SOUTH AFRICA: My Hunt With Lategan Safaris 2015

[gillettehunter]

Very good Black Wilderbeast. They can be very tough. Mine went about 250 yards and was double lunged. Just didn't know he was dead. Congrats. Bruce

 

[Buff-Buster]

Day 2 continued.....


After dropping the bull off at the skinning shed, we headed back up to the lodge to check in with Eliot and Cathy. The plan for the rest of the afternoon was to visit the lion enclosures.

Along with Bennie’s hunting operation, he also has a lion breeding business he is conducting on the property. He currently has about ten, ten acre enclosures that are electrified, that are holding various aged breeding and non-breeding lions. About a third of his lions are the “white” variety and the rest are of the common coloration. The enclosures are at the bottom of the hill below the lodge, so it was common to be serenaded to sleep each night and also to awake to the sounds of the males proclaiming their superiority over each other. I loved it. What a reminder that we were in “Freaking Africa” once again!

"Theodore" on of Bennie's breeders, and he's only 4 1/2 yrs old!

One of two brothers "Cane" and "Abel". Not breeding age yet. This one had a pretty nasty attitude.

These lions are raised as a business. Their upkeep alone is substantial, not to mention the initial investment need to build the secure enclosures. Regardless of what you or I think of this business, I came away with a different perspective. With the disappearance of more and more “wild Africa” due to human encroachment, the lion is fighting a losing battle. This will not change. At least, with a hunting value, the species will remain strong with the breeding taking place today. These are truly magnificent creatures. If you think that “ranch raised” lion are domesticated, you would be wrong. Thousands of years of instinct are evident in each and every one I witnessed. Even with the two five month old cubs kept at the lodge. (We actually, wrestled with them in the yard.) At five months old their instincts to attack from the rear were strong.

I am no lion expert on any level, but I have been around lions in the wild in Zim (and close). I have also been around them in parks (along with numerous other vehicles) and now in the breeding enclosures. I see a big difference with three different behaviors. The wild lions would just as soon not interact at all with any humans. Their first reaction is to disappear unless food or young are involved. The park lions are so de-synthesized to humans and vehicles I’m not sure how they would react to being hunted. The surprise to me was the reaction of some of these “raised lions”. Most, especially the males, showed very aggressive behavior to us. Not all, but most. Bennie had one 4yr old white lion male named “Sky” that would send chills down your spine as he mock charged the fence. Eventually, he will reach a non-breeding age and be sold to be hunted. Whoever has this privilege will be in for a nerve racking hunt for sure.

Bottom line, regardless of your views of a “released lion” hunt, I gained a lot respect for the PH’s that conduct these hunts. These cats have lost their fear of humans and will definitely make things interesting when hunted on foot. The decision on how and where to hunt lion is a highly personal and spiritual matter. After this trip, I do have a better understanding, regardless of what choice I may or may not make in the future.

Needless to say Eliot and Cathy were blown away by spending time observing the lions in their enclosures even though Sky made Cathy and Sandy so nervous they got back in the vehicles!

Hunting Day 3 (Tuesday)

Today was to be “Duiker Day!” The night before Bennie and I made a plan to get up a little earlier and head over to another concession that a friend of his has. This concession has Rhino, and Buffalo so we set it up for Sandy, Eliot and Cathy to come over at noon and we would do a game drive so they could experience two of the “Big Five”. I was pretty pumped at going after the Duiker so I beat everyone up that morning and had coffee going by 4:30am. We were on the road by 6:30am heading to the other concession.

