matt vejar
AH veteran
I just returned from another dream African hunting and fishing Safari in Botswana. The dates were May 14-May 29. I have long been in search of a 55” kudu - a true biggie! Man did I make the right decision choosing Jaco Visser and @NKWE SAFARIS a sponsor on this site. His area near Ghanzi is Kudu heaven. He hunts on several cousins ranches and and neighboring friends farms which total thousands of acres of free range and fenced hunting. The lodge on his cousins 30k fenced game farm was where I stayed. It’s a very African tented hunting style lodge that any hunter would love. Next year he will have his own new 25k fenced hunting lodge bordering the Kalahari Game Reserve. If I’m alive I will be there next year!
Anyways to the hunt. Day 1 is breezy and spitting just a shower here and there. Not your best weather for free range hunting but we’re hunting on the neighbors 75k free range ranch that borders with his cousins fenced reserve. Not 20 minutes into the hunt we spot a kudu cow on the road. As we drive closer they spot the bull with several cows moving off. I see the bull and he looks big to me. I’m waiting for Jaco to look at the curls as 55” inch bull is very big! He immediately says shoot. The bull stops at 40 yds and the shot drops him in his track! As we walk up I see the deep curls. I’ve shot several kudu both Greater and Eastern cape and know immediately he is much bigger than my best 53” from Namibia. Jaco does a quick hand measuring technique I’ve never seen before and says he might make 57”. No one has a tape but I know he is a biggin, later in the hunt we measure him and sure enough he is 57” on the dot. An amazing trophy and it’s only day 1!! I thought I had used up all my good luck In Mozambique last October but I guess I’ve got a little left! Little did I know I actually had a lot left!!!
Day 2 the weather clears a bit but now windy and although we drive the length of the same property and see several bulls in the morning only one is big and he doesn’t stop for a shot. We see one monster warthog but this ranch has high grass and thick brush and I am not quick enough to get off a shot. At 65 I’m not as good as I once was! That evening we see a really thick horned bull that is wide that stands for a shot. Jaco is sure he is not 55” so I pass but never the less he is a superb animal which most anyone would be glad to have in their trophy room. The camp cook Godfrey who has been cooking for 7 years at this camp is turning out some of the best food you will ever eat and I’m getting to know my father and son trackers/ drivers so camp life is fun and all is well.
Day 3 Weather is glorious today and we head to his cousins ranch maybe hour plus drive toward the west of Ghanzi and the Namibian border. We’re hunting Waterbuck here and Kudu. This property is 20k and is fenced on 3 sides and opens to government land. It’s truly fair chase hunting as is loaded with waterbuck and big kudu as I would soon discover. Thick cover once again requires George and his son Bertie who has joined us because of a two day holiday from school which gives him 3 days to be in the bush with his dad and buddy tracker and childhood friend George. At 18 George and 15 year old Bertie gives us the added eyes which help in the thick bush. They spot a kudu bull with a cow at 80 meters off in the bush. Jaco says the bull has a first curl that go around his ears which is a sign that he is very big. We cannot see his tips or the rest of his horns but I know from experience that big bulls who have a big first curl have a chance to be a monster so I look and see the curl and tell him I’m shooting. As the cow in front slips past him I touch off shot and now it good! Although their is no blood some 40 meters away Jaco almost steps on bull as it moves in front of him. The bull can’t get up but I shoot him in chest to finish him quickly! He has the wide curl but not the long tips like the first Kudu but later tapes 55.5” and another great trophy! We drive to the ranch house to have the workers retrieve him and sit by a waterhole for lunch and a rest.
Other bulls we spotted after lunch looking for Waterbuck. Both are 55”plus! Maybe next year. We spot a waterbuck I try a push through the bush but he doubles back on Bertie and George. The bush is thick and driving is our best option. Just as the sun is waning they spot a big waterbuck, I cannot find him in the scope looking into the setting Sun at 100 meters and he is gone. I’m thinking we might have to return her later in the hunt when Jaco says shoot that one some 300 meters down the road. As I look through scope all I see is head and horns. Jaco stands and I shoot off his shoulders! The shot drops him. My best shot of trip. He said to shoot below his nose and it stuck his neck!! My fifth waterbuck is a wide one that later tapes 29.5”. One of my best days hunting in Africa. George and Bertie are earning that
candy big time!!! Father/Son Tozzy and George - bushman trackers.
