tay50
AH veteran
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2012
- Messages
- 206
- Reaction score
- 296
- Media
- 17
- Member of
- Ducks Unlimited, SCI, RMEF
- Hunted
- Canada, USA, Michigan, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, RSA, Limpopo, Free State
Dates hunted Sept 1-8
Weapon's used, bow, 270 rifle, a small canon a 458 Lott
My plan this year was to hunt Roedeer in Sweden with my good friend's Kent and Kari, but a phone call from Kent had me diverted to SA. Kent found warthog package that was advertised by Lalamanzi here on AH, price was $1990.00 with 6 warthogs included in the price, great deal. Abri Petorious owner of Lalamanzi was great to deal with responded quickly to any questions via Whatsapp. I paid my hunt in full then waited for the magic day to arrive, Detroit to Amsterdam to JoBerg, I was met by Afton House then off for a good nights sleep. The next morning I was picked up by Justin who would be my PH for the week, we went to the airport to meet Kent and Kari then off to the lodge.
Day 1, all of us load up in the truck, Abri is driving, Kent, Kari, Justin an myself are up top looking for animals, first thing we see is a Steenbuck, we say pass only been hunting 10 minutes. Well this turns into a big mistake, I say we can come back later for him, I'm told it doesn't work that way, and they were right. After driving around for a while and seeing some animals, but not shooting, Justin and I went to a blind sitting over a waterhole. I had my bow and the 270 in the blind, after a short amount of time I look over and whisper give me the rifle, there's a jackal. Well he was nervous and danced around there for a couple of minutes never offering me shot,very disappointing, because I want one. A little later I spot some Impala, they are making their way to the water, Justin says the last one is the biggest and to wait for him. After what seems like forever, I get my preferred shot, I pull back my bow, what the hell I can't see my lighted pins, the blind is so dark that my lighted fiber optic sight just goes black when you step up to the window. So I fine the 20 yard pin and carefully make sure I have the tip of the sight is just above center of the chest since he was at 25 yards, release and perfect hit. We watch him run off, and wait for a few minutes before starting off after him, a little over 100 yards away my first African animal with a bow is in the salt.
Later on that day we were in a different blind and in walks mister warthog, I stand up and wait for the perfect shot, he presents me my shot, I pull back the bow, and my sights blackout again, WTF is going on, do the best I can, I release the arrow looks good to me. Justin says I might be back just a little, and he thinks the warthog has only one tusk, I had seen something weird after the shot, when we got down I found a tusk laying there. Some how after the shot he broke his tusk off, another short track 100 yards or so, my second animal is in the salt.
Day 2,
We take 2 vehicles to their other farm to hunt bushbuck and sable or what ever else we may want, sable is on my wish list. We start seeing animals right away and then we see a very nice sable, but I pass at this point, because I'm not a fan of shooting off the truck, I want to walk and stalk my animal. We see a number of bushbuck, mostly females and a small ram. Long story short I seen a number of sable on this property, but I decided to pass on taking a sable here, because I didn't feel like I was earning it, just killing it, Abri understood this and agreed 100% with me not taking one. I shot a small warthog at the end of the day, some of the farm workers wanted one, so I was happy to help.
Day 3,
Not my best day, but it ended good, Justin and I had checked some trail cameras and noticed a good waterbuck coming to one of the waterholes. So after driving around in the morning looking for animals, like we did this every morning, Justin said lets set for the waterbuck until 3 o'clock. Well we have different animals come and go and 3 minutes before 3 o'clock, I looked out to the side of the blind and there was the waterbuck. He comes in offers a perfect shot, and you guessed it when I pull my bow back no sights, I put my sight on his chest and release, my bow makes a horrible sound, Justin says what was that, I don't know. The waterbuck is hit low and left, I was hoping for rear lung, Justin said nope its in the guts. We gather up everything and start tracking, bow is put away and the 270 is out, this is where I get the shock of my life, this big 26 year old south african kid can track like I have never seen, unfortunately this won't be his first test. After an hour or so we finally jump the waterbuck, he doesn't go far and stops try a shot but, it doesn't sound like a hit and he runs off. A few hundred yards later we see him standing, shoot and a hit, we walk up, Justin hands me his 9mm, I put one last one in his chest.
