NAMIBIA: KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS

[gizmo]

For the airfare and all travel arrangements we used Gracy travel. As always they are freakin awesome and make sure that you are squared away for your trip. Shawn was our agent and she is the best, I’m surprised she hasn’t wanted to choke me considering that plans and countries changed several times before we finally made it. Additionally, my wife was supposed to go but her step-father died 2 weeks before we were to leave. The travel insurance Shawn got us reimbursed her ticket and there was no hassle at all.
So we had to fly Ethiopian Airlines. DFW to Dulles to Ethiopia and then to Windhoek going and Windhoek to Dublin Ireland to Dulles to DFW on the way back.
Ive flown to RSA on SA airlines before and I have to say that Ethiopian Air is better but I wouldn’t call them great either. The planes are a bit dated but everything worked, unlike SA airlines, the crew was polite as well. The seats in economy are not very comfortable and my rear end was killing me but.... they were on time and it was a very smooth trip.
we did have to have all of our firearms checked in Ethiopia for whatever reason all though all we did was change planes. It’s a fairly smooth process you just have to make sure you find someone who knows what’s going on to make sure they get checked and are transferred onto the plane. It’s a completely unnecessary process but is their policy so just roll with it and it will be fine.
Going was a Hellava lot faster than coming back. Why we went to Ireland on the way back idk but it was fine, just made for a very long trip back

Flying now you have to wear a damn mask which is very irritating especially after hours and hours of wearing the damn thing.

 

[gizmo]

We had a 1 night layover in Washington going which was nice. We jumped the boarder into Virginia and went to a fantastic seafood restaurant named Shrimp Lover. I had a boil and it was very very good. We had a wonderful evening there. Good food, good drinks, and good friends.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and had some drinks and shinanagins before bed. It was a great start to the trip.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Sounds like a delicious and excellent start!

 

[gizmo]

So we woke up the next morning and it was off to the airport. I don’t drink much anymore and between the drinks the previous night combined with seafood I wasn’t feeling so great, Carrie and Corey went on to the airport and I got myself sorted out and met them there.
the line was pretty long but we had plenty of time to burn so it was fine. We got to the gate just in time to have some Wendy’s and board the plane. The first half of the flight went pretty quick for me. We landed in Ethiopia and a nice young lady was holding a sign with our names. She made copies of our firearms paperwork and we then went on a jaunt across the airport. Then underneath the airport into the baggage handling area. I was worried about missing our connection and she told me not to worry and they wouldn’t leave without us. Waaay underneath the airport we came to a little room. I have to admit I was a bit nervous as this didn’t seem very legit, but then I am a suspicious person. Sure enough it was the police office and the fella there looked at all the paperwork. It seemed obvious that he had no clue what he was looking at but made a production of looking “official”. We had to pull our guns out and read the serial numbers off to him. Once he was satisfied we repacked everything and we followed the lady back outside to a shuttle where she walked us through security and everything and ensured us our guns and bags would make it in the plane. Shortly there after we were airborne again. This was a 5 hour flight but it felt like 25 hours. My tailbone was so sore from the hard seats I could barely sit.
I tried to sleep but I rarely can on an airplane. About 10 years later we were on final for Windhoek.
Once we landed we de boarded the plane via some stairs on the tarmac. I don’t know why but I love doing this and Africa is the only place I’ve been in all my travels that regularly does it this way. I guess there is something nostalgic about it. Really the customs process in Namibia is super easy and smooth. We had to collect our bags at the police office where the Sgt. (Seems like everyone in the Namibian airport sports Sgt’s stripes). It took no time and our temporary rifle permits were issued. Issac had met us at the gate and he lead us to the Cruiser. At this point I am wanting to kiss the ground. It had been almost 6 years since I had been to Africa and to say I was happy to be there is very much an understatement.
we loaded up and we’re on our way. We had barely left the airport and saw some baboons messing around on the side of the road.

The airport is just a ways outside of Windhoek so we had the opportunity to drive through the city. Windhoek is a very happy place and I was impressed, it was nothing like Jo-burg. I had the feeling that one could pretty much walk around Windhoek without the fear of getting robbed or worse. Everyone in Namibia seemed very warm and friendly. I’m sure Windhoek has its fair share of problems but it’s pretty obvious it nothing like Jo-burg.
After about and hour or so we pulled into the gate at Philip’s ranch. Finally, we are here!!!!
The plan was to enjoy some bush TV and get a nice meal and some rest. Hunting would start the next morning and for the time being we were to relax and enjoy the fire and the company, including the various varieties of 4 legged kind.

