This year was my third year hunting with Leopard’s Valley. Each trip has been a little bit different, but all have been amazing and memorable experiences. This year I was hunting with a different PH due to my previous PH having had a new kiddo. But my PH was one that I’d met before and even hunted with for one day last year. And, knowing how Dave runs his operations, I had no worries about being well looked after.
Springbok, Day 1
We started off with a quick trip to the range to check zero. I have a feeling this was more for my PH to observe me than for me to confirm rifle was good. He asked if I wanted 100 or 200 yard target and I asked for 200. We drove out to put up a piece of paper since the steel gongs were basically all shot through. He folded a letter size paper in half and then drew a square target on it. We went back and setup at the bench. I checked distance and binos showed 208 yards. Since the rifle was zero’d at 100, I had to do slight upwards dial for elevation. I aimed at bottom left corner of the square and squeezed. My shot was about ½ in to the right of the corner but right on the horizontal line. He seemed happy with that and said he felt bad for any animal getting in front of us with that rifle. So, off we went.
First up on our list was Springbok. On this trip I was looking for Black, Copper, and White springbok to round out my springbok slam. We went to an area where they had seen a nice black ram recently. We drove a bit and also mixed in a couple walks when we saw some possibly interesting groups. We saw a number of nice common rams, but no good black or copper ones. Our morning turned up empty handed. In the afternoon we went out again and found a nice black ram that we started stalking. They went in to a bit of brush so gave us plenty of cover to get close. We were only about 80-90 yards away from them and you could hear the clashing of horns from some of the males. There was a bit of straight line clearing in the brush that allowed me to setup on sticks while we waited for the black one we saw to come in to the clearing. He came in but was in a bit of a crowd so there wasn’t a shot opportunity. We watched the black one for a bit and then my PH saw a Copper one he liked more, so he redirected me to start following it since it was nicer than the black one. With the all milling around, I needed to wait both for the animal to be clear of the others as well as for it to give a nice broadside shot. It took a bit, but he finally was clear of others and I heard the first of many statements of “there you go” that I’d hear during the hunt. I made sure I was steady on the stick and squeezed the trigger. The ram dropped in his tracks. And, surprisingly, the other animals didn’t all scatter. The quietness of that 6.5 PRC with a suppressor didn’t spook them at all when I fired. Many were still milling around. I cycled the action and we just stayed there with me on the sticks to see if the Black ram would present a shot. We watched for a good number of minutes before they started feeding off in a different direction. We followed them a bit trying to get around to have a clear shot but ultimately they spooked and ran off. We went back to where the copper one was down. Beautiful animal with great horns. I was told that the horns are usually smaller on the colored springbok, but these were at least as nice as the horns on the common I took 2 years ago. We took pictures and then loaded up and headed back to the lodge to clean up and have dinner.
Springbok, again
Today we were back out looking for a black springbok ram. We went to an area we had been the day before and not seen anything, but my PH wanted to look for a specific one he had seen in that area the week prior. We started walking and pretty quickly he saw a group of commons and blacks that he was looking for. We were trying to follow them and get closer. As we’re stopped in a clearing with my PH and our tracker looking directly to my left, I look straight ahead and there is a black ram standing about 80 yards from us. We all froze and my PH quietly asked “can you get your rifle very slowly and line up a shot”. I stepped behind him to unsling the rifle and start to move to use the spotting scope tripod as a rest. Just as I started to lay it on the tripod, the ram took off. Then, the chase was on.
We followed that guy for hours covering 3.7 miles. Looking at my GPS tracking map, there were a lot of circles we went in. I didn’t realize that when they run, they usually run in circles and back to areas they know. The map had a primary figure 8 that we went around. Near the end, the Springbok started moving in more open areas, but at much further distances from us. Many times we setup sticks and had him in the scope but he’d stop just behind a tree or bush without a clean shot. Ultimately, he ended up 320 yards across a field. My PH used my Sig binos to range and get elevation dial for the shot. This being the longest shot I’ve taken at an animal, and with it being a relatively smaller one, I was a bit nervous. I tracked him in scope and was able to calm back down. The ram finally stopped, quartering away at about a 30 degree angle. I made sure I was steady, and then fired. With minimal recoil on the rifle, I was able to see him drop on impact. We made our way over to him and then I realized we shot him about 20 yards from the main road. At least loading up was easy. Our tracker went back and got the truck while we took pictures.
