SOUTH AFRICA: 10 Day Plains Game Hunt With Game 4 Africa In May 2016

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your experience with Game 4 Africa. I have a hunt with them in 2 weeks. Did you end up going with Hunters & Collectors? I was looking at them and spitting image. I currently live in Luanda, so I know all about your TIA experiences. Gotta love hand written boarding passes and luggage tags.
 
Great report so far. Looking forward to the rest!
 
A great start. I'm looking forward to the rest of the report.
 
I agree it's a good start! Now let's see some trophies!
 
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your experience with Game 4 Africa. I have a hunt with them in 2 weeks. Did you end up going with Hunters & Collectors? I was looking at them and spitting image. I currently live in Luanda, so I know all about your TIA experiences. Gotta love hand written boarding passes and luggage tags.

Have not decided if I will use Hunters & Collectors in PE or use my go-to taxidermist in the US. Getting estimates to ship the mounted trophies from PE to the US right now. It's a hard calculation to make on quality and cost.
 
Hunting with your kids.........priceless!

Looking forward to the rest of your report.
 
May 20: Day 1 of hunt

The morning started with coffee in the room, followed by more coffee and breakfast in the lodge. Wik, Elise and I discussed the morning plans and then we met our two trackers, Mike and X. The term “tracker” does not really them justice as I came to learn they do a lot more than track. The track when needed, but both could also drive, spot, field dress and skin animals. They also carried the downed animals to the nearest road. To me, their biggest value on this hunt was spotting. Both Mike and X had top notch binoculars, Swarovski and Zeiss. Between the Wik, Mike and X, a lot of area could be glassed and they always found something worthwhile to look at. The last part of our hunt team was a friendly, Jack Russell that went by the name of Diesel. My daughter quickly spoiled the dog.

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We loaded up and after a short 10 minute drive from the lodge, we parked and made a short hike to the edge of a cliff, maybe 70 or 80 feet high. Looking down into the valley and across at the opposite slope, we could glass a lot of area. The morning sun was shining on the opposite slope, so the animals actually stood out a bit in the brilliant sunshine. I saw more Kudu bulls during this first morning than I’ve seen on my three prior African safaris. We were definitely in Kudu Country!
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During this first day, we did a lot of walking. Not too difficult, as most was on dirt roads, game trails and some picking our way through the bush. We came back to the lodge midday and had lunch and a nap. We went back out for the afternoon about 3 pm. It got dark about 5:30 pm, so the afternoon hunt was short. One of the things we had working against us was a big, bright full moon with clear skies. Day 1 ended with no shots fired, but we saw lots of Kudu, Nyala and Waterbuck. We knew we were in a good spot.
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The evening routine was a lot of fun too. Drinks at the bar, with plenty of snacks. Rugby on the big screen TV, a nice fire out on the patio and lots of friendly conversation. Followed by a large, multi-course meal which usually featured a variety of game meat, sausage, beef or chicken, several side dishes and build your own green salad with lots fresh veggie options. If you had room, then there was dessert.

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May 21: Day 2 of hunt

We loaded up and drove 30 mins to another property. The routine was much the same as day 1. After a short hike to a high vantage point, we glassed the area. Late morning, a good Kudu bull with some cows was spotted down low in a dry river bed. We started through the bush to try to get closer. We got to within about 150 yards of the Kudu bull, but I had to get on the sticks and shoot quickly, as the Kudu must have seen or smelled us and was getting ready to run. I shot and missed high. A clean miss from about 150 yards. I was pretty disappointed. So ended Day 2 and nothing on the salt yet. Not too concerned, since we still had lots of days ahead of us and we were seeing lots of game.


