Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Trip Report Tuli Block Botswana Aug 2023

Finally getting caught up on things after being gone for almost three weeks and have time to sort out a trip report. As usual, grab a cup of coffee or your favorite adult beverage and take a vicarious trip with us.

Tuli Block Botswana - Hunting was split between Darnaway Farm with Kevin & Lindi Nell and Basinghall Farm with Wim Biemond -neighboring adjoining farms.

Hunters: Myself, Chris and his nephew Frank. They've asked me to withhold their last names but, I've invited them to join the forum.

Firearms: Me – Ruger 77 African in 9.3x62 with hand loaded 286gr Speer Grand Slams at 2300fps.
Chris & Frank: Remington 700 in 30-06 with factory 180gr ammo -shared the rifle between them.

Adventure Began: 19 Aug.
Arrived in Camp: 21 Aug around 1 pm.
First Hunting Day: 22 Aug
Last Hunting Day: 4 Sep
Depart for Home: 5 Sep
Return to Reality: 6 Sep

Airline: Delta – Tampa - Atlanta - Johannesburg. Overnight in Jberg at the City Lodge Hotel and on the next morning (21 Aug) with SA Airlink to Gaborone Botswana.

Background:

For those of you who may have been following my posts on this forum, you know I do these small group hunts at least once or sometimes twice a year. This year’s trip was planned out at the end of 2022 and dates set. Posted info up on this forum, "Tuli Block Offer Aug 2023" and at a local gunshow in Lakeland Fl. I have a table at three times a year.

I have hunted with Kevin & Lindi and Wim on their respective farms over several trips to the Tuli Block area the previous 5-years. The primary hunting those years was on an adjoining farm call Saas Post. You can find my previous trip reports posted here too. In 2022, the owner of Saas Post decided to close it to outside hunters and use it just for himself and his friends. This opened an opportunity in the Tuli Block area for Wim, Kevin & Lindi to open their farms up to “international” hunters. Previous to this, they catered to local Botswana and RSA weekend meat/biltong hunters and what they call “corporate clients”. These are small groups of mostly urban people who come for a long weekend get away in “the bush”. They may or may not do any actual hunting and if they do, they have little interest in “trophy” hunting so, it's limited to a couple of meat animals for their consumption while there and some to take home. Sometimes Wim & Kevin shoot animals themselves to supply local butchery/markets or individuals. So, in effect, our little group was their first run of the truly fully catered “intercontinental trophy hunters” and they hit it out of the park!!

This was Chris and Frank’s first hunting trip to Africa. Chris is retired military and has traveled a good bit but, had very limited, four legged game, hunting experience. Frank had traveled a bit, but had never “hunted” before. So, they were both kind of jumping into the deep end of the pool. I met Chris at the Lakeland Fl gunshow either late 2022 or early this year. We talked and emailed and texted a good bit and he decided to go. I booked our tickets and hotel room reservations.

As it turned out, Wim (Phd Archaeology) had been invited to attend a rather prestigious archaeological conference in Houston TX in June, to give a presentation on some of the archaeological work/findings he’d done to date in Botswana. He came to stay with Anila and I for a few days after the conference and Chris and Frank got to meet him.

Flights over were pretty good and generally uneventful. The initial Delta check-in was surprisingly smooth and fast. I had booked us on Delta to Jberg then a separate set of tickets on SA Airlink. While we “could” have checked everything thru to Gaborone, I thought it was a better idea to just claim everything in Jberg and re-check directly with SA Airlink the next morning, as we’d still need to pay the rifle fee and get our boarding passes anyway. This also makes nearly certain that the luggage/rifle cases get on the flight's manifest and on the plane. The major factor is leaving the checked bags in Jberg for 12+ hours and the airport’s notorious history of stuff being stolen out of luggage. I’m not too worried about rifles getting stolen or cases broken into as they are stored overnight in the police vault next to the SAPS office in the airport. I normally do the SAPS 520 Temp Firearm Import forms so that wasn’t a worry and no need to pay a “meet and greet” service an extra $150-$200 each for that.