After lunch I switched the Blaser’s barrel to the 300WM and we went back out looking for a Gemsbok. My PH knew where some were but warned that they were in pretty open space and it would be a bit of a challenge to get close. As we were driving over we stopped to glass and were able to see exactly where they were. We looped around and set off on our walk. We were able to get up to see them but then there were tons of springbok around that kept running for no reason, spooking the gemsbok. We followed them for a while keeping them in sight. At one point we had some low cover in front of us and were stalking up hunched over to make sure they didn’t see us. We got to around 300 yards from them and were just observing, knowing there was no closer we could get to. The hope was that one would present a good shot. I got on sticks just as more springbok took off for no good reason. And the gemsbok followed. At this point my PH sent our tracker back to the truck and said he and I would just try to catch up to the gemsbok. He said it was a gamble and not likely to work, but we’d try anyways. So off we went. They spotted us and took off again and went out of sight. But we just stayed on our path. Eventually we caught up to them and could see them grazing in an area. It was pretty open and we were well over 400 yards away. We decided to take a chance to attempt to close gap but there was just one bush in between us and the gemsbok. We took the risk. I was behind my PH but started moving to his left to stay behind in him line of sight to the gemsbok. He motioned for me to get back directly behind him. What I hadn’t known was that there was more gemsbok to our left that we didn’t want to spook. Somehow, we were able to get to the bush without spooking any. We were now 350 yards out. My PH ranged with my binos to get elevation dial and then setup the sticks. He also setup his spotting scope with camera videoing. We waited a bit for a good shot and then when presented with a perfect broadside, I held on the front right shoulder and squeezed. The gemsbok immediately dropped in its track. My PH said to reload and stay on him as they have a habit of getting back up. As he was still mostly upright, just on the ground, he told me to put another one in to him. I fired but it was just high. But the animal didn’t react. We then walked up to get closer. About 50 yards out the animal rolled to its side, presenting its topside to us. We setup sticks and I fired a round in to its back, trying to be careful to not hit the horns. The animal didn’t react to this at all. We moved closer but kept distance. We also circled to its front and setup on sticks again. My PH threw a rock at it but missed it so he threw another and missed. I refrained from making any jokes about his throwing abilities. Then he said to just put one through the chest to be sure. I fired one center of chest and again no reaction. We walked up and my PH used a stick to touch the eye and confirm he was fully dead. Looking at bullet impacts, it was clear he was dead on the first shot, the others were just insurance.
Rain & Wind
Overnight there was a good bit of rain. Our plan had been to head up the mountains to look for Mountain Reedbuck, so we decided to give it shot. The roads were too muddy though so we couldn’t get as high as we wanted. We just parked the truck and walked up the roads. We got to one area to glass and didn’t see much other than one about 600 yards away across a valley. We sat and glassed for a while, but nothing was out. We hiked back down to the truck and headed back in for lunch.
In the afternoon we drove around looking for a steenbok. We parked a couple times to walk fields as well. Ultimately though, nothing came out of our efforts on this day.
Mountain hunting
Today we were off to another property that Dave has access to, with the primary target being a Klipspringer. Just like last year, we were paired up with a tracker there name Michael. He was with me when I shot a nice warthog last year. We were a bit worried that the rains a few days earlier may cause issues with trying to get up in to the mountains. They had in mind a specific location for us to park, climb up to the top, and then walk along the ridges while looking for Klipspringer. We just weren’t sure if we could get there with muddy roads. We took a long way around to get there as it had less steep road sections, and more sections with sunlight the day before to dry out a bit. Michael had let us know that the more direct route wasn’t traversable that morning. We eventually made it to the part we were most worried about, and with good reason. The roads were a bit sloppy still. And with no berm to the side, it seemed easy to slide off and down the side of the mountain. My PH drove very well though. There were two times where I was thinking we were on the verge of getting stuck and would be backing down, as the tires just couldn’t get traction. But then, he would reposition and was able to get us through.
We stopped to glass and he saw a pair of Klipspringer about where he expected them. So, we pressed on. As we get closer to the top, we stop to check if they’re still there and then Michael notices a group of them just up the hill to our right. One was a good one so we carefully got out and setup sticks I had the 300WM with idea being that it wouldn’t tear up the animal using TSX as it would with ELD-X 6.5 PRC ammo. I lined up on the ram and a bit of buck fever started. I thought I settled but I missed high. I fired again and missed. The ram jumped and moved more to our left. I gathered myself, took some deep breaths, and then watched him. He was standing just looking at us with a frontal view. My PH asked if I was steady and I said yes, but I’d prefer a broadside side. He said we likely won’t get that and need to take this if I’m good with it. I carefully held on the ram’s right shoulder (to my left) to account for a slight wind. Took good breath, held steady and fired. I could through my scope a big puff of hair coming out the other side of the ram. As scope recovered from recoil I saw him nosedive down off the rock he was on. Congratulations followed. I had now taken my klipspringer. Maybe not the most stereotypical hunt for one, but as challenging as these guys can be, I’m not going to complain about a relatively easy stalk. I did learn the “Take what Africa gives you” lesson already. I had another of the tinies I was looking for in the salt. We took pictures and then made our way down to get some lunch.
