NAMIBIA: KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS - Here We Come!

[Mekaniks]

Khomas Highlands day 1.5-

We started out the morning with several coffees and a good breakfast.

We visited a new neighboring ranch that Phillip just purchased. They are still working on the lodge and support buildings. It looks like it’s going to be a great sister lodge to his existing Housis River Lodge.

Issac and I put an hour stalk on a huge red hartebeest. It turned out to be a monster female so we let her go.
It was a good morning trek through the brush. Issac just going for a casual morning walk and me stubbling over rocks, tearing my arm open on thorns trees, beating off the flys, trying to keep up with him .

We are back at the Housis River lodge for lunch….

 

[375er]

Khomas Highlands day 1.5-

We started out the morning with several coffees and a good breakfast.

We visited a new neighboring ranch that Phillip just purchased. They are still working on the lodge and support buildings. It looks like it’s going to be a great sister lodge to his existing Housis River Lodge.

Issac and I put an hour stalk on a huge red hartebeest. It turned out to be a monster female so we let her go.
It was a good morning trek through the brush. Issac just going for a casual morning walk and me stubbling over rocks, tearing my arm open on thorns trees, beating off the flys, trying to keep up with him .

We are back at the Housis River lodge for lunch….

View attachment 535083

I know the experience well! I think Isaak has legs about as long as I am tall!!

 

[CamoManJ]

I’m watching this hunt report as it unfolds, good luck!

 

[MarkCZ]

Make sure you leave some animals for us , we are booked in for June 2024. Are any of your party bow hunting?
Markcz

 

[Mekaniks]

Komas Highlands day 2-

After chasing red hartebeest this morning we had a great lunch owith Blue Wildbeest steaks.
After lunch we headed back to Phillips new ranch in the general area we were in the morning but on the other side of the ranch and mor in the mountainss
After about an hour Isaac and Juan spotted a group of Gemsbok up on the ridge. Off Iccac and I go, around the mountian, up the ridge.
Issac got us into perfect position about 200 yards away from the herd and picked out the dominate bull. The sticks went up… And I MISSEd! Yup A couple whiff over its back….!
The gemsbok start moving up the hill. We move the sticks over and I get the gun back on them but no shot. I stop and look and the gun is on the sticks exactly like it was the first shot.
With the barrel resting on the front sticks… not the stock…. DUH!! Won’t make that mistake again….

Oh well it happens. So off we go following them up over the next mountain until after sunset. We never got another opportunity but didn’t give up.
Issac and I ended up coming down the mountain in the dark. Walking in Africa in bush in the dark is adventure all to itself

Back to the lodge for a great dinner with Oryx pin wheels and lots of wine.
We capped off the night with everyone doing “springbok” shots Amarillo and peppermint liqueur….

 

[Mekaniks]

Khomas Highlands day 2.5-

We were back to the same property this morning that we hunting yesterday afternoon but came in the the opposite side.
Today Issak is driving and Shorty spotting in the back with us. Juan and Vicky had something else going today.
Lydia and Sara are proving their worth. They have better eyes than me.
Not better eyes than Shorty and Issak by any means, but they definitely see critters before I do.
Lots and lots of Gemsbok this morning but all females and little ones. No mature shooters. Still lots and lots more ground to cover.
This place is huge!
There are two other groups here hunting and we have not crossed paths at all except at the lodge.
In fact the area we were hunting this morning has not been hunted recently at all.
Not only are there no high fences around the hunting areas, they are not supplemental feeding at all. Not even supplementing cow feed. Just bore holes with man made lakes for water, and a few salt licks for the cows.

Lunch was wildebeest lasagna

 

[Mekaniks]

Khomas Highlands DAY 3- Monday 3-22 afternoon

After lunch the went horseback riding with Victoria (Vicky) and Phillips mother. They stayed inside the preserve area around the lodge and were able to ride close the giraffes, sable, impala, lechwe, and sable. They had a blast!!

Issak, Shorty and I headed out again looking
for Gemsbok. Issak driving, with Shorty and I in the back…..

We drove, glassed, stalked, stalked some more,. We would spot a group of gemsbok. Issak and I would take off and find only females and young males….
This program repeated itself throughout the afternoon….
I had almost given up for the day and was starting to wonder what was for dinner….
By now we were at the far depths of Khomas Highlands in an area that I have dubbed “Midfle Earth, Namibia”.

