Nyati
AH ambassador
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2011
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- Madrid, Spain
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- Hunted
- Spain, Finland, RSA ( KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, North West, Northern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga)
I had planned to go to Mozambique with a group of friends for my sixth African Safari, but the hunt was canceled, so we made another plan with Outfitter Adam Barnard of Spitskop Safaris.
We would hunt in four different locations in order to hunt all the species we were interested in. In the end I took a Scimitar Oryx, Mountain Reedbuck, Baboon, 2 Jackals, and 6 Warthogs. Hyena and bush pig eluded me!
My PH for the hunt was Heinz Krause; I knew him from last year but had not hunted with him. A very nice guy and excellent professional, I would hunt with him again anytime.
Day 1.
We arrived at Joburg on September 22 at 10 am, were met at the airplane door by an airport employee I have known for many years and went through the “fast lane” at immigration in 5 minutes. Picked up our luggage and started our 6 hours road trip to Pongola game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal. None of us carried rifles as we were required to shoot with suppressors, which are illegal in our country.
A word about Pongola, I already knew the area, as I had hunted at Mkuze Falls, which is very close. To me it is the most beautiful scenery I have seen in SA, rolling hills, the river, the great lake, and a lot of fine animals. Unfortunately they are also suffering from this 3 years long drought, so it was not as green as I could remember it. The camp is situated on a hill overlooking the valley and the view is magnificent. Wooden chalets on stilts, well appointed, but in need of a little maintenance, especially the plumbing. Food was very good.
At Pongola, we were met by Fanas, a Zulu PH from Leeukop Safaris, who would coordinate our hunt. We inquired about the arrangements made for hunting bush pig and hyena which were our reason to be in Pongola. He said bush pig was fed every day with kitchen leftovers, on two different places, fitted with sensors and red lights, and they had 100% success. As for hyena, they had done absolutely nothing, neither baits nor cameras, there were many, and lived in gullies between the hills, his trackers would flush them out and all we had to do was to shoot them.
To say that we were very surprised would be an understatement!
Day 2.
Following Fana´s instructions we climbed a path on one hillside, while the local tracker walked at the bottom of the gully, looking for hyena. We saw tracks, but no hyena. I shot a nice warthog which was on the opposite hillside, about 120 meters away, with a suppressed Marlin .243. We repeated the action on another gully, but same story.
That night two of us went bush pig hunting, my friend bagged a female, but my red light failed to work! When my PH heard some noised at the bait, he flashed a white light, discovering a small pig, which I did not shoot. It would have been nice if they had checked the light installation before the hunt!
Day 3.
We repeated the same procedure with the hyenas, and got the same result. We came down to the Pongola River and spotted a few warthogs, which were hard to judge as the grass was high and it was hard to see the tusks. I took a large female. A lot of other game were around, impalas, waterbuck, nyala, a couple of rhino, and several crocs.
In the afternoon we went down the gully again, when we spotted a nice mountain reedbuck up on the hillside in front of us, which I shot at about 150 meters with a suppressed 30.06.
That morning we had suggested to Fanas to set up a bait for the hyenas that night, to which he agreed, so we dragged the entrails of the animals I has shot, set up the bait, fox pro, red spotlight, all of which we provided, and settled in the dark. After a couple of hours, the wind turned, and we called it quits.
Day 4.
As we weren´t exactly happy with Leeukop Safari´s arrangements on our hyena hunt, we left for Bloemfontein, a day´s drive across Natal and the Free State. That makes it two days lost driving, but the positive side; we did see some nice countryside.
We spent the night in a very nice lodge at the outskirts of Bloemfontein.
Day 5.
We arrived at Klipkraal farm where one of my friends was to hunt an aggressive buffalo that the owner was very keen on getting rid of. As we arrived and stopped near the lodge, the buffalo accompanied by a young male, was drinking at a pond. As he saw us he immediately charged the bakkie, a great sight, as he was very big, with 43 in horns. He then broke the charge and disappeared among the bushes. The hunter, PH, and another hunter as backup went after their tracks; I followed about 20 meters back with local PH Cristo.