After lunch we went looking for a steenbok. Including 3 days last year, this was now over 4 days hat I’ve been looking for a good one. Another group had luck getting one in the morning, so we were hoping for the same. We drove around for a while without seeing anything, not even springbok. Very late in the afternoon we came around a corner and my PH saw one sitting in the grass. We got out and setup the sticks but since I had scope at low magnification, I couldn’t seem him well at first in scope. Once I went up I could see his head but didn’t have a shot on his body. Then something spooked him and he was up and moving. Each time he somewhat gave a shot opportunity I’d get setup just in time for him to take off. We kept walking and following him. Ultimately, he was standing along the edge of a clearing with a lot of heavy brush behind him and a small bush just in front of him that had me holding off on taking the shot. My PH said to just shoot through the bush. Although the steenbok was facing to my left and I was centered on his left front shoulder, just as I was pulling the trigger I saw him turn back to my right. It was too late to stop the shot but either he moved his back end or I instinctively shifted my aim right, as I caught him enough to drop him. Not the best luck in taking the shot when he turned, but he was down and I had my second tiny in 1 day. Pretty good day. One cool thing about this picture is that if you look through the horns to where that slight dip is in the mountain ridge, that was where I shot the Klipspringer.
White Springbok
Today was our White Springbok hunt. We needed to go to a different property for this hunt and it was a new one for both myself and my PH. When we got there, the farmer told us that there was one white ram on the property and he didn’t know if it was a good trophy one. This presented a bit of a problem first in finding the guy and then second in possibly spending time finding one that was not a shooter. But, on we pressed. We saw a number of commons and after about an hour we saw 2 white springbok. Unfortunately, they were a female and a young one. We did a see a few groups of springbok, just no more white ones. After a bit of driving we finally found him, but then he was off in the brush. We took a walk to try and get ahead of him, but he managed to disappear. We walked 3.8 miles total but were not able to get any more views of him. Then we loaded up and drove a bit more. As we were coming back on a road we had just been down, there he was again. But he was off before we could even do much. That animal was like a ghost. So, back to the house for lunch.
After lunch we figured we knew where he’d be and we wanted to get there ahead of him and have MK walk the brush to drive him out. That plan fell apart when we spotted him just as we were driving in to the property. The ram was about 600 yards away but a bunch of common springbok to our right had eyes on us and we couldn’t get closer. After a bit they moved away from us and closer to the white one, so we were able to slowly move closer. We got to around 500 yards and my PH said it was likely as close as we’d get so it was up to me. I got on the sticks and felt solid so I said I was going to take the shot. The wind was blowing but my PH was giving guidance on where to aim. He watched my first short, which was a miss, and the springbok didn’t even react. My PH gave me windage correction and I fired again, another full miss. Then the ram ran a bit and stopped again. I setup once again at about 450 and fired but another full miss. We then took off walking to try to keep up with him and get head of his path. As we were walking, I checked my Sig binos settings and realized they were still using my 300WM ballistics settings and not the settings for the 6.5 PRC that I was shooting, so that clearly was an issue. I changed the profile to the 6.5 PRC and we kept moving.
We covered a lot of distance and kept losing then re-gaining sight of the ram. He’d seem to disappear and then magically appear somewhere far from where we expected. Finally, we got to a spot about 350 yard from him while he was just grazing. We were losing light and my PH reminded me to go slow, just squeeze the trigger. I had a mostly broadside shot so lined up just on shoulder and squeezed and that ram was finally down. After about 7 miles of walking, I had finished my springbok slam.
Windy day
Overnight I woke up to the sound of a lot of wind. Nothing was in the forecast for it, but it was here. The wind was just howling. We decided to head up to the mountains to look for Mountain Reedbuck and hope the mountain itself may shelter from the wind. No such luck. It was gusting so much that even just trying to stand I couldn’t stay steady. We had seen some animals around a peak so we took a chance. We were hoping to come around just above them and have a short shot downhill on them, with less risk of wind. As we came around, two were higher up than we had expected, so we spooked them. They spooked the others as well. We tried to re-set and get back on them but they were just running from brush patch to brush patch and never came back out in a clearing. If they had, I doubt I would have taken a shot anyways as the wind was just too strong. We decided to call it a day, head back for lunch, and then rest up for the remainder of the day as the winds were just not stopping.
