NAMIBIA: Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris 6/2017

[Velo Dog]

Good luck, I'm looking forward to the report. Safe travels.

+1

 

[vancewalker007]

It's almost here!

My buddy and I fly out of SLC, bound for Namibia, on Saturday! Can't wait. We're going to be hunting with Philip Hennings of Khomas Highland Safaris.

I chose Philip for several reasons:

• I liked our initial interactions by email. I can tell he's a fun guy and willing to make my trophy priorities his priority.
• He has a huge conservancy to hunt with excellent trophy quality and I'm confident he can put me on great animals.
• His prices are competitive and very fair
• Free range. I have not experienced this yet in my African adventures and can't wait to hunt in this way.

My friend is an Africa Safari Virgin (ASV) but this will be my 4th trip and 1st time to Namibia. This will also be my first time hunting with a rifle as the predominant hunting tool. We're still bringing our bows to try out some new nocks and broadheads on cull animals and I think I might be as excited about that as the rest!

On the hit list:

Kudu- they're in the rut!
Oryx
Springbok (2 of these)
Steenbok
Mountain Zebra
Warthog

If I get that done, I'll hunt culls (open to what comes in) with my bow and maybe take a trophy red hartebeest and black wildebeest.

Every trip up until now has been out of a blind, with limited walk and stalk, so I'm really looking forward to capturing some more Africa memories from this new, in the bush, perspective!

I'll continue this thread when I get home. Won't be as long and... yawn.... drawn out as my last one, so hopefully you will find it entertaining and informative on Philip's operation.

To whet our appetites, here's a few of my favorite animals from my previous trips:

32 inch waterbuck. Super heavy with not much curl but it makes him look TALL. Took him over a waterhole: 40 yard shot.
View attachment 188093

First warthog. Fell in love. I think he's in the 14" range... 50 yard shot over pond.
View attachment 188094
Second eland- first to recover. 30 yard shot.
View attachment 188095
First animal taken previous 3 safaris.... not this time!
View attachment 188096
59 1/2" kudu. 30 yard shot. Low- he was dead but it was going to take some time. With hours of tracking, a helicopter, and a rifle, we finally got him on the ground. Easily my favorite Africa trophy so far.
View attachment 188097
Nyala: sub 20 yard shot. Not my favorite hunt but nyala are gorgeous. This bull taped 27.5"
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Afterthought pig.... came on him while stalking wounded kudu. Super ugly and awesome. Shot with Rifle.
View attachment 188099
2 more big pigs. LOVE warthogs. Both shot over same water hole within 2 hours of each other. 20 yard shots.
View attachment 188100

Wow you have taken some great trophies, that Kudu is real monster compared to what most folks are taking these days.

 

[CEO]

Love that waterbuck. Good luck on the upcoming trip.

 

[akeate]

Highland Utah. I'm in South Jordan. Headed out in July to the Kalahari. Enjoy Nambia. Your trophies are fantastic

 

[TOM]

What archery stuff are you testing? Different broadhead?

 

[50by50]

Highland Utah. I'm in South Jordan. Headed out in July to the Kalahari. Enjoy Nambia. Your trophies are fantastic

Yes!- you're just around the corner. Good luck in July!!

 

[50by50]

What archery stuff are you testing? Different broadhead?

Hey Tom- yep, two broadheads and a type of lighted nock. And a cool GoPro attachment on the bow.

 

[50by50]

Wow you have taken some great trophies, that Kudu is real monster compared to what most folks are taking these days.

Hey Vance- thanks man! The guy that owned the land we were hunting didn't know he was there! His face was a study when we pulled up to the ranch house with him in the back. Pretty funny. He told me if he'd known, he would have darted and sold it. Feels good to get lucky sometimes!

 

[50by50]

Love that waterbuck. Good luck on the upcoming trip.

Thanks CEO! And your name and profile pic are awesome

 

[dory]

Namibia !!!
You will love it .
Im not jealous , really .
Good luck .

