NAMIBIA: Just Back From Namib with Jamy Traut Safaris - Wow What a Great Time

The grey hairs I think come from all the dangerous game he hunts I know I'd get a few if I did as much as him.. If you know him you know how hard he works to take care of his clients That's why I went back with him a second time. He now has 4 concessions in the Caprivi for DG and he's a busy man just trying to get all the infrastructure finished there. He was heading up there the day after we left to finish up the camps for clients inbound. He's on his own now with the new Panorama base to get up and running (this is his first full year there), the Kalahari Camp to keep up and modify and now 4 concessions in the Caprivi to manage. He's busy but he always sees to his clients. I'll get more into Panorama later. It's going to be a fantastic place when all is said and done. Don't get me wrong, it's very good now but the plans are to make it even better.

To hunt with Lion's as a sign post... "out past the Lions and around that corner..."

Incredible Steenbok. Good pose.

Congratulations and good shooting.

Cliffy, this is like reading a favorite novel - or almost like being there. I hope you had a really long hunt and take your time telling the story. Fabulous!

Excellent story and pictures!

PANORAMA, noun, from the Greek, def, an unbroken view of the whole region surrounding an observer

A very apt name for a very interesting location. We are off northbound for PANORAMA, Jamy's premier hunting location SE of Windhoek about 1 1/2 hrs drive. This is his new location and what a place it will be when done. Originally a cattle farm, now being returned to a more natural setting. Now containing 22 water troughs (cattle style) but going to 10 round pan style for a much better accommodation for natural wildlife.
All the fences and cattle pens are being removed quickly. From the lapa and main house you can see forever in all directions. And I mean forever, right to the horizon and not see lights at night. Only one small light is visible about 15 miles away to the southwest. No highways to see(once in a great while you "might" see the lights of a car many miles away), no towns, no buildings lit up. Nothing to spoil the unobstructed view of the setting African sun. There are 3 tent chalets for the guests. Traditional wall tents about 12X15' with the queen bed, fancy linens, electric blankets, night stands with lights, closet for clothes, and a sitting bench. Connected to the "tent" is a concrete walled en suite bathing facility with a tiled shower, porcelain sink and flush toilet (all brand new). On the front of the "tent" (faces west) is a concrete porch with two comfortable chairs for watching the sun set. This is a very, very comfortable place to lay your head. The tents are but a short 80' walk to the main house for meals and drinks by the fire.
The setting sun from the "tent"


Are we going to be comfortable at night?


Jamy must be important- He has 2 phones


Breakfast inside


Dinner outside


I don't have one of these on the wall yet


Now as I said, views in all directions






And of course, Jamy and me with the AH hat Jerome gave me in Las Vegas I got lots of good comments on the hat at the airport in Jo'berg!



There's a good run down on what one could expect if they book a hunt at Panorama with Jamy. He's going all out to make this a top notch destination. He and his partners have a very good LONG range plan to keep this operating a a hunting preserve for many years to come. Not going to be a fly-by-night outfit at all. I was very impressed and I'm hard to impress. Generally I'm very skeptical. Jamy and his partners have a vision that we all will be able to enjoy in the years to come. As much as I like to see new areas, I may just have to keep coming back here because I had such a good time.

A Little Background On Jamy

Born in Namibia. Has been hunting since a little boy. Started out young up north near the Caprivi. Holds a full PH DG license and goes the extra mile to sponsor new PHs in training.
He's a college graduate and he holds a Masters Degree on Marine Biology. That is only surpassed by his knowledge of hunting and firearms. He's very low key but if you watch you can pick up that he knows what he's talking about whether its about wildebeest, the tree your hiding behind or the ballistics of your particular rifle/cartridge combination. He's married with 2 boys (14 and 10). Rentia, his wife, is in charge of the main house and tents and does a bang up good job but she works too hard at it trying to make everything perfect for the
guests. Jr., Jamy's oldest son, drove our vehicle for a couple of days when the tracker was off for an Easter holiday. He dressed in PH style with good binos and was very personable and had good knowledge to answer our wives questions while out in the bush. My wife was very surprised how well he did for being 14. We did tip him also The youngest son, Nicky, has a goal to shoot a springbok (for meat) with a head shoot and a .22 by crawling up on it. He came very close the week before but a blesbuck blew his stalk. The younger one is all hunting, day and night that's all he thinks about.
Well, enough for now. I'll get into the hunting and the snakes and OH did I say snakes? OOPS! More later. Maybe I need to put this on subscription only then I can get back to Africa quicker

IF YOU GO ONCE-YOU WILL RETURN-DEAL WITH IT!

