SOUTH AFRICA: Plains Game With Kuvhima Safaris

watman

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I told a few people I'd write up my experience. Wow. I took my Dad along and we did 7 days hunting in Limpopo and 2 days at Kruger. I'll probably break this into a few posts and try and include a fair number of pictures. The hunt was a SCI chapter donation to the Kansas City chapter, it included the 7 days, daily fees and some credit towards trophies. Andre Stewart dealt patiently with dozens of emails in the year+ leading up to the safari.

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Here you can see the lodge, our PH's Bakki, my room and the dining room in the lodge. The lodge was 4 bedrooms and the living room/dining room. There was a separate building next door with a bar, fire pit and sitting area as well as a larger table where we usually had dinner. The accommodations were very nice, food was excellent and staff very helpful. They also have a main lodge with a gift shop, the main kitchen and I believe two other lodges on the property. I believe the main property was about 35,000 acres and had been 7 or 8 farms before it was converted to a hunting farm around 15 years ago.

They have a pretty wide selection of game here, but also have numerous other hunting locations for specific game. We ended up hunting here about half the time and made use of 3 other concessions as well.

Our PH was Jean Lu Swart and our driver/tracker for most days was named Saki (although I think the spelling actually has an "e" Saeki? He spelt it for me but my hearing and his English just weren't matching up that day!)

I flew from KC and my Dad out of Saint Louis, we met in Atlanta and took Delta 200 to JNB. I took two rifles, both CZ550s a 9.3*62 FS and a 308 Varmint. Both were scoped with Bushnell 6500s 1.25-8X on detachable mounts. I elected to use rifle permits.com and our driver and their representative met us just past baggage and we breezed through the SAPS office. I definitely recommend their service. Kuvhima's property is not very far from the Botswana border and our drive was almost 4 hours to the lodge. It was 10PM local time before we arrived but they had dinner ready when we got there and left us to settle in for the night.

Jean Lu had a previous client departing that morning and the 5 of us ate breakfast together he saw them off and then we headed to the range. Both rifles were a couple inches off, I had removed the scope mounts before with no issue but who knows. We got sighted in no problems and loaded up on the truck. We spotted a great Nyala on the hillside immediately after leaving the range, should have shouldered the rifle and dropped him, but they weren't on the list and by the time Jean Lu described how good a buck he was it was too late. :) Speaking of the list.... we decided to try stalking a Gemsbuck next, however the bush was thick and dry, we saw lots of tracks and heard another Nyala. At that point I said lets go for him. The tracker saw him twice but each time running. We got hot and tired and took a break for lunch.

At this point we looked at the list Dad and I had sent over. #1 for me was a Kudu, then in no particular order warthog, impala, gemsbuck, blesbuck. Dad really wanted a Wildebeest cow (cull), and impala, warthog, and porcupine. Jean Lu had pretty good ideas for everything but the porcupine, he said they usually night hunt them and we were visiting over a full moon with lots of vegetation still around, that one might be tough. And of course nice Kudu can be a challenge.

We went back out that afternoon and saw a small croc along the Pelala river, some wildebeest run past us and a few impala ewes. Saw a couple warthogs cross the road but nothing shootable. It was a great first day even without getting anything.

Day 2: As Jean Lu told us was a killing day. We were going to a private reserve of about 85 sq miles, they have all types of free ranging game. It was quite scenic, we started out driving up the mountain to a large plateau. As we came out of the woods into the clearing we could immediately see herds of wildebeest and blesbuck, there was a rocky area to the left that we headed towards looking for a good blesbuck buck. However a nice Kudu bull was up in the rocks and after looking at him through the binos we decided to move in closer, however driving up that way we couldn't find him again. RATS! I suggested maybe we stalk in and our guide this day, Anna Lee, scoffed he was gone and we weren't likely to sneak up on him there... okay I was a bit naive, the rocks were huge there would be no stalking here. As we cruised along we saw a young Kudu bull and a couple cows, we stopped and watched them from just over a hundred yards. Jean Lu asked if I could see a white chevron in the tree behind the solo cow. I could and he said keep your scope there and don't look away. Eventually the cow walked on a bit and still I only could see the white V that he insisted was a very nice bull. He stepped out from behind the tree and bushes and sure enough beautiful spirals, big full bodied male with nice stripes. I was amazed he could hide so well, there is a reason they call them the "grey ghost". I set the trigger then squeezed with held breath. He jolted turned to his right and ran down in front of us and just as a pulled up for a follow up shot he was behind those big rocks and trees and gone. PH said just wait he was hit good, a few seconds later we heard a crash and handshakes all around as we climbed up to find him. Total he probably ran 80-100 yards. I was struck by the size of the animal and of course his horns. Now up until this point my largest game had been Missouri and Kansas Whitetail, so I was pretty pumped up! Smaller horn was 53.5" and 11.5" base.
 
