party, we decided to proceed due to the headache that would ensue if we canceled and had to make alternative plans.
This was to be my sister and brother-in-law’s honeymoon trip and their 1 year anniversary fell on the 2nd to last day of hunting. My BIL’s first trip, my 6th, my dad’s 7th.
My dad arrived a few days ahead of us and was picked up from Africa Sky by his PH TJ. He hunted 2 days before our arrival in camp. His only desired animal was an impala and beyond that he would see what the bush provided. His first day of hunting he took an old blue wildebeest. He did not see any mature animals the second day.
We were picked up from OR Tambo by a driver who took us to meet our PHs at the reserve gate that evening. We arrived at the gate around 1am due to all archery equipment being taken to the police station, but actually left in the basement or something. We met our PHs Johan and Stefan at the gate and were whisked off to the lodge.
My first day of hunting started early around 6am. After a few stops in town, we headed off to a property with a blind that had a nice warthog frequenting the area. Approximately 1.5 hours from the lodge. We got off to a slow start with a pair of wildebeest moving past about 60 yards out. Some small pigs came into the feed which was placed 8-10 yards in front of the blind. A nice mature kudu bull with his cows came in and hung out about 50-70 yards off to the left side of the blind for a while. Around 10am the warthog we were after came in alongside the blind and surveyed the area before turning around and leaving without providing a shot. The rest of the day was slow. My BIL chose to sleep in today and go on a game drive with the ladies.
Day 2 for me was spent in 2 different blinds with no opportunities at mature animals. My BIL took a representative blue wildebeest bull and impala ram.
Day 3 was again slow with the only opportunity being a decent wildebeest bull of ~26 inches which I chose to pass on as he wasn’t more impressive than any of the wildebeest I’d taken previously. It was slow for my BIL as well. My dad had an itchy trigger finger and took a monkey and a baboon with his crossbow.
Day 4 we headed off to a new property to see if we could get a nyala from the popup. However there was construction traffic in the area keeping the animals from coming in. So we drove to check out the blinds on the property, however neither one of them would work for bowhunting. We headed to the blind from yesterday, hopeful for a warthog or impala. We had a monitor lizard come through and drink at the waterhole. A decent impala came in for a drink sometime after, however due to the configuration of the windows of the blind I was unable to get a shot. No opportunities for the other 2 as well.
Day 5 we tried a new blind but no mature animals were seen in the morning. A falcon did chase a sand grouse into the blind providing some excitement. Around noon we packed up and headed to the popup deeper in the property, which we had sat the morning of day 2. We saw many young and female animals, but no mature males. My dad shot a jackal.
Day 6 we moved to a new property to try for nyala. We set the popup up near the waterhole and settled in to wait. About an hour and a half into the site I looked out the back and saw a nyala bull standing about 30 yards behind us, directly downwind. He circled the blind before popping up 40 yards in front of the blind where he proceeded to survey the area and then walk away. Thirty minutes later there was a snorting behind the blind and I was able to catch a glimpse of a warthog heading out in a hurry, he had smelled us as well. After this we packed up to head back to the lodge as we had planned a sundown cruise on the river.I suggested we leave the popup in place as an option to return to in a few days when the animals may be more used to it.
Day 7 I decided to switch things up and use a rifle to try to take an impala, as by this time i was frustrated with seeing only female and immature animals from the blind. We spent the morning looking for something and had opportunities at a smaller bushbuck and impala. We did briefly glimpse some larger impala rams, but they gave us the slip fairly easily. We headed back to the lodge around 1pm as we were going to do some fishing on the river for the evening. We didn’t have much success but did manage to take in a beautiful sunset along the river. My dad managed to get a decent sized warthog today. My BIL managed to take a 48 inch kudu.
Day 8 we were headed back to the popup to try for the nyala. As we were driving into the property we saw a nice warthog and decided to pull out the rifle and make a stalk. We were successful in taking him after a short stalk. After pictures we left the warthog in the care of Simon the tracker while we sat for the nyala. Around 915 I caught the nyala walking towards the water on the road about 15 yards from the blind. I was able to draw and make a perfect shot. We found him dead 80 yards from the blind. After pictures we decided to call it a day and go back to the lodge to finish packing and take care of the paperwork. At 5 a driver picked us up from the gate to take us to Africa Sky.
We left the next morning for 3 days in Vic Falls. We had a great time, the falls are a breathtaking sight and a must see.
A review of the hunt: The hunting was not particularly good. As a non-hunting vacation it would’ve been great. I felt the guides worked hard for us, but didn’t have the resources needed to deliver a good bowhunt. I arrived with an open mind for what animals I’d take, essentially everything was on the table. Many of the ones I inquired about were unavailable. I asked about sable, no properties with sable for bowhunting unless I was shooting off of the truck. I asked ahead of time about a cow buffalo as an option, I quickly tossed that idea aside when I found the buffalo available to conform to some of the less flattering SA buffalo stereotypes. Our nyala hunts were done in breeding camps, I was ok pulling the trigger after seeing how on edge the animals were, but still not the hunt I was after.
A potpourri of thoughts:
By now the quota issues for the hunts Kwalata was advertising on their new reserve are old news on the forum. I did reach out to Jaco after this came to my attention (end of June), he offered a refund of the deposit. He felt confident that he could provide us with a good bow hunt despite this hiccup. After discussion with the rest of the party, we decided to proceed due to the headache that would ensue if we canceled and had to make alternative plans.
