With the approach of a significant birthday my wife suggested that I should go on a hunting safari as birthday present which as you can imagine didn’t take much persuasion. I have decided to do a detailed write up as I couldn’t find much on here about what to expect, etc (and I have started it on my long flight home).
I set about booking the trip last October by contacting a number of Safari out fitters and agents explaining what I was looking for. I wanted to organise a management hunt for plains game over a week in Oct 2017. I eventually settled on a package of mixed plains game ( 7 animals ) and two trophy animals as a momentum of the trip. The location was going to be the Eastern Cape (South Africa) as Namibia was going to be too hot at that time of the year. I had considered bringing my own rifle but decided against it as I didn’t want the hastle even though the agent had offered to assist with the paper work. I booked up the flights a couple of months later so it was just a case of waiting after that (and getting some gear suitable for the hunt). My travel insurance didn’t cover hunting so had to do a bit of searching around for a policy that would be suitable and finally got it through BASC (AIM Risk) but I believe NGO also do something similar through Lycett.
Fast forward to Oct 2017 and I was on my flight. When I arrived at the airport in Port Elizabeth I was met by Sheldon who was going to be my PH for the week. On the way to the hunting lodge we chatted about all sorts so that part of the trip flew. I arrived at the hunting lodge at about 4pm so had a chance to check the rifle and see if I was able to shoot, was happy with the rifle ( a 300 win Mag using 180grn bullets) and the zero was OK. I was shooting from a bench/rail and the first two shots were touching about two inches high ( at 100 yards) and a bit to the right. After a tweak of the scope to the left tried another shot and that was fine, 2 inches high as planned. I normally zero my own rifle in at 1 inch high at 100 yard, so the 2 inches seemed a lot and made me think that we might be doing some longer range shooting.
That night I had my first South African Braai, which was steak just about good as I had ever tasted. We discussed the plan for the next day which was to be hunting cull wart hogs.
Day 1 : It was a cool morning with a strong breeze (not what I was expecting),but there wasn’t anything we could do about that. The PH explained that the cool windy weather wasn’t what wart hogs really liked but that was fine as we were up for the challenge. We spent the morning hunting a low fenced farm. You can only shoot antelope on low fenced farms during the hunting season which is I believe is around May to July but warthog, baboon and jackal could be shot year round. High fenced farms could be shot all year round as all of the animals on the farm were the property of the land owner. There is one exception where low fenced farms over 20K hectares (I think) can be shot all year round. On our way to the farm the PH spotted a troop of baboons but they were out of range and would have been difficult to get near for a shot. We saw a few warthogs but nothing shootable as they were either too small or sows. The PH wanted to avoid shooting sows so that they could maintain numbers. This added a further challenge which made for better hunting. Anyway after a nice morning stalk we started to make our way back to the lodge for lunch. On the way back we checked to see if the baboons had moved to a better position and they had so the PH set a plan in place where we would stalk in along the hill behind them which should give me a good shooting position .Anybody who has shot baboon will know that hunting them is like stalking a herd of fallow deer on speed, they are very alert and don’t hang round if spooked. Anyway after getting into position at the top of the hill we manoeuvred our way over the top where the PH set up the sticks and checked the group for a male. A large male came out from behind some rock at about 100 yards so as he stopped I took the shot. He dropped on the spot but we could see some movement so the PH said to hit it again which I did. On inspection we didn’t need a second shot. Baboon are seen as a big pest out there, causing damage to property and crops so were included in the package at no cost (which I believe may be the case for all hunting trips).
After a spot of lunch we resumed our wart hog hunt which was similar to earlier in the day as the weather was still cool and breezy, Towards the end of the day we went to the last part of the farm where we had to access an open area from some bush. The PH was scanning the open area when all of a sudden quickly put the sticks up. From his elevated position (Sheldon is a tall guy so had a better view over the near hill than I did) he could see a wart hog boar just over the brow of the hill about 60 yards away. So it was quickly up on the sticks and the shot was taken. The boar went straight down with a shot into the shoulder. He wasn’t huge about 3 years old. It was a great end to the first day with a good amount of work put in to get the shots on the baboon and the warthog.
Day 2 was to be after one of my trophy animals (look away now any horse lovers) a zebra. I wanted to get a Zebra for a shoulder mount as I had seen some and liked the look of them. Anyway we set off in the morning for about a1hr drive to a large reserve that we were to hunt on. This reserve had leopard, cheetah, wildebeest, giraffe, lots of various antelope, etc. The reserve was approx. 20,000 hectares so there was plenty of room for anything to hide. We drove round to get a good vantage point and try to find the best areas to stalk.
