SOUTH AFRICA: First South Africa Hunt With Thaba Mmoyo Safaris

[WIDuckHunter]

Just back from my first South Africa Safari Hunt with Thaba Mmoyo Safaris. It was an incredible experience that I'll never forget. Took every animal on our lists, plus a couple, and had opportunities for many more.

A little background -- bought this hunt at a local SCI Banquet auction in March 2017. At the time I'd just started looking into Africa hunts and really had no clue what I was getting into. Thought it would eventually make a great graduation gift for my then 15 year old son. As things turned out, this hunt went relatively inexpensively at the Auction and, in a little bit of shock, I ended up being the last bidder with his card up. My son was with me at the Banquet and I looked at him and said "Well, you better graduate, because I just bought your graduation present!"

Booked the hunt almost immediately for June 2018, and the next 17 months flew by as I read everything I could (a lot of it on this site) and planned out the hunt, with a lot of help from our outfitter, Fanie Steyn. It was amazing how quickly the time went by.

Fast forward to June 8, and we were on our way. Flew Chicago to Frankfurt, then on to Johannesburg. Overnight there, and then quick flight to Polokwane the next morning. Arrived in Polokwane on June 11 and were met by one of our PH's (1X1 hunt for 2 hunters), Wian. Loaded up our stuff in the bakkie and off we went for the 2 hour drive north, as Thaba Mmoyo is located outside Waterpoort, a short distance from the Zimbabwe border.

Arrived in main camp a little after 2, unloaded our stuff and met our other PH, Schalk. It was quickly decided my son (the kid) would hunt with Wian, as Wian was 23, and the old men (me and Schalk) would hunt together. Great decision -- the "boys" as they came to be known hit it off immediately and Schalk and I were a great match as well.

Checked the rifles quick and we were off on some bonus hunting our first afternoon in camp. That was possible, because as soon as you drove out the gate from the main lodge, we were on Fanie's 20,000 acre farm. We all hunted together the first night and not more than 10 minutes after siting in the rifles we were running into waterbuck. Wian was off the vehicle and immediately spotted a "monster old bull." Really wanted us to take him, but we had 7 days and waterbuck wasn't on the list, so we took a pass. Drove on seeing many waterbuck, several kudu, impala, steenbock and duikers. Ended the night sitting in a blind on the top of "Pride Rock," overlooking a part of the Sand River valley. Saw many waterbuck, nyala, warhogs and a duiker, but nothing we wanted to take on the first night. So, back to camp at dark for a blesbok dinner.

 

[WIDuckHunter]

Day One

First full day of hunting. Schalk and I would drive to the "Mountain," about 30 minutes away, which was another approximately 20,000 acre piece of land owned by Fanie. Dylan and Wian would stay on the main farm and hunt the river. When we got to the Mountain, there were several impala standing at the gate to greet us, but no shooters. Once inside the property we were hunting immediately and within 5 minutes had spotted a nice Kudu bull standing on the rocks above us. Off the bakkie we go. Short stalk and he's in an opening. I'm on the sticks, pull down on him and hesitate (an issue you will see several times -- lesson learned), he's into the bush and the Grey Ghost disappears. Spend the rest of the morning driving and spot several kudu and impala, but no more shot opportunities. For the afternoon we head back to the main farm and mainly look for impala. Run into several, but no shooters. On the way back to the lodge, we run into "the boys," and I knew immediately there was something in the salt from the ear to ear smile of the kid as he stepped off the bakkie. They'd connected with nice old Blue Wildebeest bull and taken him at about 100 yards with one shot.

Kudu for dinner this night. Also, Fanie was back in camp from a hippo hunt with another client, Ed. The hippo had completed Ed's Big 7, and we had a great night of drinks and conversation with Ed and Fanie telling us about the hippo hunt and Ed's other adventures in taking the Big 7.

