Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Botswana Safari

Hunt date: August 2013
Outfitter: Kanana Safaris
PH: JP
Tracker: Martin
Rifle: BRNO 30-06 with 6x Schmidt and Bender scope
BOW: Mathews Switchback with Muzzy broadheads

I just wanted to share some pictures of my family's recent trip to Botswana for a safari. My son, Logan, and I hunted. My wife and daughter accompanied us on this hunting trip of a lifetime. We had a great time, saw hundreds of animals, and managed to each bag some fine animals and memories. I hunted with rifle and bow. Logan hunted with rifle. He was a trooper and hunted every second with me except for the last afternoon of the 8 day trip. The girls spent some days in camp and some days on the safari truck helping to spot animals, taking pictures, and often waiting patiently for hours while Logan and I stalked animals. Our PH was JP. He did a fine job helping us judge these new animals, as they all looked huge to us. Martin was our tracker. Tracker doesn't sound that impressive. I thought of a tracker as a very good blood trailer, but I was very wrong. Martin could follow the tracks of a single animal amongst a hundred other tracks in the sand for miles. He did exactly that on Logan's zebra, which I had long given up on after about 2 miles of tracking without blood. I have many stories to tell, but will try to keep this post brief.

Day 1: Started off with a bang. We used the camp's BRNO 30-06 topped with a Schmidt and Bender 6x scope. We spotted a few gemsbok and our first stalk commenced. I shot this one at about 80 yards. No tracking job required. The second pic shows our tracker Martin and PH "JP". That evening JP spotted a big bull eland. We stalked within 100 yards, and I got on the sticks as the bull spotted us and looked up. I took a frontal shot, and he ran. We tracked him a short distance, and a second shot at about 200 yards dropped him. Eland are huge; they can weigh as much as 2000 lbs. We didn't weigh any of the animals, but this one was as big as a typical bull back home.




Day 2: Logan started off using the camp's .223. I had concerns about the caliber given the size of the animals we were hunting. JP assured me it would get the job done, as he has personally killed several of the animals we were hunting with a .223. We stalked up to a water hole to find several eland, a few wildebeest and a gemsbok. Logan got on the sticks and shot the gemsbok at about 75 yards. I was videoing the shot. He hit it right behind the shoulder, and it took off running. We tracked it a long ways, and while tracking it I spotted a group of zebra ahead of us. I shot this one with the 30-06. Had a chance to take another, but passed as it was only day 2. We loaded the zebra and headed back to camp. On the way back to camp we spotted a black-backed jackal, and JP said to shoot him. Jackals are like our coyotes back home�they pretty much shoot them on sight. So I did. Martin continued to track Logan's gemsbok all day, but said it was still walking at dark. Hard to believe the shot was not fatal after looking at the video, but I guess it wasn't. That evening the whole family sat in a bow blind over a waterhole. Several eland and some zebra came in. Right before dark, two blue wildebeest came in, and I shot this one at 34 yards with my bow. He ran 15 yards and piled up.



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Day 3: We all sat in a different bow blind over a waterhole this morning. We saw several animals, but nothing huge. JP was handing Logan the rifle to shoot a wildebeest, when Logan spotted a another waterbuck coming in to the water. We had seen one already ,and JP had told me to hold off. A waterbuck was one of the animals at the top of my want list. I took one look at this one and asked JP if he was a shooter. He said yes, he's a big one! I apologized to Logan, and told he we'd find him another animal to shoot that evening. My heart was pounding as I drew my bow back and settled in for the shot. I drilled him at 17 yards. JP told me that night he was 28", which is a pretty nice waterbuck. This was the only animal we took that day.
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Day 4: We sat in blinds and drove around on spot and stalks, but no animals were harmed.

Day 5. I was determined to get Logan an animal today, as I was afraid he was getting down. We spotted a nice kudu and stalked over the next hour or so very close to him. Logan was on the sticks when the kudu came walking through very thick brush towards us to about 20 yards. He needed about 5 more steps to get into the opening where Logan was aiming, but he saw us and took off running. Logan, JP, and Martin had given up when the kudu took off running, but instinct took over, and I took the 30-06 and sticks from Logan. The kudu came into an opening at about 200 yards, and I squeezed one off. He dropped immediately. The second pic shows our safari truck and the winch in the bed required to load these huge African animals. The truck is a Toyota Land Cruiser�not the Land Cruisers we have here in the States.

