1dirthawker
AH elite
hey guys,
well, i've been back about 10 days from sunny south africa, figured i should write up a short report. i booked a hunt in 2017, with izak kirsten, owner of WOW Africa. booked for oct of 2018, thats when izak was available to hunt with my buddy rob and i.
i took my zoli u/u 450-400 3" topped with a trijicon 1-6 accupoint. 400 gr north fork softs and solids. a loooong flight from anchorage to joberg. then a 6 hour drive to pongola, check rifle sights, good dinner and off to bed.
i won the toss, so i hunted first. my goal, an old broken horned dagga boy. we tracked 4 different groups the first day, got close on 3 occasions, heard them run off, actually saw the last bull in his bed, but each time the wind shifted around on us and off they went!! was very exciting tracking in the thick bush, always wondering if we were going to meet up at a very close range.
2nd day-we went to an remote tank they had spotted a broken horn bull the week before. we rolled up after an hour of driving, got out and the tracker found a large track, so we headed up a wide game trail and only went 100 yards or so and the tracker ducked down, stopped everyone and backed up. buffalo, right there! i came up with the PH, izak, he whispers to me, his head is pointed uphill (to the right) and he is laying down. stand up, step out and shoot him. simple enough instruction.
so i stand up, step to the left and there he is, 35 yards, bedded, chewing cud. there is a small dead tree about 5 yards in front of the bull, covering his vitals. i tried to duck and moved a step left trying to clear the bush, no luck. so i picked a line tight to his front leg and torched off the first bullet. the bull tried to jump up, but stumbled, left shoulder injury i suspect, wheeled to the left and took off. as he wheeled around, i shot him again about 5" left of his anus, which was the angle to get the most penetration. this all happened in about 2 seconds. was glad to have the double.
the bull ran around a brush pile then downhill, i jumped back so izak had a clear angle. got one in, the other hung up in my butt stock shell holder (usually keep spare bullets in my binoc carrier, ph's talked me out of the binocs last minute, said i did not need them, for visual, yes, for my bullets, i needed them
izak shot the bull as he was fading, and the bull collapsed from the 416 rigby solid. i had a talk with both ph's earlier, told them i was brown bear guide and knew there were times the guide needs to get involved and that i was ok with it, bring every one home safe.
a very nice bull, with huge boss and a broken right horn. perfect. congrats, photos, beer and loaded up. back to the skinning shed by noon!
day 3 rob was up. we tracked his bull (we meaning trackers, NOT me) 2.1 miles, a herd trampled over his tracks on 2 different occasions, we stayed on that bull. amazing. jumped him out of a thicket, he went out the far side, rob and izak darted left to the end of the thicket. rob made a great 100 yard offhand shot, the buffalo went 150 yards and gave us a death bellow, very nice!! more photos, congrats and beer and off to the skinning shed again!
we hunted 4 different concessions total. my buddy lew was up as a shooter, rob and i were mostly observers at that point. lew took a nice kudu, gemsbok, warthog, wildebeest and impala. rob took a nyala and a very nice impala. i shot a very nice impala, and witnessed some amazing tracking to recover it. shot a frontal impala with an 06 180 gr soft. it ran off. well shot, the tracker trailed it 250 yards thru knee deep grass before a drop of blood! 10 ft further another drop, 20 feet further a dead impala. the impala was shot perfectly, just did not bleed. very impressive tracking.
i wanted to shoot a wildebeest with my double, i know they are tough and wanted to try it out on one. found a herd and snuck up, on the periphery, cows busted us. trailed them and finally got a 190 shot off sticks at the one izak had picked out for me (i wanted a non-trophy bull) thats a pretty good poke for a double gun, but mine really shoots. so, i took my shot, izak said "perfect shot!" the herd ran off, so we walked to look for blood. the bull had made it 30 yards, a through and through shot, not to bad for a double gun!
we caught tiger fish, large mouth bass, toured game farms, etc. etc. had a great time, and had to leave too soon (although were were there for 18 days).
hunting buffalo was even better than i expected. probably won't be able to do it again, but it was worth it!!
