ZAMBIA: SOUTH AFRICA: My Hunt With Takeri Reserve, Diekie Mueller Safaris & Coenraad Vermaak Safaris

[gillettehunter]

 

[gillettehunter]

Blue Duiker

 

[gillettehunter]

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I can't believe Roya'ls blue duiker made it all the way from the EC to Zambia! Awesome trophies Bruce!! If the sable in the picture that is standing is not the one you took, somebody else is going to have a great one too.

 

[gillettehunter]

If the sable in the picture that is standing is not the one you took, somebody else is going to have a great one too.

Different Sable. There are at least 2 longer than mine. One we tried for the day before. The other in the photo is a young bull off limitsn for hunting until he spends some time as a stud.... Bruce

 

[cpr0312]

Nice Sable! And congrats on the duiker also!

 

[gillettehunter]

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Different Sable. There are at least 2 longer than mine. One we tried for the day before. The other in the photo is a young bull off limitsn for hunting until he spends some time as a stud.... Bruce

I do hope he spreads his genes prolifically!

 

[gillettehunter]

Chobe Bushbuck

 

[spike.t]

I can't believe Roya'ls blue duiker made it all the way from the EC to Zambia! Awesome trophies Bruce!! If the sable in the picture that is standing is not the one you took, somebody else is going to have a great one too.

yeah phil thats not bruces one its one of our young bulls thats not quite mature and still in a bachelor herd

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

yeah phil thats not bruces one its one of our young bulls thats not quite mature and still in a bachelor herd

Will his horns grow more from this point? He's already in my less than experienced opinion a great trophy, if he gets even bigger, he will be amazing.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Will his horns grow more from this point? He's already in my less than experienced opinion a great trophy, if he gets even bigger, he will be amazing.

Looking at the picture I can't see any secondary growth yet.

Just needs to get his Wheaties for two or three more years.
Gotta be able to grow some more.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

This Bushbuck will not grow more, he is passed his prime, a perfect trophy to be harvested... beautiful animal!

 

[gillettehunter]

For the aftn activities went out to the river and put out a croc bait. No hunters right now, but they'd like to see whats around right now. Then we went to see if we might find another Bushbuck. No dice. Pleasent walk. Saw several, but no males to interest us.
This AM as we drove down to take a walk and look for a Bushbuck or a Reedbuck we saw a good Bushbuck along the road. We pulled forward and offloaded. He had left when we did. Spent about 20 min looking, but no sign of him. They don't get big if they are dumb....
On our way back we saw several sable. lose to the house was one bedded perhaps 30 yds off of the road. Nice bull. Patsy says to Bluey, "why don't you see how close you can get". So Bluey hops out of the cab, comes around the end of the truck and takes off running at this Sable. The sable only sees him at 12-15 yards and jumps up and runs a short distance away. Bluey got to about 25 feet before he left.
The tracker could still see the sable which arose suspiscions. Patsy went for a closer look. The bull has a broken shoulder. Likely a poachers bullet too high..... He had run off so we left for an hr and went back to see if we could put him down. Spent about 1 1/2 hrs in the bush. It was decided that Mike would shoot because even tho he is a owner he has never taken one here at Takeri. No dice. They jumped him 2 times with no real shot opportunity...... Patsy and I were in the bush about half of that time. Then patrolling the rd. Saw 3 eland. Also took a close look at a "nursery" group of Sable calves. We found 2 with leg injuries. One is quite bad. Likely poachers dogs running them..... More work ahead for the crew here. They will eventually dart and examine them to see what can be done.....
This aftn back for the sable and the last hr for Bushbuck. Almost done here at Takeri. Tomorrow off to the Limpopo. Bruce

 

[spike.t]

Looking at the picture I can't see any secondary growth yet.

Just needs to get his Wheaties for two or three more years.
Gotta be able to grow some more.

@PHOENIX PHIL wayne is correct we are hoping when he is mature he muscles in on a herd and gets down to business....

 

[BRICKBURN]

Seems you guys need some leg hold traps for two legged beasts.

Hope you find that bull sooner than later.

Safe travels Bruce.

 

[Nyati]

Love that Puku, Bruce

 

[gillettehunter]

Well we went out and made a stalk for the sable. Too many out there so We Left Mike, Bluey and a tracker to have at it. We then found that the sable calf with the worst leg had been left by the nursemaid herd. It was with 4 immature bulls. Patsy decided to dart it and get it into a Bomma to see if it could be saved. Its cries for mom were sort of a mew and quite pitiful. Left a tracker to watch and headed back for dart rifle and accessories. When we got back the calf had left the bulls and took off on its own to try and find mom..... First pass nothing. I suggested to Patsy that we split up, each w/ a tracker and see if we could find the calf. My tracker and I found him back with a small group of cows.
Patsy made a try with a dart and missed. Getting late so we gave up for the time being.... Went to see if we could find the bull. We worked through several heading to water. No dice. Mike and Bluey also jumped and lost him.... So no luck.
My stay at Takeri is over and I'm sorry to leave. Some ending thoughts. Its a great place to go hunt with great people. End of the road. Its a hunting camp, not a leisure lodge. It is what it is. If you want great hunting and not necessarily ALL of the creature comforts in truely wild africa then this is the place to go.
The trip back to Jo-berg and on to Diekie Mueller safaris went well. On the way to the farm Diekie tempted me with a Roan offer. Only 1 om the place. Been here several yrs. The female he had died..... So we'll try to find him in the bush. 2000 acres. about 3 su miles of bushveld to look for him. 7 watering points so no real concetration from that.... Should be a good hunt. Then perhaps a Bushbuck, out of an orchard where they are damaging trees. "Massive" orchard.... Sounds like a great way to spend the next 3.5 days. Bruce

 

[enysse]

Congrats on the great animals! That puku is a dream!

 

[gillettehunter]

First of all thanks for the kind words on the trophies. I am extremely pleased. Always nice to take mature animals....
I want to start by saying that Diekies place is one of the nicest that I have seen in Africa. I like it here. Parts of the Limpopo have had some rain. Standing water in places coming here. Diekie had 1/2 inch a few days ago, but it has been hot. 96 at 10:30 AM. There is some more rain in the forecast. Just a hint of green here. Makes it tough for the animals.
We took a couple of shots and dialed the rifle in. Then headed out to see if we could find this roan. He has a place that he likes to bed. Been pretty consistant. We parked 3/8 of a mile away and stalked in. No dice. He had not been there since the rain 3 days prior..... Down the road a ways and make another walk. Nothing. Seeing some good Blesboks and Eland too.. At the end of the 3rd walk the truck coming to get us jumps the Roan. He comes somewhat towards us. We make a sneak and he sees us and is gone. We see him 4 more times and make 3 more stalks and come up empty. The wind has been switching directions all day. That and the fact he has been usually going downwind.... Can't seem to get a break. He has been here over 2 yrs. and usually doesn't spook badly from the truck. Right now its just not our day to get a shot... Back for a long lunch siesta and brunch which is great.
Tonight we will go fo Bushbuck. They are picking the peaches and thus keeping the Bushbuck out until dark. We'll be spotlighting them and see what happens... Bruce