New Member/First safari August 2017

[Shootist43]

Fantastic, congrats on a great hunt. When my boys are older I plan on taking them as well. Did you guys take anything for Malaria prevention? I've read Limpopo is a high risk area, although August is a low risk month in Africa.

Malaria is only a concern in the Kruger Park area. Outside of that Limpopo is malaria free. Because of my age and other health issues, I did take a low grade antibiotic for three days prior to leaving and thirty days thereafter. It is one of the approved "protocols" for malaria but a heck of a lot cheaper than the stuff most often recommended. Besides that you will be hunting in the dead of their winter. Not many mosquitos around. If you have a smartphone get the app for Weather Underground. Set Ellisras South Africa as a location and you will get the up to date weather for the ranch. Do not over pack, Wear one set of hunting clothes on the plane and take two sets with you. It can be quite chilly in the A.M. so consider taking two sets of "base" layer long johns. Take a lightweight water proof jacket a zippered camo hoodie if you can find one and a pair of wool gloves.

My wife is a Texan we have a lot of friends and relatives that live there, where are you from? I've hunted hogs in the San Antonio area several times. Had a blast.

 

[Nyati]

Welcome to AH, wish you the best on your hunt !

 

[BRICKBURN]

Enjoy your hunt.
Take lots of pictures and some notes for your hunt report that I am looking forward to reading.

Welcome to AH

 

[Texas-LTH]

Malaria is only a concern in the Kruger Park area. Outside of that Limpopo is malaria free. Because of my age and other health issues, I did take a low grade antibiotic for three days prior to leaving and thirty days thereafter. It is one of the approved "protocols" for malaria but a heck of a lot cheaper than the stuff most often recommended. Besides that you will be hunting in the dead of their winter. Not many mosquitos around. If you have a smartphone get the app for Weather Underground. Set Ellisras South Africa as a location and you will get the up to date weather for the ranch. Do not over pack, Wear one set of hunting clothes on the plane and take two sets with you. It can be quite chilly in the A.M. so consider taking two sets of "base" layer long johns. Take a lightweight water proof jacket a zippered camo hoodie if you can find one and a pair of wool gloves.

My wife is a Texan we have a lot of friends and relatives that live there, where are you from? I've hunted hogs in the San Antonio area several times. Had a blast.

Great advice! I am From New Waverly TX, now live in College Station. Again thank you for the note.

 

[Texas-LTH]

Texas TLH, Your 168s would be just fine for the Impala. Your other three animals are rather large critters, especially the Eland. Using 180 Gr. premium bullets i.e. Barnes TSX, Nosler Accubonds or Partitions on broadside shots will do the trick although they are far from optimal. Heavier bullets would be better, but by comparison have the trajectory of a rock. Of the 22 animals we took only the Wart Hogs were +/- 50 yards. Most shots were between 150 and 220 yards. Start practicing with shooting sticks, you will be expected to use them in Africa. You will be asked to identify which animal is highest on your list prior to departure. If you have a "minimum" size for that animal, make sure your PH knows it. Your best flight option is Delta from ATL to O R Tambo, If possible spend a few extra bucks on the Economy Comfort seats. Stay at the Afton House, They will pick you up at the airport, offer you a grilled steak dinner for $25.00 provide you with a comfortable room and a good breakfast the next morning. One or two PHs from Cruiser will be at the Afton House waiting for you. After supper you can relax at the small cocktail lounge the Afton House offers and chat with the PHs. This is a very good place to "break the ice." If you forgot anything (hunting related) ask them to stop at Safari & Outdoors on the way to the ranch. They stock everything you ever dreamed of and a lot more. One last thing, although not a requirement but a strong recommendation is to use riflepermits.com to help you clear your firearm(s) through SAPS. Believe me you will be glad you did.

Thanks, I will be going with either accubonds or trophy bonded bullets above 180 grains, just need to find what my rifle likes best. I will definitely start practicing out to 250 with sticks. How many nights did you stay at the afton guest house? Our flight will get into Joburg at 545 pm(Delta), was hoping to stay one night and get a early start in the am to camp.

