BOTSWANA: Bos en Dal Safaris 2015

Wheels said:

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I used to come home with only photos of dead animals and a lot of neat stories without photos to back them up. I try to do a better job taking photos these days. It also helps me appreciate the little things more.

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EXACTLY! Taking pictures makes you actually see a lot of detail going on around you that you would otherwise miss.


Love the ridge on that Bushbuck.

Keep it coming.

Great report - the camp looks fabulous, and the bushbuck! Appreciate the "non-trophy" pictures as well. Lesson for me - take more than just the trophy pictures!

Wheels, thats a whopper of a steenbuck. One thing I notice from your photos, you love the outdoors, you appreciate the beauty of nature, thats a true hunter. I love pointing out different birds, insects etc to clients

BRICKBURN said:

EXACTLY! Taking pictures makes you actually see a lot of detail going on around you that you would otherwise miss.


Love the ridge on that Bushbuck.

Keep it coming.

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Hank2211 said:

Great report - the camp looks fabulous, and the bushbuck! Appreciate the "non-trophy" pictures as well. Lesson for me - take more than just the trophy pictures!

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TMS said:

Wheels, thats a whopper of a steenbuck. One thing I notice from your photos, you love the outdoors, you appreciate the beauty of nature, thats a true hunter. I love pointing out different birds, insects etc to clients

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Appreciate the kind comments gentlemen.

Writing a hunting report is actually a selfish act on my part. So is taking all the photos. Sure it is nice to share the story with friends who care, but this will help me remember details I would otherwise forget 5, 10, 20 years down the road. It also helps me to appreciate how blessed I am and to enjoy all the little things around me.

I am happy to share the experience and glad you enjoy it.

Wheels, you need to add some names to the birds...LBJ's..

wheels can tell you are having a great time ,enjoy

TMS said:

Wheels, you need to add some names to the birds...LBJ's..

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Simon,

You are correct, I should have. I didn't know them all so I didn't do any. I will list the birds I know and let you fill in the rest.

1. Emerald spotted wood dove

2. Bee eater

3. ?

4. ?

5. Spoonbill and Egyptian Goose

6. Saddle billed stork

7. ?

spike.t said:

wheels can tell you are having a great time ,enjoy

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Thanks Mike. I always try to have a good time. Life's much more fun that way!

We will have to get together one of these days!

3. LUXMAN COUGAL 4. I think its a shrike(souza) 7. could be juvenial roller.

Wheels . . . excellent pictorial review of what sounds like a terrific and fun hunt. Congratulations!

All the best to you for continued good hunting

Day 4.


We took off looking for eland again this morning. We got to an area, left the vehicle and started walking. We were busted by some wildebeest. Gerrit got us to all set down and scoot around the bushes on our butts. It worked. Gerrit had me shoot off of his shoulder and a bull was down. If we had stayed standing, the wildebeest would have been out of there. Curiosity killed ……….










Musgrave 7x57. Turning into a fun and lethal little machine. Can I slip it back to the States with me?


Later that morning we came upon a waterbuck whose horns tips were above the browse line. After some discussion, it was determined to be a shooter. Unfortunately the near frontal shot entered the side of the chest and took out the shoulder. The buck took off with us in pursuit. At one point I took a 200 yard snap shot at him running and completely missed. The waterbuck went towards the river about 1000 yards away.


I always tell my PH’s that if I have wounded an animal that they have my permission and blessing to take a shot. An animal doesn’t deserve to suffer due to my poor performance.


The trackers kept us on the blood trail as we closed with the river. Gerrit was a few feet in front of me. When he rounded a bush he immediately fired. Evidently as he rounded the bush the waterbuck crouched to jump off the 18-20 foot high bank into the Limpopo. As I rounded the bush, the waterbuck was falling down the bank and was kicking and sliding through some driftwood and vines. I shot him in the neck and finished him.


Besides being 18+ feet high, the bank was setting at a 55-60 degree angle. It seemed like the waterbuck was continuing to slide downward into the croc and hippo infested river. It took a little bit to hack a road in close to the bank and get a rope secured to the horns and attached to the winch. During this time you would hear an occasional splash in the river, or turn and see a large swirl. There is a very good chance it was just fish, but since this is my story I figure I can embellish it any way I wish.


If the waterbuck had jumped in the river, what would we have done? Shot it and seen how good my PH’s were at swimming out to recover it? Let it swim to the opposite bank and shoot it in another country? Leave it to die? I’m glad Gerrit felt comfortable in taking a snap decision/shot. Also thankful for tangled driftwood and vines.




If not for the horns hanging up.....




Erhardt and Zero Zero




Gerrit





Zeiss wasn’t with us this morning. He evidently grew bored with the company he was keeping at breakfast and went off to catch a monkey. He was out of hearing when we were ready to leave. His being AWOL certainly led to a more interesting story.