Eventually a starting point was agreed and off we set. After a short time we found a group of Zebra and the PH put the sticks up. We had stalked in through some bush so the Zebra weren’t aware of our presence. With the rifle on the sticks the PH whispered to me to take the stallion out of the group when it turned broad side. After a short wait it turned but with other zebra in the background I had to wait until eventually the shot was on. I took the shot which I felt was good but the Zebra took off and ran behind some bushes about 20 yards away. The other Zebra took off but came back and hung round in a similar way deer sometimes do when one has been shot. At this point we could see all of the other Zebra but the stallion was out of sight. Then all of a sudden the group of mares took off as if spooked. We were fairly confident that the stallion had fallen behind the bush at this point so after a short wait moved in to check. It had dropped to a shot into the shoulder taking out both lungs with the bullet lodged just under the skin on the opposite shoulder. I made the rifle safe and placed it away from where the Zebra had dropped. During the inspection while we were all looking at the zebra the tracker’s dogs suddenly went mad behind us. We all turned round at the same time and there was a Cheetah no more than 5 yards behind us. We all s?£t ourselves and the rifle was made safe several yards away.
Part 2
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We all backed away and after a very short while the ranger from that reserve realised that it was a cheetah which had been hand reared on the reserve so was tame. We took a bit of convincing. It continued to try to get at the Zebra but the ranger managed to keep it away while we got the Zebra loaded. With the Zebra loaded I then managed after a bit of coaxing by the ranger to give the cheetah some water from the palm of my hand (not sure if that would have been covered by my travel insurance).
The tracker went back for the pickup so that we could get the zebra back to be skinned and butchered. Then the fun began as we tried to load it (four of us) with a hoist that had some temporary wiring which left the hoist stopping after a load was put on it. Anyway we headed back to the lodge after an exciting hunt for some lunch and a change of underwear. On the way home I asked the PH if many people ate Zebra meat and e said not and said that it may be due to a combination of the likeness to a horse and taste. That was decision made for me. I would go with my wife’s preference of a zebra skin rather than a mount as she didn’t fancy looking at a zebra mount due to its similarity to a horse and I thought that future visitors to my house might feel the same. I was surprised how accepted hunting is in SA, as we stopped off in a shopping centre (for batteries for the jackal caller) on the way back with a Zebra in the back of the pickup. Admittedly the back of the pickup was reversed up against a wall to try to reduce visibility.
That afternoon we set off out after warthog again on a low fenced farm and managed to get another 3-4 year old cull boar after a nice hunt.
Day 3: The next morning was to be an outing for a cull wildebeest. We set off for reserve which was about an hour drive away where we were to hunt on a smaller reserve (about 2 thousand hectares from memory). Shortly after we got in we spied the wildebeest but when we approached they must have caught sight of us and took off into the bush. We started tracking them around the reserve when all of a sudden the PH stopped and pointed ahead. I put the binoculars up and it was a large wart hog. We got the gun up on the sticks and waited for it to turn broadside. It wasn’t aware we were there so there wasn’t any real rush. After a short while it turned broadside and I took the shot (about 80 yards). It dropped on the spot with a shot through the font shoulder. It was a large one possibly a trophy so will definitely get it mounted as my wife funnily enough said she would like one (or perhaps prefer it to a zebra more likely).
We loaded up the warthog into the pickup and then carried on after the wildebeest until eventually we tracked them back to where we had started out. This was on an open grassy area so using the contours of the land we moved in. As soon as we got in a position for a shot the PH put the sticks up and the pointed out the cull animal from the small herd. It looked bigger in the scope than I had imagined. I took the shot and it disappeared over the hill. The shot seemed good but we quickly followed on after it over the hill to find it collapsed further down. The shot was good, into the lungs. I was hoping to take a skin from the blue wildebeest due to the patterns but the cow was old and the skin wasn’t in good condition. Her teeth were well worn down and had suffered the ill effects of the on going drought in SA. Despite recent light rain there wasn’t much grass growth. We loaded up the wildebeest in the pickup and then popped up to the lodge on that reserve which hadn’t been used for a while.
There were signs that the baboons had been round, crap on the patio table and some smeared on the lodge window and patio furniture but no baboons to be seen. We went inside for a look round where there were various taxidermy mounts including a lion holding a zebra down (part of zebra) and a giraffe shoulder mount (which was big) the PH had explained that these were prepared for an American hunter whose wife later decided wouldn’t be allowed into their house. Always check with the wife first.
Late that afternoon we tried calling jackal and after a short time using a foxpro caller a jackal came running in from the left side at speed. The PH had warned me that they often run in at speed only stop for a second before running off again. In this instance he ran in so quickly that the caller was between calls as he ran past it, he then turned round and ran back in the same direction. Meanwhile I was taking the safety off the rifle and trying to track him through the scope which I had set at mid magnification (too high). Just caught sight of him as he was disappearing into the bushes where he came from. I took a shot but missed. A couple of lessons learned from that experience, reduce the magnification to minimum and be ready for a running shot.
