SOUTH AFRICA: Liam Urry Hunt Giveaway

Hey Everyone
Some of you may remember the generous prize that Liam Urry put up for a photo contest back in May 2017. Winner received a 10 day hunt for 2 people with $1500 each in trophy credits along with $1000 each in taxidermy.
I was lucky enough to have a picture of my son holding a duck on his first waterfowl hunt selected as the winner.
The time has finally come and we leave on Thursday and hunt starts on Saturday the 10th. I invited my dad to be the other hunter and of course my son will be coming along as well. Really excited to have a 3 generation hunt on the horizon. My father truly loves hunting with his grandkids so this will be an excellent opportunity for them to have some great bonding time.
Wanted to say thanks again to Liam and africaHunting.com for putting on the contest and to the judges for picking our picture.
I will post a full report when I have an opportunity.

 

RIGHT ON!!

 

Have fun, a three generation hunt will be memorable. Look forward to see your son hold the horns on his grandpa and pop's first African kritters.

 

Have fun.

 

Congrats! I'm sure you will have a wonderful hunt!

 

Enjoy

 

So cool! Enjoy the memories to be made!

 

Awesome!! Have a great time and we koolook forw to the report!

 

How grand! Can’t wait to see pictures of three generations all together in Africa!
A very cute picture of your son!

 

I will start by saying this trip was better than I could have hoped for. My father, son and I all had a fantastic time and can't say enough good things about Liam and the camp he runs. I will post a day by day report for those of you that are interested. I know I won't be able to do it justice but here it goes.
Travel Day 1-2:
Flight departed Winnipeg at noon on Thursday the 8th and landed in Calgary at 1:15pm. I am still not sure why I booked a flight through Calgary to fly basically right back over Manitoba but so be it. We departed Calgary at 3:40pm for a red eye flight which arrived in Amsterdam at 8:15am on the 9th. Flight was actually only 8 hours or so of flying time and my son was able to sleep for appx 5 hours. (Benefit of being 5 and actually being able to stretch out in the seats) Rest of the time was spent doing puzzles and watching TV.
We had a quick turnaround in Amsterdam and were out of there at 10:15am for the long 11 hour flight to Johannesburg. Arrived at 10:05pm ready for a bed. We were met at the airport by Mr. X from Afton Guest House and were back at their house by 11:45pm. This was a very smooth process and I highly recommend Afton. Not sure how, but I had trouble falling asleep. Must have been the anticipation as I did not get to sleep until 2:00am.
KLM did manage to lose 1 of our bags and we were assured it would be on the next flight arriving on the 10th. Turned out it did not arrive until a week later on Friday Nov 16. Luckily we did not have anything real important in the bag as we had packed extra clothes and valuables in our carryon.
Each night I asked my son Jeremy what his favorite part of the day was and this night it was seeing the hippo skull at Afton.

 

The excitement in your sons face tells it all! Let’s get the report going! I’m ready!

 

Nov 10/18. (Hunt day 1)
Wake up call at Afton was 5:00am as we had to catch one last flight at 8:30am to Kimberley. Mr. X once again assured we were checked in and walked us right to security.
Short flight had us landing in Kimberly at 9:30am

Liam and one of his Ph's Adelou (may not have the spelling correct) met us at the airport. Quick stop by the sporting goods store and we were on our way to camp. Arrived in camp at 11:30am. Unpacked, took a swim, ate some lunch and laid down for a rest until appx 3:00pm.
Due to the very hot weather we would be hunting from sun up until appx 8:30-9:00am and again from 3:00pm until dark which was around 7:00pm. The animals bed down in the heat of the day and it is pretty tough to find them.
After lunch we went to the range to ensure the rifles we would be using were sighted in. A few shots from each of us and we were comfortable. My dad and I would be shooting a Sako 300win and my son would be using a BRNO .223
Around 4:00pm we jumped in the cruiser to go check out the property a bit before dark. As we came up to a waterhole we saw a bunch of warthogs take off. There was a real nice boar in the group. Dad took a shot at appx 150 yards just as he was about to disappear into the trees. Shot sounded like a hit but boar did not show any signs of being hit. Liam has 2 great tracking dogs that we let out on the track and they immediately found blood and were off. Within 100 yards they had the boar at bay which allowed us to get close and put a finishing shot into him. Dad had his first African animal and a nice old boar at that.

After many pictures we took the warthog back to the skinning shed to get cleaned up. I then realized that I left the shooting sticks and my binoculars at the kill sight. We went back out to get them and we were almost back at the lodge when we came upon a nice Springbok. Adelou confirmed it was a nice male and dad made a perfect 250 yard shot which dropped him in his tracks. After many more pictures we also took him back to the skinning shed to be skinned.

Rest of the evening was spent watching the skinners work and just relaxing. I am always amazed at how good the skinners are. In no time they have the hides off with no holes and completely clean.
Jeremy's favorite part of the day was watching Grandpa get his warthog and I would have to agree. Amazing first hunting day with the family.

 

Nov 11/18 (Hunt day 2)
Wake up call at 5:00am and out the door by 6:00am. Plan for the morning is to try to find a Gemsbuck bull. We saw many bulls but just not the kind of bull we were after. Late in the morning we come upon a herd of Blue Wildebeest which includes a real nice old bull. We close the distance to within 175 yards. Dad takes the shot and he drops in his tracks. Adelou says to reload and stay on him as they are extremely tough. (I was thinking to myself there is no way he is getting back up). Sure enough a couple seconds later and he is on his feet running. Dad hits him again and he goes appx 75 yards and stops. A third shot puts him down for good. Upon closer inspection the 1st and 3rd shots were perfect and the second was too far back. Still not sure how he got up after the first. Take him back to the skinning shed and relax before the afternoon hunt.

After lunch Jeremy and I took the opportunity to go for a walk and explore a little. Found out quickly that sandals are a bad idea in this area as the thorns come through the bottom of the soles and into your feet. Spent some time pulling thorns out of our feet. Lesson learned. Liam has a nice little pool on the deck of the lodge that overlooks a well used water hole. It is really nice to be able to relax in the pool with a beverage and watch the wildlife come in for a drink.

When we were exploring we did find an ostrich egg. After marveling at the size of them my son decides he wants to see what is inside. I had a good idea what it would be like after sitting in the 40 degree sun for who knows how long but figured I would let him find out for himself. He puts it on the ground and hits it with a rock. The pressure that was built up was amazing. It exploded and sprayed rotten egg everywhere. What a stink.

Went back out in the afternoon to try to find a Gemsbuck for dad but again couldn't find the right one. I did try a stalk on a Springbok ram but he took off when he saw us trying to close the gap. Seems like the travel and early mornings are catching up with Jeremy.

Just before dark we spot a nice male Steenbuck and I make an easy 100 yard shot.

Jeremy's favorite part of the day was breaking the ostrich egg.

 

What a grand time with three generations!
That ostrich egg had to have been awful stinky! What a fun thing for a kid to discover!

 

What a neat report of family fun
Thanks Liam for hunt donation
Thanks to judges for winner
Cheers Jacques

 

Great start to your hunt. Looks like your son is having the time of his life. Enjoying the report.
Bruce

 

Yeah he absolutely loved it. To be honest, I had some reservations about taking a 5 year old across the globe on a 10 day hunting trip but turns out he loved every minute of it. Totally worth it and the best was yet to come. Will update more tonight.

 

Thanks for sharing your hunt!

 

Congrats from a fellow Manitoban. Go Jets Go!

 

Tough loss for the Jets last night. Lets hope tomorrow goes better. What part of the province you from?