Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 6 Weeks Away--Here are our plans

Booked through Cabelas with Makadi Safaris. Will spend 4 days on their free range area for mountain zebra, gemsbok, kudu and springbok and 7 days in the north for hartebeest, wildebeest (black and blue), eland, warthog, duiker and a variety of smaller game.

This is a father/son hunt. Dad will take his 700 CDL with VX3 3.5X10 shooting 165 gr. Nosler AB at 2950 fps. He'll also take (and we'll share) a Sako Mannlicher .375 with Leupold VariXIII 2.5X8 shooting 270 gr TSX at 2600 fps. I will take my Sako AV 300 Wby with Conquest 3.5X10 shooting 168gr TSX at 3300 fps and my 71 with Williams peep shooting 250 gr. Barnes Original at 2300 fps.

We'll likely carry Benchmade D2 knives. Its doubtful we'll take custom blades.

All will be encased in Al Americases. I've had these all over the country and they really hold up. I should post a pic of the damage one has encountered.

Our binocs are top notch. I'm carrying a top of the line Minox 8.5X42 and dad an older set of Nikon ED porros that were the best of the birding binocs in the late 1980's (they still have the flatest view of any binocs I've ever seen).

We'll be carrying a variety of Olympus and Panasonic Lumix (Leica lens) digital cameras and a Canon HD video camera.

Clothes will be a combination of canvas hiking pants, decent fleece and Filson sweaters. We're firm believers in Underarmour underwear. Hiking boots are Meindels and Russels.

I was thinking about taking a variety of decent knives and flashlights as gifts.

Thoughts?

Take a point-n-shoot 35mm camera as well...and use it..

If you take knives as gifts, don't make them too decent...you'll see why when you get there..

If you take flashlights for your PH make them real decent, like Surefires or the like..spare batteries.

Take knit hats as gifts.

Ive always made it a point to contact the PH and see what he needs that you can possibly bring,that he cannot get there..I have literally brought Nike shoes for the PHs wife, and a suitcase full of Ranch dressing!

Get ready to start planning your next trip...no...wait...you'll have plenty of time for that on the flight home

Inmgwe

The Metzgers will take good care of you.Very nice folks and well run operation.

I am assuming by free range area you mean Ilala?

I will be very interested in a report from that area as I want to chase Hartmann Zebra and Dik-Dik there.Supposed to be a real gem and outstanding hunting un-fenced.

Leave the knives home;PH's have boxes full of knives and the staff would rather have $$$ for there own needs IMO.Asking what is needed is an excellent idea from Ingwe;I took some computer stuff last time for the PH.

Good hunting.

HS, won't tell you now, because you probably won't believe me, but on the way back on the plane, make a list of what you took, that you DIDN"T need/use. Then save the list for future reference!

All BS'n aside, sounds like a good game plan. Good luck!

maddog

I'll just comment on the knife thing:

You will not be using hunting knives yourselves, believe me (though I always carry a pocketknife anyway--a Swiss Army knife). So there is no reason to carry hunting knives in the field.

Not all PH's have "boxes full of knives." I have found that Knives are generally appreciated as tips to the trackers and skinners--but in addition to cash. More appreciated than plain knives, however, are Leatherman tools.

Among the most appreciated tips for PH's, I have found, are good rifle scopes and binoculars. Many of the PH's I've hunted with have beat-to-death binoculars and often their scopes aren't top-notch. In particular I have found they like Leupold scopes, despite what you might read on the Optics forum. On my very first safari I gave my PH the 4x leupold off my .375 H&H and he almost kissed my feet, and have gotten close to the same reaction on many safaris since then.

+1 on the knives. Trackers and skinners are rough on them. I take a Leatherman tool and a big Swiss Army knife. You don't need a skinning knife but you might need a small blade and tools to repair minor problems. For that matter on my last trip both my buffalo, kudu, and impala were skinned by my Leatherman. Make sure you have a wrench for your scope ring screws. Things like that...

Gents--Please keep the tips coming. I had planned on calling the Metzger's next week just to ask what I could bring that they might not otherwise be able to find locally.

As for knives as tips to trackers, yes I had planned on that in addition to cash. Dad and I will take Leathermen just for the tool aspect, so I suppose we could just buy a couple more and leave them.

JB, the Benchmades we carry are pocketknives. Honestly, I'd feel naked without it. As for the scopes, I think that is an excellent idea. (Although, I'm pretty sure I'd much rather part with the cash value for the 2.5X8 Leupold. That thing has been absolutely rock solid since 1992; however, none of the others have any sentimental value.) Its also a great excuse to go scope shopping once back home!

dinsdale--yes, it is Ilala. Cabela's managed to put us on this at the last minute--they've been impressive, so far.

The leatherman or Swiss army knife is a good idea...handy...and I can't remember if Windhoek lager comes in a bottle with a cap that screws off or not....

One other tip..if you are in town ( Windhoek) go to Joes Beer House....