Day 4: We set off that morning to a large reserve looking for a blue Wildebeest (trophy). After a meeting with the reserve ranger who said that there was an older Wildebeest bull which would be ideal for the trophy but told us to be careful of the buffalo. We set off on the hunt and after a short time located the lone bull. He looked quite a bit bigger than the cow I had shot the previous day and had a nice colour/pattern on his skin with a big head. He didn’t hang about and took off through some bush. We could hear him crashing through the bushes as he went, but I was also thinking about the buffalo that we had been warned about. We set off after him at a fast pace trying to head him off if he came out of the bush on the other side but by the time we got there he was already about 150 yards ahead of us moving fairly quickly. He eventually slowed down at about 200 yards and stopped for a look back (later ranged at 265 yards) when I took the shot off the sticks. He jumped in the air and took off through some more bushes so off we set again at a fair pace as we didn’t want to lose track of him in case he needed another follow up shot. We tracked the blood trail which looked like a lung shot, into the bush and found him dead about 40 yards further on. The shot was good into the shoulder and the lungs. The PH and local ranger said that the bull was an older bull but looked in good condition. The hunt was over fairly quickly but was exciting while it lasted.
After a spot of lunch we headed off for a cull blesbuck which was going to be on a small high fenced farm. After about 45min -1hr drive we arrived at a small farm with cattle and blesbuck clearly visible from the pickup. After driving into the field the cattle approached the pickup and the blesbuck kept their distance at about 150 yards. When we got out of the pickup the PH suggested that I take the shot from there at one of the blesbuck. My heart sank as I didn’t feel that this bore any relationship to the hunting that I had experienced or was anticipating as I couldn’t see any cover for the blesbuck. The blesbuck moved slowly over a hill in the field so we walked about 150 yards to the brow of the hill and I took the shot. This was by far the worst part of the trip as I was looking for a hunting experience. In hind sight I should have raised my concerns with the PH prior to taking the shot. Prior to booking the trip my biggest concern was that the hunting might not be challenging enough. I would like to hear opinions of others who have been on these types of hunt to see if they have experienced anything similar. While the other hunts so far had been very enjoyable this wasn’t.
Day 5: I had two cull animals left on my package and today was planned to hunt impala. We drove about 1hr to a large reserve and the PH said that there was a group of rams which tended to frequent a certain part of the reserve so we stalked through the bush in that direction but only saw some ewes with a larger ram. We then headed off in another direction to see if we could find a suitable ram and after stalking for quite a while through some bush we came across a group of impala rams about 80 to 100 yards away. The PH put the sticks up and told me which one to take but I had to wait a while before I got a clear shot. Anyway I took the shot aiming for the front shoulder but didn’t hear a strike. I couldn’t believe that I could have missed but we scanned the area for quite some time and agreed that it was a clean miss. I was very disappointed and couldn’t think how I could have missed but we set off again to try and find another ram. We kept on moving through the bush and eventually came across another group of rams, they hadn’t spotted us so we had a bit of time to get set up on the sticks. The PH pointed out the ram to take so I steadied myself, the ram was quartering towards me so I was aiming slightly forward on the near shoulder. I squeezed the trigger and the impala ram dropped on the spot to the shot. It looked like a nice ram so I thought I might get the skull bleached and might be able to sneak it onto a wall at home at some point. On inspection the shot was slightly further forward than I had expected but a clean kill all the same.
We set off again looking for the final ram and after another nice stalk found one with his horns coming in very tight at the top so the PH said to take it. We didn’t have time to get the sticks up so I set the rifle up on the PH’s shoulder. The ram was facing us and the PH said to take the shot. The shot was followed by the sound of a solid strike but the ram took off into the bushes along with the remainder of the group. When we went to the shot site there was a small amount of blood so we started to follow the trail. There wasn’t a lot of blood so we were having difficulty following the trail. Just then the trackers dogs started to bark and ran off through the bushes. We didn’t see what it was because of the bush between us and the dogs. By this time there were two trackers, the PH and myself tracking with the two dogs. There wasn’t much blood but looking at some of the spots of blood on the bushes where the ram disappeared it looked like he was hit on the right hand side (the shot was taken front on). We tracked for quite a while and later drove round in the pickup but didn’t see anything which wasn’t surprising given the amount of bush about. It was an unfortunate end to my last cull hunt. I think that I hadn’t allowed for the two inch high zero but did ask the PH if we could check the zero before we went out again.
