NAMIBIA: KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS

[JG870]

Great story telling and super trophies. Thanks for posting.

 

[gizmo]

After this we took a trip to the Kalahari to play with elephant and rhino. I will circle back to this in a bit but for now we will move on to:
Gemsbok
So as I had mentioned previously, I have taken a respectable gemsbok before but Namibia is the home to whopper gemsbok and they are one of the must stunningly beautiful animals on the planet I was chomping at the bit to get another one.
We had a relaxing day in the Kalahari and I was ready to get a gemsbok. We headed up to the mountains where the gemsbok spend the majority of their time in this part of Namibia. I was ready for a day of climbing and hiking, or at least as ready as I was going to be. As we crept our way up the mountains we stumbled upon a herd of gemsbok going where ever it is that gemsbok think they need to go.
Now up to this point we had seen a ton of gemsbok but with the exception of the one I missed, twice, I hadn't had any shot opportunities. They seemed to always be one step ahead of us. Maybe it had something to do with a short fat guy falling up the mountains (yes you can fall up mountains) but when we would see them they generally had it in high gear covering as much ground as possible to get away from us.
You can imagine our surprise when we drive up on a herd of them just standing there looking at us. They were a pretty good ways up the mountain but didn't break and run. I get on my rifle and Philip makes a short assessment of the herd pointing me to a tremendous bull. Now I had to do everything I could not to look at his horns because had I there would be no way on earth I could make the shot. I knew he was big and I needed to focus on my shooting not the giant set of spikes on his head. I had no desire to wing him and chase him for an untold number of days across the mountains. I settled the crosshairs on his neck where the spine is and squeezed the trigger. He dropped like a rock. Having spent a lot of time around oryx in my life I know with absolute certainty that they are extremely tough and extremely dangerous when wounded or pissed off. I was reloaded before he could even hit the ground but thankfully the bullet hit its mark and he was dead as a door nail, not so much as a quiver or a twitch.
I'm super excited because I know what I just took and I cant wait to see him. I was so excited I even beat Hendrick up the mountain and to him. My jaw hit the ground, he's a monster. I don't touch him but watch him for a good bit to make sure he is dead.
As I have mentioned after all these years Melony has become family and I am very fond of her as is my wife and children. She is an amazing woman and I found it only fitting that she be the first to touch this magnificent animal. She knows very well my beliefs and feelings on the matter so she was quite stunned when I told her that I wanted her to be the first to touch him and take his strength.
She was very very apprehensive about touching the giant bull. She has been around oryx with me a lot and also knows just how dangerous they can be in certain circumstances. I assured her that he was well and truly dead and that she could safely touch him. She knelt down and placed her hand on his forehead. It was a beautiful moment and I hope that his strength serves her well in years to come.
Now I was able to lay my hands on him. He is the first oryx Ive ever seen that I could not get my hand all the way around his bases. The mass on this bull is incredible and he carries it all the way up. So much so that looking at him it almost makes his horns look short but I can assure you they are not. I didn't measure them and likely won't but brother let me tell you he is a hoss. While I am sure I will hunt more gemsbok in the future I highly doubt I will ever take another one in this same league.
We got him all prettied up and ready for pics. I laugh every time I see the pic of Mel and I. Vincent took the picture at just the right/wrong?????? moment and it looks like Mel is being held hostage. For whatever reason it is next to impossible to get a picture of her smiling yet she smiles all the time. It's just a weird thing that has held true over the years.

 

[gizmo]

 

[Mekaniks]

What rifle/caliber/bullets are you shooting Erik?

 

[gizmo]

What rifle/caliber/bullets are you shooting Erik?

Well I am going to do a whole write up on gear when I get the hunt part of the report finished.

 

[gizmo]

