SOUTH AFRICA: KZN Hunt Of A Lifetime Completed

[alimufti]

Just finished a superb hunt with Evan Couzens of Umziki safaris. Beyond expectations in all respects. Will be adding pics and video to this thread going forward. Cheers everyone.

 

[shotgungibbs]

Looking forward to reading, and seeing it!

 

[alimufti]

After the first day of familiarizing myself with the area we were to hunt in (Tugela) I was excited because as always my main interest was in kudu. Ryan was my stand in ph for the day as Evan was to join that evening. The kudu were there in numbers and rutting hard. I was suprised to see the area had elephant, rhino and hippo - not something i am used to in a standard hunt.
On the second morning, after a climb up a hill after some kudu, unsuccessful due to heavy fog, and a very close call with a puffadder (video to come soon), we ran into a bunch of kudu bulls with females. After 4 years of no travel and dreaming of Africa I finally had a kudu down. Not the monster bull i hoped for, but early in the hunt and i took the bull the ph chose. It was still just surreal to be back in Africa and actually have taken a kudu (my fifth kudu over 4 african hunts in the last 23 years). All those years gone in covid wondering if i would ever be back washed away. Regardless, I was after RW class kudu, and while all mature bulls are awesome , this wasn't it.

 

[alimufti]

im unable to load my pics..it keeps saying problem encountered. tried jpeg and gif...can someone help please ?

 

[IdaRam]

I have the same problem when loading pics from my ipad or iphone. Uploading pics using my home wi-fi doesn’t work at all but I can usually get them to load using cellular data. No idea why. No problems when loading from pc.
Hope that helps.

 

[alimufti]

I am unable to load pics from pc can someone help please. No point in carrying on story without pics.

 

[alimufti]

After the first day of familiarizing myself with the area we were to hunt in (Tugela) I was excited because as always my main interest was in kudu. Ryan was my stand in ph for the day as Evan was to join that evening. The kudu were there in numbers and rutting hard. I was suprised to see the area had elephant, rhino and hippo - not something i am used to in a standard hunt.
On the second morning, after a climb up a hill after some kudu, unsuccessful due to heavy fog, and a very close call with a puffadder (video to come soon), we ran into a bunch of kudu bulls with females. After 4 years of no travel and dreaming of Africa I finally had a kudu down. Not the monster bull i hoped for, but early in the hunt and i took the bull the ph chose. It was still just surreal to be back in Africa and actually have taken a kudu (my fifth kudu over 4 african hunts in the last 23 years). All those years gone in covid wondering if i would ever be back washed away. Regardless, I was after RW class kudu, and while all mature bulls are awesome , this wasn't it.

 

[alimufti]

We had a stalk for blesbock the same evening but didn't manage one and that wrapped up a successful 2. Had a great evening by the fire with Evan and Ryan on the braai.
The next morning saw us driving thru vastly wooded hills and valleys and emerging out on a savannah type.freshly burnt area. The new grass had attracted large numbers of hartebeast and blesbock. Evan saw a nice hartebeast and we were off stalking it shortly after. I finally got a shot off the sticks at 233 yards and had a hartebeast down.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Congratulations on your successful hunt. Pics are great. Thanks for sharing.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[alimufti]

The same evening we came upon another big kudu. We stalked it through some thick stuff and I got a shot at around 80 yards. Unfortunately I hit it high. We flowed it up until dark and the sinking feeling set in. Over 70 or 80 animals hunted I've never lost an animal. We had hopes to find it the next day, but it rained at night. The next morning we started early and looked for the injured kudu until passed noon. Absolutely no sign. What little blood there was was washed away with overnight rain. The worst part was we had to be leaving the reserve that day as our next few days were booked for bushbuck and reedbuck in the natal Midlands area a couple of hours away. All.morning we daw other kudu including a very wide 50 plus inch bull. But I refused to shoot as finding the injured bull was my first priority. Finally with no luck in locating him we headed out towards the Midlands after lunch. We were to return to tugela in 3 or 4 days and would resume looking for the bull. Meanwhile we had informed the resident ph at tugela that if he or any of the clients who were there saw it they should dispatch it. I was bitterly disappointed.
With heavy feelings we got to the Midlands by afternoon and to the bushbuck area. Bushbuck along with kudu are my favourite animals to hunt. As low as I was feeling the prospect of a bushbuck hunt cheered me up. We weren't there for long when a beautiful ram stepped out of the forest. We had a long stalk and at 169 yards prone I got my best bushbuck to date.

 

[alimufti]

The next morning we were rained in. We managed to get out after lunch and made our way to a beautiful hilly property of rolling farmland and marshes. We saw reedbuck everywhere. When the sun finally appeared in the late afternoon we were setup with spotting scope and coffee and saw a superb reedbuck ram across the valley. After an initial failed stalk managed to get on him again and drop with at a little over 200 yards. An absolutely superb reedbuck ram. Both bushbuck and reedbuck would qualify for rowland ward minimums and I was over the moon. Fro m the depths of despair at a lost kudu bull to a Midlands High.

 

[alimufti]

 

[alimufti]

 

[alimufti]

 

[alimufti]

 

[alimufti]

54.5 inch

kudu

 

[alimufti]

28.5inch nyala

 

[alimufti]

link to video

 

[alimufti]

Since the videos tell the story, ill summarize by saying passed up on many good kudu bulls and had given up until the second last day when we ran into the bull we had seen upon coming back to tugela. Saw him from far away and knowing how skittish he was planned the stalk as carefully as possible . still had to wait an hour to get a shot by which time my nerves were done . managed to get him after a blur of shooting. 23 years searching for a bull like this. It has wetted my appetite for more mid 50s and higher kudu hunting god willing in coming years .

thank you all
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