I agree with 99.9% of M3Taco’s recommendations regarding gear with one exception: “Leave the range finder at home”. Michael and I have both hunted many times with Jan du Plessis of Sebra Hunting Safaris in Namibia. My very first African animal I shot was a 40” Gemsbok bull. When we first spotted him from an elevated blind, I asked Jan the range. His response was “160 yards”. Now I’ve played golf for over 60 years and had a single digit handicap in my youth. My average drive as I got older was right around 200 yards. This Gemsbok was further out than I could drive a golf ball. I took out my Bushnell laser rangefinder and it read “224 yards”. My Leupold scope had a custom Bullet Drop Compensator and I just dialed 225 and held dead on. The Gemsbok ran 40 yards after being shot and rolled over dead. I learned that day that despite being an outstanding PH, Jan is a crappy range estimator. After my fourth trip hunting with Jan, he finally broke down and bought a top of the line laser range finder. As Clint Eastwood said in one of his movies ....”A man’s got to know his limitations “.
