Albert GRANT
AH elite
Outfitter- Andri Fox Safaris
PH- Andri Fox
Location- East Cape, RSA
Dates 8-24-2016 to 9-1-2016
As some of you know 7 months into the planning, I had to change my safari 1 month from leaving for Africa, due to the fact I didn't have enough money for my original plans. Andri was willing to offer me a very good package for less money and once he found out it was my first trip to Africa, he was determined to make it great. Once I realized I needed to make the change I also realized I would not be able to bring anything back. That being said I told Andri I didn't want to shoot any record book animals, just the first good mature representative we came across. He did what I asked and it just happened that a couple times the first we saw was bigger than I planned and I got more than I was looking for. I bring this up because I want you all to know the trophy quality is there, and we saw some true monsters while out. Luckily I had already taken that particular animal each time we saw a monster or it was something not in the budget. I say luckily because I truly didn't want to take a monster and have to leave it there! Now on to the trip-
Day 1
After way too many hours on planes, I arrived at Port Elizabeth at 2pm. As I waited for my luggage I could see Andri patiently waiting outside the doors. Before we made it across the parking lot to his Land Cruiser, we had already "clicked" and I knew I would have a good time regardless of the results. After a bit more than an hour we arrived at his ranch and I got settled in. I met his wife Erica, also a wonderful person, who would do the cooking and take care of anything else I needed. The lodging is new construction, clean, very comfortable and even included personal WIFI. We went out to shoot since I was using one of his rifles and he gave me a newer model Winchester in .300 WSM topped with a Vortex scope. Once I proved I could shoot to his satisfaction, we headed out on his property to see if we could find a warthog. None were seen, but I did get to see close up the beautiful Black Impala he is breeding there, as well as a bunch of female kudu. We headed back for the obligatory welcoming Braai, which was fantastic. As I sat by the fire my first night, I listened to the lions on the neighboring reserve roaring. I was finally in Africa!
Day 2
I woke up shivering in the morning as I had not turned on the heat. Imagine my surprise to find it barely 40 degrees out! After bundling up and a quick breakfast, Andri said we would be going to a property nearby to try for Kudu. After picking up Michael the tracker we shortly arrived at the property. Andri said it was 12000 acres, which must be far bigger than I imagine, because after going through the gate I never saw another high fence while we were there. As we headed in we saw a Duiker just standing to the side of the road about 30yds away. Neat to see one standing still! As we drove we saw several nice Kudu bulls with some cows but they immediately took off running. Shortly we saw another bunch with the same result. Andri decided they were too spooky for some reason so we headed to another part of the property which required using the railroad bed that ran thru it. I will never forget Andri's words as we drove onto that bed. He looked at me and said " Make sure the door is unlocked and you aren't buckled" with a little chuckle and we were off! As we headed down the tracks we saw a beautiful Nyala bull, but not much else. Andri said we were going to the ridge ahead of us and get out and walk. Fine by me. We got out with his new 13 week old Jack Russell pup in tow and headed up the ridge. Shortly after cresting it we jumped a Gemsbok. Andri said he was very nice but young and we kept moving. We went about a mile to a rock out cropping and sat there for a bit glassing. There were several kudu cows a few hundred yards below us but no bulls. Finally Andri spotted a good bull at the far end of the valley and the stalk commenced. As we left the rocks we jumped a huge old waterbuck bull that had been within 100 yards of us the whole time and we didn't know it! He stopped about 60yds away and just stood there watching us. He had great horns with only a couple inches broken off one side. We continued across the valley for about 2 miles before realizing we weren't going to be able to get a clear shot. After checking several times to be sure of where he was, Andri headed down into a ravine and up the ridge on the other side. Once we got to the edge of the brush we found we were directly across from and above the bull. Forgetting I am left handed Andri positioned us for a shot off a rock I couldn't possibly shoot from. Quickly realizing the issue he desperately looked for an alternative to no avail. He didn't want to set up the sticks on the steep slope and he had ranged the bull at 287yds as well. I assured him I was good with the sticks so he set them up. I got settled in and pulled the trigger. The bull lunged ahead and Andri said it was a good shot. As we headed back into the ravine Andri said we would need to be careful as he had seen a herd of cape buffalo moving up it after I shot. Getting clear of the thick brush we relaxed and went to where the bull had been standing. No blood could be found anywhere. The pup was making circles but not getting much. Andri called Michael to bring the other dogs. As we waited we continued to look in the direction he had gone, only finding a couple tracks but still no blood. I began to worry I had actually missed, or worse that it was only a wounding shot. Andri assured me I hit it, asking if I had heard the bullet hit. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he was positive it was a good hit. Finally the older dogs got there and were on the track. Andri told me if they started barking we needed to get to them quickly to finish it off. We had just barely started when Andri looked through a bush and said the dogs had already found it! It had only gone 50yds and dropped behind a bunch of brush just past where we stopped and decided to wait for the dogs. It was a perfect heart shot, with the bullet lodged under the skin on the far shoulder. I had taken my first African animal! It was a great one to boot, Andri saying it might go gold medal (Later measured to just miss it by 1.5 inch, which didn't matter to me one bit!) Andri commented how rare it was to get a Kudu bull so quickly in a hunt, especially a good one, and I know how lucky I am, as the rest of the trip it got very hot and extremely windy, and outside of parks or reserves we never saw another good bull.
It was amazing how Andri kept track of where the bull was the hole time, and managed to both get us up the ridge in a perfect position for a shot, as well as back through the half mile of so of thick up and down terrain to the exact spot the bull was standing when hit. Andri definitely earned his PH title! After loading the bull we headed for the meat shed and relaxed to a well earned and delicious brunch. We then headed out for a driven meat hunt which only resulted in a kudu cow and calf being jumped.
Later in the afternoon we headed out to his brothers property for Impala. This hunt went very quickly and wasn't much work, but it was still fun none the less. We had just arrived and spotted some impala off in the distance and were keeping an eye on them, looking for a good ram. After driving on a few minutes, still watching the herd, the tracker whispered something done to Andri. Turns out while we were all watching this herd, another had moved in on the other side of us and were only about 200yds away in tall brush. Luckily they hadn't seen us. Hearing the vehicle, they knew something was up of course and were moving off, but had not spooked. We got out and quickly moved at a diagonal to them, hunched below the tops of the brush. We stopped several times to glass and knew we were gaining on them but had yet to pick out a ram and they were not stopping. We picked up the pace a bit and closed in to about 70yds where we came across an opening. They hadn't made it there yet and Andri got the sticks setup and I got settled in. Andri quickly picked out a ram with good thick horns. I got on him but he wasn't stopping. Andri whistled but they didn't even flinch. This is where it gets interesting. Remember that pup? Well we had him with us again and he was doing great, however still being a pup, once he stopped he got curious and noticed shadows moving around as the wind blew and started barking! Luckily we were in the shadows and we was much to small to be seen. The impala were clearly agitated, but not knowing where it was they had hesitated, which gave me the opportunity for a shot. The ram was standing in a bush but it was thin and I could clearly see the shoulder. I pulled the trigger and got the dreaded click. Andri whispered over that I forgot to load. I then jacked out the dud round I knew was in there. Andri could not believe it and was not happy it had not gone off! I reloaded and got back on the scope to find the ram amazingly hadn't moved. They were still unsure what to do with the dog barking, but not getting any closer. I quickly took the shot, breaking both shoulders and dropped him on the spot. Second animal down. This 70yd, dog barking shot would prove to be, by far, the easiest shot of the trip.
Now some of you might have been upset about this issue with the dog, but I will remind you I was not after record trophies and there were tons of impala around so we could have easily just moved on to the original herd we had been looking at. He is still just a pup and this is how he gets trained. frankly I was glad to be part of it, because honestly he is going to grow up to be one heck of a hunting dog and I can say I was there at the start. He really did a very good job through the whole trip especially for his age, and even found my blesbok all by himself, but that's a later story. We headed back and celebrated our days success with the infamous Bushmans Ass. Following that was another wonderful meal prepared by Erica. I don't know what their feelings were, but for me it was already like being with family at the dinner table.
