SOUTH AFRICA: RIFLE: BOWHUNT: KMG Hunting Safaris Aug/Sept 2018

[Ryan]

Very nice trophies. I will be hunting with Marius starting on Monday and hope to get a bush pig

Marius was talking about another upcoming bush pig. We kept things going, I bet you do fine.

 

[Ryan]

The hamslam- excellent! Can you tell us about your bow and also the rifle you borrowed?

Ok. Since I went touring afterwords I decided not to bring my own rifle and worry about it being stolen. A stolen bow is no big deal to law enforcement, a rifle is a much bigger concern. And the parks make you claim firearms, I went into four parks. I used Marius' synthetic stocked Ruger MKII in 300 Win Mag with 180 grsin bullets for bush buck and eland and his Mauser in 308 with 130 grain for duiker. Great, accurate rifles, each suppressed which noticeably reduce recoil too. As a left-hander the Rugers safety is a snap to work, though the Mauser wasn't bad. My bow is an Athens Afflixtion at 67 pound draw weight using 500 gr. Easton FMJ's. While my usual broadheads are Slick Trick Magnums, I decided to look into hybrid mechanicals *GASP!* for their larger wound channel and the Muzzy Trocar HB broadheads passed my tests well. I use 125 grain points so technically I was using the HBX version. They flew great, penetrated well and caused quick kills on both the nyala and bush pig. They did not pass through on the bush pig, hitting the leg bone on the far side. They did on the follow up shot diagonally through the nyala.

 

[Ryan]

Day five and six.
Winds! Actually, day five and six were serious gusty wind day with it dying off on day seven. Next objective was duiker and blesbok. Graham and I sat in a blind over water in a shelted valley without luck in the morning. The winds kept changing direction so sheltered was relative. I did see a beautiful bird called a lurie while waiting. The afternoon winds had us laying low and relaxing since the animals were doing the same.
Day six was still windy but Marius' and I headed to a nearby property to look for a duiker or steenbok in one area aa Brian and Nick headed to another looking for kudu. The wind keeping things bedded, but perhaps we could spook or spot one. Driving along we quickly spooked a duiker ram. We got out and played cat and mouse with it for a bit but it dropped out of sight and won the game in the wind and brush. We kept hunting, seeing impala and a few kudu and hearing a shot from Brsin and Nicks area. Coming across those two we learned Brian had dropped a nice kudu with his Weatherby. We carried on in an area Marius had seen good duiker in the past lookjng in patches of vegetation like to hold them in the wind. We spooked a Cape hare up for a little diversion when Marius looked over and spotted movement at the top of a hill not 10-15 yards away. He crouched and quickly spotted a nice duiker ram, oblivious to our presence in all the wind. Quickly he had me use his right shoulder as a rest as I dropped the Mauser's crosshairs on it's vitals and squeeze off a shot. The rifle barely kicked and I watched the ram jump and drop through the scope. Perfect shot.

After pictures we met up with Brian and Nick at the landowners cleaning shed each admiring the others trophy. Brian took a fine East Cape bull.

 

[Ryan]

Ryan.............how was your experience with Condor Air? Their user reviews are terrible......just slightly better than a French prison colony...........your take?

And yet people keep using them....
I did because it's a straight flight to Frankfurt. Multiple flights and multiple waits and multiple airlines with differing rules and multiple chances to have my luggage misplaced make for misery. Plus Frankfurt is easy with transitting firearms and bows. Three flights from Alaska to Port Elizabeth and two back from Cape Town. No lost luggage. Tough to complain.
So,OK. Nothing really horrible and nothing amazing. Which, let's face it, is what you expect from a budget airline. They are known for late departures and arrivals, so don't have close connections. But I've had that with others too in all fairness. Seating assignment is annoying, either show up early or pay. Flight there was pretty much packed, but I showed up early enough to get an aisle seat asignment, all good. Because the tourist season ends in Alaska the beginning of September the flight back was half full. Everyone spread out. I had all three seats in a center section. It did leave a little late, but arrived on time. No complaints. I saw the flight to Seattle board before ours, it was packed. No frills there.

 

[johnnyblues]

Congratulations. Welcome to the family.

 

[Nyati]

Congrats, nice trophies !

 

[Ryan]

Day six, seven and...eight.
Ok I have five animala down. Cosidering the original plan was four and everything has worked out exceptionally well I'm way ahead of the game. Last is the blesbok. A species not generally known to be too tough to get with a bow. But as Marius sagely points out to me, the catch is there's just enough extra water around to make sitting in a blind a very hit or miss deal. So we start stalking. Marius has really gotten in to this and it shows. Get him in his gillie suit and watch him disappear. Nowxfollow and be prepared for some skinned knees ans maybe a thorn or two in your palm or socked feet. First evening, day six we got busted by the wind going in to a big group. Next day we had a couple/few stalks including one involving belly crawling inch by inch to a buah no bigger than a foot stool. Then wide open for 50-ish yards and some heinous gusting cross winds thst would throw an arrow who knows where. It eventually fell apart. This went on with frustration though day seven, which should have been it for me. Hard, good hunting. Frustrating, but I had nothing to complain about whatsoever. But the wind also made fishing off the coast impossible, with the skipper killing the trip due to sketchy seas. I've been on rough water, I don't question a captain's opinion. So day eight turned to the blesbok again. I'd like to report we finally got the best of them, but they continued to do the opposite of expectations. In the end the eland went off the list and blesbok is now my new nemesis.
And now to watch the sun set at Mpunzi for the last time.
Thanks Marius for a heck of a hunt!!

 

[Ryan]

Post hunt.
Days nine through seventeen.

Nothing against great hunting, but South Africa is a big diverse place and plenty to see. National parks and reserves all over, wineries, hiking, towns, country, etc etc. We could argue politics and crime to death, the simple fact is nowhere is perfect and people are surviving just fine, thanks. Marius dropped me off at an Avis rental office in Grahamstown where I picked up a VW compact. We stowed my stuff in it and off I went. I got to learn left side driving and left handed stick shifting real quick.

Here's my original planning map. I can now say I've seen the Cape from the Coastal forests to the Karoo and lots in between. Give it a try.

 

[cagkt3]

Sounds like you really had a great trip, thanks for sharing!