The Orange River also cut through this concession so the plan was to slowly work our way through the thick brush that lined its bank with the hope to catch a good Duiker in an open spot. The morning was especially cold this morning right at daylight due to a front that had moved through overnight. With the front came a little rain which was a blessing as it dampened the leaves covering the ground and made our stalking silent. Slowly in single file we would walk five yards then stop and glass and listen. Bennie in the lead, then me, Jacques and David. It was slow going but the sign was there. We bumped one male that offered a shot after about an hour into the stalk. We finally could see horns but Bennie thought we could do better so we moved on. Two hours further, we started having second thoughts about passing on that ram. Suddenly to our left, brush started cracking as something caught our wind and was vacating the area. Thru a gap in the brush a bush pig zipped by sounding like a freight train. Bennie and Jacques were speechless as bush pigs are not known to be in this area and this is the first they have ever seen there. Within a minute or two, more sound came from the direction the bush pig excited thru. As we probed the brush a male Duiker came out into an opening about fifty yards away. No doubt the bush pig had run him out as he made his escape. One quick look with the binoculars and Bennie setup the sticks and whispered “Take him”. A quick shot thru the boiler room dropped him as he was sneaking away. Everyone knew the importance of a Duiker to me and that this was my “nemesis” animal so whooping, hollering and high fives were the order of the day! What a relief this was. I was really starting to believe that I was cursed or something. As we approached him we really realized just how good of a Duiker he was. I had my alone time with him to thank God for allowing me this opportunity and give thanks to the Duiker. Emotional moment for all of us. Bennie, Jacques and I headed out of the river bottom while David went the two miles back to the truck to come and get us. The timing was perfect as once we dropped David off at the skinning shed with the Duiker, Eban called and he, Eliot, Cathy and Sandy were at the gate to enter the concession.

My Common Duiker 4 9/16"


We spent the next few hours driving around and showing Eliot and Cathy, Buffalo, White Rhino, Nyala, Impala, Kudu, etc.. You guessed it….”Freaking Africa” term was used a lot by Eliot. He was having a ball!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Very nice Black Wildebeest and Duiker! Keep it coming Wes!!

 

[Diamondhitch]

Congrats, I will kill one of those little guys some day...

 

[Buff-Buster]

Day three continues.....


We made it back to Bushman’s around 1:00pm. Just in time for a fantastic lunch of way more than I could eat. Relaxed a bit then Jacques, David and I headed out to try to find the “Monster Steinbuck” we had hunted the day before. Sandy knew by now that this little bugger required a bad-ass climb up the mountain so she decided to, again, hang out with Eben, Eliot and Cathy. Wise choice. The weather was turning bad again by the time we made it to the base of the mountain. The wind was picking up and it was beginning to rain lightly. As we made it to the base of the mountain and looked up, I looked at Jacques and said “I hope we find this ram cause I not too sure I want to climb this again if we don’t!”. Jacques just looked at me and snickered. Up we went. At least Jacques had enough sympathy to give me a few breathers on the way up.

By the time we made it to the top and over to the rock ledge “look-out” the rain started coming down pretty hard and the wind got colder. After about an hour or so of glassing, the only thing we saw moving was a large troop of baboons across the mesa about 600yds away. As we were contemplating making a stalk on a huge male in the bunch the sun broke thru the clouds and presented us with a beautiful full rainbow. I told Jacques that it was an “omen”. Maybe we just needed to look at the end of the rainbow for our “Pot of Gold Steinbuck”

The right side of the rainbow held a real "pot of gold"!

Jacques said “Why not! Let’s go check out the end of the rainbow!”. We gathered up our gear and headed off towards the end of the rainbow on the right in the picture. I gotta admit, David (the tracker) kept shaking his head and looking at both of us like we were nuts!

By the time we got closer to the spot, the sun disappeared along with the rainbow. As we were easing along, Jacques stopped and set the sticks up. I immediately got on them and spotted a Steinbuck as it stood up at 140yds. It was staring right at us, but it could only see us from the waist up. It had gotten very overcast and we could not make out horns at that distance. Me, Jacques or David. The Steinbuck was getting nervous and we were running out of time. All this took seconds. Jacques whispered “Take it. If it’s a ewe, I’ll pay for it”. As it turned its head to run, I saw horns and fired. He dropped at the shot. I looked at Jacques and said “It was him”. Jacques took off running and as he got closer he let out a South African version of a Texas “Yeeee Haaaa!!!” (or something like that).