Arrival in Jberg was on time – 7pmish. Immigration was quicker than usual and checked bags came down the carousel much quicker than in the past and off to the SAPS office. Due to this trip being later in the season there was not the normal crowd of hunters, PH’s and clearing agents lined up, as is the case earlier in the season. There were maybe 8-10 of us. Only hitch was, we gave the SAPS officers the completed 520’s and all the support docs but, for some reason they thought we were waiting on clearing agents and didn’t actually start doing the permits until the end. I guess they’re so many paying the extra fees to clearing agents/meet and greet services they just don’t expect a traveler to be doing it themselves. Anyway, still about a hour from getting off the plan to check-in at the hotel. We met up a few minutes later and went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. I just had a nice house salad for dinner and Chis and Frank did the full dinner buffet.

Next morning, we skipped the hotel breakfast buffet and checked in with SA Airlink . Once thru security and passport control we had breakfast at one of the air-side lounges - Shongololo. Airlink departed on time and less than an hour later we landed in Gabs. Luggage and rifles pitched up on one of the baggage carousels and off to security. We had copies of the import permits but, I told the little agent that I had to get the original import permits from our guide just outside the secure area and I’d be right back. She was a bit confused. Not usual because even though Gaborone is the capital, most of the hunters and firearms enter Botswana farther north in Maun or Kasane. Since very few hunters/firearms are seen/processed, she had to call a supervisor and it was all sorted out in a couple of minutes and we were on our way to camp. We did make a quick stop at a bottle store (liqueur store) to get a couple of bottles of Jagermeister to do the traditional toasts to the animals in the evening. Here are some pics and description of the “camp”.



You enter from a two-track road just behind the two elevated sleeping tents on the left. The dinning table is the light green cover, the main cooking tent is the dark green and on the right is the main cooking tent. On the far right is one of the three other elevated sleeping tents. And of course, is the central fire-pit in the center and “braai” on the near left.



These are the other two of the five total elevated sleeping tents to the right of the single high one one on the right above. The Limpopo river is to the right of this picture about 100 meters and these are the two are between the cooking/dinning area to the right of them. The ablution area to the left of them.



This is the ablution area. The basin in the foreground is for washing pots/pans. Just behind that and behind they screening is a basin for washing/shaving and behind that is the shower and on the far side, thru a separate entrance is the toilet.



Water for washing/bathing and cooking is brought down from the main house as needed and pumped up the high tank. Hot water is provide vie a wood fired "water donkey". This is in the evening when It's in full afterburner.



This is the dinning/cook tent area and Kevin getting some drinks. There are always koolboxes with bottle water, sodas and beer available in camp and on the trucks while hunting. While Kevin and Wim won’t say anything to you about having a beer while hunting, they prefer you refrain from alcohol while you’re actually hunting – booze and high powered rifles tend not to be a good/safe combination.




The meals they prepared were EXCEPTIONAL. My wife and I have stayed in some very nice/expensive lodges in Namibia, South Africa and Botswana and Lindi’s table far was as good as all of them and better than most of them. Everything was game meat most of which came from what we shot. The first day they had to use some meat that was previously taken by Kevin until we had time to put some in the cooler and one night she did a chicken pot pie that was TERRIFIC!

Breakfasts were eggs, either fried or scrambled. Ham/bacon, sausages, fire toasted bread, fresh fruit, yogurt, fresh squeezed orange juice from fresh picked oranges from Wim’s orchard. Several dry cereals available etc.

Wim's young orchard.



Lunch, if we hunted with Kevin, were done back in camp or occasionally picnic style down on the river. If hunting with Wim at his place, it was always picnic style at one of two very scenic spots on the river at his place like this. It’s a dam Wim’s father built across the Limpopo river in the early 50’s. That’s RSA on the other side.



When Wim was growing up, they kept a car on the RSA side near the clearing by the tree. His mother would cross the dam everyday with the kids and take them to school in RSA. During the spring floods, they'd go across on a raft and cable system. Yes, there are crocs in the river?

The hunting was pretty good. The animals were seriously switched on as they had been hunted a good bit a few weeks before. If they even heard the bakkie (truck), it was generally just tails and dust. With the exception of a few injured cull animals taken from the truck, stalking was pretty much the rule of the day on both farms. Chris, Frank and Wim spent a little time in a hide (blind) on Wim’s. Game was still plentiful just very very skittish.

