SOUTH AFRICA: Just Returned From HartzView Hunting Safaris

[BnC 04]

What an adventure we had from our first safari. Had the privilege of hunting with Jacques of Hartzview Safaris and could not have been more pleased. We took some beautiful animals and seen some of the most awesome sunsets ever.

Once the jet leg wears off the full story will be up thereafter. Thanks to all on AH that have helped and always led us in the right direction.

Nathan

 

[Nyati]

Congrats.....we ll wait opcorn:

 

[BRICKBURN]

Congrats Nathan.
Look forward to the award winning pictures and the details of the chasse.

 

[davidt]

Just wanted to say congrats to you brother! I wish I could have been with you, but it is super cool that you got what you did. Good job again!

 

[SNIPER59]

Looking forward to your story, as we are heading over to Hartzview to hunt with Jacques on June 11th...any tips??....LOL

 

[BnC 04]

Alright Folks here we go...I am going to break it up into multiple posts.

We booked our hunt with Hartzview for 9 days this past Feb and was more of a spur of the moment decision to make the trip this May but after 5 years of visiting back in forth with Jacques we knew it was time to put down the phones and shake hands.

My wife and I arrived into JoBurg on the 9th of May and greeted by Jacques himself. Something we noticed immediately is that Jacques is ALWAYS on the move. The "original plan" was to head to the Kalahari and hunt lion then drive down to HartzView's main concession for Baboon, Warthog and soak in the scenery.

Day 1: Arrived at Jacques's Lion hunting area and was completely blown away by the beauty and picture perfect setting. The employees that we came into contact with were all outgoing and their service was well above anything I would have ever expected. Everyone always told us that you will eat like kings and I just kinda took it lightly. Boy I was wrong, we had a Chef that can come cook for us any time he wants.
Jac lined us up to stay in the "Honeymoon" suite and that was worth the flight by itself. Perfect!

 

[BnC 04]

Day 2: We started a bit later then normal but we enjoyed the extra time sleeping in from the "death march flight" from Atlanta. We spent the first day trying to sort out the fresh Lion tracks from the old ones and enjoyed every minute watching Jacques and the 2 trackers working the situation and coming up with a game plan. After seeing a few plains game and taking ALOT of pictures we all felt good about the next day hunt plans and after an outstanding dinner we fell fast asleep quickly. I unfortunately, awoke at 3am and just decided to stay awake. Bad idea.

Day 3: After a light breakfast we loaded up and started to search for a fresh track. We checked several tracks, then the trackers got excited about a track they came across. Jacques took a look at the track and determined it was a big female and fairly fresh so now the hunt was on.

Now I have been privileged to have hunted Brown bear, Sheep, Goat and Elk that required some serious hiking but I would have never thought that tracking that cat down would have been just as physical as my past hunts. Without exaggeration, I know we hiked no less then 10 miles that day and still couldn't get a look at the cat making them big ol' tracks. We keep a tracking until it was almost dark save breaking for a quick lunch. The end of Day 3 came to a close with caring for blisters, rubbing down sore muscles, a great dinner and knowing we had put our bodies to the test with hiking but we wouldn't have had it any other way.

Day 4 to Follow...

 

[Bobpuckett]

Thanks for posting your report good start waiting for more and pics. opcorn:

 

[BnC 04]

Day 4: After the mileage we put on the day before the wife and I were moving a bit slower then normal but ready to hike all day again if necessary.
We picked up the track of the same cat we had been following the day prior and away we went again. Kept pushing all the way up and through the normal lunch time as there was no way we were going to take a break when we knew we had to be getting close.

About 3pm Jacques made a plan that involved setting up in front of the cat and just see if she kept her course of travel. If she did it would have her crossing about 75 yards in front of us. With the .375 H&H resting on the sticks, it became a waiting game. It couldn't have been 10 minutes when Jac said he seen her coming out of the bush. At this point I'm getting excited but didn't compare to when she took a step forward and I was able to see the shear size of her. What an animal! Jacques told me a few days before that you have to be ready to shoot and I can see now way. Within a second she leapt forward, I squeezed off a shot and into the bush she went again.

Knowing I had a good shot into her Jacques felt confident that she wouldn't go far. The trackers picked up the trail and with rifle at the ready in we went. We had gone about a 100 yards when one of the trackers started pointing but all I could see was a tan object crouched down low. After another step forward I could see her clearly and was able to dispatch her quickly at 12 paces. Now the true excitement could not be held anymore. Back slapping, hand shaking and smiles all around! After looking were she was laying it was obvious that if we hadn't followed her track leading to the back of her she would have ambushed us broadside.

After getting her clear of the thick bush our first experience with
"Jac's Picture Studio" began. I use to think I could take a good picture or was fussy on how things had to be but tuned out I'm a rookie. After a few dozen pics were popped the sun was on the set and we where heading for camp with smiles for everyone. After dinner and a trip to the skinning shed we were making our way down to HartzView's main concession and hunting lodge.

 

[davidt]

 

[Nyati]

Congrats on the huge cat !

