SOUTH AFRICA: My African Safari Hunt With Kubusi Safaris

[Waterguy631]

First off I'm not much of a writer. So please except my apologies for the spelling and grammar errors.
This story started 46 years ago when my brother went to Vietnam. We share a room so I got to touch his stuff after he left he had 2 books by Robert Rourke. Horn of the Hunter and Use enough gun on big game hunting.
I read and reread those 2 books for the 4 years he was gone so I can blame him for this addiction. I never thought I'd get the chance to go. My wife died of Cancer in 2006. in 2012 I met my new Girlfriend whose husband died a couple of years prior. Sitting around the fire one night we decided to make up a bucket list for each of us of places we wanted to go since we both had change our way of thinking to lets enjoy life now because you never know how long you have. We compared our lists and there were a few that matched with africa being one of them on mine it was #1. She had never even thought about a hunting safari she had always wanted to do a photographic one. So we started going to sports shows around the state in 2015 had a couple of places we were interested in when we went to the Milwaukee sports show . we met Ed with EAI outdoors and added him to the list. When we got home his name kept coming up as the one we were leaning towards. So I gave him a call and set up a time to go to his house to talk about the hunt and other things we could do. We drove the 2 hours down to him to meet him and his wife. We talked for a couple hours and before we left we booked and put a down payment on it. Only a little over a year to wait. A couple months later a friend of mine who is a LTC in the army called and asked who I was going with as he had heard through the grape vine I was. He had some leave to use up or he would lose it. I was kind of hesitant to give it to him since I hadn't been yet but he talked into it. Well he left book it and left in 2 weeks Every day he would email me that is was the best day ever.So the excitment got even worse. I started shooting every weekend and as the time got closer I tried to make at least one time during the week most of the shooting was off of sticks After Royal27 training I got my groups down to this at 200 off of the sticks. I think I'm ready to go.

 

[Waterguy631]

So we had booked a couples hunt with 5 animals Kudu, Impala, Blesbuck, Springboc and Warthog. I also used Henry's rifle permits for the whole thing from meeting us at the door of the planet permitting the rifle. I took my Tikka T3 in .338 win mag. Shooting barnes TTSX 225 grain bullets being pushed at 2950 fps.
So I packed and repacked a bunch of times and still took to much crap. We drove to Chicago the day before our flight stayed at a park sleep fly hotel worked great. We get to the airport in the morning I can't say enough good things about the Lady that checked us in to United I wish I'd wrote her name down so I could tell United about what a great employee she is. after getting us checked in she walked us to the TSA for the gun screening while talking about how her husband has to get more deer as one isn't enough to keep them in venison for the year. after TSA said we were good to god she even walked us to the TSA Pre check line.
The flight to DC went great then a 6 hour lay over till our flight left. The leg to Dakar my seat back entertainment system was broke. Some people got off in dakar so I could move across the aisle and have something to watch on the next leg. Got into Jburg we were met at the jetway door and taken through customs and got our luggage then we went and signed the Gun into the country. Out of baggage claim we were handed off to to a different employee of the rifle permitting service. She took us to the Police station show our permit I signed the book and we were out of there in 2 minutes. She then found our driver for the Safari club for us and we were on our way there in no time nice place but for got to take Picture of it. had dinner then off to bed up the next morning had breakfast and back to the airport for our flight to East london. Met there by our PH Pete. it was about an 1.5 hours to Kubusi safaris lodge

Just inside the gate we were met by these

and these

Put the gun together and checked zero had a few on lookers don't know if they were laughing or cheering

Had dinner and got ready to start the hunt. Here are a couple of pic's of the lodge area

The water heater each cabin had one they would build a fire in it so you had hot water

 

[rinehart0050]

Looking forward to hearing more. Keep it coming!

 

[Wheels]

It's amazing how Royal trains others to shoot so much better than he can shoot himself.