well, i've been back about 10 days from sunny south africa, figured i should write up a short report. i booked a hunt in 2017, with izak kirsten, owner of WOW Africa. booked for oct of 2018, thats when izak was available to hunt with my buddy rob and i.
i took my zoli u/u 450-400 3" topped with a trijicon 1-6 accupoint. 400 gr north fork softs and solids. a loooong flight from anchorage to joberg. then a 6 hour drive to pongola, check rifle sights, good dinner and off to bed.
i won the toss, so i hunted first. my goal, an old broken horned dagga boy. we tracked 4 different groups the first day, got close on 3 occasions, heard them run off, actually saw the last bull in his bed, but each time the wind shifted around on us and off they went!! was very exciting tracking in the thick bush, always wondering if we were going to meet up at a very close range.
2nd day-we went to an remote tank they had spotted a broken horn bull the week before. we rolled up after an hour of driving, got out and the tracker found a large track, so we headed up a wide game trail and only went 100 yards or so and the tracker ducked down, stopped everyone and backed up. buffalo, right there! i came up with the PH, izak, he whispers to me, his head is pointed uphill (to the right) and he is laying down. stand up, step out and shoot him. simple enough instruction.
so i stand up, step to the left and there he is, 35 yards, bedded, chewing cud. there is a small dead tree about 5 yards in front of the bull, covering his vitals. i tried to duck and moved a step left trying to clear the bush, no luck. so i picked a line tight to his front leg and torched off the first bullet. the bull tried to jump up, but stumbled, left shoulder injury i suspect, wheeled to the left and took off. as he wheeled around, i shot him again about 5" left of his anus, which was the angle to get the most penetration. this all happened in about 2 seconds. was glad to have the double.
the bull ran around a brush pile then downhill, i jumped back so izak had a clear angle. got one in, the other hung up in my butt stock shell holder (usually keep spare bullets in my binoc carrier, ph's talked me out of the binocs last minute, said i did not need them, for visual, yes, for my bullets, i needed them
izak shot the bull as he was fading, and the bull collapsed from the 416 rigby solid. i had a talk with both ph's earlier, told them i was brown bear guide and knew there were times the guide needs to get involved and that i was ok with it, bring every one home safe.a very nice bull, with huge boss and a broken right horn. perfect. congrats, photos, beer and loaded up. back to the skinning shed by noon!
day 3 rob was up. we tracked his bull (we meaning trackers, NOT me) 2.1 miles, a herd trampled over his tracks on 2 different occasions, we stayed on that bull. amazing. jumped him out of a thicket, he went out the far side, rob and izak darted left to the end of the thicket. rob made a great 100 yard offhand shot, the buffalo went 150 yards and gave us a death bellow, very nice!! more photos, congrats and beer and off to the skinning shed again!
we hunted 4 different concessions total. my buddy lew was up as a shooter, rob and i were mostly observers at that point. lew took a nice kudu, gemsbok, warthog, wildebeest and impala. rob took a nyala and a very nice impala. i shot a very nice impala, and witnessed some amazing tracking to recover it. shot a frontal impala with an 06 180 gr soft. it ran off. well shot, the tracker trailed it 250 yards thru knee deep grass before a drop of blood! 10 ft further another drop, 20 feet further a dead impala. the impala was shot perfectly, just did not bleed. very impressive tracking.
i wanted to shoot a wildebeest with my double, i know they are tough and wanted to try it out on one. found a herd and snuck up, on the periphery, cows busted us. trailed them and finally got a 190 shot off sticks at the one izak had picked out for me (i wanted a non-trophy bull) thats a pretty good poke for a double gun, but mine really shoots. so, i took my shot, izak said "perfect shot!" the herd ran off, so we walked to look for blood. the bull had made it 30 yards, a through and through shot, not to bad for a double gun!
we caught tiger fish, large mouth bass, toured game farms, etc. etc. had a great time, and had to leave too soon (although were were there for 18 days).
hunting buffalo was even better than i expected. probably won't be able to do it again, but it was worth it!!
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