Since I’ve invited Chris and Frank to join the forum and post up their take on the trip , I’ll leave the hunting and game they took for them to hopefully post. I’m pretty sure they had a good time as they were both asking about dates for coming back next year before we were half way thru this trip and I'm pretty sure Chris is already making plans once I set the dates.

I was strictly interested in just culling/management hunting. I reduced the number of head I took from last year as there were three of us hunting, me 1x1 and Chris and Frank 2x1, and I didn’t want more meet in the coolers than could use in camp or Kevin and Wim could take to market. After four days of hunting, Wim took over a 1000 lbs. of mixed species of meat to deliver to a butcher shop about two hours N of his farm in the town of Mahalapye and Kevin had several hundred pound of meat committed to locals for pick-up That pretty much filled them up for the rest of the hunting trip. The remaining game we took was sold directly to locals who came and picked it up or was sold directly to locals in the little village of Dovedale where Wim’s workers live. I did shoot serval zebra, one with a poacher’s snare on it’s rear leg just above the hoof and one that was blind in one eye (likely due to a slipped poacher’s snare), a couple of blue w/b and averaged 1-2 impala a day and one big bodied female warthog that Lindi turned into a SUBURB pork dish with a KILLER black pepper and cream gravy for dinner a couple of nights later.

This is the result of a poacher's snare. Was relatively fresh and festering. At best it's only future was it loosing that part of it's leg and being crippled or it turning gangrene and dying a prolonged and painful death. This was also the longest shot I'd taken on game with the 9.3x62. Somewhere a bit beyond 250m. Bullet was a complete passthrough, just above the tip of the chevrons. Truth told, neither Wim nor I saw the snare before the shot. It was lagging a bit behind the others in the group and favoring the leg but, the grass was too tall to see the snare.



One of the other zebra I took was blinded in one eye. Looked like it may have been from slipping a poacher's snare.

Wim and Kevin both have problems with poachers but, this year has been a little worse. Just a few weeks before we arrived, Wim actually caught some on his property along the river. Got photos of them, even some of the clothes they left behind when they ran off. He called the local police and the BDF (Botswana Defense Force) who did all show up. He showed them the poachers campsites, gave them the photos and clothes but, they seamed less then interested in actually doing anything about it. One morning we did a long sweep along the river looking for more snares and any fresh/new campsites. We did find 6-7 snares. Hard to tell if they were from a few weeks ago or freshly placed. Wim said the tracks from a few weeks ago showed they were likely coming in from a village 6-8k to the N. and a few had previously crossed from the RSA side of the river. Not unusual to cross from RSA later in the season as the water levels are low….still just a bit treacherous with a few crocs and all. One of the few occasions I’m routing for the crocs and there are some good ones in there!!



The weather when we arrived was warm but comfortable during the day, maybe high 70’s. The evenings were a bit cool for tent sleeping, high 50’s and the wool blanket, down comforter and PJ’s were just enough. I did bring a hot water bottle just in case but, didn’t need to use it. Normally, I like to hunt in shorts but, about half way thru the hunt, a cold front passed thru and temps dropped a bit and had to go to long pants for a couple of days. The last few days it got real warm, low 90’s and I was glad to be heading home.

For me, early to mid Aug over the full dark of the moon is the best time to be there. Additional reasons are by that time of year a lot of the vegetation has died back and you have better shooting conditions. Next, even though it is “Africa”, July and Aug can be seriously cold with night temps hanging around freezing and days in the high 50’s. Doesn’t sound to bad for you northern guys or if you’re staying in a lodge with commercial power and heat and a/c. But, staying in a tent with open air showers and meals it is completely different gig.

In my view, too many American’s get wrapped up in the north American elk/deer bit of having to “hunt the rut”. While African game does have a formal “rut” period, they are longer and the start/end can vary many weeks from year to year based on when the rains start/end and how much. Each species’ rut is over longer period of time and over-lapping times and really ISN’T as big a factor as in the US. Same goes for the calving season. The females of the antelope species have the ability to delay calving for 4-6 weeks, waiting for optimal conditions based on the rains.