May 22: Day 3 of hunt and my birthday

Maybe my luck will change today. We were back hunting Kudu Ridge Reserve, the main property with the lodge. We hunted a different area than we did on Day 1. After a bit of glassing, a Nyala bull was spotted at a little after 8am. We closed the distance a bit and quietly got on the sticks. The Nyala was only partially visible, just the back half. I adjusted the sticks a bit and got very comfortable and stable. We all watch the Nyala for several minutes and it remained calm and never knew we were there. Wik let me know the yardage was 150. It finally turned and exposed its right side to me and I squeeze off a shot. Everyone was watching through their binoculars and said it was a good shot and the Nyala went down. However, after the dust settle, we couldn’t see it in the small clearing where it had been standing. So the trackers, Mike and X, along with Diesel, made their way to the clearing while we stayed put. A few minutes later they were at the spot and reported lots of blood and found the bull only 20 yards away.
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Unlike my hunts in Namibia and Zimbabwe, where the ground was flat and bush not too thick, the terrain here is steep and the bush is thick. This means you can’t drive the bakkie right up to your animal. The trackers now displayed another part of their expertise. A strong wooden pole on the Cruiser was brought in and used to carry the whole animal out to a clearing for photos. Wik with through a lot of time and effort to pose the animal and all of us, to get a lot of good photos. He explained that not all hunters mount all their animals, so the photos become that lasting memories of the hunt. It’s important to get good photos and with digital cameras, you can spend the time and take lots of photos.

One other interesting thing to note: Animals would be partially field dressed and the stomach was emptied and place in a plastic bag. The trackers and their families would dine on tripe tonight, considered a delicacy in their culture. Watching them empty the stomach reminded me of empty a grass catch on a lawn mower, after mowing wet grass.

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Around noon time, we headed back to the lodge for lunch. But before we got there, a Burchell’s Zebra was spotted. Elise took a Hartmann or mountain Zebra last year in Namibia and is having that shoulder mounted. She needed another for a rug. After a quick stalk, she was about 100 yards away. I was watching through the binoculars when she shot. It looked good, maybe a little too far back, but a good shot. The Zebra ran about 60 yards, into the thick bush and across a small creek. Another one shot kill and our second animal for the day.

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After lunch and a nap, we were off for the afternoon. Wik quickly spotted numerous Kudu bulls and with a short stalk, I was on the sticks again. This was going to be a longer shot, about 220 yards, but it was one of those slow, relaxed shot opportunities. Adjust the sticks a bit, watch the Kudu bull for several minutes and then take the shot. A good hit, but the Kudu ran and we couldn’t see it. It was almost a repeat of the Nyala. The trackers went to the spot where I shot it, found lots of blood and let Diesel go. The Kudu went about 100 yards but was down. The third, one shot kill for the day and a birthday double for me.

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Wik called for a few more trackers to come help carry out the big Kudu. Photos, get the tripe and load the animal into the bakkie.

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The cold beers around the warm fire were especially nice at the end of this day. But there was one more surprise. After dinner, Lynn brought out not one, but two birthday cakes. My daughter made a comment about not being able to fit all the candles on one cake. Regardless, it was a very nice surprise and a nice ending to a birthday I won’t forget.

With 3 days of hunting complete, we had 3 very nice trophies and already a lot of great memories. We still had 7 more days to go, so at this point we were all feeling pretty good.

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Looks like you had a great hunt
 
wow some nice looking animals and great area that looks fun to hunt. Great job
 
In for the finish
 
Nice pics, great update!
 
Some excellent trophies taken!
 
May 23: Day 4 of hunt

Drove 30 mins to the property we hunted on Day 2. Again, we spotted lot of kudu but did not have a productive stalk. That’s all part of hunting. At least we were seeing lot of animals. We were back to the lodge for lunch and a nap. During the afternoon hunt, we cruised more of the Kudu Ridge Reserve, saw lots of game late, but did not shoot. You take what Africa gives you and today is was a lot of great scenery and viewing animals from afar.

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May 24: Day 5 of hunt and Elise’s birthday

I took Elise on her first hunt ever last year to Namibia for her 21st birthday. She did well and is now hooked.