A little after 5:00 on we come around a corner and there stands a lone gembok standing about 100 meters off the road up on a little ridge. Issak stops, and shorty gets excited and says”Shoot”!!
Then the circus starts….He is trying to hand me my gun out of the rack, and I am trying to chamber a round and climb off the bakkie all at the same time… Issak is saying shoot!
The Gemsbok turns and is quartering away going up the hill.
I take aim, offhand without a rest, place the cross hairs on the shoulder and squeeze..
The Blesbok hits the ground….watching through the scope, I think I see him do a complete roll.
As I chamber another round, the dirt and rocks are flying he jumps up, and moves about 25 meters to the top of the ridge I take aim again offhand and miss. And he is gone….
I tell Issak I feel good about the first shot but not the second. Iaaak says he thinks it’s front leg is broken, but not sure… we walk up on the ridge just beyond where the gemsbok was standing for the second shot.
Issak finds one small drop of blood….

Shorty returned to the car to get Lucky the dog…(Rhodesian Ridgeback)

I am thinking to myself that this one drop of blood is gonna make for a long and expensive evening…

Lucky smells the blood spot, makes about three big circles around the area, and is off through brush at Mach 2. With the three of us trying to keep up….
He goes over the ridge about 150 meters and we can hear the shit hitting the fan!
Just as we come over a small rock out cropping I can see the gems box is down, but not yet dead. Issak recalls Lucky I put put a final shot in n the gemsbok neck ending the excitement.
It turns out that my first shot was perfect. It entered about 3 inches behind the left shoulder and was loged up in the front top of the right shoulder.
There was no exit wound, which explained the lack of blood……
And I had first Gemsbok! A great male with heavy horns.

In the pic you can see the entrance hole behind the left shoulder and the entrance in the final neck shot. Neither bullet exited.

Issak and Shorty worked the bakkie up close we could load him up.

By now it’s getting dark.I had Issak stop the bakkie on the way home so I could take a pic of the sunset.

The moral of this story is that you never know what is behind the next corner when you are free range hunting in Africa….


We took the gemsbok and dropped him off at Phillips new lodge where they doing all the butchering and have the walk in cooler.. Issak measured the horns at 34” and I can’t get my hand around the bases.

The drive from the the new lodge to the Housis River Lodge was about 30 min. When we arrived everyone was waiting for for us and held off dinner until we arrived …. Everyone had a successful day!
Lots of good stories and drinks all around.

Dinner was an amazing gemsbok snitzel

The food, wine and drinks didn’t stop until well after 10 pm ‍

 

[375er]

Khomas Highlands DAY 3- Monday 3-22 afternoon

After lunch the went horseback riding with Victoria (Vicky) and Phillips mother. They stayed inside the preserve area around the lodge and were able to ride close the giraffes, sable, impala, lechwe, and sable. They had a blast!!
View attachment 535408
View attachment 535409
View attachment 535410


Issak, Shorty and I headed out again looking
for Gemsbok. Issak driving, with Shorty and I in the back…..

We drove, glassed, stalked, stalked some more,. We would spot a group of gemsbok. Issak and I would take off and find only females and young males….
This program repeated itself throughout the afternoon….
I had almost given up for the day and was starting to wonder what was for dinner….
By now we were at the far depths of Khomas Highlands in an area that I have dubbed “Midfle Earth, Namibia”.

A little after 5:00 on we come around a corner and there stands a lone gembok standing about 100 meters off the road up on a little ridge. Issak stops, and shorty gets excited and says”Shoot”!!
Then the circus starts….He is trying to hand me my gun out of the rack, and I am trying to chamber a round and climb off the bakkie all at the same time… Issak is saying shoot!
The Gemsbok turns and is quartering away going up the hill.
I take aim, offhand without a rest, place the cross hairs on the shoulder and squeeze..
The Blesbok hits the ground….watching through the scope, I think I see him do a complete roll.
As I chamber another round, the dirt and rocks are flying he jumps up, and moves about 25 meters to the top of the ridge I take aim again offhand and miss. And he is gone….
I tell Issak I feel good about the first shot but not the second. Iaaak says he thinks it’s front leg is broken, but not sure… we walk up on the ridge just beyond where the gemsbok was standing for the second shot.
Issak finds one small drop of blood….

