TERMINATOR
AH elite
- Joined
- May 6, 2011
- Messages
- 1,135
- Reaction score
- 2,564
- Location
- West Michigan
- Media
- 34
- Articles
- 1
- Member of
- NRA (Life), Safari Club Intl
- Hunted
- Namibia (Kalahari), RSA (Eastern Cape & Northwest Province), Canada(Sask), USA (Michigan, Colorado, Wyoming, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska), Texas (Ya'll do realize Texas is a country right)
So last summer (July 2022), I took my first Cape Buffalo hunting with Marius of @KMG Hunting Safaris. We took a ancient bull with just minutes of shooting light left after a couple exciting stalks on him. One shot kill through the lungs with my .375 H&H but he ran about 100 yards down into the thick brush and we had a adrenaline filled follow up. Happily the bull was dead on arrival, but I put an insurance shot into him just to make sure.
After that hunt I knew two things.
1) I was officially addicted to hunting Cape Buffalo and my life would never be the same. No Plains Game, Deer or Elk hunting would ever compare to hunting Black Death. The only thing that could compare in North America would be if I ever get to hunt Brown Bear in Alaska.
2) I wanted a proper Cape Buffalo gun. When we were following up the Cape Buffalo in the waning daylight, Marius had his .500 NE Double rifle, his assistant Nick was carrying a .416 Rem Mag...and I was feeling under-gunned with my .375 as we trailed the Buffalo into the thick bush.
So after returning home I discussed my experience with a gentleman that had hunted many Cape Buffalo, including using a .375HH and he suggested I get a .416 Rem Mag as that was his favorite. He said compared to the .375 the .416 just kills things faster. So I picked up a like new Win 70 Safari Express in .416, had it pillar bedded and dropped a Timney Tigger in it. I already had a return trip with @KMG Hunting Safaris with a group of family and friends for Plains Game next summer in 2024, so I figured it would be 2025 or later before I could try out my new-to-me "Buffalo Thumper".
So I found myself happily surprised when I came across the opportunity to grab a Cancellation Hunt on very short notice to hunt a Cape Buffalo in July of this year. Somebody else's misfortune was my gain. It was a 6 Day Package Daily Fees and Trophy fee included for a Hard Bossed Bull but with a spread UP TO 38"s. The idea was to take of a old bull to thin the herd, but I would not be going after their best bulls. I literally had less than an hour to to quickly look at the Africa Maximum Safaris website and search some reviews of them to decide on "Go/No Go". I decided it was the cheapest chance I would ever get to hunt a Cape Buffalo and would give me a chance to try out my .416 on it's intended game.
I really didn't care about the size of the bull, as long as he was hard bossed. I figured I might even end up shooting a broken horn bull or something. I have a shoulder mount on the way for my bull last summer and figured whatever I shot I would just end up as a skull mount to remember the trip. But honestly I just wanted to try out my new toy.
So less than a month later I found myself once again on that long ass Delta Flight 200 to JNB to ATL but once again, excited at the thought of being in RSA to hunt.
As always, when I land in JNB I just want to get through customs and get my Rifle Permit as fast as possible, so I contracted with Henry at https://riflepermits.com/ to provide VIP Meet and Greet and for pre-approved rifle permits. As expected, my wife and I were met with met by their representative shortly after we got off the plane. We breezed through customs, collected our luggage and in quick order popped out into the now familiar circular arrival hall with the SAPS office off to the right. There I met the person from Henry's team that had my pre-approved rifle permits and all we had to do was go to SAPS, open my rifle case, quick check to verify the serial numbers on the rifles matched the permits and....bam...done with SAPS in like 5 minutes. Could I do my own rifle permits on arrival? After 4 trips to RSA...yes. But to me it is totally worth the cost to breeze through security and breeze through SAPS and be off to the City Lodge in quick order.
The arrivals hall is also where I met my PH for the hunt, Arrie Claase. Arrie is a big guy who extrudes confidence, while at the same time putting you at ease. I could tell right from the start that Arrie and I would get along great.
We spent the night in the City Lodge and grabbed dinner in their restaurant. The next day we ate breakfast and then loaded our gear into Arrie's hunting truck. It was a slightly over a 2 hour drive west and a little south of Johannesburg the the hunting farm near the town of Klerksdorp.
We arrived just in time to have lunch, then it was over to the rifle range to check zero on my .416 Rem and on the custom Brown Precision .30-06 built on a 1952 Model 70 action. Both guns were printing right where I left them before I left home so Arrie suggested we take off and have a look see for the last few hours of the day. My wife, who is a photographer, went along to take pics.
The farm I was hunting was a little over 10,000 acres and it was not lacking for game of all kinds. That first evening we saw Kudu, Eland, Nyala, Giraffe, Springbuck in the standard pattern and Copper, Impala and Black Impala, Hartebeest, Steenbuck, Lechwe and more. But what really stood out was the population of Wildebeest. The place was teaming with Blue, Black, Golden and something I had never seen or heard of...the Kings Wildebeest with the light colored blaze down it's sides. You could whack 4 different type of Wildebeest without leaving that farm.
