SOUTH AFRICA: KMG Hunting Safaris Honeymoon Hunt-Her Side of the Story

[Just Gina]

Congratulations. If you don’t mind sharing how did you develop your excellent shooting technique. I’m interested so I can also have great confidence when I’m on my next safari. Thanks for any help and I loved your report!

Thank you and thank you for the kind words! I do not mind sharing and it is really simple, actually. Practice. Before I met mike, I had a couple of pistols and my AR-15. I used to shoot my pistol almost daily, but when I met Mike, he used to go to the shooting range every weekend. Between school, work, homework, regular life stuffs, we usually always had Sunday off together and when we did, we went to the range.
So, when I used to shoot by myself, it was empty soda bottles, cans, etc. Mike used targets. The range we go to has 100, 200, and 300 yard bays outside. I was a little overwhelmed the first time and told him it was too far away. He told me to look at the target. He had taped a quarter to it. He told me to just shoot the quarter and not worry about anything else. So, I did. I have a string of quarters on ball chain on my rear view mirror in Crowley (my truck) that I have shot at the range from 100-300 yards. I am quite proud of them!

It is just practice. I do not use anything fancy. There is a bench there and I sit Lilith on a bag sometimes if I need her higher. We use practice ammo at the range, but before we left for our trip, we shot with our hunting ammo. We have been going to the range nearly every Sunday for over two years now. Mike has been going longer and has been hunting a lot longer than me also. I tend to get really irritated and nervous when I make a bad shot, which still happens by the way. The first time I shot Marius' .375 I was afraid it was going to kick like Mike's .416 Rigby and my first shot was NOT good with his rifle. After I settled down and knew how the rifle felt, I was ok. I have also decided Lilith needs a sibling and I want a .375 HH now. As far as shooting off sticks, I had got Mike some for his birthday last year. I was not able to practice on them as much as I would have liked to. I feel wobbly on them. I need a lot more practice on them!! I told Marius that and he made all the difference to be honest! For me, Marius makes shooting off sticks like shooting off a bench.
So, for what it is worth, that's what I do/have done the last 2+ years. I hope it helps, and thank you for asking! Sorry for the long length of that reply. I am chatty

 

[Just Gina]

Congrats on the wedding, and what a honeymoon. You two set the bar pretty high! May have to keep going back to Africa to keep up with expectations.

Thank you! I need to keep going back to Africa also! So does Mike. I guess we are just going to have to all keep going back!!

 

[Just Gina]

Congrats on your hunt/honeymoon! Everyone on AH appreciates a good hunt report and you didn’t disappoint! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you!!

 

[Just Gina]

Congrats on a successful safari. That you were ill and still hunted and reading what you wrote about not having an animal suffer shows me you are a TRUE HUNTRESS. Best wishes for a long and healthy marriage. It's off to a heck of a start!
Aside that, on returning home, I bet your "kids" were glad to see you.

Thank you so much!! I cannot bear the thought of an animal suffering! When we got home, the kids were all SO FULL of excitement!! Our smallest one is the "energy conserver" (she is lazy) and she was jumping up and down like the rest of them and they were all whining with excitement. They missed us for sure!! We didn't know the littlest one could jump so high or be so energetic

 

[shootist~]

Question on ammo: What did you use in Lilith and how was the performance? (Penetration, expansion, pass-through, etc.) Obviously the combination of Rifle, Ammo and Hunter were up to the task.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Just Gina]

Question on ammo: What did you use in Lilith and how was the performance? (Penetration, expansion, pass-through, etc.) Obviously the combination of Rifle, Ammo and Hunter were up to the task.

Thanks,
Joe

Hi Joe! Thank you for the kind words! I used Barnes Vor-tx factory 150 grain TTSX ammo. Lilith is a .308 Tikka youth model. Mike used the same ammo for a .300 Win.Mag 180 grain for all of his animals. I used Lilith for everything except for my giraffe. For my giraffe, I used Marius' .375 HH. I am not sure what ammo was for my giraffe? @KMG Hunting Safaris could answer that? I did not question Marius' ammo choice. I had 110% faith in him for everything!

When I took my Oryx, I was less than 100 yards. This bullet was recovered as Marius found it when he turned my Oryx over to look at my shot and it was right under the hide on the off shoulder.

Did that answer all of your questions? I will answer anything and everything anyone asks! If I do not know the answer, I have no problem at all asking Mike and Marius for clarification.

