NAMIBIA: A New Lodge For KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS Of Namibia

[Velo Dog]

Greetings Fellow Hunters, Fishers and Global Wanderers,

Myself and Mrs. Velo Dog just returned from our hunting and fishing safari, including a 1,000 kilometer Namibian road trip, with @KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS.
Fellow forum member 1dirthawker (Don Hunley) joined us for part of this grand time with Khomas Safaris.

It was epic and I soon will post detailed narratives (in segments), as well as more photos and videos.
Although so far, my attempts at posting videos have been almost always stymied, admittedly by my lack of computer skills.

Have to bounce now due to many overdue errands here at home.
But my report will resume very soon.

Cheers,
Paul & Kelley
(Mr. & Mrs. Velo Dog).

 

[flatwater bill]

Eagerly await your detailed report, Paul..............FW Bill

 

[Velo Dog]

Thanks Bill, I’m soon to get my keyboard smoking.

 

[Mountaineer]

Congratulations, looks like you had success. I was Phillips first client to hunt from the new lodge. I’ll get a report out soon also.

 

[gillettehunter]

Nice pics to whet our appetite. Looking forward to details. Thanks for posting!
Bruce

 

[Tra3]

That is a big shark! Looks over 100 lbs.

I’m also awaiting your report!

 

[RR 314]

Awesome. Land based shark fishing is a blast!

 

[AZDAVE]

Always look forward to the reports of your adventures.

 

[CM McKenzie]

Looking forward to hearing about it!

 

[PARA45]

Oh my, anxiously waiting for the details of this report. Note to self, not to go swimming in salt or fresh water in Namibia. LOL!!!!!

 

[Sideshow]

Ohoo skeleton coast fishing neat can’t wait.

 

[Rare Breed]

Greetings Fellow Hunters, Fishers and Global Wanderers,

Myself and Mrs. Velo Dog just returned from our hunting and fishing safari, including a 1,000 kilometer Namibian road trip, with @KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS.
Fellow forum member 1dirthawker (Don Hunley) joined us for part of this grand time with Khomas Safaris.

It was epic and I soon will post detailed narratives (in segments), as well as more photos and videos.
Although so far, my attempts at posting videos have been almost always stymied, admittedly by my lack of computer skills.

Have to bounce now due to many overdue errands here at home.
But my report will resume very soon.

Cheers,
Paul & Kelley
(Mr. & Mrs. Velo Dog).

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WOW!!! Simply outstanding!!!

 

[MarkCZ]

Wow, I am very excited. Myself and 6 pals are wheels up on the 31st May headed to Philip,s at Khomas.
I think we will be shark fishing that looks great. I will be hunting with my bow and it will be my first bow hunt.
Markcz

 

[Velo Dog]

Hello again to each and every one,

I begin with an apology and the correction of my previous error.
Awhile back, I had been telling folks that Khomas Safaris owned 437,000 acres.
However, during this, my most recent visit, I learned that the original Hennings family place was (still is) approximately 20,000 acres.
And, the new place (about 10 miles or
15 kilometers away) is also approximately 20,000 acres.

Indeed they had access to 437,000 acres of huntable land.
And now, according to PH, Juan, they have access to about 500,000 acres.
According to Google, that is well more than 700 square miles.

Anyway, Philip has been busy with running a remodeling crew at the new place.
The new lodge and land is collectively known as “Aub”.
Again, it sets on approximately 20,000 acres.
It’s hilly but not steep.
It has water holding dams and deep bore holes (water wells).
It is mostly covered with grass and trees.
Due to the amount of rainfall there, and year around surface water, it is not technically a desert.

Below are a few pics of the new property.
And as soon as I can, I will be posting more narrative and photos as well.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[Velo Dog]

Day #1:
Sight in the rifles.
As previously mentioned, fellow forum member 1dirthawker (Don Hunley) joined myself and my wife for part of this hunting and fishing trip to Namibia.