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Dinner for Day 1 we had the Croc bread! The other pictures, my Dad, the plateau and my Kudu
 
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This looks to be a fun read. You have me hooked. Waiting for more.:eek:
 
You have me waiting in the wings to.

Looking forward to the next instalment.
 
Took a bit for part II with the site changes and work schedule. So we had some good shots some bad. Early in the day Dad missed a warthog, but after my Kudu he was up for a Blue Wildebeest. He was on a budget and wanted to make the most of the trophy credit that was in our package, but after watching a Wildebeest herd for awhile and not getting a clear shot at a nice cow he decided to go after a bull instead. Side by side the males are noticeably nicer in coloration and larger as well. Moving on to a second herd an OLLLLLD bull was off by himself. Dad lined up his shot from the Bakkie and with a careful squeeze dropped the old boy on the spot! Hopefully in the pictures you can see how eroded his bosses were. Dad was thrilled! Incidentally it was the first game taken with this rifle, he hand loaded the barnes 150gr TSX.
Also I hope that the video embed works since I had to link it from Facebook, wouldn't upload via the site...

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Next up was my common Blesbuck. Nice animal, he was out on the plain much like the wildebeest. Not much to say except it was taken with the same 308 and dropped on the spot. Throwing in a couple random pictures of the landscape as well. Now I mentioned the not so good shooting. I also shot at a warthog, it looked like a good hit, but I couldn't say definitively where I hit and we tracked the blood into a rocky area and eventually could not find it anymore and the tracker just gave me a sad shrug. We decided this was a great time for a lunch break so we found a nice spot by a little waterfall for sandwiches and snacks. I was really disappointed with the shot at the time, but having 3 animals in the salt we were all in pretty good spirits. I was really thrilled with the Kudu, it was my top animal for this trip so again it was hard for me to not be on cloud 9. We hunted for Impala the rest of the day, didn't get a shot on a good ram until late in the day when really close to taking aim on one 2 kids came riding by on motorcycles. Herd scattered and we packed it in. The game manager for this area was irate, the kids (dunno who they were) should not have been on the property at all due to free ranging Lion. Oh well. So ended day two, we had drinks and another great dinner at the lodge.

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Day 3 started off with a bang! Literally, we took off down a dirt road and turned off into a pasture like area glassing for warthogs, no luck, a few small ones and some sows, however off in the distance a lone Impala was spotted. We headed that way, with the sun rising to our right, the ram ran straight towards us. We didn't move and he kept coming until he froze staring at us. Which made my choice pretty easy, I hit him square in the chest and it was a bang flop.

The rest of the day we tried for for Gemsbuck, however didn't even spot one. Right at dusk we did see a large herd of livingston eland move into the open to graze. Was a very cool experience. Every night ended at the bar/dining area with a nice fire.

Day 4 we went off thinking maybe we'd find another nice Impala or warthog. I was happy with the first one but in my head I had a picture of horns pointing outward as the swept back. Right before lunch we found one, he was broadside at about 120 yds. Squeezed careful and he was done just like the first. I was feeling pretty good, handshakes and congrats all around as we trotted over to pick him up.... he wasn't there. No one saw him run, but there was a bloody puddle and a trail. We were sure he was close... for the first hour... or two... by afternoon we had another PH and tracker come over and he brought his bloodhound, which unfortunately didn't locate it either. Just before leaving for the evening our tracker saw the ram jump up from under a tree and he could see a wet black neck and we found another splatter of blood where he laid.

Very Very long story short, we spent the whole next day looking for him (Day 5). The area was large but was fenced on three sides with a river on the fourth. Another hunter had a helicopter ride as part of his package and they looked with the helicopter but couldn't find him either. It rained hard this night, no fire, and dinner was worth mentioning though. Kudu stew was absolutely delicious on Day 4, but Impala steak on Day 5 was incredibly good. Possibly my favorite food ever.

So I'll tie off the impala story with three comments. First I walked a lot during these two days, don't burn don't chafe. Decided TSX are not great for very small game I feel like they effectively acted like FMJ on these smaller animals when they don't penetrate through enough tissue. Nothing excuses my poor shots but I feel like something faster expanding may have done the job in both cases. Finally a jackal or caracal cat ate that Impala and they found him a week later so I should eventually get the skull and horns.