This was to be my sister and brother-in-law’s honeymoon trip and their 1 year anniversary fell on the 2nd to last day of hunting. My BIL’s first trip, my 6th, my dad’s 7th.
My dad arrived a few days ahead of us and was picked up from Africa Sky by his PH TJ. He hunted 2 days before our arrival in camp. His only desired animal was an impala and beyond that he would see what the bush provided. His first day of hunting he took an old blue wildebeest. He did not see any mature animals the second day.
We were picked up from OR Tambo by a driver who took us to meet our PHs at the reserve gate that evening. We arrived at the gate around 1am due to all archery equipment being taken to the police station, but actually left in the basement or something. We met our PHs Johan and Stefan at the gate and were whisked off to the lodge.
My first day of hunting started early around 6am. After a few stops in town, we headed off to a property with a blind that had a nice warthog frequenting the area. Approximately 1.5 hours from the lodge. We got off to a slow start with a pair of wildebeest moving past about 60 yards out. Some small pigs came into the feed which was placed 8-10 yards in front of the blind. A nice mature kudu bull with his cows came in and hung out about 50-70 yards off to the left side of the blind for a while. Around 10am the warthog we were after came in alongside the blind and surveyed the area before turning around and leaving without providing a shot. The rest of the day was slow. My BIL chose to sleep in today and go on a game drive with the ladies.
Day 2 for me was spent in 2 different blinds with no opportunities at mature animals. My BIL took a representative blue wildebeest bull and impala ram.
Day 3 was again slow with the only opportunity being a decent wildebeest bull of ~26 inches which I chose to pass on as he wasn’t more impressive than any of the wildebeest I’d taken previously. It was slow for my BIL as well. My dad had an itchy trigger finger and took a monkey and a baboon with his crossbow.
Day 4 we headed off to a new property to see if we could get a nyala from the popup. However there was construction traffic in the area keeping the animals from coming in. So we drove to check out the blinds on the property, however neither one of them would work for bowhunting. We headed to the blind from yesterday, hopeful for a warthog or impala. We had a monitor lizard come through and drink at the waterhole. A decent impala came in for a drink sometime after, however due to the configuration of the windows of the blind I was unable to get a shot. No opportunities for the other 2 as well.
Day 5 we tried a new blind but no mature animals were seen in the morning. A falcon did chase a sand grouse into the blind providing some excitement. Around noon we packed up and headed to the popup deeper in the property, which we had sat the morning of day 2. We saw many young and female animals, but no mature males. My dad shot a jackal.
Day 6 we moved to a new property to try for nyala. We set the popup up near the waterhole and settled in to wait. About an hour and a half into the site I looked out the back and saw a nyala bull standing about 30 yards behind us, directly downwind. He circled the blind before popping up 40 yards in front of the blind where he proceeded to survey the area and then walk away. Thirty minutes later there was a snorting behind the blind and I was able to catch a glimpse of a warthog heading out in a hurry, he had smelled us as well. After this we packed up to head back to the lodge as we had planned a sundown cruise on the river.I suggested we leave the popup in place as an option to return to in a few days when the animals may be more used to it.
Day 7 I decided to switch things up and use a rifle to try to take an impala, as by this time i was frustrated with seeing only female and immature animals from the blind. We spent the morning looking for something and had opportunities at a smaller bushbuck and impala. We did briefly glimpse some larger impala rams, but they gave us the slip fairly easily. We headed back to the lodge around 1pm as we were going to do some fishing on the river for the evening. We didn’t have much success but did manage to take in a beautiful sunset along the river. My dad managed to get a decent sized warthog today. My BIL managed to take a 48 inch kudu.
Day 8 we were headed back to the popup to try for the nyala. As we were driving into the property we saw a nice warthog and decided to pull out the rifle and make a stalk. We were successful in taking him after a short stalk. After pictures we left the warthog in the care of Simon the tracker while we sat for the nyala. Around 915 I caught the nyala walking towards the water on the road about 15 yards from the blind. I was able to draw and make a perfect shot. We found him dead 80 yards from the blind. After pictures we decided to call it a day and go back to the lodge to finish packing and take care of the paperwork. At 5 a driver picked us up from the gate to take us to Africa Sky.
We left the next morning for 3 days in Vic Falls. We had a great time, the falls are a breathtaking sight and a must see.
A review of the hunt: The hunting was not particularly good. As a non-hunting vacation it would’ve been great. I felt the guides worked hard for us, but didn’t have the resources needed to deliver a good bowhunt. I arrived with an open mind for what animals I’d take, essentially everything was on the table. Many of the ones I inquired about were unavailable. I asked about sable, no properties with sable for bowhunting unless I was shooting off of the truck. I asked ahead of time about a cow buffalo as an option, I quickly tossed that idea aside when I found the buffalo available to conform to some of the less flattering SA buffalo stereotypes. Our nyala hunts were done in breeding camps, I was ok pulling the trigger after seeing how on edge the animals were, but still not the hunt I was after.
A potpourri of thoughts:
- The accommodations and food were great.
- The non-hunting activities available through the reserve were excellent
- Having one way commutes of 1-2 hours makes for long, exhausting hunting days.
- I was under the impression the reserve was 78k acres, but the guides stated it was only 41k acres
- While we had exclusive use of our camp there was another on the reserve which had a group staying there. We did pass vehicles of people on the reserve for game viewing at least half of the days on our way into or out of the reserve.