Earlier in the season, Mar-May, the daytime temps can be very warm AND HUMID due to the rains. PLUS, depending on the area, you may have to worry about malaria. The issue with rain there in the Limpopo river area, on both sides, is the soil in the river bottoms is a very rich dark black they call “cotton soil”. It is just like the black silt soils in the Louisiana Delta they call “gumbo” and where cotton is grown as well. When wet, it is slippery and sticks to everything and you’re not moving thru it at all. Not even on foot. While there MIGHT be a few more animals, this is a bit of a misnomer too. The reason is, there is generally a 4-6 month “off season”. On private game farms in Botswana, do no not have a govt mandated open/closed season and antelope game can be taken year around. Only the DG species in govt concession areas have a formal hunting season. While the game farm hunting season may actually open, in reality there is very little to no hunting actually being done due to the heat and rain. So, the same animals you see in Aug, Sep, Oct are pretty much the same ones you’ll see the following Apr-Aug. New born aren’t miraculously going to be B&C, R&W or SCI record bookable in less than a year. Then too, most of the game taken during the “off season” are cull and non-trophy anyway. Local hunters are only interested in meat and not willing to pay the higher trophy fees for horns they can’t eat.

Lastly, with the rains comes a flush of vegetation, both grasses and leaves. This complicates our hunting by shorting the distances we can actually spot/see game and get bullets thru to them. Let’s face it, humans are pretty much visual/sight limited animals. Every other animal is just as equally tuned it to vision, hearing and scent. While early season game may not be as switched on from hunting pressure, the truth is, within a week or two of hunting they WILL be switched on! Plus, with the flush of early season vegetation, the game is more likely to pick you up and be gone long before you were even aware they were there. These are just my takes….everyone is free to have their own views and opines of their favorite times and reasons and spend their $$$ as they see fit. At least you’re GOING!!

Not much to tell about the hunting itself other than the game was abundant but seriously switched on. Since I was only interested in culling/management and not trophies I got to just totally enjoy the entire time and do some extra armature archaeology and some geology with Wim on both properties. One very bright spot was getting to see and hunt with a young man, Brendt, whom I’d met on my first trip there five years ago. At that time he was 16 and just helping as an “Appy” (Apprentice PH). He grew up on another farm in Botswana and his goal was to become a PH. He is also a competitive shooter and is one of the highest ranked in Botswana and RSA. He was great fun to be around and very knowledge about the game etc. I told him that I would hopefully be his first client once he got his PH license. We stayed in touch over the years and every year I’d go back we’d try to make a plan for him to come and hunt with us. He was either in school or later in University in RSA and couldn’t make the trip. This year, in his final few weeks of finishing his degree at University in RSA, he finally managed a long weekend and came up to Kevin’s and we had a chance to hunt together, with him as my PH.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/KzYG2nGs/IMG_20230901_105036_1.jpg[/img]

First morning out, within an hour we were on a blind stalk into an area and he had me on the sticks with a nice impala ewe that would make a very nice “pokjie”. I’m not sure which one of us was happier when it dropped at the shot. The day and a half we got to hunt together, we walked & stalked, and he put me on three impala and I managed to take the first two. The third, I hit solid but still somehow managed to get away. It was broadside at a ewe around 100m mixed in a herd. Dropped at the shot and everything ran off in a cloud of dust. Got to where it SHOULD have been laying and all there was is a spot of bright red blood about the size of a US 50 cent coin. Could also see the reaction to the hit in it’s tracks. We searched for over an hour and a half and nothing, absolutely no other sign of blood or tracks anywhere.

I am STILL extremely impressed with the 9.3x62. The old Germans absolutely knew what they were doing when they made it. It just flat out works!! The longest shot I took with it was on this trip on the zebra with the snare on it’s leg. Somewhere between 250-275m. Was a broadside shot and the bullet (286gr Speer Grand Slam) was a complete pass thru both shoulders just a bit above the point of the chevron, clipped an artery at the top of the heart. Ran maybe 75 meters. One of the zebra (blind eye) was a frontal chest at 100m and it just crumpled and dropped at the shot and I did NOT hit the spine. The others were broadside and took a few steps before going down. I’ve just never seen any other caliber make game just crumple at impact.