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Day 6 Jean Lu decided we should give the Impala a rest. A farm south of here has a few herd of Gemsbuck and some Blesbuck on their property. We set up along a road crossing and saw a nice herd cross, the first animal out looked good to me, however a much larger bull was with the larger bunch to the left, so I zeroed in on him but never got a clear shot as he stayed bunched up with some cows and white blesbuck mixed in. They NEVER broke up til they wandered on into dense woods. Later in the day I did get a shot however it was 370 yards, I had a good rest and guestimated bullet drop for the 9.3... yeah you can see where this goes. I think the bullet landed in the dirt at its feet, the Gemsbuck turned and ran. So this was a 250gr TSX backed by 62 gr of AA2700. I practiced quite a bit at 100-200 yards, I estimated about 18 inches drop at 370 yards, apparently much too little. Conclusion, I need to remember what this cartridge is for, heavier game at moderate distances. Moderate distances! :)

Wildebeest for dinner, fun day of hunting with no game in the bag.

Decided to give it a go for Day 7 as well! This was exciting, we found the herd was grazing in pretty heavy brush so stalked them on foot while Dad spent some time sitting in the truck and watching. We ended up chasing them out into a back corner of the property. So we knew they were in a specific section of really heavy stuff. So sticks were set up along a road bordering the fence and our tracker went in to drive them out. Three animals stepped into my lane of fire but some brush blocked most of the body on the desired bull, and eventually they moved into the brush again. But they were walking towards us. The first Gemsbuck popped out of cover 25 yards to my left and took off like a rocket back the way he came. I couldn't even swing over on him it happened so fast. It was an awesome thing to see, I'm sure we looked comical, and the animal dug in and you could see the muscles bulging as he pushed off.

We hoofed it running back to the roadway that we knew they would have to cross if the exited this stand of woods. I set up on sticks out of breath and waited, nothing happened. They were still in this area. So early afternoon on our last hunt day the tracker, PH and I headed off into the brush. I nice gemsbuck was staring at us through a gap and the only thing visible was horn and head. Jean Lu whispered right between the eyes, just as I start to squeeze it turns the head and now only the end of the horns is visible and they all continued off away from us. DANG IT! So we continued on, and the tracker waves me around behind him so I circle around and can see them moving between two bunches of bushes, so quickly I take aim free hand and as soon as one stopped in the clear I shot. Everything blew up. Roughly a dozen animals are running like crazy, dust is in the air and they're making no bones about flattening bushes and beating feet.

We go over and find good blood, smattering leaves, hand sized splatters. PH and Tracker feel good, and we track for 50 yards or so easily. Jean Lu put his hand on the blood and sniffed, then turns to me and says smells like guts. I felt all like someone kicked me in the gut. He turns and smiles and pointed and said whats that? It was a fine looking cow dead in the grass. The shot was good, didn't break the shoulders but both lungs passed through with the 9.3.

Everyone was happy we took some pictures and then loaded her up. 34" horns, so nothing record setting but a really nice looking animal.

We had a great dinner that night, kudu again if I remember right with bread baked like a sable. We had one more campfire and settled up the bill, got the trophy records, and wrapped up some gifts we had purchased. The next morning we headed off for two days in Kruger touring before heading back home.

I'll post a picture of the Cheetah we saw as I thought it was especially neat.

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Congrats for a nice hunt and good trophies !

Thanks for sharing.
 
Very nice report.. Cannot see the Kudu photo's or the video but a great story and other pics. Sound like you and your dad had an incredible trip. I will be going back for my third trip in 2015 I cannot wait.
 
Great cheetah pictures! Congrats on the hunting trip !
 
Thanks for sharing your story and photos. Sounds like you had a great time.
 
Outstanding.... Glad you got to enjoy with your dad!!! Must be a great experience.
 
Congrats you and your father took some fine trophies thanks for sharing it with us.
 
thanks watman , great report
you and your father had your selves some hunting .
thanks for sharing your memories .
 
Thank you for posting your hunting report!
 
Good report and hunt watman. Hunting with family, good stuff.

"A Dream can be relived, again and again in Africa."
 
Fixed the video, hopefully it works for everyone now. Also here's the kudu, not sure exactly what happened it looks like my links ended up pointing at someone else's photos on that batch. Thanks all for the nice feedback, was certainly an amazing experience.

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