SOUTH AFRICA: From Cape Town To The East Cape Huntershill Safaris

[Bobpuckett]

Well it’s our last day in Cape town and we’re doing wine tours of the Cape Town area with some new found friends and as you can see in the picture there is one odd ball drinking a beer as he found out that they carried some of the brews from the local Micro Breweries that taste way better then their sample wines. Now someone needs to explain to these Wineries that if you want the people to buy your high dollar wine don’t let them just sample the worst they’ve got, really that’s like telling a client they’re going to take a 55” Kudu but the only pictures you send them is of 20” Kudu go figure.

Well at the door we all stop to get pictures for the Memory Book as we say our good-bye’s now don’t let that wine box fool you that’s not wine, you see that jerk bought 3 of their better local brews to carry back to the hotel room instead of their wine. What a Butt Head. Now I wasn’t totally inconsiderate You see every time they would fill a sample glass I would take one pretend to taste it then pour it into Deb’s glass, that way by the end of the day she would have already drank a full bottle of wine and would save me a buck. All Jokes aside we did have a great time in Cape Town and we’re looking forward to going back there again.

Well it’s 10 June 2017 and we’re off to the East Cape to meet up with our good friends Wes (Buff-Buster) and Sandy and most of they’re kids. Now I’m really looking forward to this part of the trip You see Wes and I have been secretly planning this since the AH get together in Jan even though Wes and Sandy had been to Africa many times it would be a first for the Kids. Now don’t get me wrong these kids all have kids of they’re own, that I hope they will bring to Africa one day so I’m using this term loosely. Well Deb and I arrive in East London about 2 hours ahead of Wes and Sandy so we get Our luggage and find a window seat so we can watch for their flight to land as it turns out the flight was about 30 minutes early. Well Deb and I have been here at the airport for about 2 hours and we hadn’t seen the driver yet for Huntershill so I whatsapp Greg to let him know and in just a minute he messages me back, That’s Not Good. Well as it turns out he was there as Wes and Jeramie are getting their rifles he came walking up seems he was at the other end of the Airport seeing other clients off on their way home. So we load up yeah all 9 of us plus enough luggage to start our own department store and We're Off to Huntershill Safaris.

 

[Bobpuckett]

We arrive late afternoon at Huntershill. We get assigned our rooms and start the move in. we unpack our bags and get ready for a 7-day safari that turns out better then even I had planned. We all meet back at the longe for evening drinks before dinner is served.

Then we all set it for some fine eating.

Sure there were some problems the first day as can be expected with a large group but I made one call and called in the Big Guns told Greg what the problem was and he agreed 100% and told the head PH call so and so (can’t remember his name) and have him at the farm at 6:00 am problem solved.
Well from This point I'm going to leave it to @Buff-Buster to tell their part of the Story and yes there were some Gold Medal winners in his Group.
Deb and I go back to the room after Dinner to get some much needed rest after the last ten days and yes The allergies are still kicking my Butt but there not going to stop me.

 

[cpr0312]

Alright, looking forward to more!

 

[Bobpuckett]

11 June 07:00 meet for breakfast and lay out the plans for the day. We have just 5 animals on our list an Ostrich and Bontebok for Deb and a Red Hartebeest, Waterbuck and a Sable for me again we are using the loan of a rifle from the PH and it’s a good quality rifle Sako 85 in a 270 cal. Now the Ammo they use was imo not that great PMP 150gr I went to their website to see what the ballistics were and got a little worried when even their ballistics wouldn’t go over 300 yards but that’s what they had. So we set out to get an Ostrich for Deb. Well we weren’t out 30 minutes before we spotted several mostly females but there was one nice male that would make a fine feather display so were on him thing is he knew it and was staying way out in front of us. Well we finally out maneuver him and get to within what the PH ranged at easy shooting distance Deb gets in the prone support position takes aim and Fires! Can you believe it that bullet hit the dirt over a hundred yard before it even got to the Ostrich. I look over at our PH Dylan what did you range him at and he said 200 meters should have been a dead on shot. I told him he had to be kidding me come over here where I am and range that bush he was standing next to so he did Oh 425 Meters I must have picked up one of those bushes in between us and him so we’re off trying to find him again. Well this went on all morning back and forth til we decided it was time for lunch as the wind was picking up and we had that bugger pretty well running scared.