The last Sunday before we flew home, was a bit of an easy day. The skinners/workers were kind of off/on stand-by, so that morning after breakfast Wim brought some of his archaeological finds and did a little class on the history of Botswana with stone tools dating back as far as 1.2 million years and pottery going back several thousand and up to a few hundred years ago. It is surprising how many stone and tools and bits of pottery you find laying about while hunting.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/cHwLTfmK/20230903-122307.jpg[/img]

Travel home was actually pretty easy as well. It was a late afternoon flight from Gabs back to Jberg with a four-five hour or so layover. I ALWAYS leave longer layovers when I can for a couple of reasons. Going home, you NEVER know 100% for certain that when checking in, IF the agent will check luggage and rifle cases all the way back to the US or IF you’ll have to claim them in Jberg and re-check. Luggage is not a BFD. Out thru immigration, grab it off the carousel, and re-check it in the main terminal and back thru security and immigration. Rifles on the other hand, if NOT checked all the way to the US, you’ve got to go thru the SAPS office and the SAPS 520 forms, check-in and then go back to the SAPS office with the rifles. THIS time, the SA Airline agent checked our luggage and rifles all the way back to Tampa AND gave us boarding passes all the way to Tampa too. Meaning we didn’t have to claim them in Jberg but, we still have to claim them in Atlanta, clear Customs and then re-check them in the transfer area with Delta just outside the secure area for the flight home.

So, with everything checked thru Jberg, we had several hours to kill before the Delta flt home. We land, shuttle bus from the aircraft to the International arrival gate. Go thru the transit passport control check-point, thru the security screening and we’re in the main International terminal. This time we stay in the Apire Lounge. Of the three I’ve used, Bidvest, Shongololo and Apire, the Apsire is the best. If you’re not traveling first/business class or one of the CC that offer access programs, all three will now accept “pay as you go walk-ins”. The fee is by the hour and a 4-hour stay will be about $35 USD. Worth it for all the food and drink and a hot shower before boarding for that LONG flight home. One of the additional reason I like a longer layover in Jberg is even IF you have to screw with claiming/re-checking luggage and rifles, you still have time to hit one of these lounges have something to eat/drink a shower and change of clothes. Just pack your change of clothes in your carry-on, they supply everything else.

Another reason I like a bit longer layover in Jberg is since Delta switched from Boeing air-frames to Airbus, the new Airbus don’t have the same range as the Boeing. What Delta has had to do is move their departure time from Jberg to Atlanta back to late evening. This allows the air temps to be cooler (density altitude) so the aircraft can carry more weight/fuel. Jberg airport sits over 5000 ft above sea level. Sometimes, earlier and later in the year when temps are higher, they even have to delay taking off for several hours. Originally, they tried to make the return flight from Jberg with a stop in Cape Town, which is a little above sea level, to be able to take on the fuel needed. That went over like a ton of bricks with the passengers so, they bumped the departure time back to late evening. IF they take off on time or close to it, you arrive in Atlanta around 8am the next morning.

I purposely booked a longer layover in Atlanta than we ended up needing for a couple of reasons. First, since we were coming back a bit later in the season with the warmer temps, I wasn’t sure if the flight would need to delay taking off from Jberg and therefore be late getting to Atlanta. Turns out it wasn’t a full flight and we took off on time. Immigration was easy as we arrived just after the normal overseas flight arrival rush. Bags and rifle cases came out surprisingly quickly too. There were maybe 8-10 hunters having to clear firearms back in with US Customs and the agents were pretty quick. One change from last Aug was they allowed us to go out to the re-check area as soon as they finished with us. Last Jul and Aug, they required everyone to wait until the last person was done and we all went as an escorted group. This just jammed up the rifle re-check screening with TSA.

