PBPD83
AH member
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- Feb 9, 2012
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- NRA-Life Member, NWTF,SCI
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- USA-MO,TN,IL, South Africa
First Archery African Hunt
In September I will be archery hunting Wildebeest, Impala, Warthog in South Africa.
What is a good broadhead to use I shoot a Mission-Venture @60lbs.
PBPD83
The above is what I posted on March 3, 2012. Thanks for all the advise. I used Muzzy 100 gr. 3 blade and they worked great. Below is my story.
By PAUL DAVIS
Outdoors Editor, Dailey American Republic.
When Randy Wallis entered an online contest August of 2011, he did so without much thought. He was, after all, only on the Shiver Shield clothing website looking for cold-weather hunting gear.
I'd completely forgot about it, said Wallis, who couldn't even remember what the prize in the drawing was.
On Christmas eve 2011, Wallis, a now retired police dispatcher ater 36 years of service with the Poplar Bluff Police Dept., got a call from the Police station telling him to call Shiver Shield owner Brian McFarlane.
He wanted to congratulate me, Wallis said, but I didn't know why.
That's when McFarlane dropped a bombshell on Wallis: he'd won the forgotten online contest and was being treated to a 10-day big game hunt in South Africa for a wildebeest, a male and female impala and a warthog.
At first, Wallis was skeptical, but after talking for a while, his excitement grew. However, the tone quickly turned to doubt because of one small potential problem: he's wheelchair-bound, the result of a diving accident in 1969 that left him a quadraplegic.
Wallis, who offered to forfeit the hunt if necessary, was relieved when McFarlane told him they'd make it work.
Wallis, who enjoys archery hunting, prefers to hunt with a compound bow. He practiced almost daily with his newly-purchased Mission Venture. To help him on his safari, the Mission Archery Company and Rednecks, Racks and Reels in Poplar Bluff, Mo., donated a sight, arrow quiver and stabilizer to complete the outfit.
I'm grateful for that, Wallis said.
In early September, he and his wife, Gwen Wallis, boarded the plane to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they met their host, William Taylor, owner of Taylor Safaris.
The plan was for Wallis and a guide to hunt from permanent blinds near water holes so he could hunt with his bow. Taylor also had a loaner a 7mm rifle available so Wallis could hunt from a truck if the water holes did not work out.
He wanted to use a bow if at all possible, said Wallis, who noted he'd bow hunted off and on since 1975 and had never killed anything with a bow.
After a quick equipment check the first morning, Wallis and McFarlane headed out to a water-hole blind on a 15,000-acre property in the Limpopo Province, in the northeast corner of the country.
The herd of wildebeest was coming in to the water, and I realized one of them was a lot bigger than the others, Wallis recalled.
After drawing his bow and letting down multiple times because other animals were always in the way, Wallis finally got the shot opportunity he was looking for and let his arrow fly.
The hit was perfect, resulting in his first-ever bow kill.
We were high-fiving in the blind, he said. It felt good to finally take something with a bow.
They had to wait to go get his trophy, because in Africa, you can't leave your location until the outfitter comes back to get you, Wallis said.
In the meantime, Wallis said, a herd of impalas approached the water, giving him another shot opportunity.
The male impala, he said, ran about 100 yards and fell.
After trackers arrived on the scene, Wallis posed for photographs with his impala while others searched for his wildebeest, which ultimately ran about 400 yards before expiring.
Better yet, Wallis would learn from Taylor his wildebeest, with its 31 and one-half-inch spread, likely would score in Safari Club International top 15 for archery kills.
I got my first archery kill, and for it to potentially be in the record book, really felt good, said Wallis.
On his second evening of hunting, Wallis had the opportunity to take a jackal with his bow at no charge, which he did willingly. That hide, he said, will be tanned.
On the fourth day, Taylor offered to upgrade Wallis second impala from a female to another male, which he took that day.
While not hunting, Wallis and his wife enjoyed learning about the culture in South Africa.
It's a very poor country, and that's part of the memories we'll have ... the kids playing in the roadways and things like that, he said.
The variety of animals around the blind each day, Wallis said, was interesting. He enjoyed spending a lot of time just watching the baboons, zebras, gemsbok and more. That's when he decided he wanted to take a kudu, the only animal he would have to pay for on the trip.