Day 4,
Back to the range to shoot my bow everything sounds good and my shooting is dead on? So we have drank all the beer and Abri has to go get more, Kent, Kari and myself are on the back of the truck with Justin driving we spend the morning hunting, still trying to get that darn steenbuck. After awhile all four of us go to a blind is sit to see what we can see, and what shows up 2 minutes after we get there 2 red hartebeest, neither one of us want to shoot it, but I think this is a good time to checkout my sight picture. As I'm standing there looking at the RH with my bow pulled back, looking at the pins blackout again, I decide I will shoot it, in place of the blue wildebeest. I settle in, release low left again, I'm so disgusted with myself, and the longest tracking job I have been on starts. Justin amazes me again, at some points of the tracking he is just following tracks no blood then there would be a drop of blood, long story short, we jumped him once and he was still with his buddy. We loose the track, and I put the bow away, 4 trips to Africa and today I lost my first animal.
Day 5.
Today is not a fun day, we go back to the blind I shot the RH and wait to see if he will come drink, 11.5 hours later we leave the blind, no RH showed up, but many animals did, I so wanted to finish what I started the day before
Day 6,
We are out driving around looking for animals again especially steenbuck, spot a few even one with very nice horns according to Justin, but do you think I can spot him, yep I can right after they take off running, I'm really not liking them right now. We decide or Justin rather decides we should go sit at this one blind for the evening since I would like a chance at an eland, we had some on trail cam. I also have my bow again and we try holding a light on the fiber optics to light them up, nothing worked, so I set the bow in the corner for good. We have some nice animals come in today, but I didn't shoot any, then just before dark an eland shows up, Justin says he would be good for a first one with a bow, I remind him it's retired for the rest of the trip, so we pass.
Day 7,
Last day, everything is on the table to hunt today, once again the steenbuck wins, and every time we see RH we stop and look for mine, finally a big zebra is standing there 80 yards away with nothing but a big bush between us, before the truck could move so I could have a clear shot he was gone. That afternoon we were back at the eland blind, Abri told me that no one has taken a bull on this property in 3 years, they are very smart. We are sitting there and we hear something walking, in come the giraffe, they are wanting to water, but they never did, because a huge bull eland came in. Justin said we are shooting this bull and he handed me his 458 Lott with a red dot scope on it, at about 40 yards or so he finally turned broadside and I shot. The next thing that came out of my mouth was where the hell did the mule come from that just kicked me? The eland went a few yards and went down, we were celebrating when I looked out and seen the eland standing up. I bolted up another round and as I was getting ready to have the shit kicked out of me again I watched him fall for the last time. This eland has completed my spiral slam.
Lalamanzi Safaris is a very nice outfit their lodging and hospitably is outstanding, there was hot and cold breakfast offerings, cold lunches were made for you, even the sandwiches were made for you when you were at the lodge. I myself would prefer to make my own sandwiches, I didn't say anything, because in the end it was still good. Dinners were very good, Kent and I prefer game meat and wished we could have it every night, but I understand these outfitters probably get tired of eating it. Abri's wife made very nice deserts to end our meals. Would I go back to hunt with Lalamanzi Safaris, yes I would, just know you will be hunting off the truck or out of a blind. I did go on a couple of walk and stalk hunts and as Abri had told me it will be very hard hunting as the brush is thick, and it was. My room was very nice I had my little own house with bathroom and small kitchen, refrigerator was stocked with cold drinks, and a basket of snacks was set out for your pleasure. Oh by the way as we drove up to the gate to leave a very nice steenbuck was standing there waiting for us, he ran 40 feet to the side and stood there, and I'm sure if he could have, he would have flipped me the bird, well he kind of did in a way. Please forgive any spelling or punctuation errors, thanks for reading.