We looked after them for nearly two hours, it seemed they had just vanished, but I spotted the head of the younger buff lying low in the shadow of some bushes under a tree. Motioning to the hunters, they approached the bushes, and the large bull raised, the shot hit him in the lungs, we could see he was hurt but still on his feet, and escaping. I took us a further 45 minutes following him and after several shots, he was finally down.
After skinning and butchering, we had lunch, loaded the carcass on the bakkie and set off for Kimberly, a two hours’ drive.
Day 6.
I spent the morning hunting my Scimitar Oryx at Spitskop farm. This is a rare animal, which was listed as extinct in the wild, until two herds were reintroduced back in Mali. There are some in zoos, and a few farms in SA. You need a specific permit from Nature Conservation to hunt one.
There are two herds at Spitskop, and Adam was very keen that I shoot the older of the males, which suited me fine, as I don´t hunt for inches, but for old animals. Once PH Heinz had located the oldest male, we set up the stalk, which is not easy, as these animals are quite spooky, and there is not much vegetation in that farm, just flat sandy soil, some bushes and a few acacia trees. Our stalk was blow several times, as the wind was changing constantly. Finally we had a chance, as the big bull was alone at the rear of the herd, looking suspiciously at the bush we were hiding behind. It was a long shot, more than 150 meters, but Heinz was confident in my abilities, so he said shoot, and the bull dropped dead with a 25-06 bullet.
Brown hyena tracks had been seen around a ditch where they dump the animal remains, so we decided to add the entrails of the animals which were shot that day and sit in a blind during the last daylight hours in case they came back.
No luck!
Day 7.
Grasvandt is a 27.000 ha. cattle farm about 45 minutes´ drive from camp where Adam leases hunting rights. All game in it is wild and not managed in any form. There is gemsbok, kudu, steenbok, warthog, jackal, and baboon, as far as I can remember. We spent the day close to a waterhole, and I managed to shoot two medium sized warthogs with a suppressed .243.
Day 8.
We returned to Grasvandt farm, this time focusing on baboon, these cheeky fellows have the habit to steal the grain the cattle is fed to fatten up before they are sold. So I set up ambush hoping to get a clear shot, which is not easy due to all the farm equipment around and the possibility of hitting a heifer.
We had a cold front which brought some rain, and made the wait unpleasant. A huge old baboon came to eat, but I never had a clear shot, and he ran away when some farmhands came around.
The weather got worse, developing into a real storm, so we went back to camp and had to stay there in the afternoon.
Day 9.
Today we hunt lion. We drove from Kimberley to Sans Souci, a 12.000 ha farm near Madibeng, in the Kalahari. It took us about 6 hours. The scenery along the drive is worth it, there are no signs of human habitation between Kuruman and Madibeng , and that is about 200 km.
We had a cup of coffee, and went about searching for our lion, the usual procedure being driving along the trails until you see lion tracks crossing. This was made easier as it had rained the previous night. We located the tracks, and continued driving around the block, to see if there were exit marks, there were none, and I saw a strange round outline in the bush. There he was, lying low. Hunter and PH´s exited the bakkie, and took a detour to get a clear shot, while I stayed on top to observe. A shot rang, the lion jumped and fell dead, right on the spot, the bullet had entered just under its nose and stayed inside the head.
Back to Kimberley, where we were greeted by a fabulous storm.
Day 10.
Back to Grasvandt to wait for the elusive baboon, but no luck, storm again, back to camp. Siesta, and a drive for an opportunity target, steenbok, duiker, warthog…. Finally connected with a big female warthog, storm again, back to camp.
Day 11.
Last hunting day, back to Grasvandt, seems like I had Saint Hubertus on my side, during the morning I shot a very big warthog, two jackals and a huge baboon!