We were again hunting yet another section of Kudu Ridge Reserve when some Nyala were spotted. We glassed the Nyala for quite a while and got Elise set up on the sticks. I liked how things were setting up, very relaxed, no rush and the animals didn’t know we were there. Wik, our PH, whispered to me that it’s a good representative bull, but not great. Wik said we can wait and most likely get a better one. I look at it through my binoculars and it looked pretty good to me and I also think the shot looks very doable. I tell Wik I’m ok with this Nyala bull and I wanted Elise to get something on her birthday, like I did. Boom, one shot from 170 yards and the Nyala is down. The 162 grain, Hornady SST bullets we were using in the 7mm mag bullets were doing the job.
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Later in the day, we were out for the short afternoon hunt. We were on a ridge overlooking some flatter terrain with heavy bush for cover. Wik spotted a big bull and told me to stay put. Wik and Elise moved another 10 yards up slope and set up the sticks. From where I sat, I had a good view of them, but not the Kudu. If they were pointed at 12 o’clock, I was at their 4 o’clock position, basically behind them and to their right. I was also down slope. After a few minutes of nervously waiting and watching, I see several Kudu cows appearing to my right. These were coming from the area Elise must have had her sights on and these cows were nervous and moving out to our right. Then the big Kudu bull appeared and I see Elise pivoting around on the sticks, around to about her 2 o’clock position. Wik made a bark call and the big bull stopped and looked back at us. Just long enough for Elise to squeeze off a shot and the big Kudu went down from the near perfect shoulder shot. It was larger than the Kudu I took and I couldn’t have been prouder of Elise. We had another birthday double!
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At the end of dinner, Elise got a special chocolate birthday cake with her Nyala picture on it. Apparently Wik had emailed the photo to a bakery in Grahamstown and they had the technology to transform the photo to frosting. Not every girl can say she shot a Nyala and Kudu on her birthday and then had a Nyala birthday cake. A very special day indeed!

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May 25: Day 6 of hunt

We woke to a light drizzle and decided we’d look for Bushbuck today, hunting again on Kudu Ridge Reserve. Wik explained that Bushbuck are one of the harder animals to hunt, as they are smaller and either stay by themselves or you might spot a pair. At around 9am, I miss a Bushbuck ram, twice, from 210 and 230 yards. Later that morning, the drizzle had increased, as had the wind. We were driving slowly along a dirt road when a Blesbuck was spotted. We quietly exited the Land Cruiser and chambered a round in the rifle. Elise followed Wik and I stayed behind. The Blesbuck was about 200 yards off and they were able to cut that distance in half. The Blesbuck was feeding and pointed away from us. We were also dead down wind of it. I moved up behind some bushes and had a great view of the Blesbuck’s rear end and I could also look over and see Elise on the sticks. With the wind blown rain, Elise’s face was dripping wet. She held steady on the sticks and when the Blesbuck eventually turned, Elise dropped it from 70 yards at 11am.

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After lunch, a nap and drying out, we went out for a short afternoon hunt. We thought we’d look for a Bushbuck or Impala. When a nice Impala presented itself, we put a short stalk on it, but got busted by too many eyes in the area. We backed out of that area, but quickly spotted another good looking Impala. We had to maneuver through some thick brush and there was still lots of eyes and noses around. We got to a spot with good cover for us and enough of an opening to make the shot. Wik ranged it at 122 yards, set the sticks up. Wik moved away and I got on the sticks and made the shot quickly and the Impala dropped where it stood. We were keeping our one shot kill record intact. We either had clean misses or one shot kills, with no wounded animals. It was a little after 4pm and we decided to call it a day.

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While sipping adult beverages around the fire that evening, Wik told us the plan for the next day was to get up a bit earlier and drive to a different location that we hadn’t hunted. It was about an hour drive and was a good area for Bushbuck. That turned into another very special hunt and that’s where I’ll pick up on the next part of this report.

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Nice pics and update! What a special day or your daughter! Congrats to all
 
Great write up. Keep it coming.
 
You two are getting it done that is for sure. Like all the little extra's they did for you. Makes the trip even a little more special when you look back on them years later.
 
I really like that sunset picture!
 
Great updates! I look forward to the next installment, I love hunting bushbuck.
 
May 26: Day 7 of hunt

We got up earlier than normal, had breakfast and got on the road. Bushbuck was on today’s menu. It was a bit cooler than previous mornings, but still not real cold. I’m guessing it was around 50F. It took about an hour to get to the game reserve for the days hunt and it was truly a spectacular property, both in terrain and animals. As the sun came up, we could see that visibility was going to be restricted until the fog burned off in the valleys. However, it made for stunning photographs and just a real special feel to the morning.
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As we were driving up a steep road with heavy, thick brush on both sides, one of the trackers spotted something. We stopped and got out to investigate and it was our first Bushbuck siting for the day, but it quickly exited the area. We continued driving until we got on top of a ridge and then we parked and went on a short trek to one of the most awesome viewing points that I’ve ever been to. The fog was still thick, so we sat there for about an hours as it slowly burned off and watched in amazement of how the view just kept getting better and better.