Later that day we went down to the range to check the zero and the first shot was about 2 inch high and about 1.5 inches to the right, the second was about 0.75in to the right. I think that I hadn’t allowed for the two inches high for the second impala so the shot was perhaps high and into the shoulder from the front. I hadn’t taken a frontal shot before so in hind sight I should have aimed lower even despite the 2inch high zero.
That evening we went out Jackal hunting and managed to call in a ram and ewe duiker. They were really interested in the caller and it reminded me of calling muntjac in the uk. The PH hadn’t seen this before so a first for him as well.
Day 6: The morning was spent visiting a bait point for bush pig and hunting baboon. We spotted a troop of baboon on a hill several hundred yards away but didn’t manage to get near enough for a shot. We visited some local caves to see some cave paintings which was interesting.
Later that evening we went out lamping after Jackal. This outing was to be to a farm where the farmer had reported 6 of his 8 lambs (sheep) had been taken and he had heard a jackal calling nearby one evening so he was keen to get after it. We set up in the first field with the caller out in a clearing about 70 yards ahead. We were positioned on the back the pickup but after about 30mins of calling we decided to try another spot. The next field we set up in had a large area of grass so we should have good visibility of anything coming in to the caller. After about 10 mins we saw 4 pairs of eyes about 250 yards away. They were interested in the caller and started to make their way towards us fairly quickly. We were using a red lamp so couldn’t make out what they were. They kept coming in and the PH asked me what they were as he couldn’t see. All I could see were sets of eyes bobbing up and down in the grass. Eventually as the got into an area of short grass by the caller I said to the PH that they looked like small foxes. By this time he had managed to get a better view of them and said that they were Bat Eared Foxes. Apparently they only eat insects and are protected in the Eastern Cape. It was great to see them, they were really curious about the caller. After a short while they headed back away from the caller in the direction that they had come from. We watched them for a while and after a few minutes the PH shone the lamp around the field and back to the caller where there was a Jackal stood about 10 yards from the caller. He took off heading away from us and the PH started squeaking on his hand. The jackal eventually stopped to look round and gave me just enough time to get a shot off. The shot sounded good with a good solid thump and the Jackal appeared to drop but I couldn’t be certain as the red light didn’t show up too much. Anyway we set out in the direction of the Jackal and after pacing out about 185 yards there it was. The PH congratulated me as he was keen to make the hunt count for the local farmer. By this time it was about 9:30 so we set off back to the lodge and had a few drinks with the new arrivals.
Day 6 :I decided to add a cull warthog to the hunt list for one last outing on the last day so we set off after our usual 7am breakfast. Today was forecast to be about 25DegC but windy. We drove to a high fenced farm about 45 minutes away. There was a large grass area at the bottom of the surrounding hills so the plan was to hunt round the edges of that area.
We spotted a few but nothing shootable so decided to head back in the general direction that we had started out from when the PH spotted a couple of warthog boars in the distance. We would need to cross a large open area to get a shot but were able to use the contours to get within about 150 yards. The PH put the sticks up and I settled in for a shot. One of the warthogs started to stare in our direction but we stood still and he eventually continued on grazing. Eventually he turned broad side and I took the shot which was good and he dropped on the spot. We headed in to examine the warthog and while we were waiting on the tracker to bring the pickup. I unloaded the rifle and made it safe, leaving it about 5 yards from the warthog. While we were inspecting the warthog the PH suddenly said, “jackal, quick get the gun”. A quick dash for the gun, loaded it and pulled down the long legs on the bipod and just caught sight of the jackal disappearing into the bush. Given the wind and distance (ranged at 260 yards) I wasn’t going to take an unsupported shot. Missed opportunity but was happy not to have taken a rushed shot.
After loading the warthog on the pickup the PH suggested that we put the caller out as he still had it in the pickup from the previous night. So the tracker moved the pickup out of site and we set up the caller up wind of where the jackal had disappeared. We set ourselves up under the shade of a tree so I had plenty of support with the tree trunk to lean against with the extended bipod set up. Prone shots were rarely an option due to the long grass and bushes. After a couple of minutes calling I spotted the jackal moving in between the bushes. He stopped behind a bush and I wasn’t sure if he had cleared off or not until he reappeared again closer to the caller. This time I was ready and put the cross hairs just behind the shoulder but low as I had previously ranged that to be approx. 100 yards. I took the shot and heard the sound of a solid strike. The jackal dropped on the spot so after congratulating each other on our success we examined the Jackal. There was a large exit wound as you could imagine from the 180grn bullet. We loaded the jackal into the pickup as I planned to try and tan the skin myself as a bit of an experiment.
