KMG Safaris - vaal rhebuck and oribi hunt

For 10 days in early may 2012 I along with my friend Robert had the pleasure of hunting with Kmg safaris. We took the flight from Washington to Joburg and then caught the last flight of the night to Port Elizabeth. This was my 4th trip to South Africa and second to Port Elizabeth. This was my first hunt with KMG. I personally hunted with Marius aka as Goose. My friend Robert's well qualified and well equipped ph was Louw Pieterse. We started our stay with a nice night sleep in port Elizabeth at a bed and breakfast called Sir Roys. Marius picked us up early the next day and we drove to the Stormburg mountains in search of Vaal Rhebuck.

It didn't take long for Robert to find his first 8" vaal rhebuck. The shot was 250 yards. I on the other hand would take 3 and a half days to get a shot at a mature ram. I hunt with a muzzleloader and getting within 200 yards of a vaal rhebuck was not a easy task. Robert with his rifle in two days shot 2 vaal rhebuck and 2 mountain reedbuck.
Here is a picture of Roberts 2nd vaal.

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While hunting in the mountains we saw a monster of warthogs. The teeth were respectable but the body was huge. A shot of 135 yards prone from a rock ledge and I had my first animal in the salt.

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On my 4th hunting day I did finally get a shot at a vaal. Let me just say I did not do my part in making a good shot. We had spotted 3 vaal rhebucks in the lands near a hill. We made a plan and stalked them from the back side of the hill. After a hour long stalk we belly crawled around the hill and where in the proses of looking for the 3 animals we had seen from 800 yards away. I was laying prone and out of my left eye I see 2 vaal rhebuck males running in our direction. Marius ranges them with his Leica range finding binoculars and whispers 138 yards and shoot the second one. In less than 10 seconds they broke to 186 yards. They stopped and looked back. I held 12" high and right up the front leg and let fly. The impact sounded good but the vaal ran into the distance and was back to where we had just spotted them 800 yards from us. As I stood up from the shot the wind blew my hat off. I did not factor in the wind and the drift that my 300 grain bullet moving at 1700 fps would have. I hit the back end of the animal. We searched all day and bumped him and his buddy right before dark. We had came so close and our time in the mountains was up. The land owner did everything in his power to find my vaal. He did find him and Marius is driving back the 8 hour round trip to retrieve the animal I had so longed to recover.

We drove back to KMG's main lodge in Grahmstown and met back up with the other guys. The lodge is more like a spa than a hunting lodge. Bubble bath , huge shower and outdoor shower in each villa just to start. Clean rooms, plenty of hot water and electricity all the time was a plus. The food was prepared by Piglet and Polecat. Piglet was the first camp staff I have ever encountered that had a swavorski scope on his rifle. They did a very good job of keeping us fed. The 42" TV in the lodge helped me keep in touch with the world. I wanted to hunt as much as possible in the short time I had so the cooks packed a bag lunch for us every day and we stayed out in the bush to minimize travel.
Here is a picture of my villa.

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A perfect stalk and a 15 yard shot we had a 29" waterbuck in the salt.

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I had always wanted a oribi and getting a permit was not a easy task. Marius was able to arrange a permit and a place to hunt the animal on my short list. We picked up Tertius and a man named Terry to help us spot and acquire a mature oribi. Terry was good friends with the man who's land we would be hunting. He drove us to where the animals lived. It was a beautiful property right on the Indian ocean in the town of port Alfred. We stalked to within 120 yards of the animal I would eventually harvest. Marius did a very good job of getting me into position to make a good shot. I had my 5" oribi.

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On the way home from the oribi hunt we stopped at Terry's farm. I hunted zebra for the first time on my last trip. After that hunt I made a decision to try to hunt them every time i come back. We spotted a zebra and made a stalk to get into position to take a shot. The first zebra moved off and after a line of 14 or so passed the small lane we had, out stepped the herd stallion. He had no idea we where there. 135 yard shot and 60 yards of tracking I had my zebra.

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This was a sight to see when they came to get my zebra. They all directed each other (back in the states we say to may chiefs not enough Indians) I was glad to see the 9 chiefs come and help us get the zebra. The hide was off and in the salt within 1 hour of the shot. Hide care was handled very well on all the animals.

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Marius had arranged for dogs to be run to get me a caracul. It was a wet morning and the dogs picked up the trail quickly. We had to run to the top of the mountain to get the cat before it got out of the tree. I guess some cats go in the tree and some stay on the ground and fight. Mine went into the tree. I made a good shot from 30 yards and had my red cat.

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I also harvested a 4.25" diker

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BTW Robert sat 1 hour in the bush pig blind before he got his boar. Trail cameras and months of preparation paid off.