That evening we spotted a warthog. I had made the decision Logan was shooting the 30-06 from here out after losing the gemsbok with the .223. Logan made a perfect shot with the 30-06 and the pig dropped after a short 5 yard run. Logan was grinning ear to ear after his first kill! Shortly after that we spotted some gemsbok and stalked. Logan got on the sticks again and made another good shot at about 150 yards. He was on cloud 9 at this point. I was relieved Logan had finally got in on the action, but still wanted to get him his kudu which he had said before the trip was the one animal he wanted. We all went back to camp happy this evening.
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Day 6: We spotted another gemsbok while driving around. It was several inches bigger than Logan's first. I decided to let him shoot again, and again he made a great shot dropping the gemsbok in its tracks! We later spotted a couple of nice kudu bedded down. We stalked within 75 yards. Martin tossed a rock their direction to get them up. After several minutes, the largest started moving towards an opening where Logan was aiming. Logan shot, and missed! We cycled another round, and his second shot hit its mark. The kudu ran a short distance an piled up. Logan was on a roll now!


That evening the whole family rode around. I made two separate stalks on impala and managed to take both. The first was an old one with worn down tips. Four animals in a day for us�not bad.





Day 7: No animals taken. We had new bullets this morning. JP said they were the same, despite having different colored tips. Logan missed a zebra, and I missed a red hartebeest and the largest warthog our PH had seen in his life. After the third miss, I insisted we go to the range and shoot the rifle. My suspicion was correct�the new bullets hit 10-11" lower than the one's we had been using. While it made me feel better about the "misses", it didn't make me feel any better about not getting those three animals.

Day 8: We stalked a group of zebra this morning. Logan shot. We found very little blood. Martin started tracking. We crossed 6 roads tracking. We had not seen blood in 2 hours. Logan and I had long given up, and thought Martin was crazy�no way we were on the same zebra's track. We both were tired and thirsty. A few minutes before I was going to insist we stop, Martin pointed and whispered "zebra". Logan's zebra was bedded down, and a second shot finished him off. I learned at that point to never doubt Martin's tracking ability�amazing. That evening I went back out with Martin and JP as the rest of the family rested and got things ready to head home. I passed on a nice kudu, probably a couple of inches larger that my first. The sun set that evening with no kill for me, but I had no regrets as the entire week had been great and one I will not soon forget.
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Excellent pics and report!

Excellent.

Shooting a gemsbok with a 223! You're braver than me. My bull took three 300 grain TSX and all three would have been fatal.

Wonderful, just wonderful!! Beautiful photos and great story, I felt like I was there with you guys! Thanks for sharing. Kevin

Congrats. Excellent trip.

Sorry about the gemsbok.

The 223 probably blew up on the Gemsbok. They have thick hide and heavy bones, so probably a flesh wound, if anything. A Ttsx bullet might have gotten inside, but wouldn't have necessarily done the job on the lungs, etc. Looks like you had a good trip, and your son now hooked. I took a "god" grandson to RSA in July, and he got 5 good animals, and was tickled. We used a 308 exclusively, with the 130gr Ttsx.

Great report, and beautiful pics! Congrats all the way around!


maddog

I love the smiles all around. Congrats on a great family adventure. Nice report.

Ain't that the truth? Mine took 3 160's from a 7mm mag.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Such a refreshing Hunt Report and fantastic photos!
I enjoyed your report and thank you for sharing...Awesome!

Roland

Thanks for posting GRF

Excellent report. What a trip! Congrats to the whole family.

Eric

Both of mine took 1 180TSX from a 300WSM. jeff~

Awesome stuff! Congratulations.

Yikes, what a Safari, I think the post should read "I used to be a millionaire"...

I've read great things about Kanana, and your pics and hunt is further proof. What a great time with the family, what memories are made of. Congrats on an unbelievably great adventure.

Rusty,

The smiles in your pictures say it all. I have been fortunate to represent Kanana for several years now and it just seems to get better every year. I'm glad you and the family had such a great safari. Let me know when you are ready to go back!

Great pictures and report! Thanks so much for sharing! I'm looking to an Aug 2014 trip.

Bob

Bump this up again. Great pics and great hunt. Glad you finally got around to posting them!

As you guys can tell, Rusty is a killer. Always does a great job on any hunt he goes on. This is just another example. You can search some of my old posts and find numerous pics of Rusty with dead animals. Now his son is getting in on the action as well.

Congrats once again on a great trip.

Lee