Day 3
Andri was worried that we would get all my animals very quickly with the luck I was having and be left with a long time of not much to do, so he decided we would try something different, and hunt with a friend of his in new areas on more driven meat hunts. These would be in all low fence cattle areas with hundreds of thousands of acres for wild animals to roam freely. The first place we went to had a beautiful, long, narrow, deep rift running though it. Andri and I went down to a point sticking out into it, while the other guys came over the top on the opposite side and down through. We caught a quickly glimpse of a bushbuck and a bushpig, but no shots or other animals.
As we got back together on the hillside to discuss what to do next, a jackal came trotting out behind the guys to the side. I was the only one facing it and told the guys it was there, only 30yds away, as I started to raise my gun. Problem was Andri and his friend were between me and it so I dropped the rifle back down. From Andri's point of view I had a clear shot and told me to shoot. They weren't in direct line but were ahead of me and if nothing else would have been subject to the full blast of the gasses. No animal is worth that risk and I passed. We all took off after it, but never saw it again. We all found it very odd that it was out it the open at that time and didn't seem to know we were there. Andri's friend said that never happens, which is a line that was repeated many times over during my trip. Seems I was destined to experience many of the rare occurances the area could offer. One being the heat that time of year. Starting this day, continuing for the next 4 it was 95-100 degrees the whole time with 20+ mph winds.
For the second part of the day we traveled deep into the mountains going about 10 miles on what I considered an ATV track, but they called an access road which ended at a cattle pasture on the side of a mountain. As I was stepping out of the truck, a huge warthog went running by and dove into the brush. Never had a chance to load, much less get a shot. That is the one animal I wish I had a second try at on this trip. Again it was another beautiful area which we sat, overlooking a ravine, as the guys pushed through. It turned up nothing, the Kudu seeming to hate both the heat and wind. We sat back as enjoyed the view as the braai cooked. After enjoying a good lunch, we hunted our way back out, only seeing a few kudu cows. Back to the lodge for another good meal and a good rest.
Day 4
After the lack of animals the previous day, Andri decided to go after the Blesbok this morning. We headed to a completely different area to a property Andri said hadn't been hunting in many years. It showed, as we saw many magnificent specimens from several species there. It was a high veld area, all mostly open grassy plains. After driving a couple miles into it we stopped and glassed the mountainside. We found a large herd of Eland first, with a great looking bull, then came across the blesbok. Andri said we needed to hike back around the base of the mountain and come up the backside in order to get in front of where they were heading without being seen. As we went we came across a very large tortoise slowly moving along. We took the time to check it out and it voiced it's displeasure at out intrusion by hissing at us, which kind of surprised me! As we got close to the top we came across a gemsbok with crooked horns. Neat to see but we moved on. We got to where Andri felt they were heading and got set up. What happened next was something from national geographic. First a huge herd of impala crested the ridge and spread out over this flat area below us, then a bunch of hartebeest and zebra starting coming in. Next we looked up to see a big herd of eland moving down. Finally the blesbok showed, with only one male in this group, which happened to be a very old ram who looked a bit thin. By this time there were 200 animals milling around below us and it took 30min to get a clear shot at the ram. By this time I had been on the sticks for 45 min as we had very little cover and I didn't want to move. I have three partially ruptured discs in my lower back and it had locked up, but I don't want to make excuses and when the opportunity came it was about 300yds out and I hit him really high. He initially stumbled but then went back into the herd and