We stopped at the top edge of the mountain in the fading light to try and get some pictures before we had to use a flash. In the following picture you can tell just how high up we were.

The "Pot of Gold Steinbuck"

The trip down the mountain was pretty slippery after the rain but we made it without any incident. No doubt it was also made easier by having taken a fantastic trophy! When we got to the truck Jacques had a conversation with David in Afrikaans. He started laughing and said that David declared that this ram was a new species. It was a “Mountain Steinbuck”!

After stopping at a large rock for some additional pictures we headed back to the lodge. Funny how the burning in my legs didn’t seem to bother me at all tonight!

A picture after we got off the mountain.


The mood around the fire that night was extra good. Bennie proclaimed that David was wrong. It was not a “Mountain Steinbuck”. He claimed the ram was a rare “Pigmy Vaal Rhebok”…..LOL

Lots of laughing that night. Good fellowship, good drinks, aching muscles…….I’m in Freaking Africa!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Great ram Wes!

 

[huntermn15]

What a great hunt and trophies. Love the steenbok! I look forward to the rest of the report.

Mike

 

[bluey]

great animals BB,that steenbok , was well worth a couple of climbs , congratulations ,mate .........
impressive animals and country , where you guys were hunting .....

 

[Buff-Buster]

Thanks guys. It really was a great trip, with great people.

Sorry the reports dragging out! More to follow....

 

[Royal27]

How could you not see those horns?????

Great Steenbok!!! I'm thrilled for you!!!

 

[Buff-Buster]

How could you not see those horns?????

Great Steenbok!!! I'm thrilled for you!!!

Thanks Royal! Good question. I guess the shadows, distance, brush behind him....I don't know! I'm glad we didn't wait any longer than we did though!

 

[Buff-Buster]

Hunting Day 4 (Wednesday)

Today we were going to the concession with the Red Letchwe. Bennie said it would be about a 1 ½ hour drive so we were up a little earlier and on the road by 6:00am. Since there shouldn’t be much climbing involved, Sandy decided to make the trip with us. I was glad as I missed her being with us the last couple of days. From being around them in 2004, I knew that the Letchwe were pretty much “plains” antelope that preferred the lower country and the wide open. I tried to talk Sandy into being the hunter that morning but she had decided that I was “on a roll” and she just wanted to be there while we hunted it.

It didn’t take too long and we were at the concession and pulling into the main camp there. After introductions to the staff were made we headed out with one of their trackers along with us. This was a beautiful property with long grassy meadows in between large mountain ranges. As expected, there were herds of Letchwe out in the open plains. Bennie had been telling me that this concession held some of the largest Red Letchwe in SA so he said just be patient, we are going to look over as many bulls as it takes to get the “right one”.

The hardest part of this was keeping up with all the bulls! We glassed one that got our attention but Bennie thought we could do better. We both like wide horns so that helped to narrow down the choices and be a little more “picky”. After we glassed most of the rams in the valley, we drove up and along a road that wound its way up on the side of one of the mountain ranges. The brush was thicker up here and gullies, washouts and coulees helped to hide a lot of rams that were not out in the open plains.

Multiple rams were seen but nothing to get us interested. We were also seeing, Waterbuck, Eland and Impala. As we were just winding our way up out of a switch-back, three Letchwe crossed the road up ahead of us a couple of hundred yards away. They were all good rams but one stood out. Brakes were applied, gear gathered and a plan made. The wind was in our face as we side hilled toward were we last saw them. We knew they couldn’t have gone too far. After three hundred yards or so we caught a glimpse of them working their way down a ravine toward the open grassy area at the base of the mountain. We backed up some then headed down a way to be able to come around a point on our side of the ravine. By the time we made it to the point the rams had reached the bottom and had moved out into the open to catch the sun’s morning rays. As we crawled to the point to be able to get in position, all three rams decided this was where they were going to bed down for the morning.