 

[Shootist43]

Thanks, I will be going with either accubonds or trophy bonded bullets above 180 grains, just need to find what my rifle likes best. I will definitely start practicing out to 250 with sticks. How many nights did you stay at the afton guest house? Our flight will get into Joburg at 545 pm(Delta), was hoping to stay one night and get a early start in the am to camp.

One night stay at Afton House. Someone from Cruiser, generally a PH will be at the Afton House when you arrive. Have supper with them and than share a cocktail or two while swapping hunting stories. You will be leaving shortly after breakfast for the ranch. It is about a 4 or 5 hour drive depending on the stops you make. They usually stop at a butcher shop and then stop at the biggest vegetable market in the world (at least I thought so) then we stopped for lunch.

Upon arrival at the ranch you will be given a glass of orange juice and told who is going to be your PH. After you get settled into your room you will head off to the rifle range to check your zero. To be sure your PH will be checking out your shooting prowess. Your "hunt" will start the following morning. Breakfast is at 5:45.

AH has a provision for sending personal messages. If you want to talk instead of type, just PM me and I'll give you my phone number. Several AH members did the same for us prior to our hunt, so I'd be passing along the good deed. I'm retired and my wife is on her way to visit her brother in Tyler TX. So now is a good time to do that sort of thing.

 

[Royal27]

Welcome!

 

[MD Scarbrough]

My wife and I went in Oct 2015 for 11 days, we had a great trip
John was my PH. He was great! We took 8 animals and was able to spend a day in Sunday City and the park next to it. Pieter had me work with the staff on long day darting and moving animals.
We have already booked a week in early August 2018 to go back, this time with the kids and grandkids. Going to be a treat to share with them.

 

[Art Lambart II]

welcome to AH, l hunted with my dad (@Shootist43) and we had a great time at Crusiers. I posted my hunting report here on AH, search Lambart family safari for my report. My shots were not as far as my fathers, my blue wildebeest was at 125 and my impala was at 200 yards but everything else was under 100 yards. I used 180 grn Nosler Partitions in my 30-06 and never had any concerns, most every premium is better that the NP but none of the have the track record to NP does.

 

[Texas-LTH]

Anyone have experience with Highveld Taxidermy? Also any estimate on 3 shoulder mounts a couple euro's?

 

[Philip Glass]

For all the above mentioned game would my 30-06 with 168 grain Nosler Partitions do the trick?

The answer is maybe. Do you want to fly halfway around the world on a maybe?Speaking from experience with my favorite '06 on two plains game Safaris. I have a great story to tell on this and here goes... long story short the performance of my'06 on previous Safaris was marginal at best then I had a problem with it and had to borrow my PH's gun which happened to be a .300 RUM. I fell in love with that gun especially on the longer, more difficult shots, on an open range safari. I now have a Proof Research custom .300 RUM. After that I've gone up to a .375 Ruger and the more I shoot it the more I love it. You'd think it's overkill for plains game but this is Africa we are talking about!
Best advice is 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester, or .300 RUM for plains game. Remember Eland and zebra are hard to put down and there is never too much gun for them.
Enjoy planning your safari and I really hope your first safari is as memorable as mine was so many years ago!
Regards,
Philip

 

[Philip Glass]

Fantastic, congrats on a great hunt. When my boys are older I plan on taking them as well. Did you guys take anything for Malaria prevention? I've read Limpopo is a high risk area, although August is a low risk month in Africa.