 

[Ridgewalker]

About 10 years later we were on final for Windhoek.

 

[gizmo]

We were up around 6 or so the next morning and had a great breakfast. Philip’s staff is amazing and the food is outstanding. If you go hungry it’s your own fault.
After breakfast we headed to the range. Corey went first and his rifle was pretty much still dead on. Carrie went next and we had to fight with her scope but eventually we got it sorted out, or so we thought but there will be more on that in a bit. I was last to shoot and my rifle was pretty close, a couple of windage clicks and I was in the bull.
Once everyone was zero’d we practiced with Philip’s sticks. He uses Viper Flex sticks which are the best I’ve ever seen. They are a little different than what we are used to but are amazing. With some practice 300 yard shots off of them are no problem.

As many of y’all know Mélanie Wenger has been following me around for about 5 or 6 years now doing stories on conservation and hunting. She has very much became part of my family and is living proof that not all of the media is against us. She and Vincent are doing a story on hunting and conservation for Le Figaro magazine in France. This will be the second article and we have done for Le Figaro together. This was the first time Vincent has been her writer and he is awesome. Another great example of the fact that not all media is against us. I am very excited for this story to be published. I’ll try and get a link to post once it’s printed for everyone to see.

 

[gizmo]

So now that everyone was ready we were off to the races. I took Mel and Vincent with me and Philip and Corey and Carrie loaded up with Issac.
We split in two different directions and the hunt was on.
We hadn’t made but maybe a mile or so from camp and saw a nice Hartebeest with a female. Cruiser came to a stop and we were out the door and after it. Well, that battle was over before it began because I don’t think that Hartebeest stopped running until it hit Angola but.... we just happened to see a herd of blue wildebeest about a mile on further so we switched gears and went after them. The wind was terrible for a direct stalk so we had to hike around to their left flank to get the wind right. A few miles and a crap ton of thorns later I saw Hendrick, probably the best tracker on the entire continent, slow down and start looking really hard. I eased up with he and Philip to see blue wildebeest a matter of feet away. Our plan worked brilliantly, by “our plan” I obviously mean Hendrick’s plan. It actually worked a bit too well and we were like bow range. The Wildebeest had fed up on top of the hill and we had ran smack dab into them, nose to nose. They all collectively looked up and the bush exploded. Somewhere around 10 jillion wildebeest all broke and ran, game over.
We all kind of giggled a bit and I’ll be damned but just on top of the next hill, about another mile a away was a wad of black wildebeest. The wind was good for a stalk so we continued onward. We had a great angle and could keep them in sight but could use the brush to keep them from seeing us. Slowly but surely we continued on until we got in on the herd. We had wildebeest all around us so we had to crawl on our hands and knees through the rocks another 50 yards or so. I almost always hunt in shorts if the weather is nice and the thorns don’t really bother me much. I’m pretty sure I went numb to thorn cuts on my shins a long time ago but little jagged rocks on the knees is another situation all together. That was one of the few times I seriously regretted wearing shorts. None the less I put my purse down and manned up. Once we got to the last little acacia we were trying to get to we had a great vantage point, were slightly up hill from them, good wind, and about 100 yards off. We started picking them apart with the usual “this bull”, “that’s a cow”, “there is a better bull” kinda stuff. We sat there for quite a long time and the wildebeest were as relaxed as they could be. After a lot of back and forth on which one to take and a slight adjustment in positioning we decided on a bull. I got on the sticks and as soon as I was green lighted there was a rather inconvenient tree right in the way of his vitals. No worries, he’s grazing along merrily and will be clear of it in two steps. He takes the first one and I ease my safety off, he starts to take the second one and the entire herd blows up out of nowhere and all of them, including my bull take off like they were shot from a cannon. Best I can figure as they finally noticed our presence or someone may have slightly moved alerting them. At anyrate they were gone like yesterday’s news.
We had three great stalks, well 2 1/2 as the Hartebeest were on us from the word go, on three different species on the very first rattle out of the box! It was then that I realized I was in heaven. Philip hollered at Charlie to bring the truck up as we were several miles from where we started. We visited about the stalk for a bit, got some water, poked fun at each other and loaded up to find the next group of animals to get out smarted by.
As we were bee bopping down the road in the cruiser I made a joke to the effect of, “ just watch, we’ll come around the corner and a huge springbok will be standing there looking at us”. We we literally came around the corner and low and behold a huge springbok was standing there looking at us as well as a 2nd one who wasn’t to shabby either. They were drinking at a waterhole and I think were as surprised to see us as I was to see them. Bakkie comes to a stop and they don’t move. It happened quick but I had my sights on the larger one in no time at all and bang. At the shot he jumped straight up ran about 30 yards and hit the ground dead as chivalry.
I don’t think it actually registered what had happened yet and I’m pretty sure I stood there with a bumfuzzled ridiculous look on my face do a minute. Philip shook my hand which kinda snapped me out of it and we went over to recover my bok. I thought to myself well if I’d known that type of thing worked it would have saved me a ton of effort in the past. I guess we all get lucky every now and then and I was glad to take it. One shouldn’t look a gift springbok in the mouth ya know.
Well I get my hands on him and you couldn’t have slapped the smile off of my face. I’d killed a small springbok in RSA once and I was tickled pink to have my hands on my first Namibian trophy and what an excellent trophy he was!