Dip and pack is handled by Karl Human taxidermy. On the way back to the airport a stop at his office makes for a personal meeting with the person handling your trophies. Payment and a check of the trophy list was made. The quote Marius acquired for us before we left was exactly what they charged. The only unknown is what shipping will be back to the states. At time of crating quotes from different shipping companies will be acquired. The hunt is not 100% over until the trophies arrive back from the tannery on home turf. I feel very confident that this will go smoothly. As I write this my skins are already at the taxidermist and dipping is happening.
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In all Robert and myself harvested 35 animals in 10 days of hunting. Marius and Louw are both very qualified ph's. Both use top notch gear. Not having any breakdowns was a plus. It was nice having Tertius along for 4 days. He came along because he loves to hunt and had a break in clients. Both of our trackers loved to hunt. This makes for a enjoyable hunt. Marius was very well organized, true to his word, no hidden fees and hard working. I could have not asked more from him. 10 days in the eastern cape hunting 2 of the animals most hunters will never see will be hard to top. I will make plans to come back and hunt vaal rhebuck with Marius. I do have horns coming my way but a picture of the two of us and a vaal rhebuck on the top of the mountain will mean more to me than any trophy. I will sum up vaal rhebuck like this. They are very small, very smart, very fast and if they think they see something they don't like they run. They don't stop running until they see something else they don't like. I thank Marius and his team for the great time we had. I pray that God blesses all who hunt with Marius. You are in good hands. Thanks to Kmg Safaris for going that extra mile in all aspects of the hunt.

Aaron

Congratulations Aaron.
Tough luck on the Vaali but you have the solution planned.

Sounds like a fun animal to hunt.

Good report

Well done Marius, going the distance!!

Thanks for a great report and congrats with a great hunt

I am very much looking forward to hunt with Marius next year.

THAT sounds very good, congrats. Can't wait to hunt with KMG!

Thanks for the hunt report Aaron!

Congratulations on a great hunt Saving up for my next trip to Marius as we speak

Thanks for the great hunting report! Nice animals!

Great report and hunt Aaron. Lots of reasons to smile.

Aaron,
Thank you for taking the time to write the report. A very memorable trip indeed. 35 animals in 10 days between the two of you will be tough to beat. Bob's not called Dr Death for nothing.
To all who have posted here , who's hunting with me either this year or next, we look forward to having you fellas over!
Please excuse the short hand writing, I have one foot out the door on my way to the next safari. Our very own "Terminator" from the AH forum landed today, so keep an eye out for the next report.

Take care gents!
Marius

Well done KMG Safaris!

Aaron, it sounds and looks like you had a great time. Great report!

I bet you can't wait to go back...

35 ANIMALS in 10 days you guys had a blast Congrats and thanks for the great report and pics.

Gulp. 35 animals in 10 days and the Terminator landed today with blood in his eyes.
I hope them animals breed fast and grow fast so there'll be some there in late July.

Congrats on a great hunt.

Originally Posted by rphguy

Gulp. 35 animals in 10 days and the Terminator landed today with blood in his eyes.
I hope them animals breed fast and grow fast so there'll be some there in late July.

Congrats on a great hunt.

I am worried it will only be left females and very young males for me when I go next year

Congrats Aaron on the hunt, looks like you guys had a wonderful time. Thanks for the report, it will fuel the fire until my hunt with KMG next year.

Originally Posted by Norwegianwoods

I am worried it will only be left females and very young males for me when I go next year

i'll bring some rabbits with me for Marius to turn loose that you can hunt next year. They breed really fast so you can likely get in a lot of shooting and won't need a 375 to shoot them with......... although, I hear them African animals are much tougher, so the rabbits may evolve into hard to kill beasts.

Great job and congrats to Aaron on his challenging hunts and as always to Marius for getting his client into position to be successful and taking care of all the details.

You guys need not worry...the places Marius hunts are crawling with Bulls and Rams...even after Aaron, Dr. Death and I finished up.

The lodge property is thick with Nyala Bulls and there are bigger ones than I took dying of old age there I am sure.

I already envy the guys going to hunt with Marius and I just got back from it!!!

Thanks for the story, Aaron, and congrats for an excellent hunt !

Thanks for the great write up and congrats on a success successful trip! That warthog is a monster!

Well as the year draws to a close I will finish off my hunt report on KMG safaris. 7 months to the day from stepping foot back on American soil I received my hides back from wildlife fur in Michigan. Oribi lifesize, Vaal lifesize, warthog shoulder ,diker flat , zebra flat, waterbuck shoulder and caracul lifesize. All are in perfect condition. Not one problem with any portion of this hunt. I will be back in the mountains with Marius and my muzzleloader. I will break the 10" mark on a Vaal rebuck. The man who has not only the legs but the drive will be at my side. Thanks for the great hunt and God bless. Aaron

Originally Posted by huntsolo101

Well as the year draws to a close I will finish off my hunt report on KMG safaris. 7 months to the day from stepping foot back on American soil I received my hides back from wildlife fur in Michigan. Oribi lifesize, Vaal lifesize, warthog shoulder ,diker flat , zebra flat, waterbuck shoulder and caracul lifesize. All are in perfect condition. Not one problem with any portion of this hunt. I will be back in the mountains with Marius and my muzzleloader. I will break the 10" mark on a Vaal rebuck. The man who has not only the legs but the drive will be at my side. Thanks for the great hunt and God bless. Aaron

That sounds great but we knew that Marius wouldn't let you down. So how about some pics of those mounts.