AckleyHunter
AH member
A bit delayed, but here is a recap of my first hunt in SA last May. We hunted with Stompiesland near Humansdrop in the eastern cape. Overall it was a fantastic experience and can't wait to go back. Our host, PH, and tracker were all top notch. We arrived in Johannesburg and were well taken care of by Africa Sky.
With three hunters we took 13 total animals in 5 days. I posted a recap of all the kills in the bullet preformance thread. My 7mm-08 with 156gr Norma Oryx hammered every animal we shot, from bush buck to gemsbok. Our poor tracker had nothing to but bounce around in the back of the truck.
I do have to say, as a well seasoned western US hunter, the game eyes my PH and tracker have are super human.
I will just stick with the animals I harvested for this post. The first animal I took was a blesbok. It was the third animal, and second blesbok we took that day. We spotted a group of them near the top of a hill, about a third of the way down from the top. We went around the back side and came down on them from the top. Peering down the slope, several backs and horns we just barely visible. The PH propped up the sticks and I set the rifle up and prepared to shoot. One ram separated and moved up the hill toward us exposing his vitals. A high shoulder shot and he was DRT. First animal in the books.
The next hunt was for a Nyala. This was the animal I wanted to take the most, but was the only hunt I was slightly dissapointed with. There is always a fence somewhere, but this felt more canned than I would have liked. The PH got a call from another property about an old ram that had managed to get outside a fence. When we arrived the ram had taken refuge in a couple acre island of thick brush. We circled the island a couple of times before he squirted out the middle, far below us and sharply down hill. The PH set up the sticks and quietly said '200'. A distance that would repeat itself a couple more times. Breathing hard from trying to chase the nyala out of the bush, my hold was a little more unsteady then I would have liked, but I felt confident. The shot hit a little low through both shoulders and bottom of the thoracic cavity. He stumbled hard on two broken legs for about 100 yards before stopping, then bellowed and tipped over. As we approached, it was obvious he was still alive, but couldn't get up. A second shot where the shoulder met the chest that ended up stopping in the neck finished it.
The third animal was an add on warthog via an excellent sell by our PH. We were hunting bush buck and seeing many warthogs along with the damage they can do to a field. He asked if anybody wanted to take one, and I replied 'if you see a big big one.' He immediately responded, 'good, I see a big big one.' Indeed, there was a monster boar rutting up a green grass field with a few sows and a bunch of little ones. We stalked up a small hedge row pass the sows and young ones all the way to the end. The boar was all alone, standing in a bright green background. The sticks went up and the PH whispered, '200'. The boar was quartering hard away from us but had not seen us. Giving him a few steps to turn more broadside, I shot him just about center of the rib cage with the bullet stopping on the offside hide where the should and neck meet. He ran about 20 yards before kicking up a giant dust cloud and going tits up. When fully dressed, he was 58 kilos.
After loading up the warthog, we continued to look for bush buck. With the sun setting quickly, we spotted a small ram on a hillside covered with brush and rock out croppings. Glassing the hill side, we saw another small ram and a few ewes. Finally, we spotted a very nice ram standing between a large rock and a small tree. With the light failing, we quickly moved forward and setup the sticks. Mostly hidden by the brush, his head, neck, and one shoulder were visable. That was all I needed and the shot entered right on the shoulder and down he went.
The last hunt was for Impala and ended up being the most fustrating for me. We spotted a couple of rams and put the stalk on them. We closed to about 150 yards but they were not going to sit still for long. They would move 50 yards or so and stop, the sticks would go out, and they would move again before I could get steady. Eventually, either through fustration or hubris, I took a 180 yard shot before I was really comfortable and sent the round sailing over his back. Clean miss, which is the best kind. We eventually located another ram by himself and unaware of our presence. The sticks went out and he went down. And just like that, all the hunting was over.
It was a trip of a life time. Can't wait to go back. Next time I will have to add a buffalo!
Thankful for all the great people who made it all possible.
With three hunters we took 13 total animals in 5 days. I posted a recap of all the kills in the bullet preformance thread. My 7mm-08 with 156gr Norma Oryx hammered every animal we shot, from bush buck to gemsbok. Our poor tracker had nothing to but bounce around in the back of the truck.
I do have to say, as a well seasoned western US hunter, the game eyes my PH and tracker have are super human.
I will just stick with the animals I harvested for this post. The first animal I took was a blesbok. It was the third animal, and second blesbok we took that day. We spotted a group of them near the top of a hill, about a third of the way down from the top. We went around the back side and came down on them from the top. Peering down the slope, several backs and horns we just barely visible. The PH propped up the sticks and I set the rifle up and prepared to shoot. One ram separated and moved up the hill toward us exposing his vitals. A high shoulder shot and he was DRT. First animal in the books.
The next hunt was for a Nyala. This was the animal I wanted to take the most, but was the only hunt I was slightly dissapointed with. There is always a fence somewhere, but this felt more canned than I would have liked. The PH got a call from another property about an old ram that had managed to get outside a fence. When we arrived the ram had taken refuge in a couple acre island of thick brush. We circled the island a couple of times before he squirted out the middle, far below us and sharply down hill. The PH set up the sticks and quietly said '200'. A distance that would repeat itself a couple more times. Breathing hard from trying to chase the nyala out of the bush, my hold was a little more unsteady then I would have liked, but I felt confident. The shot hit a little low through both shoulders and bottom of the thoracic cavity. He stumbled hard on two broken legs for about 100 yards before stopping, then bellowed and tipped over. As we approached, it was obvious he was still alive, but couldn't get up. A second shot where the shoulder met the chest that ended up stopping in the neck finished it.
The third animal was an add on warthog via an excellent sell by our PH. We were hunting bush buck and seeing many warthogs along with the damage they can do to a field. He asked if anybody wanted to take one, and I replied 'if you see a big big one.' He immediately responded, 'good, I see a big big one.' Indeed, there was a monster boar rutting up a green grass field with a few sows and a bunch of little ones. We stalked up a small hedge row pass the sows and young ones all the way to the end. The boar was all alone, standing in a bright green background. The sticks went up and the PH whispered, '200'. The boar was quartering hard away from us but had not seen us. Giving him a few steps to turn more broadside, I shot him just about center of the rib cage with the bullet stopping on the offside hide where the should and neck meet. He ran about 20 yards before kicking up a giant dust cloud and going tits up. When fully dressed, he was 58 kilos.
After loading up the warthog, we continued to look for bush buck. With the sun setting quickly, we spotted a small ram on a hillside covered with brush and rock out croppings. Glassing the hill side, we saw another small ram and a few ewes. Finally, we spotted a very nice ram standing between a large rock and a small tree. With the light failing, we quickly moved forward and setup the sticks. Mostly hidden by the brush, his head, neck, and one shoulder were visable. That was all I needed and the shot entered right on the shoulder and down he went.
The last hunt was for Impala and ended up being the most fustrating for me. We spotted a couple of rams and put the stalk on them. We closed to about 150 yards but they were not going to sit still for long. They would move 50 yards or so and stop, the sticks would go out, and they would move again before I could get steady. Eventually, either through fustration or hubris, I took a 180 yard shot before I was really comfortable and sent the round sailing over his back. Clean miss, which is the best kind. We eventually located another ram by himself and unaware of our presence. The sticks went out and he went down. And just like that, all the hunting was over.
It was a trip of a life time. Can't wait to go back. Next time I will have to add a buffalo!
Thankful for all the great people who made it all possible.
