SOUTH AFRICA: First Safari At Tootabi Hunting Safaris

finally made it home, don't have a real report to post yet, need to figure out pictures, but amazing and still in awe of hunting and traveling in SA.
Cant thank Loodt and his family enough for an amazing hunt and time well spent, Lammie and Atti the PH and tracker have given me a greater appreciation for what they do and how valuable a good PH and tracker are.
I did a daily report which i will post up soon, sent myself an email every day and tracked how many km we walked. On one hunt day in particular about half way through at Kudu camp i looked up at Lammie and said tongue in cheek "yup this canned hunting sure is easy", think this place is 32000 acres and those few lucky enough to walk them mountains know exactly what i mean
We had expectations of what this trip would be like, never came close to them, they surpassed each and every expectation.
Sure is nice to be back home though, deer season up next and planning for Safari number 2, this time with the kid in tow

Congrats.

Well.....we gonna be here ready to know about your hunting adventure in SA........

another happy hunter .
sounds like an adventure , cant wait to read it .

Congrats, it's always fun to cover a lot of ground.

Bring on the photos and story!

Warbird782 said:

Bring on the photos and story!

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I will 2nd the motion, all in favour?

Thankfully will be back to work tomorrow to catch up on writing the report, today its an 8hr drive to take my son back to college and home. Report will be how i wrote it that day/evening, always like to send myself an email of the days events, but will be following up with a final thought on the entire 11 days with pictures

A long flight to Munich from Toronto put us in Munich at 7am ish, hard to tell what time it really was due to the time change and lack of sleep on the plane
First stop in Munich airport was the sleep pods, what a great treat to grab 5 hours of sleep inside the airport without the worry of bags or people
Finally arrived and were picked up by Lammie and Deon, short ride to camp and we were set
Met the family and had a nice lunch, great people great lodgings, then had a quick 2 hour nap
Our first night we were entertained by some local dancers telling a story and some local history in the form of dance and song
Sleep came easy after a great meal
First morning was a later start, breakfast at 7 and on the way by 8
Took a shot to make sure things were sighted in and away we went
Out first animal on the hunt was to be a warthog, the following is a list of animals seen the first mornings hunt. We did have a couple of nice stalks and one miss, yes I missed my first shot at a warthog
Zebra
Kudu
Red hartebeest
Warthogs
Monkeys, local nickname blue ball monkeys, will leave that up to you as to why
Baboons
Gemsbok
Impala
And countless birds of all shapes, back for lunch and lets just say another fine meal, never short on good home style cooking here that's for sure
The afternoon hunt we were off for blesbuck and whatever else we happened upon
A few stalks turned up one shot chance and I blew it, can't believe it, but this time I am near positive I was trying to look at the horns, valuable lesson from the PH, when I say shoot it's a shooter lol doesn't help much though
These are the animals seen this afternoon
Kudu
Elephant
Blesbok
Impala
Ostrich
Zebra
Waterbuck
Black wildebeest
Blue wildebeest
Few rabbits
Can't believe how many animals seen, too many to put a number on them. Start a stalk for one and get busted so start in another. Wind certainly wasn't in our favour but what a great day with 13.5km walked, feet a little sore but nothing a nights sleep won't fix

Great to hear you had a great trip after all the days you had to wait and see all the reports to get your blood pumping. Looking forwrd to seeing pictures and hearing all about the trip

Morning started nice and early, out of camp by 630 and off to find a bushbuck. Got to the area where there had been sightings before and started to glass the field edges, on the other side of the fields there he was. Plan devised and away we went on the stalk, had to go the long way around and finally closed the distance. Creeping up to where we thought he was, going quietly and slowly through the growth, Lammie put the sticks up and says shoot, problem was there were set up too high, quick adjustment and the shot was made, big jump and kick and it took off into the undergrowth. Addie went over to check and there was blood, he went into the bush a little and called us over. The bushbuck was still alive and we could hear it but not see it, then all heck broke loose as it started to crash towards us, gun at the ready waiting for it to break out of the bush. It went down about 10' in front of us and a final shot to seal the deal
Can't tell you how amazing this hunt was, from spotting it to the just over 2km stalk around the field to finally putting my hands on this magnificent animal
Off we went for breakfast and quickly back out for a warthog, they alluded us all day, a few close calls and one big one we were ready to take but he never presented a clean shot so all we could do was watch him walk
Total walking today was just over 14.5km
On the evening hunt we were stalking a nice pig, wind was good and things looked right, till the birds started squawking and off the pigs went. Saw 3 kudu bulls on the hill, one looked just about right but too far away and not enough daylight left for a stalk
Another amazing meal, glad for all this walking or I would be putting on few pounds

LOVE THEM BUSHBUCKS!!!! PICTURES PLEASE!

