Mike B
AH enthusiast
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2017
- Messages
- 348
- Reaction score
- 759
- Location
- Texas
- Website
- www.bazarsolutions.com
- Media
- 40
- Articles
- 2
- Member of
- DSC - Lifetime Member, NRA
- Hunted
- South Africa, Argentina, US (TX, NM, SD), Botswana
Got to write up the hunt on my flight back! One more hop and I'll be home!
Day 1
After approx 48 hours of travel (we left home on the 18th around 1 and got into JoBerg around 11 AM on the 29th) I was ready to be in camp! Riaan picked us up at the airport and drove us the 4ish hours to Limcroma. When we got there it was a bit to late to go hunt, so we made sure the gun I was renting was shooting straight (it was). Then we hung out, had dinner and went to bed. There was only one other person in camp the whole time, a bow hunter. He had a great time as well and bagged a good set of trophies (including a golden wildebeest)
Day 2
My wife went out with us in the morning. She went out pretty much every morning and then would stay in camp for the afternoon when it was hotter. It ended up being a good intro and kind of a photo safari. Lots of things I wasn't hunting or stuff to small / young. We saw giraffe, Kudu, wildebeest, eland, and Zebra. I hoped off and chased the Zebra a few times in the AM, but there were a lot of giraffe and they kept busting us. The grass was really dry so walking quietly was almost impossible at any kind of speed. That afternoon we went back to the same property and chased Zebra quite a bit. We kept getting about 75-100 yards away in thick stuff and they would bust and run for a long ways. Lots of fun, just never a shooting opportunity (didn't even get in the sticks I don't think). Empty handed after the first day, but it was really amazing. I was in Africa! Hunting! I didn't care what happened!
Day 3
New Location, drive through the gate and Zebra are right there, 250 yards or so away. We bail out of the truck and get to sneaking. We got within 100 yards I would say and spend some time checking them out, waiting for a good presentation. I get on the sticks, and take aim for a frontal shot. I probably rushed it, not being used to the sudden urgency the sticks were setup, and Riaan was telling me to shoot. He wasn't pushy, but was forceful (in a good way). Not being used to it it was a bit like having orders barked at me. I don't want that to sound bad, he does it all the time, it's second nature, and his job is to get me on and lined up before they bolt. Anyway, I killed the stick in front of it and the Zebra bolt. Clean miss. I feel stupid.
Back to Looking for next animal. Blesbok spotted some ways off. Riaan asks if I want one and I say only if it's an extraordinary one, because to be honest blesbuck wasn't even really a thought before now. He looks at them, finds a really wide one he's been hunting all year and off we go. We sneak up through a more open area and have lots of eyes to avoid, steenbok, warthogs and about 20 blesbuck (including a white one). I get on the sticks and get ready while he scopes them again to make sure which one is the wide one. It walks broadside in a hole and Riaan give a little noise to make it stop. I take the shot at about 100 yards. Good hit but high and little back. Goes about 150 yards and we watch him go down. Pictures and load up into the truck. As we are driving out we see a rock python, first one they have seen this spring. Load up and go looking to see what shows up. Find what looks like a shooter Kudu, hop off and sneak back on it. I get up on the sticks but the Kudu has its head in the tree, Riaan goes to sneak left a few steps and check the horns, make sure it's the same one. Kudu bolts. We spend rest of the day chasing Zebra, just can't connect, very spooky. We do get right up on a group, around 50 yards, but we can't move. 3 Zebra are staring at us. Feels like forever standing there and I finally have an opportunity to get on the sticks. Get on a Zebra to the left, but they are too tight and there is always something behind or in front of it. Just never get a shot. At the end of day end up on some gemsbok. Chase a solid male and can't get a shot, we almost do about 4 times, literally when it would stop I would get on the sticks but then it would move or brush was always in the way. While chasing him for a good ways we bump into a larger group, Play tag with them for 20-30 min and finally get to where I could take a shot. Riaan says hold, he wants to get the old female, and then decides the only ones of shooting age are pregnant.
