SOUTH AFRICA: 10/day PG Hunt Report - Matwetwe Safaris -Limpopo

[MarkinMI]

Well, my 19-year-old son and I just returned from our first safari with Hendrik Botha at Matwetwe Safaris, and this little blip will be just a teaser for the full day-by-day report that will follow, shortly.
Going back to the planning stage 18 months ago, we had good reviews from people we knew who have hunted with Matwetwe, some of them returning several times. That, alone, should tell you something about their operation. Needless to say, we high expectations going in.
In summary, all I can say is that Hendrik, his son Harm and their entire staff blew those expectations out of the water, in every way, shape and form!
From the accommodations, rooms, food, cleaning and laundry staff, camp staff, trackers, skinners, availability of game and their knowledge of the animals we hunted and land we traveled...the entire trip was fantastic.
End result was 7-days of rifle hunting with 8 animals harvested and one day of bird hunting with 64 birds harvested (10 different species), couldn't be any happier.

Stay tuned to this station for more good stories...

 

[MarkinMI]

Here we go:

After a long 25-hour day with Delta (DTW-ATL-JNB), we arrived in J/burg at 1915 and were met by a Gracy rep who helped us collect our bags and whisked us through Customs.
He handed us off to Bruce, Gracy's local man on the ground, and it was on to the SAPS office where our guns were cleared in just a few minutes.
From there, Bruce handed us off to Gian, Matwetwe's "all-around man and photographer," who would be our escort to the Camp and become a very good friend during our stay.
Arrived at Camp just before midnight, quick show-around the layout, couple of biers and a long-awaited bourbon and in the rack at 0130.

Day 1:
Gathered in the main lodge at 0600, had a nice continental breakfast and met up with all the staff, made plans for the day, shot our rifles for confirmation and were off into the field by 0800.
Jason is a lefty and was shooting his Ruger American 7mm-08 and I had my Savage 116 338 Win Mag boom-stick. We were sighted-in and ready.

Camp Crew: PH Harm (Hendrik's son), Chef Leon, owner and PH Hendrik, my son, Jason, me, Gian. One Helluva group of guys, and we sure had a lot of fun and laughs, together.

Being first-timers, it didn't take long for us to be totally amazed at the amount of animals we saw in the first few hours. Absolutely incredible! It seemed like they were everywhere we looked, and we probably saw 15 different species of PG before lunch.
We were targeting a gemsbuck for me but saw none. Jason and Harm did get in a couple of stalks on some impala, but the thick acacia brush kept them mostly hidden. Back to camp 1130-ish for a hardy lunch, quick nap and back at it 1400 for round 2.
We moved to a different concession for the afternoon, large open grass plains mixed in with some thick cover areas, good gemsbuck territory. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell that to the gemsbuck!
However, around 1445 we came across a nice group of about 20 blesbuck milling around right on the edge of where the open field turned to cover. They were feeding and not too nervous.
We got to within ~250 yards of them, and that changed. Harm picked out a nice ram and told Jason to get ready to shoot. It took some time for the ram to get clear, and when it did, turning broadside, Harm called the shot and Jason's -08 barked.
Harm confirmed a hit but thought it was a bit far back, and the herd scattered, leaving the ram behind, who was moving slowly away from us, no good follow-up shot. We kept an eye on him as he moved into the thick cover, and then lost sight.
Once we got up to the hit sight, we quickly found the ram piled up not 30 yards into the cover, our first African animal.
We whooped and hollered like a couple of kids, and Jason gleamed on the shot he made, 237 yards! That's a mighty long poke for a couple of Michigan deer hunters, who've never shot anything much over 100 yards.
Upon inspection, the shot was indeed a bit far back, but did manage to get a piece of the lungs. Later, he admitted that his deer hunting mindset automatically kicked in: aim behind the shoulder 1/3 of the way up. And that's exactly where he hit it. But, as we would hear from Harm many times throughout this incredible trip: "we're taking pictures!"

So, with animal #1 down, we went back into the thick stuff looking for a gemsbuck. Again, there were none to be found.
But, on our way back out about 1600, we spotted a group of 5 impala grazing in the open grassland a long way off. Harm glassed them and said the one on the right was a nice ram, we should try to take him.
With not much cover, we closed the distance as best we could, and the group got nervous and started moving around. All except the big ram.
At 170 yards, he was slightly quartering to us and Harm said "shoot him on the shoulder," and the 338 roared.
The others bolted off, but not the ram, and Harm said I hit him too far back, shoot again. And I did, and I shot low, and missed! Quickly reloaded and the third shot hit where the first should have and put him down, for good. More whooping and hollering and I had my first African animal, a beautiful impala, and we were "taking pictures," again.

What an incredible start to this safari, Jason and I were still pinching ourselves when we arrived back at the skinning shed, grinning like a couple possums sucking on grapes!
Celebration drinks and a cigar around the fire pit, talked story, laughed and laid out plans for day 2.
And lastly, a fantastic dinner of kudu tenderloin on a cheese pastry w/sweet and sour sauce, chicken pie, caramelized taters and onions, sweet carrot salad and some nice SA red vino to wash it all down and then a homemade dessert. What a feast.
We slept well that night, tired, stuffed and happy...

