Ragnar8
New member
I went on my Africa hunting safari in early to mid September, September 6th through the 13th.
I have not been hunting in a well over a decade and decided early last year that I had wanted to get back into hunting, as most of the family members that either had land or knew people that had land have passed away I remembered my grandfather wanting to try a African hunting safari decades earlier but he could not due to health and family issues. With this in mind, and my finances in a better place, I decided to go on a African hunting safari.
I went with @HENRY GRIFFITHS SAFARIS, I went with him because of the quick response and the quick communication if I had questions. I elected to do the Starter Plains Game Package which included blesbok trophy, warthog trophy, impala trophy, blue wildebeest trophy, and a cull animal which ended up being a blesbok. Before my trip I also elected to add on a trophy zebra because I wanted a rug.
I flew out of Fargo North Dakota on Sepetmber 3rd on American Airlines and had a long layover in Chicago where I then boarded a Qatari Airways flight for Doha, after a long layover in Doha I boarded another Qatari Airways flight for Johannesburg. I arrived early in Johannesburg on September 5th and checked into the Afton Safari Lodge. I met Henry on the 5th as he was dropping off his previous hunters. We left early on the 6th and it took about 6 hours to reach the lodge which is located in the North West province. It had been storming and there was a lot of rain, by the time we had arrived there had been a let up in the rain so we went to zero in his rifle. I had elected to rent his rifle, I have never travelled by air with my rifle and with this all being new to me I found it easier to just rent. Just as we were finishing up it began to downpour so we headed back to the lodge and decided to start hunting on the 7th.
The first day of hunting on the 7th was eventful. We spotted a blue wildebeest herd early in the morning after walking through the trees and brush to the road where it opens up to a large plain. I took a blue wildebeest trophy at 250 meters. The rest of the day trying for trophy blesbok which I was finally able to achieve later in the day. I had two misses at first, and after talking it out henry made a correction to the rifle, the cheekpad thing had to be elevated a little, I was finding it difficult to get on the blesbok with the scope before they would move away, I was finding I had a lot less time compared to the wildebeest earlier in the day. After the correction I shot a trophy blesbok at 170 meters and it went down. To my shame upon coming on the blesbok we discovered that I hadn't missed once earlier in the day just grazed it earlier in the day(the kill shot was in the afternoon and the misses were in the morning), that it was hit on its back but not low enough for it to have hit the spine or been disabling, I was told that while it had been shot the shot wouldnt have killed it and he had been watching both previous shots and thought I had missed each time. Anyway the correction to the rifle resulted in no more misses or wounds for the rest of the safari.
The second day of hunting on the 8th started early. I took a trophy impala at 70 meters in dense brush, while driving the trophy back for skinning the vehicle got charged at by a water buffalo. After that I elected to add on a cull impala which I then shot at 150 meters in brush. The rest of the day was spent looking for a trophy zebra which we found before it got dark and I took it at 200 meters.
The third day of hunting on the 9th I took a cull blesbok immediately in the morning at 200 meters and the rest of the day was spent looking for trophy warthog. We were not on the concession but the farm that is all around the concession, crops and cattle along with woods and dense brush. We saw kudu and a assortment of other animals but no warthogs at first. That the unusually cooler weather and extra water from earlier in the week meant the warthogs weren't going to be moving around as much. Drove around until we spotted one that was over 600 meters away and upon trying to get closer for a shot it got spooked and it ran into dense brush. The second opportunity later in the day ended with cattle and guineafowls giving us away.
Fourth day of hunting on the 10th started much later in the morning. We ended up waiting in the area we saw the second warthog in where the cows and guineafowls gave us away in. After several hours the warthogs got comfortable enough to stray far enough out into the field out of the woods/brush and I was able to take one at 150 meters. With all the animals on my package taken I decided to add a cull blue wildebeest and cull golden wildebeest.
Fifth day of hunting on the 11th we started early again, we were back on the concession in the woods/brush and I was able to take cull golden wildebeest at 127 meters, took two shots(both hit) and after the golden wildebeest ran off into the dense brush, took some time to find it discovering it around 100 meters away from where I had shot it. In the afternoon I took my cull blue wildebeest at 220 meters. With that the hunting was done.
I spent my last day on the 12th just relaxing and doing the paperwork for the trophies. I went for a walk, the concession is something like 5+ miles long and I dont even know how many miles wide. Saw a bunch of animals, giraffe, nyala, waterbuck, gemsbuck, rhino, baboons, bunch of different colored birds.
On the 13th I was driven back to the Afton Safari lodge in Johannesburg, and I was on my flight back on on the 14th.
Overall I am very happy with safari. I plan to go back again sometime with HGS in either 2028 or 2029, maybe for the kudu package. I didnt elect to do any of the tourist stuff because I didn't know how difficult the hunting would be or how much time I would need, but next time I would like to add a extra day or two and do some of the shorter tourist things on his website, I added several cull animals and still had a extra day at the end. Another thing is the food is amazing, I ate so much game, eland, gemsbuck, kudu, impala, wildebeest, you get to eat so many different things.
One thing I would suggest to anyone new and wanting to go on their first hunting safari is to get a flight from either Atlanta or New York to Johannesburg, don't go through Doha, it adds way too much travel time. I did it to save money but honestly when I go back I will take the direct flight, all the extra time caused so much jet lag, I think the total travel time was something like 38-40 hours for me and if I had paid like 200-300$ more that could have been cut down to 26-27 hours.
I have not been hunting in a well over a decade and decided early last year that I had wanted to get back into hunting, as most of the family members that either had land or knew people that had land have passed away I remembered my grandfather wanting to try a African hunting safari decades earlier but he could not due to health and family issues. With this in mind, and my finances in a better place, I decided to go on a African hunting safari.
I went with @HENRY GRIFFITHS SAFARIS, I went with him because of the quick response and the quick communication if I had questions. I elected to do the Starter Plains Game Package which included blesbok trophy, warthog trophy, impala trophy, blue wildebeest trophy, and a cull animal which ended up being a blesbok. Before my trip I also elected to add on a trophy zebra because I wanted a rug.
I flew out of Fargo North Dakota on Sepetmber 3rd on American Airlines and had a long layover in Chicago where I then boarded a Qatari Airways flight for Doha, after a long layover in Doha I boarded another Qatari Airways flight for Johannesburg. I arrived early in Johannesburg on September 5th and checked into the Afton Safari Lodge. I met Henry on the 5th as he was dropping off his previous hunters. We left early on the 6th and it took about 6 hours to reach the lodge which is located in the North West province. It had been storming and there was a lot of rain, by the time we had arrived there had been a let up in the rain so we went to zero in his rifle. I had elected to rent his rifle, I have never travelled by air with my rifle and with this all being new to me I found it easier to just rent. Just as we were finishing up it began to downpour so we headed back to the lodge and decided to start hunting on the 7th.
The first day of hunting on the 7th was eventful. We spotted a blue wildebeest herd early in the morning after walking through the trees and brush to the road where it opens up to a large plain. I took a blue wildebeest trophy at 250 meters. The rest of the day trying for trophy blesbok which I was finally able to achieve later in the day. I had two misses at first, and after talking it out henry made a correction to the rifle, the cheekpad thing had to be elevated a little, I was finding it difficult to get on the blesbok with the scope before they would move away, I was finding I had a lot less time compared to the wildebeest earlier in the day. After the correction I shot a trophy blesbok at 170 meters and it went down. To my shame upon coming on the blesbok we discovered that I hadn't missed once earlier in the day just grazed it earlier in the day(the kill shot was in the afternoon and the misses were in the morning), that it was hit on its back but not low enough for it to have hit the spine or been disabling, I was told that while it had been shot the shot wouldnt have killed it and he had been watching both previous shots and thought I had missed each time. Anyway the correction to the rifle resulted in no more misses or wounds for the rest of the safari.
The second day of hunting on the 8th started early. I took a trophy impala at 70 meters in dense brush, while driving the trophy back for skinning the vehicle got charged at by a water buffalo. After that I elected to add on a cull impala which I then shot at 150 meters in brush. The rest of the day was spent looking for a trophy zebra which we found before it got dark and I took it at 200 meters.
The third day of hunting on the 9th I took a cull blesbok immediately in the morning at 200 meters and the rest of the day was spent looking for trophy warthog. We were not on the concession but the farm that is all around the concession, crops and cattle along with woods and dense brush. We saw kudu and a assortment of other animals but no warthogs at first. That the unusually cooler weather and extra water from earlier in the week meant the warthogs weren't going to be moving around as much. Drove around until we spotted one that was over 600 meters away and upon trying to get closer for a shot it got spooked and it ran into dense brush. The second opportunity later in the day ended with cattle and guineafowls giving us away.
Fourth day of hunting on the 10th started much later in the morning. We ended up waiting in the area we saw the second warthog in where the cows and guineafowls gave us away in. After several hours the warthogs got comfortable enough to stray far enough out into the field out of the woods/brush and I was able to take one at 150 meters. With all the animals on my package taken I decided to add a cull blue wildebeest and cull golden wildebeest.
Fifth day of hunting on the 11th we started early again, we were back on the concession in the woods/brush and I was able to take cull golden wildebeest at 127 meters, took two shots(both hit) and after the golden wildebeest ran off into the dense brush, took some time to find it discovering it around 100 meters away from where I had shot it. In the afternoon I took my cull blue wildebeest at 220 meters. With that the hunting was done.
I spent my last day on the 12th just relaxing and doing the paperwork for the trophies. I went for a walk, the concession is something like 5+ miles long and I dont even know how many miles wide. Saw a bunch of animals, giraffe, nyala, waterbuck, gemsbuck, rhino, baboons, bunch of different colored birds.
On the 13th I was driven back to the Afton Safari lodge in Johannesburg, and I was on my flight back on on the 14th.
Overall I am very happy with safari. I plan to go back again sometime with HGS in either 2028 or 2029, maybe for the kudu package. I didnt elect to do any of the tourist stuff because I didn't know how difficult the hunting would be or how much time I would need, but next time I would like to add a extra day or two and do some of the shorter tourist things on his website, I added several cull animals and still had a extra day at the end. Another thing is the food is amazing, I ate so much game, eland, gemsbuck, kudu, impala, wildebeest, you get to eat so many different things.
One thing I would suggest to anyone new and wanting to go on their first hunting safari is to get a flight from either Atlanta or New York to Johannesburg, don't go through Doha, it adds way too much travel time. I did it to save money but honestly when I go back I will take the direct flight, all the extra time caused so much jet lag, I think the total travel time was something like 38-40 hours for me and if I had paid like 200-300$ more that could have been cut down to 26-27 hours.
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