SOUTH AFRICA: MPETI SAFARIS OUTFITTER - Overdue Report Of Our South African Hunt

I am way behind on getting this report posted. We have all heard it a million times, but when you retire you really do get busier than when you were working. Anyway, I will start a post and probably add to it over the next week or so as I can. I will definitely add a lot of photos to make up for my slow writeup.

I caught my wife at a weak moment a year ago, and when she said she would go along on an extended trip I immediately booked flights into and out of JNB for a 2 month stay. I figured I would fill in the details at my leisure.

Thus began the search for someplace that I could hunt and my wife would be comfortable and well looked after. After talking to some members here on AH we made a WhatsApp video call with Conrad Fick,@MPETI SAFARIS OUTFITTER, in Zululand. His enthusiasm was contagious and we set aside the first 12 days to spend with him.

This trip was going to be my first trip as a O.A.P. (Old Age Pensioner) as the English say. We planned the first 2 weeks in South Africa so I could do some hunting and the last 7 weeks of the trip to move up to Namibia where we had a Hilux with rooftop tent waiting. Our plans there were for overlanding through Namibia in areas I hadn't yet been, and also into Botswana and Zimbabwe. That is a whole nother story and was a blast to say the least. We did manage to camp at some places in Namibia that allowed me some day hunts for meat to supplement our camping larder. I will try to mention those here in a separate report later on.

Travel details - We booked our own flights on Delta with DL200 and DL201 being the main event ATL - JNB - ATL. I used some miles to help get us Premium Select seats and then right before we left, we were able to upgrade to Delta One for the southbound trip. My wife really loved that experience. Normally I do not sleep a lot on the flight down there which makes it easy to crash the first night there and get used to the time change. This time I did sleep, due to the lay flat bed seat, but it made it harder to get on SA time.

I had a friend that had mentioned several times that he would like to go to Africa. I always enjoy having first timers along due to their excitement of it all. So, I called Mike and his wife, Ruth, and said if you ever want to go, this is the trip to partake. They immediately jumped onboard. I have to say that Mike is a spry 79 years young, so this was not a small thing on his part. We planned 9 days to chase some critters and 3 to move to the coast and look around there, with a day of deep sea fishing thrown in.

Arrivals hall at JNB with Mike and Ruth -



This was only the second time in 7 trips that I did not bring my own firearm, but upon exiting the customs area I ran into Mr. X, who's services' to clear firearms through the SAPS office that I (and many members here I am sure) have used many times before. I never thought of seeing a familiar face in the Joberg airport, but it was fun to chat with him for a minute. Even though he was not expecting us, he immediately offered his help if needed. Always nice to have a local ace up your sleeve there in Joberg. Thanks Mr X........



I had booked us into the Sunrock Guesthouse for 2 nights to give us all a day to relax from the travel experience. The Sunrock is a great little oasis that I have used the last couple trips. ....



We were met the following morning by Conrad for an uneventful 6 hour drive down to Zululand to begin our adventures. Got to Mpeti about 1600. Made a short sundowner drive before coming back to the lodge for an amazing dinner. Saw all kinds of critters, but catching this guy was a major bonus!


That's all for today. I know this is a slow start but, stay tuned and I will add more and the content will get better.

Looking forward to the rest of the report! My father and I are booked with him next May for Buffalo and a variety of PG.

Very much looking forward to your report! Please do include your over landing experience in yourreport! It is something I am interested in as well as a way to bring the family along to, as my wife certifiably will not hunt but is curious for an African adventure.

Oh this will be awesome!

Great start to follow along on your adventure.

Up early the first day (every day actually) with a coffee on the deck of the lodge watching and listening to Zululand wake up....

Very nice lodge they have in a beautiful setting overlooking Jozini Dam/Reservoir..





Wasn't long sitting with my coffee and the natives started showing up -


Then it was off to the range to get acquainted with the rifles we would use. A Win Model 70 in .375 H&H for myself and 7 x 57 Mauser for Mike. Also had to get Mike used to shooting from sticks. Conrad and Mepti's youngest PH, Henno here with Mike....