The Delta baggage re-check was easy because we got lucky with the SA Airlink agent having the routing tags all the way to Tampa. Still had to do the TSA security check of opening the rifle case and they did a cursory poke around and the cotton swab for explosives. 5-min and all done. All three of us are enrolled in TSA -Pre but, SA Airlink doesn’t link to that system so we stopped at the Delta desk and they printed replacements with the “TSA-Pre” on them. Turns out for naught as the TSA Security check-point was NOT doing the TSA-Pre line so, everyone was getting the full screening. No worries, the line was short and it went quick. Grabbed the shuttle tram to Terminal A and settled into the Delta lounge for a few hours for breakfast and drinks (still on Africa time). There was an earlier flight I could have booked that we could have made since EVERYTHING was on time so the wait in the lounge was a bit longer than it needed to be. Thing is...you just never know and I’ve missed connections before and it is a BFD, especially with firearms.

As I mentioned previously, I’ve invited Chris and Frank to join the forum and give their take on everything and post photos if they wish. Not sure if they will tag on to this post are start a new thread of their own.

I’m already planning for next year’s trip. Will be a very late Jul or very early Aug departure with 10-full hunting days and with travel to/from, a total trip of 15-days. Kevin & Wim’s prices for next year will be the same as this year and I will post up the formal trip dates in a few weeks. I will be taking a MAX of four hunters plus myself. I think two and possibly three of those spots are spoken for once I sort out the hard dates and they can confirm with work/vacation schedules.


Sorry about the last two photos - can't get them to load properly for direct viewing.

On these new ranches how is the trophy quality? I have thought about going and like you doing some cull hunting. But..... I'd also like to have the possibility of shooting a couple of really good trophies. Thanks
Bruce

Hi Bruce. I’m going to try and give you a straight answer.

When it comes to “trophies”, no matter where you go, a lot of it depends on your individual definition of “trophy”. That can be a HUGE range of individual desires, preferences and expectations. Is someone’s goal to hunt and only shoot record book enterable animals? Maybe they’ve taken some very good representative heads of certain species and just want to improve their personal best. A lot of European hunters are looking more for the “non-typical” animals with unusual horn shapes, anomalies or broken horns possibly due to fighting, over larger symmetrical animals of the same species. When it comes to zebra, some want an old scared up stallion and others want as clean/pristine hide as possible and search out big bodied mares. Some people are simply interested in a few good “representative” head of the species and the trophies are simply a way to commemorate “the hunt” and the experience.

I’ve run into a number of individuals who won’t consider pulling a trigger unless an animal will rank in the SCI, B&C or R&W record books. Consequently, they seldom pull a trigger and tend to frequently be disappointed in the hunting experience because they were SO focused on that one thing, they didn’t take the time to enjoy the totality of the hunting area experience. In the end, it is very much to each his own.

Now, to get directly to the meat of your question. In the five years and eight trips I’ve made to this area and these farms, I have seen and taken and the people I’ve taken, have seen and taken some seriously good animals. One guy took what was supposedly the best waterbuck that year in all of Botswana and was SCI and RW bookable.

I didn’t write about the MAGNIFICENT kudu I saw there (TWICE) in the above OP, because I know people would think I was crazy but….I did see, with Wim, on his place, the biggest kudu I have ever seen – twice. The biggest I have personally taken was a legitimate 60” in NW Namibia and I’ve seen some that were taken in other parts of Botswana that were well over 60”. All I can say was this guy was MAGNIFICENT! I didn’t shoot him the first time because it was in the first few days of the trip and I honestly wanted Chris or Frank to get a chance at him. The second time we saw him with just a couple of days left, he was looking at us, still relaxed and maybe a 100m away. He was MAGNIFICENT! Well above 60” in horn and maybe 3” of ivory tips, wide tip spread. His body was still slick and in good condition. A kudu that size is probably 13-15 yrs old and will never grow any longer horn. We watched him for a few minutes and Wim and I decided he still had a least one more good breeding season in him for next year so I let him pass. However, IF I see him next Aug, and if he is showing any signs of decline, I WILL pull the trigger.

As far as impala, you will have to look over and pass up a LOT of impala to find rams in the 25”-27”+ range. There are a good number in the 23”-25” range. Here is an example of what I call a “trophy”. This was my wife’s very first taken next door on Saas Post. It was a bit over 27” so not really “bookable” but, the horn configuration was “non-typical” because they had a bit of a curl/twist like a kudu and obviously her first ever impala.



