SOUTH AFRICA: Hunting Report With Phillip Bronkhorst Safaris

[Pablo]

What a trip! I will break this up and add to it in the comments.
About 10 years ago, my wife and I purchased a hunting trip to South Africa from Phillip Bronkhorst. We have not been able to take it for various reasons until this year. We became friends during that time frame and he and his guys have stayed with us several times during the show season.
We left San Antonio July 16. We flew Delta to Atlanta and then to Joburg.
We did not use a travel agency. We did do a meet and greet and the rifle permit through Travel Concierge.
Cornell from the PB Safaris met us and we drove the 4 hours to camp at Lephalale, Limpopo after we got in. The hot towels and beverages were greatly appreciated at our midnite arrival

.
Rifle- .375 Ruger with Zeiss 3x9 scope.
Ammo- Hornady 270gr SP-RP
My PH- Ruan Geyser. Great young man and he really adapted to me being hard of hearing. We only took old, mature animals. We passed up a lot of young, quality critters. That suited me just fine. There is a difference between hunting and killing.

Day 3, Thursday-After the requisite sighting in my rifle (moved it two inches to the right), we started driving and looking at the ranch and animals. I had a wishlist, but you know how it is, that can change in a heartbeat. I did take all the animals I wanted, and could afford. It's hard hunting with your banker! About midmorning, we ran into a herd of common and white blesbok running together. Ruan picked out an old common ram and my shot blew through both shoulders at about 150 yards. He had a lot of character, with worn horns and ears. After lunch and a slobbering powernap, we spent the rest of the day looking and spotting. There was a nice waterbuck bull that eluded us twice. Looking back, I probably could have made the shot through the brush the way my rifle performed. Hors doeuvres, a hot fire and a great meal and adult beverages helped close out the day.

 

[wesheltonj]

Glad you had a great trip. Looking forward to the full report.

 

[Pablo]

Day 4, Friday-Early wakeup call today, as we had to be at another concession by 7am. Ruan drove it like you stole it on those washboard roads. This 16,000 acre ranch backed up to part of the Waterberg Mountains. Varied terrain, from sugar sand to red granite, this place had it all. It also had part of the Palala River running through it. The point of this day was a big kudu, and this ranch had them. We saw at least 25 bulls all day, most of them young. We baled out of the truck after one nice bull late morning. After a half mile, we came around a bush and he busted us. Didn't even have a chance to set up the sticks. We saw a really nice nyala bull and set up for him, but he was too young. Ruan said Phillip would make him pay for it if he let me shoot it. Lol
There are giant Baobab trees here that were not native to the area. Someone way back when planted a small forest of them. We ate lunch in that grove and then hiked to the top of a koppie where there was a rock blind overlooking a waterhole about 200yds away. We watched baboons chase off some impala rams and an old kudu cow.
We drove around all afternoon, seeing young kudus, golden wildebeest, giraffes and beautiful scenery. I was getting antsy about an hour before dark, thinking it wasn't going to happen. My wife started looking for an app on her phone to call kudu. Ha.
We were driving up one sendero and a big kudu came out left to right. The sun was a little bit of an issue in the back, so we tried to get closer to get a better look. Ruan asked me how close I needed to be, and I said maybe 200 yds and trying to compensate for the bullet drop. The bull ran as soon as he said it. I was pretty disappointed at this point.
With about 30 minutes of sun left, we made a left turn down another sendero and immediately Ruan says to take the kudu in front of us. The bull was about 100 yards ahead and facing left. He ran left and I couldn't believe he stopped. "Take him! Take him!" I held on his shoulder, and he took off right when I pulled the trigger. I saw him flinch and run. I told my wife I thought I hit too far back. We jumped out of the truck and started following him from where I shot. I could see some blood and then Ruan shouted, "He's down!" He only ran about 50 yards and crashed into a tree. My bullet had gone through side to side right behind the shoulder. Ruan was extremely excited and said this was a monster kudu. He had a bite out of his left ear, his face was scarred up, and his first curls had been rubbed down. The ranch manager measured him at 55 7/8" and 55 1/2". He said this bull was 8-9 years old and a perfect one to shoot. I was absolutely in awe of this creature and I had to sit down with him for a few minutes. I didn't have to time to think about shooting him, but now I did, and it was humbling.
There was a lot of congratulations and high fives when we got back to camp. But I had to share the spotlight with a client from Mexico who had shot a lion that afternoon. We had a great meal and more drinks than I should've, but it was special!