started grazing again, no limp, no blood. Because we were high and it was all open, the sound bounced around confusing the animals, and after running circled they all went back to feeding. I knew I had hit it because by now I had come to know the sound you can hear on a hit animal, but he still showed no signs. I noticed a very young one back in the area of the shot not moving and not looking good either. It suddenly dropped to the ground and I became sick with the feeling I had somehow hit the wrong animal. Just then Andri said he could see the spot on the ram where I had it as the light changed. We waited for him to get clear again, but I was rattled and missed completely on the second shot. I sucked it up as he didn't move at the shot, and finally put the third through his heart at 244yds. This was the low point of my trip, I don't like wounding animals, but he clearly wasn't suffered between the shots and I had him, so I shook it off. As it was all open we knew right where he was, but put the pup on him and after a couple mistakes he found it and made claim. It was funny watching this little pup keep the others dogs away from his animal! As we were making our way to him we cut to the side and jumped the young one still laying down. Andri got a good look at it and said there was nothing visibly wrong and it must just be sick. I felt much better knowing for sure I hadn't hit it, even though I knew there was no possible way I could have with where the ram was hit. Animal number 3 down. Andri figures it was about 16yrs old
On the way back out we found that the weather had gotten warm enough to wake the reptiles as we came right up to a puff adder and didn't know it until it was almost too late. Took care of him and then came across more tortoises
It was so hot out at this point, we hurried back to get the Blesbok in the meat room, then heading in for a drink and A/C until late in the afternoon. We then went to the other side of Andri's property and sat over oranges waiting for Kudu. Only a cow and calf showed so we headed back. What was left of the sunset was nice on the way out
PH- Andri Fox
Location- East Cape, RSA
Dates 8-24-2016 to 9-1-2016
As some of you know 7 months into the planning, I had to change my safari 1 month from leaving for Africa, due to the fact I didn't have enough money for my original plans. Andri was willing to offer me a very good package for less money and once he found out it was my first trip to Africa, he was determined to make it great. Once I realized I needed to make the change I also realized I would not be able to bring anything back. That being said I told Andri I didn't want to shoot any record book animals, just the first good mature representative we came across. He did what I asked and it just happened that a couple times the first we saw was bigger than I planned and I got more than I was looking for. I bring this up because I want you all to know the trophy quality is there, and we saw some true monsters while out. Luckily I had already taken that particular animal each time we saw a monster or it was something not in the budget. I say luckily because I truly didn't want to take a monster and have to leave it there! Now on to the trip-
Day 1
After way too many hours on planes, I arrived at Port Elizabeth at 2pm. As I waited for my luggage I could see Andri patiently waiting outside the doors. Before we made it across the parking lot to his Land Cruiser, we had already "clicked" and I knew I would have a good time regardless of the results. After a bit more than an hour we arrived at his ranch and I got settled in. I met his wife Erica, also a wonderful person, who would do the cooking and take care of anything else I needed. The lodging is new construction, clean, very comfortable and even included personal WIFI. We went out to shoot since I was using one of his rifles and he gave me a newer model Winchester in .300 WSM topped with a Vortex scope. Once I proved I could shoot to his satisfaction, we headed out on his property to see if we could find a warthog. None were seen, but I did get to see close up the beautiful Black Impala he is breeding there, as well as a bunch of female kudu. We headed back for the obligatory welcoming Braai, which was fantastic. As I sat by the fire my first night, I listened to the lions on the neighboring reserve roaring. I was finally in Africa!