My wife has no complaint against hunting but, does not care to shoot critters her own self.
Anyway, Don and myself chose to rent rifles from Khomas Safaris instead of bringing our own.
He was issued a Mauser Model 03, in caliber .338 Winchester and hand loads with 225 grain Woodleigh soft nose bullets (I believe they were Woodleigh’s “Protected Point” bullet aka: their “P.P.” Bullet).
I’m not 100% on this but the P.P. bullet is what they appeared to be.
The .338 had a sound suppressor installed and I didn’t notice the specific scope brand or model.
But at a glance, it looked Austro-German.

I was issued a well made,
vintage and properly fitted, Model ‘98 Mauser, in caliber .375 H&H, no suppressor.
It had a Schmidt & Bender 1.5 to 6x scope installed on it.
The cartridges were Norma factory loaded with their “Oryx” model of soft nose bullet, @ 300 grains.

We zeroed the rifles at 200 meters on paper targets.
But there is a steel gong in place there as well and I’ve always loved reactive targets such as that.
Both rifles proved quite accurate.

More to follow.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[Velo Dog]

Two Eland in The Salt

And so it came to pass that, Don went out ahunting with PH “Adab” and Tracker “Erik”.
And, I did so in the company of two PH’s, “Isaak” and “Juan”.
I have hunted with Isaak on previous Safaris and he is A+ for sure.
I like Isaak very much and would happily hunt with him for the rest of my days.

I had only just met Juan but he was highly recommended by forum member and good friend, Mekaniks (Chuck Wendt).
No surprise but Juan also turned out to be an A+ PH and general good person.

I don’t really know why I ended up with two PH’s.
Maybe it means I am such a good hunter that I need twice as many PH’s as “normal” hunters do.
But perhaps more likely, it means I’m such a bad hunter that I need twice as much supervision.

Humor aside, I suspect it was just that there was an extra PH in camp who decided to tag along.
As such Juan, although a tip top PH himself, volunteered to act as tracker for Isaak and myself.
Whatever the cause for me having two PH’s, it certainly was productive, that is for sure.

It used to be that Khomas Safaris transported clients to a place, way down in the Kalahari for eland Hunting.
But this new land where the new lodge called “Aub” is being renovated, evidently has quite a few eland on it, among other species.
It certainly is excellent habitat for game animals, (as well as pleasing to look at).

During the morning of the first full day of hunting, Don shot a good eland bull, with the .338 and a 225 grain Woodleigh bullet, as his critter was facing him.
I may have some of the details askew so, please refer to his ( 1dirthawker ) hunt report.

His PH (Adab) or maybe it was his tracker (Erik), relayed the good news to my guys.
Then, some time later we all got together for congratulations and such.
After the stories and hearty hand shakes subsided a bit, Isaak and Juan once again, took me wandering through the bush, general direction of some eland bulls, last seen 2 or 3 hours ago.

Don went with us.
Himself being a bear and moose guide in Alaska, plus an avid bowhunter and rifle hunter as well, he stayed well back as the spoor became more and more fresh.

This new 20,000 acres is not just beautiful but it is also hilly and in this particular area of the property, covered with thick thorn bush - thorn forest.
Nonetheless, game trails spider web throughout and we (Juan and Isaak, no credit to me really) were able to track these elands for several kilometers / several miles.

I’m getting old at 71 now but, the thrill of following fresh spoor kept me going and I stayed right on Isaak’s heels.
We had watered up well before setting out. And so, over hill and dale we walked and walked and walked and walked, then we walked some more.

Suddenly Isaak froze in his own tracks and simultaneously he set the sticks.
While quickly settling the .375 into place, several mature eland bulls began to materialize (well, a hoof here, a horn there, a dewlap somewhere in the thorns, etc.)
But a split second before I could pinch off a shot, they bolted.

However then, one just as suddenly stopped again to look back at us and he had halted ending up almost broadside at that.
Although only about 30 or so paces from my rifle, much of him was concealed by thick foliage.
His left shoulder was however clear of obstruction.

Quickly, I put crosswires on his left shoulder and pressed off a hurried shot.
Just as I fired, my bull spun hard to his right.
This resulted in my 300 grain Norma “Oryx” bullet striking him high up, just behind his last rib, on his right side.
He instantly dropped to the shot, in a satisfying cloud of dust.

