Nyati
AH ambassador
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2011
- Messages
- 15,886
- Reaction score
- 71,190
- Location
- Madrid, Spain
- Media
- 145
- Articles
- 1
- Member of
- RFEC, RFETO
- Hunted
- Spain, Finland, RSA ( KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, North West, Northern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga)
On September 3rd, I went back to the Northern Cape Province of RSA. My outfitter is Adam Barnard/4Aces. I have hunted twice with him before, a serious guy who can be trusted, no surprises with him, and he always does his best to satisfy his clients. My goal was to take a Sable, Roan and Aoudad, then, just see if Africa offers anything interesting.
After a long flight, we arrived at Kimberley, drove to the farm, and checked guns. With three flights and short connections, I did not trust the airlines with my rifle, so I rented a Musgrave Mod 80 in .270 Win with sound suppressor; the ammo was the local PMP 150gr very similar to a Nosler Partition. It had a nice scope, Swarowski Z6i 2, 5-15x44 P HD.
Camp is very comfortable, with two chalets and three large tents, plus a large bar/lounge, dining room, terrace, and fire pit area. Food is excellent, based on different animals which have been hunted, salads, veggies… I was able to dine with my favorite, Eland, and was surprised with Roan fillets which are absolutely delicious. Great Roodeberg red wine and Castle beer. The bar had a good selection of Scotch and Irish whiskies and other liquors.
Three other Spanish hunters were with me, one a very experienced international hunter, the second had a lot of experience in Spain but had never been in Africa before, and the third is a longtime friend of mine who is the agent of 4Aces in Spain and conducts several hunts a year for US hunters who come to shoot our Ibex. He has been to Africa around 20 times. For me this will be my 7th Safari in RSA.
My PH was Super, a Namibian who has hunted all over southern Africa, including Mozambique, very experienced, good sense of humor, a pleasure to hunt with. Our tracker was Jason a young Khoisan I had hunted with before, a cheerful guy and excellent at his job. I had a great team.
The farm we hunted is about 4.000 ha; it has all the antelope common to the area plus a herd of buffalo. I really enjoyed the antics of the smaller animals, meerkats, ground squirrels and mongooses. The diversity of birds is amazing. Didn’t see a snake this time, only tracks of what seemed like a puff adder.
Day 1. We are looking for a very aggressive Sable who is fighting all the other males and goes around with four females; Adam wants to take him out before he kills another male. The weather is not helping us, overcast, with shifting winds, the area has been suffering from a severe drought for years now, so the vegetation is extremely dry and we cannot help making noise when walking over the dry grass. We see a genet, which is rare in daytime and a herd of Aoudad.
Found the sable and his females after 2,30 hours, we start stalking them, but they hear us and run away, we start again and the situation repeats itself, I manage to put him in the crosshairs of my scope a few time, but the females keep moving around him, and I don´t have a clear shot.
We stop for lunch, tired, and rest for about 1 hour, giving them time to settle down. We continue the stalk, around 16.30 they stop in a clearing, he knows we are still after him and is facing us, about 120m away, I am on the sticks, behind a bush, the females move away, I have a clear target and fire, frontal shot in the middle of the chest. He collapses on the spot.
Day 2. We are now looking for a nice Roan, weather has not changed, with variable winds, we see a Jackal, but he is too fast for me.
Around 12:30 we see a small herd of Roan with a good male, we start the stalk very slowly as they are obviously hearing us, and keep their distance, about 1 hour later, we are hidden behind some trees and see that the big male is staying behind and the rest of the herd is going away, he is facing us, at about 100m, observing our trees, so we cannot step aside and set up the sticks. Super finds a spot about waist level where I can shoot through the trees, so I get down on one knee, put the crosshairs on him, and he starts turning to join the herd. I give him a high double lung shot; he runs about 50m and is down.
Day 3. Now searching for a good Aoudad, we spend the whole day looking for recent tracks all over the farm, paths, water points, kopjes (small rocky hills) where they like to stay, and nothing, they seem to have just disappeared!