Vaal Rhebuck
Today we were headed to a different area to look for Vaal Rhebuck. It was a location where they didn’t do much hunting and was primarily cattle farming. It was higher elevation and a bit of a drive to get there. We headed out early to ensure we were there at first light. We arrived a bit early and just waited in the truck to meet our host. While sitting there, my PH noticed a Vaal Rhebuck and was looking at it through the spotting scope. He then noticed a second one a bit further away. He was pretty positive on our odds as he said both were possible options, with each having their horns above their ears, but that he had a feeling we could do better. Then our host arrived, and we had our introductions. He hopped in the truck with us and we hadn’t driven more than 100 yards when we noticed some more way off in the distance to our right. My PH looked through the spotting scope and said he couldn’t fully judge height, but that it looked like a very good one. He and our host were talking about how to do our approach since the animals were about 1000 yards out and there wasn’t much cover for getting to them. As they were still talking, another ram showed up and was apparently too close as the ram we were watching took off after him to scare him away. Then the ram we were watching didn’t come back. We went off driving somewhat in that general direction and then around the back of the mountain where we had seen them on its front side. We decided to walk in to see if maybe he was still around there. There was a well defined ridge that our host said would be good to walk along and just look down to see them.
We started walking and though we saw females that had been with the ram earlier, they took off quickly. After walking for about an hour we came to one overlook and when my PH looked over he said the ram was there just bedded down with the females. We all sat down and waited. We were up on the hillside above them by about 120 yards with the wind blowing directly in to us. We were just waiting for them to be up and milling around before trying to setup for a shot. Though it felt like an hour, I think it was likely only about 10 minutes before the ram got up and was feeding. We very quietly setup the sticks for me and I settled the rifle on them. The ram was up feeding and moved around a bit before he presented a decent quartering shot for me. I squeezed the trigger and down he went. Only when we got down to him did I really see how big his horns were. I think the picture speaks for itself.
After we got down to the ram, took out pictures, and packed up for our drive back to Leopard’s, I was just reflecting on the morning and really the whole week. I couldn’t think of a better way to end a hunt than on a high note like this one. I still technically had one hunting day left but had already taken all the animals on my list and just felt good. We got back around 1 PM to the lodge and over lunch I told my PH that I felt I was done with hunting and that this was a great way to end the hunt. He completely understood.
Relaxation Time
After lunch and bit of rest, we went to their range area to stretch the legs of my 6.5 PRC and have a bit of fun.
During the hunt I had exceeded my expectations with a 320-yard shot on a springbuck but I had also missed that white springbok a few days early from 400+ yards. I had admittedly lost a bit of confidence in it. I think my PH could tell that and that’s why he suggested the range outing. At the range I used binos to range and get elevation adjustment for a ‘400’ yard target (truly about 415 yards when ranged) and my first shot hit was dead center, followed by second shot also dead center. My PH said that was too easy and we needed to go further. So, he looked up the hillside beyond the range and found a roughly rugby ball/basketball sized rock at 787 yards. I ranged with my sig binos to get elevation and dialed as prescribed. I was shooting prone for more stability. My first shot was perfect elevation but missed rock by about 3” to the right. I held on left edge of rock and nicked the right edge. Third shot held outside left of the rock and was a solid hit. My PH seemed surprised or even impressed by this and I have to say a bit of me was as well. I’ve shot out to 1000 yards before at a precision rifle training class but that was with more of a competition rifle precision rifle set up and not a ‘hunting rifle’. I was very happy with the accuracy combo of the R8’s 6.5 PRC barrel, my Leupold 3-18 VX-6HD, Precision Hunter 143 ELD-X, and the Sig 10k Binos. Earlier in the week my PH had somewhat jokingly asked if I wanted to try a 600-yard shot on a mountain reedbuck we had seen across a valley. He said with no wind at all, it was truly an option if I was comfortable. I wasn’t at the time though and we passed. After our range fun, he said maybe next time we’ll consider that shot a bit more seriously with the confidence I now had in my rifle and ballistics.
On my last day we took out time driving to Port Elizabeth, first stopping in at African Wildlife Artistry to show them pics of the animals and talk a bit about mount options. I really like the work they do there and their willingness to do whatever the customer is looking for in a mount. After a bit of chatting, we headed out to PE. Some of the PHs in camp had been talking earlier in the week about Toro Sushi in PE, so we had planned to arrive just in time for a late lunch there. If you have any free time in PE and you like sushi, give this place a try. After an incredibly filling lunch there, my PH dropped me at the Radisson Blu where I stayed for the night before my flight back to Johannesburg and then my flights home.
