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That is an awesome trophy.

It'll take a room with a tall ceiling to hang that mount...

DF

Great write up and super photo's and trophies. I just got back from RSA in June and am still dreaming about how wonderful it was. I hunted with JJHacks (of the Campfire) outfit there, Authentic African Adventures and also had a great time. I did shoot a one tusked wart hog because of the extraordinary size of the tusk. Now I want to go back and get a couple more hogs. They are such neat animals.
Congratulations to both you and your wife. Her trophy is also one to be proud of. My wife is a non-hunter who accompanied me and she also had a super time but she decided she still didn't want to shoot anything after seeing my excitement. Oh well, different strokes for different folks, as they say.

Congrats! I'm diggin' that big kudu! Cruiser gets great reviews around here, and the free range hunting there is what I'd be interested in myself if/when I get to go.

Congrats on a great hunt. Thanks for the excellent report.

Here is the last of my hunt report. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better group to hunt with. I loved Craig's attitude and his humor during the hunt. We all had a great time. Finding a spot for all the trophies is going to be a challenge, even though several have already offered their wall space! Next time we will be heading back with two hunters....couldn't have planned it better myself when she asked when we are heading back!!

Day 5&6
We relaxed in camp on Saturday and walked the property. Craig took us out when he was putting feed out for one of the Sable herds. Sunday, Craig dropped Shawn and I at a waterhole with a picnic lunch. This was fantastic - to be out their with my girl taking pictures and videos.

Day 7
Aug 20th � Back to the usual routine in the morning, and off to a new concession for Impala today. We drove around on the bakke for a bit before Craig says that we are going to get off and go for a walk. He has one of his favorite spots just around the corner. Shawn isn�t feeling so well, so she decides to stay behind with Hendrick and take a nap. Along the path Craig points out a few tracks that he is seeing � Baboon, Impala, Warthog, Hyena, and a snake. Don�t tell Shawn that � she freaks out seeing a picture of a snake, and it isn�t like these are the Gardner snakes back home. Off into the thicket we go making our way to a clearing. There is a herd of Impala just on the other side, but nothing huge. The goal is to be at least bigger than my last Impala (hopefully that will make the hunts more challenging and last a bit longer). On a little bit further to see what is in the open field. Craig just chuckles as he starts counting�.17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Warthogs that he can see. He just smiled and said, �Change of plan, today is Warthog day as there has got to be a good one in there.� He spends a few minutes looking at each one and finally comes up with the biggest of the bunch. Easy for me to identify as he is all the way to the right. We get a solid rest with the sticks and line up the shot, as he is poking out there a bit. Another small boar circles in front and I just have to wait for him to clear. Craig gives me the all clear and I squeeze the trigger. The boar rolls over onto his side and I rack the bolt just to be sure. Then you can see the mass confusion as all the hogs pick their head up, tail straight up and move out. There must have been close to 30 hogs in that field � what a site! Craig and I make our way over to the Warthog and he calls the tuck in. Craig said that was a perfect shot � always nice to hear that your PH is pleased with your shot placements. As the truck rolls close, Shawn says �That does not look like an Impala!� Craig grabs the range finder and says that the tree we were under is at 170 yards. I guess all that practice came in handy! The hog is definitely a nice trophy and is a little bigger than my last, around 11� each side. 8:20 in the morning and today should be over with and push the Impala to tomorrow. But, you never know what is going to come out on your way out. So, I load the rifle back up and hop on the back as Hendrick makes his way out of the property. About 10 minutes into the drive, yup, a small group of Impala cross the road in front. Doe after doe after doe�..then, according to Craig, Grandpa! The truck doesn�t even slow as Craig and I bail off, trying not to spook the ram. They are going through the thick stuff, but I do have about a 5 yard opening around 40 yards out. Scope covers off, settle into the sticks, and watching him come through the woods. Craig and I are on the same page, the opening just in front I am going to throw a round down field. He steps into view, crosshairs on target, and squeeze�..the ram doesn�t even break stride and continues to march through the woods. It was at that point that I confirmed the safety on my rifle works. I laughed, and I am sure Craig was cussing in Afrikaans! For me, part of the adventure�..crap happens! If he was to guess, he said that ram would go between 26� to 28�, yup, a big boy. Craig mentions that he thinks he knows where the ram is off to, so we make a long u turn drive down to a different section. Sure enough, Impala straight ahead. All three of us pile off and slowly walk up into the brush. Craig gets down low to look at the horns and then puts the sticks up. He asks if I can see the Impala standing in the brush and to take a shot in the chest as he is facing us. Standing, you can�t see the head, so I asked Craig if that was him, he said yes and shoot. This time the safety goes off and I squeeze the trigger. An easy shot I suppose, about 40 yards out straight on. Craig leads the way into the brush to get on the trail of the ram. It didn�t take long as he was piled up about 30 yards away. I take one look at him and feel satisfied. Not necessarily a difficult hunt, but it was a good one for me. Craig starts apologizing since it is not the same ram. I think it took a bit of coercion for Craig to finally believe that I am not horn hunting � anything large is just a bonus for me. It turns out that he is about the same size as my first. I actually smile at him and tell him that is perfect! I always wanted two Impala European mounts that were the same size! It took a bit of time, but Craig started smiling again. I can understand where he is coming from, from a PH�s point of view that we clients have to rely on them heavily to pick out the trophies. Nobody is perfect and that is why they call it hunting and not shooting. So much for hunting tomorrow�.both trophies loaded by 9:30 � back to the lodge. Craig and I sit around and just talk for about an hour on everything that has happened the past week and how much fun we all had. The topic of the VAT came up and I wasn�t completely clear on what I would need to pay for. Turns out, I brought too much money for the VAT and now I could use that for something else � tough choice!! I figure either Steenbok or Blesbok as I do not have either of those trophies yet.