Siesta and storm again.
Day 12.
We went to Kimberley, did some shopping, lunch and took the plane back home.
We would hunt in four different locations in order to hunt all the species we were interested in. In the end I took a Scimitar Oryx, Mountain Reedbuck, Baboon, 2 Jackals, and 6 Warthogs. Hyena and bush pig eluded me!
My PH for the hunt was Heinz Krause; I knew him from last year but had not hunted with him. A very nice guy and excellent professional, I would hunt with him again anytime.
Day 1.
We arrived at Joburg on September 22 at 10 am, were met at the airplane door by an airport employee I have known for many years and went through the “fast lane” at immigration in 5 minutes. Picked up our luggage and started our 6 hours road trip to Pongola game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal. None of us carried rifles as we were required to shoot with suppressors, which are illegal in our country.
A word about Pongola, I already knew the area, as I had hunted at Mkuze Falls, which is very close. To me it is the most beautiful scenery I have seen in SA, rolling hills, the river, the great lake, and a lot of fine animals. Unfortunately they are also suffering from this 3 years long drought, so it was not as green as I could remember it. The camp is situated on a hill overlooking the valley and the view is magnificent. Wooden chalets on stilts, well appointed, but in need of a little maintenance, especially the plumbing. Food was very good.
At Pongola, we were met by Fanas, a Zulu PH from Leeukop Safaris, who would coordinate our hunt. We inquired about the arrangements made for hunting bush pig and hyena which were our reason to be in Pongola. He said bush pig was fed every day with kitchen leftovers, on two different places, fitted with sensors and red lights, and they had 100% success. As for hyena, they had done absolutely nothing, neither baits nor cameras, there were many, and lived in gullies between the hills, his trackers would flush them out and all we had to do was to shoot them.
To say that we were very surprised would be an understatement!
Day 2.
Following Fana´s instructions we climbed a path on one hillside, while the local tracker walked at the bottom of the gully, looking for hyena. We saw tracks, but no hyena. I shot a nice warthog which was on the opposite hillside, about 120 meters away, with a suppressed Marlin .243. We repeated the action on another gully, but same story.
That night two of us went bush pig hunting, my friend bagged a female, but my red light failed to work! When my PH heard some noised at the bait, he flashed a white light, discovering a small pig, which I did not shoot. It would have been nice if they had checked the light installation before the hunt!
Day 3.
We repeated the same procedure with the hyenas, and got the same result. We came down to the Pongola River and spotted a few warthogs, which were hard to judge as the grass was high and it was hard to see the tusks. I took a large female. A lot of other game were around, impalas, waterbuck, nyala, a couple of rhino, and several crocs.
In the afternoon we went down the gully again, when we spotted a nice mountain reedbuck up on the hillside in front of us, which I shot at about 150 meters with a suppressed 30.06.
That morning we had suggested to Fanas to set up a bait for the hyenas that night, to which he agreed, so we dragged the entrails of the animals I has shot, set up the bait, fox pro, red spotlight, all of which we provided, and settled in the dark. After a couple of hours, the wind turned, and we called it quits.
Day 4.
As we weren´t exactly happy with Leeukop Safari´s arrangements on our hyena hunt, we left for Bloemfontein, a day´s drive across Natal and the Free State. That makes it two days lost driving, but the positive side; we did see some nice countryside.
We spent the night in a very nice lodge at the outskirts of Bloemfontein.
Day 5.
We arrived at Klipkraal farm where one of my friends was to hunt an aggressive buffalo that the owner was very keen on getting rid of. As we arrived and stopped near the lodge, the buffalo accompanied by a young male, was drinking at a pond. As he saw us he immediately charged the bakkie, a great sight, as he was very big, with 43 in horns. He then broke the charge and disappeared among the bushes. The hunter, PH, and another hunter as backup went after their tracks; I followed about 20 meters back with local PH Cristo.
