I'll admit it, I have been slacking big time. Here is the my hunt story. My buddy Tyler and I have been planning this trip for about six years. We left on a Wednesday night, redeye from Phoenix to New York. From there, we boarded our connection to Johannesburg without incident. Fifteen hours later, we were so glad to touch down on a runway again. The layover in Joburg was short and we were in Windhoek before lunchtime on Friday. We met up with the driver and she informed us that we had to wait for another group to land before we could head out. She dropped us off at a hunting lodge near the airport to grab some food and beers. Four hours later, the driver showed up and we commenced our road trip to Grootfontein. While we were driving, I thought it was a little ironic that Windhoek and the surrounding areas looked so much like the Arizona I had just left. There was desert mountains and scrub everywhere. The ride took us another six hours, we arrived at the PH's house around 10pm. We were all exhausted and eager to get some rest. The next morning we got up, dressed, and had a good breakfast. I discovered then, that I could not find my hiking boots and the driver had taken off to Windhoek with them.... not good. The PH, Gerrit, gave me a pair to borrow and we off to sight in our rifles.
One shot off the bags and I knew the rifle was still zeroed. We went off looking for a red hartebeest for my friend. We ended up spooking a herd of wildebeest, but I noticed something bounding in the grass thru my binos. Two jackals ran up on us fairly quickly and stopped facing us about 80 yds away. Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Gerrit yelled and I squeezed one off. 225 AB through the chest was overkill on this little guy.
We decided to head back for lunch and sit some waterholes looking for Kudu. The first waterhole we sat, ended up producing a huge bull with a broke horn. Tyler had first dibs and took it down with his 300 WSM. The bull ran into the thicket and died about 100 yds away. We loaded him up and had about an hour of light left. We headed to a different blind on the other side of the property. After we climbed in, we immediately had a smaller kudu bull wandering around the waterhole. He continued to hang around, and then a monster warthog appeared out of nowhere. I was ready to take him but Gerrit insisted I hold off. The sun was almost down and we picked out a female kudu coming out of the thicket. Gerrit says "oh there's a big one" "be patient... be patient". The bull took his sweet time stopping behind every bush but he finally took one step into the trail. I put a 225 AB through his shoulder and he made it 20 ft before he wobbled and layed down. What an amazing first day!
Day Two was more of a bittersweet day. We set off in the morning looking for Gemsbok. We hiked several hours and spooked several small groups of blesbok and black wildebeest. The last group of blesbok alerted the two largest gemsbok bulls we saw the whole trip and we watched them crash through the bush. As we were heading back to the truck, we spotted a good size warthog. It was walking away and Tyler hit him a little too far back. He ran about 50 yards and then Tyler hit him again. No way he was still alive... but he was. He took off through the bush. Gerrit decided to head back for lunch and continue the search after. After lunch, it took about 45 minutes of cat and mouse to finally down that old pig. The PH borrowed my rifle and 3 more finishing shots were needed. Conclusion... think about it before you shoot a warthog, they are tough!! The rest of the day we searched for gemsbok with no luck at all.
Day three ended up being a great day. In the morning, we got on a fresh track of some gemsbok and managed a 100 yard shot through the brush to bring down that young bull. Gerrit thought he was bigger and there was a major case of ground shrinkage when we walked up on him. He tells me, no trophy, no charge. You should make it into a rug. Tyler's turn was next. We came to the edge of a field and spotted a nice blesbok bull. We made a nice stalk crawling through the bushes on the edge of the field and put a 180 bonded soft point (Federal Deer Thugs) through its heart. No tracking required on that one
. Lunch came and went, then we were out in the bush again. Still looking for Gemsbok, we walked right into a herd of red hartebeest. The area we were in was burnt previously, but had a lot of new growth clogging up the shooting lanes. We sat and watched the herd, looking for the bull for at least 20 minutes. The wind was right and they had no idea we were there. Finally, the herd bull started moving through the brush in front of us. He stops, Gerrit puts the sticks up and says shoot. I look through the scope... all I see is sticks. I tell him its not clear and he sets up again. The bull moves another 20 yds right to left in front of me. This time I have a tree filling up the right side of my scope. I find the clearest spot for the crosshairs and pull the trigger. He goes down immediately, bullet right through the heart. We loaded him up in the truck and then headed out to a new area, still looking for those pesky gemsbok. We cut some new tracks and were quickly on some gemsbok. Tyler was up next and made a shot through the brush at a large female. The bullet deflected off of a branch and made a sideways entrance wound. Luckily, it went right through the lungs and she expired about 150 yards away.