 

[slam8031]

Congratulations—I enjoyed your report and your photos and animals are fantastic!!

 

[buck wild]

Fabulous, old kudu !!

 

[ChasingHemingway]

Congratulations!! Well done: looking forward to reading some more

 

[wesheltonj]

Very nice Kudu.

 

[Cotton King]

Sounds like a great hunt! Congrats on a wonderful Kudu bull.

 

[Hooknbullet2]

Congratulations on a great hunt.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Excellent kudu, certainly one to be proud of!

 

[Hunt anything]

Keep ‘em coming, great kudu!

 

[Nyati]

Congrats on a great hunt !

 

[Pablo]

Day 5, Saturday-We didn't get as early a start this morning because of the night's festivities. Advil is your friend. Shooting that kudu was something I had been wanting to do. Everything after that was just icing on the cake to me.
A black wildebeest had been on my wishlist from way back. Phillip was trying to phase them out on his home place, as they don't seem to do very well this far north. As luck would have it, we spotted one early back in the brush, bush, jess or whatever you want to call it. (They laughed when I tried to pronounce some of the names/places with my Texas drawl.) We were fortunate that it didn't start doing quirky black wildebeest things and a quick head-on shot at under 100 yards took him down. Another very old animal that I was thankful for.
We dropped him off at the skinning shed and headed back out until lunch. I had thought about a zebra, but I just couldn't make myself do it, as I raise and train cutting horses. I've had to put some down in the past, and I kept thinking about that. We saw quite a few critters, including a monster sable that my banker wouldn't let me shoot.
After lunch we went back out for more of the same. I don't hear well and wear glasses, but I have a good sniffer. We were going along and I smelled something dead. Ruan and I went looking for it and found a dead sable bull. The consensus that night was that a poacher had hit and lost it. They had some problems in that part of the ranch before. $6,000 down the drain.
We went to look for the waterbuck that had eluded us before and we saw him haul arse across the road into the thick stuff. Score-Waterbuck 2, Hunters 0. We were stopped at a waterhole watching some gemsbok and kudu when the tracker spotted a different waterbuck bull. He gave us a good look and then ran. Now it's 3-0. Ruan said to dismount and we started tracking him. After about 1/4 mile, we came around a bend in the trail and there he was! He was grazing away from us upwind. Ruan set up the sticks and I got ready. I didn't want to give him the ol' Texas Heart Shot, so we waited a few seconds for him to turn. He raised his head, swiveled it around, saw us and was gone! I needed one more second... It was a pretty good rush, as we were within 50 yards.
Waterbucks are now 4-0 and I'm getting annoyed with them.
More driving and glassing the rest of the day, enjoying the sights and sounds of Africa.
I forgot to mention that the weather the whole time we were there was clear and 44-84ish every day with 20% humidity. Perfect hunting weather.

 

[JerBear8]

Beautiful kudu! And I love that black wildebeest too.

Don’t worry about that lion hunter. As they say, “comparison is the thief of joy”.

Great trip and great report!

 

[Arctic97]

Great Kudu. I love to see them turning out at the top - definitely mature and a great trophy. Glad you finally made it there and had a great time.