Then it was out for a good look around and to get Mike and Ruth familiar with the variety of game. Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon after lunch stopping for photo ops for them. Always fun to see the excitement from first timers. We also did a few unsuccessful stalks on Impala. Mike was starting to get the idea that critters don't just stand around and wait to be shot by visiting nimrods. Then on our way back to the lodge for the evening, we had a bunch of Impala cross the road in front of us so we stopped and walked in to see if we could get Mike on one. I have a great video of him during his set up, but not sure how or if I can attach that here. I will just say that I watched a 79 year old turn into a 16 year old in a matter of minutes! It was great to experience with him. The result, and you can see "it" in the smiles - and it takes a lot to get Mike to smile......


And so day 1 ended with a great multi course meal and sundowners to celebrate Mike's first African hunt sucess.

404Pruitt said:

Looking forward to the rest of the report! My father and I are booked with him next May for Buffalo and a variety of PG.

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You will have a great time there. Conrad and Henno will work to make things happen for you for sure. Ruan, the lodge manager, takes care of the lodging and food end of things which works really well. I was able to add a cow buffalo, you will see that here in the report eventually, so I know your trip will be awesome!

Arctic97 said:

You will have a great time there. Conrad and Henno will work to make things happen for you for sure. Ruan, the lodge manager, takes care of the lodging and food end of things which works really well. I was able to add a cow buffalo, you will see that here in the report eventually, so I know your trip will be awesome!

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Awesome to hear that! Conrad has been great to talk to and I got to meet him at SCI this year. Stand up guy for sure

Please keep it up! I love all the photos. They really bring us along with you!

So, our chalet was at the far end of the pathway along the chalets. So the walk was about 200 yards. Most nights after dinner, my wife would usually head back to call it a night, while I stayed to partake in more bush TV/drinks/conversation, etc. No problem, beautiful stone pathway and all, sure, she usually bumped some Nyala along the way and the warthogs living under our porch at the chalet always made her jump when they would snort and shoot out from under her (even when she expected them). None of that bothered her in the least - BUT what really made her dread the walk was that about halfway back the path makes a little dogleg and every night there was a large spider that would make a web halfway across the path. Sarah does NOT like spiders, so on nights when I would walk her back, I always enjoyed watching her do some form of the Limbo to get around and under that web....

I feel her pain. I too, loathe spiders.

SwampTrooper said:

Very much looking forward to your report! Please do include your over landing experience in yourreport! It is something I am interested in as well as a way to bring the family along to, as my wife certifiably will not hunt but is curious for an African adventure.

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I had the time of my life. It is something I will never regret saying "yes" to, that is 100% for sure! Signed The Wife

Thanks for the report! Looking forward to the rest!

I had a nice long post written here and somehow I accidently deleted it after I posted! I will try again!

Day 2. We headed out in the morning and kept seeing Impala, Nyala, and Wildebeest. Then a Wildebeest herd with a good bull crossed in front of us, Conrad said we should track them and I should have a go. About 1-2 kilometer later we came up to them, but they knew we were there - just not sure of what we were. Our approach was by crawling. It took quite a while to get into a spot with a clear shooting lane and then the bull would move a step, and we would have to move again to compensate.


The bull shood facing us for a long time trying to figure us out. So we waited...


Finally, he turned to show his shoulder and we got the sticks up, but we knew if we stood up the gig was up. So I used one leg of the sticks as a rest from sitting.


The shot broke clean and it felt fine. We watched a replay of the video Henno took. Looked like a good hit. Then we gave him some time...