Ingwe

Often PH's appreciate a scope rather than the cash equivalent because scopes cost a LOT more over there than they do here. A Leupold will cost at least twice what it does here, exactly how much depending on the exchange rate.

In general African hunters (including PH's) aren't as obsessed with magnification or even variable scopes as we are. I often take a used 4x Leupold as a back-up, then leave that as a tip.

It's not a bad idea to take a back-up scope. Bouncing around in safari vehicles seems to be hard on scopes and mounts. I have had two scopes go bad in Africa, though neither was a Leupold.

I agree about taking a back-up scope. We're taking a spare VX2 3X9. Its riding in Leupold QRW mounts and sighted-in for Dad's 700. Since the Sako's are both AV's , I can interchange the mounted scopes. (I've already tried this and these things are probably machined to under 0.005" of each other, so I really can swap them.)

As you can see, I'm not a Leupold hater. I really like them and own better than a dozen. Although lately, I'm really becoming sold on Conquests.

Got some yard work and shooting to do. Later today, I'll post a pic of the arms and optics. Dad's 700 set up is pretty striking.

That 3-9x might be a very appreciated tip. I always ask if the PH would prefer a scope to cash, just to make sure, and can't remember when one said he'd prefer the cash to a good scope.

A lot depends on the cost of the hunt. On a more expensive I've tipped both cash and optics. One on hunt I asked beforehand what the PH would be interested in, as Ingwe suggested, and brought over both a scope and a binocular for him. I had hunted with this particular PH before and knew he really liked good optics.

I would leave at least one of the rifles at home and carry backup scopes instead. Leave the spare scope(s) with the PH. I would recommend taking the 2 Sakos. Either rifle will easily take the game that you specified and you will have less stuff to drag around and keep up with. I would also get in some quality practice with shooting sticks from 50-200 yards.

When 2 guys are going, its about as easy to carry 4 rifles as 2. While I agree its more to keep up with, when I've got 2 weeks and 12 animals, I suppose the rifle looney in my father and me just can't help it.

I'm pretty lucky. I have a 200 yard range off my back porch. Dad and I have tallied nearly 500 rounds off sticks since Christmas.

Well, a hitch in the preparation. I have, on more than one occasion, waxed poetically to the virtues of the Leupold QR Sako bases (these bases are very similiar to the Optilock bases, except they are streamlined and lighter). Well, my .375 groups were going all over the place this afternoon. Since I bragged on it, I was ready to blame my 1992 2.8X8 Leupold. I was in the process of disassembly and noticed the front base was loose. Turns out the plate that takes up against the dovetail broke!

So, I'll put a set of Optilocks on and try it again with the 2.5X8. Since the Optilocks weigh about a pound, I figure they should hold up a bit better against the recoil of the .375.

I had mentioned I'd post pics of weapons and optics tonight, but I'll wait until I have it all back together again.

Good to catch that now!

An update. Placed the Optilocks on the .375 and shot a .75" group and a 0.5" group (3 shots-100 yds) with my bear load (79gr H4350 300gr Hornady RN) using the old 2.5X8 Leupold. I used this because I know and trust it. We'll spin up the TSX's and RL15 tomorrow.

Just got back from South Africa. I took too much stuff. I wish I had taken less clothes. For the most part I ended up swapping between two sets of clothing each day.

What I did use was my Leatherman Micra and Juice, hat clip lights, small led flashlight, and Buck Vanguard. I did use the Vanguard to skin out the back legs of my Nyala (at my request) before turning it over to the skinner (who was holding the flashlight for me) after he commented that I was good but slow (that is an understatement).

+1 on Maddog's suggestion about making a list of unused gear.

Most people take way too much stuff their first time.

One of the things Americans apparently refuse to believe is that clothes are indeed washed every day. I generally take four changes, but that's more for the traveling too and from Africa than being there. A light sweater or fleece jackat and a hat complete the clothes.

In 2007 I spent a month in Africa. My total luggage was a duffle bag about 24x15x15, a daypack for my cameras, binocular, etc., and a take-down gun case with wheels on one end. I could easily carry everything, which made overnights going and coming much easier.

I had various roommates at the safari lodge over the month. It was the first time in Africa for all of them, and they ALL brought huge body-bag duffles, monster gun cases and a "carry-on" the size of my main duffle. All were wishing they'd taken far less, especially after dragging everything through airports, hotels, etc.

Read this.......then read it again.

I agree that its best to pack as light as possible. While this is my first time in Africa, its by no means my first time travelling with guns nor travelling overseas. My clothes and ammo will all fit in a carry-on size roller case and camera's and incidentals in a large camera bag. Guns, spare scope and leatherman will all travel in a double gun case. I suppose that may qualify as the most "monsterous" part of this adventure. While these big cases fully loaded are heavy and cumbersome, they are not impossible either. I've carried it full on more than one occasion at Ketchikan. Its probably nearly a half-mile walk from the luggage area to the ferry.

Anyway, if the good Lord allows it, I'll probably only carry one rifle on the next safari. I would certainly love to hunt Cape Buffalo one of these days.