New member from central Illinois

[ILDRHNTR]

Hello Everyone!
I have been following your adventures, insight, guidance, and helpful hints for a while now. I think the younger generations call this ghosting? My apologies for taking some time to actually join.
I am from central Illinois. Have been an active outdoorsman my entire life. I have three young boys who are all active in the outdoors as well. I am finally taking the leap and am working on a June ‘23 safari through Ed at EAI Outdoors. It will be a 7-8 day hunt for PG. I will be taking my oldest son who will be 13 at the time of our adventure. We are both extremely excited and are soaking up all the knowledge, tips, and advice all of you experts can share. We love watching the videos of your hunts. Thank you all for sharing so much of your adventures.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Welcome! I’m in Pike County IL, nice to have another Illinois resident.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Good to meet you Wyatt. Amazing how much can be learned on this site.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

By the way, I hail from Ford county

 

[Mekaniks]

 

[nztimb]

Giday ILDRHNTR. Welcome to the A H fo4rums from a little further away in New Zealand

 

[Mekaniks]

 

[CoElkHunter]

Welcome to AH!

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Welcome to AH ILDRHNTR! Glad to have you join us. You and your son are in for a treat and memories of a lifetime.

 

[krish]

Welcome to AH. ILDRHNTR
Krish from MO

 

[SPLITTING IMAGE TAXIDERMY]

Welcome and look forward to your participation!

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Thank you all! What a way to make everyone feel like a part of the AH family.
Absolutely excited about upcoming adventure to SA. More than just a hunt, we are simply overcome with excitement as to what we may experience.
As some may not be aware, we do not have many options for rifle hunting opportunities in Illinois. But that has not stopped me from gathering rifles for adventures elsewhere. which brings me to the point that it is now time to decide what to take. I plan to take two. However, I am thinking it would be best if both my son (13) and I can share them both as I would think it would be cumbersome to haul two guns out all the time. Going this route would leave the bigger guns at home. Here is what I am thinking and I would appreciate any feedback from the tried and true on here.
1. .257 Weatherby. I simply love to shoot this gun and my son can handle it as well. However, I am limited on availability of rounds as I primarily am stocked up for deer and pronghorn. Would 100gr Interlocks work here or would I be best with 110gr Accubond?
2. .308. This is another gun that my son can handle. Was thinking 178gr ELD-X here. Possibly 150gr SST.
3. 7mm-08. This is actually my sons gun and he is very proficient with it. Looking here at 140gr Partitions or 139gr SST.
The reason I have listed specific rounds is that is what I have on hand and is my more “solid” rounds. Also, with the difficulty in finding rifle ammo these days, I would prefer to use something I have. That being said, I will surely rely on your expertise here. Looking at all PG up to Kudu size. Thanks ahead of time.

 

[cpr0312]

Hello and welcome!

 

[503]

Welcome, I'm in IL too. Glad you're here, misery loves company.

Cheers 503

 

[Nyati]

 

[Velo Dog]

Hello ILDRHUNTER,

Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris of Namibia, welcomes you to the greatest forum on earth.

You are raising your children correctly and I salute you for it.
This fast softening country needs more parents like yourself, a lot more.

RIFLES:
Either ask your PH about renting their rifles or, bring your .308, with 165 -180 grain bullets and your son’s 7-08, with 140 - 160 gr bullets.

I like Swift A-Frame bullets.
And, I also like the now out of style, Hornady Round Nose bullets.
Another very fine “Africa bullet” is the Norma Oryx one.

However, Nosler Partition bullets and even plain old Remington Core-Lokt bullets work fine on soft skin game.
Well …… as long as you use them somewhere around the velocity they were intended for.
Stay away from light bullets and super velocity in Africa.

Most of the hunting conditions (geography and foliage) will have almost all of your shots within about 25 to 75 paces.
There are exceptions to this mostly short range shooting there but, 200 paces is a mighty long shot and not especially common, in most of Africa’s conditions.
So generally speaking, moderate velocity and heavy for caliber bullets will bring you and your son the most satisfaction, during your safari.

Best Regards,
Velo Dog.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Thank you Velo Dog. I appreciate your feedback. All very good points that I will add to my arsenal of knowledge I am learning from this forum.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Welcome, I'm in IL too. Glad you're here, misery loves company.

Cheers 503

Hello 503! Where are you located?

 

[Just Gina]

to AH!

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Hello IL, you are very welcome.