SOUTH AFRICA: Hunting With Africa Maximum Safaris 2015

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Outfitter: Africa Maximum Safaris, Jacques Senekal
PH: Werhner "Walla" Albertse
Date: Late July thru mid August
Location: Northwest Province and Limpopo, South Africa
Trophies taken: Zebra, Lioness, Impala, Red Hartebeest, Black Wildebeest, Gemsbok, Springbok, Warthog, Bushbuck, Nyala, Sable, Blesbok

Starting off I would like to say this is our (my wife Elaine went with me) second Safari with Africa Maximum Safaris and our PH Walla. We hunted in Zim for Buffalo and plains game. We had a great time and as you often hear we were planning our next safari before the first one was over. Took the buffalo in my Avatar, Kudu, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeest, Impala and Zebra.

Quality of the camp, food and staff was excellent. I can't say enough good things about our PH Walla. He is willing to work as hard as you want to get good trophies. He is very serious about hunting but is not serious guy. We had lots of fun telling stories and finding the humor in various situations.

Day 1 of the hunt started like everyone's does. Fill out paperwork, sight in guns then go hunt something! Since we had a number of target animals we decided to hunt an area with a wide variety of species. It was cold by Africa standards with a constant wind and temperatures in the upper 30's. We saw a few animals but not a lot. Giraffe, Duiker, Eland and small Warthogs here and there in the semi open areas leading up to very high hills covered in thick brush. We spotted a small herd of Zebras in a deep valley along with some Eland. We wanted a nice black and white stallion with no shadow stripes for a pedestal mount. We knew this would be somewhat difficult in South Africa. Glassing the animals at 600 plus yards we could not tell the extant of their striping. A long stalk later put us downwind and 150 yards away. We could see the shadow striping was minimal on several of the animals including an older stallion. He was in the brush facing away. All he needed to do was turn. Heads raise and they pile over the crest of the hill. Gone. The Eland had caught our scent and spooked the Zebra as they ran.

We never caught up to them. We stalked some Blesbok in the afternoon but none were up to Walla's standards. Great meal back at camp with drinks and my pipe around the fire to end day 1. Nothing shot but still a great day in Africa.

Stay tuned for Day 2...

 

[BRICKBURN]

Waiting

 

[gillettehunter]

More please. Thanks Bruce

 

[Wheels]

Congratulations on your hunt.

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Sorry for the break. Had to do some work to pay for the taxidermy.

Day 2 We hunted a concession that was very rough with steep rocky hills and deep river bottom. This area had only been hunted by meat hunters for several years. The number of good trophies was pretty high for Blue Wildebeest. Early in the morning there was a quarter inch of ice in some standing water down by the river. We worked up and down the river for Bushbuck and Warthog. Saw a few smaller Warthogs but no Bushbuck. We did see monkeys sunning themselves in the tops of the trees.

We decided to head up into the hills where it was a little warmer. Blue Wildebeest, Giraffe, Kudu, Eland and Zebra. The Zebra were a little over 300 yards away hanging out with the wildebeest. We glassed the small herd consisting of two mares, a foal and a stallion. All had no shadow striping. We had just one problem. There was a 100 yard wide canyon 200 feet deep with no way to get to them if we shot one. We went several miles around and encountered the same thing on the other side. Plan B, a push. We worked our way in position to push them to lower elevation. It worked as we watched them for half a mile till they dropped into the thick bush on the steep hillside. We headed down after them hoping to find them moving along the river. We looked over a lot of ground and trails but no Zebra to be found. Thinking they were still above us in the trees we headed down to look again for Bushbuck. As we neared the river off to our left we say the Zebras pile out of a wooded draw and plunge into another. We got on the sticks and waited as they topped a rise and quickly disappeared again one by one. As I watched through the scope Walla said no, no, no, shoot! The stallion bucked at the shot and lunged over the ridge.

We started after them. We found no blood or hair just tracks. a number of trails paralleled the steep slope. Tracks lead down the slope but as we neared the bottom we did not see any sign. Turning up slope we started checking every trail. Halfway up I found two spots of blood. We regrouped and began following. Over a small rise there he was. He died on the run. Shot had angled from 18" behind his facing side and out the front opposing front shoulder as he was quartering away. He will make a beautiful pedestal mount. Pictures of Zebra and some of the area below

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Day 3. Today we were hunting Lioness. We were going to a different camp in the Kalahari were told to pack for three days. Interesting drive of close to 4 hours with stops along the way. The new camp was tucked under some big trees. We were warned to keep the doors closed due monkey home invasions.

As we set off to begin the hunt I have to admit I was concerned about the difficulty or lack there of on this hunt. Once I saw how large the area was and how thick the bush I began to feel better about the whole thing. We started out by chaining a small tree to the back of the truck. I was told we were going to drag it over the many miles of roads in the area to erase tracks. That way we would know roughly how fresh the tracks were.

We saw Zebra, Giraffe, Blue Wildebeest, Duiker and Waterbuck. We saw tracks of many different animals including a large Leopard. Several hours and many miles into the process a Lioness leaped out of the brush and glared at us. The trackers bailed off the front of the truck and jumped in the back. I won't repeat what was said in several languages and accents but you can guess. Not able to evade by backing up we had to take a hard right away from the Lioness. As we did she whirled and started stalking us. We increased our speed and she did too. Finally we outdistanced her. Now half a mile away we got out and loaded our rifles. We started back towards the Lioness. The bush was thick with visibility ten to twenty yards. We moved slowly looking left and right. We were not sure if she was still following. Halfway back to where we had last seen her we spotted her crouched in the brush 15 yards away. Back legs were under her and front legs bent. Her tail was whipping back and forth. She was starring intently at us. She did not look intimidated. I felt kind of like a ham sandwich.
She was quartering to me and placed the cross hairs on the point of her shoulder and fired. She jumped straight up in the air roaring. She did a complete somersault and disappeared in the bush. Everything slowed down and we waited and listened. Nothing. We slowly moved in with rifles ready. Twenty feet back in the brush we could see her laying there. No movement. Walla tossed a branch to see if she would move while I kept a close eye on her. Nothing. We crept up and touched her eye. She was done.