We hoped for a short blood trail to a dead beast, but that was not to be. He was moving downhill and through dense bush. Now comes the part none of us like to talk about. A poor first shot and a follow up. We pushed on. After over a kilometer of tracking we came to a dry stream below us with very thick trees and cover. Conrad had us stop. He "felt" like the bull was near. Sure enough in less than a minute Conrad saw him standing below us about 30 yards under the thick canopy of the stream. The sticks were up in a flash and Conrad was quickly trying to get me on target. Finally I see the shape and put the crosshairs on his back and fire. I was a bit bazzled when he departed the opposite direction I thought he was facing. So now I had a second hole in him – in the wrong end!

We pushed forward. I was mad at myself, but trying to stay calm and finish what I had started. We didn’t get far and we came to where he had crossed the dry stream and headed up a game trail going up the steep bank. There was a lot of blood on the right side of the trail as he was working hard going up this incline.....


Conrad was about a yard in front of me. When he got to the top of the incline, he came upon the bull laying down about 3-4 yards in front of him. The bull jumped to his feet and came forward. Conrad turned and went past me in a flash yelling shoooot! About this time the bull came into my view. Conrad said I made a funny noise when he went by me, and I saw the bull above me – I bet I did. Thank goodness I had turned the scope down to min setting. I threw the rifle up and when his face filled the glass and was centered, I fired.

Here is Conrad standing where I was when I fired.


This was the first shot too far back that caused the follow up...


And this was the shot that finished him...


The last picture that says it all...


It was great having PH's that go the extra mile for you like during this follow up. I can't say enough good things about Conrad and Henno.

Mike and Ruth came into the bush to have a close look at my Wildebeest. Mike is from Alabama where he hunts southern whitetail deer. When he saw the size of a Wildebeest he said oh man, I will never get one of those! After a few pictures we let the recovery team take over and we set off again, thinking we would maybe bump some Zebra as we worked our way back towards the lodge. After moving to a different part of the property, we saw some more Wildebeest and thought we should follow to see if there was a bull. We followed for about 30 minutes when Conrad caught sight of a bull shadowing his cows. We did a flanking maneuver a couple of times and got Mike on the sticks.



Conrad got the bull to stop and Mike broke the shot. Coming off the sticks here after the shot....


And the happy, but still serious hunter...


So 2 Wildebeest down before a slightly late lunch.

They are tough tough animals. There is a reason they call them the poor man's buffalo. Sometimes there's a gunbattle. Thank you for your honest reflection on the shot and follow ups. Looking forward to the rest.

Great story so far, looks like a great hunt. Damn though, now you’ve got me convinced to go after a Blue in a couple of weeks.

Great report. Love those wildebeest!

SwampTrooper said:

They are tough tough animals. There is a reason they call them the poor man's buffalo. Sometimes there's a gunbattle. Thank you for your honest reflection on the shot and follow ups. Looking forward to the rest.

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Thank you. Yes, they are. Definitely have to hit them properly as my 79-year-old friend showed me a few hours later. His dropped like a sack of potatoes from his 7x57. As we all know, caliber is not the answer, good shooting is! Yes, very hard to admit a failure, especially on here, but hopefully owning up to it helps me downstream.

Arctic97 said:

Thank you. Yes, they are. Definitely have to hit them properly as my 79-year-old friend showed me a few hours later. His dropped like a sack of potatoes from his 7x57. As we all know, caliber is not the answer, good shooting is! Yes, very hard to admit a failure, especially on here, but hopefully owning up to it helps me downstream.

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Hey, you got him in the salt! This was not a failure at all. He was not lost and left sitting out sick and scared all night. He was collected and in good time too, just with a bit more passion and action than you were hoping. The fact that you feel badly about it reveals that you are an ethically driven hunter who cares about the animal's suffering. That is a viture that every hunter should keep dearly. I had a similar story with a gemsbok that really hurt my heart but I think it gave me more respect for the animals and reinforced my commitment to ethical hunting and good marksmanship on game. The bottom line is, if you're out hunting, bad shots WILL happen eventually. By being out there at all, you are contributing to sustainable land use and adding value to the game population as a whole. That being said, I think these emotions are important in hunting, and are not separate or an unhappy incident in hunting, but a fundamental emotional course that every hunter should go through.