Gina

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Sorry for only getting to the party now @Just Gina .
Busy playing with Hippos.

What an awesome report. Hope you will give Mike a hand with his.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this up. Appreciate it beyond words.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Hi Joe! Thank you for the kind words! I used Barnes Vor-tx factory 150 grain TTSX ammo. Lilith is a .308 Tikka youth model. Mike used the same ammo for a .300 Win.Mag 180 grain for all of his animals. I used Lilith for everything except for my giraffe. For my giraffe, I used Marius' .375 HH. I am not sure what ammo was for my giraffe? @KMG Hunting Safaris could answer that? I did not question Marius' ammo choice. I had 110% faith in him for everything!

When I took my Oryx, I was less than 100 yards. This bullet was recovered as Marius found it when he turned my Oryx over to look at my shot and it was right under the hide on the off shoulder.

Did that answer all of your questions? I will answer anything and everything anyone asks! If I do not know the answer, I have no problem at all asking Mike and Marius for clarification.

Gina

To answer your question regarding the ammunition for the 375 used on the Giraffe, it was loaded with 200gr GS Custom bullets, leaving the muzzle at around 3100 fps.

 

[Just Gina]

Sorry for only getting to the party now @Just Gina .
Busy playing with Hippos.

What an awesome report. Hope you will give Mike a hand with his.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this up. Appreciate it beyond words.

We appreciate YOU, Marius! Mike is nearly finished with his report and it will be posted today. He had the day off so I told him he was only allowed to relax and do his report. He did not argue
Thanks also for answering the giraffe ammo question.
Be safe and many thanks again!
Gina

 

[shootist~]

Hi Joe! Thank you for the kind words! I used Barnes Vor-tx factory 150 grain TTSX ammo. Lilith is a .308 Tikka youth model. Mike used the same ammo for a .300 Win.Mag 180 grain for all of his animals. I used Lilith for everything except for my giraffe. For my giraffe, I used Marius' .375 HH. I am not sure what ammo was for my giraffe? @KMG Hunting Safaris could answer that? I did not question Marius' ammo choice. I had 110% faith in him for everything!

When I took my Oryx, I was less than 100 yards. This bullet was recovered as Marius found it when he turned my Oryx over to look at my shot and it was right under the hide on the off shoulder.

Did that answer all of your questions? I will answer anything and everything anyone asks! If I do not know the answer, I have no problem at all asking Mike and Marius for clarification.

Gina

Wow! Outstanding performance by the 150 grain TTSX. I had reviewed some favorable AH comments just yesterday about this bullet. Your pic is confirmation. So yes - questions answered. Thank you.

 

[gesch]

Thank you and thank you for the kind words! I do not mind sharing and it is really simple, actually. Practice. Before I met mike, I had a couple of pistols and my AR-15. I used to shoot my pistol almost daily, but when I met Mike, he used to go to the shooting range every weekend. Between school, work, homework, regular life stuffs, we usually always had Sunday off together and when we did, we went to the range.
So, when I used to shoot by myself, it was empty soda bottles, cans, etc. Mike used targets. The range we go to has 100, 200, and 300 yard bays outside. I was a little overwhelmed the first time and told him it was too far away. He told me to look at the target. He had taped a quarter to it. He told me to just shoot the quarter and not worry about anything else. So, I did. I have a string of quarters on ball chain on my rear view mirror in Crowley (my truck) that I have shot at the range from 100-300 yards. I am quite proud of them!

It is just practice. I do not use anything fancy. There is a bench there and I sit Lilith on a bag sometimes if I need her higher. We use practice ammo at the range, but before we left for our trip, we shot with our hunting ammo. We have been going to the range nearly every Sunday for over two years now. Mike has been going longer and has been hunting a lot longer than me also. I tend to get really irritated and nervous when I make a bad shot, which still happens by the way. The first time I shot Marius' .375 I was afraid it was going to kick like Mike's .416 Rigby and my first shot was NOT good with his rifle. After I settled down and knew how the rifle felt, I was ok. I have also decided Lilith needs a sibling and I want a .375 HH now. As far as shooting off sticks, I had got Mike some for his birthday last year. I was not able to practice on them as much as I would have liked to. I feel wobbly on them. I need a lot more practice on them!! I told Marius that and he made all the difference to be honest! For me, Marius makes shooting off sticks like shooting off a bench.
So, for what it is worth, that's what I do/have done the last 2+ years. I hope it helps, and thank you for asking! Sorry for the long length of that reply. I am chatty

Not chatty—helpful. Thank you. I have been doing more practice as well. I have been using my 22 and 223 bolt action rifles to increase inexpensive practice! I’m from a frugal (some say cheap) background!
Dry fire has also increased due to a suggestion on this site. Again congrats.