Springbok, Day 1
We started off with a quick trip to the range to check zero. I have a feeling this was more for my PH to observe me than for me to confirm rifle was good. He asked if I wanted 100 or 200 yard target and I asked for 200. We drove out to put up a piece of paper since the steel gongs were basically all shot through. He folded a letter size paper in half and then drew a square target on it. We went back and setup at the bench. I checked distance and binos showed 208 yards. Since the rifle was zero’d at 100, I had to do slight upwards dial for elevation. I aimed at bottom left corner of the square and squeezed. My shot was about ½ in to the right of the corner but right on the horizontal line. He seemed happy with that and said he felt bad for any animal getting in front of us with that rifle. So, off we went.
First up on our list was Springbok. On this trip I was looking for Black, Copper, and White springbok to round out my springbok slam. We went to an area where they had seen a nice black ram recently. We drove a bit and also mixed in a couple walks when we saw some possibly interesting groups. We saw a number of nice common rams, but no good black or copper ones. Our morning turned up empty handed. In the afternoon we went out again and found a nice black ram that we started stalking. They went in to a bit of brush so gave us plenty of cover to get close. We were only about 80-90 yards away from them and you could hear the clashing of horns from some of the males. There was a bit of straight line clearing in the brush that allowed me to setup on sticks while we waited for the black one we saw to come in to the clearing. He came in but was in a bit of a crowd so there wasn’t a shot opportunity. We watched the black one for a bit and then my PH saw a Copper one he liked more, so he redirected me to start following it since it was nicer than the black one. With the all milling around, I needed to wait both for the animal to be clear of the others as well as for it to give a nice broadside shot. It took a bit, but he finally was clear of others and I heard the first of many statements of “there you go” that I’d hear during the hunt. I made sure I was steady on the stick and squeezed the trigger. The ram dropped in his tracks. And, surprisingly, the other animals didn’t all scatter. The quietness of that 6.5 PRC with a suppressor didn’t spook them at all when I fired. Many were still milling around. I cycled the action and we just stayed there with me on the sticks to see if the Black ram would present a shot. We watched for a good number of minutes before they started feeding off in a different direction. We followed them a bit trying to get around to have a clear shot but ultimately they spooked and ran off. We went back to where the copper one was down. Beautiful animal with great horns. I was told that the horns are usually smaller on the colored springbok, but these were at least as nice as the horns on the common I took 2 years ago. We took pictures and then loaded up and headed back to the lodge to clean up and have dinner.
Springbok, again
Today we were back out looking for a black springbok ram. We went to an area we had been the day before and not seen anything, but my PH wanted to look for a specific one he had seen in that area the week prior. We started walking and pretty quickly he saw a group of commons and blacks that he was looking for. We were trying to follow them and get closer. As we’re stopped in a clearing with my PH and our tracker looking directly to my left, I look straight ahead and there is a black ram standing about 80 yards from us. We all froze and my PH quietly asked “can you get your rifle very slowly and line up a shot”. I stepped behind him to unsling the rifle and start to move to use the spotting scope tripod as a rest. Just as I started to lay it on the tripod, the ram took off. Then, the chase was on.
We followed that guy for hours covering 3.7 miles. Looking at my GPS tracking map, there were a lot of circles we went in. I didn’t realize that when they run, they usually run in circles and back to areas they know. The map had a primary figure 8 that we went around. Near the end, the Springbok started moving in more open areas, but at much further distances from us. Many times we setup sticks and had him in the scope but he’d stop just behind a tree or bush without a clean shot. Ultimately, he ended up 320 yards across a field. My PH used my Sig binos to range and get elevation dial for the shot. This being the longest shot I’ve taken at an animal, and with it being a relatively smaller one, I was a bit nervous. I tracked him in scope and was able to calm back down. The ram finally stopped, quartering away at about a 30 degree angle. I made sure I was steady, and then fired. With minimal recoil on the rifle, I was able to see him drop on impact. We made our way over to him and then I realized we shot him about 20 yards from the main road. At least loading up was easy. Our tracker went back and got the truck while we took pictures.
