SOUTH AFRICA: Free-Range Spiral Slam

sheephunterab

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Some hunters find it hard to believe that true free-range hunting still exists in South Africa and often what is touted as free range isn't but, there is still some great true free-range hunting on the Eastern Cape. This isn't wild Africa but your typical farm and ranch country that we hunt here in North America. You'll see lots of cattle and sheep and agricultural fields. You'll hear farmer's dogs barking but one thing you won't see are high fences. These ranches don't cater to hunters nor really care about the wild animals on their property other than they make a bit of extra money by allowing outfitters on.

We just completed a hunt with Lalapa Safaris and our goal was to take a genuine free-range spiral slam. Owner Ray Kemp has access to about 200,000 acres of this farm and ranch country and he was sure we could do it. You won't see a lot of game on this hunt and you will often go several days without killing an animal but if you want a free-range hunt at a bargain price you can still do it here.

Over the course of 10 days, we took eland, cape kudu, nyala, bushbuck, common reedbuck and mountain reedbuck. We also saw free-range impala, blesbok, steenbuck, duiker and gemsbok. The gemsbok were likely escapees from nearby high fenced operations but the others are as free-range and natural as elk and whitetails here at home. They have been running these same areas for centuries.

Vanessa and I split the spiral slam with her taking the eland and nyala. I took a great kudu and a nice bushbuck. This was my second try for bushbuck. Of the 10 days we hunted, we didn't take animals on four of the days. It's cool to know this type of hunting still exists and is much more affordable than most of the high-fenced places just because these animals aren't being raised for hunting purposes and the landowners aren't trying to make a living off of them. Trophy fees are cheap but trophy quality is high.

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Well done, and congratulations!
 
Congrats, nice trophies !
 
Excellent idea for a less costly hunt! Sounds like it would be perfect for a “see what Africa will offer up” kind of hunt!
Thanks for sharing your hunt and...for the grand idea!
 
Very nice congrats! Some nice trophies, thanks for sharing!
 
Congrats on another successful safari and thanks for posting.
 
Over the course of 10 days, we took eland, cape kudu, nyala, bushbuck, common reedbuck and mountain reedbuck. We also saw free-range impala, blesbok, steenbuck, duiker and gemsbok. The gemsbok were likely escapees from nearby high fenced operations but the others are as free-range and natural as elk and whitetails here at home. They have been running these same areas for centuries.

Any pics of the reedbucks? Would love to see those as well (y)
 
Here you go!
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Congrats TJ! Those are some fantastic trophies!!!
 
Thank you for explaining this to us. I didn’t know this type of thing was an option. I appreciate the analogy with Hunting in much of North America. Did your outfitter explain this approach or did you figure this out and look for someone who could execute on the plan? Thanks again for you writing about this. Great animals.
 
Very nice animals, T.J.!! Congratulations to you and Vanessa.
 
Super! Really love that idea to be honest. This was my goal some years ago when trying to book my first safari to Africa. I wound up going to Namibia but the idea of completely free ranging Hunt in SA still intrigues me till today. P.S congratulations on some fine trophies
 
will these hunts be on your youtube series ? Nice animals !
 
Looks like you had a good time and found success. Congrats
Bruce
 
Thank you for explaining this to us. I didn’t know this type of thing was an option. I appreciate the analogy with Hunting in much of North America. Did your outfitter explain this approach or did you figure this out and look for someone who could execute on the plan? Thanks again for you writing about this. Great animals.

We’ve done numerous plains game hunts in Africa and it was a free-range Barbary sheep hunt that first attracted us to Lalapa Safaris which we did in 2016. We really liked what we saw and felt we only got a small taste on our first hunt with them so returned this year. This was the first time we ever did a second hunt with an African outfitter. We have a third trip booked for 2021. There’s just so much to experience in this region.
 
Super! Really love that idea to be honest. This was my goal some years ago when trying to book my first safari to Africa. I wound up going to Namibia but the idea of completely free ranging Hunt in SA still intrigues me till today. P.S congratulations on some fine trophies

We’ve hunted free range Namibia twice and it was amazing but the species list is a bit limited for true free range. I’m so glad we experienced it but its one of those been there done that’s things and are just looking for new experiences now.
 

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