Ask your PH about mosquitos in August. Use Avon skin so soft insecticide lotion everyday and it has spf as well. (Buy online) Malaria is dangerous but we must be realistic about the real risk when and where you are going.
Regards,
Philip

 

[Bullthrower338]

Welcome to AH, a wealth of information on here and some of the best people you can meet! Enjoy planning your first trip, it will not be your last so you might as well get a 375 H&H now and practice with it, you will not be sorry you did. Right now your wife hasn't been exposed to the Safari stuff enough to even question the need of a new rifle and scope. Lol
Nice blue bull in your avatar, nilgai is fine table fare!
Cheers,
Cody

 

[Texas-LTH]

Welcome to AH, a wealth of information on here and some of the best people you can meet! Enjoy planning your first trip, it will not be your last so you might as well get a 375 H&H now and practice with it, you will not be sorry you did. Right now your wife hasn't been exposed to the Safari stuff enough to even question the need of a new rifle and scope. Lol
Nice blue bull in your avatar, nilgai is fine table fare!
Cheers,
Cody

Thanks for the info! I'm working on a 30 Nosler build as we speak. If done I may take that. Took that nilgai on the run with a 264 win mag. Folded like a lawn chair. Cheers!

 

[Bullthrower338]

Thanks for the info! I'm working on a 30 Nosler build as we speak. If done I may take that. Took that nilgai on the run with a 264 win mag. Folded like a lawn chair. Cheers!

264 WM in a sendero is my Choice for TX and coues deer in Mexico. 140 gr accubonds are bad medicine out of her. Never have had anything walk away! Good luck on the build, 30 Nosler has great potential

 

[Shootist43]

30 Nosler for Eland, I like the sound of that. Your '0 - 6 with 180 or 200 Gr. bullets will make a fine back-up gun.

 

[Ryan]

For all the above mentioned game would my 30-06 with 168 grain Nosler Partitions do the trick?

I used a 30-06 with 168 Barnes TTSX (monometal) bullets on two hunts in Namibia taking 8 of 10 animals without a problem (the other two were with a 375 Ruger and bow). My outfitter used an -06 with 180 Partitions for meat hunting so he was surprised I used 168 grain bullets but nothing took more than one shot or went more than a few yards including two kudu and a zebra. I will admit eland with it is on the light side, though I'm confident a careful shot would have had the same result. I used 168's because typically with Barnes it's suggested to go one size lighter than copper/lead bullets. So For copper and lead bullets I'd go with Marius' suggestion of the Accubonds or another bonded bullet like Swift Scirocco in 180 grain.
Of course the 30 Nosler will do the job nicely too.

 

[adriw]

Welcome to AH!

 

[Art Lambart II]

I would highly recommend not going after your top animal on your first hunt, try the deer size African game first. This will let you and your PH get comfortable with each other before you take on the larger African game. I would also start using shooting sticks at all of your range secession, a .22 is great for practice but make sure you shoot your hunting rifle off the sticks each time you go to the range. I did most of my shooting stick practice with the .22 and started using my hunting rifle a month before my departure date, that was a mistake. Shooting sticks react differently to recoil from a high power rifle than they do to a .22, my group size went from confidence building knots with the .22 to pie plate sized shotgun patterns with my beloved .35 Whelen. I was go to go by the time I left for Africa but their was two weeks of panic before I figured things out.

Hornady now makes a 180grn GMX Superformance load for the 30-06, if your gun likes it that's the load I would use. You could postpone that 30 Nosler build and use the money for additional animals and taxidermy.

 

[wesheltonj]

30.06 plenty of gun for what you want, except maybe the Eland. But with lots of practice the 30.06 should work fine. The trip is the perfect excuse to buy a 375H&H. That said, it's a lot easier just to rent a rifle from your outfitter. Some outfitters guns are as good or better then what most folks own. I saw one outfitter that has Rigby Rifles for rent. Where I hunted last year, the outfitter had Browning Rifles for rent. This year, he now has a contract with Blaser.

As you are going on Delta, I would spend the extra money on their e+ service, but just be aware it's only a couple of extra inches leg room and not a separate class of service, like BA.

Practice off the sticks, the sticks that you are going to use on your trip. And when you think you have practiced enough, practice more.

I priced out Highveld before I left for my trip. I am using Artistry of Wildlife, a sponsor here. My second choice would be Huffaker in Abilene.