After lunch I switched the Blaser’s barrel to the 300WM and we went back out looking for a Gemsbok. My PH knew where some were but warned that they were in pretty open space and it would be a bit of a challenge to get close. As we were driving over we stopped to glass and were able to see exactly where they were. We looped around and set off on our walk. We were able to get up to see them but then there were tons of springbok around that kept running for no reason, spooking the gemsbok. We followed them for a while keeping them in sight. At one point we had some low cover in front of us and were stalking up hunched over to make sure they didn’t see us. We got to around 300 yards from them and were just observing, knowing there was no closer we could get to. The hope was that one would present a good shot. I got on sticks just as more springbok took off for no good reason. And the gemsbok followed. At this point my PH sent our tracker back to the truck and said he and I would just try to catch up to the gemsbok. He said it was a gamble and not likely to work, but we’d try anyways. So off we went. They spotted us and took off again and went out of sight. But we just stayed on our path. Eventually we caught up to them and could see them grazing in an area. It was pretty open and we were well over 400 yards away. We decided to take a chance to attempt to close gap but there was just one bush in between us and the gemsbok. We took the risk. I was behind my PH but started moving to his left to stay behind in him line of sight to the gemsbok. He motioned for me to get back directly behind him. What I hadn’t known was that there was more gemsbok to our left that we didn’t want to spook. Somehow, we were able to get to the bush without spooking any. We were now 350 yards out. My PH ranged with my binos to get elevation dial and then setup the sticks. He also setup his spotting scope with camera videoing. We waited a bit for a good shot and then when presented with a perfect broadside, I held on the front right shoulder and squeezed. The gemsbok immediately dropped in its track. My PH said to reload and stay on him as they have a habit of getting back up. As he was still mostly upright, just on the ground, he told me to put another one in to him. I fired but it was just high. But the animal didn’t react. We then walked up to get closer. About 50 yards out the animal rolled to its side, presenting its topside to us. We setup sticks and I fired a round in to its back, trying to be careful to not hit the horns. The animal didn’t react to this at all. We moved closer but kept distance. We also circled to its front and setup on sticks again. My PH threw a rock at it but missed it so he threw another and missed. I refrained from making any jokes about his throwing abilities. Then he said to just put one through the chest to be sure. I fired one center of chest and again no reaction. We walked up and my PH used a stick to touch the eye and confirm he was fully dead. Looking at bullet impacts, it was clear he was dead on the first shot, the others were just insurance.
Rain & Wind
Overnight there was a good bit of rain. Our plan had been to head up the mountains to look for Mountain Reedbuck, so we decided to give it shot. The roads were too muddy though so we couldn’t get as high as we wanted. We just parked the truck and walked up the roads. We got to one area to glass and didn’t see much other than one about 600 yards away across a valley. We sat and glassed for a while, but nothing was out. We hiked back down to the truck and headed back in for lunch.
In the afternoon we drove around looking for a steenbok. We parked a couple times to walk fields as well. Ultimately though, nothing came out of our efforts on this day.
Mountain hunting
Today we were off to another property that Dave has access to, with the primary target being a Klipspringer. Just like last year, we were paired up with a tracker there name Michael. He was with me when I shot a nice warthog last year. We were a bit worried that the rains a few days earlier may cause issues with trying to get up in to the mountains. They had in mind a specific location for us to park, climb up to the top, and then walk along the ridges while looking for Klipspringer. We just weren’t sure if we could get there with muddy roads. We took a long way around to get there as it had less steep road sections, and more sections with sunlight the day before to dry out a bit. Michael had let us know that the more direct route wasn’t traversable that morning. We eventually made it to the part we were most worried about, and with good reason. The roads were a bit sloppy still. And with no berm to the side, it seemed easy to slide off and down the side of the mountain. My PH drove very well though. There were two times where I was thinking we were on the verge of getting stuck and would be backing down, as the tires just couldn’t get traction. But then, he would reposition and was able to get us through.
We stopped to glass and he saw a pair of Klipspringer about where he expected them. So, we pressed on. As we get closer to the top, we stop to check if they’re still there and then Michael notices a group of them just up the hill to our right. One was a good one so we carefully got out and setup sticks I had the 300WM with idea being that it wouldn’t tear up the animal using TSX as it would with ELD-X 6.5 PRC ammo. I lined up on the ram and a bit of buck fever started. I thought I settled but I missed high. I fired again and missed. The ram jumped and moved more to our left. I gathered myself, took some deep breaths, and then watched him. He was standing just looking at us with a frontal view. My PH asked if I was steady and I said yes, but I’d prefer a broadside side. He said we likely won’t get that and need to take this if I’m good with it. I carefully held on the ram’s right shoulder (to my left) to account for a slight wind. Took good breath, held steady and fired. I could through my scope a big puff of hair coming out the other side of the ram. As scope recovered from recoil I saw him nosedive down off the rock he was on. Congratulations followed. I had now taken my klipspringer. Maybe not the most stereotypical hunt for one, but as challenging as these guys can be, I’m not going to complain about a relatively easy stalk. I did learn the “Take what Africa gives you” lesson already. I had another of the tinies I was looking for in the salt. We took pictures and then made our way down to get some lunch.