 

[WIDuckHunter]

Day Two

Schalk and I are off to the Mountain again, with the boys staying on the main property. It's a cloudy and misty morning and the animals are hanging tight. Much less activity than the previous day. I do get a shot at an impala ram walking up the mountain. Again, a little slow on the trigger and I miss him. This Africa stuff is tougher than I'd thought it would be! Since there's little going on we decide mid-morning that we'll go to Schalk's place, which is another 30 minutes away and see if we can find a gemsbuck, which is one of the animals high on my list. We get to the property about noon and decide to eat lunch in a blind overlooking some water and see if we can pick up a warthog. No pigs on this day and after a couple of hours we're back on the bakkie to look for gemsbuck. Within a few minutes of leaving the blind we find a large herd with a couple of shooters in it. Off the truck and on the stalk we go. Soon the sticks are up and I'm on one. Just about to pull the trigger and another comes out directly behind him and I hear "wait." The herd starts moving and we take off on foot after them. As we do a couple of runs to keep up with them, I hear shells clinking in the pockets of my shell belt, and I'm pretty sure everything else around can hear them too. Eventually we lose the herd and back to the bakkie to keep looking. I drop my shell belt, as I'm convinced the clinking didn't help matters.

We look for gemsbok for about another 30 minutes and spot 3 moving in a field. Off the bakkie and the sticks go up almost immediately. Schalk tells me he middle one of the 3 is good and I should take it. Pull down and put my first bullet downrange at an animal in Africa. Hear the hit and the gemsbok is off and running. Felix, my tracker, joins us and we are off to find it. We find pretty good blood almost immediately and are thinking we'll find it in no time. Then the blood trail starts getting less, and Felix really goes to work, following the track and specks of blood (in the red sand). After almost a mile of tracking we find more blood that is thinner and bubbly. Schalk now thinks I took it a little too far forward and I can tell by his look and voice that this is not looking good for a recovery. I can feel the knot growing in my stomach. . .

Felix and Schalk stay on the track, though (did I mention that I'm convinced Felix is one part bloodhound and one part eagle, the guy is an amazing tracker). All of a sudden the gemsbok jumps up, off we go on a sprint with Schalk yelling over his shoulder "you must shoot." With me thinking, yeah, I have't ran and shot since a little over 30 years ago when I was in basic training! Gemsbok disappears into the brush, then pops back out. Another sprint to try to catch up to her. This time the rifle goes up as I'm running and she breaks into a clearing. Find her in the scope, shoot and she's down. Walk up and have to put one more in her to finish the job. After which I have to look at Schalk with a sheepish grin and say "Well, it's a good thing that was the last one I needed, because the rest of my shells are back in the truck" (which is now over a mile away). Remember that shell belt . . . knucklehead . . . All's well that ends well. My first African animal is in the salt.

Saw a lot of game on Schalk's property on this day -- eland, nyala, wildebeest, giraffe and probably others that I forgot. Get back to main camp and the boy is again all smiles as he's taken an impala in the afternoon. Some really nice markings on the face of it as well.

Another successful day comes to a close!

 

[gillettehunter]

Great report so far. Auction hunts can be a good way to get started in africa.
Bruce

 

[WIDuckHunter]

Day Three

Day Three dawns a beautiful day -- sunny, crisp, clear and almost no wind. The boys decide they want to steal the Mountain this morning and try to find a kudu for the kid. After hassling them for a little bit and securing promises that they'll do something really nice for us, we give in and let them take the Mountain, with Schalk and I staying back to hunt the main farm. We do a little driving and spotting and then decide to walk to the top of a ridge to see what we can find. As we stand at the top of the ridge I tell Schalk "this is the type of morning that makes you happy to be alive." Surrounded by beautiful landscape, animals in the valley below and the rising sun . . . it's just a gorgeous morning. We spot several waterbuck and a few nyala on our perch, and then shortly thereafter we see a warthog. Schalk puts the binos on him and confirms it's a boar (Fanie prefers only shooting boars on his properties), probably only a hundred or so yards below us in the valley and out in the open. I put the scope on him and Schalk says "you can shoot him if you'd like." I know Schalk well enough by now that from that statement and the tone of his voice, it's really code for "if you really want to just shoot one, take him, but be patient knucklehead and I'll find you a better one." So, I drop the gun and let him go.

