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Day 2 Gemsbok: First morning of hunting in Africa! Very cold! Temperatures are around freezing. Gloves, hat, t-shirt, merino wool, prima loft and jacket are all worn. Breakfast is cereal, banana and some coffee with the others in the main room. And a biskuit (Biscotti). Gameplan is to drive down to the shooting target and confirm rifles are set. I pulled the first shot a bit low and left, just lazy. Second shot I pay attention it is right in the X. Others take their turn checking their rifles and all is well. We start by driving around the area and observing the game. Numerous Springbucks! We see some Red Hartebeest, a few Waterbucks and Impalas as well. Two Gemsbucks are observed in the distance. They stand for a bit while we watch from ~400 yards away. But then they turn and leave. This is the start to a trend that we will encounter over the next day. We so observe a large group of Gemsbucks. Two of us are looking for Gembucks. I go with two PH's to make a stalk on the herd. We end up doing a turtle walk the last 60 yards to arrive at a small overlook. A shot is available. I rise to the sticks. I never feel comfortable. The range is about 225 and the crosshairs are dancing all around. Mostly up and down. The herd ends up leaving quickly and no shot is taken. We go back and loop to the left behind a small rise to catch up. During a crawl, a reedbuck barks alerting all to our presence. I don�t know if the Gemsbucks hear that, but they are on alert as we close to near 250. The primary animals never present a shot and the herd moves away. We observe the herd moving to a very open area. Can�t decide if I should have taken first shot opportunity. In the end I am glad I did not. Felt kind of silly not being able to settle down on a 225 yd shot. End up heading back for lunch. Driving out of camp I spot a Gemsbok. I get out with two PHs. We loop around and start to close. Many eyes. Springbucks and a few Impala are watching. We use a pond and the surrounding vegetation as a screen. A large Impala, and a Nyala approach the pond from our right and I am watching them. We find a nice place to observe the Gemsboks from cover. Turns out a nice GB bull is standing at 168 yards quartering towards us. I slowly get in position. Need to be quicker! I finally settle the crosshairs on the GB�s left front shoulder point. Beautiful colors in the sun! The black and white is stark and the light tan sides blend in with the field perfectly. At the shot I notice the bull staggers and then disappears out of sight. Definitely a hit though! We clear the cover and circle to the right. Approaching the area where the bull was located, a PH spots the bull down near a small tree. What relief! As we are looking and then approach the bull, Springbuck are running each way and a group of Waterbucks run past right to left. Two very nice ones in there! The rest of the gang arrive and pictures are taken. I spend the afternoon with another hunter while he chases Gemsbok.

A herd of Gemsbok is over the small rise ahead.



First African animal.

Day 3 Blesbok: Depart to a different concession to hunt Blesbok. Area is very flat and open. Myself and one PH are dropped off at a blind made with branches. One other hunter and a PH are taken to a different area. We are told the Blesbok will often stop on a small rise that I range at 224 yards. The herd passes by once but only stops once ~300-400 yards away. Too far. Although I do have a very stable rest using the front and my right elbow on the side of the blind. Awhile later, a herd stops just inside the hill. My PH mentions to look from the right side, but I cannot turn easily to aim at that side of the herd. He quickly counts in from the left and identifies a nice Blesbok. "Count in three from the left. Then there is a small gap and then two together. You must shoot the one in the back when clear." As soon as another moves from in front of it I shoot. He drops at the shot. He tries to get up a couple of times. We leave the blind and go check out the Blesbok. Turns out to be a fantastic Blesbok! All credit to the PH for that. Finding a nice on, getting the hunter's eyes on it in the few seconds the herd pauses is a challenge. We load him into the truck and shortly thereafter the other hunter shoots. His is wounded and runs for quite some time. We pick up the others and begin to chase after the Blesbok. Very tough animals! A follow-up shot puts him down for good. Seeing these animals run at full speed as a herd is quite impressive. They may be a bit goofy looking, but after seeing them in action they have my full respect now and this particular one is a trophy in all respects.

We pack everything up and hit the road towards the main camp in the Limpopo province.

To be continued....

NICE old bull gemsbok!

And a splendid blesbok.

That Gemsbok is awesome...

Gemsbok fever here...

I can't get enough of great African pics and stories like that. Nice work prm....!

Great trophies, especially the Blesbok!

I'm glad you enjoyed your first trip.

Gemsbok fever is right! Very cool!!!

Nicely done, both the hunt and the report.

Thanks for sharing.

donsm70

Day 4: Day starts early. An hour earlier than necessary for me as I set my time wrong on my phone. I enjoy the quiet of the camp and some fresh coffee while the others arrive an hour later.

