Howdy from West Texas!!

Greetings everyone!

My name is Aaron, and I live out in west Texas. I've been a longtime reader of this forum, and finally decided to last month. I have my first ever safari (and 1st ever trip to Africa) scheduled in May. I will be hunting with Adolf Kleinhans - owner of Cape Valley Safaris. I'm a relatively young guy (27 yrs. old), but Africa has been a dream of mine since I was a child. I'm getting more and more excited/nervous as May draws near. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributes to this forum - it helped me out a great deal when I was doing research before booking my safari. Thanks for all the help everyone!!

On a somewhat related note, I have a post up in the classifieds section. I'm looking for a used Tuffpak 1050 to take on my upcoming trip. If any of you guys have one laying around that you don't use anymore (and would be interested in selling it), please let me know.

Thanks!!

Welcome Aaron, hope you enjoy AH as much as I do feel free to ask as many questions as you would like nice bunch of gentleman and lady's on here...

My best always.

Welcome to AH, Aaron!

Welcome to AH Aaron! Always nice to see young guys going to Africa! All the best on your hunt...

Welcome Aaron! Where abouts in West Texas do you live?

Welcome into the light.
Glad the contributors have been of help to you.

You know what that means though!!!
Pictures, hunt report, stories. Pay up!


Good luck on your hunt.

welcome and enjoy the site aaron .
what animals do you plan to pursue in africa ?
have a great hunt in africa mate

Welcome to AH Aaron !

This will be a plains game safari - as I cannot afford to venture into the world of the Big 5 at this point in my life (wife would KILL me!!). At this time Gemsbok, Kudu (Eastern Cape), and Impala are a must on this trip. I killed a Scimitar Oryx here in Texas last February, so I would really like a Gemsbok to compliment that mount. I'm also thinking about Blesbok, Bushbuck, Zebra & Wildebeest. You guys have any suggestions on animals - especially for a first-timer?

Here are a few pictures of my Scimitar Oryx...
Oryx1.jpeg Oryx2.jpg Oryx3.jpeg

Greetings Aaron. I know you will enjoy your African hunt and wish you the best of success.

I have only hunted once in Texas and it was in that Alpine country. Rugged and beautiful!

Welcome to AH Aaron! The wife and I are headed to the East Cape in may as well for the third time hope your taking your wife with you she'll love it there and it makes it easier when your planning your next trip if she want to go back as well.

Originally Posted by Bobpuckett

Welcome to AH Aaron! The wife and I are headed to the East Cape in may as well for the third time hope your taking your wife with you she'll love it there and it makes it easier when your planning your next trip if she want to go back as well.

Yes sir. The wife is joining me on this trip. She keeps talking about shooting a zebra - she really wants a "pretty rug." She hasn't ever really hunted before, so I have a feeling I may be taking the zebra...but I guess we'll find out for sure while we're over there. I have taken her out shooting - trying to get her comfortable shooting the .300 win mag.

Hope you and the wife enjoy y'alls trip as well. Do you know what the weather will be like in the East Cape in May? We will be about an hour outside of Port Elizabeth.

we were in limppopo in may a few years ago and the day time tempretures were around 9 or 10 c at dawn and warmed up to 19 to 24 c all day the evenings were warm until an hour or so after dark and then it chilled down for the night .

Originally Posted by AaronM58

Yes sir. The wife is joining me on this trip. She keeps talking about shooting a zebra - she really wants a "pretty rug." She hasn't ever really hunted before, so I have a feeling I may be taking the zebra...but I guess we'll find out for sure while we're over there. I have taken her out shooting - trying to get her comfortable shooting the .300 win mag.

Hope you and the wife enjoy y'alls trip as well. Do you know what the weather will be like in the East Cape in May? We will be about an hour outside of Port Elizabeth.

The Temps are cooler in the early mornings and evenings I've seen it in the 30s by 9:00am in the 60 and 70s that is the norm however it can get colder and in june 2010 I seen it get up to the mid 80s and that when I saw a cobra. I highly recommend that your wife take her Zebra here is a pic of my Wifes Zebra she took last June.

Welcome Aaron, and good luck on your Safari.

You will not be the same after experiencing Africa.

I'll be back in Botswana during May on my second Plains Game trip... only 16 weeks away!

Oh yeah, you will also want to go back again before you even leave. That's just Africa!

Welcome Aaron! Concerning the Tuffpak all I can say is good luck, I tried forever to come across a used one. I finally broke down at the DSC convention and bought a new one. Fortunately I flew Southwest airlines and at least saved on shipping.

Welcome to Ah, Aaron!
Don't forget to post pics and a report when you get back. All the best for your trip.The Eastern Cape is a magical place.

Best Regards.
Marius Goosen.

Welcome Aaron,

Enjoy every minute of your hunt in Africa!!! I am willing to bet that while on your hunting trip you will be starting to plan for the next one

Welcome to AH Aaron, you and the wife should enjoy your trip!!! Just remember Africa is addictive you will just have to come back in the years to follow

Regards

Welcome to AH Aaron, there is a lot of great info here and some folks who have "been there, done that". I wish I could have started my Africa experience when I was 27 y.o. but then again, I'm glad I didn't. It would have ruined me completely for hunting here in the States.

I'm glad your wife is going and has interest in taking a zebra. One suggestion you'll see repeated in this forum is the need to spend time shooting off the sticks. I also had a very positive experience shooting at photographic targets of plains game, helped me identify the target area quicker and it also built the anticipation of the trip to a higher level.

I'm looking forward to your report and lots of pictures.