Next, we're off to walk the river bed and see what we can find. We jump a couple of kudu bulls and stalk them for about a mile with Felix leading the way and following the tracks. Spot them a couple more times but never get in position for a shot, so we eventually abandon the stalk. We continue walking the river bed and soon spot warthogs standing on an opposite hill a couple hundred yards away. Schalk confirms that one of them is a good old boar and talks me through getting on the right one. Sticks go up and I pull down on him and let one fly. He drops at the shot at about 180 yards. Big confidence booster and I'm starting to feel that I'm getting my Africa shooting legs under me. Turns out that he is a nice large, right handed boar. Upper right tusk is broken off and the lower right tusk is completely gone.

So, we get our pictures, load up the boar and head back to the main lodge for lunch. No boys around but we get a report that the kid missed a kudu in the morning. We take a nap and jump back on the bakkie when Schalk gets a call from Wian. The kid has a kudu down and they're headed up the Mountain to retrieve him. We head back out and see a lot of game this afternoon -- nyala, eland, steenbok, duiker, numerous waterbuck, monkeys, several giraffe, a number of impala and even a black eared fox. Still amazed at the amount of game that is present everywhere (and they don't stock the farm or do any active feeding (and never saw anything that would indicate any feeding was going on) -- Fanie is the second generation owner of the farm and everything has "grown" naturally). Despite seeing alot, never get any more shot opportunities at anything I'm looking to take this afternoon.

Back to the lodge for drinks, dinners and stories. The kid has his kudu in the salt and there are lots of great stories. They shot him high on the mountain with no road access, so had to quarter him up and carry him out. Wian is laughing that he made the kid carry the heaviest part, the head and neck down the mountain to the bakkie. Builds character! Not a monster kudu in terms of length, probably low 50's, but he's a good old bull as he has white tips and wear marks runnng considerably down each side. Another great day comes to an end in Africa!

 

[Jeffrey Masters]

Thank you for the report! Some very nice animals, and one hell of an experience for just being the one to bid last at a dinner!!
I hope your son enjoyed the hunt, and all Africa has to offer. He is awfully young to be bitten by the Safari bug!! You have created an addiction of the good kind in him I am sure.
His PH was right, a hunt like this one will certainly build character.
Thank you again for the report. They help me to relive my recent hunt, and dream in color of going back.

 

[WIDuckHunter]

Day 4

Since the boys got their kudu yesterday, Schalk and I are back off to the Mountain this morning. Very chilly morning and not a lot of activity. Might have something to do with the boys running all over on the Mountain the previous day to chase down the kid's kudu as well! After spending a couple of hours without much success finding more than a few small impala, we decide to head for a more open area at the base of the Mountain to see if we can find a blesbok (since the kid had already taken an impala, I decided I'd like to try to find a blesbok instead). Didn't take long and we found a small herd, and then an older ram standing off by himself. Schalk tells me he's a good one, so the gun goes up and he drops to the shot. Very nice ram, probably in the 16-17 inch range on each side.

After loading up the blesbok we go back to looking for kudu and in short order find a nice bull standing on the Mountain. Put on a stalk, but he gives us the slip, and we decide to head back to the main lodge for a late lunch. Spend a short afternoon hunting, mostly sitting back where we started the hunt the first evening, on Pride Rock. Spot several waterbuck and nyala, but nothing I'm looking for at this point, but sit until dark and watch another beautiful sunset.

The evening is spent having a few drinks and dinner with Ed, who is headed home the next morning. He'd gone hunting with Fanie earlier in the day and taken a Mountain Zebra, which he was very happy to find as it was something he hadn't gotten on his several prior safaris. As we're talking that evening, I find out Schalk's high school son has a rugby match in Polokwane the next day, that Schalk has already told him he will miss since he's hunting for the weekend. I'm looking to spend a day with the kid while we're in Africa anyhow, so I tell Schalk he's going to his son's game and the kid, Wian and I will hunt together the next day. We'll again head to Schalk's property (only without Schalk) as the kid is looking for a gemsbuck and that's the most likely place we'll find one.