What a day. I’ll post the rest of the hunting and fishing later.
Anyways to the hunt. Day 1 is breezy and spitting just a shower here and there. Not your best weather for free range hunting but we’re hunting on the neighbors 75k free range ranch that borders with his cousins fenced reserve. Not 20 minutes into the hunt we spot a kudu cow on the road. As we drive closer they spot the bull with several cows moving off. I see the bull and he looks big to me. I’m waiting for Jaco to look at the curls as 55” inch bull is very big! He immediately says shoot. The bull stops at 40 yds and the shot drops him in his track! As we walk up I see the deep curls. I’ve shot several kudu both Greater and Eastern cape and know immediately he is much bigger than my best 53” from Namibia. Jaco does a quick hand measuring technique I’ve never seen before and says he might make 57”. No one has a tape but I know he is a biggin, later in the hunt we measure him and sure enough he is 57” on the dot. An amazing trophy and it’s only day 1!! I thought I had used up all my good luck In Mozambique last October but I guess I’ve got a little left! Little did I know I actually had a lot left!!!
Day 2 the weather clears a bit but now windy and although we drive the length of the same property and see several bulls in the morning only one is big and he doesn’t stop for a shot. We see one monster warthog but this ranch has high grass and thick brush and I am not quick enough to get off a shot. At 65 I’m not as good as I once was! That evening we see a really thick horned bull that is wide that stands for a shot. Jaco is sure he is not 55” so I pass but never the less he is a superb animal which most anyone would be glad to have in their trophy room. The camp cook Godfrey who has been cooking for 7 years at this camp is turning out some of the best food you will ever eat and I’m getting to know my father and son trackers/ drivers so camp life is fun and all is well.
Day 3 Weather is glorious today and we head to his cousins ranch maybe hour plus drive toward the west of Ghanzi and the Namibian border. We’re hunting Waterbuck here and Kudu. This property is 20k and is fenced on 3 sides and opens to government land. It’s truly fair chase hunting as is loaded with waterbuck and big kudu as I would soon discover. Thick cover once again requires George and his son Bertie who has joined us because of a two day holiday from school which gives him 3 days to be in the bush with his dad and buddy tracker and childhood friend George. At 18 George and 15 year old Bertie gives us the added eyes which help in the thick bush. They spot a kudu bull with a cow at 80 meters off in the bush. Jaco says the bull has a first curl that go around his ears which is a sign that he is very big. We cannot see his tips or the rest of his horns but I know from experience that big bulls who have a big first curl have a chance to be a monster so I look and see the curl and tell him I’m shooting. As the cow in front slips past him I touch off shot and now it good! Although their is no blood some 40 meters away Jaco almost steps on bull as it moves in front of him. The bull can’t get up but I shoot him in chest to finish him quickly! He has the wide curl but not the long tips like the first Kudu but later tapes 55.5” and another great trophy! We drive to the ranch house to have the workers retrieve him and sit by a waterhole for lunch and a rest.
Other bulls we spotted after lunch looking for Waterbuck. Both are 55”plus! Maybe next year. We spot a waterbuck I try a push through the bush but he doubles back on Bertie and George. The bush is thick and driving is our best option. Just as the sun is waning they spot a big waterbuck, I cannot find him in the scope looking into the setting Sun at 100 meters and he is gone. I’m thinking we might have to return her later in the hunt when Jaco says shoot that one some 300 meters down the road. As I look through scope all I see is head and horns. Jaco stands and I shoot off his shoulders! The shot drops him. My best shot of trip. He said to shoot below his nose and it stuck his neck!! My fifth waterbuck is a wide one that later tapes 29.5”. One of my best days hunting in Africa. George and Bertie are earning that
What a day. I’ll post the rest of the hunting and fishing later.
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