The ram we wanted was laying down broadside to us at about 175yds. One ram was ten yards to the left and the other was bedded directly behind the ram we were after. Let the waiting game begin.

After 45 minutes of being on the bipod staring thru the scope it was getting apparent these guys were perfectly content laying there in the morning sun. Bennie slid over and whispered “get ready, I’m going to whistle”. It started with a faint whistle. That didn’t work. We had the wind in our face at about 15mph so the noise was being blown away from them. As the whistles got louder and louder, it began to get pretty comical really. Bennie would whistle, then Jacques would whistle, even David got in the act! The ram that was behind the one we wanted stood up twice and stared in our direction, only to lay back down again. Of course, directly behind the bigger one. After thirty minutes of this Bennie said “get ready”. He then took off his cap and slowly waved it above the brush. The two rams we didn’t want, arose first. As I held the crosshairs on the big rams shoulder he slowly arose to his feet. The problem was the one ram standing directly behind him. The gig was up now. All three started trotting out into the open field. You guessed it. The one I wanted and the one behind him looked like two synchronized swimmers as they stayed perfectly lined up together as they moved out of range.

As we watched them, they joined up with a larger group of rams that were bedded in the open field and they all got up and moved together out of sight. At first we paralleled them along the base of the mountain trying to catch up and possibly get another chance. The group had grown to about twenty rams now and they kept angling farther away towards a wash that ran thru the middle of the open prairie. As we watched, they crossed the wash and joined up with another group on the other side of the wash. Now they numbered around 30-40. This should be fun picking him out that many rams. They were now about a half a mile away and looked like they were beginning to bed down again so we headed back to the truck to regroup.

From up on the hillside we formulated the next plan. We would circle around, downwind, then use the washout to get close enough for a shot. It didn’t take too long and we found ourselves within 125yds or so from the bunch as we crawled up out of the wash. We had some pretty tall grass as cover so this allowed us to slowly glass all of the bulls trying to find “the one”. Luckily, he wound up being at the far edge, to the left of the group. Jacques and I came to an agreement on which one he was, so I slowly slid up to a sitting position on the bipod. The ram we wanted was slowly feeding while walking direct away from our position. As I followed him in the scope, I could tell some of the other rams had noticed me and were starting to move away in his direction. Just then he turned broadside quartering away while still walking. He was just about to walk behind a stationary ram when I slightly led him and squeezed the trigger. He dropped at the shot as the rest of the herd thundered off. Sandy had watched to whole hunt play out from the truck about 600yds away. I could hear her whoop and holler from there.

When we walked up on him, I began to realize just how big he was. The crew gave me my minute alone with him as I thanked God for allowing me this privilege and the ram giving his life. Handshakes and high fives soon followed. It was a good hunt, clean kill and a great ram with good friends! Thank you Lord for allowing me to be in “Freaking Africa” again!

27 5/8" Red Letchwe (If entered would be #19 SCI)

The "Team"!

 

[johnnyblues]

Congratulations... Very nice lechwee . That one male lion at 4 1/2 is a beauty. Continued success.

 

[gillettehunter]

Nice lechwe. That Steinbuck is a stud. Congrats Bruce

 

[BRICKBURN]

That Rainbow is paying off in spades.

 

[Wheels]

Your getting some nice trophies Wes.

Congratulations!

Keep it coming.

 

[billc]

Great animals you are getting on this trip. Love every one of them as they are all very nice. That lion is a monster at only 4 1/2 years old. Really nice to hear how you see them now after seeing them first hand being raised. I guess there not all bottled feed like some like to make it out to be. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[johnnyblues]

I want to know where to buy an AH cap???. I need one for my safari!

 

[Buff-Buster]

I want to know where to buy an AH cap???. I need one for my safari!

Hey Jerome!

 

[johnnyblues]

Yes Hey Jerome.....