Day 4. We continue our search for the elusive Aoudad, and finally around 17:00 we see a small group. We start the stalk; they hear us due to that dry grass, and run. I did manage to have them in my crosshairs a couple of time but could not take a clear shot, as they are in the habit of moving in a tight group, reminds me of the Mouflons.
Day 5. We start looking for the Aoudad where we lost the group yesterday and found tracks. Found a herd of about a dozen around 08:30, and followed them. Same story as yesterday, they hear us and keep their distance, all in a tight group where there is no possibility of taking a shot. Then we see them crossing an open space and going in the direction of a low kopje about 300m away, so, we made a plan.
Super called Jason to bring the bakkie, Jason was to follow the herd slowly, on foot, while Super and I would drive to the other side of the kopje and set an ambush. The plan seemed to be working, the Aoudad did not go over the kopje, but around it, now they came in single file and started climbing from our side, about 140m away. Super said, third from the right, take him. He had stopped for a moment and I was able to take careful aim for a heart shot. He just dropped on the spot.
Aoudad recovery team
Day 6. As a true Spaniard, I have a soft spot for pigs of any type, but I already have 16 warthogs, so I am not shooting any more unless they are really big. During our hunt so far I saw several, but none old enough, so we went to a 21.000 ha cattle farm which is 80 km away where I have shot my largest warthogs. We spent the morning at a couple of water points, but nothing interesting came up, so we went back to the farm for lunch.
I love Springboks, a beautiful trophy of small size which can be placed almost anywhere, and they are not expensive. Hunting a good one is not easy, often requiring long shots, I reminds me of hunting roe deer. I already have two, so I challenged Super, to find a bigger one. And he took me up, after 1,30hours driving around, he said, there is your Springbok, we parked behind a large bush and set out for him, when we were about 180m away, he said, we cannot get any closer, he is looking at us, so we set up the sticks, and he said, on the dark stripe, behind the shoulder. The bullet went through him and he just laid there.
On our way back we saw another Jackal, but again he eluded me, smart animals!
Day 7. Hunting is over. During the morning we went to Kimberley for some shopping, as the wife has to be kept happy.
In the afternoon we go to a nearby farm to take photos, they have a good herd of giraffe.
Baboons on a distant hill.
After a long flight, we arrived at Kimberley, drove to the farm, and checked guns. With three flights and short connections, I did not trust the airlines with my rifle, so I rented a Musgrave Mod 80 in .270 Win with sound suppressor; the ammo was the local PMP 150gr very similar to a Nosler Partition. It had a nice scope, Swarowski Z6i 2, 5-15x44 P HD.
Camp is very comfortable, with two chalets and three large tents, plus a large bar/lounge, dining room, terrace, and fire pit area. Food is excellent, based on different animals which have been hunted, salads, veggies… I was able to dine with my favorite, Eland, and was surprised with Roan fillets which are absolutely delicious. Great Roodeberg red wine and Castle beer. The bar had a good selection of Scotch and Irish whiskies and other liquors.
Three other Spanish hunters were with me, one a very experienced international hunter, the second had a lot of experience in Spain but had never been in Africa before, and the third is a longtime friend of mine who is the agent of 4Aces in Spain and conducts several hunts a year for US hunters who come to shoot our Ibex. He has been to Africa around 20 times. For me this will be my 7th Safari in RSA.
My PH was Super, a Namibian who has hunted all over southern Africa, including Mozambique, very experienced, good sense of humor, a pleasure to hunt with. Our tracker was Jason a young Khoisan I had hunted with before, a cheerful guy and excellent at his job. I had a great team.
The farm we hunted is about 4.000 ha; it has all the antelope common to the area plus a herd of buffalo. I really enjoyed the antics of the smaller animals, meerkats, ground squirrels and mongooses. The diversity of birds is amazing. Didn’t see a snake this time, only tracks of what seemed like a puff adder.
