NAMIBIA: Just Back From Namib with Jamy Traut Safaris - Wow What a Great Time

Great, this is like having to put a great novel down when your ready to finish it, this is awesome, thanks for writing this

 

We ll wait Cliffy, we see you re still on african time :laughing:

 

Oh your a mean, mean person shame on you rest of the story and pics please.

 

Looked at those coordinates; Kgalagadi Transfrontier Reserve as the backyard (within 12km) No wonder all those Gemsbok are running around.

Good interpretation and pickup on that Pre-baited Lion!

Look forward to those pictures!

 

Actually no lion hunters on schedule they just wanted to keep track of them while our party was there. The lions did kill the first gemsbuck on their own. One of the males and one of the females had radio tracking collars but alas neither was working according to our tracking radio and antenna. BTW If you shoot a lion with a collar (working or not), it's another $40,000 USD fee. They wandered off northeast on the 3rd day never to be seen again by us. More on other lions later.
More coming, just don't have time right now.
Can anyone give me a clue how I put pictures in the last time. Obviously I'm not a computer nerd.

 

View attachment 10784
Just checking to see if the picture came up

 

Just teasing Cliffy.
I figured they are "Studied Lions"

It would be nice to see Lions like that one way or the other. A full belly makes sure they don't really want to chase you.

We'll all just have to wait.

 

I can't see this one but....

PICTURES

The "insert image" icon at the top of the quick reply. Looks like you tried the attachment.


The other method is upload to your Gallery with this link.

Hunting - Hunting, Bowhunting, Fishing, Photos and Videos



If you can get them onto the site we can enlist Jerome's assistance in finishing off the process.

 

Trying again

 

There we go.

That belly does not look bloated or distended enough not to be willing to eat you.

Thanks.

 

Nice looking lion. Looks to be on the younger side still. But deff a dark main. Ok I am ready for some more reading......I really hope this isnt a 21 day safari!

 

I just have a question. Do you have to have a letter invitation to hunt in Namibia if not going through RSA? My agent hasn't mention it. Also can't wait for pica. Be in Namibia in May. Lenny

 

YES. Get the Outfitter to send one. Helpful for filling out that firearms permit at the airport too.

 

Oh he just got added to my wish list. Someday love those manes I can see a full body mount happening here.

 

Looking For Gemsbuck

As we leave the lions behind and head down the road we're looking for gemsbuck. My partner wants one as he didn't get one last time. BTW, it's a little harder for him as he is somewhat older than me and not as mobile, can't hike too well. Finding them is NO problem. They are everywhere we look. Ones, twos, flocks, herds, hundreds. If you look on Google Earth and find the big dry pan up north of the camp you can imagine anywhere from 100 to 500 gemsbuck on that pan every day. just that pan, not counting the hundreds in the surrounding sand dunes. We saw maybe 3-400 of them filing into the pan one day from a dune top about 2 miles away. Now finding a good one that my partner could get up on on foot is another story. Jamy did find a group of 30 or so that we could sneak up on behind a dune and Bruce (my partner) belly crawled in the sand for 50 yds and got a good shot off at about 200 yds. The animal dropped in about 50 yds. Turned out to be over 39 inches and big bases. In the Kalihari there are more gemsbuck than I've seen. like I said, hundreds and hundreds seen every day along with springbok. Try sneaking up on 400 eyeballs and see how hard it is not to be seen by 2. Red heartebeest were there but not by the hundreds and elan were there also but hard to find as elan generally are tough to hunt anyway.
Back to camp for the evening meal. The chef did a fantastic job every day. Very nice breakfast (eggs most mornings), lunch was a full blown affair with a well designed hot meal and cold drinks. Dinner of course was outstanding. This time we had a special request for a particular wine that my wife and I had last year and Jamy went way out of his way to find it stock up on 4 bottles for us. Very much appreciated.