We then set off to a coastal town (Kenton On Sea) where the PH had lived for some time. He was saying about the price of houses at the seaside resort and £150K went a long way. We had lunch with one of his friends and a couple of beers. A lovely way to finish the trip in a lovely spot.
I set about booking the trip last October by contacting a number of Safari out fitters and agents explaining what I was looking for. I wanted to organise a management hunt for plains game over a week in Oct 2017. I eventually settled on a package of mixed plains game ( 7 animals ) and two trophy animals as a momentum of the trip. The location was going to be the Eastern Cape (South Africa) as Namibia was going to be too hot at that time of the year. I had considered bringing my own rifle but decided against it as I didn’t want the hastle even though the agent had offered to assist with the paper work. I booked up the flights a couple of months later so it was just a case of waiting after that (and getting some gear suitable for the hunt). My travel insurance didn’t cover hunting so had to do a bit of searching around for a policy that would be suitable and finally got it through BASC (AIM Risk) but I believe NGO also do something similar through Lycett.
Fast forward to Oct 2017 and I was on my flight. When I arrived at the airport in Port Elizabeth I was met by Sheldon who was going to be my PH for the week. On the way to the hunting lodge we chatted about all sorts so that part of the trip flew. I arrived at the hunting lodge at about 4pm so had a chance to check the rifle and see if I was able to shoot, was happy with the rifle ( a 300 win Mag using 180grn bullets) and the zero was OK. I was shooting from a bench/rail and the first two shots were touching about two inches high ( at 100 yards) and a bit to the right. After a tweak of the scope to the left tried another shot and that was fine, 2 inches high as planned. I normally zero my own rifle in at 1 inch high at 100 yard, so the 2 inches seemed a lot and made me think that we might be doing some longer range shooting.
That night I had my first South African Braai, which was steak just about good as I had ever tasted. We discussed the plan for the next day which was to be hunting cull wart hogs.
Day 1 : It was a cool morning with a strong breeze (not what I was expecting),but there wasn’t anything we could do about that. The PH explained that the cool windy weather wasn’t what wart hogs really liked but that was fine as we were up for the challenge. We spent the morning hunting a low fenced farm. You can only shoot antelope on low fenced farms during the hunting season which is I believe is around May to July but warthog, baboon and jackal could be shot year round. High fenced farms could be shot all year round as all of the animals on the farm were the property of the land owner. There is one exception where low fenced farms over 20K hectares (I think) can be shot all year round. On our way to the farm the PH spotted a troop of baboons but they were out of range and would have been difficult to get near for a shot. We saw a few warthogs but nothing shootable as they were either too small or sows. The PH wanted to avoid shooting sows so that they could maintain numbers. This added a further challenge which made for better hunting. Anyway after a nice morning stalk we started to make our way back to the lodge for lunch. On the way back we checked to see if the baboons had moved to a better position and they had so the PH set a plan in place where we would stalk in along the hill behind them which should give me a good shooting position .Anybody who has shot baboon will know that hunting them is like stalking a herd of fallow deer on speed, they are very alert and don’t hang round if spooked. Anyway after getting into position at the top of the hill we manoeuvred our way over the top where the PH set up the sticks and checked the group for a male. A large male came out from behind some rock at about 100 yards so as he stopped I took the shot. He dropped on the spot but we could see some movement so the PH said to hit it again which I did. On inspection we didn’t need a second shot. Baboon are seen as a big pest out there, causing damage to property and crops so were included in the package at no cost (which I believe may be the case for all hunting trips).
After a spot of lunch we resumed our wart hog hunt which was similar to earlier in the day as the weather was still cool and breezy, Towards the end of the day we went to the last part of the farm where we had to access an open area from some bush. The PH was scanning the open area when all of a sudden quickly put the sticks up. From his elevated position (Sheldon is a tall guy so had a better view over the near hill than I did) he could see a wart hog boar just over the brow of the hill about 60 yards away. So it was quickly up on the sticks and the shot was taken. The boar went straight down with a shot into the shoulder. He wasn’t huge about 3 years old. It was a great end to the first day with a good amount of work put in to get the shots on the baboon and the warthog.
Day 2 was to be after one of my trophy animals (look away now any horse lovers) a zebra. I wanted to get a Zebra for a shoulder mount as I had seen some and liked the look of them. Anyway we set off in the morning for about a1hr drive to a large reserve that we were to hunt on. This reserve had leopard, cheetah, wildebeest, giraffe, lots of various antelope, etc. The reserve was approx. 20,000 hectares so there was plenty of room for anything to hide. We drove round to get a good vantage point and try to find the best areas to stalk.
