NAMIBIA: KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS October 2023

[Wishfulthinker580]

My friend and I just returned from a great first safari with @KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS. We both enjoyed ourselves immensely and I would highly recommend a visit to Khomas.

Dates- Oct 18-25 (seven hunting days).

Airline/Route- Qatar Airways (Economy with extra leg room). DFW-Doha-Windhoek.

Location/Lodge- Khomas Highlands Conservancy/ Farm Heusis (main lodge, hunted multiple farms).

PH- Isaak

Driver/Tracker- Santos

Tracker- Shorty, Jason

Hunting method- Spot and Stalk

Animals taken- Oryx, Hartmann’s (Mountain) Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Kudu, Springbok, Baboon, Francolin and Guineas (great fun ).

Animals seen- Warthog (saw several nice ones), Steinbok (literally everywhere), Klipspringer (two pair), Impala, Red Hartebeest, Black Wildebeest, Ostrich, Jackal, Meerkats, and Rock Hyraxe.

Rental Firearms/Ammunition-

Blaser R93 in 300 Win Mag topped with a Huskemaw 5-25. Ammo was Federal 180 grain Power-Shok. Rifle has a suppressor which is great. After using this rifle I will be getting an R8 soon..

Marlin (can’t recall the model) semi-auto in .22lr topped with a Burris 2-7. Ammo was S&B.

Weather was very dry and quite warm, at times reaching over 100 degrees Fahrenheit but at over 6,000’ with humidity often in the single digits to low teens it wasn’t too bad really. That said, the sun is intense and sunscreen is a necessity.

Due to the weather/time of year game visibility was very good and everything was seen in good numbers.

This is low-fence (5 wire, smooth wire) cattle country and you can expect to see cattle (in small numbers) pretty much daily, along with a fencing crew here and there (only seen on perimeter while we were there). This had zero effect on the hunting and it was not overwhelming. You can expect a little driving in the mornings, depending on species and due to the sheer size of the area. Expect to go through multiple gates once on a property (some have more than others). This did not bother me. Many thousands of acres are involved (around 400k acres IIRC).

The roughly 1,000 acres surrounding the lodge is high fence and stocked with giraffe, sable, lechwe, nyala, eland and springbok. I’m sure I’m forgetting a species or two. This area is not hunted and game is there for your viewing pleasure only.

We hunted hard and I can assure you it is 100% fair chase.

More to follow..

 

[CM McKenzie]

Hard to go wrong with Isaak and Shorty. Looking forward to the rest of the story!

 

[Andrew Short]

Great start! Glad you had a good time!

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Traveling through the Middle East was a tiny bit concerning given current events but I was assured by @Red Leg and @mdwest that we would be fine and lo and behold I’m alive and well writing a hunt report. I guess all I can say is carpe diem.

For someone who had never been on a plane with more than four seats and on a flight longer than half a hour before the travel was pretty brutal. 15 hours (16 hours on the way home) from DFW to Doha with a 4 hour layover (2.5 hours on the way home). 4 hours was about perfect IMO. We bought in to the business class lounge and at only a few bucks more than the economy class lounge it was well worth it (purchasing the extra leg room was also well worth it). Far less crowded. A hot shower and a relaxing meal and we were off again. 8 hours later (nearly 9 hours on the way back to Doha) we landed in Windhoek. The countryside was eerily similar to southwestern Oklahoma. Qatar Airways was just fine and all the airports stuff went smoothly. A short 1-1.5 hours later and we arrive at Farm Heusis.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

This was a 2:1 hunt and we had seven hunting days to bag our respective animals. We were both after Kudu, Hartmann’s Zebra and Oryx. Travis was also after Blue Wildebeest and a Baboon from the get go. I decided on a Springbok and a baboon while we were there. We also spent one afternoon hunting francolin and Guinea fowl and that was a blast.

Due to airline choice and Travis’s initial plan to bring his own rifle, along with having to postpone our hunt for 3 months and the hunt dates available to us we had an 8th day to relax at the end of our trip.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Khomas sees roughly 30 hunters a season and due to our having postponed our hunt by three months our hunt coincided with the hunt of Tony, a retired banker from England. He was a pleasant chap and good company.

Two Danes were on the tail end of their hunt when we arrived and they were good fun. I believe they put a dent in the Windhoek Lager supply..

