Hunt from Hell

[thriller]

I understand the hesitation in sharing the outfitters name but if it prevents anyone else from the same “hellish” experience. I’m sorry for your poor experience, incredibly grateful for your not being more seriously injured and that your eyesight is preserved. Based on the reputation of Dalton and York you will not regret this next hunt. Best of luck to you. Look forward to your next report.

you have to give time for them to work it out. If he can’t come to a satisfactory conclusion then we will find out who didn’t make it right.

 

[cajunchefray]

If we sit in the LazyBoy all the time, probablity is pretty low to getting hit by a cab. So, those of us who are active are sooner or later going to have a bad trip or some other unpleasant experience. My most recent trip to SA was one of those.
It began badly due to weather delays getting to Atlanta for the connecting flight. Could not get out of NO so missed our flight. Got on the following day which ment one less day of hunting so things were not looking good already. Got to camp with out much fanfare except for the roads being some of the worst I have ever seen even in Africa. Place was very nice and concession owners were terrific. Oh, did I mention that this was my first hunt with this outfitter? Remember that as I surly will. First morning went to range to check rifles. My .223 that I had brought along to shoot Baboons blew up in my face. There was apparently an issue with one of my reloads and I haven’t at this time figured out the problem. I did have some metal particles in my eye which didn’t get removed until I got home and could get proper eye care. Thankfully all good with the eye. Rifle is trashed. After a day or so my vision got to a point where I could resume hunting only to find that there was nothing to hunt. The area where we were located had recently been flooded as evidenced by debris on fences and in brush. Most all the animals had been displaced and hadn’t as yet returned. Did I mention that I was to be hunting Buffalo? Three of them to be exact! Also I had prepaid my hunt. My hunting companion on the other hand had only paid a deposit. Each morning he was driven about two hours away to another area and had a very successful hunt taking I think 7 animals . He shot one of the best Sables I have ever seen and an exceptional Bushbuck as well. I am not going to disclose the outfiffer as we are still discussing a possible refund since elected not to relocate me to another property where there were huntable populations of Buffalo. I spent the remainder of my hunt looking for tracks and spoor that didn’t exist. Upon making an exit and returning to the airport for the flights home, I had the pleasure of bumping to a fellow AH Brother PARA-45. We had good conversation before sharing the flight back to Atlanta. He had an excellent hunt experience and I have seen his post detailing all the events and animal photos. Congrats and good hunting in his future!!
I’ll be getting back on the horse for another trip this September along with my wife to Zimbabwe for Elephant, Buffalo and Hippo. Will be hunting with TIA-5 and my good friend
Andy . We will be in the Omay and PH will be York of Dalton & York fame. Hope to have some good photos to post upon our return especially since the last effort didn’t produce any. Especially for first timers, make sure of your outfitter and get references from hunters you trust before booking and don’t prepay your trip in its entirety!!

That’s a helluva experience.
Good your eye is okay.

What brand of 223 rifle?

 

[cajunchefray]

That’s a helluva experience.
Good your eye is okay.

What brand of 223 rifle?

I think some here, reloading for decades have had some issues.

Mine was my screw up setting the shoulder back too far, in a sporterized VZ 24 30/06 with excessive headspace.
Blown primer and gas in my face.
Reality check in becoming a much more careful reloader.

But I never had a firing pin blow out!

 

[Wooster]

Hope you will post the outfitters name soon. I do know one thing, your next Safari is going to be epic! York is one of the best and Sonny Boy and Zvito are great to be around.

Philip, I happened to be in JJ Perodeau's shop today with @WoodFire and we saw some cartridges with your name on them. Small world.

 

[towserthemouser]

I haven’t hunted with Johnny, but he seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

I hunted with Johnny two months ago: he is FIRST RATE. You will not go wrong, I assure you.

 

[Rare Breed]

Hope you will post the outfitters name soon. I do know one thing, your next Safari is going to be epic! York is one of the best and Sonny Boy and Zvito are great to be around.

Dalton and York are both great PHs and honorable men!!! You will have both a fantastic hunt and great time!!!

 

[Philip Glass]

Philip, I happened to be in JJ Perodeau's shop today with @WoodFire and we saw some cartridges with your name on them. Small world.

Cool! He is regulating my double.

 

[mark-hunter]

@Cajun Hunter
Sorry to hear this. Hope you will sort out the issue with outfitter!

