lawrence_court
AH veteran
A quick write-up on a great hunt with @Nick BOWKER HUNTING SOUTH AFRICA in the Eastern Cape. This is my fifth time on safari, and I would highly recommend Nick's operation in comparison with prior experiences. Flight was EWR to JNB to PE with United and then Airlink. Please, BE AWARE that Airlink requires you to give them three days' notice for the transport of rifles. United DO NOT inform Airlink. Fortunately, we used Africa Sky Guest House for an overnight and rifle permits in JNB. These guys are amazing and managed to fix the Airlink issue.
This was a cull hunt, with a mixed bag of 55 head shared between springbok, warthog, impala, waterbuck, reedbuck, and kudu. Nick has excellent numbers of game on his areas, and his access to many pieces of land means that hunting is done in a diverse range of places, ranges, and landscapes. We could have shot double the bag if we had wished, and we had excellent sport from 50 yards out to 600 yds. If you are interested in shooting longer, there are endless opportunities for that, too.
Nick is currently finishing a new lodge where all his operations will be based. This will make a fantastic home base for hunters. The food and service are absolutely superb, with venison being served every night and liberal access to a full bar. Most importantly, Nick and his wife are 100% genuine people, and his operation was perfectly trustworthy. He also went the extra mile to make sure that all transfers and travel were easy and snag-free. These things really make a difference. We were guided by Benjamin for the duration of our hunt -- he is exceptionally experienced, made every day a genuine pleasure, and is an incredibly friendly and fun guy.
A few observations about the .308 performance on the different size of game at different ranges. We took two rifles in .308: a Ruger precision and a Lithgow Arms. We were shooting Sierra TGKs (165 grain) and Hornday eld-x (178 grain) respectively. Both bullets were 0.5 MOA out to 600 yds. We found that these caliber and ammo combinations killed cleanly (only two animals required pursuit, and these were caused by poor placement, not poor bullet performance). That said, we made some interesting observations and conclusions. 1) With premium ammo, the maximum effective/ethical range for the .308 with these premium bullets was 600 yds for springbok, 550 yds for impala and pigs, and 500 yds for kudu/waterbuck. Any further than this, the bullets would start to deviate from their path (at times deflecting as much as 180 degrees internally) and would incapacitate but not always kill cleanly. 2) The 165/178 grain premium bullet in the .308 was plenty to kill all the game on this hunt with properly placed shots. I was a little nervous (as were the phs) about the .308s capacity to drop some of the tougher animals (kudu and waterbuck), but I would now happily shoot everything smaller than Eland with the .308, as long as I was using premium ammo. That said, I would not shoot larger antelope on the shoulder joint past 300 yds as penetration might be too shallow. 3) Having shot plains game with the .375 H&H, .300 WM, and the .308, I would take the .308 from now on for plains game smaller than Eland. If I was a little unsure about shot placement, I would prefer the .300 WM, but the shootability of the .308 and the way it killed on this trip would give me pause for selecting a larger caliber for plains game out to 600 yds. 4) If I was to pick a plains game caliber for ranges beyond 600 yds, I would go with .300 WM/PRC or 7MM rem mag/PRC.
I hope this helps people considering hunting with Nick and his operation, and I hope the field info. on the .308 and bullets is useful, too.
This was a cull hunt, with a mixed bag of 55 head shared between springbok, warthog, impala, waterbuck, reedbuck, and kudu. Nick has excellent numbers of game on his areas, and his access to many pieces of land means that hunting is done in a diverse range of places, ranges, and landscapes. We could have shot double the bag if we had wished, and we had excellent sport from 50 yards out to 600 yds. If you are interested in shooting longer, there are endless opportunities for that, too.
Nick is currently finishing a new lodge where all his operations will be based. This will make a fantastic home base for hunters. The food and service are absolutely superb, with venison being served every night and liberal access to a full bar. Most importantly, Nick and his wife are 100% genuine people, and his operation was perfectly trustworthy. He also went the extra mile to make sure that all transfers and travel were easy and snag-free. These things really make a difference. We were guided by Benjamin for the duration of our hunt -- he is exceptionally experienced, made every day a genuine pleasure, and is an incredibly friendly and fun guy.
A few observations about the .308 performance on the different size of game at different ranges. We took two rifles in .308: a Ruger precision and a Lithgow Arms. We were shooting Sierra TGKs (165 grain) and Hornday eld-x (178 grain) respectively. Both bullets were 0.5 MOA out to 600 yds. We found that these caliber and ammo combinations killed cleanly (only two animals required pursuit, and these were caused by poor placement, not poor bullet performance). That said, we made some interesting observations and conclusions. 1) With premium ammo, the maximum effective/ethical range for the .308 with these premium bullets was 600 yds for springbok, 550 yds for impala and pigs, and 500 yds for kudu/waterbuck. Any further than this, the bullets would start to deviate from their path (at times deflecting as much as 180 degrees internally) and would incapacitate but not always kill cleanly. 2) The 165/178 grain premium bullet in the .308 was plenty to kill all the game on this hunt with properly placed shots. I was a little nervous (as were the phs) about the .308s capacity to drop some of the tougher animals (kudu and waterbuck), but I would now happily shoot everything smaller than Eland with the .308, as long as I was using premium ammo. That said, I would not shoot larger antelope on the shoulder joint past 300 yds as penetration might be too shallow. 3) Having shot plains game with the .375 H&H, .300 WM, and the .308, I would take the .308 from now on for plains game smaller than Eland. If I was a little unsure about shot placement, I would prefer the .300 WM, but the shootability of the .308 and the way it killed on this trip would give me pause for selecting a larger caliber for plains game out to 600 yds. 4) If I was to pick a plains game caliber for ranges beyond 600 yds, I would go with .300 WM/PRC or 7MM rem mag/PRC.
I hope this helps people considering hunting with Nick and his operation, and I hope the field info. on the .308 and bullets is useful, too.
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