 

[gizmo]

We loaded my springbok up and headed back to the lodge. It was about noon when we got there and it was time for lunch. As was the case every time the food was fantabulous. Carrie and Corey hadn’t had luck yet but we visited about how our morning went and joked around a bit.
I’m not real sure Philip new what he was getting himself into bringing our crew into camp. 3 Texans and two French make for a Hellava fun time though I think he and the staff may need some therapy now.
With the springbok skinned for a full body and in the salt we made a plan for a nice nap before meeting up at 3 to head out again.

 

[rinehart0050]

 

[VertigoBE]

Great story so far @gizmo ! looking forward to the rest

 

[jacques smith]

Erik. R U taking another nap?

 

[gizmo]

We wake up at 3 from our nap and muster up in the dining room for some snacks. Pretty soon we are back in the bakkie and headed toward the next adventure. Philip’s place spans from the low lands all the way up to the peaks of the 6500 ft Khomas Highland Mountain Range. It’s a total of 420,000 free ranging paradise. The only fences are basic African style slick wire 3’ cattle fences for rotational grazing. There is a standard high fence around the lodge that’s about 800 acres but it’s not for hunting just for game viewing in the evenings. The other 419,200 acres is real wild Africa. There is one ever present big 5 member lurking about and in impressive numbers, that being the leopard. Additionally brown hyena, cheetah, and jackal round out the main predators. Carrie and Corey saw and got a quick video of a leopard while out hunting and every creek bottom has a ton of leopard tracks.
We were headed up to the base of the mountains this afternoon to see what we could find. After driving around 45 minutes through the ranch roads we saw a huge troop of baboons climbing all over some rocks. Baboons are very weary and freaking smart. I had been bested by baboons last time in Africa and I was determined to get one this go round. The bakkie came to a stop and the baboons started to yell, alerting everything within a jillion miles of our presence, and scatter. As everyone started to glass and figure out if a shot or stalk would be possible I snuck out the back to off load a half a gallon of water I had drank. I’m standing there watering an acacia bush and just happen to look up and to the left ( we were kind of sitting in a bowl surrounded by the start of the lower elevations of mountains) and a big male baboon scampers up and sits on top of a fence post about 250 yards above me watching me pee.
I immediately get excited and holler for my gun, the sticks, and Philip. He looks at me a bit strange considering what I happened to be in the middle of and I’m pointing up hill. Philip says it’s a big male and calls for the sticks and rifle. I don’t even have time to stow my package as he’s about to bolt and I hammer him right in the chest. I was so excited I didn’t realize I was still swinging in the breeze, if you catch my drift, nor did I care that I had just pee’d all over my shoes. Mel and Vincent are giggling and quite amused at the whole situation and I am just tickled pink as I just got my baboon.
Its probably silly to most but I have always wanted a baboon and I was beside myself over it.
We climbed up the hill and there he lay, my baboon. A huge male with massive teeth. These are Chacma baboons and I was shocked at how big they actually are. I bet he weighed at least 60 lbs and would almost be as tall as I am if he was to stand straight up. (Yes I realize that’s not saying much for all you smart asses out there. For those that don’t know me I’m pretty short at 5’6)

 

[Graham Hunter]

Glad you packed up before the pics!