Photos Man, Photos!

Welcome back Dobber! Let's hear some more...and photos as well.

R.

.....!!!!.....come on, let those pics run...........!!!!!!

Here is my Bushbuck, an adventure for sure, when he started to come at us i thought to myself "self, how quick can i hide behind the PH" there wasn't much room between where he was and where i was for swinging the gun, good outcome and a great stalk

Up early watching the sun rise and getting ready to go to kudu camp, will be staying at an old farmhouse, give us some of that old rustic feeling
Good drive to camp and a quick drop off of items and away we went
Saw plenty of kudu but nothing big enough, at least not by Lammies standards, I figure any animal growing that much horn was good
First stalk was a dandy, up a ridge, walk along the top and we bump a couple of nice Bulls, around the top and to the next ridge, then around the top to the next ridge. One bull worthy decided to lay down while the smaller one stood. We waited a little bit and decided to throw a few rocks to get him up but nothing, a few whistles and up he got and ran like the wind so no shot. Decided to keep on walking and finally made it to the truck for a quick bite for lunch.
Next walk we went down a little valley and for some crazy reason straight up the ridge, pretty sure them miles count double. Got to the top and walked along the ridge for a bit, then saw a dandy of a bull across the little valley. Waited for a shot up on the sticks and had him dead to rights, Lammie says shoot and I pull the trigger and all 3 of us heard the same noise "click" seems there needs to be a bullet in the chamber. Off they went across the valley and a missed chance, thinking about how we would get that bull out of there am thinking a blessing in disguise (knowing I would take the shot and figure out what to do after)
Next walk off we went up this hill, got to the top and a bruiser of a bull at 450 yards so we decided to wait him out and hope he comes a little closer. Waiting and waiting another bull came down and we decided to take him, crawled a bit and set the short sticks up, had him sighted in, everything perfect, squeezed the trigger and shot high, dammit I shot high
Can't believe I shot high, perfect on the shoulder but just high

Animals seen today
Steinbeck
Dieker
Kudu
Blesbuck
Springbok
Blue wildebeest
Black wildebeest
Sanctuary bird

Total km walked today 18, frickin 18 seems like the longer I am here the more I walk, not looking forward to Saturday at this rate

I will say, this day was great, walked some awesome country, got to meet a few great people and was a pleasure being politically incorrect with them, even had a piece of pie for breakfast the next day

Glad you had a great hunt.

Looking forward to the rest.

Up at 6am and ready for the days hunt and away we went
No one should start their day off with an uphill walk, they are painful but it sure took any aches and pains away once I was loosened up
First stalk we went along a ridge and did some spotting, there was lots of cows about but no Bulls so away we went to try another spot
Parked almost on top of the ridge this time so things were looking up
Walked along the ridge and finally saw a bull across the valley, needed to get a bit closer though as he was 330 yards, finally got close enough, got the sticks up, gun on sticks and I couldn't find him, he buggered off and saw him climbing the other ridge
Walked further along the ridge and saw some small Bulls and cows, a bit further into the walk we decided to let Atti go get the truck while Lammie and myself walked further along the ridge. Glassing along the way saw a few more and then 2 Bulls standing about 100 yards they were close together and I had to shoot the one on the left, sticks up, gun ready and me as steady as I could be, cross hairs set and squeezed the trigger, "faTHUMP" a hit and they both took off in different directions. Lammie says I think you hit it too far back, now am cursing myself again, everything felt right, time was on my side
Quickly along the ridge to see if we could catch him going into the valley and nothing, damn damn damn, not happy with myself. We walked up towards where they were standing and there he lay, the shot was perfect shoulder but angled into the body a bit
Walked up to him with an overwhelming sense, the emotions aren't something anyone who has never done this can understand, nor will I try to explain as I don't think they can be put in words

Back out in the afternoon for warthogs, lots of smaller ones and sows with kids but no tuskers
Another amazing day with lots of walking, legs were near ready to give up on me in the last hill we climbed but the end was near as we crested the hill and started down to the valley below
Total walked today, just over 18km
My poor legs are scratched up from all the thorns, looks like I have been attacked by a rabid cat, but still worth shorts, sure made it easy to cool down and my legs weren't that pretty to begin with

dobber said:

...............
Saw plenty of kudu but nothing big enough, at least not by Lammies standards..............

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Loodt, I'm confused??