Day 2
I woke up shivering in the morning as I had not turned on the heat. Imagine my surprise to find it barely 40 degrees out! After bundling up and a quick breakfast, Andri said we would be going to a property nearby to try for Kudu. After picking up Michael the tracker we shortly arrived at the property. Andri said it was 12000 acres, which must be far bigger than I imagine, because after going through the gate I never saw another high fence while we were there. As we headed in we saw a Duiker just standing to the side of the road about 30yds away. Neat to see one standing still! As we drove we saw several nice Kudu bulls with some cows but they immediately took off running. Shortly we saw another bunch with the same result. Andri decided they were too spooky for some reason so we headed to another part of the property which required using the railroad bed that ran thru it. I will never forget Andri's words as we drove onto that bed. He looked at me and said " Make sure the door is unlocked and you aren't buckled" with a little chuckle and we were off! As we headed down the tracks we saw a beautiful Nyala bull, but not much else. Andri said we were going to the ridge ahead of us and get out and walk. Fine by me. We got out with his new 13 week old Jack Russell pup in tow and headed up the ridge. Shortly after cresting it we jumped a Gemsbok. Andri said he was very nice but young and we kept moving. We went about a mile to a rock out cropping and sat there for a bit glassing. There were several kudu cows a few hundred yards below us but no bulls. Finally Andri spotted a good bull at the far end of the valley and the stalk commenced. As we left the rocks we jumped a huge old waterbuck bull that had been within 100 yards of us the whole time and we didn't know it! He stopped about 60yds away and just stood there watching us. He had great horns with only a couple inches broken off one side. We continued across the valley for about 2 miles before realizing we weren't going to be able to get a clear shot. After checking several times to be sure of where he was, Andri headed down into a ravine and up the ridge on the other side. Once we got to the edge of the brush we found we were directly across from and above the bull. Forgetting I am left handed Andri positioned us for a shot off a rock I couldn't possibly shoot from. Quickly realizing the issue he desperately looked for an alternative to no avail. He didn't want to set up the sticks on the steep slope and he had ranged the bull at 287yds as well. I assured him I was good with the sticks so he set them up. I got settled in and pulled the trigger. The bull lunged ahead and Andri said it was a good shot. As we headed back into the ravine Andri said we would need to be careful as he had seen a herd of cape buffalo moving up it after I shot. Getting clear of the thick brush we relaxed and went to where the bull had been standing. No blood could be found anywhere. The pup was making circles but not getting much. Andri called Michael to bring the other dogs. As we waited we continued to look in the direction he had gone, only finding a couple tracks but still no blood. I began to worry I had actually missed, or worse that it was only a wounding shot. Andri assured me I hit it, asking if I had heard the bullet hit. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he was positive it was a good hit. Finally the older dogs got there and were on the track. Andri told me if they started barking we needed to get to them quickly to finish it off. We had just barely started when Andri looked through a bush and said the dogs had already found it! It had only gone 50yds and dropped behind a bunch of brush just past where we stopped and decided to wait for the dogs. It was a perfect heart shot, with the bullet lodged under the skin on the far shoulder. I had taken my first African animal! It was a great one to boot, Andri saying it might go gold medal (Later measured to just miss it by 1.5 inch, which didn't matter to me one bit!) Andri commented how rare it was to get a Kudu bull so quickly in a hunt, especially a good one, and I know how lucky I am, as the rest of the trip it got very hot and extremely windy, and outside of parks or reserves we never saw another good bull.
Later in the afternoon we headed out to his brothers property for Impala. This hunt went very quickly and wasn't much work, but it was still fun none the less. We had just arrived and spotted some impala off in the distance and were keeping an eye on them, looking for a good ram. After driving on a few minutes, still watching the herd, the tracker whispered something done to Andri. Turns out while we were all watching this herd, another had moved in on the other side of us and were only about 200yds away in tall brush. Luckily they hadn't seen us. Hearing the vehicle, they knew something was up of course and were moving off, but had not spooked. We got out and quickly moved at a diagonal to them, hunched below the tops of the brush. We stopped several times to glass and knew we were gaining on them but had yet to pick out a ram and they were not stopping. We picked up the pace a bit and closed in to about 70yds where we came across an opening. They hadn't made it there yet and Andri got the sticks setup and I got settled in. Andri quickly picked out a ram with good thick horns. I got on him but he wasn't stopping. Andri whistled but they didn't even flinch. This is where it gets interesting. Remember that pup? Well we had him with us again and he was doing great, however still being a pup, once he stopped he got curious and noticed shadows moving around as the wind blew and started barking! Luckily we were in the shadows and we was much to small to be seen. The impala were clearly agitated, but not knowing where it was they had hesitated, which gave me the opportunity for a shot. The ram was standing in a bush but it was thin and I could clearly see the shoulder. I pulled the trigger and got the dreaded click. Andri whispered over that I forgot to load. I then jacked out the dud round I knew was in there. Andri could not believe it and was not happy it had not gone off! I reloaded and got back on the scope to find the ram amazingly hadn't moved. They were still unsure what to do with the dog barking, but not getting any closer. I quickly took the shot, breaking both shoulders and dropped him on the spot. Second animal down. This 70yd, dog barking shot would prove to be, by far, the easiest shot of the trip.