Love the background on the 46 year wait and Robert Rourke.

Glad you made it over. Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[Royal27]

Great start!!!!

I LOVE the stories with a back story the best. I can relate to wanting to go since i was a small boy.

amazing how Royal trains others to shoot so much better than he can shoot himself.

And this is so true.... @Waterguy631 is heads above me. And I had some pictures taken lately to see what Iwas doing wrong with my Lott which proved just how true that is..... Horrible horible form....

 

[CAustin]

Shooting practice target looks good so you are ready and now the hunt is on! I like the report so far! Keep it coming.

 

[cpr0312]

Thanks for sharing, look forward to more!

 

[gillettehunter]

Good start. Lookin forward to reading more. Bruce

 

[Whisstle]

Looking forward to the "rest of the story"....just getting to the good part!

 

[Tracker49]

I was there in 2009, looks pretty much the same, except for paint.
Enjoy your remaining time and tell James hello for us.

 

[Waterguy631]

Last night was Impala steaks and chicken wings for supper and the fixings. Chocolate desert with cream. Every desert is call pudin no matter what it is.LOL
up at 6 for breakfast Christine comes along we drive 20 miles to the main road and then another 5 down it to the ranch we will hunt Impala on pick up Neil the ranch owers son inlaw. head into the ranch . Spot some Impala start stalking but the wind is wrong so we back out and circle around and try again i'm on the sticks they are about 150 out Pete istrying to get another look at him when he lifts his head Pete dicides he isn't big enough. We do this 4 more times each time they aren't what we want.

So we are on our 5th stalk I haven,t seen the Impala yet when Pete puts up the sticks and says shoot him I put the gun on the sticks and see 4 Impalas at about 80 yrds in the scope he again say shoot I ask which one he tells me the one I'm pointed at and the biggest one I ask which way is it facing he tells me to the right and to shoot quick as they are getting nervous so I put the crosshairs on its shoulder but my years of shooting whitetails kicks in and I call the shot behind the shoulder it is going to be hard for me to break that habit from 40+ years of my dad telling me to shoot them behind the shoulder so as not to wreck as much meat. At she shot they all scatter. We make our way down to where they were and start looking for blood Pete says he went to the right so we are all looking that way nothing I'm start to think could I have missed but I saw him hump up at the shot. Go back to where they were and start over but we split up each of us looking a different way I'm starting to think this isn't the best way to start off Christine me not putting it right down hoping we don't find it still alive and she has to watch us put it down. When Erik yells he found it we all make our way over to him it only went about 30 yrds from the shot but died in a small gully under some brush.

We take pictures load him on the truck as we hop in Christine say that was cool What do we get to shoot next. Pete says they have some nice Blue wildebeest on this property and I had mentioned I my want one. I said I do but I want one that is huge in the body and has great markings the horns aren't as important to me as Christine wants to cover my easy chair in it. He asks Neil if its ok if we take one and he say yes. We are driving around looking over herds of them mostly cows and calfs. See one nice male that has huge horns but Pete says for what I want it is small in the body. So he decides that he knows a place that has huge body ones we can hunt later in the hunt. We start driving out when we come across a huge Blesboc hope out of the truck and try to stalk it but it keep circling to keep the wind in its favor try to work him for about an hour before we give up and head back to the farm house to drop Neil off. To my surprise they hang the impala up and Erik starts skinning it Pete tells me that the meat stays on the farm to either use or be sold different.

We head back to Kubusi to get into the salt and have lunch.

After lunch we head to Matola.

The country here is almost straight up and down Pete says there are some good Kudu here so we start driving the roads in this place are terrible we get to the end of the road Pete suggest we go glass the valley Christine stays with the truck. We get to the edge of the cliff and he puts me on a rock tells me to glass down bellow and up the other side he and Erik head out to glass from different positions..

After about a half and hour I see Erik waving at me to come over I work my way over to him as I pass the truck I tell Christine they have spotted something and I'm headed down to them.