 

[MarkinMI]

Day 2:

Early start this morning, up at 0400 , coffee and on the road by 0500. Today's target is Kudu, and we were headed to the foothills/mountains, a 1.5 hour ride to a new concession S/E of Groblersdal, very different country than the flatlands of Springbok Flats.
Mornings are chilly, low 40's, but things warm up pretty quick once the sun comes up, low 80's during mid-day.
This turned out to be a lot tougher hunt than I ever imagined for SA. Very steep, very rocky, tough on the legs going up and sometimes tougher on the way down. Closest thing to my Dall sheep hunt in Alaska than I've ever done, and I could have been in much better shape for this! I was 38 and in shape, then, not 61.
Harm, Jason and WJ (second PH that works the concession) had no problems, but it was definitely a struggle for me.
Lots of game spotted, and several kudu, but they were usually a ravine or two away, kinda like sheep, so close yet so far away.
Around 9:30 Harm spotted a lone bull on a ridge across us about 150 yards away, moving side-hill with some Impala. We set up and I was tracking him with the scope, but brush prevented a safe shot. Finally, at 210 yards he was clear, and broadside, and in the crosshairs. Unfortunately, there were a few antelope directly behind him, and I couldn't shoot. As if a team, when the bull moved, the impala moved with him, all the way until they got in the brush, again, and then they separated.
The bull started moving uphill and never presented a clear shot, again, until he was well out of my comfortable range. That kudu owes that antelope big-time!
Nothing else before lunchtime, so we found a nice spot along a riverbank and had a good box-lunch and half-hour nap under the shade of a tree, with a nice cool breeze blowing and shades of Hemingway dancing through my head. We were kings, right then and there.
Back at it at 1245, and the gods smiled shortly thereafter.
We were moving to the other side of the ravine where we saw the earlier bull, came around a bend in the trail, and there on the right, 45 yards away, stood a nice bull, fully broadside!
No time to bail out of the truck, he was staring at us, so it was either shoot, or pass. I shot, and the bull bolted.
There is a saying I came to know during this trip, "you take what the bush offers," and at that point in time, I did.
It happened so fast, I was pretty rattled, but everyone confirmed a good hit, and it was off after him. We found him piled up not 50 yards away, heart-shot, complete pass-thru. Happy and elated would be an understatement, and we celebrated. A lot.
Thankfully he didn't go far, because he was headed downhill in some gawd-awful terrain, and WJ's crew had to clear a path for his Toyota so we could get close enough to winch it out. After some hefty teamwork, we were "taking pictures," again.

 

[Firebird]

So far, so good! eagerly awaiting the rest of the report, congrats on a nice kudu bull

 

[MarkinMI]

Day 3:

Another chilly morn, 44 and quite windy, unusual. Coffee at 0500 and off to the field by 0600.
Today's target is again gemsbuck, now that my kudu is down, this was #2 on my hit list. I've still yet to actually see one, but Jason and Harm did, and we put a stalk on them two times, only to have them elude us. They call the kudu the "gray ghost of Africa." I'm beginning to think that would be the gemsbuck!
Per usual, we saw all kinds of game, but no gemsbuck. About 1000 we came across a couple of antelope, and Jason and Harm stalked them in the acacia brush for about 10 minutes.
As luck would have it, they caught up to a lone ram in a clearing, and Jason took it off the sticks with nice broadside shot of about 100 yards.
Animal #4, and we were "taking pictures," again. We were back to the camp before lunchtime.

Had our usual awesome (way too much!) lunch, half-hour nap and back to the hunt at 0130.
Chef Leon is a master and has been feeding us like you couldn't imagine. For a couple of Michigan hillbillys, we're definitely not used to this kind of service, but certainly are enjoying it!
Weather has turned quite hot, 88, and wind is picking up, strong and steady. We can see a big fire burning a couple miles to the S/E, it is extremely dry this year, and all the camp staff is worried as it seems to be heading in this direction.
We headed to yet another new concession for the afternoon hunt, and it is windy, and dusty. Very dusty! We came across a herd of blesbuck several hundred yards away in a big opening surrounded by the incredibly thick acacia bushes, and Jason and Harm swear there were 3 gemsbuck amongst them.
The herd ran into the thorn brush, which was way too thick for us to even attempt to, and we scoured the openings and trails for 3 hours and never caught sight of them, again.
Day 3 and I have yet to say that I've actually seen a gemsbuck. I'm starting to question Jason and Harm's motivation!?!
On the way out we came across a herd of ~40 cape buffalo, at pretty close range. My Lord are those big animals! If that don't awaken your senses, I don't know what would.
Awesome dinner of grilled kudu tenderloins from yesterday's kill, stuffed portobello mushrooms, veggies, cheezy tomatoes, grilled traditional SA "sandwiches," red vino and the usual delicious dessert. Leon is a master, and one helluva a funny guy!