Note: Take what Africa gives you! Love that Blesbok trophy and I wouldn't have it if I was rigid about my "list".
Day 4
Chasing Zebra again! Spend all day chasing Zebra and they are just spooky. I swear we can't get within 300 yards and have them stand still for more than 2 seconds. Getting late in the day we chase some a different group. As they run we get back into Gemsbok. Real nice female, lines up broadside. I musta got the jitters, shoot high, spine her but she drops like a bag of rocks. We run the gap and put another one in to end it quickly. Really pretty Gemsbok and she's an old female. The top of one of her horns is just starting to fray.
Day 5 - "Take what Africa gives you while staying on budget" test
Kudu is the plan for the day! Driving around and seeing lots of Zebra, and now they aren't just bolting! Riaan asks if I want to go for one, because budget was Gemsbok or Zebra and we got the gemsbok the day before. While I'm thinking about it we drive past some really big Hartebeest as well, and PH says Zebra plus hartebeest = Kudu $$. I keep debating for another few minutes, we drive past a few really nice Zebra and finally decide I've spent a lot of energy on Zebra and I came on this trip with a"Take what Africa gives you" mindset. So I say, let's roll!. Hop off the truck, short stalk, real nice stallion lines up broadside with a giraffe in the background (he's out of the shot but the image is in my head as really cool). I line up a touch high to get over some brush, pull the trigger and down it goes. Great Stallion, with a great skin. No marks, cool weather, it's going to be a fine rug! We head back to camp to make sure it gets taken care of in the cool of the day, before it heats up.
So now my list has changed to Bushbuck, hartebeest, or wildebeest and an impala. Basically, whatever shows up first and is something "you would be stupid not to shoot". We go walking the river looking for Bushbuck that afternoon. See a few females, couple Kudu and some other stuff.
Day 6
Head out and almost immediately come across 2 hartebeest. Pretty short stalk back to them and Riaan says one falls into the "you'd be stupid not to" category. Really nice sweep back and out. Get on the sticks and drop him in his tracks. I don't think he went more than 2 feet. Load him up and now it's on for impala. It's a cool morning and it's before 7am still so we decide we can give it about an hour or so for impala before we head back to drop it off. About 30 min in we see a nice group with a shooter. Stalk back to them in this real thick stuff, like 5-10 yards of visibility or less except a few little lanes. We sneak right in on them, they walk past at 20-30 feet away. The shooter is the last one. I'm on the sticks looking at a hole about the size of a pie plate, just waiting... and waiting. He steps in, Riaan says shoot and BOOM, perfect shot. He's running dead, goes maybe 20-25 ft and piles up in a bush, both shoulders broken and he's done before we walk the 40 ft to him. So that's it on "the list". When I asked my kids what they wanted from Africa, my 7 year old said a baboon, so we go walk the river again, hear them but never see them. Did watch a big ole croc drop down into the river from the high bank.
Day 7
Pilansberg excursion, this trip was really a lot of fun. We saw rhino, elephants, hippo, lion (2 times), a HUGE eland (I'll see if I can screen grab it from the video), tons of plains game, etc. I would recommend it for anyone in that area of the country. It was also probably a lot better when your PH is your tour guide because Riaan picked out all kinds of stuff we might not have seen as quickly.
Day 8 and 9
Sitting in the blind for a baboon. These guys were hunted a lot I guess and never sat still. They don't normally hunt a rifle out of a blind, but it was the best odds for a baboon (again, not sure why my 7 year old wanted me to shoot one, but he thought it would be cool). Day 8 sitting was quite eventful. We had baboons come in, I was on him but it's really hard to get the tip of the gun out and a baboon not notice. I was about 4 inches from taking the shot when he took off. Later in the day a bunch more came in, but the big old male hung way back to the side and never presented a shot. Day 9 we saw a lot of game (monkeys, plains game, etc) in the AM but really not much that afternoon. I think the baboons and monkeys were on to us.
Day 10 was settle up (absolutely no surprises, Riaan was good to keep me on budget but push me to shoot some cool animals). and head out. We stopped at an orphanage and dropped off a bunch of school supplies and balls, etc. the kids were excited to have them! From there it was down to JoBerg. We flew down to Cape Town for 2 days and then home. BTW the Cape Grace hotel in Cape Town was amazing.
Day 1
After approx 48 hours of travel (we left home on the 18th around 1 and got into JoBerg around 11 AM on the 29th) I was ready to be in camp! Riaan picked us up at the airport and drove us the 4ish hours to Limcroma. When we got there it was a bit to late to go hunt, so we made sure the gun I was renting was shooting straight (it was). Then we hung out, had dinner and went to bed. There was only one other person in camp the whole time, a bow hunter. He had a great time as well and bagged a good set of trophies (including a golden wildebeest)
Day 2
My wife went out with us in the morning. She went out pretty much every morning and then would stay in camp for the afternoon when it was hotter. It ended up being a good intro and kind of a photo safari. Lots of things I wasn't hunting or stuff to small / young. We saw giraffe, Kudu, wildebeest, eland, and Zebra. I hoped off and chased the Zebra a few times in the AM, but there were a lot of giraffe and they kept busting us. The grass was really dry so walking quietly was almost impossible at any kind of speed. That afternoon we went back to the same property and chased Zebra quite a bit. We kept getting about 75-100 yards away in thick stuff and they would bust and run for a long ways. Lots of fun, just never a shooting opportunity (didn't even get in the sticks I don't think). Empty handed after the first day, but it was really amazing. I was in Africa! Hunting! I didn't care what happened!
Day 3
New Location, drive through the gate and Zebra are right there, 250 yards or so away. We bail out of the truck and get to sneaking. We got within 100 yards I would say and spend some time checking them out, waiting for a good presentation. I get on the sticks, and take aim for a frontal shot. I probably rushed it, not being used to the sudden urgency the sticks were setup, and Riaan was telling me to shoot. He wasn't pushy, but was forceful (in a good way). Not being used to it it was a bit like having orders barked at me. I don't want that to sound bad, he does it all the time, it's second nature, and his job is to get me on and lined up before they bolt. Anyway, I killed the stick in front of it and the Zebra bolt. Clean miss. I feel stupid.
Back to Looking for next animal. Blesbok spotted some ways off. Riaan asks if I want one and I say only if it's an extraordinary one, because to be honest blesbuck wasn't even really a thought before now. He looks at them, finds a really wide one he's been hunting all year and off we go. We sneak up through a more open area and have lots of eyes to avoid, steenbok, warthogs and about 20 blesbuck (including a white one). I get on the sticks and get ready while he scopes them again to make sure which one is the wide one. It walks broadside in a hole and Riaan give a little noise to make it stop. I take the shot at about 100 yards. Good hit but high and little back. Goes about 150 yards and we watch him go down. Pictures and load up into the truck. As we are driving out we see a rock python, first one they have seen this spring. Load up and go looking to see what shows up. Find what looks like a shooter Kudu, hop off and sneak back on it. I get up on the sticks but the Kudu has its head in the tree, Riaan goes to sneak left a few steps and check the horns, make sure it's the same one. Kudu bolts. We spend rest of the day chasing Zebra, just can't connect, very spooky. We do get right up on a group, around 50 yards, but we can't move. 3 Zebra are staring at us. Feels like forever standing there and I finally have an opportunity to get on the sticks. Get on a Zebra to the left, but they are too tight and there is always something behind or in front of it. Just never get a shot. At the end of day end up on some gemsbok. Chase a solid male and can't get a shot, we almost do about 4 times, literally when it would stop I would get on the sticks but then it would move or brush was always in the way. While chasing him for a good ways we bump into a larger group, Play tag with them for 20-30 min and finally get to where I could take a shot. Riaan says hold, he wants to get the old female, and then decides the only ones of shooting age are pregnant.
Note: Take what Africa gives you! Love that Blesbok trophy and I wouldn't have it if I was rigid about my "list".
