South Africa Hunt

victorc

Beginner
Jul 2, 2006
36
0
I recently returned from my first hunt on the African continent. Several friends and I were invited almost two years ago by Kannas Kannemeyer of Wild Wildebeest Safaris in South Africa. This past month three of us were finally able to make long time dreams come true, and we went on our first African safari.

The flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa was 15 hours and 21 minutes long. I didn’t sleep a wink. Collecting luggage and getting our rifles was no problem at all. For those wanting to take their own rifles to Africa I would recommend working through Henry at http://www.riflepermits.com at least two months prior to leaving for your trip. They charged us $120.00 US dollars each and saved us a ton of time and frustration. We were then met by my PH, Jacques Kellerman. After a four hour drive we pulled into the parking lot of a beautiful lodge where we were greeted by Kannas and other staff members. After settling into our comfortable rooms we did the best we could to get some sleep.

At 7:00 am the next morning we were eating a delicious breakfast and deciding what animals to focus on first. My two good friends went with Kannas and I went with Jacques. I explained to my PH I didn’t want to sit at water holes and I didn’t want to shoot my game out of the back of a truck. This was not a problem. So with my .375 Ruger in hand we set off. Gemsbok was on my list so that’s what we focused on the first day. Mid-morning we located three bulls traveling together with one shooter in the bunch. After two failed stocks through the thorns, spines, and prickles we were able to get in front of the animals and setup for a shot where we hoped they would cross through an opening in the brush. They did and as the second bull walked through the opening I was told to shoot. At the report of the rifle and the clear thwack I knew I had my first African big game animal. After 150 yards the tracker had me looking at a beautiful bull Gemsbok with a hole behind the right shoulder with the 270 grain Hornady Spire Point Interlock bullet lodged in the opposite shoulder. If it wasn’t on before, it was now GAME ON!!!
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The next animal to fall was a beautiful bull Sable. We ran across two Sable bulls at about 100 yards while attempting a stock on a group of Impala. We saw them just before they saw us as we moved behind a tree. The larger of the two either charged us or was unusually curious because he trotted straight to us and cut the distance by half. When he threw on the brakes I put one right into the middle of his chest. He whirled around and took off crashing through the brush but piled up only 60 yards away. In my opinion a mature bull Sable is the most beautifully unique animal Africa has. I look forward to honoring this trophy on my wall as soon as possible.
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I’m not sure how impala get killed outside of sitting in a blind at a water hole but we managed to get one. These jumping antelope did not sit still once as we made multiple stocks on them. At about sun down one day we ran across a group feeding and were able to get to within 122 yards of a big group on our hands and knees. As we slowly stood up to get above the brush they all broke out in every which direction… except for one young ram looking at us broadside. I was on the shooting sticks but hesitated to shoot because his body was completely covered in brush. Jacques told me to put the cross hairs where I thought the shoulder might be and to shoot. I did so and that big 375 bullet cut a path to hit the Impala in the boiler room. The young ram did make it about 70 yards before expiring.
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The hunt for my Kudu bull was by far the most challenging, frustrating and rewarding all at the same time. My PH spotted him at 8:10 in the morning standing in thick tall brush about 150 yards out. We made it out of the truck and walked about five steps before he had us pegged and took off on the dead run. That in itself is an interesting sight, watching a large tall animal like that disappear into the thick brush. To make a long story short, David our tracker found the track and followed them all day until we finally got a shot off around 5:00 pm that evening. As we followed David we bumped the bull multiple times but never got a clear shot. Later that evening, we were lucky enough to get in front of him as he headed out of the trees towards a thorny patch that stood about six feet high, I’m 5’10”. He broke out of the trees at 800 yards from where I stood in the back of the truck. He was walking straight towards us. I slowly got out of the truck to find a place to shoot from and to get ready on the shooting sticks. The thorn brush was taller than me, I couldn’t see anything. There was no higher ground. So, not wanting this Kudu bull to get away after so much hard work I broke my own rule and jumped into the back of the truck to setup for a shot from the top of the cab. As I was watching the Kudu My PH told me he was heading for a possible shooting lane 310 yards out and to get ready. As luck would have it the bull stopped right as he stepped into the lane. I put my cross hairs a little above his right shoulder and started the gentle squeeze. I heard the hit but couldn’t see what had happened to the Kudu bull. Both the PH and tracker were yelling at the top of their lungs that the animal had gone down with the shot. We cautiously walked towards where the bull had been and found the majestic animal dead on the ground. The bullet struck just in front of the right shoulder and exited in the middle of the opposite shoulder. The beauty of a Kudu bull is only second to the Sable in looks and majesty. I feel very honored to have had such an enjoyable experience and be fortunate enough to harvest some of God’s most beautiful creatures.
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Notice I left the Wart Hog out of the above description of admiration. The last afternoon of my hunt found me without anything resembling hogzilla. As we drove and glassed we found a bunch of hogs feeding alongside the road just over six hundred yards ahead. We drove to within 400 yards and glassed to determine if any of the hogs were boars. There were a handful but we still couldn’t tell how big. We parked the truck and stocked to 165 yards of the hogs that had now split up a bit. There were no boars in the bunch with huge tusks but there was one that stood out from the others. He and a sow were working themselves towards us with the sow hindering a shot. With all the time in the world to get ready for a shot the boar finally cleared at 147 yards and I put one through his right shoulder. We easily followed the blood trail for about 60 yards and found him dead.
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All in all I would give Wild Wildebeest Safaris an “A”. My PH, Jacques, is of German decent and has the demeanor to go with it. However, he takes his hunting and tracking very serious and I enjoyed every minute in the field with him. The proof is in the pudding. I successfully harvested all the animals I went after. That should speak volumes of his effectiveness.
The .375 Ruger cartridge and the Hornady 270 grain Interlock bullet also each get an “A”. Five one shot kills on tough African plains game is impressive, especially one over 300 yards. I’d choose a heavier and better constructed bullet for dangerous game in this cartridge. But I’ll never find out because I’ll probably use the .416 Remington Mag that is slated for my next project.
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Looks like I managed to do something wrong with images. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Great story and I wish I could help you with the picks. Maybe Fotis or DrMike will chime in and give a hand.
 