 

[Pablo]

Day 6 Sunday- Today is a day of rest as they don't hunt on Sundays. We strolled over the to breakfast room about 8 and discussed today's itinerary. The guides wanted to head to the Palala River to kick back, do some fishing and grilling until sunset. It was a nice, relaxing day. The Mexican guy and his wife and 3 boys and us, along with 4 PH's, took a pontoon boat out for the afternoon. There were supposed to be some hippos and crocs, but we didn't see any. I think it was pretty good stress relief for the guides. They grilled some sausage, we had adult beverages to keep us cool, and did a little non-serious fishing. The water was like glass, not a ripple anywhere. Sunset on the river was fabulous! Everyone had good sunset pics.
After returning to camp, we had another amazing dinner and made plans for the next day. I tried to get a full moon pic, but fat fingered it.

 

[Junglechicklet]

Wow! Looks & sounds like you’re having an incredible adventure! Beautiful animals, great outings & memorable everything! I hunted with Theo & Zane Bronkhorst a few years ago & can’t say enough great things about them. Cheers!

 

[Pablo]

Day 7 Monday-Feeling refreshed and fired up, we got an early start this morning. Today would be a great day.
We drove to another very large concession close to the main camp with the goal of a good impala. I had shot one on my previous trip, but it was a management ram causing problems. 10 minutes into the drive, we had to get out and move a tree off the road that an elephant had destroyed. We saw a LOT of impala and set up on several from the sticks most of the morning. We saw ostriches, tseebees, elands and all the other cool critters. We drove up on a herd of impala who were scattered in a semi-open area and started glassing. Ruan said to take one particular ram who was playing hide and seek. I kept on him and ended up taking the 100yd shot freehand with my sling. He was quartering away right to left and the bullet went in behind the shoulder. It broke the right shoulder and ended up right under the skin. In the pic you can see it right at the point of his shoulder. He was a very nice old ram. While taking pics, Ruan and the tracker heard elephants, so we didn't hang around very long. They like elephants, just not on their place.
We made it back to camp before lunch, dropped off the impala, and headed back to where we had seen the waterbucks. I think I read it here on AH, something about you can make 100 mistakes and busted hunts, but the animal only has to slip up once. And that's what happened. Ruan and I both spotted a very nice bull at the same time in some thick brush. I lost sight of him immediately trying to get set up in the Chinese fire drill. There were two impalas hanging around him which complicated things some.
Ruan-"There he is! Take him!"
Me- "Where? I can't see him!"
Ruan-"He's right to the left of that tree!"
Me-"All I see is a black blob!"
Ruan-"That's him! He's facing head up to us! Shoot now!"
I aimed where I thought his chest was, said a prayer, and pulled the trigger. I actually saw him go down in the sight picture. That .375 Ruger is fast. My shot had to have gone through brush and leaves to get there. When we were standing over this great old bull, I looked back to where the truck was. You could barely see a patch of white through the brush. This waterbuck is the only animal I took where I got the shakes afterwards. It was quite exciting and sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. We took a lot pics and I'm impressed with all the effort these guys do to get great photos. My wife got a funny pic of the tracker lying on the ground behind the bull propping his head up.
But the day's not over yet. We had a nice lunch and relaxed for a bit and went back out hoping for a nice nyala. As we were sitting at a crossroads visiting while Ruan was on the radio talking to camp, we watched sable after sable saunter out of the brush behind us. There was a 46 inch bull in the group, and Ruan said to take him if you want. My accountant said to do what you want. All you married guys know exactly what that means, so I kept my rifle on safe. It was pretty awesome watching these guys. Then we saw zebras right off the road, just standing there. And then, we saw another big waterbuck watching us unworried. Ruan just shook his head. "Unbelievable."
As the sun was setting, Ruan spotted a nyala and said, "There he is, he's yours." He was broadside facing left less than 100 yds. My shot went through both shoulders and he dropped right there. I walked up to him and sat down beside him. Again, he was a very mature bull. They are very beautiful animals and it kinda made me sad. I made the decision that this would be my last animal taken on this trip. I was satisfied. I was happy. I was fortunate.
We still had two hunting days left, so we had to figure out our schedule. That night, we had two more sets of clients come in from Texas. We had another set come in our last night, so they were overrun with us. They had a Texas flag behind the bar, and Texas A&M caps hanging up. WHOOP! '87

 

[matt2H]

I have a similar accountant lol