SOUTH AFRICA: Adventure Of A Lifetime With Umlilo Safaris & Limcroma Safaris

6 July Cont.

Once we get onto the kudu property, we are seeing animals everywhere! There are herds of impala and kudu cows. Every field seems packed with animals grazing. Our timing appears to be perfect!

When I say herds, I mean herds:
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As we're driving, we spot three bulls grazing in a field about 300m away, across a river and through some trees. We jump off and stalk towards them. They get spooked by the truck driving off and run a bit away. Luckily they didn't notice us. We sneak back to the road and plan to circle around some fields to approach from the opposite direction.

We slowly drive into the area. There are small open fields on our right, butting up agains hills and brush and trees on our left. Then we spot two of the kudus at the edge of the field on our right. We begin to stalk in on them, but they spook and run off. We're about to give up when I spot the old bull about 100 yds away and 30 ft up the side of the mountain. He looks like a photo, perfect broadside, looking at us curiously. I line up my site and pull the trigger.

He's hit! I reload and get ready to take another shot. Riaan tells me to wait. The kudu runs down the mountain, towards us, and then slumps down about 75 yds away, stone dead.

As we walk up to him, it becomes very clear that he's an old bull. His horns are worn down, he has many scars, and patches of skin where the hair has fallen out. What a trophy! We've been working hard for days now, dealing with emotional ups and downs. Finally, we've taken a great old bull, on such a special and beautiful property, with a great team. I couldn't be happier!
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We also snapped a photo of three generations of PHs (well, one is soon to be...):
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Henk Jacobs, Henk's son Hino, their dad Bosveld Jacobs (famed leopard hunter), Riaan Jacobs

We feel very luck to meet such a great group of people. This entire day was a very special experience!

We picked up my parents shortly after dark. Unfortunately, they did not have a good experience on the game drive. I guess their guide wasn't the best, maybe a bit unfriendly. They both said that they enjoyed the hunting better! Which on that note, one more day of hunting:

7 July

My wife and I decide to take it easy today, just ride on the back of the truck. My dad would like a zebra, so we head to a property with too many zebras. They are everywhere! While he had a few failed stalks, he finally connected in the afternoon on a great stallion. My mom will be very happy with the rug!
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8 July

We say our goodbyes and catch Delta 201 back to the states. My wife and I only had two hours to make our connecting flight... and Delta 201 was delayed by about 25 minutes. However, we made it! A couple things that helped:
-Global Entry Program really expedited immigration. We made it through in about 3 minutes.
-While I waited for the gun case, my wife already took our other bags through customs and got them checked to our final destination
-The customs guys will not start on any guns until all have been off loaded. Kind of annoying staring at your gun case for 20 minutes, worrying about the next flight
-I gave my boots to Joshua. This allowed me to skip the boot cleaning station
-After I got my rifle, I quickly dropped it with the TSA guy (no line luckily)
-jumped onto the plane train and made it to our gate with about 5 minutes to spare before they started boarding!


Overall, this safari was an amazing experience. My wife was already talking about our next trip before we'd even shot our first animal! I can't thank Francois of @Umlilo Safaris and Hannes, Riaan, and Henk of @Limcroma Safaris enough for making it all possible. I recommend either outfitter to anyone- you won't go wrong.

Also, special thanks to Dan Leahy @firehuntfish for answering my countless questions and providing sage advise.

Finally thanks to the @AfricaHunting.com community. I've yet to find another place where people are so helpful and friendly, especially on the internet. I joined this forum a little over 13 months ago with no idea of when I might go on a safari. A little over a year later, I'm hooked.
 
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Synopsis:

Just got back from South Africa, where my wife and I, along with my parents, just finished the most amazing adventure (vacation doesn't do it credit) of our lives. We hunted with two different outfitters- @Umlilo Safaris and @Limcroma Safaris. Both absolutely exceeded our every expectation and we plan to hunt with both again in the future (that's right, already thinking about the next trip before the first one ended!). I can't begin to thank Francois from Umlilo and Hannes and Dan @firehuntfish from Limcroma for making this dream a reality and a memory my family will never forget! And of course, thanks to everyone on this site for your advise, recommendations, etc.

More in-depth report to follow!
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Outfitter: Umlilo Safaris
Owner/PH: Francois Dorfling
Hunted: Lion, Sable
Region: NWP (Kalahari)

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Outfitter: Limcroma Safaris
Owner/PH: Hannes Els
PH: Riaan Jacobs
Video: Henk Jacobs
Hunted: Kudu, Gemsbok, Waterbuck, Wildebeest, Zebra, Impala, Warthog
Region: Limpopo

Congrats on an absolutely Gorgeous Lion!
 
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Nice updates and great trophies! Looks like a fun time and great memories made!
 
Great report and lots of great trophies! The wildebeest double with you and your dad has got to be special.
 
Great all the way around- outstanding pics !!!

Was that a mountain reedbuck? If so you might have passed a world top 20 specimen. It looks same or longer than mine, which was just measured at #11 SCI.
 
Was that a mountain reedbuck? If so you might have passed a world top 20 specimen. It looks same or longer than mine, which was just measured at #11 SCI.

I believe yes. However, we were not allowed to hunt them on this particular property. Over the course of two days hunting there, we saw two males and three females, so... plentiful.
 
Congrats on a great adventure and excellent trophies :D Cheers:

Thanks for sharing, very good pics !
 
I believe yes. However, we were not allowed to hunt them on this particular property. Over the course of two days hunting there, we saw two males and three females, so... plentiful.

I feel your pain- I had to pass a 6" klipspringer for same reason one time. Just standing there looking at me without a care in the world LOL
 
@buck wild there were a couple of times Riaan had to hold me back.

On one property, we spotted an aardwolf trotting down the road. I initially thought it was just a weird looking jackal and was about to chamber a round!
 
One of the best hunting reports we have seen here in a long time. Thanks for sharing!
 
Congratulations.

Thanks for sharing the report.
 
Excellent report and beautiful animals! Congrats and thanks for sharing!
 
my wife and I will be hunting with Limcroma next year. I would love to view your videos if you decide to post them online anywhere!

Thanks for the great detail in your stories, I felt as if I were there!
 
my wife and I will be hunting with Limcroma next year. I would love to view your videos if you decide to post them online anywhere!

Thanks for the great detail in your stories, I felt as if I were there!

You will have the time of your life! Limcroma does an outstanding job catering to couples.

I'm traveling right now, but hope to post some videos soon!
 
Amazing trip! Congratulations!
 
Great report @rinehart0050, for some reason the first page of your report reloaded continuously for the last five days and I was finally able to finish it tonight. It was well worth the wait, thanks for a excellent write up and congratulations to you and the whole family for a great hunt.
 
@rinehart0050,

Excellent stories, fantastic pictures, and awesome trophies all around! Yet, best of all, lots of great memories made with family....! Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed report. You are great folks and it was my sincere pleasure working with you on this adventure.
 

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