Well we take a good long break have lunch and head back out about 3:00 Deb’s Ostrich is still on the list. We find a good place to just stop and glass but nothing the wind had picked up and the animals had moved in to the brush and they might as well moved to another part of Africa because we weren’t seeing them.

So we spend the rest of the day looking and we found and seen plenty of Ostrich but all females tell you the truth I think he found a can of Grey Paint and changed his colors. So come evening we head back to the lodge Ostrich 1 Deb 0.

No Problem Right we still have 6 Days!

 

[Bobpuckett]

12 June and we’re back at breakfast making plans now it’s suppose to be my day to play and That Sable is high on my list so I tell Dylan let’s go for Deb’s Ostrich and we’ll keep an eye out for a good Sable. Whichever one comes in first gets shot! Well we head out and we’re seeing pretty, much the samething lot’s of females but the males found a new place to hide and yes we’re seeing plenty of Sable as well but not the one I’m looking for. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not after the biggest he’s got just one that looks good to me and after 7 years hunting here it’s got to look good! Well first off Dylan had heard that I had a Bushpig on my list everytime I had ever hunted there but for some reason it wasn’t on my list this time. So he ask me, Bob did you get your Bushpig? I told him no that as my luck was I just left it off this time to save the trouble. Well he said I’m going to get you a Bushpig I’ve got a site they have been hitting every night and there is a chance Deb can get her Ostrich there so we head for another part of the farm and refresh the pig bait and look around for an Ostrich.

Now I'm going to make a long story short as far as the pig bait my luck holds true. We refresh the bait and for the next 6 days a Bushpig would have nothing to do with it, Damn do I smell that bad???

Well the same went for Deb’s Ostrich so at the lodge that night after a few beers under the belt I did some thinking and I had been seeing some nice Red Lechwe so Maybe we just need to upgrade Deb’s Ostrich just a little.

 

[gillettehunter]

Good looking Lechwe in that pic. Be a great one for Deb. I think Lechwe are a great looking animal.
Bruce

 

[Bobpuckett]

13 June and Yeah I know no animals in the salt! Today we’re after a Red Lechwe yeah I’ve done scratched the Ostrich. So we head out and in no time we’re on them Holy Crap not another one, Yeah we get on a Red Lechwe Dylan calls the range and those bullets hit the dirt. Then Dylan checks his range finder and says some bad words yeah the batteries were to weak to get a good reading and the range finder just ain’t getting it! So we hit the trail trying to cut it off,

we stop and Deb and Dylan grab the rifle and head off while the tracker and I try to keep an eye on the Lechwe and where it is headed. Well it ain’t 20 minute when we hear the shot, we see the Lechwe jump so we know it’s been hit! The tracker and I head that way and meet up with everyone else, we look around knowing it was a good shot but no blood, well it’s getting late evening and we head back to the lodge to make plans for the morning.

Next Morning 14 June we don’t even wait for breakfast the trackers are there and they’ve brought a couple of other guys to help in the search. So we head out to find him and I mean we’re shaking every bush well almost. We are already 2 hours in to the search and nothing. Deb is feeling pretty down but she isn’t giving up even if the rest of us have! That girl was doing everything but turning over the Country to shake it out. Then All of a sudden she starts jumping up and down waving her arms to get our attention. You see there was this one bit of brush that all of us had just past by it really looked to small to hide an animal but Deb went up to check it out and what she saw was a hoof sticking out of the bush, so she climbs in to get a better look and there it was her Red Lechwe she couldn’t believe her eyes but there it was one shot had done the trick And she was even more pleased that it was her that found it, so she has the first of our animals in the salt.

 

[Dr Ray]

Alright, looking forward to more!

Me too!

 

[cpr0312]

Nice afternoon sunset pic! Congrats to her on the Lechwe!!

 

[CAustin]

Keep the report and pictures coming!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Doing her own tracking...., nice job.

Someone needs to buy some batteries and practice using his range finder!

 

[gillettehunter]

If I'd of been hunting I'd of been saying some bad words about the rangefinder. Beautiful Lechwe. Congrats to Deb.
Bruce

 

[CAustin]

Doing her own tracking...., nice job.

Someone needs to buy some batteries and practice using his range finder!