Erik points me in the direction that Pete is in when I get up to him he tells me that there are warthogs bellow him and one is really nice he has the sticks set up before I get there so I get on them as I look through the scope i see 1 but he informs that isn't the one we want that the big one just went in the brush but to wait it will be back out and he is right it comes back out i ask him how far he says 220 it is almost straight down I get comfortable he asks me to tell him before the shot so I do and squeeze the trigger I see the bullet hit just above his back Pete confirms i shot over I forgot to hold low for the steep angle. They have run off so we head back to the truck. On our way out of the property Erik starts tapping on the roof Pete stops the truck and says Kudu. we get out and Erik takes us to the edge of the clif and points out a nice Kudu laying under a tree about 1000 yrds away with 5 females around him we sit down and try to figure out how to get to him Pete has found away but doesn't think we will be able to get him out if we do shoot him. He makes a couple of calls to see if any packers are available but no luck it is easter weekend so we are on our own He decides its not worth it to lose the animal if we can't get him out so we watch him a while longer then head back to Kubusi. For dinner. We didn't hunt on Kubusi as they keep it for bow hunters. After Dinner we pack up as we are headed to tusker lodge the next day. While packing Christine mentions that Pete Is really quiet thought he would be more talkative I had noticed that too.

 

[Waterguy631]

Blesboc stew and some good wine for dinner last night
We're up early I have the luggage hauled out to the truck and we have a bite to eat waiting on Pete and Erik Leave Kubusi at 6:00 and a 3 hour drive to tuskers one of there other lodges The cooks have a full breakfast waiting for us. Its starting to feel all we do is eat on this trip Pete opens up and starts talking he seem very comfortable here then he tells me that his son and him built this and they just sold it 16 months ago and it feels like home. Christine decides to stay at the lodge as there are horses in the yard and you can see animals all over the hills for her to watch.

We head out to look for blesbok only go about a mile when eril taps on the roof and says there is a herd ahead. we get out and start stalking we go a couple hundred yrds when Pete rounds a bush he sets up the sticks and tells me to get on them slowly as I do I can see the animals he tells me which one he wants me on but to wait on the shot as he wants one more look at him and we have to wait for him to raise his head. Just as he starts raising his head a young one steps in front of him Pete likes him and says as soon as the young one moves out of the way to take him. Well they walk off as though they are glued to each other so we start after them we play cat and mouse with them for the next hour I get on the sticks a couple of time but something always happens to ruin the shot. we think they have given us the slip so we head back to the truck as we are getting close they are right back where we started from work our way into 80 yrds on the sticks the one he wants is just poking out from behind a bush just so I can see his shoulder. I take the shot I lost him with the recoil Pete says he dropped right there Erik says I missed and he ran away Pete tells Erik to go check he finds him right there. So I'm feeling better about my shooting.