Eventually a starting point was agreed and off we set. After a short time we found a group of Zebra and the PH put the sticks up. We had stalked in through some bush so the Zebra weren’t aware of our presence. With the rifle on the sticks the PH whispered to me to take the stallion out of the group when it turned broad side. After a short wait it turned but with other zebra in the background I had to wait until eventually the shot was on. I took the shot which I felt was good but the Zebra took off and ran behind some bushes about 20 yards away. The other Zebra took off but came back and hung round in a similar way deer sometimes do when one has been shot. At this point we could see all of the other Zebra but the stallion was out of sight. Then all of a sudden the group of mares took off as if spooked. We were fairly confident that the stallion had fallen behind the bush at this point so after a short wait moved in to check. It had dropped to a shot into the shoulder taking out both lungs with the bullet lodged just under the skin on the opposite shoulder. I made the rifle safe and placed it away from where the Zebra had dropped. During the inspection while we were all looking at the zebra the tracker’s dogs suddenly went mad behind us. We all turned round at the same time and there was a Cheetah no more than 5 yards behind us. We all s?£t ourselves and the rifle was made safe several yards away.
Part 2
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We all backed away and after a very short while the ranger from that reserve realised that it was a cheetah which had been hand reared on the reserve so was tame. We took a bit of convincing. It continued to try to get at the Zebra but the ranger managed to keep it away while we got the Zebra loaded. With the Zebra loaded I then managed after a bit of coaxing by the ranger to give the cheetah some water from the palm of my hand (not sure if that would have been covered by my travel insurance).
The tracker went back for the pickup so that we could get the zebra back to be skinned and butchered. Then the fun began as we tried to load it (four of us) with a hoist that had some temporary wiring which left the hoist stopping after a load was put on it. Anyway we headed back to the lodge after an exciting hunt for some lunch and a change of underwear. On the way home I asked the PH if many people ate Zebra meat and e said not and said that it may be due to a combination of the likeness to a horse and taste. That was decision made for me. I would go with my wife’s preference of a zebra skin rather than a mount as she didn’t fancy looking at a zebra mount due to its similarity to a horse and I thought that future visitors to my house might feel the same. I was surprised how accepted hunting is in SA, as we stopped off in a shopping centre (for batteries for the jackal caller) on the way back with a Zebra in the back of the pickup. Admittedly the back of the pickup was reversed up against a wall to try to reduce visibility.
That afternoon we set off out after warthog again on a low fenced farm and managed to get another 3-4 year old cull boar after a nice hunt.
Day 3: The next morning was to be an outing for a cull wildebeest. We set off for reserve which was about an hour drive away where we were to hunt on a smaller reserve (about 2 thousand hectares from memory). Shortly after we got in we spied the wildebeest but when we approached they must have caught sight of us and took off into the bush. We started tracking them around the reserve when all of a sudden the PH stopped and pointed ahead. I put the binoculars up and it was a large wart hog. We got the gun up on the sticks and waited for it to turn broadside. It wasn’t aware we were there so there wasn’t any real rush. After a short while it turned broadside and I took the shot (about 80 yards). It dropped on the spot with a shot through the font shoulder. It was a large one possibly a trophy so will definitely get it mounted as my wife funnily enough said she would like one (or perhaps prefer it to a zebra more likely).
We loaded up the warthog into the pickup and then carried on after the wildebeest until eventually we tracked them back to where we had started out. This was on an open grassy area so using the contours of the land we moved in. As soon as we got in a position for a shot the PH put the sticks up and the pointed out the cull animal from the small herd. It looked bigger in the scope than I had imagined. I took the shot and it disappeared over the hill. The shot seemed good but we quickly followed on after it over the hill to find it collapsed further down. The shot was good, into the lungs. I was hoping to take a skin from the blue wildebeest due to the patterns but the cow was old and the skin wasn’t in good condition. Her teeth were well worn down and had suffered the ill effects of the on going drought in SA. Despite recent light rain there wasn’t much grass growth. We loaded up the wildebeest in the pickup and then popped up to the lodge on that reserve which hadn’t been used for a while.
There were signs that the baboons had been round, crap on the patio table and some smeared on the lodge window and patio furniture but no baboons to be seen. We went inside for a look round where there were various taxidermy mounts including a lion holding a zebra down (part of zebra) and a giraffe shoulder mount (which was big) the PH had explained that these were prepared for an American hunter whose wife later decided wouldn’t be allowed into their house. Always check with the wife first.
Late that afternoon we tried calling jackal and after a short time using a foxpro caller a jackal came running in from the left side at speed. The PH had warned me that they often run in at speed only stop for a second before running off again. In this instance he ran in so quickly that the caller was between calls as he ran past it, he then turned round and ran back in the same direction. Meanwhile I was taking the safety off the rifle and trying to track him through the scope which I had set at mid magnification (too high). Just caught sight of him as he was disappearing into the bushes where he came from. I took a shot but missed. A couple of lessons learned from that experience, reduce the magnification to minimum and be ready for a running shot.