Very good hunting report, Cliffy you should write a suspense novel, keep everyone on the edge of their seats. Glad you had a good time. I can't wait to go back.

Jammy is a terrific PH and he and Rentia are one of the great couples in the business. I hunted with him while he was still at Eden, and am glad to see he is back up and running a great operation. Both of them put incredible hours on the road, and he is the type who misses no detail. Just great people.

Ok Cliffy you don't have time for a break keep wrighting your killing me wth the suspense this is great. I'm beginning to think you majored in journalism in college.

A Hunting We Will Go, A Hunting We Will Go, Hi Ho the Derry-o, A Hunting We Will Go!

We're off like a dirty shirt to find Red Hartebeest. Now Red Hartebeest (Harley Davidson Antelope? have a habit of looking around from a high point. They even climb on a termite mound to see better. We tried to get up on several but they stomped off way before we could even get the stalk started. And man, can they run, forever! We tried for them at Kalahari Camp but to no avail. We'd see them from a mile away and stop behind a dune 400 yds away, sneak up the sand and they would be looking at us. And then- poof, they are gone. Had 2 good bulls at 200+ yds in heavy brush when we spotted them (I saw them first even before Jamy and the tracker-HA HA) so we piled out of the vehicle and started the stalk. We lost them in 5 mins and looked for a half hour. They just disappeared, period. Vanished, gone, just as if a magician had said abracadabra and waved his cape. So here we are at Panorama, different terrain, but the same "EYES? After several blown stops we are going down an open dirt track, wide open area with just a slight small berm out in front of us. Tall grass prevails in all the open areas.

As we move slowly down the road looking all directions Jamy slams on the brakes and says look, pointing to our 2 o'clock position. There, out in the flat open field, with nothing around is the head of a big hartebeest just sticking out of the grass at 300 yds. We're out in the open in the truck, no brush between us and him but one small 5" diameter tree. Thankfully he's looking the other direction. What do we do now?

Must Be The Dumbest Hartebeest In The World

OK, we decide that Jamy and Bruce will try a stalk. They quietly climb out (I'm secretly hoping no one slams a door). I'm up top, in back, with my binos on him.

My Binos (but then I digress to tell this story)

I buy a lot of stuff from Cabelas. If I said I get the hard bound catalog every year does that tell you something? Anyway they had a big sale a while back on binos and in reading all the ads and looking at on line reviews I got a pair of Bushnell Legend AD 10X42 binos with my Cabelas points. They have a 1 year no questions asked return policy on the binos. If they're not as good as I think they should be, I could get all my money back. They are that good. I'm not returning them. In fact, Jamy liked them so much (he has an older pair of Swarovski 10 power) that he's going to get a pair for his son, Jr. Try'em, they're good.

Back To The Hunt

So the plan is for them to use the tree as a screen to get with in 200 yds of the animal. They're out in the open. Just grass between them and the tree and then just more grass. This ain't goin to work! So, off they go and they get to the tree. The hartebeest is still looking the other way. Not a care in the world. Bruce set his rifle on a low branch of the tree for a good rest and immediately gets run over by big wood ants that are running up and down the tree trunk. Luckily they weren't stinging ants. Still keeping your concentration on the hartebeest with ants all over your hands and rifle? I don't know if I could do it. So, they are behind the tree (for what ever a 5" tree gives for cover) and I'm in truck another 150 yds further away in line with them, out in the open. The hartebeest is still laying down looking the other way so Jamy decides to make a grunt to get him to stand up. 10 grunts later, each one louder and louder (I can hear them !) no movement out of the hartebeest? Then Jamy calls out "Hey, Hartebeest", Nothing!. Several more tries and he finally looks behind and stands up, facing straight on to Jamy and Bruce and looking at me. He stands there for a couple of minutes looking and then----------he lays down again looking the other way. Now do you know why I call him Mr.Stupid? Jamy even turns toward me and yells, "Can you believe this? No, I can't.

Now, what to do? Ok, Jamy goes back to, Hey Hartebeest!? Finally after several more times the animal stands up again. This time he stands broadside to Bruce and Jamy. I hear the boom and I hear the bullet impact. As Bruce described it, "He did a short St. Vitus dance and fell over" We all rendezvous at the animal and see that he goes 24+ inches. Quite good. The electric winch is pulled out and the hartebeest goes up the tailgate ramp and into the pickup bed. Off we go back to the main house for drinks all around and another great meal by Rentia


OH, The Snakes

When we arrived at Panorama Nicki, the youngest, comes up and says they found a Puff Adder near by and have it in the bed of the old truck (dead of course). We all go look. It's about 4 feet long. Bruce wants the skin for a hat band

.



