SOUTH AFRICA: 2021 Group Hunt With Bos en Dal SAFARIS

[BourbonTrail]

Glad you made it safely to camp, looking forward to your stories!

 

[VertigoBE]

Have a great trip @mdwest ! so far it looks like things are going smoothly. Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Good luck Dave! Tell everyone Hello for me!!

 

[Philip Glass]

1st update…

Qatar airways is knocking it out of the park.. check in with the rifles was a breeze.. the guy at the check in counter was polite, attentive, and was prepared for us when we arrived..

Qatar requires a bit more paperwork and has a more elaborate process than other airlines I’ve flown with… but Mohammad at DFW is a rock star.. in less than 30 minutes he had us ready to progress to TSA and then personally escorted us to the TSA station where we had the rifles and cases inspected and stood by until he personally witnessed the TSA agent put the cases on the conveyor belt to be loaded on the plane..

Top notch service from Qatar Airways…

Now we just sit and enjoy a cold one while we wait to board…

I’ll be there in a week. Thanks for the report

 

[Philip Glass]

So Qatar Airways has been great.. even back here in coach class.. comfortable seats, friendly staff, decent food.. and the second flight from Doha to Joberg is only about 1/3 full, so lots of space to stretch out is available.. the free inflight WiFi is a nice touch as well… I’m typing this as I fly over Mogadishu…

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Qatar airport police however were a bit of a disaster… they decided I couldn’t have several items and seized them from my bags.. More on that to follow later.. nothing that will have any impact on my hunt.. but they did take items intended for some South African friends.. some of the truly silly and for no justifiable reason.. like 10lbs of powdered steel… but, take them they did.. all while showing me on video that they were taking them…

Please let us know more about what they took from you.

 

[flatwater bill]

MDw............great start.........minimal glitches so far, so good things are about to happen. Although it may seem low on the food chain, I always wanted a really big impala.....hope someone can take him...................thanks for the info on Qatar........................FWB

 

[mdwest]

First day of hunting was a great time even though we put nothing in the salt…

We started the morning right at sun up and went on the search for eland… the terrain here is steep rolling hills and low mountains with a lot of rock, and it’s been a particularly cold winter so far… our PH knows the eland like to sun themselves on the eastern slope of one of the mountain tops in the morning to warm up after the cold night, so that’s where we went..

We set up across a valley, roughly 450 yards from the sun facing slope and started to glass.. over the course of about an hour we saw 10 eland come and go.. but they were all cows or young bulls, no shooters.. so we set out to check other eland hang outs like water sources and a couple of fields they like.. but no luck…

We did see an immense amount of game though.. with no hunting last year, the herds are thick.. impala and wildebeest in particular are everywhere. With some outstanding trophies presenting themselves along the way.. we also saw warthogs, lots and lots of nyala, lots of kudu, a couple of herds of blesbok, gemsbok, springbok, as well as other species throughout the morning.. but no more eland… so after a few hours we returned to the lodge for a breakfast big enough to feed an army…

I stuffed my face with sausage, eggs, bacon, fresh fruits, and a couple of “fat cakes” loaded with spiced, minced kudu.. shed some of the early morning layers as it was beginning to warm up a touch, and then we headed back out to see what the mid morning would bring..

Still on the search for eland, we passed on a really beautiful nyala bull, another excellent (24”?) impala, and a couple of nice blesbok opportunities.. we also caught a good look at a kudu that was probably pushing 52” that still had a few years to go to reach full maturity.. give him 2 more years and he’s going to be a monster… and bumped into a herd of roughly 30-40 buffalo.. but still didn’t manage to find a solid eland bull… so back to the lodge for a snack and to make a new plan.. the afternoon was to be dedicated to bushbuck…

There are bushbuck on the main Bos en Dal property.. but Gerrit has a concession about 30 minutes down the road that has a ton of bushbuck and is known to have some really big ones pushing 15 and 16”.. so we decided to give that place a try…

