SOUTH AFRICA: SA 2012, Another Great Safari

Ok here is my 2nd safari with Smith and Dunham out of Alldays in Limpopo, we got back Aug 11th and like last year it was a great experience and now i am trying to figure out how i am going to make it back in 2014.... and you can bet it will again be with Smith and Dunham. Any ways of course the flights sucked, but its a means to and end. This year though, a couple buddies came with me and again we had some great success on the plains animals and i dumped a buff as well.

So my 1st morning i was after buff and after about a 40 minute stalk, i shot a heavy 15 1/2" bossed buff, it was a rush, i was in awe of the sheer size of the animal, it was quite the job getting him into the back of the cruiser!! Latter that afternoon i also took a great Impala, a 27" heavy horned ram. The next day i took my favorite animal to date, a 42 1/2" Sable, it took us a while to find it in the heavy bushveld, but once we located the bull, it was just a matter of a quick stalk and from my perspective, the most regal looking of all plains game was on the ground. After that, it took me 2 days to find and take a very good wart hog, as in 2011 it really didnt work out for me... For the next couple days it was us chasing the grey ghost again, as last year i took a very good heavy horned 52" Kudu, so i was looking for something special and late one morning we came across a great Kudu and a short time later a +58" was down and on its way to the skinning house.

I dont have any pictures of the other guys on the hunt (they have not sent to me yet..), as we were all hunting separate farms, but they also shot very good animals as well. Again Freddie Smith put us on some great animals, the lodging and the food were top notch, his staff never stopped until the day was over and for that matter, Freddie was not happy till we were all happy. It was great days hunting and then excellent nights around the dinner table and fire pit.

At the end of the day, i am hooked on Africa and i am already looking at and/or discussing my next trip, possibly Zim next time....:biggrin:

Nice job, great Impala! Congrats, looks like the Browning Stainless Stalker served you well. That is the same gun My wife used on our first trip, in .270.

Thxs, that all i shoot is Browning, the stainless 375 shoots like a dream, the buff only needed 1, the Barnes 300 gr TSX hit like a hammer!!!!!

Some very nice animals there. Sable are an awesome animal and that's a fine example you have taken.
Well done & thanks posting.

Congratulations Gary! Thanks for the hunt report and pictures!

Congratulations Gary! Those are some awesome trophies that Impala and Sable really stick out.

great trophies seems like you are very lucky with kudu!!!

Excellent. Thanks for sharing!

Congratulations on some more "representative" animals. sheesh...

Wonder why you're happy!

Thxs, yeah a bit of a horseshoe right now on safari's to say the least, but when your PH is the outfitter and the plan/stalk works out, well sometimes a guy gets lucky and takes a good animal. It also helps that this area has not been hunted a lot in the last few years and there seem to be an abundance of mature animals, it seems to be a well managed area.

Great trip...

all are nice trophy's - however i like the sable

That sable is awesome! So are all the other trophies. Congrats!

Congrats on such a successful hunt, great animals, and a very nice sunset to boot.

What a hunt! Great pics. Nice Gary..nice.

Thxs it was a great hunt for sure, now i just have to figure out how to get back to Africa in the next few years and still say married..... yikes its going to be a long few years :banghead:

Congrats with a great hunt.

Thanks for sharing.

Very nice - CONGRATS on the great trophies. Thanks for the update!

Hi ,

Congratulations !!!

Thanks for sharing the hunt report & the exquisite pictures , that kudu is a monster ....& the sable very handsome ...

Monish

Congrats for a great hunt and very nice trophies, thanks for sharing !

Your animals where all exceptional, well done and congrats.