Apologies for the poor photo, but it was all that we could salvage. Cape Grysbuck unfortunately took a head shot.

Great pics!

Thank you sir.

Is that a "black" springbok?

Correct. Personally they are one of my favourite, as you still get the stripes from a "normal" Springbuck, but in the black coat.

Ok.
How does the "copper" springbok compare to the black springbok?

WOW! That is a pretty animal!

Marius,
As always nice to see the year in review. Some really nice spiral horned representives there.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie. Appreciate it. Still quite a bit of catching up to go, but will continue after I get back from Dallas Safari Club.

Marius - great photos - thanks for sharing! Looks like there is quite a variety of terrain & vegetation, some very open areas, and some with pretty thick cover. I also noticed that many of your hunters had bolt action rifles with rather large scopes, and at least one Weatherby that appeared to be a long-range sort of rifle.

What sort of distances should a hunter be prepared to shoot?

How large & powerful a scope do you recommend?

Asking because I often hunt with an accurate 30-06 that is now topped with a 6x Leupold and sometimes with a 375 H&H Ruger single shot with a 3x Leupold. I enjoy shooting both, and am proficient to 300 yards, or a bit more, with either.

Regards, Guy

Hi Guy,
The Eastern Cape has a huge variety of terrain. It can go from mountains to plains within a couple of hundred yards. Some areas have very thick cover, but this is where the height from the mountains help. If we did not have the height advantage, some areas would be impossible to hunt because of the vegetation.On some of the browsers like Kudu and Bushbuck 200-220yds are usually sufficient, as the mountain faces are about that range in the middle, from side to side. If you are in the middle, and see something at the top, it could be 300yds. We don't expect our hunters to shoot that far, and calling a shot like that really depends on how big the animal is, and whether the shot is worth the risk, as well as how comfortable the hunter is. It also depends on the species, and how hardy they are. Something tough like a Blue Wildebeest, we would rather get closer in order to make sure.
The scopes that we find have the best range would be something like the 4-12 x 50. The Leupold's have them in this range, and those are great.
The 30-06 is a very popular calibre over here and will get the job done. I am just not a fan of shooting a 200gr bullet from them. I don't believe they have enough powder to push a 200gr bullet as sufficient as you require for our areas.
Personally, I like the 165gr bullets out of the 30-06 for the Eastern Cape. We don't shoot out to the ranges where the momentum of a 180gr bullet will catch up and have an effect on the trajectory.

Take Care,
Marius

Thank you!

Guy

Always love looking at these. Thanks for taking the time.

Thank you very much for the comment, sir. I appreciate hearing that there are some guys that enjoy the photos.

That Nyala is GORGEOUS!

Thanks Ken. He was the only one we saw that day, but I'll take him.

That is an old bull eland,I LIKE IT!

He was a dandy alright. We really do pride ourselves on the Eland that we take with our hunters.

Wounded Impala that he recovered.

Great pictures!

Beautiful pics and beautiful trophies, Marius. You’ve made me lust after Springbok and East Cape Kudu. :-)

Gorgeous Nyala you’re getting and that Bushbuck is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Thank you very much for posting.

Thank you very much Gentlemen. Sorry for the delay in response. Been offline for a bit.

Outstanding pictures!

But one question: Doesn't anyone hunt with blue steel and walnut anymore?

Thank you sir. Apparently not...

You are killing me with these Bushbuck!

I'm not sure if i should say sorry or keep posting them... All of these photos are from the 2017 season.

Have a question,why did he get two different bushbucks,Marius? Was one a cull and the other a trophy?

Hi Ken,
This was his last day on safari and he did not want to go home without a Bushbuck. The shorter ram was an older ram, just with poorer genetics. You can see how rounded his tips are, compared to the bigger ram. The hunter and PH ran into the shorter ram in the morning, and we explained to him that its an old ram, but not of good quality. He wanted the ram, nonetheless. He also wanted to carry on looking for another Bushbuck, so we explained to him that we would give him the shorter ram at a better deal. They then found the bigger ram in the afternoon.

Being addicted to hunting Bushbuck is real. Had a guy once who wanted 5 rams in one trip, on top of other animals. Had to calm him down and settled on two over 7 days...

Thank you Marius for the explanation.

I like that Buffalo!

What's the story with the shattered tree?

Ed

Something tells me a bullet went through that tree and still hit that buffalo. Did it kill the buffalo or deflect the bullet off course a ways?

The tree was hit on a follow up shot by the hunter. After the initial shot, the bull ran into some thick stuff, and a clear shooting lane was difficult to find. After a while the herd left him there and ran off. Since the bull was already hit, we tried our best to get another one into him. The bullet went through the tree and still hit the Buff. Bullets were made by Peregrine, and performed very well. Bullet seemed to keep a pretty true line after impact with the tree.