Hartebeest
This critter was the last on the list of big game for the trip for me. I had up to this point taken 9 of the 10 animals in my package plus several bonus jackals. A Hartebeest was the first animal we tried to stalk and ended up the last animal standing. We hunted them the entire time and I'll tell you what, they are a damned difficult critter to get the drop on. We had many unsuccessful stalks and were outsmarted IDK how many times. We at one point managed to get within 100 yards of a big group of them with two tremendous bulls in it yet still had no luck. Hartebeest are crafty critters and in the very limited experience I have with them rarely make mistakes.
During the entire hunt while I respected them immensely I just couldn't and still cant figure them out. I don't know what makes them tick. I've seen them, mounted them, and read a little about them but the Hartebeest is one that I just don't know that much about. They were the "unknown" on this adventure and even after hunting them I still don't quite understand them. They are deceivingly beautiful, weary, crafty, and incredibly fast. They belong to the same family of antelope the Topi does, which to my understanding, is the fastest of all antelope in Africa. We tried to hunt them pretty much every day we were there and for me, they just seemed out of reach.
Carrie took a tremendous bull early on and she and Corey seemed to have a bit of a different experience with them than I did.
To put it plainly, well, they just confuse me.
That however didn't stop me from appreciating them and wanting to hunt them. While the Hartman's Zebra was the hardest hunt I'd say the Hartebeest was the most difficult hunt if that makes any sense.
It finally came down to this, we went out one morning to look for Hartebeest and finish up the big game portion of the hunt. We found a lone bull pretty early on. As was the drill we hopped out and started stalking him. I could tell he was a nice bull by the way Philip and Hendrick were acting but I would only catch a glimpse here and there. Any time I am the client I don't worry about size as the PH/trackers's are going to be far better at field judging animals than I am so I just roll with it. That dude outsmarted us at every turn and after I don't know how many miles we finally accepted defeat and looped back around to the cruiser. I was beginning to wonder if I would take one this trip. While one always hopes they do it is hunting after all and sometimes it just doesn't work out and there will always be a next time.
We hop back in the cruiser and continue on looking for another beest as has happened so many times up to this point on this trip. We come around the corner and hey, look who is there. Now there is enough distance between us that he feels more comfortable sticking around. I decide that I am going to give it a whirl and it was getting late in the hunt and the number of hunting days left were pretty few.
He's semi in some brush at about 470 yards I think it was, Philip correct me on that if I am off, but at any rate it was a heckava poke out there. I decide to take the shot off of the front of the cruiser. I was pretty steady and had a good line of sight. There was virtually no wind and the only unknown was what the bullet drop would be that far. I settled the crosshairs in and gave it my best educated guess as to what my hold over would be and let her rip. I followed the vapor trail of the bullet in my scope and heard the whack. I knew I'd hit him but he didnt go down. He kind of stumbled around and we lost sight of him. The shot felt good, they are tough, etc.... so we watched and gave him some time. We went to where we last saw him and didn't find anything. I know that I hit him and there was absolutely no doubt about that so we should find something I'd have thought but nope. We look around for a bit and Hendrick went to where he was standing and started following the track. No blood for the longest time but eventually we found a drop here and there in the exact opposite direction of where we had last saw him. I'm pretty bumfuzzled at this point and doubting myself now. Hendrick lost and found the track several more times until we just damn near stepped on him. We got up to a matter of feet from him when he suddenly jumped up and tried to escape. He was having extreme difficulty standing up and running so I shot him again. He goes down and we shake hands and start to visit about what all had just happened. I'll be damned if after about 2 minutes (or so it seemed) he didn't lift his head up. I shot him again and instead of going over he tries to get up. At this point I run over to him and put one in his spine. He was down for the count then. Holly smokes what a tough animal they are.
Once we got to looking at him we discovered that my first bullet had gone through and broken both of his front knees. It had dropped quite a bit more than I figured it would have, though given my tendancy to shoot high I had second guessed myself at the last moment.
He was down now and I was able to get my hands on him. Philip and Hendrick went to go get the bakkie and I stayed with my Hartebeest. I thank God for this wonderful animal and thanked him for the oppurtunity to come and hunt such a wonderful place with such wonderful people.

 

[gizmo]

Ok folks we've still got a lot more coming including wingshooting and the Kalahari so stay tuned. Its midnight here and I've got to be at the office bright and early so we'll pick back up where we left off soon. For now good night and God Bless!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Great write up Erik! Enjoying it very much!

 

[Dudders]

Hi Erik
Enjoying the report. Its amazing to see the amount of grass in your pictures certainly makes a change from my last couple of trips there.

 

[Jörg Krüger]

Thank you for the great report so far. What an awesome read. It nearly feels like I joined you on your hunt the way you write.

 

[PARA45]

Wow, what a great trip Erik, and some animals taken. With your writing I feel I am there with you. Keep it coming.

 

[lwaters]

Eric what a great trip and fantastic report.

 

[Ragman]

Really enjoying this Erik. It's really making me crave Namibia. I totally understand your love for the "beests". My favourite animal from my Namibia trip was my Hartebeest. And even though it wasn't part of my package in my Eastern Cape trip, I knew I wasn't leaving without a Blue Wildebeest! Can't wait to read more!

 

[AZDAVE]

Erik,
love the writeup so far! Sounds like you had a magnificent trip. My wife has the same wildebeest slam on her radar. Will warn you that the tiny 10 and night predators have a way of drawing you in and are great hunts. I am enjoying your impressions of Namibia, It is making me happy that we will be there in August. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

 

[cls]

Congratulations to all, am enjoying the read. Thanks.

 

[Philip Glass]

Wow 6 years! I think I would die if I couldn’t go at least every other year
I love Namibia and am so jealous!
There is something about flying over saltwater and shooting skills declining. Not sure but many of us have experienced it.
Philip

 

[1dirthawker]

@gizmo,

a great story. i appreciate your owning up to the bad and the ugly as well as the good. nicely done. everyone has a off day shooting now and then. was a great read!

 

[gizmo]

Wow 6 years! I think I would die if I couldn’t go at least every other year
I love Namibia and am so jealous!
There is something about flying over saltwater and shooting skills declining. Not sure but many of us have experienced it.
Philip

Thanks buddy, oh believe me the 6 year wait was brutal. I pray it won’t take that long to go again.