Actually, an intern staying at the lodge arrives at 6:00 (7:00 to me). Seems like a good kid with his head on right. Wish I would have found out about an internship like this! We do a fix on another hunter's rifle scope, it had moved in the rings, and he departs with his PH to check the rifle and then hunt Sable while another hunter and I depart to hunt Kudu. Our time during the morning session is uneventful in terms of hunting. We do get off the truck for a short walk to look at a herd of Kudu cows. The hope is that a shooter bull is present. Our PH has seen a nice bull there in the last 10 days. We don�t see anything, but the time out of the truck is welcomed. Our journey does include seeing giraffe, rhino, hippo, zebra, impala, blue wildebeest, bush buck, and steenbok. We head back for lunch at 1230. Lunch is a breakfast style meal with eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. It is delicious and welcomed. A third PH returns to from his elephant hunt. The gameplan is for he and I to go out for the afternoon. We leave camp at 2:30. Our route is similar to the morning for the first part. We eventually turn off to what appear to be rather non-distinct roads cutting through the area. We do see some game and a small, but nice looking, kudu bull. Eventually we make a left turn on a two track road and the intern and PH both see a kudu bull to our left. We proceed a couple hundred yards to crest a hill and the PH asks the driver to stop. We get out and plan to go get a closer look at that bull. We find him, but after a 30 minute stalk we have lost him. On return, when calling the driver (tracker) the driver says, �you must come, he is large�. He is referring to a Kudu bull that crossed the road where we disembarked. We get back to that point in time to see a kudu cow crossing left to right. We are told the bull is to the right. We start down a trail. After ~100 yds I see movement to my left and down a hill. The PH is able to identify him a Kudu bull. The chase is on. We spend the next hour+ chasing two bulls through the brush. Intermittently setting up on sticks, attempting to find a hole in the brush for a clear shot. Had 4-5 near attempts during the chase. At dark the score is Kudu-1, me-0.



Lots of brush to hide a Kudu


An unsuccessful hunt day in Africa is still a great day!

I really enjoy hearing about the hunting itself like this. Very enjoyable read! Well done!!!

Eric

Day 5: Today we plan to meet at 6:00 for breakfast. Following breakfast we head out with the intent of hunting Kudu. My PH and I, along with an intern and the tracker head to our hunt area. Along the way, the PH takes us to an area he has seen large Waterbucks. We are traveling along a road with a creek bed to our left. As we come to a power line clearing, the PH sees a Waterbuck to our left. I see one as well facing us directly. We get out and decide to make a stalk. I am not certain that Waterbuck is on my list for this trip. It takes a while to cross the creek bed and to work our way to the area the Waterbuck bulls were located. We are working to the right in thick grass with the Waterbucks to our left when I see a bull through a gap to the left and ahead. We stop and the PH notices a Kudu cow closing on us further right of that gap. Ultimately three cows cross a gap. One stops and looks at us for what seems like an eternity. I am sure the gig is up and they will run. No movement, no eye contact, and eventually she decides to move on. I am intermittently looking through the scope while on the sticks, looking for gaps in the brush, and looking around. I see a very large bull in the scope crossing left to right. Waterbuck is now on my list! He comes to an area on the right side of my grass/brush corridor and is facing me. I can see his tail flicking most of the time, but nothing else. Right after seeing the bull in the scope, the PH says to wait as he�s not sure about this Bull. Specifically questioning the length. I laugh to myself thinking about the bull I see the tail flicking out every so often. I must really suck at judging if this is questionable! Turns out he is looking at another bull further to the left. I finally convince him the nice one is right in front of us. Just then, the bull steps out and the PH says to shoot! My deal with the PH is that he is the judge of quality, and if he says the word "shoot" it is a nice animal. I can then decide for myself of course. I pick a gap in the brush that appears to line up with vitals and shoot. The bull hunches up and bolts to the left disappearing behind mounds of brush and grass. We walk to the spot he was standing and quickly find blood. We then then see him lying over a log ~30 yds away.





Hard to argue with a bullet that opens like this. Massive internal damage. Found under off-side hide after center punching ribs coming in and going out, and passing trough the heart.

That's a nifty critter and nice pics.

Day 6: Started the day at 6:00 as usual. Quick bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee to get the day moving. Spent the morning looking for Kudu. Nothing. Had lunch at old abandoned house overlooking a river. Beautiful scenery and a great place for an afternoon siesta! Saw decent bull late in the afternoon at a dirt strip airfield. Not mature enough I am told. PH says he'll be good in another year or so. I get a class on what to look for around the base of the horns to help judge age.
Sun is now on the horizon and we finally see a Kudu bull. PH immediately says to shoot. Shot was a quick offhand shot though some brush at 40 yds, entering bull�s right side.
Rookie, the PH's Jack Russell, goes absolutely out of his mind at the shot. He wants to get to work. At the first sigh of blood, the PH sets him down. He�s off at a full sprint. He does a short clockwise circle running right past the PH again. This time he does a larger circle. From the main trail he gets the scent again and within seconds he has found the Kudu bull. He is then jumping all over the bull, biting at legs, the neck or anything else he can get a hold of. Very entertaining!