This should work
 

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That is assuredly a lovely bevy of game (well, except for the warthog, and they are just cool). Sounds as if it was a great safari. Congratulations. I do agree with you that sable are among the most beautiful animals one could ever witness.
 
Thanks for sharing. I too just returned also.

Kuduhunt is a difficult hunt on foot. You can sit in the car and spot them but once on foot they know better.

Congratulations.
 
Outstanding and congratulations!

I love the way you wrote of your hunt. Made me feel as if I was watching you on the hunt.

Vince


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Nice write up, you harvested some of the best African animals available IMO. I'm sure those events will live in your mind forever!
 
Glad that you had such a great adventure!

My wife and I are dreaming of our first safari still.

Her bucket list includes sable and gemsbok, while I'm looking forward to kudu, nyala, eland and bushbuck.

Thinking of taking the 338-06 and the 376 steyr.
 
yukon huntress":3jug9gi5 said:
ATTENTION ALL MY RICH FRIENDS: Dr Mike, April, "A", Dewey, Guy---I will trade you a Walrus hunt, for an Africa Plains Game hunt

Whoa! Whoa! Woe! Yeah, WOE! Don't lump me in with plutocrats! I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I'se a po' boy from Kansas. They's dirt under these nails. :lol:
 
DrMike":3ucnp174 said:
yukon huntress":3ucnp174 said:
ATTENTION ALL MY RICH FRIENDS: Dr Mike, April, "A", Dewey, Guy---I will trade you a Walrus hunt, for an Africa Plains Game hunt

Whoa! Whoa! Woe! Yeah, WOE! Don't lump me in with plutocrats! I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I'se a po' boy from Kansas. They's dirt under these nails. :lol:

Retired small town cop here... Not even close to rich. Both seem like cool hunts though...

Guy
 
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