 

[gesch]

I think your sons Kudu looks great! Sounds like a great hunt. What were the details of your rifles?

 

[WIDuckHunter]

I think your sons Kudu looks great! Sounds like a great hunt. What were the details of your rifles?

Thanks! The rifles are both Bergara B-14's. The kid's is a .308 and he shot Nosler Trophy Grade Accubond 165 grain bullets. Mine is a .300 Win Mag and I shot Nosler Trophy Grade 180 grain. Both are topped with Vortex scopes. Guns, ammo and optics all performed really well.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Great report on your father/son hunt. Building memories that will last a lifetime.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on your hunt and thanks for sharing!

 

[cls]

Great report so far, congrats to you and your son.

 

[WIDuckHunter]

Working my way up to Day 7! Hopefully I'm not putting anyone to sleep!

Day 5

Back to Schalk's property this day and I'm hunting with the boys. Primary goal is to try to find the kid his gemsbuck. We arrive first thing in the morning and fairly quickly start to find a few solitary gemsbuck. The boys go off on a couple of stalks while I wait in the bakkie with their tracker, Tenash. No luck on the first two stalks, but then we spot another and the boys take off again. After a 45 minute wait, Tenash gets a call and turns to me and says "the little one got a warthog!" We drive to meet up with them and I can once again see the ear to ear grin as we pull up. The kid connected with a nice one -- longer tusks than the one I'd gotten a couple of days ago. Get the pictures and load up the pig, and continue looking for more gemsbuck. As it gets toward midday, it's getting pretty warm, so we decide we'll have lunch in the blind overlooking water and see what shows up, in order to kill time until late afternoon when we'll go looking for gemsbuck again.

It got pretty hot this day and the blind turns into a sauna. Full from lunch, pretty soon everyone is nodding off. I'm completely out, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around to look at Wian, who's sitting behind me, and as I shake off the sleep I see his eyes are as big as saucers and he says "oh $%it man, big pig!" I turn back around and I'm like "where, I don't see him." Wian is pointing down at the floor and I realize the pig is right in front of the blind, blocked from my view as he's under the window I'm looking out. I slowly peek up over the window and he's standing drinking water. Wian is whispering "shoot him, man!" I look at him and say "I can't shoot him while he's drinking!" So, we wait him out until he's done drinking, then he decides to take a walk through the water, with Wian whispering "shoot him, shoot him" the whole way (did I mention Wian is a young guy, and pretty excitable -- his love for hunting and youthful excitement were contagious). Finally the pig starts to walk off and has made a clear break from the water and begins to exit stage right. At this point, I'm comfortable we're reasonably back to fair chase so I pull up and drop him with one shot. Wian literally jumps out of the blind yelling "it's the biggest pig I've ever shot, you don't get them that size here anymore." Not sure that was completely true, but he's definitely a nice big boar, which means my mounting fees are going up, since I only planned to do euro mounts on the pigs and now I've got another shoulder mount . . . I tease Wian that I finally had to shoot him because I thought he was going to cry if I didn't!

The rest of the afternoon is spent spotting and stalking more gemsbuck for the kid, but we don't get on anything. My thoughts are already turning to planning my next trip to Africa. This stuff is addicting!

 

[cagkt3]

Great stuff so far, looking forward to the rest!

 

[kevin masters]

Looks like an awesome hunt and again I am jealous father son hunts are great!!
You both took some incredible trophies!!!

 

[Ridgewalker]

Awesome father/son adventure! Oh am I jealous!

 

[Edge]

Enjoying the story and looking forward to the last 2 days!

 

[WIDuckHunter]

Day 6

Day 6 leads to a change in strategy. Although kudu was high on my list, the kid has already taken his, and I realize that it's becoming increasingly unlikely that this will be my only trip to Africa. I'm hooked . . . So, I decide that maybe I should look for a really nice waterbuck or nyala instead. Given that, Schalk and I decide that we'll stay at the main property and walk the river bed to see what we can find. It's another beautiful still morning and we see lots of game. A large herd of wildebeest cross the road in front of us on the way to the river. We then park and start to walk the river bed. Soon we run into a large troupe of baboons crossing a dry part of the bed a couple hundred yards in front of us. We stop to watch them and Schalk tells me to let them cross and wait until the end, because a large male will almost certainly be bringing up the rear. Of course, he's right, and and a large male comes loping out at the end. I pull up and take a shot at him. Hit a rock just in front of him and the whole troupe goes screeching up the bank, I'm pretty sure giving us the proverbial finger! They continue screeching at us for the next 15 minutes.