Day 3
Andri was worried that we would get all my animals very quickly with the luck I was having and be left with a long time of not much to do, so he decided we would try something different, and hunt with a friend of his in new areas on more driven meat hunts. These would be in all low fence cattle areas with hundreds of thousands of acres for wild animals to roam freely. The first place we went to had a beautiful, long, narrow, deep rift running though it. Andri and I went down to a point sticking out into it, while the other guys came over the top on the opposite side and down through. We caught a quickly glimpse of a bushbuck and a bushpig, but no shots or other animals.
For the second part of the day we traveled deep into the mountains going about 10 miles on what I considered an ATV track, but they called an access road which ended at a cattle pasture on the side of a mountain. As I was stepping out of the truck, a huge warthog went running by and dove into the brush. Never had a chance to load, much less get a shot. That is the one animal I wish I had a second try at on this trip. Again it was another beautiful area which we sat, overlooking a ravine, as the guys pushed through. It turned up nothing, the Kudu seeming to hate both the heat and wind. We sat back as enjoyed the view as the braai cooked. After enjoying a good lunch, we hunted our way back out, only seeing a few kudu cows. Back to the lodge for another good meal and a good rest.
Day 4
After the lack of animals the previous day, Andri decided to go after the Blesbok this morning. We headed to a completely different area to a property Andri said hadn't been hunting in many years. It showed, as we saw many magnificent specimens from several species there. It was a high veld area, all mostly open grassy plains. After driving a couple miles into it we stopped and glassed the mountainside. We found a large herd of Eland first, with a great looking bull, then came across the blesbok. Andri said we needed to hike back around the base of the mountain and come up the backside in order to get in front of where they were heading without being seen. As we went we came across a very large tortoise slowly moving along. We took the time to check it out and it voiced it's displeasure at out intrusion by hissing at us, which kind of surprised me! As we got close to the top we came across a gemsbok with crooked horns. Neat to see but we moved on. We got to where Andri felt they were heading and got set up. What happened next was something from national geographic. First a huge herd of impala crested the ridge and spread out over this flat area below us, then a bunch of hartebeest and zebra starting coming in. Next we looked up to see a big herd of eland moving down. Finally the blesbok showed, with only one male in this group, which happened to be a very old ram who looked a bit thin. By this time there were 200 animals milling around below us and it took 30min to get a clear shot at the ram. By this time I had been on the sticks for 45 min as we had very little cover and I didn't want to move. I have three partially ruptured discs in my lower back and it had locked up, but I don't want to make excuses and when the opportunity came it was about 300yds out and I hit him really high. He initially stumbled but then went back into the herd and started grazing again, no limp, no blood. Because we were high and it was all open, the sound bounced around confusing the animals, and after running circled they all went back to feeding. I knew I had hit it because by now I had come to know the sound you can hear on a hit animal, but he still showed no signs. I noticed a very young one back in the area of the shot not moving and not looking good either. It suddenly dropped to the ground and I became sick with the feeling I had somehow hit the wrong animal. Just then Andri said he could see the spot on the ram where I had it as the light changed. We waited for him to get clear again, but I was rattled and missed completely on the second shot. I sucked it up as he didn't move at the shot, and finally put the third through his heart at 244yds. This was the low point of my trip, I don't like wounding animals, but he clearly wasn't suffered between the shots and I had him, so I shook it off. As it was all open we knew right where he was, but put the pup on him and after a couple mistakes he found it and made claim. It was funny watching this little pup keep the others dogs away from his animal! As we were making our way to him we cut to the side and jumped the young one still laying down. Andri got a good look at it and said there was nothing visibly wrong and it must just be sick. I felt much better knowing for sure I hadn't hit it, even though I knew there was no possible way I could have with where the ram was hit. Animal number 3 down. Andri figures it was about 16yrs old
