My African Hunting Story (Long Post)

[gillettehunter]

My condolences on the loss of your mom. Its hard to lose a parent. Thanks for sharing your story. It's great to have that bonding time together. We all appreciate a good story here and you delivered on that. Have you thought about another trip to Africa in the future?
Bruce

 

[Hemingway's Karl]

Very well written. Just curious, were your dad and brother not always hunters? I couldn’t imagine growing up with a hunting family and not hunting, but I’m glad you’ve started now.

We were all late starters in regard to hunting My dad didn't start hunting until he was in his early 40's when one of his friends started bringing him on black bear hunts. That was my dad's first animal (the black bear) and he would occasionally hunt with his buddy down in New Mexico for elk. My brother started in his 30's and began with Texas whitetails. He'd bring our dad along for the trips. I never went because I wasn't a hunter and I'm not a big fan of whitetail meat. However, I always told them that I would consider elk hunting in the future. I was always a fisherman, especially for trout. I caught that bug on a random Colorado trip when I decided to buy an ultralight for $15 and hop in the stream. I've been drawn to it ever since; however, neither my brother nor dad are fishermen.

 

[Hemingway's Karl]

Thank you for

No need to thank me for reading your report, thank you for taking the time to write it. I enjoyed it greatly. That was a great introduction to hunting that would be very hard to top. Condolences on losing your mom, my mom passed away in June this year after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Thank you for the kind words and I'm very sorry to hear about the passing of your mom. Alzheimer's is a terrible disease.

 

[Hemingway's Karl]

My condolences on the loss of your mom. Its hard to lose a parent. Thanks for sharing your story. It's great to have that bonding time together. We all appreciate a good story here and you delivered on that. Have you thought about another trip to Africa in the future?
Bruce

Excellent question! It was very hard leaving Africa. It felt so "right" being in the bush. I can't get those beautiful African sunsets out of my head. I still wake up and miss the crisp African winter morning and the feeling of the dust caking your skin at the end of the day. I don't miss the "Hat Stealer" tree though. Those trees tried to take a pound of flesh off of me and were very nearly successful in that endeavor.

As for a future trip, we definitely have thought of it and are in the process of planning one in 2024. My brother and I decided that our dad deserved a mulligan because he had so much on his mind this last trip. It's giving him something to look forward to when he's adjusting to his new norm and time to plan for his objective animal (i.e., the sable). As for me, I think I hit all the target animals that most people wish for, but I would still like to pursue a buffalo cow. I figure my buffalo needs a wife.

The issue with a future trip is that I need to earn back points with my wife to go back out. Despite my attempts to convince her to go, she has no interest in hunting trips. Thus, I have to "even" the vacation playing field before I go again. Some people complain about the taxidermy being one of the most unexpected expensive features of an African trip. That's not my case. My unexpected expensive consequence is the "bribe vacation." I'm going to take the wife and girls to Maui in 2023 so as to gather enough goodwill to go back to Africa in 2024.

I will also return after that. I will come back to bring my family to a photographic safari in the future. And I'm sure I'll return yet again with my brother to pursue other African game that we may have overlooked on our first two trips.

Once Africa is in your blood, it never leaves...

 

[Ngonyama]

Welcome and thank you for sharing your story .I think your daughters are in safe hands

 

[Albm12737]

Welcome to the forum

 

[PARA45]

My deepest condolences on the loss of your mom. Thank you for taking us along such a fantastic trip. Glad you had a wonderful time bonding with your dad, those moments are priceless.

Do you have any pictures of your trophies? How about posting them.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Good story, sorry about your mom. Glad you found AH and the joys of hunting.

 

[Hemingway's Karl]

Pursuant to requests, I've attached some photos from my hunts. Due to potential PR issues and the unpredictability of the internet these days, I have marked out my face for anonymity purposes (my apologies, but it's a crazy internet world out there).

 

[kdenn]

Thanks for sharing your story. Congratulations on your success. Condolences for your loss.

 

[Nyati]

Sorry for your loss, Karl, and welcome to the forum.

Congrats for a very successful hunt, full of strong emotions .

 

[VertigoBE]

Waidmannsheil @Hemingway's Karl on some excellent animals and very exciting storytelling!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your exploits and your emotions while you remembered your late mother. Hunting is an excellent activity for bonding. I hope we get to read about your second African safari, in a not so distant future.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

 

[gcbailey]

Wow, there's a lot in this story. I am sorry about your mother's passing but also very happy that you got to spend such an incredible time with your dad. Beautiful animals you took as well!

 

[Frederik]

Welcome great report and sorry for your family's loss of your mother.
Do you mind posting a picture of the bushbuck.

 

[AZDAVE]

Welcome to AH, and yes this is the audience that will appreciate and enjoy every word you put to paper.(Along will all the sights smell and sounds of the bushveld that you can't describe but only experience) So very sorry for the loss of your mom. The time spent with your dad and brother is priceless!!!! Thank you for sharing your adventure.

 

[Hemingway's Karl]

Welcome great report and sorry for your family's loss of your mother.
Do you mind posting a picture of the bushbuck.

Sure thing, I've added pictures of the barking bushbuck and my kudu.

 

[Rickmt]

Sorry about your mother. Great hunt! Thanx for sharing your time in Africa.

 

[Randy F]

Welcome aboard!

Very sorry to hear of your mother’s passing. My condolences.

Congratulations on a fantastic hunt! Very well written with great photos. Loved it! Thank you for taking us there.

 

[fourfive8]

Great story, thanks for sharing! Green Hills of Africa- a place and time of dreams