Being as he was slightly down hill from me, my bullet had crossed him, through the heart-lung chamber.
The “mushroomed” bullet was recovered in this eland’s left shoulder, by the camp butcher.
I scrubbed it in camp and preserved it in a small plastic pill bottle full of liquid soap.
And, I had placed it into our checked luggage but, I do not recall which suitcase exactly.
So far, I have not found it.
If and when I do find it, being as I am an enthusiastic bullet digger, indeed I will post pictures if it.

There was much celebrating around the fire on the evening of this the first hunting day.

More to follow …….

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[375er]

Two Eland in The Salt

And so it came to pass that, Don went out ahunting with PH “Adab” and Tracker “Erik”.
And, I did so in the company of two PH’s, “Isaak” and “Juan”.
I have hunted with Isaak on previous Safaris and he is A+ for sure.
I like Isaak very much and would happily hunt with him for the rest of my days.

I had only just met Juan but he was highly recommended by forum member and good friend, Mekaniks (Chuck Wendt).
No surprise but Juan also turned out to be an A+ PH and general good person.

I don’t really know why I ended up with two PH’s.
Maybe it means I am such a good hunter that I need twice as many PH’s as “normal” hunters do.
But perhaps more likely, it means I’m such a bad hunter that I need twice as much supervision.

Humor aside, I suspect it was just that there was an extra PH in camp who decided to tag along.
As such Juan, although a tip top PH himself, volunteered to act as tracker for Isaak and myself.
Whatever the cause for me having two PH’s, it certainly was productive, that is for sure.

It used to be that Khomas Safaris transported clients to a place, way down in the Kalahari for eland Hunting.
But this new land where the new lodge called “Aub” is being renovated, evidently has quite a few eland on it, among other species.
It certainly is excellent habitat for game animals, (as well as pleasing to look at).

During the morning of the first full day of hunting, Don shot a good eland bull, with the .338 and a 225 grain Woodleigh bullet, as his critter was facing him.
I may have some of the details askew so, please refer to his ( 1dirthawker ) hunt report.

His PH (Adab) or maybe it was his tracker (Erik), relayed the good news to my guys.
Then, some time later we all got together for congratulations and such.
After the stories and hearty hand shakes subsided a bit, Isaak and Juan once again, took me wandering through the bush, general direction of some eland bulls, last seen 2 or 3 hours ago.

Don went with us.
Himself being a bear and moose guide in Alaska, plus an avid bowhunter and rifle hunter as well, he stayed well back as the spoor became more and more fresh.

This new 20,000 acres is not just beautiful but it is also hilly and in this particular area of the property, covered with thick thorn bush - thorn forest.
Nonetheless, game trails spider web throughout and we (Juan and Isaak, no credit to me really) were able to track these elands for several kilometers / several miles.

I’m getting old at 71 now but, the thrill of following fresh spoor kept me going and I stayed right on Isaak’s heels.
We had watered up well before setting out. And so, over hill and dale we walked and walked and walked and walked, then we walked some more.

Suddenly Isaak froze in his own tracks and simultaneously he set the sticks.
While quickly settling the .375 into place, several mature eland bulls began to materialize (well, a hoof here, a horn there, a dewlap somewhere in the thorns, etc.)
But a split second before I could pinch off a shot, they bolted.

However then, one just as suddenly stopped again to look back at us and he had halted ending up almost broadside at that.
Although only about 30 or so paces from my rifle, much of him was concealed by thick foliage.
His left shoulder was however clear of obstruction.

Quickly, I put crosswires on his left shoulder and pressed off a hurried shot.
Just as I fired, my bull spun hard to his right.
This resulted in my 300 grain Norma “Oryx” bullet striking him high up, just behind his last rib, on his right side.
He instantly dropped to the shot, in a satisfying cloud of dust.