The waterbuck genetics here are incredible. In five and a half days of hunting at least four 30 inchers were seen with the largest being 32+. Another one was in the salt shed by my mid-February hunt.


After lunch we went to sit at another water hole to no avail.


That evening we struck out on our eland quest. Still a wonderful day.






Day 5.


As I was getting dressed, I realized that the maid had given me Gerrit’s clothes and he mine. I walked to his tent to trade out clothes. After exchanging clothes, I walked off his deck to a shower of debris that hit the top of the tent and my head. As I wiped off my head an oatmeal textured paste covered my hand. I smelled it and realized I had just been defecated on. I went back to the tent and washed the top of my head off. The smell however wouldn’t go away. After a few minutes I found some excess feces on my glasses and got rid of it. The smell however lingered. Finally after licking my lip I found where the last of the smell was coming from.


I went back to the tree with a torch but couldn’t pick out any eyes. It couldn’t have been a bush baby or the eyes would have shown up. Do monitor lizards eyes glow in the dark? A crocs does. A little later as the horizon lit up a troop of monkeys moved out of the tall trees above camp. Oh for a shotgun. Gerrit tried to act sympathetic between chuckles.


We drove the water holes again this morning to see if we could find eland sign. According to Erhardt there are around 150-160 on the ranch. Don’t they have to drink sometime?


At one of the waterholes the trackers looked in a blind and found a two meter python. I thought it would be neat if we could catch it and take photos. Initially, we couldn’t see his head. He was wrapped around some netting and when I would pull at his body he would strike at me. By the third strike he was pretty pissed off and I wimped out. When I say it would be neat if we could catch him to take some photos, what I really meant was, it would be neat if Gerrit and Erhardt would catch the python, let me hold it and take a hero shot so I could look all macho. What do these guys do to earn their tips anyway?







We came across a herd of tsessebee. These were the first ones I had ever seen. I had never really considered hunting them before. The cost/ugly quotient is kind of high in most places. I watched them gallop away. After they were gone, I wished I had done something to scare them just to see them run. If you see the second fastest animal on the continent, you want to see them run, right.





As we drove up to another waterhole, three rhino milled about. We enjoyed watching them for a few minutes before they ambled off. How much longer will we be able to experience these behemoths on a PG hunt?





After lunch, we went to a waterhole and sat till the evening hunt would start. An old warthog came in. He ambled up to a Blacksmith Plover nest and the Plover stood up to him and the warthog backed down. He wasn’t outstanding in the tusks, but it is just hard to pass on a warthog. I shot him in the water and mud so Gerrit would have to wade in to drag him out. The warthog jumped and kicked his way out of the water hole. The best laid plans………. The old boys’ bottom teeth were worn to the gums.




Plovers nest.











That evening we came upon a young, dead eland bull. Not sure what caused the death.







The flies enjoyed his death though.

In the last hour of light, we saw a kudu that I decided to take. It was a frontal shot and some brush a few feet in front of the kudu probably deflected the shot a bit. At least that is my excuse. He went down for five seconds and got up and ran off. Zeiss was called to action and did a great job of baying him twice within five minutes. Erhardt made the coup de grace. With Zeiss orbiting the kudu, it was a shot that neither I nor Gerrit would have wanted.








That night we drove back to camp with a torch on. We saw aardwolf, bat eared fox, ratel, bush baby among a number of other normal type stuff.


It seems that most PH’s in southern Africa have stories of catching spring hare at night when they were young. I expressed an interest in watching Gerrit and Erhardt repeat the feat. I wish I had a movie camera turned on to capture the pandemonium. Even One One and Zero Zero got caught up in the chasing, fun and laughter. The things PH’s do to entertain their clients!

TMS said:

3. LUXMAN COUGAL 4. I think its a shrike(souza) 7. could be juvenial roller.

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Thanks for the input Simon.

The Cougal is beautiful with the colors and tail. The sun wasn't at the best angle for the photo.

Big5 said:

Wheels . . . excellent pictorial review of what sounds like a terrific and fun hunt. Congratulations!

All the best to you for continued good hunting

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Glad you are enjoying it. Thanks.

Awesome pictures. Lessons in here for all of our hunt reports.

Keep going - want the next instalment!

Wow . . . really terrific photos!

Wonderful stuff.......just fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

What a good hunting report you are doing Wheels.....lots a fotos and a good wrihting, I am enjoying every part.....keep it coming.....!!!!!!

Great stuff. Love looking at all the animals that are not hunted, so much wildlife. A great adventure.

I'm thinking this should have switched to a Monkey hunt for the morning.

You're getting the full experience for sure. I'm hoping this is a ten day hunt.... keep it coming.

I'm thinking this should have switched to a Monkey hunt for the morning.

You're getting the full experience for sure. I'm hoping this is a ten day hunt.... keep it coming.

Great report and the pictures are really amazing. That bushbuck is very nice and what colors it has on it. Sounds like you had a great trip and gerrit did a great job on the hunt.