After a few close calls, but no shots, with kudu, Wallis finally had an opportunity to shoot a large bull on the seventh day of his journey.
We had three really nice bulls come in, but they spooked initially, he said. they came back to the water, and I drew back and hit one high.
A three-hour search by Taylor's trackers and professional hunter Robbie Guthrie didn't turn up the kudu, causing Wallis to be worried they wouldn't find him.
Three days later, on the last day of the safari, Wallis and Taylor were back in a water-hole blind, waiting for a warthog to show up and thinking about the kudu he'd shot but still hadn't been found.
Not long after getting to the blind, a pickup driven by Guthrie arrived. The outfitter had spotted an injured gemsbok bedded nearby, and offered Wallis the chance to take it free of charge.
He was so nervous being out in the open, Wallis said, noting it was difficult to approach the animal quietly in his wheelchair because of the red, sandy clay ground.
His shot went a little high, he said, and required a followup arrow to finish off the gemsbok, but Wallis was elated.
To me, it was a trophy, he said.
He returned to the blind for one last chance at a warthog, but found several large eland were constantly running the hogs away from the water.
A big female warthog came in, and she finally gave me a shot, and it was a good one, Wallis recalled.
And then, Wallis got the news he'd wanted to hear for three days: his kudu had been found, thanks to Guthrie's Jack Russell Terrier, Duncan.
That was my best day, Wallis said. We got the gemsbok, the warthog and recovered my kudu.
All the meat from Wallis animals, he said, was divided between the outfitter and a local seller.
As far as the trophies, he's having everything mounted, Wallis said. The cost of one shoulder mount, and the import fees back to the United States, also were covered under his prize package.
With his hunt of a lifetime behind him, Wallis is thankful to those who made it happen and enjoys reflecting back on his adventure.
He's like to thank Brian and Becky McFarlane of Shiver Shield and William Taylor of Taylor Safaris because if I hadn't have won this trip, we'd never have been able to afford it, he said. They were all great people who bent over backwards to make it all work, and they went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable. We have new lifelong friends.
We had a great time, and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, he said.
I made a few guesses on the spelling issues. I hope I got them right. Brickburn
In September I will be archery hunting Wildebeest, Impala, Warthog in South Africa.
What is a good broadhead to use I shoot a Mission-Venture @60lbs.
PBPD83
The above is what I posted on March 3, 2012. Thanks for all the advise. I used Muzzy 100 gr. 3 blade and they worked great. Below is my story.
By PAUL DAVIS
Outdoors Editor, Dailey American Republic.
When Randy Wallis entered an online contest August of 2011, he did so without much thought. He was, after all, only on the Shiver Shield clothing website looking for cold-weather hunting gear.
I'd completely forgot about it, said Wallis, who couldn't even remember what the prize in the drawing was.
On Christmas eve 2011, Wallis, a now retired police dispatcher ater 36 years of service with the Poplar Bluff Police Dept., got a call from the Police station telling him to call Shiver Shield owner Brian McFarlane.
He wanted to congratulate me, Wallis said, but I didn't know why.
That's when McFarlane dropped a bombshell on Wallis: he'd won the forgotten online contest and was being treated to a 10-day big game hunt in South Africa for a wildebeest, a male and female impala and a warthog.
At first, Wallis was skeptical, but after talking for a while, his excitement grew. However, the tone quickly turned to doubt because of one small potential problem: he's wheelchair-bound, the result of a diving accident in 1969 that left him a quadraplegic.
Wallis, who offered to forfeit the hunt if necessary, was relieved when McFarlane told him they'd make it work.
Wallis, who enjoys archery hunting, prefers to hunt with a compound bow. He practiced almost daily with his newly-purchased Mission Venture. To help him on his safari, the Mission Archery Company and Rednecks, Racks and Reels in Poplar Bluff, Mo., donated a sight, arrow quiver and stabilizer to complete the outfit.
I'm grateful for that, Wallis said.
In early September, he and his wife, Gwen Wallis, boarded the plane to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they met their host, William Taylor, owner of Taylor Safaris.
The plan was for Wallis and a guide to hunt from permanent blinds near water holes so he could hunt with his bow. Taylor also had a loaner a 7mm rifle available so Wallis could hunt from a truck if the water holes did not work out.
