R eight
AH fanatic
Usually my overseas hunts are planned well in advance. Often in excess of 12 months. But, not this one. This hunt came about rather suddenly. As a matter of fact everything fell into place around the same time that everything was rapidly unravelling in the straight of Hormuz.
I’d seen a hunt advertised on the "Africa Hunting” forum. The hunt was for a non-exportable bull elephant in South Africa. That got my attention….a bull elephant had long been number 1 on my bucket list. The more I read, the better this offer sounded. Hunting was to take place in the “open zone” of South Africa for a 25 pound bull. The duration was 7 days and most importantly the price was…. “doable”. I was seriously interested. But, to be honest I wasn’t sure if every thing would align. My schedule for the year was tight. International travel was beginning to look precarious and what exactly was the “open zone” ? That was the first thing to check out. Turned out that the “open zone” is appropriately named. It’s part of a vast wilderness area where elephants move naturally over many thousands of square miles. It wasn’t a fenced property.
Now, the planning got serious. I contacted the outfitter “That’s Africa Safaris” and discussed available dates….May was looking good. It was slightly less than 8 weeks away. Yep, I could do that. I had a rifle ready to go. The .416 Rigby had been ready for a couple of years. A quick look on the airline’s web site for flights. Yep, they were still flying and I could get something that would work. It’d be in “cattle class” but it would work. I contacted the outfitter again and I was booked !
Paper work, permits, South African and Australian, were organised. The African documents were promptly sorted by the outfitter and Africa Sky/ Rifle permits. All I had to do was supply the information. I handled the Australian permits which were easily done on line.
Seven weeks out, the situation in the Middle East was the same as always. Well…no different than what it has been for the past couple of centuries. I’d given up following the news on it. What ever was going to happen would happen, without any input from me. The rifle had one final trip to the range just to make sure all was as it should be. It was. I was ready and packed. Now all I had to do was count off the days…..until AFRICA !
Upon arrival in Johannesburg I was greeted at the air bridge by an Africa Sky/Rifle permit representative and expertly guided through the system. That was money well spent !
I was in Africa and so was my rifle and baggage. That’s always a great start.
A couple of days later, all refreshed, I arrived in the rather rustic airport of “East Gate” just outside the town of Hoedspruit, South Africa. There I met my PH, Valie. My African safari had begun.
A bit of a drive, but not too far, and we were in camp. I must say this “camp” was very comfortable and more than I imagined it could be. I was getting to like this African lifestyle.
Over the next day I met all the staff, I was the only hunter and guest in camp. I fired a few shots at the range and Valie showed me about and guided me through what to expect over the week. I certainly appreciated the time that he took to do this. It felt like a chat with a mate. By the end of the day I was well and truly a part of the team. It was a great introduction to hunting in Africa. Especially as this was my first trip to Africa and my first hunt was for a bull elephant.
The priority for our first day of hunting would not focus on putting an elephant on the ground. The primary objective was executing a few stalks on elephants, in the same category for which I had a license. This was an excellent strategy and it got me in close and up personal with these giants. I am so thankful that time was allocated for those stalks. I’m no “Churchill”, so I’m not even going to try to describe the magic. The images of that day are etched into my memory along with Valie’s whispered knowledge.
At the end of the first day I felt confident. I was smiling and satisfied beyond measure. My first day in the African bush…elephants, rhino, buffalo, hippo, hyena and plains game everywhere. Wow !
That night as I sat by the fire, an ice cold beer in hand, I was serenaded by a leopard and hyenas……I was in Africa.
The next day started just like the one before. Magic !
Now as I’ve said, I’m no wizard with the written word. But, I’ve a video that will do a substantially better job of showing how the hunt went. This video shows around 10 minutes of the final stalk.
I can truly say that I’ve experienced one of life’s greatest adventures and…….it won’t be the last !
The team. Chicko, Surprise, Gary, author and Valie.
The following day we returned to the site of the kill. There wasn't much left.
I’d seen a hunt advertised on the "Africa Hunting” forum. The hunt was for a non-exportable bull elephant in South Africa. That got my attention….a bull elephant had long been number 1 on my bucket list. The more I read, the better this offer sounded. Hunting was to take place in the “open zone” of South Africa for a 25 pound bull. The duration was 7 days and most importantly the price was…. “doable”. I was seriously interested. But, to be honest I wasn’t sure if every thing would align. My schedule for the year was tight. International travel was beginning to look precarious and what exactly was the “open zone” ? That was the first thing to check out. Turned out that the “open zone” is appropriately named. It’s part of a vast wilderness area where elephants move naturally over many thousands of square miles. It wasn’t a fenced property.
Now, the planning got serious. I contacted the outfitter “That’s Africa Safaris” and discussed available dates….May was looking good. It was slightly less than 8 weeks away. Yep, I could do that. I had a rifle ready to go. The .416 Rigby had been ready for a couple of years. A quick look on the airline’s web site for flights. Yep, they were still flying and I could get something that would work. It’d be in “cattle class” but it would work. I contacted the outfitter again and I was booked !
Paper work, permits, South African and Australian, were organised. The African documents were promptly sorted by the outfitter and Africa Sky/ Rifle permits. All I had to do was supply the information. I handled the Australian permits which were easily done on line.
Seven weeks out, the situation in the Middle East was the same as always. Well…no different than what it has been for the past couple of centuries. I’d given up following the news on it. What ever was going to happen would happen, without any input from me. The rifle had one final trip to the range just to make sure all was as it should be. It was. I was ready and packed. Now all I had to do was count off the days…..until AFRICA !
Upon arrival in Johannesburg I was greeted at the air bridge by an Africa Sky/Rifle permit representative and expertly guided through the system. That was money well spent !
I was in Africa and so was my rifle and baggage. That’s always a great start.
A couple of days later, all refreshed, I arrived in the rather rustic airport of “East Gate” just outside the town of Hoedspruit, South Africa. There I met my PH, Valie. My African safari had begun.
A bit of a drive, but not too far, and we were in camp. I must say this “camp” was very comfortable and more than I imagined it could be. I was getting to like this African lifestyle.
Over the next day I met all the staff, I was the only hunter and guest in camp. I fired a few shots at the range and Valie showed me about and guided me through what to expect over the week. I certainly appreciated the time that he took to do this. It felt like a chat with a mate. By the end of the day I was well and truly a part of the team. It was a great introduction to hunting in Africa. Especially as this was my first trip to Africa and my first hunt was for a bull elephant.
The priority for our first day of hunting would not focus on putting an elephant on the ground. The primary objective was executing a few stalks on elephants, in the same category for which I had a license. This was an excellent strategy and it got me in close and up personal with these giants. I am so thankful that time was allocated for those stalks. I’m no “Churchill”, so I’m not even going to try to describe the magic. The images of that day are etched into my memory along with Valie’s whispered knowledge.
At the end of the first day I felt confident. I was smiling and satisfied beyond measure. My first day in the African bush…elephants, rhino, buffalo, hippo, hyena and plains game everywhere. Wow !
That night as I sat by the fire, an ice cold beer in hand, I was serenaded by a leopard and hyenas……I was in Africa.
The next day started just like the one before. Magic !
Now as I’ve said, I’m no wizard with the written word. But, I’ve a video that will do a substantially better job of showing how the hunt went. This video shows around 10 minutes of the final stalk.
I can truly say that I’ve experienced one of life’s greatest adventures and…….it won’t be the last !
The team. Chicko, Surprise, Gary, author and Valie.
The following day we returned to the site of the kill. There wasn't much left.
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it was a case of only one elephant and too many rifles to choose from 