 

[Wheels]

Congratulations on some impressive animals!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[ack]

Good luck and can't wait to read your report! It's going to be hard to top your 59-1/2" kudu.....

I'll be hunting with Philip in November...a long time to wait!

Anxious to here back..Wife n I are planning them next June.

 

[50by50]

Boarding our flight- excited to give you a report when we get home!

 

[GA Hunter]

This trip is also high on my list. Good luck!!

 

[50by50]

Drama! Qatar airways pulled our bags and us off the flight. Said I didn't have the proper documentation for the rifle and if I got it they would fly us out tomorrow night! They were a bit abrupt and I took offense and said some things I shouldn't have and they ripped up our tickets and said we were black listed from flying with them!

I cooled off and apologized to the manager I'd called some things to and the dude not only accepted the apology, he got me the documentation and spent an hour figuring out how to get us and all our gear to Windhoek at the same planned time! I'm still in shock... I was pretty aggressive and when I apologized I wasn't expecting him to accept it, let alone help us out. Good dude.

So sitting in a new plane and a different airline waiting to take off!

Namibia here we come!

 

[cpr0312]

Drama! Qatar airways pulled our bags and us off the flight. Said I didn't have the proper documentation for the rifle and if I got it they would fly us out tomorrow night! They were a bit abrupt and I took offense and said some things I shouldn't have and they ripped up our tickets and said we were black listed from flying with them!

I cooled off and apologized to the manager I'd called some things to and the dude not only accepted the apology, he got me the documentation and spent an hour figuring out how to get us and all our gear to Windhoek at the same planned time! I'm still in shock... I was pretty aggressive and when I apologized I wasn't expecting him to accept it, let alone help us out. Good dude.

So sitting in a new plane and a different airline waiting to take off!

Namibia here we come!

WOW! At least things worked out and your still on your way! Best of luck on the rest of the trip

 

[dory]

That could of been a bloody disaster!!
A bit like me getting arrested in Australia for poping out for a quick fag .
I was classed as an illegal immigrant .
I know the stress you went through .
Hope the rest of your trip goes better .
They will welcome you with open arms when you get to Namibia !

 

[Lrntolive]

This is one reason I don't fly with firearms. Too much hassle. Glad you got out and hopefully, no more drama.

 

[50by50]

Thanks guys- yes, I'm seeing the wisdom of renting rifles from the outfitter Lrntolive. We're currently in Ammon Jordan- right next to Jerusalem. To make it to Namibia on the same timeframe, they flew us here, next to Doha, Qatar, and finally on to Namibia.

For those planning a trip to hunt with Philip- it might make sense to rent rifles or cough up the extra cash to fly threw Johannesburg.

When we arrived to Jordan, security was waiting for us at the gate and we were escorted to a tiny room in the basement of the airport and 12 guys came in and inspected our rifles, spotting scopes, binoculars, range finders, bullets and bows for close to 2 hours.

As we were heading down, my buddy Jake whispered: "matt- try to keep it together. If you freak out with these guys it won't be pretty". I had to agree- this was definitely not the situation for aggressive matt. We got a chuckle about thinking what would happen.

There was lots of arguing and conversations going on that we couldn't understand but it appeared a few weren't comfortable. Finally I pulled out my phone and started showing them pictures of animals I'd taken with the bow and as they were passing the phone around, one sympathetic agent whispered "this is going to help".

Sure enough- within 20 minutes, we were on our way.

On to Qatar!

 

[Lrntolive]

Yes. When we traveled on our hunt with Otjandaue, we flew British Airways from Denver. Our bows and bags were checked all the way to Windhoek. No issues. We stopped in London for 8 hours, grabbed pints, fish and chips and saw the sights. Then to Joburg and Windhoek.

No inspections with our bows.

I will say that one poor guy traveling through Joburg had his bow stopped at SAPS, because I thought it was my bow case at first. Turned out he was hunting with Nick Nolte down the road. He landed in Windhoek, but his bow never made it. I don't know if he got it delivered or not.