For the first three days of our hunt there was also a Russian gentleman and his son and for a day and a half a German gunmaker (from Alfred Schilling Rifles) was there as well. If we wouldn’t have postponed our original hunt we probably would have been alone or with possibly one more client. Everyone was successful, pleasant and had a good time.

This season they had two more clients lined up, an American from Hawaii and a Dutchman.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

On our arrival day we ate lunch, relaxed for a bit and then went and shot rifles and settled on the Blaser. Afterwards Isaak says let’s go hunt. We head out to the newest addition to Khomas, Farm Aub. This is incredibly rough country. It will just about beat you to death. And it’s great! Oryx and kudu are everywhere. There are several very nice warthog there and a herd of springbok with a very nice ram that I left for someone. More on that later..

Not long after entering the property we put in a stalk on what turns out to be a couple kudu bulls that don’t make the cut. Back to the truck we continue our search. There are game animals everywhere.

On down the road a few oryx are spotted. We’re off the truck and put a stalk in. Travis is up first and on to the sticks. I’m having trouble remembering yardages and wish I would’ve taken notes.. Anyway, Travis puts in a shot that’s a touch off the mark. What transpired next is a mile long running shootout. Later in the hunt Travis would say he wished he would’ve practiced shooting after 100 yard sprints. I concur.. Up one mountain and down another and Travis has his gemsbuck:

The recovery was particularly hair raising and on that note I have a deep respect and profound appreciation for Santos’ driving ability and the Toyota Land Cruiser. On the way out Travis was slapped in the eye by a limb and that would cause him significant pain and discomfort over the next couple days. Thankfully no serious damage was done.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Next morning I’m up and headed to breakfast. Stop by Travis’s and he’s been up all night due to his run in with the tree branch so he’s taking the morning off. I eat breakfast and we head out around 7:30. Back to Aub to see what’s in store. We’re making our way down a road on top of a ridge line when we spot zebra 200 yards ahead. We dismount and by the time we’ve made the 200 yards the zebra have made 400 more and crossed the valley. By the time we’ve made the crossing they’ve gained another 800 yards or so and not slowing down. We radioed for the truck.

We continue driving around Aub. It’s now mid morning and we’ve started working our way back. Someone spots a lone oryx bull. We do a little glassing. Isaak looks at me and says it has one horn insinuating it’s entirely up to me and knowing most would take a hard pass, especially on the first day. I walk to the beat of a different drum so I say let’s go for it. Off the truck, a short stalk and I’m on the sticks. The shot is long-ish. I pulled it.. Don’t know why. Nerves? Not enough practice? Probably both. The shoulder becomes the neck. He goes down but is back up. Thankfully he’s coming towards us and I drop him with a frontal shot where the neck and chest meet.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I sleep fitfully and my alarm goes off at 5 so I can talk to family before they go to bed. I can tell jet lag has hit but maybe something else is going on. I hit snooze repeatedly. By the time it’s time to go I’m having stomach issues, feel like I’m going to vomit and am having flu like symptoms. I don’t go out that morning.

I finally get out of bed around 1:30 and discover Travis’s morning wasn’t successful. I end up going out with them that afternoon after blue wildebeest. That was a mistake. Every bounce is painful and I’m chilled to the bone. I stay on the truck during stalks. Travis has a frontal shot on a wildebeest at dusk. Blood is there but no wildebeest. It’s well after dark by the time we get back.

Next morning I’m feeling human again and we’re after Travis’s wildebeest. We go back to where they left off the night before and find the blood trail. It’s amazing to watch trackers at work. They can tell it’s not wounded too badly as it’s keeping up with the rest. We track until mid morning and come within 80 yards or so of a herd of around 30 and bump them without setting eyes on Travis’s bull. They run a good half mile. We radio for the truck and drive ahead. Off again and work our way in their direction and we again get to around 100 yards from them and bump them yet again. This time they take off for another 1/4 mile. This time we’re able to observe for quite a while and no one can see a wounded one. Back to the truck to regroup.

We proceed slowly, glassing continuously and sure enough there a lone wildebeest under a tree who had probably separated from the herd after we bumped them the second time. Thankfully it’s him. We backtrack and put in a stalk on him to around 80 yards and Travis finishes the job.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

So I’ve gotten ahead of myself.. The afternoon/evening after I got my oryx is when we both got our zebras.

After lunch, siesta and coffee we head out with Hartmann’s zebra in mind. We take off to the north of Farm Heusis. The countryside is still mountainous but more rolling than steep. It just feels “big”.