The Next Snake

As we were driving down the road looking for the hartebeest, Peter, the tracker who is driving, stops and says a bright yellow and black snake just crossed the road. We don't see it but Jamy says it's a Cape Cobra!



Now, with this being April and going into the colder fall season, all the snakes are going underground so anyone hunting later in the winter there probably won't see any snakes at all. These are the first I've ever seen in all my trips. Oh, wait a minute, I said I didn't see the FIRST Cape Cobra. Yes there were 2, along with a second Puff Adder. As we were driving on another road a couple of days later I saw a yellow and black snake crossing the road, another Cape Cobra! AND, on another day on a stalk, we find another Puff Adder! Very unusual, Jamy and everyone else were surprised by all the snakes. It's really not a big problem. They all run away if they can, especially the Cobras.

The Big Lizard

While we were in the Kalahari we almost ran over a big Monitor Lizard. Rolling down the dirt road near the big dry pan (visible on Google Earth) we come to a stop and see this big monitor lizard in the road (they don't move very fast). Of course we have to get out and take pictures. The lizard didn't like it one bit. We hear the hissing warning, Stay away. He's about 4 feet long and I guess maybe 30 lbs. All we hear is the hissing and more hissing as he walks away from us and our cameras. He could probably chomp off a finger without much trouble. No I didn't try to pick him up. Remember, the Crocodile Hunter killed himself by being stupid and he was a professional at animal handling.



I'm a Carnivore, I Eat Meat, Now My Quest for Food

Sorry, that's the next installment 

Nice trophies, all.
Sometimes being lucky is better than being good! Good Hartebeest.

All that extra grass must be insulating them to keep them out.

I dream of hunting in Namibia. This post may seal the deal for me. Time to check out Jamy's website.

carazou said:

hi can you share some video and pictures with us

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?????? Ok.......

Cliffy keep it coming. Maybe you can make this long enough to hold me over till my next trip to Africa?(by the way I have to plan my trip yet) Makes the time go faster reading a little every day.

A literal Cliff-hanger! I am eagerly awaiting the next installment!

I'll have to print this off it'll make for good reading again on the plane to South Africa next month. Your doing good Cliffy keep it up.

Cliff-hangar---- Oh, puns puns and more puns
carazou---------Can you not see all the pictures? I have no video
Tarawa---------Any significance to the screen name? I had a military school Commander way back when that spent time on Tarawa in WWII, Major Largee. Going back 50 yrs now. If you want and desire the wide open spaces then Namibia is for you. I like every place I've been (Zim, SA & Namib) but Namibia is the wide open spaces compared to them all.
I am overwhelmed by all your kind comments here. I'm writing it because I want to share a great experience with all of you. This forum is the only one I've ever joined that doesn't go off into petty arguments and name calling. What a breath of fresh air from the norm. Let's all work to keep it as good as it is.
More to come on --Namibia, The Wide Open Spaces

cliffy,
You said there were thousands of gemsbok in the area all at once. Did you get any pictures of this. With the rates on thier website I'm seriously considering taking the entire family there next year especially if the gemsbok are as numerous as you say. their website stated gemsbok less than 34" is only $200 each. Is that correct because that is really cheap.

Would it be ethical to take a picture with me standing on top of a heap of about 30 gemsbok????? :shocked:

tap
The price seems correct and no I didn't get any pictures of thousands of gemsbuck. Rest assured they are there. I saw them, my partner saw them, my wife saw them, etc. They are at both Kalahari and Panorama. Jamy can work out lots of hunting for non-trophy animals if you want to take the family for a very fun vacation. I want to make sure everyone knows that I have no financial ties to Jamy and his outfit. I only talk about him because we have had such a good time hunting with him. He really does go way overboard in trying to make your hunt successful and fun. You can't go wrong hunting with him.

Cliffy
Must Be The Dumbest Hartebeest In The World

Click to expand...

Perfect. I am always looking for big dumb animals

Your story is very suspenseful. Fun to read.

I found some pictures of Mr. Dumb Beest in the grass and 2 of the many many large groups of gemsbuck that we saw in both camps. My wife had them on her cmputer

Great pics Cliffy tell your wife Thanks there's enough Gemsbok in those crowds to make me spend a couple hunderd bucks.