Day 4: We set off that morning to a large reserve looking for a blue Wildebeest (trophy). After a meeting with the reserve ranger who said that there was an older Wildebeest bull which would be ideal for the trophy but told us to be careful of the buffalo. We set off on the hunt and after a short time located the lone bull. He looked quite a bit bigger than the cow I had shot the previous day and had a nice colour/pattern on his skin with a big head. He didn’t hang about and took off through some bush. We could hear him crashing through the bushes as he went, but I was also thinking about the buffalo that we had been warned about. We set off after him at a fast pace trying to head him off if he came out of the bush on the other side but by the time we got there he was already about 150 yards ahead of us moving fairly quickly. He eventually slowed down at about 200 yards and stopped for a look back (later ranged at 265 yards) when I took the shot off the sticks. He jumped in the air and took off through some more bushes so off we set again at a fair pace as we didn’t want to lose track of him in case he needed another follow up shot. We tracked the blood trail which looked like a lung shot, into the bush and found him dead about 40 yards further on. The shot was good into the shoulder and the lungs. The PH and local ranger said that the bull was an older bull but looked in good condition. The hunt was over fairly quickly but was exciting while it lasted.
After a spot of lunch we headed off for a cull blesbuck which was going to be on a small high fenced farm. After about 45min -1hr drive we arrived at a small farm with cattle and blesbuck clearly visible from the pickup. After driving into the field the cattle approached the pickup and the blesbuck kept their distance at about 150 yards. When we got out of the pickup the PH suggested that I take the shot from there at one of the blesbuck. My heart sank as I didn’t feel that this bore any relationship to the hunting that I had experienced or was anticipating as I couldn’t see any cover for the blesbuck. The blesbuck moved slowly over a hill in the field so we walked about 150 yards to the brow of the hill and I took the shot. This was by far the worst part of the trip as I was looking for a hunting experience. In hind sight I should have raised my concerns with the PH prior to taking the shot. Prior to booking the trip my biggest concern was that the hunting might not be challenging enough. I would like to hear opinions of others who have been on these types of hunt to see if they have experienced anything similar. While the other hunts so far had been very enjoyable this wasn’t.
Day 5: I had two cull animals left on my package and today was planned to hunt impala. We drove about 1hr to a large reserve and the PH said that there was a group of rams which tended to frequent a certain part of the reserve so we stalked through the bush in that direction but only saw some ewes with a larger ram. We then headed off in another direction to see if we could find a suitable ram and after stalking for quite a while through some bush we came across a group of impala rams about 80 to 100 yards away. The PH put the sticks up and told me which one to take but I had to wait a while before I got a clear shot. Anyway I took the shot aiming for the front shoulder but didn’t hear a strike. I couldn’t believe that I could have missed but we scanned the area for quite some time and agreed that it was a clean miss. I was very disappointed and couldn’t think how I could have missed but we set off again to try and find another ram. We kept on moving through the bush and eventually came across another group of rams, they hadn’t spotted us so we had a bit of time to get set up on the sticks. The PH pointed out the ram to take so I steadied myself, the ram was quartering towards me so I was aiming slightly forward on the near shoulder. I squeezed the trigger and the impala ram dropped on the spot to the shot. It looked like a nice ram so I thought I might get the skull bleached and might be able to sneak it onto a wall at home at some point. On inspection the shot was slightly further forward than I had expected but a clean kill all the same.
We set off again looking for the final ram and after another nice stalk found one with his horns coming in very tight at the top so the PH said to take it. We didn’t have time to get the sticks up so I set the rifle up on the PH’s shoulder. The ram was facing us and the PH said to take the shot. The shot was followed by the sound of a solid strike but the ram took off into the bushes along with the remainder of the group. When we went to the shot site there was a small amount of blood so we started to follow the trail. There wasn’t a lot of blood so we were having difficulty following the trail. Just then the trackers dogs started to bark and ran off through the bushes. We didn’t see what it was because of the bush between us and the dogs. By this time there were two trackers, the PH and myself tracking with the two dogs. There wasn’t much blood but looking at some of the spots of blood on the bushes where the ram disappeared it looked like he was hit on the right hand side (the shot was taken front on). We tracked for quite a while and later drove round in the pickup but didn’t see anything which wasn’t surprising given the amount of bush about. It was an unfortunate end to my last cull hunt. I think that I hadn’t allowed for the two inch high zero but did ask the PH if we could check the zero before we went out again.