PH school 101 stuff isn’t it Wayne?

 

[Bobpuckett]

Doing her own tracking...., nice job.

Someone needs to buy some batteries and practice using his range finder!

Well as it turned out as I have said these allergies are kicking my butt so that afternoon I had him take me to Queenstown for some meds and for him to get some batteries.

 

[Bobpuckett]

15 June well to day is My day to play Deb has an animal in the salt and I want one in the salt so after a Big Breakfast and I mean Big you see I ask for a little extra bacon on my plate as I love bacon well I think they sliced up the whole dang pig and put it on my plate. We head out in search of Red Hartebeest, now for some reason mainly my oversight in all of my trips to South Africa I had never put the red hartebeest on my list but I was going to fix that error on this trip. We head back to the back side of the farm where there were plenty of them just running around by the hundreds and to tell the truth I figured it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Well I was to soon learn it just doesn't work that way you see every time we would get up to where I could get a good shot I would be getting on the sticks when they would take off up the hill so we were off again.

Well this went on most of the morning and it was getting close to lunch when we spot three sneaking out of the herd and heading back to our left. We back up and stalk around to where we thought they should come out and sure enough there they came just walking along like they had pulled a slick one and got away scot free. Well I get on the sticks and Dylan ranges them, don't worry I had him get some new batteries we're looking them over one was young and in a couple of years is going to make a fine animal the biggest one was a female but the bull following up was nothing to sneeze at Dylan said 125 yards so I settle down put the crosshairs on the Bull and squeeze her off he hits the ground like a box of rock then jumps up and takes off like his tail was on fire, I quickly follow him on the run squeeze off another round and he rolls and is down for the count. Well we go down and get some pictures get it loaded and head back to the lodge so the trackers can get it caped out and we can all relax for lunch.

I'm loading this second picture just to show how well the trackers blend in, you almost can't see him.

On the way back we pass by a bunch of Giraffe and I ask Deb, Are you sure you don't want a $1000 area rug? she laughed and said no, you know darn well if I shot one of those Laura (my daughter) would disown us.

 

[Bobpuckett]

For some reason on my computer these pics look right but when I load them they load side ways glad Wayne's got my back.


(Jerome had your back on this one)

 

[Bobpuckett]

That afternoon we decide to go for Deb’s Bontebok we head out around 2:30 after getting a nice little nap with everyone rested we’re in the mood for a good hunt and we get over in the area where we should be seeing some Bontebok and start glassing. It’s not long before we spot them they’re up in a saddle area on top of a hill staying out of the wind so the stalk is on we don’t bother going back to get the truck as they are only about 2000 meters away. We get around to the side of them as we take a look over the ridge there they are and they’re not even looking our way they seem to be watching a Zebra on the hillside so Deb gets up on the sticks Just as she gets on the one she wants it was like he sensed it because he turned his head and looked right at her, to late she squeezes the trigger and Bontebok down! We get over there to look it over and man it’s a nice one. I tell Dylan when we get back to the lodge swing by my room I want to grab my tape and measure this bugger so we get the picture and head back to camp.

When I measured him he went over 15 ½ inches Now that’s a nice Bontebok. That evening at the bar Dylan mentions to Greg about a 15 ½ + Bontebok and Greg said I don’t think we have any that big on the farm Dylan laughs and shows Greg the picture not anymore!

 

[cpr0312]

Nice red and bontebok!

 

[Bobpuckett]

Well it was a good day we Both put animals in the salt but had just a little to much nap at lunch so we can’t sleep, now Greg has a rule if the client is up so is the PH lucky for us we had one PH in the group that was good entertainment.