From about 3pm to 6pm we saw probably a dozen species (I lost count and didn’t take notes while hunting) including blue wildebeest, gemsbuck, mountain reedbuck, duiker, and the biggest nyala population I’ve ever seen.. we also managed to get close to a young bushbuck ram at one point, but he still needed a few more years, as well as a big female bushbuck.. but failed to find a big mature ram to take.. so once the sun went down, we headed back to the lodge to warm up by the bush tv, have a brandy and coke, tell some tales, have another wonderful meal, and then hit the bed early as we still aren’t fully recovered from traveling from the US yet..

The other two families in our hunting party were supposed to arrive in camp last night, but were delayed 24 hours out of Newark.. they will now arrive this evening, and will be extending their hunt for a day after we depart to make up for the lost day on the front end.. we are excited that they’ll be coming in tonight and to get to see them…

So now, here I sit, having early morning coffee at the lodge at 520am, getting ready to put on some warmer clothes and head out again as soon as the sun hits the horizon in search of eland.. after a few hours we really don’t have much of a plan.. we intend on spending most of the rest of the afternoon just seeing what the bush offers and enjoying the day… (although I must admit.. I’ve got springbok on the mind this morning and I may ask that we go in search of one specifically at some point this afternoon if we don’t happen across one through the day by chance)…

No matter what, it’s going to be another wonderful day in South Africa… that’s what I know I can count on..

 

[Jörg Krüger]

Happy hunting Dave

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Good luck on the Eland! I saw a monster up on top of back mountain last month when I was there! I hear it is cold cold this morning. Go for the Springbuck, Gerrit has some good ones.

 

[buck wild]

Oh I do love me some Fat Cakes !!! Go get'em

 

[mdwest]

Rowland Ward eland down!… 35 3/4”…

We headed out about 645 with the intent of repeating yesterday’s process.. get to the top of the hill across from the mountain where the eland sun before the first rays of light thought the mountainside.. and then glass for a few hours and see what comes in…

On the way to the mountain our plans were temporarily delayed when the big 25” impala from yesterday stepped out from the shadows along the way… we couldn’t resist and the morning eland hunt quickly became a morning impala hunt..

About a 30 minute cat and mouse type stalk took place with the mouse winning.. ultimately the impala got away.. so we set off again on the original plan.. just a little later..

When we got to the mountain we found it loaded with eland, impala, and kudu… probably 25 animals were in view.. but no large, mature, eland bull…

And then things changed… out stepped a monster from behind a large bush a full 3/4 the way up the slope…we initially ranged him at 550 yards and probably 250 higher in elevation from our position..

We decided to give chase and try to find a path through the thick bush to close the gap… after about 20 minutes we manage to get to a position ranged at 235 meters away with about 100 feet difference in elevation, and realized this was as close as we could possibly get under the circumstances… so the sticks went up, the .35 Whelen barked, and down went a massive blue bull…

Now the fun begins… how to get this 1600lb beast off the mountain???

That’s easy.. call John, the head skinner and tell him to call all of his friends, and bring the truck and a tilt trailer John!

John and his band of merry men show up shortly and literally cut a path down the mountain with machetes, and drag the beast down by hand, and have it loaded on the trailer in less than half an hour… these guys are amazing workers!

Back to the lodge for a lunch of kudu meat pie and to make a plan for the rest of the day… the priority was a springbok, then at the end of the day make a play get bushbuck..

More tomorrow (and pics)… the jet lag is killing me right now.. I’ve gotta get some sleep

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Cant wait for the pics!!! Congrats on finding big boy!!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Rowland Ward eland down!… 35 3/4”…

We headed out about 645 with the intent of repeating yesterday’s process.. get to the top of the hill across from the mountain where the eland sun before the first rays of light thought the mountainside.. and then glass for a few hours and see what comes in…

On the way to the mountain our plans were temporarily delayed when the big 25” impala from yesterday stepped out from the shadows along the way… we couldn’t resist and the morning eland hunt quickly became a morning impala hunt..