Day Four ended up being a rough one for me. Remember my boots story... well I a case of giant blisters on both of my heels from all the walking in those borrowed boots. I put some moleskin on but my mobility was severely decreased. We walked around during the morning and didn't have any luck with the gemsbok. I told Gerrit I wanted to sit in a blind during lunch just in case. They dropped us off about 300 yards short of the waterhole. After we got about fifty yards down the road, a large boar walks out in the middle of the road and stops. He turns directly at us and stares. I pick the rifle on the sticks and let it rip. He was about 100 yds away, and I hit him directly in the lower chest. I heard the loud thwack and he took off like a bolt of lightning. We I got up to the spot he was standing, there was a large pool of blood. As we followed the trail he was on, there was blood sprayed everywhere. I could not understand how this hog was still running. We found his liver on the ground about 50 yds later, still no hog. I had flashbacks to day two... no way I'm taking five shots at a warthog lol. We ended up finding him 150 yds away from where I shot him... did I mention warthogs were tough :mrgreen: We took some pics and I went to the blind at that same waterhole. I passed on another boar about the same size about 45 minutes later. Day four ended with no more animals. We had planned to do some fishing, so we left a day early so I could rest my aching feet.
Day five had us in the truck for 3.5 hours heading to the Angola border on the Okavango river. We had lunch and were in the boat by 1pm. We did some trolling for tiger fish and caught some little ones.
Day six we were in the boat again and caught some more tigers. We headed the opposite direction on the river than the night before and found a herd of unhappy residents. Man, those hippos were aggressive. They were jumping out of the water and trying to chase our boat when we were already a couple hundred yards away. We only spotted one croc, a small one, but I'm sure there were plenty of others hidden. I managed to also catch a barbel catfish, about 3ft longs and 12-13 lbs. We headed back that afternoon to hunt our last day.
Day seven had me hunting in sandals. My feet were still too messed up for boots. It was really hard walking quietly in those things. The burchells zebra in the last photo was my last chance animal that afternoon. Tyler had taken a nice old blue wildebeest earlier in the day and I had missed a gemsbok in the thick bush due to a few stray branches getting in the way. I took the zebra at about 60 yards with a neck shot, it dropped immediately. I thought that I wouldn't have another chance at a gemsbok, but Gerrit spotted one on the edge of a larger field when the sun was going down. We put a 300 yard stalk on it through the field and I put the rifle on the sticks when we got behind the last tree between us. Gerrit told me it was about 200 yds so I put the crosshairs on the shoulder and squeezed one off. I heard it hit but the bull ran off. By the time we got up to where he was, it was dark and no blood could be found. We were a little off in range estimation, it ended up being a 320-350 yard shot. Guess I hit him a little low, the tracker found him that morning after we headed to the airport.
All in all it was a great trip that I will never forget. My Nosler TGR 35 Whelen is by far my favorite rifle and kills with authority. I was using my handloads on this hunt: 225 Nosler Accubonds, Norma Brass, CCI200, 58.5 gr RL15, 3.34" OAL. This load clocks about 2650fps. If anyone is interested in going to Namibia for a hunt, I would highly recommend Gerrit Breedt and Elandpro Safaris. And bring a varmint rifle with you, plenty of jackals out there :mrgreen:
One shot off the bags and I knew the rifle was still zeroed. We went off looking for a red hartebeest for my friend. We ended up spooking a herd of wildebeest, but I noticed something bounding in the grass thru my binos. Two jackals ran up on us fairly quickly and stopped facing us about 80 yds away. Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Gerrit yelled and I squeezed one off. 225 AB through the chest was overkill on this little guy.
We decided to head back for lunch and sit some waterholes looking for Kudu. The first waterhole we sat, ended up producing a huge bull with a broke horn. Tyler had first dibs and took it down with his 300 WSM. The bull ran into the thicket and died about 100 yds away. We loaded him up and had about an hour of light left. We headed to a different blind on the other side of the property. After we climbed in, we immediately had a smaller kudu bull wandering around the waterhole. He continued to hang around, and then a monster warthog appeared out of nowhere. I was ready to take him but Gerrit insisted I hold off. The sun was almost down and we picked out a female kudu coming out of the thicket. Gerrit says "oh there's a big one" "be patient... be patient". The bull took his sweet time stopping behind every bush but he finally took one step into the trail. I put a 225 AB through his shoulder and he made it 20 ft before he wobbled and layed down. What an amazing first day!
Day Two was more of a bittersweet day. We set off in the morning looking for Gemsbok. We hiked several hours and spooked several small groups of blesbok and black wildebeest. The last group of blesbok alerted the two largest gemsbok bulls we saw the whole trip and we watched them crash through the bush. As we were heading back to the truck, we spotted a good size warthog. It was walking away and Tyler hit him a little too far back. He ran about 50 yards and then Tyler hit him again. No way he was still alive... but he was. He took off through the bush. Gerrit decided to head back for lunch and continue the search after. After lunch, it took about 45 minutes of cat and mouse to finally down that old pig. The PH borrowed my rifle and 3 more finishing shots were needed. Conclusion... think about it before you shoot a warthog, they are tough!! The rest of the day we searched for gemsbok with no luck at all.
