SOUTH AFRICA: RIFLE: BOWHUNT: Hunt Report - Limcroma Safaris - 10-20 August 2021

[Matt_WY]

Outfitter: @Limcroma Safaris
PH: Guillaume
Dates: 10-20 Aug 2021

Originally, scheduled for May 2020, then for July 2020, then for November 2020....we finally made it to South Africa in Aug 2021!

This was the first trip to Africa for my wife. We selected Limcroma for their reputation as a hunting outfit but also based on the variety of activities available for non-hunters and the high level of accommodations.

Dan Leahy, Hannes, and Amanda were awesome answering all our up front questions. We booked. Then before we travelled, COVID hit. Everybody knows about that story. The point I'll make here is that I appreciate the flexibility Limcroma and Africa Sky showed us in rescheduling!

All travel arrangements were made by @TRAVEL EXPRESS. This is the third trip they have done for me and everything has always been flawless.

Travel was relatively painless. We took the new United route from Newark to Jo'berg. I had originally planned to take both a rifle and a bow but ultimately decided to just take the bow and rent a rifle for part of the hunt. (That ended up working out great.) We were met at the airport by the Africa Sky representative and spent the night at the guest house. Our flight was a little late and they held the kitchen open for us. We ordered with the chef over the phone and they had dinner ready for us when we arrived. Very impressed with the staff and accommodations there and would definitely recommend!

In the morning, we were picked up by a shuttle bus for transport to the lodge. There was one other group on the buss (Keith and Jarrod, father and son from SC). Turns out that this was a slow week in between packed weeks and we were the only 4 at the lodge. And Jarrod and Keith left 3 days before us to we got the run of the place!

Travel up was uneventful. About an hour before you get to the lodge the roads go from paved to dirt. At that point we transitioned from the shuttle bus to the PH's vehicles. Sara and I rode up with Guillaume and Amanda. Gave us some good time to get to know each other a little bit and establish expectations for the hunt. I told Guillaume that I was less concerned about putting animals on the ground and more concerned with the way we hunted. I wanted it all to be on foot, spot and stalk....and I wanted to get close. To his credit, Guillaume delivered. More on that later, but for now suffice it to say he added knee pads to his daily kit after the first afternoon!

For anyone considering taking a non-hunting SO on this trip, I would highly recommend it. Sara's main objective for the trip was pretty simple...pet elephants. After that it was to have a lot of alone time to write, have a spa day, and do some game viewing. I'll do more on her experience later.

It's about 4 hours total from Jo'berg to Limcroma, so we arrived early afternoon. We were greeted by the staff and had a nice lunch. I reassembled my bow from transport and we checked to see it was still on. All good, Guillaume and I headed out for a coupe hours of hunting.

 

[gillettehunter]

Good start. Looking forward to the rest.
Bruce

 

[Matt_WY]

My biggest concern in hunting South Africa was the reputation for 'canned hunts'. I was pleasantly surprised by the Limcroma operation. Hannes has assembled a lot of huntable properties and they are large. we hunted on foot, multiple miles per day, and fences were never an issue. We hit several different properties over the course of the trip and all were excellent. Yes, everything is high-fenced, but the properties are big, the game is free-breeding.

That said, day one we established a pattern. Go to the hunting site (usually 10-30 mins from the lodge), figure out the direction of the wind, and do our best to hunt upwind. As I said in the first post, we had originally planned to go in May and that would likely have made the bowhunting easier. In August, the foliage had all dropped and the animals could see through the bushes, but we couldn't easily get shooting lanes. So it was a challenge, but super fun! Typical hunting involved walking slowly upwind, keeping eyes peeled for animals. then we either had to avoid them if it was not a target species or start crawling if it was something to go after. We crawled a lot. We got busted a lot. We got close on a lot of game, even though many times we couldn't get a shot. Again...super fun.

We had booked the 'couples package' Limcroma advertised on Africa Hunting and then added a couple days. Thus, I had a selection of animals to choose from. I told Guillaume I wasn't particular what from the list we targeted other that that I wanted to try to get a bushbuck.

The first couple days were slow. That wasn't because we weren't seeing things. It was because I wanted to try to see what we could get in bow range of. Day 3 a lot of wind moved in and we switched to the rifle for a couple days. Of course, that made things easier. However, we still crawled in close on every animal.