He wanted to use a bow if at all possible, said Wallis, who noted he'd bow hunted off and on since 1975 and had never killed anything with a bow.
After a quick equipment check the first morning, Wallis and McFarlane headed out to a water-hole blind on a 15,000-acre property in the Limpopo Province, in the northeast corner of the country.
The herd of wildebeest was coming in to the water, and I realized one of them was a lot bigger than the others, Wallis recalled.
After drawing his bow and letting down multiple times because other animals were always in the way, Wallis finally got the shot opportunity he was looking for and let his arrow fly.
The hit was perfect, resulting in his first-ever bow kill.
We were high-fiving in the blind, he said. It felt good to finally take something with a bow.
They had to wait to go get his trophy, because in Africa, you can't leave your location until the outfitter comes back to get you, Wallis said.
In the meantime, Wallis said, a herd of impalas approached the water, giving him another shot opportunity.
The male impala, he said, ran about 100 yards and fell.
After trackers arrived on the scene, Wallis posed for photographs with his impala while others searched for his wildebeest, which ultimately ran about 400 yards before expiring.
Better yet, Wallis would learn from Taylor his wildebeest, with its 31 and one-half-inch spread, likely would score in Safari Club International top 15 for archery kills.
I got my first archery kill, and for it to potentially be in the record book, really felt good, said Wallis.
On his second evening of hunting, Wallis had the opportunity to take a jackal with his bow at no charge, which he did willingly. That hide, he said, will be tanned.
On the fourth day, Taylor offered to upgrade Wallis second impala from a female to another male, which he took that day.
While not hunting, Wallis and his wife enjoyed learning about the culture in South Africa.
It's a very poor country, and that's part of the memories we'll have ... the kids playing in the roadways and things like that, he said.
The variety of animals around the blind each day, Wallis said, was interesting. He enjoyed spending a lot of time just watching the baboons, zebras, gemsbok and more. That's when he decided he wanted to take a kudu, the only animal he would have to pay for on the trip.
After a few close calls, but no shots, with kudu, Wallis finally had an opportunity to shoot a large bull on the seventh day of his journey.
We had three really nice bulls come in, but they spooked initially, he said. they came back to the water, and I drew back and hit one high.
A three-hour search by Taylor's trackers and professional hunter Robbie Guthrie didn't turn up the kudu, causing Wallis to be worried they wouldn't find him.
Three days later, on the last day of the safari, Wallis and Taylor were back in a water-hole blind, waiting for a warthog to show up and thinking about the kudu he'd shot but still hadn't been found.
Not long after getting to the blind, a pickup driven by Guthrie arrived. The outfitter had spotted an injured gemsbok bedded nearby, and offered Wallis the chance to take it free of charge.
He was so nervous being out in the open, Wallis said, noting it was difficult to approach the animal quietly in his wheelchair because of the red, sandy clay ground.
His shot went a little high, he said, and required a followup arrow to finish off the gemsbok, but Wallis was elated.
To me, it was a trophy, he said.
He returned to the blind for one last chance at a warthog, but found several large eland were constantly running the hogs away from the water.
A big female warthog came in, and she finally gave me a shot, and it was a good one, Wallis recalled.
And then, Wallis got the news he'd wanted to hear for three days: his kudu had been found, thanks to Guthrie's Jack Russell Terrier, Duncan.
That was my best day, Wallis said. We got the gemsbok, the warthog and recovered my kudu.
All the meat from Wallis animals, he said, was divided between the outfitter and a local seller.
As far as the trophies, he's having everything mounted, Wallis said. The cost of one shoulder mount, and the import fees back to the United States, also were covered under his prize package.
With his hunt of a lifetime behind him, Wallis is thankful to those who made it happen and enjoys reflecting back on his adventure.
He's like to thank Brian and Becky McFarlane of Shiver Shield and William Taylor of Taylor Safaris because if I hadn't have won this trip, we'd never have been able to afford it, he said. They were all great people who bent over backwards to make it all work, and they went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable. We have new lifelong friends.
We had a great time, and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, he said.
I made a few guesses on the spelling issues. I hope I got them right. Brickburn
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