Day 7: Took the day off from hunting. Went out with another hunter and PH. Shortly into the hunt he gets a nice Kudu bull. After lunch, we head to PHs property to look for a wounded Waterbuck. Three PHs, 5 or 6 tracker and the three of us hunters all go. After hours of trying, the Waterbuck manages to escape for another day.





Day 8: The PH offers me the opportunity to spend the morning hunting Impala on the local property. I go out with his tracker. He speaks just enough English for us to communicate the basics. They are incredibly tough to get close to in the thick brush. His eyes are incredible and he is able to spot Impala in the brush that I never dreamed of seeing. Honestly, the other PHs are the same way. Way above average eyesight. We get close to a shot on a couple of occasions, but they are just a bit too far away and too much brush is in the way. Did see many steenbuck, duiker and giraffes though. Only bad thing is I found a real neat porcupine quill on our walk and put it in my pocket. Later I reached in to retrieve my camera and stuck the quill into the palm of my hand well over an inch. Cleaned it up real good with a first aid kit after returning to camp. Had a nice nap under the gazebo at lunch. Temperatures are perfect and the humidity is low.



Three of us hunters head out with with the intern and two PHs to hunt Impala. Hunter 1 is up first. The Impalas are using angles and the brush effectively to prevent a shot. But that only works for so long, and he is finally presented a clear shot and he quickly takes the Impala with a neck shot. No pics are taken. Rather, we load up the Impala in order to save time and I am up next for a chance. I get a nice opportunity but he manages to always have brush in the way. Another nice Ram is spotted in a field with high bushes. The first attempt to get a shot from the truck is foiled by the Impala moving away and behind the bushes. A PH and I jump out and start to pursue. We work to within ~90 yds and the PH is able to get the Impala to turn and look back over his right shoulder. On this second chance I am able to get a shot into the shoulder. He's a nice Impala.

This afternoon Myself, the intern, my PH, his girlfriend and his tracker went to a pond on the property to do some shooting. No point in bringing any ammo home with me. Ended up being a great time. All shot initially, Later, another PH stopped by on the way to hunt the evening with the other hunters. We shot off the tailgate with sandbags and later did some offhand shooting at ~130yds at water bottles. My PH was initially quite skeptical of a 160gn 338 bullet at ~3030. I think he liked it by the end. Or at least accepted it. I will admit it did a LOT more meat damage than I anticipated or desired. The skinners were shaking their heads at the mess it made of shoulders. He, and the other PHs, still prefer heavy for caliber bullets at very moderate speeds (2400-2500). The 3 PHs personal plains game rifles are (30-06 shooting 220s, 308 shooting 180s and a 7x57 shooting 175 A-Frames). I mentioned I could load a 225 A-Frame (A-Frame being there favorite bullet) to 2500 or just under in this rifle and he thought that would be perfect for the area we were hunting. Little slow for me, but hard to argue given their experience and certainly workable given the short range opportunities in the brush there. But I had already planned to go with a 210 Partition at ~2600 for elk this Fall. One difference in the animals I noted was the thickness of the skin. At least with the Waterbuck, the skin looked to be almost 1" thick up high and nearly .5" lower. Much thicker than elk. Maybe someone with experience can chime in here. I did not pay attention on the Kudu or Gemsbok.

Day ended with drinks at the bar followed by a great dinner of zebra steaks and then topped off with a few hours at the campfire drinking Jameson and smoking Cubans. There are worse ways to spend an evening!

Next step is to determine what kind of mounts I want. I saw a combined Blesbok/Impala that I really liked, and I think the Kudu and Waterbuck will go on pedestals and the Gemsbok a wall mount turned to his left. Any pictures of unique mounts or pedestals would be appreciated.

Something like this:

GREAT REPORT! sir! some really nice trophies. I've always wanted a gemsbok but they are not really available in Zim where I normally go. Might just have to talk my buddy Hatari into taking me to RSA or Namibia to get one. Super report with good details for us rifle and bullet loonies. Thanks!

OK, how's this:

7:12PM5:00PMSun 03 Aug DL 200 Nonstop ATL - JNB
15h 48m

I'll deal with the rest!

I don't think I could ever tire of hunting kudu. They are fantastic!

Every time I start thinking of an elk hunt and start counting the cash, I get to the point where I think I'd rather go to Africa and hunt kudu, bushbuck and the like, (or buffalo) instead. Guys that live out west can jump in the truck and go hunt. I get on a plane either way.