SOUTH AFRICA: NAMIBIA: Wintershoek/Ozondjahe Hunt Report 2015

Hank2211

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Time for this year’s hunt report. Again, this was a longish hunt, about a month, and I need a good editor (this has signs of becoming War and Peace!). Since I don’t have an editor, good or bad, this may get long, but no one is forced to read it, so take what you like and ignore the rest. I've noticed (likely after Brickburn's posting on the subject) that some people go in for the purely factual approach. Not me. Train of consciousness!

Two years ago I hunted Cameroon for Bongo, and needed a rest after that. So I went to South Africa and Zimbabwe last year, and posted that hunt report some months ago. I was intending to pursue something a bit more exotic this year (still need three members of the spiral horn), but then my youngest son, who was graduating from university in May, asked if he could join me for a hunt after graduation, before he began work in New York City in July of this year (he’d been in school in Washington DC, which is a long way from home, so we hadn’t seen much of him over the last four years, and New York wouldn’t get him any closer!).

None of my three children has ever expressed any interest in hunting, so I was thrilled to get the request. I immediately said yes, and then set about postponing my Ethiopian (mountain nyala) safari into 2016, and planning something a bit more “civilized” for 2015. My goals for 2015 were to:

1. Spend some quality time with my son – our last opportunity before he gets on with his life;

2. Get as many of the remaining members of the tiny ten as I could (I needed 5); and

3. Get a cheetah.

Goal no. 2 required that I spend some time in South Africa, while goal no. 3 meant Namibia was on the menu as well.

I called my booking agent Dean Stobbs immediately to get the planning going. We decided to use Wintershoek Safaris in South Africa to plan the South African portion of the safari. I’d hunted Wintershoek many times, and they had organized hunts in other parts of South Africa for me, and I’d always been pleased, so that part was easy. Well, for me it was. One of the animals I needed for the tiny ten was an oribi, and apparently permits aren’t that easy to find . . . but I told Strauss Jordaan of Wintershoek that I knew he would come through for me . . . for a change . . . and, of course, he did. And I would be hunting with John Tinley, one of the best PHs I have met. So that was set.

Namibia was a bit tougher, because I hadn’t been there before, and had really no way of deciding where to go. I spent some time on websites, spent some time at SCI, and spent some time talking to people. Finally, I decided on Ozondjahe Safaris, owned by AH’s very own Jerome Phillipe. There were a few reasons – firstly, AH is a pretty classy affair, if I do say so myself, so the guy who started it couldn’t be all bad; secondly, he makes some pretty bold claims about having lots of cheetah, and finally, my friends at Wintershoek had sent people there in the past and reported happy hunters.

So the hunt was set, and I was just waiting for a few things . . . like my new .300 Win Mag which I was hoping to use on the trip. That was not to be, since apparently you can’t rush art (who knew?). So it was going to be my trusty 10 year old Browning A-bolt, which has never let me down, and my new Rigby made .416 Rigby, pictures of which I posted on this site some time ago. (As an aside, I picked up the .300 this week, and posted pictures of it).

Next, I decided to film the hunt, so that both my son and I would have something to look back on. I called an old friend, Hannes Pienaar of HP Productions (an original name) to see if he had a month to spare for me. Hannes makes great videos, but he’s also been on literally dozens and dozens of hunts, so has great knowledge and instincts. In a former life he was as a captain in the South African Police, so knows a thing or two about shooting, and is likely more responsible than anyone for the improvement in my shooting over the years we’ve know each other. He’s also got a great, if somewhat twisted, sense of humour, and any hunt is improved by having him along. I think he had to rearrange a few things, but it turned out he could make it, so the team was looking like it pretty much set.

There was one outstanding detail though. A small one, but a nagging one. My son had never shot an animal, and had rarely shot a rifle! Dean put me in touch with Tim Fallon at FTW Ranch in Texas, who provides SAAM training. I arranged for Peter (the son) to spend some time there in April, and I think it worked wonders. He came to Africa comfortable shooting bigger rifles and frankly a better shot at the range than his old man (but the old man could still teach him a few things about shooting game . . .).

So I was all set. I was to arrive in Kimberly, South Africa, on May 17, and my hunt would start on Monday, May 18. My son would arrive directly from Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 20, spending a night at AfricaSky Guesthouse along the way.

I left Canada, on Friday, May 15, flying Air Canada to London Heathrow, picking up South African Airlines in London. I’ve used this run before with guns, and never had a problem. Not sure why so many people say avoid London – unless you’re going to Zimbabwe or some other country with an embargo, guns just show up at the other end, no problems, no questions. This time was no exception . . . except for my luggage!

I checked three bags in Calgary – a duffle with all my gear, a pelican case (with 100 rounds of Barnes VOR-TX in .300 win mag, and a dozen .416 Rigby also in Barnes), and a Tuffpak case with the two guns. When I arrived in Jo’burg, the guns came off as well as the ammo case, but no duffle. So forms to fill out, and time to contemplate hunting in my travel wear while they attempted to find my bag.

My layover in Jo-burg was about 5 hours. When it came time to board the plane to Kimberly, I was waiting on the tarmac to climb the stairs, and I was watching other people's luggage being loaded . . . and saw that they were loading my (lime green) duffle bag! Couldn’t wait to get to Kimberley to see if it was really mine, but sure enough, it was!