Pete goes and gets the truck they can drive right up to him we load him and head to the skinning shed as we are driving down the mountain Erik starts beating on the roof and all I can understand is him saying your Kudu. Pete explains to me when he sold the property that one of the clauses that the was 1 huge kudu that was off limits to everyone but him all the rest could be hunted but that one he had been hunting for 6 years and hadn't gotten and it had become personal. so we forget about the skinning shed Pete tells me if I have a chance to put a bullet into do it don't wait and he doesn't care where I shoot him just get a bullet into him he will get his dog and we will find him Ok then I guess he is taking this personal. We head over to where Erik saw him we drive for what seems like ever we get to a fork in the road pete stops and asks
Erik which road we should take Erik says the left one we go about a quarter mile when this huge Kudu runs across the road Pete is yelling to shoot him I don't even get out of the truck and he is in the bush on the other side We try to follow but the wind is wrong so we back out and head back to the lodge for lunch and to take care of the Blesbok. at lunch pete explains that for the evening hunt we will place Erik on top of the mountain to glass for that Kudu and we will go and sneak into one of the valleys he can't watch and we will glass from there. After a while Erik comes on the radio and says he has a good Gemsbok spotted Pete asks if I want to try for it as I had said it was one of the animals that I might take off the package I say yes we hike out to the truck and drive over to the area that it is in Pete explains to me that where it is we can't get to with this wind we will have to take the shot across the canyon from the other side so we stlk down our side we spot him above us on the other ridge we get as close as we can I ask Pete how far he thinks about 330 he wants me to sit I'm going to rest my elbows on my knees like in rapid fire sitting but he wants me to use the side of the sticks but they are flexing to much I tell him that isn't going to work so I stand up and get on the stick. I have a nice steady sight picture I gure Ithe gun drops 8 inches at 300 and 22 at 400 so if I hold top of the back I should be middle body. I tell Pete I'm going to take the Shot he say to make sure it's good because that's an expensive animal out there. At the shot I see the bullet hit above him he runs off Pete says I shot over him I can't believe that when Erick calls and says it just ran behind the bushes and is standing there with his head down that I had definitely hit him He finally sticks his head out but won't come out any further Pete says to put one in the bush where i think the body is to get him moving out he runs out and starts running away i shoot 3 more times on the 3rd shot i see him stumble and tell Pete I think I hit him again. We head back and pick up Erik and get over to where we last saw him Erik says from his vantage point he went one of 2 ways we start down the first trail trying to find some sign nothing we go a couple hundred yrds still nothing so we head back and check the other right away we find blood Pete goes back to the truck and gets his .270 we track for 4 to 500 yards when Erick sees him down in the bottom of the ravine about 80 yards away with his head up Pete tells me to put one inbetween the shoulders I remember to aim lower make the shot . they said it looked great but he starts trying to get up Pete tells me to break his hips so he cant so I hit him there. He goes down we work our way closer he is in a nasty spot where we can't get around him when we try head starts swinging his horns at us I work my way up his left side and Pete tells me to Put one behind the front shoulder I do looks perfect to me fo a heart shot Pete says to hit him again so I shoot him again . Pete works his way around the right side and shoots him twice behind that shoulder and we still have to wait for him to die I'm totaly dejectit making this animal suffer like that when he is dead we roll him over the first shot hit him low in the shoulder and into the bottom of the chest so I figure he was closer to 400 yards then 330 I won't go out again with out my range finder. They call for help to get him out of here.

Pete tells me it's the biggest male that has ever came off the property he asked me if I wanted to know how long the horns were I told him I didn't hunt for the tape he liked that. by the time we got back to the lodge it was dark . Christine said she so you didn't get anything I told her we did she was mad she hadn't came along I told her It was a good thing she hadn't as it wasn't pretty. At dinner Pete and I were talking he told me he wouldn't of let 90 % of his clients take that shot I asked why he let me he said he knew I could make it I told him he had more faith in me then I did. He then told me that the horns measure out to 44 and 44.5 inches I asked so what does that mean all he said was big. I don't know. We talked about what he wanted to do the next couple of days he want to hunt his Kudu in the morning and evening and then hunt some thing else during the middle of the day. We had Kudu steaks on the BBQ tonight they were outstanding and Christine and I had a couple of bottles of wine.

 

[Waterguy631]

I'm up early Christine is sleeping in and will go with us later when we go for Wilderbeast. Drop Erik off at his perch we head back to the valley to glass no Kudu sightings this morning so we head back have breakfast pickup Christine and then head to the big wildebeest spot Pete ask me again if I want a big body one or not because this property is close to the ocean and the bodies ar huge but the horns aren't the genetics aren't there for the horns. I tell him lets go for it. We drive about 45 minutes away Pull on this property Pete warns us that there are cape buffalo on here and not to wander away. We come to this bridge where the logs aren't attached they just move around when you drive over it kind of creepy.