 

[Velo Dog]

Erik,

Congrats in general but especially on the baboon.
I’m with you 100% on finding them to be one of, if not thee most wary critter out there.

Prior to once watching a baboon gang, through binoculars, catch a klipspringer, tear it to pieces and eat it, I only found them annoyingly loud, spoiling stalks on other game.
Now, I see them as a predator that needs regular culling.
Glad to see that you sacked a good one.

Other forum members are really enjoying your hunting report postings here.
But none more than I.
You are an excellent writer.
Thanks for the great read.

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[gizmo]

Erik,

Congrats in general but especially on the baboon.
I’m with you 100% on finding them to be one of if not thee most wary critter out there.

Prior to once watching a baboon gang, through binoculars, catch a klipspringer, tear it to pieces and eat it, I only found them annoyingly loud, spoiling stalks on other game.
Now, I see them as a predator that needs regular culling.
Glad to see that you sacked a good one.

Other forum members are really enjoying your hunting report postings here.
But none more than I.
You are an excellent writer.
Thanks for the great read.

Cheers,
Paul.

Thank you and I am 100% with you on baboons

 

[Bhfs300]

Erik
Can’t wait to see how you do the taxidermy on him! Maybe add him to your springbok somehow.
Tom

 

[gizmo]

There were two animals that I really really wanted this trip and the main reason for my choice with Philip. I am an absolute Wildebeest fanatic! I love them and they just scream Africa to me. I mean who doesn't think of wildebeest roaming the savanna's of Africa. They are the apex of the African image IMHO. Philip has not only free ranging native Blues but they stocked black wildebeest in the 60's and there are huge free ranging herds of them as well. While technically not native to Namibia you'd be hard pressed to find huge herds of free ranging black wildebeest anywhere else in the world other than Philip's place. So basically he had me at wildebeest.
Most people dream of finishing out the Big 5 or Dangerous 7, perhaps the spiral horn slam, or maybe hunting the famous places that are ingrained in Africanna legend. While I most certainly dream of the same, my real passion lies in the Wildebeest slam. Real Wildebeest that is, there are 5 true wildebeest to be exact. Common Blue, Black, White Bearded, Nyassa, and Crookson's wildebeest. I was fortunate enough to take a white bearded gnu many years ago and blue and black were my motivating factor for this trip.
Yes the King's and Golden Wildebeest are beautiful but I do not consider them "real" wildebeest. I have absolutely nothing against them and think they are stunning but I still do not consider them true wildebeest as they are color variants of common gnu's that have been bread to look a certain way. Again, not knocking them and if I ever finish my true wildebeest slam I would definitely consider taking them.
Anyway, we pull up to a huge valley and start glassing for critters. We sit for a few minutes and miles away I see a lone blue wildebeest bull grazing in some thick bush. I point it out to Philip and we start driving that direction to try and cut down some distance. He was way on the horizon and by now its later in the evening. We get about 3/4 of the way to where I saw him and start running into wildebeest everywhere. We literally hit the wildebeest lottery and I am vibrating with excitement. I'm out of the bakkie before it even stops and ready to go. We gather our gear and start stalking. Every time we would head in one direction we'd see wildebeest. Hendrick is in the lead followed by Philip, myself, Mel, and Vincent. As we sneak quietly through the brush we run smack into a group of big bachelor Blue wildebeest bulls. They, at this point, are maybe 70 yards in front of us. We ease forward creeping slowly. There are unaware of our presence, and very carefully continue onward. From my vantage point I can see parts here and there and I'd guess there were around 6 of them. Slowly we move forward taking each step silently and deliberately. Easy, Easy, we move. At about 30 yards I can see a fantastic Blue bull in the lead grazing. He is in amongst acacia and waist high grass feeding. A big tree is between us and him. We shift right and set up the sticks.
I get my rifle settled in, I always walk with my scope turned down as low as possible so I have a great field of view as the bull moves to clear the bush. Any moment he's going to clear and I can feel my heart somewhere up around my throat. As he continues his head finally clears, I click the safety off. My finger eases onto the trigger and I wait for my shot. He takes a step forward and lifts his head and pegs us. I know he's about to bolt and I settle the cross hairs on his neck. I squeeze the trigger and Wham! He falls in his tracks to the shot. I reload and run forward. I've had many animals that I thought to be spine shot get up and haul ass so there is no way Im letting this dude get away. I get up on him and he's kicking so I drive a bullet through his shoulder and into his lungs.
It's done, he's down. Now the adrenaline hits and my knees are knocking. What a hunt and stalk that was, very reminessant of hunting cape buffalo. I was absolutely giddy. As he lay there I approach slowly and tap him on the eye. He barely blinks and its just a short matter of time before he expires. I stood there marveling in the beauty of the moment and the magnificence of this old bull. I thank God for this moment and for the gift I had been given. As he dies the usual sadness comes with the passing of one of God's creatures.
Once he is finished I finally kneel down and place my hand his neck. He's gorgeous. I can feel his soul transfer to me. There has long been a legend that when a hunter takes an animal his soul transfers to the hunter. I believe this is true provided you give the animal the due respect it deserves. In that moment if you close your eyes and lay your hand upon the animal you can feel the transfer. It very may well be a silly superstition and one can feel anything he believes to be true but, even so I believe it and in that quiet moment can feel it. Call me crazy, I don't care. As a result of this I have always been big on allowing the hunter, whether it be me or one of my clients, to be the first to touch an animal. I will not allow any of my guides to touch an animal before the client and have always politely made it a point to request that it be so when I am the client. It is a truly beautiful thing.
I unloaded my rifle and set it down, we spent some time admiring the beautiful bull and set him up for pictures. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day in Africa. I couldn't think of anywhere else I wanted to be at that moment.
The first hunting day came to an end with 3 animals in the salt. Wow what a day!