The hunt was not long but very intense.

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Day 4 We returned to Africa Maximums Camp in the late morning from the Kalahari. After lunch Walla said he thought he knew where we could find a herd of Blesbok. Stalking up and over some very rocky ground doing our best to be quiet we did come across a herd. We glassed them for a while as animals moved in and out of our sight in the cover. A good trophy was spotted and all we needed was for him to clear. We heard running hooves on rock as we turned to see a herd of Blue Wildebeest thunder past. Exit the Blesbok! Continuing to stalk we relocated the herd. Once again on the sticks and waiting to clear the others. One shot, one Blesbok.

I should have mentioned earlier I am using my Winchester model 70 in .375 H&H, Bushnell Elite 1.25x8 scope and Double Tap ammo with Barnes 235 grain bullets.

 

[huntermn15]

Great trophies and report so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of the report and photos. Thank you for posting.

 

[Justhunt]

Great read, thanks for sharing your story

 

[johnnyblues]

Congratulations. Fine looking trophies.

 

[Nyati]

Congrats, doing great so far !

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Day 5 By far the coldest of the trip. Upper 20's with 20mph sustained winds and gusts to close to 30mph. We had on everything we owned. I used my wife's sweater as a scarf. We looked like terrorists.

The area we hunted today was pretty wide open with patched of brush and trees in the low areas. We were looking for Warthog, Gemsbok, Black Wildebeest and Springbok. We saw plenty of other animals including Buffalo, Ostrich, Blesbok, Hartebeest, and A jackal at 600 yards running. I saved my ammo on that one. Did see a Caracal but it quickly dived into a Warthog hole and disappeared. The shots were longer than I like and with the wind I have to admit each animal needed a follow up shot. Must be the shooter because the .375 made longer shots off the rest.

We got as close as we could by walking at angle that got us closer although it appeared to the animals we were walking away to the left or right. Shots ranged from 220 to 280. No good Warthogs but did get a nice Black Wildebeest, Gemsbok and Springbok.

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Day 6 we hunted a large concession for Red Hartebeest and Warthog. This area also held some very nice Impala according to Walla. While not on my list I said find me a good one and I'll shoot it. We made stalk after stalk on Red Hartebeest in the brush all day. We got close but could not get a shot. At the end of the day we did get an Impala that was much better than the one I took in Zim.

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Day 7 Off to the Limpopo area for Nyala. This was going to be done from a blind because the area was so thick with low brush. We saw quite a few different animals including this Nyala bull. My wife thought the Nyala was pretty. So did I.

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Day 8 We hunted a new area that was a mixture of rolling hills and very high ridges. Ground cover was mostly wooded to heavy brush. We were after Red Hartebeest, Warthog, Bushbuck and Sable. Same story as before. Lots of stalks on Hartebeest that did not produce a shot, small Warthogs, young Bushbuck and two Sables. One was small and one had several inches broken off his left horn. We did see several nice Klipspringers and tracks of a pair of Leopards up in the rocks.

On the last stalk of the day we did find a very nice Sable 60 yards in thick brush. Found a hole and he ran about 40 yards before dropping. This one is going to be a pedestal mount!

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Day 9 Back to the same concession we hunted the Sable for Red Hartebeest, Bushbuck and my nemesis, Warthog. We spent most of the day tracking a herd of Hartebeest over one hill around another and then over another. We decided to try and get ahead of them. We got in the truck and drove several miles up a wash area. As we rounded a bend there they were. We stopped and they took off. Then we piled out and worked our way over a hill to cut them off. They beat us to the punch and we began to track them. Finally caught to the herd. A good bull was facing us around 240 yards. I missed clean. He ran another 70 yards and stopped again. I rushed the shot and hit him too far back. Last we saw of him he was walking over a hill after the herd.

We called in Fanna, Wallas tracker. He made a big loop and started walking in the opposite direction we had last seen the bull walking. He pointed to the track and said see how this track is twisted? This one is wounded. I said "No s_ _ t?" He took off at a fast walk and almost 100 yards later found blood. Very impressive! We kept tracking when he jumped out of wash a little over 200 yards away. He was running straight away up a small hill. First shot, miss! Second shot, miss! Third shot, hit! he went down. Off hand shooting is not for me at those distances.

We spent the rest of the day bent half over in stuck so thick nothing grew under it. We saw several Bushbuck but they were all young. We came to an area that had been cut for firewood and spotted a ewe. She took off and Walla just stopped and watched. After a couple of minutes he said "There is a good ram. Shoot it. I said where. He said 60 yards in front of us by the green bush. I could see the bush but not the ram. Finally Walla puts up the sticks and turns my shoulders. I now see a spot that is browner than the rest. I barely make it out as an animal. I aim at what I think is the chest and the brown spot transforms into a Bushbuck ram.

Don't know how I could not see him. But it worked out.

 

[Warbird782]

Looks like you got onto some nice trophies! Congrats!

 

[Redruff]

Congrats on the successful safari! Beautiful trophies. That is a dandy lioness as well. Thanks for sharing!

R.

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

The last trophy of the hunt. Numerous hours on two safaris to get this guy.

 

[Royal27]

Congrats! !!

Amazing how those animals can blend in at times, isn't it?