Phoenix Phil, Our shop is in Rochester; about 1.25 hours northeast of Nashua. If you are coming up I'll pay for the Chick-Fil-A! Being a native of Atlanta, I sure miss it!
Africa, 2015:
Wow, where do I start?
Our shop is active in donating to the NRA & I go to several banquets during the spring / summer. Last year I bought a combo Africa hunt (shooting safari) with Diekie Mueller Safaris in the Limpopo province of South Africa & a photo safari at Zulu Nyala down by the Indian Ocean.
My wife has a sister who has lived in Dakar, Senegal as a missionary for the past 25 years.
So... we arranged to take the month of June to do Africa in a big way!
We spent 12 days in Senegal; visiting family, going to a game park for a game drive, and spending 4 days in the bush where my sister in law has worked with a people group translating the Bible into their language.
We then flew to Johansaburg where Diekie's assistant PH picked us up.
We hunted on one of his concessions of @ 2500 acres. Game taken:
1. Gemsbok
2. Zebra
3. Blesbuck
4. Black Wildebeest
5. Kudu
6. Impala
Rifle used, on all but the Impala, a Sako made in the 60's in 375 H&H. All one shot kills, ranges of 30-140 yds. Mostly all spot & stalk. I was VERY impressed with my PH, Cobus DeBeers. Cobs is only 28, but I was amazed by his skill in woodcraft, tracking, ability to spot game AND his pleasant personality.
We LOVED the camp set up; great accommodations and Facility. Diekie's parents provide the catering; meals were served in the boma, with lots of time spent @ a campfire watching the bushman's TV: never a re-run & a different show every evening!
Most challenging animals taken: the wildebeest - very skittish animals. We spent 1&1/2 days spotting & stalking. At one point we had stalked to within 10 yards of a herd sleeping mid day when lone juvenile wandered by & set the herd into a stampede. I finally shot mine after a 3 hour wait over a watering hole from a blind. The beests here, (a small sub herd of about 8 animals) would come within shooting range but get spooked & run off. This happened several times before a shootable animal finally presented itself. Interestingly, this was a shot that went thru should, heart & lung on one side with no exit wound yet the beest still managed to run 75 yards. The wait was worth it however as got to observe lots of other wildlife while we were waiting. Among those were 2 cape buffalo (not surprisingly all other animals gave them first dibs) and a giraffe which walked right up to the hide & we got to see him eye to eye (as we were in a 2 story blind)