Later that day we went down to the range to check the zero and the first shot was about 2 inch high and about 1.5 inches to the right, the second was about 0.75in to the right. I think that I hadn’t allowed for the two inches high for the second impala so the shot was perhaps high and into the shoulder from the front. I hadn’t taken a frontal shot before so in hind sight I should have aimed lower even despite the 2inch high zero.
That evening we went out Jackal hunting and managed to call in a ram and ewe duiker. They were really interested in the caller and it reminded me of calling muntjac in the uk. The PH hadn’t seen this before so a first for him as well.
Day 6: The morning was spent visiting a bait point for bush pig and hunting baboon. We spotted a troop of baboon on a hill several hundred yards away but didn’t manage to get near enough for a shot. We visited some local caves to see some cave paintings which was interesting.
Later that evening we went out lamping after Jackal. This outing was to be to a farm where the farmer had reported 6 of his 8 lambs (sheep) had been taken and he had heard a jackal calling nearby one evening so he was keen to get after it. We set up in the first field with the caller out in a clearing about 70 yards ahead. We were positioned on the back the pickup but after about 30mins of calling we decided to try another spot. The next field we set up in had a large area of grass so we should have good visibility of anything coming in to the caller. After about 10 mins we saw 4 pairs of eyes about 250 yards away. They were interested in the caller and started to make their way towards us fairly quickly. We were using a red lamp so couldn’t make out what they were. They kept coming in and the PH asked me what they were as he couldn’t see. All I could see were sets of eyes bobbing up and down in the grass. Eventually as the got into an area of short grass by the caller I said to the PH that they looked like small foxes. By this time he had managed to get a better view of them and said that they were Bat Eared Foxes. Apparently they only eat insects and are protected in the Eastern Cape. It was great to see them, they were really curious about the caller. After a short while they headed back away from the caller in the direction that they had come from. We watched them for a while and after a few minutes the PH shone the lamp around the field and back to the caller where there was a Jackal stood about 10 yards from the caller. He took off heading away from us and the PH started squeaking on his hand. The jackal eventually stopped to look round and gave me just enough time to get a shot off. The shot sounded good with a good solid thump and the Jackal appeared to drop but I couldn’t be certain as the red light didn’t show up too much. Anyway we set out in the direction of the Jackal and after pacing out about 185 yards there it was. The PH congratulated me as he was keen to make the hunt count for the local farmer. By this time it was about 9:30 so we set off back to the lodge and had a few drinks with the new arrivals.
Day 6 :I decided to add a cull warthog to the hunt list for one last outing on the last day so we set off after our usual 7am breakfast. Today was forecast to be about 25DegC but windy. We drove to a high fenced farm about 45 minutes away. There was a large grass area at the bottom of the surrounding hills so the plan was to hunt round the edges of that area.
We spotted a few but nothing shootable so decided to head back in the general direction that we had started out from when the PH spotted a couple of warthog boars in the distance. We would need to cross a large open area to get a shot but were able to use the contours to get within about 150 yards. The PH put the sticks up and I settled in for a shot. One of the warthogs started to stare in our direction but we stood still and he eventually continued on grazing. Eventually he turned broad side and I took the shot which was good and he dropped on the spot. We headed in to examine the warthog and while we were waiting on the tracker to bring the pickup. I unloaded the rifle and made it safe, leaving it about 5 yards from the warthog. While we were inspecting the warthog the PH suddenly said, “jackal, quick get the gun”. A quick dash for the gun, loaded it and pulled down the long legs on the bipod and just caught sight of the jackal disappearing into the bush. Given the wind and distance (ranged at 260 yards) I wasn’t going to take an unsupported shot. Missed opportunity but was happy not to have taken a rushed shot.
After loading the warthog on the pickup the PH suggested that we put the caller out as he still had it in the pickup from the previous night. So the tracker moved the pickup out of site and we set up the caller up wind of where the jackal had disappeared. We set ourselves up under the shade of a tree so I had plenty of support with the tree trunk to lean against with the extended bipod set up. Prone shots were rarely an option due to the long grass and bushes. After a couple of minutes calling I spotted the jackal moving in between the bushes. He stopped behind a bush and I wasn’t sure if he had cleared off or not until he reappeared again closer to the caller. This time I was ready and put the cross hairs just behind the shoulder but low as I had previously ranged that to be approx. 100 yards. I took the shot and heard the sound of a solid strike. The jackal dropped on the spot so after congratulating each other on our success we examined the Jackal. There was a large exit wound as you could imagine from the 180grn bullet. We loaded the jackal into the pickup as I planned to try and tan the skin myself as a bit of an experiment.
We then set off to a coastal town (Kenton On Sea) where the PH had lived for some time. He was saying about the price of houses at the seaside resort and £150K went a long way. We had lunch with one of his friends and a couple of beers. A lovely way to finish the trip in a lovely spot.
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