Next on the List-Eland

As I had picked up a great eland in Zimbabwe 15 yrs ago I didn't want another but Bruce had one high on his list this year. Of course when you want one they aren't around. We look and look the next day and can't even find fresh tracks. Miles and miles of driving and glassing from every high point-nothing! Jamy says he likes hunting them because they are difficult. Difficult, how about gone, vanished, poof, disappeared. All day long it goes until just before sunset we round a hill and there just 100 yds away are 7 big bulls. Jamy and Bruce pile out and start a sneak, the sticks go up and then nothing happens. They are looking into the setting sun but still, 100 yds and no shot fired. I can see Bruce struggling with his lineup. The time ticks away. I want to yell- SHOOT DAMN IT! Finally I see the bulls getting restless and away they go. And you know how eland go-forever. They get back to the truck and it turnout Bruce couldn't see them looking toward the sun. Oh well, that's hunting. Back to camp for another great meal, a shower and to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

The clock rings, we're up and go to feed our face. It's hell being catered too.
Off we go, past the lions again

And past the giraffes

And off to find eland again. We drive and we drive and we drive and still no eland or even tracks. We wind up right at the South African border, looking over the small fence into that country. Just more of the same. We get to a fairly good sized hill. We stop and climb it and out pops a big Steenbuck. I have the rifle up and Jamy says take it-BOOM! It's down. Of course a 30/06 at less than 50 yds has the desired effect on something that size.

At just over 5 inches it's seems to be a very big steenbok. Bigger than my other 2 by a big margin.
Lunch time and the need to get the steenbok back to the skinning shed makes us head in. More good food. This is getting to be monotonous.

Out After Lunch and a Siesta for More Eland Fun

Back to the "back fourty" so to speak, only it's 12 miles away. We check out an area even Jamy hasn't been to yet For you Google Earth folks 25 26.82S 19 57.18E. Now we find springbuck by the hundreds along with hundreds of gemsbuck all in the same small area of maybe 500 acres. You can't count the number of animals but again NO ELAND TRACKS! BUT we do find something else, more lion tracks. Seems there's another big boy and a female around in this area following this big herd of animals. Didn't see them but the tracks told the story. Now we're traveling north again and Jamy and the tracker (Peter) think they want to check out a hill top more than half a mile away across the brush so we stop in the shade and those two take off at a brisk walk and we see them several minutes later on the hill glassing. All of a sudden they duck down and start heading our way. The have seen something! When they get back Jamy says they have found the previous days herd of eland bulls but they are a mile away and Bruce can't walk that far. So a plan is made to see if we can drive to with in a half mile and maybe Bruce can go slow and make it that far. We wind up in a depression in the dunes and Bruce, me, jamy and Peter all pile out for the stalk. Jamy has it all figured out up to about 300 yds (which is from one dune to the next). We very quietly sneak up to the bottom of the sand dune we want to shoot from and then we get to "swim the red sands of the Kalihari" to slither up to the top of the dune for a shot. Jamy sets the rifle up for Bruce so he knows exactly which eland Jamy wants to shoot and Bruce gets into a prone position and lines everything up. Bruce is shooting a .308 so 300 yds is a long shot on an eland wit that caliber. It has to be a good shot first time out. The eland is sleeping under a tree as Bruce squeezes the trigger. Boom goes the rifle and thump goes the bullet as it strikes home. A good shot it was. We did have to track the eland a ways and it took a couple of finishers to put it down for good but Bruce got his eland. It is an old one, on the down hill side of life with broomed horns and losing weight (1600 lbs) so it was a good one to take.


Now how do you get a 1600 lb animal in the back of the lorry?

Back to camp for ANOTHER excellent meal and drinks all around at the boma.

Now with the eland and gemsbuck in the salt we will head out for Panorama in the morning as the lapa has been reroofed (managed by Jamy's wife Rencha).
But that's another story for later TTFN

 

BTW, everybody knows to click on the thumb nail pictures to get an expanded view, right?
The giraffes were looking very closely at the lions 100 yds away when I took the picture

 

I'll throw in a few more pictures here



A view inside the chalet at Kalihari Camp


Can't get enough of these



Notice the mouth is open?


Here's the dinning room at Kalahari Camp

 

So far so good! That is an impressive steenbok. The lions are great! Really dark manes as well. Ready for more......

 

Ok Cliffy its getting better now, Your doing great.

 

Good stuff! Looks like Jamy has gained a few grey hairs since last I saw him.