Keep up the story opcorn:

 

[Bobpuckett]

Nice Cat Nathan but how did you rate a pretty PH? :thumb:

 

[BnC 04]

Day 5: Awoke to a beautiful morning at Jacques's main lodge. Accommodations were top notch and once again food quality/quantity outstanding. Something about watching a herd of Waterbuck drinking at the pond just in front of the lodge that brightens your day.

Knowing my wife REALLY wanted to take a Baboon on this trip, that was the first goal. Within 5 minutes of driving from the lodge 2 ran across the road right in front of us. A brief while later we were following Jac as he and the trackers sorted out which was the troop was and how to sneak within range. Jacques found an old man on top of a tree at around 200 yards but the wife decided to fire a "warning" shot and the male disappeared without a scrape. She was a bit down on herself but about 30 minutes later she was lined up again on a medium sized Baboon and this time her shot was true and she had her 1st "would like" down.

Towards the late evening Jac walked us to a bedding area and luck would have it that a big old Black Wildebeest was milling about. We could tell by Jacques's reaction that this bull was a great opportunity and soon the Mrs had her 2nd animal down and Jacques was nice enough to welcome her properly to hunting Africa.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Got just a few days to go before I'll be at Hartzview, keep it coming BnC!

 

[BnC 04]

Day 6: Another beautiful morning with mind boggling amounts of various animals spotted ranging from Springbuck to Eland. We concentrated on finding a old trophy sized Oryx bull but after several busted stalks we were soon running out of daylight. Making the final turn back Jac spotted a small herd and luck would have it that an old bull was in the herd. After Mrs "all I want is a Baboon and Warthog" hit him square in the shoulder we began tracking into the bush. Running out of time Jac called in his go to trackers, 2 Jack Russ. and within 10 minutes they had located the old bull. Amazing how them dogs love to hunt and are excellent at finding hit/downed animals. Another big beautiful animal in the salt and a close to another super day. Lots of hiking the hills and glassing payed off once again.

 

[BnC 04]

Day 7:Today we decided to focus on Kudu. Something that I respect about Jac is the fact that he knew we were only after large, old animals and even though some of the animals we seen were shooters he would simple state that we can find bigger if we hunt hard and hunt hard we did.

After climbing several good spotting hills and seeing several smaller bulls we didn't find a "Jacques endorsed shooter bull" but we did see some great animals and a once in a lifetime sunset.

 

[Bobpuckett]

Good for her, way to go girl giv'm what for. Course you know you've messed up now you'll never be able to go to Africa without her.

 

[BnC 04]

Day 8: Living a dream and now the Mrs is determined to find a Kudu. Back to hiking, climbing and glassing from advantage points. Late in the morning Jac spotted a shooter bull and away we went. Trying to close the distance from 800 yards to 100 yards wasn't easy. Didn't help we had a herd of Eland on the hillside with the Kudu bull. We keep bush hoping until we were within 200 yards. At this point I decided to hunker down behind a bush and let the other 2 finish the stalk. They closed within 80 yards of that bull to have him walk directly towards them and out of sight. Never stopped or turned and presented no ethical shot. The Gray Ghost strikes again...

We continued to hunt the rest of the day with taking our lunch break back at the main lodge as we had done the past few days and then back out around
2 pm. Not much was moving and the evening was closing in fast upon us. Jac wanted to check another location where he had seen a big bull hanging out a few weeks earlier, so away we went. After arriving at the ridge location we spotted several Kudu cows and 1 smaller bull. Thinking we had seen all the Kudu in the area we kept moving when all of a sudden Jac got excited once more and I search for the bull in thick brush. Sure enough, big bull. After getting the wife to settle down and just breath, the big boy got hammered. Now this is were the plan goes astray because with the big bull was ANOTHER big "Jacques approved shooter" and yes I couldn't help myself. Who could?

It was getting dark by the time we got to the bulls and dark by the time they were back at the cooler so we decided to hold off till the morning for proper pictures.

 

[Bobpuckett]

Thats Awesome a double on Kudu! bet you guys haven't even come back down to earth yet.

 

[BnC 04]

Day 9: The Mrs was looking for a Blue to go with her Black Wildebeest and so began the search. We seen lots and lots of great bulls but nothing that made Jac overly excited till he spotted one down in a valley. Jac+excited=BIG animal. We closed into about 150 yards when the first shot hit him low in the shoulder. Then another hit back in the lung area. Thinking it was a done deal I walked over to Jac and the Mrs to watch the bull trucking into the bush. Never thought they were that strong of an animal to bring down but I was wrong. Jac brought in the Jack Russ and away we went. We caught up to him within a few hundred yards and Mrs (all I want is a Baboon and Warthog) had her a great Blue bull. After pics were taken and bull safely back at the cooler/skinning area I had something I set a goal to do and it was time.

Jacque's fiancé is a school teacher in one of the local towns and I wanted to go visit the kids and take a "sugar snack". I think it is important for us hunters to show a presence any chance we can and this was our chance. It meant a lot to the kids and a lot more to us to be able to see them, hear them sing their National Anthem and even had drawn pictures for us. Just a great bonus for the trip. A special thanks goes out to Jac's fiancé as we enjoyed meeting and hunting with her greatly.