After lunch we went looking for a steenbok. Including 3 days last year, this was now over 4 days hat I’ve been looking for a good one. Another group had luck getting one in the morning, so we were hoping for the same. We drove around for a while without seeing anything, not even springbok. Very late in the afternoon we came around a corner and my PH saw one sitting in the grass. We got out and setup the sticks but since I had scope at low magnification, I couldn’t seem him well at first in scope. Once I went up I could see his head but didn’t have a shot on his body. Then something spooked him and he was up and moving. Each time he somewhat gave a shot opportunity I’d get setup just in time for him to take off. We kept walking and following him. Ultimately, he was standing along the edge of a clearing with a lot of heavy brush behind him and a small bush just in front of him that had me holding off on taking the shot. My PH said to just shoot through the bush. Although the steenbok was facing to my left and I was centered on his left front shoulder, just as I was pulling the trigger I saw him turn back to my right. It was too late to stop the shot but either he moved his back end or I instinctively shifted my aim right, as I caught him enough to drop him. Not the best luck in taking the shot when he turned, but he was down and I had my second tiny in 1 day. Pretty good day. One cool thing about this picture is that if you look through the horns to where that slight dip is in the mountain ridge, that was where I shot the Klipspringer.
White Springbok
Today was our White Springbok hunt. We needed to go to a different property for this hunt and it was a new one for both myself and my PH. When we got there, the farmer told us that there was one white ram on the property and he didn’t know if it was a good trophy one. This presented a bit of a problem first in finding the guy and then second in possibly spending time finding one that was not a shooter. But, on we pressed. We saw a number of commons and after about an hour we saw 2 white springbok. Unfortunately, they were a female and a young one. We did a see a few groups of springbok, just no more white ones. After a bit of driving we finally found him, but then he was off in the brush. We took a walk to try and get ahead of him, but he managed to disappear. We walked 3.8 miles total but were not able to get any more views of him. Then we loaded up and drove a bit more. As we were coming back on a road we had just been down, there he was again. But he was off before we could even do much. That animal was like a ghost. So, back to the house for lunch.
After lunch we figured we knew where he’d be and we wanted to get there ahead of him and have MK walk the brush to drive him out. That plan fell apart when we spotted him just as we were driving in to the property. The ram was about 600 yards away but a bunch of common springbok to our right had eyes on us and we couldn’t get closer. After a bit they moved away from us and closer to the white one, so we were able to slowly move closer. We got to around 500 yards and my PH said it was likely as close as we’d get so it was up to me. I got on the sticks and felt solid so I said I was going to take the shot. The wind was blowing but my PH was giving guidance on where to aim. He watched my first short, which was a miss, and the springbok didn’t even react. My PH gave me windage correction and I fired again, another full miss. Then the ram ran a bit and stopped again. I setup once again at about 450 and fired but another full miss. We then took off walking to try to keep up with him and get head of his path. As we were walking, I checked my Sig binos settings and realized they were still using my 300WM ballistics settings and not the settings for the 6.5 PRC that I was shooting, so that clearly was an issue. I changed the profile to the 6.5 PRC and we kept moving.
We covered a lot of distance and kept losing then re-gaining sight of the ram. He’d seem to disappear and then magically appear somewhere far from where we expected. Finally, we got to a spot about 350 yard from him while he was just grazing. We were losing light and my PH reminded me to go slow, just squeeze the trigger. I had a mostly broadside shot so lined up just on shoulder and squeezed and that ram was finally down. After about 7 miles of walking, I had finished my springbok slam.
Windy day
Overnight I woke up to the sound of a lot of wind. Nothing was in the forecast for it, but it was here. The wind was just howling. We decided to head up to the mountains to look for Mountain Reedbuck and hope the mountain itself may shelter from the wind. No such luck. It was gusting so much that even just trying to stand I couldn’t stay steady. We had seen some animals around a peak so we took a chance. We were hoping to come around just above them and have a short shot downhill on them, with less risk of wind. As we came around, two were higher up than we had expected, so we spooked them. They spooked the others as well. We tried to re-set and get back on them but they were just running from brush patch to brush patch and never came back out in a clearing. If they had, I doubt I would have taken a shot anyways as the wind was just too strong. We decided to call it a day, head back for lunch, and then rest up for the remainder of the day as the winds were just not stopping.