We continue down the river bed and then find a perch on a rock outcropping where we can sit and watch for awhile. See a large herd of eland females and young bulls, a bushbuck, couple of young kudu bulls, waterbuck and impala, but nothing that we're looking for. Nothing in the salt, but a really beautiful day and lots of game watching.

The afternoon is again spent walking the river bed. Warthogs are everywhere this afternoon. A couple run right in front of us, including another large boar, so close that you can smell them as they cruise by. We run into another young kudu bull who decides to stand broadside and look at us from 20 yards away, but he's too small (funny how the big ones never do that -- guess it explains how they got big). We continue walking and spot a couple of nice waterbuck on the opposite side of the river. Sticks go up, but too much brush, so we head back into the brush on our side of the river and move in for a closer look. Get to within about 100 yards and the sticks go up again. This time I have a clear shot with the largest of the two facing straight at me. I pull down . . . and then the hesitation that haunted me comes back and he walks off into the brush. He was a really nice one, Schalk estimates at least 31", and I'm irritated with myself for not getting on him and pulling the trigger.

No more opportunities this day. However, we return to camp to a couple of happy boys as they'd gone back to Schalk's property and the kid had found his gemsbuck in the afternoon. It's Father's Day and we have another outstanding dinner. This time with many members of the Steyn family, including several of Fanie and Liandra's children and grandchildren. A great way to end another day in Africa!

 

[WIDuckHunter]

Day 7

Our last hunting day in Africa dawns. Another great one -- sunny and almost no wind. Schalk and I decide that we'll once again walk the river looking for a big waterbuck. The boys are going to go looking for baboon as the kid is now oversubscribed on the hunting budget I gave him! We again run into a lot of game -- a jackal, many waterbuck and a bunch of monkeys. Also find the baboons crossing the river again and I take another shot. Damn, those things are hard to hit when they're moving! I miss again and send them screeching for the hills.

We then walk the river to the rock outcropping we'd sat on the previous day. Have a stare off with a female bushbuck for about 10 minutes and then she finally decides to move on. A couple of young kudu bulls and several eland walk behind us and monkeys are screwing around on the other side of the river from us. I'm sort of daydreaming and watching a monkey in the scope, when I see Schalk make a motion and the binos go up. He's found a kudu bull moving down the river bed below us and says it's about the same size as the one the kid had taken. I finally pick him up about 150 yards away as he steps into some tall grass along the opposite side of the river. I watch and lose him several times moving through the grass, and then watch him fight with a patch of grass of bushes, moving his head back and forth. He's closed the distance to about 100 yards by now, and Schalk tries to get the stick up. Not gonna work, as we're on rocks, so I drop to one knee and steady the rifle on my left knee to see if he'll step out of the grass. He then makes the fatal mistake of stepping out of the grass broadside. Obviously, it was meant to be and I put the cross hairs on him and pull the trigger. He drops to the shot and there are handshakes all around on a very successful end to an amazing week.

This truly was the adventure of a lifetime (and hopefully not the last, but if it is, I'll never regret it). Thaba Mmoyo Safaris is a top-notch operation. The accommodations, food, people and hunting were first rate all the way. As this was my first safari, I can't claim to have a comparison, but as I told Fanie and Liandra several times during the week, I couldn't really imagine how anything could have been any better. I would highly recommend them to anyone considering a safari. The kid and I created memories we will never forget, and I only hope I'm lucky enough to repeat it again some day. I now know and understand what I have read many times -- there's something about Africa that gets in your veins (and it definitely got in mine!). Until next time . . .

 

[Nyati]

Congrats, a great hunt with nice trophies !