Shorty returned to the car to get Lucky the dog…(Rhodesian Ridgeback)

I am thinking to myself that this one drop of blood is gonna make for a long and expensive evening…

Lucky smells the blood spot, makes about three big circles around the area, and is off through brush at Mach 2. With the three of us trying to keep up….
He goes over the ridge about 150 meters and we can hear the shit hitting the fan!
Just as we come over a small rock out cropping I can see the gems box is down, but not yet dead. Issak recalls Lucky I put put a final shot in n the gemsbok neck ending the excitement.
It turns out that my first shot was perfect. It entered about 3 inches behind the left shoulder and was loged up in the front top of the right shoulder.
There was no exit wound, which explained the lack of blood……
And I had first Gemsbok! A great male with heavy horns.
View attachment 535400
In the pic you can see the entrance hole behind the left shoulder and the entrance in the final neck shot. Neither bullet exited.

Issak and Shorty worked the bakkie up close we could load him up.

By now it’s getting dark.I had Issak stop the bakkie on the way home so I could take a pic of the sunset.

The moral of this story is that you never know what is behind the next corner when you are free range hunting in Africa….


We took the gemsbok and dropped him off at Phillips new lodge where they doing all the butchering and have the walk in cooler.. Issak measured the horns at 34” and I can’t get my hand around the bases.

The drive from the the new lodge to the Housis River Lodge was about 30 min. When we arrived everyone was waiting for for us and held off dinner until we arrived …. Everyone had a successful day!
Lots of good stories and drinks all around.

Dinner was an amazing gemsbok snitzel
View attachment 535399

The food, wine and drinks didn’t stop until well after 10 pm ‍

Fantastic! Brings back great memories...

 

[Mekaniks]

Khomas Highlands Day 3.5 - Tues 5/23 morning hunt.

We were up early this morning and out the door by 7:30

Issak driving with Shorty and girls spotting. Red Hartebeest is the goal….

We got just out of camp and spotted a solid shooter Kudu….It was tempting but I resisted.

Then we played hide and go seek with two different bunches of hartebeest. A couple of good shooter bulls but the wildebeest were having none of it…
The ladies found a found a dead intact warthog skull while they were waiting for us at the bakkie to get back from a stalk on hartebeest. Kinda cool….

Back to the lodge for lunch with Zebra sausage.

 

[Mekaniks]

None of us a bow hunting , but I think you will have a blast with a bow

 

[Mekaniks]

Make sure you leave some animals for us , we are booked in for June 2024. Are any of your party bow hunting?
Markcz

None of us are bow hunting. But I think you will have a blast with a bow

 

[7mmFan]

awesome report. thanks for sharing and looking forward to more!

 

[Mekaniks]

Khomas Highlands Day 4- Tures 5/23 afternoon hunt

We worked hard all day trying to stalk a mature red hartebeest bull. We didn’t get it done, but tomarrow is another day and there are plenty of them around.
The males and females all have horns and I have a heck of time telling them apart. Issak on the other is amazing at it and can tell the difference from 1000 yards.

Dinner tonight was Wildebeest steaks cooked over the open wood braii. They were amazing and might’ve the best steaks we had since we have been here.

Then the good conversation lasted late into the evening with the wine and drinks flowing around the snooker table

The ladies are headed out on another horse back adventure with Phillips mother tomorrow.
So we will be chasing red hartebeest again first thing in the morning.

 

[PARA45]

Please ask Juan if he was a PH with Cruiser Safari? I hunted with a PH named John (Juan). Thanks!

 

[Velo Dog]

Greetings Chuck, Lydia and Sara,

I apologize for missing your postings here until now.
Getting senile (more senile) I guess.
Now I am following for sure.

Man, it looks like all of you are having a big time.
I wish Kelley and myself were there.
Looking forward to the next posts.

Please tell Philip: “Waidmanns Heil” for me.
Cheers mate,
Paul.

 

[PARA45]

This is the Juan I hunted with, and if he is your PH, you are in for a treat. Juan was an amazing PH, with eagle eyes. I shot the second biggest Gemsbok shot in that property, thanks to him.

Keep it coming, enjoying your safari and pictures.