Petes son is the manager here we meet up with him he already has some scoped out tells pete where to go we get out and stalk around a hill then come up to the top they are about 200 yards away I get on the sticks Pete points out the one he wants as i'm getting on him the wind swirls and they are off to the races we try to follow but can't keep up. So we head back to the truck and drive to the top as we are going Erik taps on the roof Pete erik and I pile out Christine stays with the truck we stalk of through the bush Pete sets up the sticks and tells me to get on them the animal start walking out he keeps saying not that oneafter about 15 of them he say take that 1 they are 150 out hodl on the shoulder and drop him right there.

Couldn't believe how big these animals are even with their skin off

While they were skinning it Pete's son had us go into the house a guy from Sweden owns it comes down twice a year for 10 days each time I wish it was me.

Table made out of railroad ties

Christine loved the puppy tracks in the blood

Back to tuskers to hunt Pete's Kudu no sightings again tonight.
we had Blesbok tonight it was just ok but the wine was good.

 

[Waterguy631]

Up early again today Christine comes along because we are only going to do a short Kudu hunt then drive 2 hours to Pete's pantry well that is what the other PH's called it for springbok he is the only one with permission to hunt there. we get there talk to the rancher for a bit then head out only go a short ways and there are springbok running everywhere try to get one close but they are cooperating with us so we head to a new field and find one that isn't so nervous we stalk into 220 yards I'm on the sticks and at the shot he drops right there. Pete tells me that his average for hunters on Springbok is 6 shots before they get one.

Pete says this is a good place to hunt Warthog to so we try and find one saw a few females with youngs but no boars Warthogs are my kryptonite. We head back to Tuskers to hunt Pete's Kudu nothing again At dinner Pete says we will be out all day for Kudu on another property and the terrain is bad Christine says she is staying back.

 

[Scott Slough]

Great hunt and report so far! Any chance we will get to see some pictures of Christine and you with your trophies?

 

[BRICKBURN]

Nice Gemsbok.
Underestimating distance is a common I have found.
Glad you got him.

My range finder is along and comes out if there is any doubt at all.

Thanks for writing this up. Keep the report coming.

 

[Waterguy631]

Up earlier today we have an hour and half ride and Pete wants to be there as the sun is coming up. We stop and pickup the tracker from the farm his name is Twenty bucks . When he was a kid he went to this farm and asked for a job he couldn't speak english so his mom taught him to say twenty bucks to tell them how much he wanted to be payed the farmer asked him what his name was he said twenty buck because that was all he knew he looks to be about forty and still goes by that name this place is huge. we drive to the Kudu area get out to check the first drainage as we round a corner Pete throws up the sticks by the time I get on them the kudu is out of range. we could of been done in 5 minutes this is looking up make our way down the ridge see 4 kudu bulls but they are in a place we can't get close to them we watch them and decide to come back later they might be going to a water hole nears. it is starting to get hot we find 2 more Kudu bulls Pete and Twenty bucks figure we can cut the off if we head across country. we are stalking through this thick brush when pete stops and puts up the sticks I slide into them he tells me there is a really good Bushbuck about forty yards away I have him in the scope Pete asks me if I want himI ask back how good is he and what are the chances on this Kudu stalk he takes the sticks down and we head out after the Kudu get where we want to be and can see the 2 kudu headed our way they get to about 700 yards when a Blue Wilderbeast runs past them and they turn and follow. dam . It is getting very hot I'm think around 90 we have lunch on the tailgate then head over to the water hole where we saw the 4 earlier we sit and watch it for awhile. Twwenty Bucks and Pete discus what we should do Twenty suggests we drive back through the ranch instead of around it. It took us 2.5 hours to drive across it then another 1.5 hour back. Christine isn't happy with us she was worry because we were so late. The cook staff put dinner on the table as we walked in because they wanted to get home. pete tells me at dinner that the was the biggest bushbuck he had ever seen that would of been good info to have earlier
I can't believe how everything here tries to stick you stab you or cut you.