Blue w/b will be a bit like impala. You’re going to have to look over and pass a lot of heads to find the old bulls with the outside of the curls well beyond the tips of the ears and the oversize bosses. I’ve taken several Namibian Gold medal blue and black w/b in Namibia. But, to me, THIS is my absolute “best” and favorite blue w/b. An ancient old battler with broken off horns on both sides. Those are as rare as old “scrum cap” cape buffalo. It’s my favorite trophy because of the broken horns and the hunt and stalk on him that day with Kevin down along the river.



Neither of these came home as mounts. We simply took a lot of photos of each and when we got home we picked out the best of each one and had them printed on glass (https://fractureme.com/) and enjoy them just as much as the European wall mounts we have. No expenses for getting them home and got to enjoy the photos on the wall within a few weeks of returning. In fact, I (we) haven't brought any taxidermy back from Botswana, just lots of photos. The main reason is, the cost to bring just one head/hide home is just too expensive.

The plains (Burchell’s) zebra there are in very good condition and seem to be a bit larger in body size than most. They see little hunting or predator pressure and that side of the Kalahari desert seems to received more than adequate rains every year so the grazing is good for all species.

Lots of steinbok and I have seen a few rams with horns that extend beyond the tips of their ears. Same again in that you’ll have to pass a few to find “the one”.

One big positive side of hunting there is the numbers of and pricing they have on cull animals. Instead of going on a 10-day “trophy” hunt and maybe only pulling a trigger a few times. Here, you can take a cull head of something once or twice a day while searching for a trophy head. This is an example of just ONE morning of cull hunting at Kevin's. That's one zebra on top of three blue w/b.



Bottom line is this. If your goal is record bookable common PG animals and you won't pull a trigger on anything less. Probably go someplace else. If you're wanting to take some animals everyday AND get some good representative heads of the species this could be a good trip. If someone is interested in a LOT of trigger time and willing to take strictly culls BUT, if a MAGNIFICENT trophy chance occurs....this would be a lot of fun.

I will be posting later this week with Kevin and Wim's info for 2024. The good news is the daily rates and cull fees are the same. Some trophy fees have changed and some species that will need to be hunted on other neighboring farms are listed as POR (Price On Request). All that really means is if you are interested in one of them, you just contact them ahead of time and they will get you a price. There are so few people that want to hunt off these farms and the game they have anyway. Kevin is going to be offering a cull package deal for next year. 10 cull impala and one cull blue w/b for $1000.00. I've already told him I'll take that and want to concentrate on adding extra cull blue w/b.

Edited to Add: I forgot, there is one iconic species there, it's the Limpopo Bushbuck. There are a number of bushbuck species and hide colorations and markings vary from region to region. This species is only native to the Limpopo river valley on both the Botswana and RSA side of the river.

Thank you for that in-depth report and interesting pictures. Sounds as if you had a great time.

L.W.

Thanks LW, We absolutely did. I know the two guys had fun because they were already asking about next year halfway thru the trip and Chris is all in for 2024 and Frank too, if he can get time off from his new job.

Just a quick explanation of why I included all that seemingly superfluous travel details in. I did that with the intention that maybe it would benefit someone venturing to a southern Africa destination, whether it was Botswana, Namibia or RSA. The travel to RSA is pretty much the same for any destination into a host of southern African countries via Delta Airlines.

There is a host of other airlines and routes and all have their own pros/cons and documentation, travel with weapons notifications etc. You really need to be careful if booking on your own as some airlines don't allow firearms at all.

Outstanding report Michael. Like you, I really enjoy spot and stalk hunting fora mature Blue Wildebeest. The one I shot while hunting with Sebra in Namibia was while hunting with a Himba tracker named Kamadi. Jan had some vehicle problems so I went with a young PH on Danie Jansen van Vuuren’s ranch. Kamadi had superb distance vision and spotted the lone bull from two miles away. We hopped off the truck and crawled the last 200 yards of so to within 80 yards. I shot him with Jan’s Mauser in 8mm X 68 and he dropped in his tracks.

I find it interesting that you butchered and ate the Warthog. I’ve shot three Warthog boars hunting with Jan, but he insists that “white Namibians don’t eat Warthogs “. He gives them to his workers, who relish them. His skinners know that when I show up they may be eating pork for a while.

Once again, great report.