Day 8
Aug 21st � The weather seems to be holding pretty consistent � a slight breeze in the morning and no clouds. After a light breakfast, we have a short drive across the road back to the first property that we hunted. Excited and disappointed about today being the last day to hunt, we all hop up on the back of the bakke as Hendrick starts meandering down the trails. Craig giving him directions at all the crossroads, we end up on the far side of the property by the power lines. As we round the corner, Craig gets a little excited as he spots a Gray Duiker. Apparently, being that they are mostly nocturnal, he thought it was a surprise to see him as we were off to a later start today. He casually mentions that he is a decent buck if I wanted to take him. Part of me wanted to and another part just wanted to stretch out the hunt as long as possible. The Duiker made my mind up as I hesitated just long enough for him to bounce out of view. I would say that we were driving for about � hour before Craig pipes up and says the Blesboks are not over here, and we are just going for a drive to check out the watering holes. Another hunter clipped an Eland a couple of nights ago (I know, Eland as big as a barn�.but there is more to this story!!) and we were just seeing if we bumped into him. All holes had Water Bucks, Red Hartebeest, Impala, or cow Elands � no bulls; so off we went in search of the Blesboks. Once we get pretty close to the open land, critters starting scattering all over. The three of us hop off and Hendrick drove off trying to throw off the herds. We spot Impala, Red Hartebeest, and the Blesboks a couple hundred yards off. The first stalk was a short one as a neighboring Impala blew our cover and everything scattered. As the Blesboks took off, so did Craig trying to parallel them. Fortunately for us, they did not run very far and slow up and allow us to stalk them again. The wind is right in our face and we can see the Impala coming with the Blesboks right behind them. Both of the groups settle down a bit and the Impala move off. Craig begins looking at all the bucks to see if there is a good one in the group and they get a little jittery like they are going to run off again. Craig and I just sit on the ground and wait for them to calm down. Craig told me to get my bi-pods extended while I was sitting there as a nice Blesbok is starting to make his way through. I was fortunate that he cleared the tree and then just stood there broadside. Craig ranged him at 150 yards and asked if I can get through the brush. I put the scope on him and it looked clear, but who knows, right? I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger, and as I was re-loading, I can see the herd move off. There was one that was trailing the group with his tail flat out, which I assumed was him. I told Craig I thought it was a good shot, but with all the brush in the way we would have to wait and see. Shawn started to get worried; now that she knows the game if you draw blood on an animal you have to pay for it regardless if you find it. Off we go to where he was standing to see how everything panned out. We would walk a few yards and Craig would watch the herd. I think we get to the spot and Craig starts looking for any traces of a hit. I happen to find a spot of blood on the ground, not much, but at least a start. A few feet away, more blood. This time the blood was bright, bubbly red � a lung shot which made me feel a whole lot better. From here, Shawn was getting into it as she did not want to lose an animal either. She would be right by me and point out the blood trail. It was an easy trail to follow at this point, but I let her take the lead and I enjoyed watching her getting into the hunt. We followed the trail for about a 100 yards and he was piled up under a tree. These are the hunts that I will remember; identifying the game, stalking them, and playing cat and mouse waiting for the right opportunity to pounce. Craig and Hendrick smile as they get the tape out, 16 � inches on both sides, which will put him into the books. As we all climbed back on the bakke, Shawn and I mentioned to Craig that we would be back and the three of us started planning the hunt packages already. It will take a few years (four I am predicting), but we will be here.

Thanks to everyone who put up with my amature questions - I have definately learned a lot from this site!!