 

[Matt_WY]

‘Gemsbok’ I whispered as I froze. Guillaume gave me a sideways glance trying not to move. I softly twitched my head right. That distinctive face and gleaming horns nodded low under the brush, feeding the opposite direction to our travel, 30 yards to the side. I waited, not moving but heart racing, while Guillome tried to ninja a better look through thick trees and brush. ‘Cows’, Guillaume mouthed, and we waited silently for them to feed away before we began moving forward. I was still thinking about the gemsbok and nearly stepped on Guillaume’s heels when he froze again. Impala ram. Staring at us head on at 50-60 yards. Nothing to lose, the sticks went up. I tried to go slow and fast at the same time; the crosshairs eased themselves onto the center of the ram’s chest. He hesitated a hair too long.

 

[Matt_WY]

It had been a slow morning winding our way through the bush…trying to walk quietly on dry leaves and grass, push through thorn bushes, and work the wind as best we could. Finally, our patience and persistence were rewarded. We had eyed the lone bull as he entered a thicket. We couldn’t see him, but we knew he was there. We remained well hidden, crawling closer through the bush. At forty yards we found a shooting lane and the sticks went up. I eased up slowly, and came to that comfortable, now-familiar standing rest. We knew the window would be fleeting. Thumb on the safety I waited while Guillaume searched for movement. ‘He’s standing’ whispered beside me and the safety came off. First only horns were visible, but quickly the bull stepped into the lane, quartering to; just as quickly, the crosshairs paused on the point of is shoulder and the CZ barked.

 

[Matt_WY]

Crawling again, we start to get a better view of the herd of blesbok in the opening. We don’t have much cover anymore, just a thin, leafless bush. Sticks get set at bush-top height and we glass. ‘Wait for the white one to clear and take the brown one on the left.’ I rise to my knees and settle the rifle. The herd starts to move right, leaving the ram clear at about 100 yards.

 

[Matt_WY]

‘What do you want to go after?’ The inevitable question, and I had an answer: ‘Bushbuck.’ I wanted to see one of the little spiral-horned fighters up close and personal. I was told to be prepared to look for days and there was still a good chance we wouldn’t find one. Expectations set, we set out early and headed towards the river. There was a spot Guillaume wanted to hit, an opening at the edge of the river that gets first light. We were there. And just then, a female, and then a male. On the sticks at 100 yards, I waited for confirmation. The female slipped away and the male cleared the cover. Sun gleamed off his horns.

 

[Matt_WY]

We sit quietly under a tree. Warthog again, this time a male by himself. ‘He’s not big, but Lahki would like him for the pot’. The Valkyrie runs him through from 29 yards.

 

[Matt_WY]

The close-up experiences with animals you don’t take are sometimes just as special. Like watching this eland feed by within 15 yards. He never knew we were there.

 

[R.M.C.]

Congratulations!!!

 

[Matt_WY]

So clearly I had fun. I took all the animals on my list and spent days crawling around in the bush.

Sara had fun too. She did get to pet the elephants. She didn't think that would ever be topped until she went to the predator park where there were baby lions to pet. She did an afternoon at the spa, did a cooking class with Amanda, and had a lot of time to herself. We got to spend most lunches together and had evenings together every night. We also did a wine tasting by the river, spent an afternoon driving around looking at game, and did an evening game drive. So Limcroma is definitely SO endorsed!

 

[Matt_WY]

Summary: You won't go wrong with Limcroma. Everything they did was top notch. Accommodations were excellent. Food was excellent. PH was excellent. Hunting areas were large and had a diversity of game. (Game is way more diverse that what I took, including: kudu, roan, eland, giraffe, hartebeest, etc.)

Thanks to Dan, Hannes, Guillaume, Amanda, and their whole staff for a great experience!

 

[R.M.C.]

Sounds cool!!! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[BSO Dave]

Summary: You won't go wrong with Limcroma. Everything they did was top notch. Accommodations were excellent. Food was excellent. PH was excellent. Hunting areas were large and had a diversity of game. (Game is way more diverse that what I took, including: kudu, roan, eland, giraffe, hartebeest, etc.)

Thanks to Dan, Hannes, Guillaume, Amanda, and their whole staff for a great experience

My experience exactly!

We found Limcroma to be a first-class outfit as well. We could not have chosen a better outfitter for a first African Safari. I’m very glad to hear you had such a great experience.

Congrats on what looks like a great hunt. Thanks for sharing your report and your photos!