Day 4
Chasing Zebra again! Spend all day chasing Zebra and they are just spooky. I swear we can't get within 300 yards and have them stand still for more than 2 seconds. Getting late in the day we chase some a different group. As they run we get back into Gemsbok. Real nice female, lines up broadside. I musta got the jitters, shoot high, spine her but she drops like a bag of rocks. We run the gap and put another one in to end it quickly. Really pretty Gemsbok and she's an old female. The top of one of her horns is just starting to fray.
Day 5 - "Take what Africa gives you while staying on budget" test
Kudu is the plan for the day! Driving around and seeing lots of Zebra, and now they aren't just bolting! Riaan asks if I want to go for one, because budget was Gemsbok or Zebra and we got the gemsbok the day before. While I'm thinking about it we drive past some really big Hartebeest as well, and PH says Zebra plus hartebeest = Kudu $$. I keep debating for another few minutes, we drive past a few really nice Zebra and finally decide I've spent a lot of energy on Zebra and I came on this trip with a"Take what Africa gives you" mindset. So I say, let's roll!. Hop off the truck, short stalk, real nice stallion lines up broadside with a giraffe in the background (he's out of the shot but the image is in my head as really cool). I line up a touch high to get over some brush, pull the trigger and down it goes. Great Stallion, with a great skin. No marks, cool weather, it's going to be a fine rug! We head back to camp to make sure it gets taken care of in the cool of the day, before it heats up.
So now my list has changed to Bushbuck, hartebeest, or wildebeest and an impala. Basically, whatever shows up first and is something "you would be stupid not to shoot". We go walking the river looking for Bushbuck that afternoon. See a few females, couple Kudu and some other stuff.
Day 6
Head out and almost immediately come across 2 hartebeest. Pretty short stalk back to them and Riaan says one falls into the "you'd be stupid not to" category. Really nice sweep back and out. Get on the sticks and drop him in his tracks. I don't think he went more than 2 feet. Load him up and now it's on for impala. It's a cool morning and it's before 7am still so we decide we can give it about an hour or so for impala before we head back to drop it off. About 30 min in we see a nice group with a shooter. Stalk back to them in this real thick stuff, like 5-10 yards of visibility or less except a few little lanes. We sneak right in on them, they walk past at 20-30 feet away. The shooter is the last one. I'm on the sticks looking at a hole about the size of a pie plate, just waiting... and waiting. He steps in, Riaan says shoot and BOOM, perfect shot. He's running dead, goes maybe 20-25 ft and piles up in a bush, both shoulders broken and he's done before we walk the 40 ft to him. So that's it on "the list". When I asked my kids what they wanted from Africa, my 7 year old said a baboon, so we go walk the river again, hear them but never see them. Did watch a big ole croc drop down into the river from the high bank.
Day 7
Pilansberg excursion, this trip was really a lot of fun. We saw rhino, elephants, hippo, lion (2 times), a HUGE eland (I'll see if I can screen grab it from the video), tons of plains game, etc. I would recommend it for anyone in that area of the country. It was also probably a lot better when your PH is your tour guide because Riaan picked out all kinds of stuff we might not have seen as quickly.
Day 8 and 9
Sitting in the blind for a baboon. These guys were hunted a lot I guess and never sat still. They don't normally hunt a rifle out of a blind, but it was the best odds for a baboon (again, not sure why my 7 year old wanted me to shoot one, but he thought it would be cool). Day 8 sitting was quite eventful. We had baboons come in, I was on him but it's really hard to get the tip of the gun out and a baboon not notice. I was about 4 inches from taking the shot when he took off. Later in the day a bunch more came in, but the big old male hung way back to the side and never presented a shot. Day 9 we saw a lot of game (monkeys, plains game, etc) in the AM but really not much that afternoon. I think the baboons and monkeys were on to us.
Day 10 was settle up (absolutely no surprises, Riaan was good to keep me on budget but push me to shoot some cool animals). and head out. We stopped at an orphanage and dropped off a bunch of school supplies and balls, etc. the kids were excited to have them! From there it was down to JoBerg. We flew down to Cape Town for 2 days and then home. BTW the Cape Grace hotel in Cape Town was amazing.