 

[Just Gina]

Not chatty—helpful. Thank you. I have been doing more practice as well. I have been using my 22 and 223 bolt action rifles to increase inexpensive practice! I’m from a frugal (some say cheap) background!
Dry fire has also increased due to a suggestion on this site. Again congrats.

You are very welcome! They have a .22 bay at the range. It is a bunch of metal spinner targets. They are all varying distances with the furthest being approx 20 yards. I love shooting there also for inexpensive fun. My .22 doesn't have a scope but it is still practice as far as I am concerned. Nothing at all wrong with frugal! More money to stash away for Africa!!

 

[Just Gina]

Wow! Outstanding performance by the 150 grain TTSX. I had reviewed some favorable AH comments just yesterday about this bullet. Your pic is confirmation. So yes - questions answered. Thank you.

You are quite welcome!!

 

[Shootist43]

Gina, now that you've fired a 375 H&H and decided you might like to have one of your own, I'd like to offer you a suggestion. Before purchasing one, try out a 404 Jeffery. Just a tiny bit more recoil. No doubt you will be wanting to take larger animals on your next hunt and although the 375 is capable, the 404 Jeffery is more so. For comparative purposes the 375 H&H uses 77 - 78 Grs. of H4350, while the 404 Jeffery uses 84 Grs of the same powder. Go back to some of the 404 Jeffery posts on file and see what their "owners" have to say about them.

 

[Smitty]

Gina, you are a talented writer and photographer! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your report. It was very funny as well as entertaining. I was in Africa around the same time on my first safari. I am afraid I didn't capture it as well as you did. It is admirable how you stuck in there, even when sick. I hope you write wipartimer's report for him!

 

[Just Gina]

Gina, now that you've fired a 375 H&H and decided you might like to have one of your own, I'd like to offer you a suggestion. Before purchasing one, try out a 404 Jeffery. Just a tiny bit more recoil. No doubt you will be wanting to take larger animals on your next hunt and although the 375 is capable, the 404 Jeffery is more so. For comparative purposes the 375 H&H uses 77 - 78 Grs. of H4350, while the 404 Jeffery uses 84 Grs of the same powder. Go back to some of the 404 Jeffery posts on file and see what their "owners" have to say about them.

Thank you very much for the suggestion on the 404 Jeffery! I will for sure go and have a look at what people are saying about them. I appreciate your suggestion!

 

[Just Gina]

Gina, you are a talented writer and photographer! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your report. It was very funny as well as entertaining. I was in Africa around the same time on my first safari. I am afraid I didn't capture it as well as you did. It is admirable how you stuck in there, even when sick. I hope you write wipartimer's report for him!

Thank you very much! I am glad you enjoyed it! A lot of the pics I have to give credit to Marius for. I was able to take some of the photos of the animals but he took a lot of them. I was like a kid in a candy store taking pictures of the landscape of every place we went to. It is really beautiful there for sure!
How exciting for you that you recently had your first safari as well recently! I need to catch up on hunting reports on here. We have had contractors in the house since we got home. This is the first week we finally have our house back and it is nice! I am really glad that I did not skip any of my hunting days due to being sick. I know looking back I would have really regretted it!

 

[CBH Australia]

Early I the report you say your first ever Honeymoon. Don the let him think there may be others to come. I got married , once is enough
Sounds like you have a good thing best stick with him. So long as you get that .375 of course.
In 6 long months I get to do my first international trip and African Safari. It just so happens that I have to share it with my wife as it is our 25th Wedding Anniversary.
So no talk of any possible , further honey moon until we get that out the way. Like if you got a good thing going stick with it.

 

[Shootist43]

CBH, technically what you said is true. But continued honeymoon activities, thoughts and actions often lead to many anniversaries of those happy times. The Frau and I are working on our 56th.

 

[Just Gina]

CBH, technically what you said is true. But continued honeymoon activities, thoughts and actions often lead to many anniversaries of those happy times. The Frau and I are working on our 56th.

Could not agree more! Congrats on going on 56 years with your best friend!!