well we head for bed after some good laughs because I still have Waterbuck and Sable on my list.
16 June we're back up the next morning and head for Breakfast since I still have both Waterbuck and Sable on my list I told Dylan didn't matter to me which one we went after I planned on taking them both so first thing we do is head out to find a Waterbuck. we're diving around and glassing when Dylan spots several waterbuck 3 females and a nice Buck, so we're on him. we stalk them up one hill and down another. well after 3 hours of stalking we finally get to within shooting distance I get on the sticks take a steady aim squeeze off a shot and make a good hit. well I thought it was good, that waterbuck took off up the hill leaving a blood trail a blind man could follow. So We follow it now I'm not leaving this to just the trackers while Deb and Dylan go back to get the truck and meet us at the top the trackers and I head up the mountain. The blood trail was so plain that I expected to come around the brush and find him laying there. Not going to happen! we went all the way to the top before we lost him. Dylan and Deb show up and head off to find the blood where he had come up I went in the direction he was headed when we lost him sure enough it was only a drop of blood but I found it that bugger had jumped down a 4 foot embankment and was headed back down hill So I yell for Dylan and the trackers and show them the trail. Well by this time my old butt is about worn out so I go back to the truck with Deb and Dylan and start the drive back down, it's starting to get late now I had already skipped lunch for a bottle of water to keep searching for this Waterbuck well as we come down the road there is a tracker waving his arms and pointing so Dylan slows down so he can jump on the runners and saying something in african Dylan turns down a trail to the Dam. Now folks a lot of us know the're called Waterbuck's but they don't do a lot of swimming this one however came down the hill to the dam (big ass pond) followed along the bank but couldn't find an escape so he swims out to an Island in the middle of the dam. when we pull in it's getting dark they all have their lights going plus the light of the Bakki Dylan looks out and ask can you see his eyes in the scope? I tell him I can he said shoot him back and down from where you see the eye so I do his head drops and everyone is happy he said we'll bring a boat and some rope in the morning to get him. So we head back to the lodge for dinner not going to be a lot of sleep tonight.
Next morning we just have cereal and fruit as we're in a hurry to get back and get that Waterbuck.

As you can see everyone is happy, we unload the boat and find another problem this boat was built for lightweight people and when Dylan got in it, it started to sink so a couple of the trackers tried samething then one of the tracker yelled and pointed at the island it was gone! Then I said some bad words don't tell me there's a damn Croc in this dam! well they head out to have a look around and in no time one of the trackers was yelling for everyone you see that Waterbuck had given it one last chance and had swam not 30 yards from where we were stranding and crawled up on the bank and laid down and died man what a relief. We get some pictures and head back for the lodge so the could get it skinned out.

notice that hole in his face that's where I hit him last evening. My aim was on I was just aiming for the wrong spot.

 

[Bobpuckett]

Now we're still on 17 Jun and yes it's the last hunting day as we all have to pack tonight and get an early start for the airport 06:00 am. Well we get back to the lodge have a quick lunch while the trackers cape the Waterbuck. Turns out they had to eat their lunch on the go because by the time they had it caped out we were ready to go and we only had the afternoon to get my Sable. Ah it'll make them feel a little better when I give them a little extra tip. So we head out where we know there are some good Sable and sure enough we get there and in no time at all the tracker is pounding on the roof so we stop and have a look and there he was mixed in with several other bulls was what I was looking for. This one would no doubt make the books no he's not number 1 in the books but he is number 1 with me. so I grab the rifle and we head out, we get to within 150 yards and I get setup I'm on the sticks I'm steady I squeeze the trigger Yeah and I shoot a tree. We go over to have a look but not one drop of blood anywhere as we look up we see them again sneaking in to the brush, Dylan looks at me and ask do you want to go into the brush after him and I tell him I do! So Dylan tells me that it is to thick in there with a long rifle and takes the rifle from me and hand it to William the tracker and says something in African again. well in just a minute William is back and Dylan hands me a 44 mag revolver and say LET GO GET HIM!
so I find out that if we get a shot it's going to be real close and we head in to the brush. Now I'm going to tell you I've developed a real hate for those thorny bushes as far as I'm concerned they could bulldoze every dang one of them and plant some Lilac Bushes or something. Well we head in and before you know it we are see black among the green leafs we get to withing 30 yards and Dylan points that's the one trying to see us through the brush. So I use a branch to get a steady bead and drop the hammer It's a good solid hit and he doesn't run 30 yards before piling up. So we get him out were we can got some pictures then load him up and head back for the lodge when we get back I grab the tape ( you wouldn't think an SCI Measurer would have a tape would you) well I measure him and I'm one happy camper well over 40 inches so that night we're all toasting to a great hunt even if we did have to work extra hard for it. Greg walks over and say Bobby there is a 44 inch one in that area you couldn't slap the grin off my face and I told him but this is the one I was after.

So the Next Morning we're all up loading the trailer having Breakfast and planning the next trip.