Been home two days now and thought I would give a report. While on my first trip to Namibia in 2011 with the Die Keiler group I was adopted by the two families I stayed with. We became quite close and I returned in 2012 and now this year. This time was hastily put together and I was told there would be as much farm work as hunting. I had planned to shoot a zebra and kudu. On arrival I find out what a severe drought their areas were in and how badly they needed management animals removed. So the focus shifted to management hunting. Each day we hunted early and late then farmed in between. By the end of the trip I had shot multiple springbok, hartebeest, oryx, black wildebeest, jackal and baboon. The two ranches are six hours apart so there is a lot of variety. I also shot sand grouse on the Kalahari ranch. Rifles used were my 8x57 model 98 Mauser with a 4x Leopold shooting 200gr. Nosler partitions. Then my 7x57 whitworth Mauser shooting 160gr. Nosler partitions. This was my first time to use the 7x57 and it lived up to it's reputation. I had previously taken the 8x57 and it is devastating on oryx. Despite the fact that the wound channels were noticeably smaller. Animals shot with the 7x57 dropped in the same distance as the 8x57. Penetration on similar shot placement was also the same. I came to favor the 7x57 because of it's higher magnification 6x Leopold. Ranges ran from 30meters to 300meters. No animals were lost or wounded. We filled the coolers on each ranch and on the day I left we hauled 1300 lbs of meat to the butcher to sell. If anyone wants to see pictures just pm me and I will give you directions to my Facebook page where I have all the pictures up already. A special thanks to the Ling and von Gossler families.

I've been wondering about you........glad you had another great trip. Looking forward to the pics!

Who gets the money?

The landowner usually gets the money for selling meat from animals taken on his place.

Wildlife is privately owned not public. Some ranchers choose not to have wildlife because it completes with domestic stock and is harder to turn into a cash crop. Others consider wildlife part of a diversified plan. In drought years when domestic stock can't be raised the native animals do better and offer at least some income. It is hard country and having options is a good thing. Also wild game is more leopard proof than cattle. Of course being wild they can leave at anytime but like anywhere good habitat holds game.

I've seen some of the photos.

You took some great oryx and a big-horned hartebeest! I'll try to get some pictures posted here for you, Paul.

You hunted with great folks there at Die Keiler.

That would be great. My only internet access is by phone,so posting pictures is difficult for me.

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Management Oryx

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Management Oryx

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Management Oryx

I'll try to get them up full size in the morning.

There's a great oryx bull photo!!

I'm not sure why the pictures are so blurry. Thought I had taken a step toward computer literacy. Then this.

Cool......love the pics.

Thank You luv2safari !

All of these are management animals except for the one trophy bull Oryx and the trophy beetle.
For those wondering about associated cost of a hunt. Here is an example of my cost.
Dickies canvas pants irregulars 15$ Atwood farm supply
Carhartt shirts irregulars 5$ Atwoods farm supply
8x57 Mauser 200$ bought from a guy who received it as a gift and wanted some money to put towards a 308win because the 8mm was "not very powerful "
4x Leupold scope with weaver mounts175$ from 24hr campfire
There are two things I willingly turn loose money on. Binoculars and boots. I have lieca binoculars that were show samples from camera land and were half price at the time. My boots were light weight kenetrek safari boots and I found them for a little more than half price. I like being a scrounger. The money saved goes directly to the trip and trophy fees.
When I was dropped off at the airport in Windhoek my host told me I had less luggage than any hunter they had seen in 30 years and I took it as a compliment. Just one medium size pelican case for clothes (135$) and my heavy duty aluminum rifle case 175$ on a close out sale.

Great report. My wife and I cannot wait to get back and hunt with the Die Keiler group again. Such a great group of families and wonderful properties. We hunted Orua and Westfalenhoff.

I have hunted Orua and Cowdray three times each and would really like to see Westfalenhof. The only way I think I could do it would be to stay an extra week. I just talked myself into it! I'm heading back in 2017 if possible, they are coming to see me in 2016. If you're interested let me know. I'm tired of traveling by myself. You are correct about the Keilers amazing hunting, but I will always go back for the people. I'm already saving up my pennies. I forgot in my previous post another cost saver is the Nosler partition 2nds I shoot. This is what I've used on every animal I've shot in Namibia. Every little bit helps or at least that's what I tell myself.

Our next trip I have Cowdray on my list. Something about that red dirt and rolling dunes is drawing me to it. I am thinking 4 days at Orua, Westfalenhof, and Cowdray should make for a nice hunt. That is unless I decide to do something totally different and pursue a Tuskless Elephant and the wife goes for a Cape Buffalo. The decision is very tough as I would love to see our friends at Die Keiler again soon.

Looks like a lot of fun to me!

Are you sure those are "management" animals? Some pretty nice stuff there.

donsm70

Thank you for sharing your story and photos with us!!!! Congrats on a great adventure. Elk

How did you experience Namibia? Life, and society in general?

My partner has been approached by higher ups, if she might be interessted in taking over as manager in their offices in Namibia.

PS1080: Is there a reason you place the dollar sign behind the amount?

Bill Quimby

No reason for the $. Is this not proper?

I've always put the $ in front of the amount. $5 rather than 5$.

Yes, PS1080. It's improper, but I'm just curious. There have been several posts lately where others have written prices backward.

As with posts that spell "probably" as "prolly" and use apostrophes when trying to make their nouns plural, it makes me wonder if it's a generational thing.

Bill Quimby

Living in Namibia would depend a lot on your background. For me growing up I a very rural area and being involved in agriculture, I would move there tomorrow. Living in Windhoek maybe not. While I felt perfectly safe in town I was always ready to get out asap. Every single house in town has a ten foot wall with electric wire on top for a reason. While violent crime seemed low. Robbery and theft are rampant. However, like anywhere you live people adapt. As far as overall safety I felt just as safe as I would in Oklahoma City or Dallas. I actually felt safer than I do when I am in places like Lawton Oklahoma or Yazoo Mississippi. A lot safer! I'm just not a city person so my impression of any city is skewed. Oh and I'll take Windhoek any day over Johannesburg! Living there with kids means private school and it means they will learn German. You will go to a private hospital. Food cost are on par with where I live maybe a little cheaper. Variety and availability can be spotty. There are two or three huge shopping malls bigger than anything in Oklahoma. Labor is cheap. The climate makes heating and cooling bills way cheap. As far as social life I can't say. I'm not a night life person, whatever you did would be in the German community. My best description of Windhoek would be Albuquerque. Similar architecture ,climate and terrain only with electric fences. I do know the government makes it extremely hard for foreigners to work there. Like I said if I had to live in a city probably no way, but that is my feelings here also. Get me at least 100 miles away then hell yes! Oh and driving on the opposite side of the road freaks me out. If your partner moves there, hire me!

Sorry for intervening in the discussion. I spend just about 1/3 of a my year in Namibia and and would move there very easily. People are quite a bit friendlier and more down to earth on average than South-Africans. It seems a lot more stable and might be because of the small population. Windhoek is really expanding at the moment which I think is a good sign.

Life is slightly more relaxed in Namibia, even in Windhoek. The people I know that moved from South-Africa to Namibia would not exchange it for anything!

Just a final thought, hunting as a local will make it really cheap for you

Pieter