After a couple hours of seeing all the other game, we finally picked out a group of Cape Buffalo. It was very windy (like 20-30 mph winds kind of windy) and they seemed to want to stay in the thick cover out of the wind. But we were able to pick out a herd and look over most of them with patience. We found two different herds but they were comprised of cows and young (soft) bulls and a couple really nice bulls that exceeded what my package allowed me to shoot. I knew what the deal was when I signed up for the hunt (under 38") so I was not disappointed to leave the great bulls alone. I was happy with whatever chance I would get on whatever bull was deemed "needing killing" so we moved on until dark. On the way back to the lodge we saw the 3 Rhino that the farm held which posed for pictures for my wife. It was a nice end to our first afternoon on the farm and I was looking forward to getting back out there in the morning.
After that hunt I knew two things.
1) I was officially addicted to hunting Cape Buffalo and my life would never be the same. No Plains Game, Deer or Elk hunting would ever compare to hunting Black Death. The only thing that could compare in North America would be if I ever get to hunt Brown Bear in Alaska.
2) I wanted a proper Cape Buffalo gun. When we were following up the Cape Buffalo in the waning daylight, Marius had his .500 NE Double rifle, his assistant Nick was carrying a .416 Rem Mag...and I was feeling under-gunned with my .375 as we trailed the Buffalo into the thick bush.
So after returning home I discussed my experience with a gentleman that had hunted many Cape Buffalo, including using a .375HH and he suggested I get a .416 Rem Mag as that was his favorite. He said compared to the .375 the .416 just kills things faster. So I picked up a like new Win 70 Safari Express in .416, had it pillar bedded and dropped a Timney Tigger in it. I already had a return trip with @KMG Hunting Safaris with a group of family and friends for Plains Game next summer in 2024, so I figured it would be 2025 or later before I could try out my new-to-me "Buffalo Thumper".
So I found myself happily surprised when I came across the opportunity to grab a Cancellation Hunt on very short notice to hunt a Cape Buffalo in July of this year. Somebody else's misfortune was my gain. It was a 6 Day Package Daily Fees and Trophy fee included for a Hard Bossed Bull but with a spread UP TO 38"s. The idea was to take of a old bull to thin the herd, but I would not be going after their best bulls. I literally had less than an hour to to quickly look at the Africa Maximum Safaris website and search some reviews of them to decide on "Go/No Go". I decided it was the cheapest chance I would ever get to hunt a Cape Buffalo and would give me a chance to try out my .416 on it's intended game.
I really didn't care about the size of the bull, as long as he was hard bossed. I figured I might even end up shooting a broken horn bull or something. I have a shoulder mount on the way for my bull last summer and figured whatever I shot I would just end up as a skull mount to remember the trip. But honestly I just wanted to try out my new toy.
So less than a month later I found myself once again on that long ass Delta Flight 200 to JNB to ATL but once again, excited at the thought of being in RSA to hunt.
As always, when I land in JNB I just want to get through customs and get my Rifle Permit as fast as possible, so I contracted with Henry at https://riflepermits.com/ to provide VIP Meet and Greet and for pre-approved rifle permits. As expected, my wife and I were met with met by their representative shortly after we got off the plane. We breezed through customs, collected our luggage and in quick order popped out into the now familiar circular arrival hall with the SAPS office off to the right. There I met the person from Henry's team that had my pre-approved rifle permits and all we had to do was go to SAPS, open my rifle case, quick check to verify the serial numbers on the rifles matched the permits and....bam...done with SAPS in like 5 minutes. Could I do my own rifle permits on arrival? After 4 trips to RSA...yes. But to me it is totally worth the cost to breeze through security and breeze through SAPS and be off to the City Lodge in quick order.
The arrivals hall is also where I met my PH for the hunt, Arrie Claase. Arrie is a big guy who extrudes confidence, while at the same time putting you at ease. I could tell right from the start that Arrie and I would get along great.
We spent the night in the City Lodge and grabbed dinner in their restaurant. The next day we ate breakfast and then loaded our gear into Arrie's hunting truck. It was a slightly over a 2 hour drive west and a little south of Johannesburg the the hunting farm near the town of Klerksdorp.
We arrived just in time to have lunch, then it was over to the rifle range to check zero on my .416 Rem and on the custom Brown Precision .30-06 built on a 1952 Model 70 action. Both guns were printing right where I left them before I left home so Arrie suggested we take off and have a look see for the last few hours of the day. My wife, who is a photographer, went along to take pics.
The farm I was hunting was a little over 10,000 acres and it was not lacking for game of all kinds. That first evening we saw Kudu, Eland, Nyala, Giraffe, Springbuck in the standard pattern and Copper, Impala and Black Impala, Hartebeest, Steenbuck, Lechwe and more. But what really stood out was the population of Wildebeest. The place was teaming with Blue, Black, Golden and something I had never seen or heard of...the Kings Wildebeest with the light colored blaze down it's sides. You could whack 4 different type of Wildebeest without leaving that farm.
After a couple hours of seeing all the other game, we finally picked out a group of Cape Buffalo. It was very windy (like 20-30 mph winds kind of windy) and they seemed to want to stay in the thick cover out of the wind. But we were able to pick out a herd and look over most of them with patience. We found two different herds but they were comprised of cows and young (soft) bulls and a couple really nice bulls that exceeded what my package allowed me to shoot. I knew what the deal was when I signed up for the hunt (under 38") so I was not disappointed to leave the great bulls alone. I was happy with whatever chance I would get on whatever bull was deemed "needing killing" so we moved on until dark. On the way back to the lodge we saw the 3 Rhino that the farm held which posed for pictures for my wife. It was a nice end to our first afternoon on the farm and I was looking forward to getting back out there in the morning.
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