We looked after them for nearly two hours, it seemed they had just vanished, but I spotted the head of the younger buff lying low in the shadow of some bushes under a tree. Motioning to the hunters, they approached the bushes, and the large bull raised, the shot hit him in the lungs, we could see he was hurt but still on his feet, and escaping. I took us a further 45 minutes following him and after several shots, he was finally down.
After skinning and butchering, we had lunch, loaded the carcass on the bakkie and set off for Kimberly, a two hours’ drive.
Day 6.
I spent the morning hunting my Scimitar Oryx at Spitskop farm. This is a rare animal, which was listed as extinct in the wild, until two herds were reintroduced back in Mali. There are some in zoos, and a few farms in SA. You need a specific permit from Nature Conservation to hunt one.
There are two herds at Spitskop, and Adam was very keen that I shoot the older of the males, which suited me fine, as I don´t hunt for inches, but for old animals. Once PH Heinz had located the oldest male, we set up the stalk, which is not easy, as these animals are quite spooky, and there is not much vegetation in that farm, just flat sandy soil, some bushes and a few acacia trees. Our stalk was blow several times, as the wind was changing constantly. Finally we had a chance, as the big bull was alone at the rear of the herd, looking suspiciously at the bush we were hiding behind. It was a long shot, more than 150 meters, but Heinz was confident in my abilities, so he said shoot, and the bull dropped dead with a 25-06 bullet.
Brown hyena tracks had been seen around a ditch where they dump the animal remains, so we decided to add the entrails of the animals which were shot that day and sit in a blind during the last daylight hours in case they came back.
No luck!
Day 7.
Grasvandt is a 27.000 ha. cattle farm about 45 minutes´ drive from camp where Adam leases hunting rights. All game in it is wild and not managed in any form. There is gemsbok, kudu, steenbok, warthog, jackal, and baboon, as far as I can remember. We spent the day close to a waterhole, and I managed to shoot two medium sized warthogs with a suppressed .243.
Day 8.
We returned to Grasvandt farm, this time focusing on baboon, these cheeky fellows have the habit to steal the grain the cattle is fed to fatten up before they are sold. So I set up ambush hoping to get a clear shot, which is not easy due to all the farm equipment around and the possibility of hitting a heifer.
We had a cold front which brought some rain, and made the wait unpleasant. A huge old baboon came to eat, but I never had a clear shot, and he ran away when some farmhands came around.
The weather got worse, developing into a real storm, so we went back to camp and had to stay there in the afternoon.
Day 9.
Today we hunt lion. We drove from Kimberley to Sans Souci, a 12.000 ha farm near Madibeng, in the Kalahari. It took us about 6 hours. The scenery along the drive is worth it, there are no signs of human habitation between Kuruman and Madibeng , and that is about 200 km.
We had a cup of coffee, and went about searching for our lion, the usual procedure being driving along the trails until you see lion tracks crossing. This was made easier as it had rained the previous night. We located the tracks, and continued driving around the block, to see if there were exit marks, there were none, and I saw a strange round outline in the bush. There he was, lying low. Hunter and PH´s exited the bakkie, and took a detour to get a clear shot, while I stayed on top to observe. A shot rang, the lion jumped and fell dead, right on the spot, the bullet had entered just under its nose and stayed inside the head.
Back to Kimberley, where we were greeted by a fabulous storm.
Day 10.
Back to Grasvandt to wait for the elusive baboon, but no luck, storm again, back to camp. Siesta, and a drive for an opportunity target, steenbok, duiker, warthog…. Finally connected with a big female warthog, storm again, back to camp.
Day 11.
Last hunting day, back to Grasvandt, seems like I had Saint Hubertus on my side, during the morning I shot a very big warthog, two jackals and a huge baboon!
Siesta and storm again.
Day 12.
We went to Kimberley, did some shopping, lunch and took the plane back home.
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