NAMIBIA: I'm Back From My First Safari

Good report and congratulations on many fine trophies!

Thanks. In the overall scheme of things, they are probably more or less average as trophies go. However, they'll always be special to me and that is what really matters. (I have never asked a guide or PH what an animal would score before or after pulling the trigger.)
 
Thanks. In the overall scheme of things, they are probably more or less average as trophies go. However, they'll always be special to me and that is what really matters. (I have never asked a guide or PH what an animal would score before or after pulling the trigger.)

Congratulations. There is no such thing as an average trophy. They are all awesome and made memories that will last for your lifetime. Your smile tells the story. I am happy for you. Great report.
 
................
What would I do differently?
- Take more sunscreen (I had just enough, but no extra).

- Take my own gun(s)

- Take my rangefinder

- Book my flights further in advance.

- Make more concrete plans for non-hunting activities for my wife.

All good points.

It is so hard to determine distance when you are in new terrain and with animals you have never seen before. I will always carry a rangefinder now.

Congratulations on a successful hunt.

Thanks for the write up.
 
Thanks for the hunt report and pictures. That is a really nice blue wildebeest!
 
Congrates, good story and animals and i agree that blue wildebeest is a really good one!!!
 
MtGoat,

Great report and excellent trophies. I guess I was really lucky with all of my animals that I took earlier this year. I was using a .30-06 and all went down within 100 yards of getting shot and all went down with a single round. I think I would have been just as shocked as you were when they got up and kept on going. Yikes!

I also took my rangefinder for that very reason and it really paid off. It helped us put rounds exactly where we wanted them (except when I popped off two rounds at a jackal and one at a baboon but that is another story).

I would go with shoulders for them all...especially since this was your first African safari. I am sure you have a great taxidermist that you use so make sure he gives you a good deal so you can get them all done. You won't regret it if you do...but you will if you don't!
 
MtGoat,

Great report and excellent trophies. I guess I was really lucky with all of my animals that I took earlier this year. I was using a .30-06 and all went down within 100 yards of getting shot and all went down with a single round. I think I would have been just as shocked as you were when they got up and kept on going. Yikes!

I also took my rangefinder for that very reason and it really paid off. It helped us put rounds exactly where we wanted them (except when I popped off two rounds at a jackal and one at a baboon but that is another story).

I would go with shoulders for them all...especially since this was your first African safari. I am sure you have a great taxidermist that you use so make sure he gives you a good deal so you can get them all done. You won't regret it if you do...but you will if you don't!

Sanderson,
Thanks for the compliments. Even my PH was shocked when the hartebeest got up and ran. It took 3 hits from a 338 Win Mag and one from a 375 H&H, and got up and went again! A fourth shot from the 338 finished it, but it was truly amazing. In the end, we weren't sure which shots hit where, but 4 of the shots were in the chest (I didn't notice where the fifth one hit) and both front legs were broken. Even just mechanically, I'm not sure how that could work.

As far as the mounts go, the problem that I am wrestling with is space. Before I got a wild hair at SCI in January, I had no expectation of going to Africa. (Life is full of surprises, isn't it?) I have things comfortably spaced in there. I had one spot reserved for that once-in-a-lifetime whitetail and another for something else. With that, the room was supposed to be full.

I don't want to end up with animals on top of each other. I could use the whitetail spot for the wildebeest. I think that the 2 gemsbok might work as a pedestal mount. Another option for them would be one shoulder mount (pedestal or wall) and one as a European mount. The kudu probably takes the "something else" spot, displacing a cool painting.

Having mounted my first caribou that, it turns out, is nice but not exceptional, I want to be really cautious about what I mount. When they arrive at the taxidermist, they will be scored. That will give me a better idea about how big they really are. I can mix those scores with my own assessment of how special each one is to me. It is likely that 2 - 4 of them will end up as European mounts.

I hope to go back next year. If I hunt and shoot a good buffalo, I will really want to have a place for it - preferably a shoulder mount. Cats aren't as much of a problem. They can be done as either a rug or a full body mount (I have space for a couple of those on a high ledge in the trophy room.

These are good problems to have. :D (And, I leave Friday for a trophy elk hunt.)
 
Congrats for a great hunt and some very nice trophies. You ll need a bigger trophy room if you keep coming back to Africa :wink2:

Thanks for sharing !
 
Mtgoat posts: "That brings me to my next problem. When I first booked my hunt I decided that I wouldn't bring anything back because my trophy room is already comfortably full. Then I started to think that I would just doing European mounts and everything. As time passed, my wife encouraged my to plan on mounting the gemsbok (if I got one) 典hey have such a pretty face? Then, I started thinking that it would be nice to have a kudu in there as well. But I was still thinking just two shoulder mounts. However, now I am wondering about the wildebeest. If it's as special as I was told, perhaps I should get a shoulder mount for it. Well, I致e about 6 months to ponder the question"




If I may be so bold, I have a feeling that most of the married men on this site are wishing they could clone your wife or at least have some of her DNA on hand...
Congratulations on a fantastic hunt!! (Sorry, I don't know how to highlight the original post properly)
Jane
 
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If I may be so bold, I have a feeling that most of the married men on this site are wishing they could clone your wife or at least have some of her DNA on hand...

;)

It's actually better than that. The trophy room was totally her idea! Also, she tells me "I have no idea how much you spend on hunts and I really don't care to know."

When I told a friend about the trophy room, he responded "What planet is this woman from and where did you find her?" :D

Yes, I know that I'm very lucky.
 
I think I would be that way too for my man if I had one (not that I am complaining, being single is not that awful).. Congratulations on having a woman like that in your life!!!!
She must be amazing!! What planet by the way? Maybe we are related... ;)



Jane
 
Congratulations on having a woman like that in your life!!!!
She must be amazing!!

Yes she is - but she has to be to put up with me for so many years. ;-)
 
Let's just say that we're a good match for each other.
 
Nice!!! :). I shall live vicariously through you and a few-select others.... God Bless!!! You give me hope.
 
Thanks. "...and hope does not disappoint us."
 
Congrats on the great hunt and trophies Mtgoat. I must have just missed you at Omujeve. I was there in mid July. I cannot rave enough about the great time I had with them. Looks like you did as well!

Looks like some of those were taken at Schonnbrunn. Did you hunt Omujeve main lodge and south camp as well?
 
Congrats on the great hunt and trophies Mtgoat. I must have just missed you at Omujeve. I was there in mid July. I cannot rave enough about the great time I had with them. Looks like you did as well!

Looks like some of those were taken at Schonnbrunn. Did you hunt Omujeve main lodge and south camp as well?

Gooseblitz,
Yes, main lodge and south camp. I was surprised how skittish the animals were at south camp. Nic told me that it has always been like that - even when they first started hunting it. It had basically not been hunted for 7 years and still they were skittish. It was fun, but more challenging down there.

Sounds like we were a week or two apart. I arrived on August 2nd.
 
We arrived July 10th. I shot Zebra, 2 Gemsbok and 5 Springbok at a Red Hartebeest at South Camp. Some long shots and a lot of stalks to get in position. We hunted with Uys Schickerling. We did meet Louie. He was in camp most of the time we were there.
 
How about some pictures?
 

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