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At about 10 am, Wik asked one of the trackers to go back to the bakkie, about 100 yards through the bush, and glass up and down the road which we drove in on. On the opposite side of the road was a 40-50 yard wide clear cut and then a fence line. The clear cut was similar to powerline or pipeline right of way in the US. We’re looking for Bushbuck and low and behold the tracker spotted one about 280 yards away. He comes back and reports what he found and we all get into Bushbuck mode. I tell Wik that I wanted Elise to take this opportunity, so he takes the sticks and Elise takes the rifle and off they go on the stalk. The two trackers and I stay behind at the Land Cruisier and watch through the binoculars. Wik and Elsie get to about 150 yards from the Bushbuck, get on the sticks and after a long wait, boom and miss. The suppressor on the 7mm mag really does reduce the report on the rifle. The Bushbuck actually started walking towards them and Elise shot a second and third time, missing both times. At least they were clean misses and didn't draw blood. For anyone who’s been in the military, they went “Winchester” or for us civilians, they were out of ammo. You see, I had the 7mm mag ammo pouch on my belt and Wik had the 375 H&H on his. Since I held back……….well you get the picture. We all had a good laugh about it. It was a good time to take a break, eat lunch in the field and take a little siesta.

From the spectacular viewing spot, Wik had spotted another Bushbuck. It was bedded down out in the open in the shade of a tree but there were all sorts of other animals around too. We just weren’t sure how we could get close. After lunch, we cruised the property, stopping at various points and glassing into the valley, still looking for bushbuck.

SITUATION CHANGED

Gary Larson's "Far Side" sums it up perfectly: You take whatever Africa offers you. Sometimes it's a Mime and today, for me, it was an Eland.

Around 4pm, we bumped into 3 large old Eland bulls. All 3 were shooters, with the one bringing up the rear having considerably shorter horns than the other two. Moving through thick brush and cactus, we stalked to within 150 yards and I got on the sticks with the 375 H&H. The Eland were at a little higher elevation and I was looking straight into the late afternoon setting sun. I could hardly see anything at all. Wik tried to shield the scope from the sun with his hat, but that didn’t work too well. I could barely make out the outline of the Eland, although it filled most of the scope. It was sort of a partial Eland eclipse of the sun, so I squeeze off a desperation shot. I must of sent that 300 grain Swift A Frame into low Earth orbit, because it didn’t hit a thing. All three Eland moved off downhill and the race was on! Wik and I ran for a while, but the Eland are clearly putting more real estate between us. One of the trackers brought the bakkie up, and just like in the old cowboy westerns, we try to “head’em off at the pass.” We got to point where we could see them again and got out of the truck and and started jogging after them. The 3 Eland were running parallel to the road, maybe 300-350 yards from us. They are out in the open field and I’m thinking it would be great to down one where we can drive the truck up to it. All 3 turned and crossed the road about 150 yards in front of us and keep moving in an open area. I get on the sticks, Wik is telling me to aim for the middle of the 3 Eland and the yardage is about 160. The Eland are slightly quarterly away from us. Wik made some sort of loud call and the Eland actually paused for a brief second or two and looked our way. The Sako 375 H&H does not have a suppressor, so both the recoil and report got my attention, but so did the thud sound of bullet hitting its target. All 3 Eland took off running again. We ran to where the Eland had been standing but didn’t see any blood. The one I hit separated from the other two Eland and moved into the cactus and thick bush. Wik quickly spotted it again and got me set on the sticks. Wik was also getting his back up gun ready for action saying he might have to help, since we were running out of light. Quickly, I put the second shot into the Eland from 100 yards and it went down, in the cactus bushes.

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Wik phoned his brother, Collin, who brought another Land Cruiser, a single cab with a longer bed and about 6 helpers. The Calvary had arrived! We needed every one of them and would gladly have taken a few more. After taking photos, they field dressed it and got the Eland onto a tarp, to protect its hide. We had to manhandle and drag the Eland and tarp about 30 yards through cactus and bush. The Land Cruiser was able to back into the bush and then run its winch cable out to grab onto the Eland and pull it into the truck's bed. We got home late that night and we were all very tired, but also very happy! You take what Africa offers you and today, Africa was very good to us.
 
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Very nice eland. Well what about a bush buck?
 

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Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

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Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

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Living life like a lion for 1 day is better than living life like a jackal for 100 years.
 
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