We glass and see numerous species. Finally finding zebra headed up a mountain at a steady pace a couple miles away. We close the gap laterally to within half a mile and close the distance to 400 yards on foot. The moniker “mountain zebra” is very appropriate. There is sign everywhere. Literally right on top of the mountains.
We glass and move along the ridge to get within 250 yards or so. Travis fires and an old mare is down.

We continue after the herd for what seems like a couple miles. Whatever the distance was, it was taxing. The herd has split and the group we follow is in some scrub brush on the side of a mountain. At 150 yards we stop and wait for the stallion to move into the open. Thankfully for me that was about a 5-10 minute period. Isaak can really move and he put us through our paces. Mountains do not slow him down one bit. The stallion moves but there’s a small bush right in front of his shoulder but just behind the shoulder is clear. I take the shot and he drops.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

The afternoon after Travis got his Blue Wildebeest we head back to Aub for Kudu. We were driving along a dry creek bed and a kudu bull is spotted 60-80 yards to our right. He’s calmly working his way away from us. He crosses a ravine and tops the hill opposite of us giving me a shot that’s slightly quartering away and two hundred and some odd yards away. He drops at my shot.

One kudu down and one to go. We load mine and continue through Aub. It’s not long and we see yet another lone bull. We’re off the truck and a short stalk later Travis is on the sticks. The bull offers a broadside shot at 300+ yards once again across a deep ravine. Travis drops him with one shot. Interestingly enough, these are the only two animals that we found the bullets resting against the hide on the opposite side. Pass throughs on baboons and stuck in body cavity or tissue on everything else. Anyway, we both have kudu within an hour of each other.

In the days after we got our kudu we would go on to see several larger bulls. I guess that’s how it works sometimes. We are pleased with ours. IIRC the largest kudu taken at Khomas so far was 57” and taken in the last year or two.

 

[Karl Johnson]

The afternoon after Travis got his Blue Wildebeest we head back to Aub for Kudu. We were driving along a dry creek bed and a kudu bull is spotted 60-80 yards to our right. He’s calmly working his way away from us. He crosses a ravine and tops the hill opposite of us giving me a shot that’s slightly quartering away and two hundred and some odd yards away. He drops at my shot.
View attachment 566480
One kudu down and one to go. We load mine and continue through Aub. It’s not long and we see yet another lone bull. We’re off the truck and a short stalk later Travis is on the sticks. The bull offers a broadside shot at 300+ yards once again across a deep ravine. Travis drops him with one shot. Interestingly enough, these are the only two animals that we found the bullets resting against the hide on the opposite side. Pass throughs on baboons and stuck in body cavity or tissue on everything else. Anyway, we both have kudu within an hour of each other.
View attachment 566477
In the days after we got our kudu we would go on to see several larger bulls. I guess that’s how it works sometimes. We are pleased with ours. IIRC the largest kudu taken at Khomas so far was 57” and taken in the last year or two.

Congratulations on a great safari! Thank you for sharing the report with us Philip and his team have a fantastic operation.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Congratulations on a great safari! Thank you for sharing the report with us Philip and his team have a fantastic operation.

Thank you sir! I agree

 

[Flewis]

Thank you sir! I agree

Glad you had a great hunt, good job.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[kdenn]

Congratulations.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Congratulations, I like your unicorn.

You could have told me that you were hunting in SE Arizona, and I would have believed you. Funny how biomes so far apart are so similar in appearance.

 

[dchum]

We were lucky to be at Philips when he recently acquired Aub. Some of the first groups to explore the new land. So much game! We saw a massive one horn Kudu there. I already had my unicorn and couldn’t convince my self to have two! 57 inches and worn down tips. What a free range kudu.

Great report thanks for sharing. Can’t wait to go back.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Sounds like you both had a great time and hunt. Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

It took Travis a few days to connect with a baboon but he finally got one. Too many eyes involved and by the time you get set up they’re 300-400 yards away and moving. The contents of a baboon’s lower intestine are one of the most unpleasant things I’ve ever smelled..

I decided to shoot one also and it went a lot quicker. We entered the main gate at Aub and as we passed the workers houses there were a handful of little kids pointing up the hill to a baboon sitting under a tree. The elderly woman watching them informed Isaak it had been stealing eggs. This stirred up righteous indignation in me and a 50 yard stalk and a 50 yard shot later that baboon won’t be stealing any eggs from little kids anymore..

Santos jammed a rock in it's mouth so you could get a better view of his teeth haha