Day three ended up being a great day. In the morning, we got on a fresh track of some gemsbok and managed a 100 yard shot through the brush to bring down that young bull. Gerrit thought he was bigger and there was a major case of ground shrinkage when we walked up on him. He tells me, no trophy, no charge. You should make it into a rug. Tyler's turn was next. We came to the edge of a field and spotted a nice blesbok bull. We made a nice stalk crawling through the bushes on the edge of the field and put a 180 bonded soft point (Federal Deer Thugs) through its heart. No tracking required on that one
. Lunch came and went, then we were out in the bush again. Still looking for Gemsbok, we walked right into a herd of red hartebeest. The area we were in was burnt previously, but had a lot of new growth clogging up the shooting lanes. We sat and watched the herd, looking for the bull for at least 20 minutes. The wind was right and they had no idea we were there. Finally, the herd bull started moving through the brush in front of us. He stops, Gerrit puts the sticks up and says shoot. I look through the scope... all I see is sticks. I tell him its not clear and he sets up again. The bull moves another 20 yds right to left in front of me. This time I have a tree filling up the right side of my scope. I find the clearest spot for the crosshairs and pull the trigger. He goes down immediately, bullet right through the heart. We loaded him up in the truck and then headed out to a new area, still looking for those pesky gemsbok. We cut some new tracks and were quickly on some gemsbok. Tyler was up next and made a shot through the brush at a large female. The bullet deflected off of a branch and made a sideways entrance wound. Luckily, it went right through the lungs and she expired about 150 yards away. Day Four ended up being a rough one for me. Remember my boots story... well I a case of giant blisters on both of my heels from all the walking in those borrowed boots. I put some moleskin on but my mobility was severely decreased. We walked around during the morning and didn't have any luck with the gemsbok. I told Gerrit I wanted to sit in a blind during lunch just in case. They dropped us off about 300 yards short of the waterhole. After we got about fifty yards down the road, a large boar walks out in the middle of the road and stops. He turns directly at us and stares. I pick the rifle on the sticks and let it rip. He was about 100 yds away, and I hit him directly in the lower chest. I heard the loud thwack and he took off like a bolt of lightning. We I got up to the spot he was standing, there was a large pool of blood. As we followed the trail he was on, there was blood sprayed everywhere. I could not understand how this hog was still running. We found his liver on the ground about 50 yds later, still no hog. I had flashbacks to day two... no way I'm taking five shots at a warthog lol. We ended up finding him 150 yds away from where I shot him... did I mention warthogs were tough :mrgreen: We took some pics and I went to the blind at that same waterhole. I passed on another boar about the same size about 45 minutes later. Day four ended with no more animals. We had planned to do some fishing, so we left a day early so I could rest my aching feet.
Day five had us in the truck for 3.5 hours heading to the Angola border on the Okavango river. We had lunch and were in the boat by 1pm. We did some trolling for tiger fish and caught some little ones.
Day six we were in the boat again and caught some more tigers. We headed the opposite direction on the river than the night before and found a herd of unhappy residents. Man, those hippos were aggressive. They were jumping out of the water and trying to chase our boat when we were already a couple hundred yards away. We only spotted one croc, a small one, but I'm sure there were plenty of others hidden. I managed to also catch a barbel catfish, about 3ft longs and 12-13 lbs. We headed back that afternoon to hunt our last day.
Day seven had me hunting in sandals. My feet were still too messed up for boots. It was really hard walking quietly in those things. The burchells zebra in the last photo was my last chance animal that afternoon. Tyler had taken a nice old blue wildebeest earlier in the day and I had missed a gemsbok in the thick bush due to a few stray branches getting in the way. I took the zebra at about 60 yards with a neck shot, it dropped immediately. I thought that I wouldn't have another chance at a gemsbok, but Gerrit spotted one on the edge of a larger field when the sun was going down. We put a 300 yard stalk on it through the field and I put the rifle on the sticks when we got behind the last tree between us. Gerrit told me it was about 200 yds so I put the crosshairs on the shoulder and squeezed one off. I heard it hit but the bull ran off. By the time we got up to where he was, it was dark and no blood could be found. We were a little off in range estimation, it ended up being a 320-350 yard shot. Guess I hit him a little low, the tracker found him that morning after we headed to the airport.
All in all it was a great trip that I will never forget. My Nosler TGR 35 Whelen is by far my favorite rifle and kills with authority. I was using my handloads on this hunt: 225 Nosler Accubonds, Norma Brass, CCI200, 58.5 gr RL15, 3.34" OAL. This load clocks about 2650fps. If anyone is interested in going to Namibia for a hunt, I would highly recommend Gerrit Breedt and Elandpro Safaris. And bring a varmint rifle with you, plenty of jackals out there :mrgreen:
