This year I joined the double rifle club first with my Rizzini 470 now with my Chapuis 450-400. I booked a hunt with @TSALA HUNTING SAFARIS from 7/2-7-11/21 to hunt a 40+ Cape buffalo and a Nyala. This is my report for one of the greatest experiences in my 62 year old life! I hope I am able to share my excitement with all of you my friends on AH.
First I just cannot say enough about the entire Tsala family!!! They made me feel like I am a member of their family. Tsala means a meeting of friends. Their mission is for people who arrive as strangers leave as friends and let me tell you it is an unbelievable experience from start to finish!!!
Second Roan is known as a tremendous PH but maybe for those of you who might not know his son Brandon let me just tell you he is an outstanding talented PH in his own right. He has a degree in Ecology as well as his experience and certifications as a PH. I have never hunted with someone who knows every plant and tree and relates it to the animals we hunt
Third the food, warm fire every night and incredible service were just first rate and so very appreciated!
Fourth Brandon’s wife Jo did an incredible job communicating with me before and throughout my hunt as well as being an awesome cook! Now on to the hunt!!!
Day1
Had breakfast of toast and coffee and off to hunt in the bush starting at 7:00. While drinking my coffee heard incredible roaring of a lion just an estimated three miles away! If you don’t think that gets your heart beating fast hearing that in Africa then you should give up hunting! Our primary goal was Buffalo. We road the road first with a large branch behind the truck dragging all the vast road system so all old tracks were wiped clean so we could spot fresh tracks for our second day. We saw so many incredible animals during this day…zebra, wildebeest, impala, sable, gemsbuck! Just before dark it happened…4 beautiful buffalo crossed the road with 3 of them hitting the 40+ mark but all still immature. Tsala only takes mature hard boss bulls so we just watched this beautiful sight. Just before dark we spotted a loan bull in heavy thorns and it was mind blowing to see a 48-50 incher staring right at us!!!! This magnificent bull has been advertised in AH before…I am here to tell you he is very real and alive and well for some lucky hunter!!! Just above my price range
Dinner was incredible and Chris had a delicious glass of sherry when I walked in then a nice scotch by the fire. A special delight was their wonderful oldest daughter has her degree in wine making…I had her unbelievable great white and red wines during my stay!!!!
Day2
After breakfast we saw fresh tracks so off we went for a two hour tracking moving through some incredible thick bush. Twice this day we spotted hard boss bulls and tried a stalk but the wind would shift and bust us. I want to share my thoughts about what I have read on AH and now have experienced and hope I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings…the size of the property matters little it is the quality of the experience just my point of view!!! During my hunt I destroyed two hunting shirts, took off my boots for a stalk you will hear about shortly and was completely drained after walking an average of 10 miles per day hunting!!!
Day3
Similar to day 2 but on one of our tracking that took us up over the Waterberg mountains we spotted a brown hyena which was a real treat. We also came across fresh leopord tracks and dung!!! Exciting! Okay now time for a comedy break for all you experienced AH friends…Brandon my PH said “Craig come join me climbing a koppi”. Now I don’t know what that is but I do what my PH tells me so I thought he wanted me to climb a tree with him! Lol! We pass several good trees but no they must not be the right ones for climbing… I finally see the rocks and learn what a koppi is! A very special treat this night was the entire family taking me to the top of a huge different koppi to enjoy the sunset which was just amazing seeing the sunset over the Waterberg mountains a memory I will never forget!
Day 4
We came across tracks in the afternoon and stalked to within 55 yards of an incredible group of bulls. At Brandon’s showing me the bull to take I stood up sighted my 450-400 DR and shot!!! Took down a small tree I did not see in my excitement as the buffalo ran away. We looked for an hour but clearly I missed so Craig 0 with one tree down Buffalo 1.
Day5
THE DAY!!! The single most incredible day of hunting in my life! In the morning we spotted big tracks so off we go. We would track the single set of tracks to where they intersected with other buffalo. It was unreal to me when between Brandon, Roan and our trackers they would see this particular set of tracks and off we went. Suddenly Brandon drops to the ground and waves all of us down…we spot 4 buffalo in the thick bush feeding. The wind was perfect for a stalk but what a stalk it was!!! Roan and the trackers stayed back as Brandon and I crawled then waited all over 2 hours watching them. We got within 15 yards of a nice but immature bull who stared us down twice!!! I was behind Brandon and did not even breath my heart was pounding out of my chest!!! This bull finally fed off. Two of the other bulls were over 40 inches but Brandon shook his head no they were not hard boss. Suddenly at 26 yards Brandon spots a shooter…he wants me to shoot but I cannot get clearance through the thick bush! I step out and the big bull spots me…just as he turns I shoot breaking his hip but I did not know that at the time! We all gather and talk about the shot…once again we find where my bullet went through a small branch and I felt down. However we branch out on tracks with me with Brandon and Roan and the trackers with him in another direction. Brandon and I see nothing but suddenly we hear Roan whistle and we go over to him. The two trackers had bumped my bull who was now alone and saw him limping. We slowly tracked him where we saw an incredible sight…at 50 yards the bull was standing behind heavy bush looking back down the trail!!! Due to Brandon’s experience he had set us tracking in a circle off the trail once we knew the bull was hit but not down. Brandon then perfectly positioned me for a 30 yard shot…my 450-400 DR did perfect with two quick shots touching each other right on the shoulder finishing the great bull!!! The bull measured 43 3/8 inches wide blowing my mind!!! I will finish up my report tomorrow!!!
First I just cannot say enough about the entire Tsala family!!! They made me feel like I am a member of their family. Tsala means a meeting of friends. Their mission is for people who arrive as strangers leave as friends and let me tell you it is an unbelievable experience from start to finish!!!
Second Roan is known as a tremendous PH but maybe for those of you who might not know his son Brandon let me just tell you he is an outstanding talented PH in his own right. He has a degree in Ecology as well as his experience and certifications as a PH. I have never hunted with someone who knows every plant and tree and relates it to the animals we hunt
Third the food, warm fire every night and incredible service were just first rate and so very appreciated!
Fourth Brandon’s wife Jo did an incredible job communicating with me before and throughout my hunt as well as being an awesome cook! Now on to the hunt!!!
Day1
Had breakfast of toast and coffee and off to hunt in the bush starting at 7:00. While drinking my coffee heard incredible roaring of a lion just an estimated three miles away! If you don’t think that gets your heart beating fast hearing that in Africa then you should give up hunting! Our primary goal was Buffalo. We road the road first with a large branch behind the truck dragging all the vast road system so all old tracks were wiped clean so we could spot fresh tracks for our second day. We saw so many incredible animals during this day…zebra, wildebeest, impala, sable, gemsbuck! Just before dark it happened…4 beautiful buffalo crossed the road with 3 of them hitting the 40+ mark but all still immature. Tsala only takes mature hard boss bulls so we just watched this beautiful sight. Just before dark we spotted a loan bull in heavy thorns and it was mind blowing to see a 48-50 incher staring right at us!!!! This magnificent bull has been advertised in AH before…I am here to tell you he is very real and alive and well for some lucky hunter!!! Just above my price range
Dinner was incredible and Chris had a delicious glass of sherry when I walked in then a nice scotch by the fire. A special delight was their wonderful oldest daughter has her degree in wine making…I had her unbelievable great white and red wines during my stay!!!!
Day2
After breakfast we saw fresh tracks so off we went for a two hour tracking moving through some incredible thick bush. Twice this day we spotted hard boss bulls and tried a stalk but the wind would shift and bust us. I want to share my thoughts about what I have read on AH and now have experienced and hope I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings…the size of the property matters little it is the quality of the experience just my point of view!!! During my hunt I destroyed two hunting shirts, took off my boots for a stalk you will hear about shortly and was completely drained after walking an average of 10 miles per day hunting!!!
Day3
Similar to day 2 but on one of our tracking that took us up over the Waterberg mountains we spotted a brown hyena which was a real treat. We also came across fresh leopord tracks and dung!!! Exciting! Okay now time for a comedy break for all you experienced AH friends…Brandon my PH said “Craig come join me climbing a koppi”. Now I don’t know what that is but I do what my PH tells me so I thought he wanted me to climb a tree with him! Lol! We pass several good trees but no they must not be the right ones for climbing… I finally see the rocks and learn what a koppi is! A very special treat this night was the entire family taking me to the top of a huge different koppi to enjoy the sunset which was just amazing seeing the sunset over the Waterberg mountains a memory I will never forget!
Day 4
We came across tracks in the afternoon and stalked to within 55 yards of an incredible group of bulls. At Brandon’s showing me the bull to take I stood up sighted my 450-400 DR and shot!!! Took down a small tree I did not see in my excitement as the buffalo ran away. We looked for an hour but clearly I missed so Craig 0 with one tree down Buffalo 1.
Day5
THE DAY!!! The single most incredible day of hunting in my life! In the morning we spotted big tracks so off we go. We would track the single set of tracks to where they intersected with other buffalo. It was unreal to me when between Brandon, Roan and our trackers they would see this particular set of tracks and off we went. Suddenly Brandon drops to the ground and waves all of us down…we spot 4 buffalo in the thick bush feeding. The wind was perfect for a stalk but what a stalk it was!!! Roan and the trackers stayed back as Brandon and I crawled then waited all over 2 hours watching them. We got within 15 yards of a nice but immature bull who stared us down twice!!! I was behind Brandon and did not even breath my heart was pounding out of my chest!!! This bull finally fed off. Two of the other bulls were over 40 inches but Brandon shook his head no they were not hard boss. Suddenly at 26 yards Brandon spots a shooter…he wants me to shoot but I cannot get clearance through the thick bush! I step out and the big bull spots me…just as he turns I shoot breaking his hip but I did not know that at the time! We all gather and talk about the shot…once again we find where my bullet went through a small branch and I felt down. However we branch out on tracks with me with Brandon and Roan and the trackers with him in another direction. Brandon and I see nothing but suddenly we hear Roan whistle and we go over to him. The two trackers had bumped my bull who was now alone and saw him limping. We slowly tracked him where we saw an incredible sight…at 50 yards the bull was standing behind heavy bush looking back down the trail!!! Due to Brandon’s experience he had set us tracking in a circle off the trail once we knew the bull was hit but not down. Brandon then perfectly positioned me for a 30 yard shot…my 450-400 DR did perfect with two quick shots touching each other right on the shoulder finishing the great bull!!! The bull measured 43 3/8 inches wide blowing my mind!!! I will finish up my report tomorrow!!!
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