 

[Waterguy631]

Only picture of Christine I have while hunting as she was the camera person.

There will be more when we start touring

 

[BRICKBURN]

................. pete tells me at dinner that the was the biggest bushbuck he had ever seen that would of been good info to have earlier. ...............

NO Sh*t!

 

[Waterguy631]

Up even Earlier Pete comes out of his room saying he couldn't sleep thinking about that Bushbuck What the hell. We head back to the same property a yesterday Christine is along she is my good luck charm. I hope it works out. We go to where we saw the four yesterday only see cows today but it is cooler I hope that helps off to another spot Erik and Christine stay with the truck we head down a finger ridge see a Nice bull across from us but to far away Twenty bucks say if we go back and circle around we should be able to close the distance so up we go we circle away from where he was then down the mountain get close to the bottom and make our way to that side just as we look over twenty bucks see him go into the brush on our side he say they never do that. so we try and call erik to come get us but he doesn't answer so we hike back up the mountain get to the trail where we wanted to picked up at Twenty bucks volunteers to go the rest of the way and get them Pete and I head back down a different finger to glass while we wait. After about 45 minutes Petes phone rings its twenty bucks he is headed our way but Erik has one spotted so we start walking up the trail to cut down how long it will take to get us when the truck comes into view I have never been so happy to see something in my life. hop in and off we go we get to a place where Erik left his jacket on a bush stop there and head into it we find him the Kudu is still there so Pete and twenty talk it over Pete is going to stay up here and direct us twenty , Erik and I will try and close the distance we get down to where they think we need to be but we can't see him we see some cows Pete says he is still there so we move locations to try and see him. we all feel the wind shift to the backs of our necks and get a glimpse of him going over the top. twenty has a good Idea where he is going so we head back to the truck and drive around the mountain. We get out and start heading to where he thinks he will be. Well he got farther then we thought he would he is running on the ridge across from us Pete throws up the sticks and says shoot as i'm going for them I ask how far he says just over 200 He is running right ot left I pull out in front of him and squeeze the trigger I see the bullet hit in front of him but he stops. Pete tries to grab the sticks to reposition because he is behind a bush I yell at him to leave them alone as I can see him but I can only see his head and neck so I crank the scope up to 12 I find a hole in the brush close to him and shoot Twenty buck starts pounding Pete on the back I'm trying to turn the scope back down and trying to find him. Pete say Twenty and Erik could see the blood pumping out both side when he was running away. Twenty and Erik started out down the ridge across the valley and up the other side . I stayed on the sticks not believing that I had hit him or how good I hit him. they hoolered they had found the blood trail Pete was lets head over there i told him I was staying put till they found him because once we got off this hill I wouldn't be any good if I couldn't see him. It was only a matter of a couple of minutes tell they were hollering that they had found him. Christine wanted to go go over and see him i told her It wasn't going to be easy bur she went any way. I stayed with her and we took our time Pete kept asking if we were going to make it we did.

Twenty Bucks is the bottom right Erik is the bottom left Pete is the top left and me.
On they way back down we ran across the blood trail

Pete called for reinforcements the rancher sent a truck and a bunch of guys to carry him off the mountain

We get back to the Ranches skinning building the rancher and his Daughters come out to see him as this is the first one off the ranch this year. The rancher comments on how big it is so he goes and gets a tape he and Pete measure it one horn is 50.5 inches and the other is 50. after the get it skined we head back to Tuskers Christine asks Pete if we can take a detour into town and stop at a liquar store because a dream 40 some years in the making needed a proper drink to celebrate it with We stop pick up a big bottle of gin and a bottle of rum some tonic and some snacks and the bill was less then 20 bucks We got monkey Gland flavored potato chips

All I have left is the warthog
Had ostrich it was better then the best beef Ive ever had