SOUTH AFRICA: Fantastic Adventure With Chris Troskie Safaris!

BenKK

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G’day All,

A few days ago I returned from having spent ten amazing days with Chris Troskie in the Waterberg Mountains of South Africa. I had a wonderful adventure and am looking-forward to returning as soon as I’m able to! It was a privilege to see the conservation work that Chris and other South Africans are doing, and to walk for miles and miles through the mountains and thorns and riversides to hunt old and wary game animals in huge expanses of African wilderness. I insisted on challenge and difficulty, and Chris and his incredible tracker, Sammy, were only too happy to oblige! The rewards and memories of this safari are very special to me, and I’m very grateful. And, the meals provided by Chris’ lovely wife, Sabina, were absolutely exquisite! This probably won’t be the most comprehensive report, as I’m focusing on penning an article for a magazine. But I hope to give a little glimpse into the awesome experience I had.

Cheers,

Ben

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I chose to hunt with Chris because of good references from another couple of Aussie hunters I’d read over the years, and because Chris has developed a reputation for hunting big old kudu in vast wilderness, completely fair-chase. I knew I wouldn’t be hunting an auction house bull!
 
Like many on AH I'm a big fan of yours. Looking forward to the hunt report and photos.
 
I was super excited to spend time around bushbuck! I’ve heard it called the Big Little Buck, I think, and it’s fitting. For a little animal they’re absolute giants! I enjoyed watching them, photographing them, hunting them, eating them - and jumping out of my skin thankful that nobody could see me when they’d bark at me in the darkness as I strolled back to my chalet after evenings of good food and beer and wine! These little antelopes are abundant along the Mogol River.

Here’s Sammy with a bushbuck killed by a cheetah...

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Here’s a good one we stalked close to, not a great photo as I just had my phone on me...

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Here’s a better photo with my proper camera (actually, my lovely wife’s camera that she entrusted me with!)...

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And finally here’s the magnificent bushbuck I had the privilege of hunting with my Mauser .300H&H (180 grain Woodleigh PPSN)...

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Enjoying the read so far! Congrats on a nice bushbuck!!
 
Thanks for the report! looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.
 
Beautiful Bushbuck and the rifle has some beautiful wood as well.
Looking forward to the rest of the report.
 
:D Pop Popcorn:great start, we need more!!! Nice bushbuck by the way!!
 
Wonderful, and I’m with you. I looove Bushbuck and yours is certainly a fantastic one.
 
BenKK your bushbuck has awesome chevron markings on it's face !!!
 
Nice Bushbuck, looking forward to more great photos and the tale that goes along with them!
 
“And the plot thickens”...
WOW! A fine bushbuck! I’m excited to hear what else you saw and/or took!
 
Awesome story so far. Sounds like my type of hunt. Just wilderness and vastness. Just something about putting a foot print where few have been. Can’t wait to hear about and see pics of rest of hunt.
 
There’s something really special about sitting around the fire in Africa, either in the boma eating and drinking and talking...

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Or sitting outside your chalet at 4am drinking coffee because you can’t sleep due to excitement and the change in time zone, listening to the first birds beginning to awaken...

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There is some wild and rugged country upstream along the Mogol River, absolutely spectacular!

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We saw a monster nyala crossing a track but I couldn’t get a photograph.

Then we saw an incredible kudu! I reached for my camera, because for me personally the hunt means more the harder it is. I didn’t want to shoot this bull from the car. He may well be over 60”.

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Truthfully, though, after driving well past we did try our best. We parked the vehicle and doubled-back, hoping to track him. At one point Sammy sneaked ahead to scout alone, and he suddenly lay flat on the ground gesturing back at Chris and I to get down low, too. The bull was just ahead and had laid down to hide. Chris and I crouched low and moved to where Sammy was, but the bull had evaporated, and we never saw him again. We tracked him for some distance before giving-up, as he was onto us and always keeping the breeze in his favour to keep tabs on us. I’m glad we never got him, because I think he’s got more breeding life left in him yet. It was an honour to be outsmarted by such a bull, an absolute thrill. So he’s still out there in those massive hills!
 
That kudu and his ancestors have been in that rugged country since time began for kudu, left completely to their own devices with no human interference in terms of genetics - they’re wild and natural. And they haven’t been hunted for many years.
 

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