Weapon's used, bow, 270 rifle, a small canon a 458 Lott
My plan this year was to hunt Roedeer in Sweden with my good friend's Kent and Kari, but a phone call from Kent had me diverted to SA. Kent found warthog package that was advertised by Lalamanzi here on AH, price was $1990.00 with 6 warthogs included in the price, great deal. Abri Petorious owner of Lalamanzi was great to deal with responded quickly to any questions via Whatsapp. I paid my hunt in full then waited for the magic day to arrive, Detroit to Amsterdam to JoBerg, I was met by Afton House then off for a good nights sleep. The next morning I was picked up by Justin who would be my PH for the week, we went to the airport to meet Kent and Kari then off to the lodge.
Day 1, all of us load up in the truck, Abri is driving, Kent, Kari, Justin an myself are up top looking for animals, first thing we see is a Steenbuck, we say pass only been hunting 10 minutes. Well this turns into a big mistake, I say we can come back later for him, I'm told it doesn't work that way, and they were right. After driving around for a while and seeing some animals, but not shooting, Justin and I went to a blind sitting over a waterhole. I had my bow and the 270 in the blind, after a short amount of time I look over and whisper give me the rifle, there's a jackal. Well he was nervous and danced around there for a couple of minutes never offering me shot,very disappointing, because I want one. A little later I spot some Impala, they are making their way to the water, Justin says the last one is the biggest and to wait for him. After what seems like forever, I get my preferred shot, I pull back my bow, what the hell I can't see my lighted pins, the blind is so dark that my lighted fiber optic sight just goes black when you step up to the window. So I fine the 20 yard pin and carefully make sure I have the tip of the sight is just above center of the chest since he was at 25 yards, release and perfect hit. We watch him run off, and wait for a few minutes before starting off after him, a little over 100 yards away my first African animal with a bow is in the salt.
Later on that day we were in a different blind and in walks mister warthog, I stand up and wait for the perfect shot, he presents me my shot, I pull back the bow, and my sights blackout again, WTF is going on, do the best I can, I release the arrow looks good to me. Justin says I might be back just a little, and he thinks the warthog has only one tusk, I had seen something weird after the shot, when we got down I found a tusk laying there. Some how after the shot he broke his tusk off, another short track 100 yards or so, my second animal is in the salt.
Day 2,
We take 2 vehicles to their other farm to hunt bushbuck and sable or what ever else we may want, sable is on my wish list. We start seeing animals right away and then we see a very nice sable, but I pass at this point, because I'm not a fan of shooting off the truck, I want to walk and stalk my animal. We see a number of bushbuck, mostly females and a small ram. Long story short I seen a number of sable on this property, but I decided to pass on taking a sable here, because I didn't feel like I was earning it, just killing it, Abri understood this and agreed 100% with me not taking one. I shot a small warthog at the end of the day, some of the farm workers wanted one, so I was happy to help.
Day 3,
Not my best day, but it ended good, Justin and I had checked some trail cameras and noticed a good waterbuck coming to one of the waterholes. So after driving around in the morning looking for animals, like we did this every morning, Justin said lets set for the waterbuck until 3 o'clock. Well we have different animals come and go and 3 minutes before 3 o'clock, I looked out to the side of the blind and there was the waterbuck. He comes in offers a perfect shot, and you guessed it when I pull my bow back no sights, I put my sight on his chest and release, my bow makes a horrible sound, Justin says what was that, I don't know. The waterbuck is hit low and left, I was hoping for rear lung, Justin said nope its in the guts. We gather up everything and start tracking, bow is put away and the 270 is out, this is where I get the shock of my life, this big 26 year old south african kid can track like I have never seen, unfortunately this won't be his first test. After an hour or so we finally jump the waterbuck, he doesn't go far and stops try a shot but, it doesn't sound like a hit and he runs off. A few hundred yards later we see him standing, shoot and a hit, we walk up, Justin hands me his 9mm, I put one last one in his chest.