Day 1. We are looking for a very aggressive Sable who is fighting all the other males and goes around with four females; Adam wants to take him out before he kills another male. The weather is not helping us, overcast, with shifting winds, the area has been suffering from a severe drought for years now, so the vegetation is extremely dry and we cannot help making noise when walking over the dry grass. We see a genet, which is rare in daytime and a herd of Aoudad.
Found the sable and his females after 2,30 hours, we start stalking them, but they hear us and run away, we start again and the situation repeats itself, I manage to put him in the crosshairs of my scope a few time, but the females keep moving around him, and I don´t have a clear shot.
We stop for lunch, tired, and rest for about 1 hour, giving them time to settle down. We continue the stalk, around 16.30 they stop in a clearing, he knows we are still after him and is facing us, about 120m away, I am on the sticks, behind a bush, the females move away, I have a clear target and fire, frontal shot in the middle of the chest. He collapses on the spot.
Day 2. We are now looking for a nice Roan, weather has not changed, with variable winds, we see a Jackal, but he is too fast for me.
Around 12:30 we see a small herd of Roan with a good male, we start the stalk very slowly as they are obviously hearing us, and keep their distance, about 1 hour later, we are hidden behind some trees and see that the big male is staying behind and the rest of the herd is going away, he is facing us, at about 100m, observing our trees, so we cannot step aside and set up the sticks. Super finds a spot about waist level where I can shoot through the trees, so I get down on one knee, put the crosshairs on him, and he starts turning to join the herd. I give him a high double lung shot; he runs about 50m and is down.
Day 3. Now searching for a good Aoudad, we spend the whole day looking for recent tracks all over the farm, paths, water points, kopjes (small rocky hills) where they like to stay, and nothing, they seem to have just disappeared!
Day 4. We continue our search for the elusive Aoudad, and finally around 17:00 we see a small group. We start the stalk; they hear us due to that dry grass, and run. I did manage to have them in my crosshairs a couple of time but could not take a clear shot, as they are in the habit of moving in a tight group, reminds me of the Mouflons.
Day 5. We start looking for the Aoudad where we lost the group yesterday and found tracks. Found a herd of about a dozen around 08:30, and followed them. Same story as yesterday, they hear us and keep their distance, all in a tight group where there is no possibility of taking a shot. Then we see them crossing an open space and going in the direction of a low kopje about 300m away, so, we made a plan.
Super called Jason to bring the bakkie, Jason was to follow the herd slowly, on foot, while Super and I would drive to the other side of the kopje and set an ambush. The plan seemed to be working, the Aoudad did not go over the kopje, but around it, now they came in single file and started climbing from our side, about 140m away. Super said, third from the right, take him. He had stopped for a moment and I was able to take careful aim for a heart shot. He just dropped on the spot.
Aoudad recovery team
Day 6. As a true Spaniard, I have a soft spot for pigs of any type, but I already have 16 warthogs, so I am not shooting any more unless they are really big. During our hunt so far I saw several, but none old enough, so we went to a 21.000 ha cattle farm which is 80 km away where I have shot my largest warthogs. We spent the morning at a couple of water points, but nothing interesting came up, so we went back to the farm for lunch.
I love Springboks, a beautiful trophy of small size which can be placed almost anywhere, and they are not expensive. Hunting a good one is not easy, often requiring long shots, I reminds me of hunting roe deer. I already have two, so I challenged Super, to find a bigger one. And he took me up, after 1,30hours driving around, he said, there is your Springbok, we parked behind a large bush and set out for him, when we were about 180m away, he said, we cannot get any closer, he is looking at us, so we set up the sticks, and he said, on the dark stripe, behind the shoulder. The bullet went through him and he just laid there.
On our way back we saw another Jackal, but again he eluded me, smart animals!
Day 7. Hunting is over. During the morning we went to Kimberley for some shopping, as the wife has to be kept happy.
In the afternoon we go to a nearby farm to take photos, they have a good herd of giraffe.
Baboons on a distant hill.
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