Being as he was slightly down hill from me, my bullet had crossed him, through the heart-lung chamber.
The “mushroomed” bullet was recovered in this eland’s left shoulder, by the camp butcher.
I scrubbed it in camp and preserved it in a small plastic pill bottle full of liquid soap.
And, I had placed it into our checked luggage but, I do not recall which suitcase exactly.
So far, I have not found it.
If and when I do find it, being as I am an enthusiastic bullet digger, indeed I will post pictures if it.

There was much celebrating around the fire on the evening of this the first hunting day.

More to follow …….

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

Very nice Eland gentlemen! Paul you were spoiled hunting with Isaak and Juan. They are both top notch professionals!!

 

[Mekaniks]

This is awesome. Congratulations gentlemen! Can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[Nyati]

Great so far Paul, waiting for the rest

 

[Velo Dog]

.375 MAGNUM vs THE SPRINGBOK

I failed to write down the date that I shot a springbok on this, my first visit to the new Aub Lodge.
But it might have been only one or two days after the eland ?
Whatever day it was, truly it wasn’t long after Don (1dirthawker) and myself each shot elands on the same day.

Anyway regarding said springbok, on this particular day, I don’t recall what Don and his PH, Tracker, etc. were up to.
But, you can be sure they were out doing something, not just sitting idle.

Anyway myself, my wife (Kelley), PH Isaac, PH Juan and our always smiling Driver (Moses) were just out wandering the bush, casually looking for whatever might be found.
We had no particular species in mind.

Sometimes we stopped on this hill or that ridge, climbed off the bakkie (pickup truck) and tiptoed quietly into concealment among rock outcroppings, bush thickets or just in the shade of a low thorn tree, overlooking some more open ground below.
There we would quietly glass for our potential quarry.
Sometimes, Kelley would stay with the truck.
Other times, she would walk softly with us to whatever vantage point and enjoy the animal watching right along with us, via her own binoculars.

Sometimes, we would soon move on.
Other times, when we were seeing a lot of animals, we would linger for a longer time.
This, while Isaac and Juan carefully assessed the animals below.
These quiet glassing sessions I have always enjoyed very much.

Eventually, after half or more of the day was spent, without really finding any worthy target for the salt, the guys decided to change tactics.
So, we rolled down to one of the more flat areas, where a good number of animals had been seen from our earlier glassing efforts.
And there we went walking.
Kelley elected to stay with the vehicle, under a shade tree.

We had walked only perhaps 1.5 or 2 kilometers / only about a mile or a bit more when our pace slowed.
Ahead of us through the thorns, I could see animals grazing, in an open area.
We hunkered down in the shadows, watching the animals (mostly black wildebeest) grazing undisturbed.

Within only about 2 or 3 minutes what turned out to be a very good springbok ram walked out from shade, into the sunlight, directly across the wide open ground from our location, perhaps 350 to 400 meters.
And he was making his way directly toward us.
Juan, myself and Isaac very slowly stood upwright and equally sloth-slow, Isaac set the sticks.
Juan whispered “wait”.
I waited.

Eventually this ram noticed something about the foliage and shade we were lurking in and abruptly stopped to give us that well known to hunters, “the disapproving stare”.
By now, he was only about 250 meters and my scope crosswires were on his throat as he stopped.
Not sure if it was Juan or Isaac who whispered “yes shoot”.
But indeed I followed the instruction and touched off my shot.

My bullet struck the ram’s throat, dropping him as if brainshot.
It blew out a fist size exit hole from the back of his neck, almost but not quite centered, more just a tic to his right.
Upon exiting the neck, this bullet streaked along the otherwise beautiful tall hair on it’s back, leaving a furrow, down to the skin.

One of the guys went back to fetch the bakkie.
Kelley was enamored with this animal’s pelt, bullet streak and all.
So, she asked to have it tanned.
I do not know (or care) what this animal might measure but the pictures attached below say everything I might think of to say about the horns.

I love this new piece of ground called “Aub”, that Khomas Safaris has added to their holdings and now having the buildings seriously remodeled as well.
I’ve posted more pictures here of this land and I will post more with subsequent posts.

Also, I apologize for long gaps between my posts here.
I’ll try to pick up the pace a bit.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

More to follow…….