 

[gizmo]

It’s for the birds!
So another thing I’ve always wanted to do was do some wing shooting on that side of the pond. I had asked Philip about it and he assured me there were plenty of opportunities and he was right!
Now those of you that know me well know I am a waterfowl junkie. There just so happens to be the holly grail of waterfowl over there, being Egyptian Geese. Oh Egyptian Geese are amazing!!!!
Additionally there is the usual Guinea Fowl, rock pigeons, and Franklin.
While we were hunting big game we saw tons of birds including the geese who were loading on ponds left over from a wet, wet season.
I wanted a day to relax also so the day I killed my Hartebeest I decided I was going to spend the rest of the day birding so the following day was only a Covid test and I could relax.
Philip hooks me up with a shotgun and a 22Lr and I grab Hendrick, off we go.

 

[gizmo]

We started seeing rock pigeons of various types everywhere (basically a dove but they have a few different types over there). I started out with the shotgun and it was more of a spot and stalk type deal as far as the pigeons were concerned. Kinda remind me of being a kid and wreaking havoc on the local bird population. The thing was it was pretty difficult to get within shotgun range of them before they flew off. I managed to ambush a few a whack them as they took off but they were doing a pretty good job of besting me.
Finally I decide to pick them off with the 22 and that worked like a champ! The Franklin’s were a hoot and they don’t really covey but will brush up like a quail or more accurately a pheasant. We’d see them running around and I’d jump out and flush them. This was a blast but the #3’s were more suited to the geese than the Franklin as it had a tendency to turn them to a mushy pillow. Eventually I switch over to the little 22 for that as well and took some fine birds for the pot as well as to bring home and mount.
now for the geese. Well they weren’t exactly hard to find but they were in the middle of a large pond. Hmmmm..... well I went and brushed up at the dam whilst Hendrick looped around in the bakkie and hauled ass up to the bank honking his horn to bust them. A few would fly off but most just swam out farther away. I tried sky busting a few that flew over. They had their oxygen masks on and were way to high.
What to do?????
Well I figured what the hell, there is now law in Namibia preventing one from using a rifle so out came the 22. Seemed like the solution except they were way the hell out in the middle. Quite a bit out of range for the little 22. A big rifle is t the solution which would just vaporize on rendering them inedible and or not fit for taxidermy. Hmmmm.
They didn’t seem to spooky so I figured I could get in a good sitting position and dry to figure out the bullet drop and windage of the little 22.
it took about 3 shots and I had them pegged. Once I knew what my hold over and windage was I let’er fly and whack one. Score! The bird try’s to fly but is hit to hard to get off the water. I send another round and kill it.
the rest seem a bit confused on what’s going on and just kind of swim in a circle. Next target in the sights and whack. Another one it hit. Now the geese are getting wise to my plan and they start to fly off. I got one more shot of and score another hit on another bird. The second bird is flopping around still so I send another one it’s way and kill it.
Hendrick sees all this and I thing was stuck between laughing and in shock that I was managing to hit them that far out. They were waaaaay the hell out there.
I got two dead and one crippled. The crippled bird swims farther out and I try to hit it again and even with the bird barely visible in the very bottom of the reticle the round falls about 8 feet short just causing it to swim farther out. This is probably a 20 acre or better pond.
It didn’t matter anyway because I had no more 22 shells with me, the remainder were in the bakkie on the other side.
Hendrick found a canoe, why there was a random canoe out there in the middle of nowhere I don’t know but it even had a paddle. I can see him checking to see if it was sea worthy and he seemed satisfied and set off. He recovered the first two birds which were dead and began chasing the other one all over the place. I’m the one giggling at this point. I finally get his attention and he paddles over.
Now I can swim but I’m a much better drowner than swimmer so I figure the front of a tiny canoe is probably not the best place for me to be. I gave Hendrick The shotgun which still had a few shells in it. I told him to waterswat it and collect it. I would walk around the whole pond and meet him back at the bakkie. We both set off. I got about half way around the pond when I looked over, Hendrick had caught up to the goose and just as it manages to get off the water he hammers it finishing the job. It was a great shot.
We eventually met back at the bakkie and I had 3 stunningly beautiful Egyptian Geese. I was elated.
Once we got everything back together we set off for Guinea fowl.
While hunting big game we could go 10 feet without seeing some and now we couldn’t find one if our lives depended on it. They were the last bird on the list to get and we were running out of time. We checked all the usual spots. Eventually we had to admit defeat and start heading back. I had just accepted that I was going to go Guinealess when we pulled up to the gate to head up to the lodge. Low and behold there in the road was a Guinea. I grab the trusty 22 and whack him. I couldn’t believe it. I got all the game birds in 1 afternoon including 3 geese. Not too bad eh?
We got all the birds back and I sorted through them. The ones that I felt would be mountable I kept and the rest went for Hendrick’s dinner.
All the geese are coming back to the states. Birds are a PITA to deal with for shipping them skinned. I hope they make it in one piece and are mountable when I get them. Fingers crossed
It was a great afternoon, though a bit unconventional, I haven’t had that much fun chasing around birds since I was a little kid! It also ended up being the most hard earned geese I think I’ve ever hunted. Lol View attachment 400141View attachment 400142