Brad Matteo
AH member
Just returned from my first trip to rsa. First off, wow words can't describe how beautiful africa is. The sun sets take your breath away. I thought I would share some of the highlights and lowlights of the trip.
1 The plane ride from Newark to joburg sucks, there's really no other way to describe it. I tried to sleep as much as possible but it's a long ride, 15 hours.
2 Be early to your connecting flight in joburg, they will leave without you. Ask me how I know
3 This is a big one, chapstick!! Bring several.
4 Barnes TTSX bullets are simply amazing. We used them in a 300wsm and a 375h&h. Never recovered a bullet due to total penetration on all animals.
5 Plains game animals are tough. Do not expect them to bang flop. I took a waterbuck at 180yds, after a 3.5hour wait for a shot, through the vitals and it went 150yds before succumbing to the shot.
6 Take some time to enjoy everything around you. After all, your in africa.
7 Put your phone on silent, we were stalking a Gemsbuck and papa roach started playing. That is my alarm to wake up back home.
8 Make a list of the animals you want to take but leave a few blank spaces. I wanted a zebra untill I saw them and changed my mind to another animal.
9 Make memories. I hunted with my dad who is 73. This was our first out of state hunt together. I have 9 hunting stories that I will never forget.
10 Bring enough gun. We wanted to use a 6.5cm but once we saw the size of them we decided that the 300wsm was the perfect choice. Not that the 6.5 wouldn't have done the job but we thought that more gun was needed.
1 The plane ride from Newark to joburg sucks, there's really no other way to describe it. I tried to sleep as much as possible but it's a long ride, 15 hours.
2 Be early to your connecting flight in joburg, they will leave without you. Ask me how I know
3 This is a big one, chapstick!! Bring several.
4 Barnes TTSX bullets are simply amazing. We used them in a 300wsm and a 375h&h. Never recovered a bullet due to total penetration on all animals.
5 Plains game animals are tough. Do not expect them to bang flop. I took a waterbuck at 180yds, after a 3.5hour wait for a shot, through the vitals and it went 150yds before succumbing to the shot.
6 Take some time to enjoy everything around you. After all, your in africa.
7 Put your phone on silent, we were stalking a Gemsbuck and papa roach started playing. That is my alarm to wake up back home.
8 Make a list of the animals you want to take but leave a few blank spaces. I wanted a zebra untill I saw them and changed my mind to another animal.
9 Make memories. I hunted with my dad who is 73. This was our first out of state hunt together. I have 9 hunting stories that I will never forget.
10 Bring enough gun. We wanted to use a 6.5cm but once we saw the size of them we decided that the 300wsm was the perfect choice. Not that the 6.5 wouldn't have done the job but we thought that more gun was needed.
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