Rick Thompson
AH member
Don and I had a great safari with Umdende Safaris. We won our hunt in a Duck’s Unlimited auction in Frisco, Texas. We didn’t plan going into the auction that we would be bidding at all… and walked out with an African Safari.
I got to use the opportunity to reconnect with an old (young) friend from my high school days. Janine was a great friend of mine from high school and a South African exchange student. We stayed with her and her husband briefly in Sandton. They showed us around Johannesburg and were excellent hosts. We enjoyed breakfast at Pata Pata and had a nice cocktail at a scenic resort overlooking the city. This also allowed us to recover from jet lag and get into relaxation mode.
Umdende picked us up from Jo Burg and we arrived at our camp in Zulu-Natal near Vryheid, South Africa in late August 2018. Don was on his first safari and he would be hunting with a rifle. I was on my third safari and I would be hunting primarily with a bow but would reach for the ‘longbow’ if things were not looking my way. Theo provided us excellent hunting rifles to site in.
The camp was an old farmer’s house and it was very nice. It had a kitchen, bar, fire pit, the usual! It was actually nicer than the lodges/accommodations I had previously been exposed to in Africa. I had briefed Don that accommodations would be ‘rustic’. Oh well. The first evening of the hunt we grilled and enjoyed a fire. The cook was fabulous.
The first day we hunted Black Wildebeest and Red Hartebeest for Don in the morning. Those animals had radar and range finders and made it tough. No shot opportunities. In the afternoon we were driving the property and we spotted a nice Nyala (my #1 animal I was seeking). We got out and did an archery spot and stalk but he busted us and fled. We again chased Red Hartebeest/Wildebeest to no avail. Finally, in the evening Don had our first shot opportunity on an Impala…and pulled the shot. We had a great day but things didn’t work out for us.
The next day all of our luck changed. Don and Theo took a magnificent Zebra and an Impala with a rifle in the morning. I had a dedicated PH named Francois this day and we were glassing a hill when we saw a Bush Pig in broad daylight, apparently going back to his nest. Francois was very excited about this pig (more excited than me) so we went after him with my bow. The pig was going up a large hill/small mountain and we were glassing in hopes he would be down. While glassing I spotted a nice Nyala and we went after him instead. We had to wade across a shallow river to get up to him. We weren’t sure where he would be as we lost his location in the vegetation/elevation lines after we crossed the river but it turns out we came out behind him with the wind perfect. After a further brief stalk, I had a 50-yard archery opportunity that I nailed. He went 15 yards and I had a nice 28” Nyala on the ground. Later in the afternoon Don took a very nice Red Hartebeest with a 250 yard plus shot. In the afternoon of the 2nd day I tried a stalk on a Warthog that Theo had tried to rifle hunt with his young son, but he busted me at 67 yards. I also tried stalks on Impala two or three times and got close but with thick vegetation I could not get an arrow off. Don and Theo took a break and drank Castle beer while I was playing Elmer Fudd with a bow.
On the third day Don took a nice Mountain Reedbuck in the morning. It was a high scoring Mountain Reedbuck which wasn’t on his wish list, but Theo’s correct assertion that it was a magnificent trophy sold Don. I decided to try for that same Warthog again but this time with a rifle , I took the nice Warthog and then went after an Impala with a rifle as well. I took a nice Impala in the late afternoon.
On the fourth day of the hunt we switched to duck/goose hunting. I’ve never hunted waterfowl in Africa so didn’t know what to expect. Umdende and Theo did a great job setting us up for the morning hunt. We shot 41 ducks and geese with two guns. Shooting was hot and steady and ‘Argentine-esque’ until about 9AM or so, then it tapered off. In the evening we had another great shoot, this time over decoys but with a very high tail wind to deal with. Our shooting was high volume but the percentages dropped heavily due to the wind. That evening we had a duck breast dinner. All and all this was one of the best waterfowl days of my life and waterfowl was my first passion in hunting.
We travelled to Limpopo on Day five. We stayed in a rustic but nice fenced bush camp. Next up on my list was Sable. Umdende had worked their network and found an exceptional Sable bull on a farm where the owner had just authorized it to be hunted. We went there and found him almost immediately. Regretfully I didn’t have a great archery performance here. My first arrow sailed over his back. My second arrow was a wound shot, but about an hour later and with Theo’s great assistance I had him down. Honestly, I have to admit I had buck fever here after decades of hunting and bowhunting. I think everyone telling me what a monster he was along with a truck load of spectators observing from distance got in my head. It ended up well and the Sable green-scored 111.75” by an un-official scorer. Don observed my hunt and after this magnificent beast was down I switched to observer mode having taken everything I had sought. We now would switch to Don’s list of trophies.
Things got tough at this point. Don’s #1 sought after animal had always been Gemsbok. They were very tough in Limpopo and stayed in thickets until threatened…then ran like lightning. We hunted them two straight days, all day and got close on several farms but things kept thwarting us. We also mixed in a hunt for a Waterbuck and a Warthog but kept getting busted.
On the last day of our safari we all agreed to hunt until 11 AM. At about 930 Don finally got a shot but felt rushed and missed. His morale was a bit low. We all hunted hard and located another small group of Gemsbok, Don was able to make the shot this time and we had our last animal of the hunt. We were on our way to the airport an hour and a half later.
We both had wish lists of animals to hunt and we both got everything we sought. The duck hunting was fabulous to boot.
A big thank you to our PH Theo for the great hospitality and hosting us all week, our PH Francois for the extra help during a couple of days, Coletta and Trevor for the wonderful food and conversation during the first half of our trip, our tracker/skinners Leashlie (SP?) and Yanni (SP?) for taking care of our animals after they hit the ground and thank you to all the Umdende staff that worked behind the scenes to make out African Safari a wonderful experience. We loved it!