Vaal Rhebuck
Today we were headed to a different area to look for Vaal Rhebuck. It was a location where they didn’t do much hunting and was primarily cattle farming. It was higher elevation and a bit of a drive to get there. We headed out early to ensure we were there at first light. We arrived a bit early and just waited in the truck to meet our host. While sitting there, my PH noticed a Vaal Rhebuck and was looking at it through the spotting scope. He then noticed a second one a bit further away. He was pretty positive on our odds as he said both were possible options, with each having their horns above their ears, but that he had a feeling we could do better. Then our host arrived, and we had our introductions. He hopped in the truck with us and we hadn’t driven more than 100 yards when we noticed some more way off in the distance to our right. My PH looked through the spotting scope and said he couldn’t fully judge height, but that it looked like a very good one. He and our host were talking about how to do our approach since the animals were about 1000 yards out and there wasn’t much cover for getting to them. As they were still talking, another ram showed up and was apparently too close as the ram we were watching took off after him to scare him away. Then the ram we were watching didn’t come back. We went off driving somewhat in that general direction and then around the back of the mountain where we had seen them on its front side. We decided to walk in to see if maybe he was still around there. There was a well defined ridge that our host said would be good to walk along and just look down to see them.
We started walking and though we saw females that had been with the ram earlier, they took off quickly. After walking for about an hour we came to one overlook and when my PH looked over he said the ram was there just bedded down with the females. We all sat down and waited. We were up on the hillside above them by about 120 yards with the wind blowing directly in to us. We were just waiting for them to be up and milling around before trying to setup for a shot. Though it felt like an hour, I think it was likely only about 10 minutes before the ram got up and was feeding. We very quietly setup the sticks for me and I settled the rifle on them. The ram was up feeding and moved around a bit before he presented a decent quartering shot for me. I squeezed the trigger and down he went. Only when we got down to him did I really see how big his horns were. I think the picture speaks for itself.
After we got down to the ram, took out pictures, and packed up for our drive back to Leopard’s, I was just reflecting on the morning and really the whole week. I couldn’t think of a better way to end a hunt than on a high note like this one. I still technically had one hunting day left but had already taken all the animals on my list and just felt good. We got back around 1 PM to the lodge and over lunch I told my PH that I felt I was done with hunting and that this was a great way to end the hunt. He completely understood.
Relaxation Time
After lunch and bit of rest, we went to their range area to stretch the legs of my 6.5 PRC and have a bit of fun.
During the hunt I had exceeded my expectations with a 320-yard shot on a springbuck but I had also missed that white springbok a few days early from 400+ yards. I had admittedly lost a bit of confidence in it. I think my PH could tell that and that’s why he suggested the range outing. At the range I used binos to range and get elevation adjustment for a ‘400’ yard target (truly about 415 yards when ranged) and my first shot hit was dead center, followed by second shot also dead center. My PH said that was too easy and we needed to go further. So, he looked up the hillside beyond the range and found a roughly rugby ball/basketball sized rock at 787 yards. I ranged with my sig binos to get elevation and dialed as prescribed. I was shooting prone for more stability. My first shot was perfect elevation but missed rock by about 3” to the right. I held on left edge of rock and nicked the right edge. Third shot held outside left of the rock and was a solid hit. My PH seemed surprised or even impressed by this and I have to say a bit of me was as well. I’ve shot out to 1000 yards before at a precision rifle training class but that was with more of a competition rifle precision rifle set up and not a ‘hunting rifle’. I was very happy with the accuracy combo of the R8’s 6.5 PRC barrel, my Leupold 3-18 VX-6HD, Precision Hunter 143 ELD-X, and the Sig 10k Binos. Earlier in the week my PH had somewhat jokingly asked if I wanted to try a 600-yard shot on a mountain reedbuck we had seen across a valley. He said with no wind at all, it was truly an option if I was comfortable. I wasn’t at the time though and we passed. After our range fun, he said maybe next time we’ll consider that shot a bit more seriously with the confidence I now had in my rifle and ballistics.
On my last day we took out time driving to Port Elizabeth, first stopping in at African Wildlife Artistry to show them pics of the animals and talk a bit about mount options. I really like the work they do there and their willingness to do whatever the customer is looking for in a mount. After a bit of chatting, we headed out to PE. Some of the PHs in camp had been talking earlier in the week about Toro Sushi in PE, so we had planned to arrive just in time for a late lunch there. If you have any free time in PE and you like sushi, give this place a try. After an incredibly filling lunch there, my PH dropped me at the Radisson Blu where I stayed for the night before my flight back to Johannesburg and then my flights home.