About a 30 minute cat and mouse type stalk took place with the mouse winning.. ultimately the impala got away.. so we set off again on the original plan.. just a little later..

When we got to the mountain we found it loaded with eland, impala, and kudu… probably 25 animals were in view.. but no large, mature, eland bull…

And then things changed… out stepped a monster from behind a large bush a full 3/4 the way up the slope…we initially ranged him at 550 yards and probably 250 higher in elevation from our position..

We decided to give chase and try to find a path through the thick bush to close the gap… after about 20 minutes we manage to get to a position ranged at 235 meters away with about 100 feet difference in elevation, and realized this was as close as we could possibly get under the circumstances… so the sticks went up, the .35 Whelen barked, and down went a massive blue bull…

Now the fun begins… how to get this 1600lb beast off the mountain???

That’s easy.. call John, the head skinner and tell him to call all of his friends, and bring the truck and a tilt trailer John!

John and his band of merry men show up shortly and literally cut a path down the mountain with machetes, and drag the beast down by hand, and have it loaded on the trailer in less than half an hour… these guys are amazing workers!

Back to the lodge for a lunch of kudu meat pie and to make a plan for the rest of the day… the priority was a springbok, then at the end of the day make a play get bushbuck..

More tomorrow (and pics)… the jet lag is killing me right now.. I’ve gotta get some sleep

@mdwest
Don't you love it when a plan comes together.
It's good you had success and the Whelen did its usual great job. Did you recover the bullet.
Congrats again looking forward to seeing the photos.
Bob

 

[Shootist43]

mdwest, it has been a few years but if memory serves me correctly Mrs. West i.e. Huntress In Heels was a pretty fair shot in her own right. Add to that mix a 35 Whelen on a VZ 24 and what we are going to get is some fantastic hunting stories. Photos when you can. Thanks for sharing your hunt with us.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Dave,
Following along! Hope to be there myself in the near future with my boys! Hopefully it will work out and you can be there as well and we can molest a few dozen castles over the bush tv! Hunt well,
Cody

 

[gillettehunter]

Great job. Love to see pics. Congrats
Bruce.

 

[mdwest]

Dave,
Following along! Hope to be there myself in the near future with my boys! Hopefully it will work out and you can be there as well and we can molest a few dozen castles over the bush tv! Hunt well,
Cody

Already planning another group hunt for 2022.. One of the hunters in this years group brought his daughter.. she got her first african animal on this trip (she was largely an "observer", but took one of the animals in her dads package.. the "family" pic of them with that blesbok was one of the coolest things on this trip...)..

Lets chat sometime soon and see if we can figure out some dates!

 

[mdwest]

We just got home last night and are still recovering from jet lag.. give me a day or so and I'll sort out some pics and pick up the hunt report where I left off

 

[AZDAVE]

Dave sound like the start to a great trip. Look forward to the pics and the rest of the story.

 

[mdwest]

ok.. finally managed to catch a couple of decent nights of sleep and organized a few pics.. so... back to posting in this thread...

first.. a pic of the eland mentioned in the previous post

The old boy was a serious brute with a huge dewlap, well worn teeth, and some great horns.. He's going to make a fine addition to the "spiral slam" collection that now almost complete.. you can tell from the pic that the terrain on the mountain he was standing on is thick.. the shot window was small.. but things worked out well.. he went just a few yards before we watched him tumble.. Im pretty sure he would have come down the mountain quite a bit more, but the tree he is resting on stopped his roll, and Im sure prevented any damage to his horns, legs, etc..

If anyone questions whether or not a .35 Whelen is enough gun.. i think the pic provides the answer.. eland presented absolutely no problem at all (nor did the other animals taken... more on that to follow... )....