I got to use the opportunity to reconnect with an old (young) friend from my high school days. Janine was a great friend of mine from high school and a South African exchange student. We stayed with her and her husband briefly in Sandton. They showed us around Johannesburg and were excellent hosts. We enjoyed breakfast at Pata Pata and had a nice cocktail at a scenic resort overlooking the city. This also allowed us to recover from jet lag and get into relaxation mode.
Umdende picked us up from Jo Burg and we arrived at our camp in Zulu-Natal near Vryheid, South Africa in late August 2018. Don was on his first safari and he would be hunting with a rifle. I was on my third safari and I would be hunting primarily with a bow but would reach for the ‘longbow’ if things were not looking my way. Theo provided us excellent hunting rifles to site in.
The camp was an old farmer’s house and it was very nice. It had a kitchen, bar, fire pit, the usual! It was actually nicer than the lodges/accommodations I had previously been exposed to in Africa. I had briefed Don that accommodations would be ‘rustic’. Oh well. The first evening of the hunt we grilled and enjoyed a fire. The cook was fabulous.
The first day we hunted Black Wildebeest and Red Hartebeest for Don in the morning. Those animals had radar and range finders and made it tough. No shot opportunities. In the afternoon we were driving the property and we spotted a nice Nyala (my #1 animal I was seeking). We got out and did an archery spot and stalk but he busted us and fled. We again chased Red Hartebeest/Wildebeest to no avail. Finally, in the evening Don had our first shot opportunity on an Impala…and pulled the shot. We had a great day but things didn’t work out for us.
The next day all of our luck changed. Don and Theo took a magnificent Zebra and an Impala with a rifle in the morning. I had a dedicated PH named Francois this day and we were glassing a hill when we saw a Bush Pig in broad daylight, apparently going back to his nest. Francois was very excited about this pig (more excited than me) so we went after him with my bow. The pig was going up a large hill/small mountain and we were glassing in hopes he would be down. While glassing I spotted a nice Nyala and we went after him instead. We had to wade across a shallow river to get up to him. We weren’t sure where he would be as we lost his location in the vegetation/elevation lines after we crossed the river but it turns out we came out behind him with the wind perfect. After a further brief stalk, I had a 50-yard archery opportunity that I nailed. He went 15 yards and I had a nice 28” Nyala on the ground. Later in the afternoon Don took a very nice Red Hartebeest with a 250 yard plus shot. In the afternoon of the 2nd day I tried a stalk on a Warthog that Theo had tried to rifle hunt with his young son, but he busted me at 67 yards. I also tried stalks on Impala two or three times and got close but with thick vegetation I could not get an arrow off. Don and Theo took a break and drank Castle beer while I was playing Elmer Fudd with a bow.
On the third day Don took a nice Mountain Reedbuck in the morning. It was a high scoring Mountain Reedbuck which wasn’t on his wish list, but Theo’s correct assertion that it was a magnificent trophy sold Don. I decided to try for that same Warthog again but this time with a rifle , I took the nice Warthog and then went after an Impala with a rifle as well. I took a nice Impala in the late afternoon.
On the fourth day of the hunt we switched to duck/goose hunting. I’ve never hunted waterfowl in Africa so didn’t know what to expect. Umdende and Theo did a great job setting us up for the morning hunt. We shot 41 ducks and geese with two guns. Shooting was hot and steady and ‘Argentine-esque’ until about 9AM or so, then it tapered off. In the evening we had another great shoot, this time over decoys but with a very high tail wind to deal with. Our shooting was high volume but the percentages dropped heavily due to the wind. That evening we had a duck breast dinner. All and all this was one of the best waterfowl days of my life and waterfowl was my first passion in hunting.
We travelled to Limpopo on Day five. We stayed in a rustic but nice fenced bush camp. Next up on my list was Sable. Umdende had worked their network and found an exceptional Sable bull on a farm where the owner had just authorized it to be hunted. We went there and found him almost immediately. Regretfully I didn’t have a great archery performance here. My first arrow sailed over his back. My second arrow was a wound shot, but about an hour later and with Theo’s great assistance I had him down. Honestly, I have to admit I had buck fever here after decades of hunting and bowhunting. I think everyone telling me what a monster he was along with a truck load of spectators observing from distance got in my head. It ended up well and the Sable green-scored 111.75” by an un-official scorer. Don observed my hunt and after this magnificent beast was down I switched to observer mode having taken everything I had sought. We now would switch to Don’s list of trophies.
Things got tough at this point. Don’s #1 sought after animal had always been Gemsbok. They were very tough in Limpopo and stayed in thickets until threatened…then ran like lightning. We hunted them two straight days, all day and got close on several farms but things kept thwarting us. We also mixed in a hunt for a Waterbuck and a Warthog but kept getting busted.
On the last day of our safari we all agreed to hunt until 11 AM. At about 930 Don finally got a shot but felt rushed and missed. His morale was a bit low. We all hunted hard and located another small group of Gemsbok, Don was able to make the shot this time and we had our last animal of the hunt. We were on our way to the airport an hour and a half later.
We both had wish lists of animals to hunt and we both got everything we sought. The duck hunting was fabulous to boot.
A big thank you to our PH Theo for the great hospitality and hosting us all week, our PH Francois for the extra help during a couple of days, Coletta and Trevor for the wonderful food and conversation during the first half of our trip, our tracker/skinners Leashlie (SP?) and Yanni (SP?) for taking care of our animals after they hit the ground and thank you to all the Umdende staff that worked behind the scenes to make out African Safari a wonderful experience. We loved it!
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