 

[JG26Irish_2]

So sorry you had such a negative experience in RSA. And glad the mishap with your 223 did not injure you any worse than it did. That is scary. I have reloaded 223's for more than 30yrs and had a similar experience a couple of years ago. I had moved to a new home and my progressive reloader machine had sat idle for about 5yrs and I had decided to get it back in action. The powder measure system stuck and filled a case with way more powder than normal. I usually visually checked this as a final quality check but had never had an issue and for some reason failed to detect this issue. So, I had a very hot load. When I fired it in my Rem 700 the recoil felt like a much bigger cartridge and the bolt locked closed. It took a lot of effort to get it open.

The brass had flowed into the space between the ejector pin and the bolt and the primer had nearly ruptured. I was lucky to not get gas in the face or parts damaged beyond use. The powder used is not all that temperature stable and that may have contributed to the issue. The powder was old and that also may have contributed but I am not sure. It did remind me that our sport is not without risks. I saw a video the other day of a factory load that exploded on a fellow in a 17WSM and destroyed his rifle. That was a little rimfire rig.

My hunt this year was not without issue as the historic amounts of rain this year in South Africa led to very bushy vegetation and this provided both lots of cover for some game and a shift in patterns since both food and water were available in abundance in places where they are often scarce in the past.

This was tough for lots of PH's to find some of the more shy animals like Buffalo, Kudu and Zebra. Most of this is not the PH's fault but at least in my case, my PH went above and beyond to shift tactics and hunted hard and moved to new concessions to find Buffalo, and Kudu and try to find Zebra. I saw Zebra on three occasions but never got to pull the trigger on one. We hunted six concessions over the course of a 10day hunt and honestly, I loved it because I got to see some amazing scenery, cliffs, mountain lakes, waterfalls, deep valleys and mountaintop escarpments that were simply stunning. I trust that your experience with Dalton and York will be better. I am jealous. Good hunting in the Omay.

 

[AZDAVE]

Sorry you had a bad experience!

First thank goodness there was no permanent damage to your eye.

Have a great time in ZIM!

 

[Cajun Hunter]

That’s a helluva experience.
Good your eye is okay.

What brand of 223 rifle?

OK, have pulled bullets from the remaining ammo and as suspected found my error. I was loading for the .22Hornet and the .223 intermittently over several days while perfecting a load for each. I somehow ?? through stupidity, lapse of judgement, brain deprivation or plain dumb ass, used LittleGun to charge my .223 cases. 25.5 grs. of LG instead of Varget created a bomb. The little CZ 527 handled it well except for the firing pin blowing out of the bolt. If I can get a new bolt the rifle can be restored. I have been reloading for more than 50 years and have made a few mistakes but this is the first one I didn’t catch before something bad happened.
Can’t be too careful when fooling with this stuff!!

 

[Cajun Hunter]

Philip, I happened to be in JJ Perodeau's shop today with @WoodFire and we saw some cartridges with your name on them. Small world.

Yea Phill, Ole JJ did a wonderful job on my double and I am in his debt forever. It’s the rifle I am taking on the September trip. Have been seeing your exploits on YouTube for sometime now. Keep up the good work

 

[Nyati]

Sorry for your bad experience, but these things happen, and more often than we would think.

 

[Philip Glass]

Yea Phill, Ole JJ did a wonderful job on my double and I am in his debt forever. It’s the rifle I am taking on the September trip. Have been seeing your exploits on YouTube for sometime now. Keep up the good work

Thanks!

 

[DieJager]

Sorry to hear. Hopefully your next hunt will work out great!

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Really dodged the bullet considering the fireing pin blew out the bolt and was found on the shooting table. Outfitter had other options but didn’t offer them to me even when I notified him that I didn’t think there were huntable populations where we were hunting. Offered a concession for a future hunt but I’m not in for that.

Bummer. Sorry to hear this and thank you for this report. It is important that we provide as much detail and first hand truth as possible so those that are planning their first safari know what questions to ask and know what to expect. Thank god your eye is ok!

I can appreciate that you may be “negotiating” a refund, but this outfitter knowingly created this problem and they should be held accountable and exposed for it.

I’m not sure If I remember seeing your hunt duration? How many days were you there? I hunted the Waterberg mountains for Buff after a significant rain event and it made for a tough, but an amazing hunt…

I hope your next hunt is everything you want it to be!

 

[mark-hunter]

Thinking in retrospect about the initial post, this is actually the first time I have heard that someone hunted in South Africa, and have not seen the animal.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

3 Buffalo in South Africa? Plus other PG?
You must have paid $30k minimum in advance? That’s crazy…

What area do you hunt? I’ve never heard of such luck or this type of experience in South Africa. I’ve hunted there many times and am really surprised.

 

[Fatback]

Hate to hear you had such a bad experience. Hopefully you and the outfitter can come to some type of resolution that works for both parties.