 

[gizmo]

Erik
Can’t wait to see how you do the taxidermy on him! Maybe add him to your springbok somehow.
Tom

Oh I have a plan for all of it. Almost all the animals I took were skinned for full bodies and I will devote a section of this report to what I will do with all of it at the end.

 

[gizmo]

Once we got back to camp we took the big bull to the skinning shed. We met up with Carrie and Corey and I will let them tell their story so as not to mess it up or speak for them. They were excited about their day as well. We had a celebratory cold beer. As my bull was being skinned for a full body Carrie and I collectively noticed the bulls testicles. I think we both had the same thought at the same time and one of the two of us made mention that the old bull was sporting some, what would be delicious, calf fries. Westerners and yankees know them to be called "Rocky Mountain Oysters" but here in the south they are affectionately known as "calf fries". The skinners and Philip laughed and had that you're crazy or screwing with us look on their faces when we explained what they were. Now I love to cook and this seemed to be a great opportunity to get my hands dirty in the kitchen. I asked Philip if he would mind if I made calf fries one night for everyone and if it wouldn't upset the kitchen staff to have a crazy Texan in under their feet. He assured me it wouldn't be a problem and Carrie and I requested that the testicles be saved from all of our animals so we could have a calf fry. A bowl was obtained and from hence forth all the testies were saved from everything but the warthogs. I've never cared for pig or sheep calf fries, they tend to have a funky twang to them. I'm pretty sure that everyone thought we were screwing with them and setting them up for something. They shrugged and summed it up to craziness I think but none the less the testicles were saved as we took animals and kept in the fridge until I was ready to cook. Additionally, I requested a big heart be saved as well so I could grill it for everyone one night also. I very much enjoyed being able to cook and share a little of Texas culture with them but there will be more on all this later. As for now we enjoyed a fantastic meal which included the liver from my springbok! I love liver and this was phenomenal!

 

[PARA45]

Erik, funny you mention touching the animal and the transfer of his soul. I grew up in Nicaragua, and that is where I started hunting. The villagers are usually very superstitious, and the main farmhand in our farm was very, and I mean very superstitious. There were some places in the property he wouldn't go, because he said they were haunted. Well, when I shot my first deer, he told me to always pay respect to the animal taken, to say a prayer thanking the animal for giving his life, and to touch him first by his heart, and his spirit would transfer into you. Funny how believes like this one are so similar from two completely different countries. Sorry, didn't mean to derail your post. Press on.