Middle’n:
Congratulations on you and your wife’s first trip, you will both have a great time. If you’ve seen some of my past posts, I and my wife have accumulated several years of time in the country and have traveled over and around most of it. If you can, be sure to work in at the end at least a few days of sightseeing. Windhoek itself is good for maybe three days. Lot of modern and a few high-end shops/stores and some great restaurants. The country is still safe to self tour alone with just common sense precautions and very very inexpensive compared to Europe.
Just a couple of things to think about from your original post.
Think about taking rifles that are of more “common” calibers just in case your ammo for some unexplainable reason doesn’t make it all the way. Depending on the caliber, it could be difficult to find in Namibia to not available at all.
Muzzle brakes not “that bad” and you won’t be tossed out for bringing a rifle equipped with one. Just mostly means the PH’s and trackers have to pay more attention to staying back more behind the shooter. Lots of times when the PH or tracker set the shooting sticks, they just tend to stand beside the shooter and maybe a bit in front. They just need to remember to stay back a bit and closer to the shooter then they are used to. They, not you, just have to adjust.
Yes, you’ll really need to be familiar with shooting sticks. Not a lot of PH’s are comfortable with clients of “unknown” shooting capability taking freehand shots beyond 50-75m. Then too, it’s your MONEY. As mentioned, the general “rule” is, if you “draw blood”, means if you put a bullet anywhere in an animal, and it’s not recovered, the fee is still due and payable – period. While some clients might have pockets deep enough to afford potentially thousands of dollars in wounded/lost game, 99.9% of PH’s will simply not allow it. Second is, generally in Namibia, while there can be lots of trees and bushes, most have thorns of some sort or to spindly to be useful as rests. I/we’ve only occasionally shot freehand, prone, 3-point sitting and kneeling, but those are the exception. The vast majority has been from standing off sticks.
I’m not familiar with the particular brand/kind of tripod and “head” you mentioned so I looked it up. Seems it is designed more for photographic use where you have some time to set them and then set the equipment (rifle/camera etc) into the mount that locks it in. With out first hand knowledge of using them, my only though/question is how quickly you can “deploy” them. Meaning, even with the legs pre-extended and locked, how quickly can you fit the rifle into the mount? I see the mount/head is on a swivel that also can be loose or locked. My point being, if you intend to take and use these, try practicing this drill. You or wife carry the tripod as your PH would. Say “go” and see how long it takes for the tripod to be “set” and the shooter to get the rifle into the mount and a shot off and on target. Here’s why.
There are three generalized scenarios with millions of variations to these three. First is the traditional “spot and stalk”. Second, the pre-positioned and/or permanent blind, either ground or elevated. Third, the “hasty” ambush from cover of opportunity.
Next, things to take into consideration are the game’s natural behavior. GENERALLY, if the game has absolutely no idea you are there, you have all day as long as you are quite and make no sudden moves. IF, the game IS aware of your presence or that something is “not right” and are alert and looking in your direction, but haven’t decided to stay or run yet, you generally have maybe 20 seconds or less before they bolt. So, now tying the last two paragraphs above together.
If you’re in a pre-positioned/permanent blind, you have all day to set a tripod or most likely you’ll just use the blind ledge itself as your rest. The game comes in, cautiously but as long as they don’t smell you or hear you, you’ve got lots of time (sometimes too much time) to make the shot. Similar situation with a hasty/ambush of opportunity cover scenario. Time to set up and wait for the game to come to you.
When you’re doing the traditional “spot and stalk”, you may have situations where the game has no clue you see them and some situations where they are aware you’re at least in the area or maybe alerted by a “go away bird” or a baboon bark etc that something “isn’t right”. Generally too, if you’ve been riding in the bakkie and spot game, guess what, they pretty much have either seen or heard you well before you saw them. Sometimes, driving past and then dismounting and circling back works, sometimes it doesn’t depending on how much hunting pressure they’ve been recently exposed to. The spot and stalk scenario is where that little shooting drill comes into play.
If the game is relaxed and totally unaware of your presence, you’ve got time. If they are aware, but haven’t decided to bolt yet, you’ve probably got less than 20sec to get on the sticks (tripod) and get a lethal shot off. This is NOT the time to be fumbling around and having to take your eyes off the game and fiddling around with various kit. Add to that your heart beating from the walk and excitement and the recipe can be set for either a totally missed opportunity or wounded/lost game ($$$).
Again, I have no working knowledge of the tripod you have. The reason the plain old “African shooting sticks” are used is, they are simple to make, simple to use and with the big “V” they make at the top, very quick to bring into use.
As always, just my opine. Everyone is free to use, discuss or toss in the trash bin, but you WILL have a great trip and congratulation for taking your wife and her being a hunter too!!
