Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Nice typical Kudu from our concession

Taken from a camera phone at 25 yards.

5 bulls between 50-60 inches, This was taken this month. I get text message photo's like this every week of Kudu and many other species from our hunting areas in RSA

Spot and stalk bow hunting for Kudu may be the greatest challenge in a bowhunters career. They are tall enough to see you coming a long way off, Have the personality very much like a whitetail, and the hearing of a mule deer.

It's been done, but for natural wild indigenous Kudu (not game farm EC/put and take) Kudu it's about the greatest challenge for a bowhunter. One must be willing to have a lot of failed stalks to get within the bow range without brush in the way, to make a good shot.

I've seen so many near perfect stalks blown because the warthog or steenbok you never saw busted loose and spooked the bull!

So the great majority are taken from a hide either from water, or near a food source very much like whitetail hunting. We try to stalk as much game as possible, doing whatever the hunter prefers. Some species like Wildebeest, Zebra, Impala, waterbuck, blesbok, are much more "stalkable" but some like Bushbuck, Kudu, Gemsbok, are in another league for the spot and stalk hunter.

I would say that at least 1 in 4 Archery hunters eventually use a rifle for some game on the hunt. More then Half who choose spot and stalk only accomplish the hunt with a mix of gun and bow kills.

Those who are dedicated Archery only will take a few animals early on the hunt with Spot and stalk, but usually towards the end of the trip they will relent and use a blind. Or elevated platform stand. Even the elevated 20 meter platform stands are no easy task. The phenomenal hearing of Kudu bulls will alert them to any sound and they bolt away instantly. You don't fool big Kudu's at close range very easy, or very often!

JJ,
Thanks for the info. I'm not a "bone collector". I hunt to have hunted, so if I go the entire hunt without killing a "trophy" it is fine.
I'm more interested in pitting my skills and improving those skills than I am putting horns on the wall. I get more satisfaction of sneaking up on a squirrel on the ground with my longbow than whacking them with a .22 at distance.
I would rather spend two weeks stalking and possibly not taking the animal than sitting in a blind for hours waiting to ambush one.
Does that make me less desirable as a client to a PH since I'm not out to fill a wall with horns?

Thanks again for your input,

Ed

Great photo! The piggy bank is slowly increasing in size. Hoping to take the missus for our 10-year (2015).

Not at all less desirable, However there is a bottom line to running a business. Payment for trophy fees covers the margins needed to run a business.

This may be a little spoken of topic among professionals, however as everyone here that has been in my camps for the last nearly two decades will tell you, I have no curtain to hide the truths of the business. And that it is....... a business.

We have exceptional locations and equipment. We provide meals to die for and game that is managed with the greatest practices in the whole world. None of these parts of the business are free, nor are they cheap. But when you arrive you see early on that we were a good choice and you will have every possible opportunity to see and get shots at game.

Whether or not you shoot 10 animals or 1 animal you will enjoy the trip, and you will not have a PH ( none are paid commission) that will push you to shoot anything. Our philosophy for the hunters is simple.

We know that a PH is a legal requirement. Not a single one will lead you around and point at game and tell you to shoot. You are the hunter and the PH is there to show you the legal areas we hunt, keep you from getting lost, provide natural history information, assit with trophy judging, and make suggestions along the way or places, techniques, and trophy size.

You are the Hunter, we are there to help you and not hunt for you. There are infinitely variable levels of skill for every single hunter we see. Some want, or need more assistance then others. Some will straight up ask for a PH that will help them to get shots at the biggest trophies possible. These are more often gun hunters, then bow hunters. Our experience (I'm first and foremost an Archery hunter) is that archery hunters need to be left alone to stalk for the majority of the process. One hunter makes way too much noise, two are out of control for a bow range stalk. So once the decision is made on an animal, the PH will often stay back and let the hunter handle the short game on his own while watching.

We are not there to hunt your game, we are there to help you at any level you choose to assist you in hunting for your game.

The business aspect was what I was addressing with my last question.
I can fully appreciate the cost of running an operation such as a modern safari with all the expectations of the clients who have read and heard stories of the great safaris of the past.
I am willing to take something less than a monster rack and pay the trophy fees if the "hunt" is there. In my experience, a doe is not any easier to sneak up on than a buck.
I believe in supporting businesses and fully understand "profit". As one who has grown up in Alaska, I know the value of supporting local businesses in remote areas. If I don't pay the PH & Co a good wage, he/she may not be there next year for me or someone else to patronize.

Thank you for your time and help in my education.

Ed

Jim,

Nice kudus!

Clarence

Jim, is that the place we went to in 2005 to have a look around?

Very nice- makes me want to get back!!!

Roger, it is the place ....but it also includes 30~40 k acres which is also all under our ownership now. That area is next to a 35k acre private game reserve we have total access to as well. Its actually too big, too many great habitats and hunting areas its hard to decide where to hunt. There are enough elephants that we avoid areas where they are day by day.

Just for public info here roger and clarence have hunted with me as have their wives been in camp. They may chime in and offer up first hand opinions on my operations

Nice Kudu!

Nice animals there. Whetting my appetite. Lord willing I will see them first hand someday not too far off. Thaks for posting and keeping the fires burning.

Ed,

Good attitude mate and you are welcome around my campfire any day.

Andrew

My wife and I had a great time hunting with Jim in 2006. She enjoys hunting and spotting game as much as anyone, although she doesn't care to kill. There was a continual variety of game every day. She did get a bit uptight was when we were sitting in a blind at a waterhole and the PH told her to stay absolutely still if a rhino came up to the blind.

The accomodations were very nice, and the food was great! We got to sample most of the kinds of game taken that week.

Clarence

Clarence,

Thanks for the input! From what I've read of JJ and his response to my inquiry, I have no doubt it is a first class outfit.

Ed