 

[Mekaniks]

Khomas Highlands- Day 4.5
5/24 morning hunt

The ladies went horse back riding with Philips mother again this morning.
It’s Issak driving, Shorty spotting and me in bakkie continuing on our quest for red hartebeest.

We are about 20 min out from the lodge and radio chatter starts.
@dchum and his PH have spotted a big red hartebeest and asking if we want to take a look at it.
We made our way to them and sure enough it’s a big mature male with about 6 females. But, it’s on the neighbors property…..
Then the radio chatter and the cell phone calls start. Shorty and Issak calling Phillip. Phillip calling the neighbor. It was quite the dance.
Pretty soon we get the green light from the neighbor and Issak and I are off. Shorty stays with the bakkie to spot for us.
We get to about 400 yards and they make us, and are gone….
We follow and catch them and do it all over again….
We follow them for more than hour….
Working our way from thorn bush to thorn bush we finally get within about 300 yards, Issak puts up the sticks and says “that’s the bull”. It was the only hartebeest I could see.
I put the rifle on the sticks, cross hairs on the top of his shoulder and squeezed…
Just as I squeezed he turned to face us and the bullet center punched him right between the front shoulders. He piled up dead before he hit the ground….
Pictures, hand shakes, Shorty brought the bakkie and we were back to lodge just in time for lunch.

The ladies got back from their horseback ride in n time for lunch.

Lunch was amazing as always. Gemsbok steak rolled up with cheese and tomato

This is the Juan I hunted with, and if he is your PH, you are in for a treat. Juan was an amazing PH, with eagle eyes. I shot the second biggest Gemsbok shot in that property, thanks to him.

Keep it coming, enjoying your safari and pictures.

View attachment 535623

Different Juan. Our Juan is from Namibia and in his early 20’s

 

[Mekaniks]

Khomas Highlands Day 5-
5/24 Afternoon hunt

After lunch Issak, Shorty the ladies and I took off with the .22 looking for some Guinea and Francolin for dinner and maybe a warthog with the 300wm.

As we are making away along through one of the river bottoms I picked up a couple of Francolin with the 22. (Lots of good fun) and Shorty spots a nice warthog. Issak and I take off stalking him with thhe 300. The last thing we see is warthog butt going over the next ridge.
But as we turn around to head back to the car a group of baboon sounds off on the ridge above us.
We take the opportunity and I smack the last male going up the ridge. I hit him hard but he is still going. We played cat and mouse with him for about 30 min trying to get another shot. Funnily Shorty takes the 22 and heads up the ridge to take care of him. Issak and I circle around the ridge in hope of getting a final shot. The baboon is ovisously badly hurt but won’t give up and won’t give me a good shot. Shorty chases him off the ridge down in to the next draw. As he goes across a rock on the other side of the draw I give him a Texas heart shot ending the drama.
But the bullet went in his back side and out his skull, also ending the hopes of keeping the baboon skull trophy….
We took a pick the best we could without having to edit for content….

We ended up picking up about 5 Francolin and a Guinea.
The ladies in the kitchen worked the their magic as soon as we got back and we had breaded Francolin / Guinea and deviled egg appetizers before dinner.

Dinner was Spaghetti with an amazing gemsbok sauce.

Tomarrow we are headed to Swakopmund for a couple of days on the coast. Juan and Victoria with be our guides. Hoping for good weather to do a little fishing and the ladies are looking forward to doing some shopping….

 

[Mekaniks]

Khomas Highlands Day 6- 5/25 all day

We started the day with a road trip to Swakopmund. Juan is driving and our tour director..
We checked into the Beach Hotel, Swakopmund.

Then a very nice lunch at the lighthouse restaurant on the beach downtown Swakopmund.

Then we drove up to Walvis Bay (20 min) for an hour of riding 4 wheelers in the sand dunes.

Then a fantastic dinner at the Jetty Restaurant (out on the pier)
I had the daily seafood special with shrimp, fish of the day, mussels, and rice.
Wine, beer, vodka and even desserts all around.

Everything has been organized by Phillip in advance.
Juan has been an outstanding host and tour guide.
We are headed out shark fishing in the morning…..

 

[WAB]

If you get a chance, the restaurant near the pier that is built in an old boat is excellent. I apologize, I don’t recall the name.