Day 4,
Back to the range to shoot my bow everything sounds good and my shooting is dead on? So we have drank all the beer and Abri has to go get more, Kent, Kari and myself are on the back of the truck with Justin driving we spend the morning hunting, still trying to get that darn steenbuck. After awhile all four of us go to a blind is sit to see what we can see, and what shows up 2 minutes after we get there 2 red hartebeest, neither one of us want to shoot it, but I think this is a good time to checkout my sight picture. As I'm standing there looking at the RH with my bow pulled back, looking at the pins blackout again, I decide I will shoot it, in place of the blue wildebeest. I settle in, release low left again, I'm so disgusted with myself, and the longest tracking job I have been on starts. Justin amazes me again, at some points of the tracking he is just following tracks no blood then there would be a drop of blood, long story short, we jumped him once and he was still with his buddy. We loose the track, and I put the bow away, 4 trips to Africa and today I lost my first animal.
Day 5.
Today is not a fun day, we go back to the blind I shot the RH and wait to see if he will come drink, 11.5 hours later we leave the blind, no RH showed up, but many animals did, I so wanted to finish what I started the day before
Day 6,
We are out driving around looking for animals again especially steenbuck, spot a few even one with very nice horns according to Justin, but do you think I can spot him, yep I can right after they take off running, I'm really not liking them right now. We decide or Justin rather decides we should go sit at this one blind for the evening since I would like a chance at an eland, we had some on trail cam. I also have my bow again and we try holding a light on the fiber optics to light them up, nothing worked, so I set the bow in the corner for good. We have some nice animals come in today, but I didn't shoot any, then just before dark an eland shows up, Justin says he would be good for a first one with a bow, I remind him it's retired for the rest of the trip, so we pass.
Day 7,
Last day, everything is on the table to hunt today, once again the steenbuck wins, and every time we see RH we stop and look for mine, finally a big zebra is standing there 80 yards away with nothing but a big bush between us, before the truck could move so I could have a clear shot he was gone. That afternoon we were back at the eland blind, Abri told me that no one has taken a bull on this property in 3 years, they are very smart. We are sitting there and we hear something walking, in come the giraffe, they are wanting to water, but they never did, because a huge bull eland came in. Justin said we are shooting this bull and he handed me his 458 Lott with a red dot scope on it, at about 40 yards or so he finally turned broadside and I shot. The next thing that came out of my mouth was where the hell did the mule come from that just kicked me? The eland went a few yards and went down, we were celebrating when I looked out and seen the eland standing up. I bolted up another round and as I was getting ready to have the shit kicked out of me again I watched him fall for the last time. This eland has completed my spiral slam.
Lalamanzi Safaris is a very nice outfit their lodging and hospitably is outstanding, there was hot and cold breakfast offerings, cold lunches were made for you, even the sandwiches were made for you when you were at the lodge. I myself would prefer to make my own sandwiches, I didn't say anything, because in the end it was still good. Dinners were very good, Kent and I prefer game meat and wished we could have it every night, but I understand these outfitters probably get tired of eating it. Abri's wife made very nice deserts to end our meals. Would I go back to hunt with Lalamanzi Safaris, yes I would, just know you will be hunting off the truck or out of a blind. I did go on a couple of walk and stalk hunts and as Abri had told me it will be very hard hunting as the brush is thick, and it was. My room was very nice I had my little own house with bathroom and small kitchen, refrigerator was stocked with cold drinks, and a basket of snacks was set out for your pleasure. Oh by the way as we drove up to the gate to leave a very nice steenbuck was standing there waiting for us, he ran 40 feet to the side and stood there, and I'm sure if he could have, he would have flipped me the bird, well he kind of did in a way. Please forgive any spelling or punctuation errors, thanks for reading.
