SOUTH AFRICA: BOWHUNT: Stompiesland Safaris A Bowhunters Dream

[Bowdup]

This is one of my first post to this forum and will also be my first hunting report. I will try to do the best I can. Here's a quick overview:

My Wife and I decided to fly out of Atlanta, for multiple reasons. Our journey would start in Alaska. We have family close to ATL and needed to drop off our kids as they would not be traveling with us for our first time out of Country. The other being the direct flight Delta offers to Johannesburg.
I felt the flight went quickly with movies and sleep. We arrived at JNB in the evening and had a connecting flight to Port Elizabeth the next day. We stayed with Africa Sky Guesthouse, where we joined by my Aunt and Uncle who would be hunting with us for the week. I must say, seeing the driver standing there with our name was refreshing. We were a little stressed not knowing where to go or what to do. We did travel with unique bow cases, which was handy since they were pink and tan! This helped with being able to identify them in the mass of black cases... Dinner and a great night sleep helped get us on the time zone, breakfast was also amazing, highly recommend staying here. http://www.africasky.co.za/

Nico and his guys picked us up in Port Elizabeth and drove us to his place which is close to Patensie. His family and staff were very welcoming and we instantly felt part of the family. A very nice atmosphere and I was blown away by how polite everyone is, even the local people in town. As a little reference note, if any of you have seen Pigman or Just Junie hunting show, these are the people they hunt with.

Nico's property where the main house and guest chalet's are located is bowhunt only. We were immediately in the middle of Nyala, Bushbuck, and Impala. We spent most of our 8 days hunting over waterholes with animals in range from 15-35 yards. The blinds were comfortably for 2 people and plenty of room to shoot my bow. We also seen a lot of Zebra, Blue Wildebeest and Blue Duiker daily. Waterbuck, Kudu and the famous Bushpig were plentiful as well. It was an amazing trip and I can't wait to do it again. I actually have friends hunting there as I type this.

All transport and food/drink was included. There were no surprise fees and we were well taken care of the entire time. We did travel a few days to hunt different areas for spot and stalk which also was included. We simply paid for our stay and the animals we took.

I will post pics and try to do my best of the report.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Looking forward to the rest of the story!

 

[cpr0312]

Nice, looking forward to more!

 

[billc]

By the short amount info you already posted looks like it will be a good report. The cape can be a great place to hunt and visit.

 

[BRICKBURN]

 

[Mekaniks]

Very Nice @Bowdup. Can't wait for more pics!

 

[Bowdup]

As with most other positive reports I've read on this forum, I cannot speak highly enough about Nico, his family and his place. I'm not sure it gets any better than what we experienced. The house, chalets and property were, in my opinion, perfect.

 

[Bowdup]

Enough about that...lets get to the good stuff!

The day started with a great breakfast, as did everyday. We were in the blind quickly and looking over a waterhole. Not long after getting settled here come two Impala ram. I'll never forget the look on my wife's face as she turned to me and yelled, "What are those and can we shoot them!!!?". It was one of those moments that I still give her a hard time about! So within an hour of starting to hunt, she had her first Impala down!

 

[Bowdup]

After pics and some stories at lunch we were headed back to the same waterhole. My wife and I chose to sit together without a PH for multiple days. I was confident enough with my judging and knowledge of the animals to be comfortable with this decision. We were only a few hundred yards from the main house and had radios with us at all times. The afternoon hunt was action packed with visits from multiple Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Blue Duiker, Bushbuck, Impala, Waterbuck and Nyala. I ended up taking the Nyala as this was my #1 for this trip, but had to decide between him and the Waterbuck as they were both at 35 yards! Sorry for the blurry picture, it was getting dark on us and me being a rookie, didn't bring an extra battery for the good camera. All we had were the phones.

 

[MarkD]

Keep it coming

 

[Bowdup]

We spent the next couple days sitting a few different stands and watching all the animals. To be honest, I missed 2 Impala before I finally connected! Nerves were getting me....and they are a lot faster than I thought! I finally figured out not to shoot when they were looking on alert.

 

[Bowdup]

We enjoyed the Nyala, Blue Duiker and Zebra daily. It was a surprise to both of us, but sounds like Zebra is on the list for the wife on our next trip!

 

[Bowdup]

I was able to get an awesome close up of a little female Blue Duiker from a ground blind.

 

[Bowdup]

My wife really wanted a Kudu, so our PH took us to a property about 1.5 hours from where we were staying. It's amazing how quickly the terrain changes...but I live in Alaska, we can drive for hours and it all looks the same!

 

[Bowdup]

Success!! 25 yard shot, 40 yard recovery!

 

[Pat McP]

Awesome post. I'm supposed to go to Stompiesland in October, fingers crossed that it still happens now.

 

[Badger Matt]

Great trip report. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. How fortunate you are to have a wife who would accompany you AND enjoys hunting as well!!! You are blessed.