Just for fun, I called the SAA lost luggage number, and they said they were still tracking my luggage, waiting for a response out of London where it was last seen. I told them to keep on looking . . .

To this day, South African is convinced the bag is lost. I can’t figure out how the bag could possibly enter South Africa from an international flight, even though it was checked through to Kimberley, without clearing customs. I sure didn’t clear it. But regardless, I had my bag, and SAA was searching for it, so all seemed right with the world, or at least the chaos that seems to be flying today.

Clearing the guns was easy, since I’d relied on AfricaSky to get the permits. As it turned out though, there were a couple of mistakes on the permit – the .416 was listed as a second .300, and one letter in the serial number of the actual .300 was wrong. I’ve almost always found that the serial numbers are off by a digit; I’ve come to believe it’s intentional, because then the policeman can solve the problem on the spot, and thus earn your eternal gratitude, as well as something he likely values a whole lot more (that would be cash). In this case, though, the policeman didn’t notice the problem, and it wasn’t until we got off and cleared the guns in Kimberley that the person there spotted it. But since he wasn’t a policeman, he didn’t care, and frankly no one else who looked at my permits in the next month did either!

Stay tuned. There may yet be some actual hunting in this thread!

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Looking forward to this one........
 
times 2
glad your luggage snuck through , it will funny to see what, if anything ever happens there..........
im 2 trip to Africa ,and twice my luggage arrived 3 days after me ........
it would be great getting to share this adventure ,with your now hunting son , before he goes out into the big world ........
keep it coming , hank..............
 
.................

Just for fun, I called the SAA lost luggage number, and they said they were still tracking my luggage, waiting for a response out of London where it was last seen. I told them to keep on looking . . .
...................

Just caught this. Now that is funny!
 
Been waiting on this one!!!

And Tim Fallon and his SAAM course are amazing. I did the safari course and want to go back for the precision course sometime.
 
times 2
glad your luggage snuck through , it will funny to see what, if anything ever happens there..........
im 2 trip to Africa ,and twice my luggage arrived 3 days after me ........
it would be great getting to share this adventure ,with your now hunting son , before he goes out into the big world ........
keep it coming , hank..............
All my gear arrived alright in africa bluey , but i almost got detained in Perth as an illegal immigrant for sneaking outside the airport for a quick smoke .
I thought i was toast .
Don't you love Australia !
PS , most of the security couldn't speak english not even the Aussie version !
 
prolly couldnae oonderstand the kiwee axcint
what are doing smoking anyways !!
 
prolly couldnae oonderstand the kiwee axcint
what are doing smoking anyways !!
You sound like the wife .
Bad habit , bit like drinking , having fun , and sex .!
There all still legal , but only just .
 
:A Give Us A Hug:Hank keep it coming please....I'm reliving my earlier years through you guys! R.
 
Been waiting on this one!!!

And Tim Fallon and his SAAM course are amazing. I did the safari course and want to go back for the precision course sometime.

I'm going to Tim's Safari shooting school next week. Really looking forward to it!
Philip
 
I'm going to Tim's Safari shooting school next week. Really looking forward to it!
Philip

You will learn an incredible amount AND you will have a lot of fun!!!

The instruction is world class... there is a reason USMC snipers go there to train.
 
hang on , you mean you go to school to learn to shoot , animals while on safari ?
and the marines goto the same school ,to learn to be snipers?
so what am l missing ,here???
whos tim fallon ?
SAAM?
 
hang on , you mean you go to school to learn to shoot , animals while on safari ?
and the marines goto the same school ,to learn to be snipers?
so what am l missing ,here???
whos tim fallon ?
SAAM?

The school is run by retired Navy Seals and USMC snipers, who are the instructors. They have a couple of classes for civilians, one of which is safari specific. Charging DG targets, shooting off stick, and some fairly long range shooting. They encourage you to bring what you will shoot and give your equipment a test run.

Additionally, they provide training to the pros - military, SWAT, etc.... They are the real deal....

Google Tim Fallon SAAM and you will find some good articles on the class.

Here is a review I did as well.

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/ftw-outfitters-saam-safari-training-review.13685/

Now back to you regularly scheduled programming. Sorry Hank!
 
The school is run by retired Navy Seals and USMC snipers, who are the instructors. They have a couple of classes for civilians, one of which is safari specific. Charging DG targets, shooting off stick, and some fairly long range shooting. They encourage you to bring what you will shoot and give your equipment a test run.

Additionally, they provide training to the pros - military, SWAT, etc.... They are the real deal....

Google Tim Fallon SAAM and you will find some good articles on the class.

Here is a review I did as well.

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/ftw-outfitters-saam-safari-training-review.13685/

Now back to you regularly scheduled programming. Sorry Hank!
Sorry to Hank.
Not trying to steal your post , just sitting here trying to fill in time to you writ some more good stuff .
 
Hank,
I look forward to the rest of the report. I think Namibia might be my second trip over after my first this September, so I'm like a sponge at this point on anything Namibia.
 
Looking forward to finding out what happened with the Cheetah
 
Looking forward to finding out what happened with the Cheetah
To quote someone "you'll just need to wait and see."!
 

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