SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa Safari with Cruiser Safaris

Too funny guys and I'm glad I was not the only one in this situation. Now, when it came down to the duiker or the steenbok, it was totally out of the question. Luckily I was able to switch to another animal.
 
Thats what she said before we left. Every conversation no matter how short included a confirmation that I was NOT to shoot a Zebra, that changed on day 3 or 4. LOL She said she could not shoot one herself but wanted me to shoot one while she wasnt there for a rug. Now she wants to shoot one herself next time we go.

Better get her there quik sounds like she's hooked.
 
Better get her there quik sounds like she's hooked.

Ya but its a mixed blessing. I love the fact that she enjoys hunting but now everything costs twice as much! LOL

She just got a freind of hers who has had a mild interest in hunting to get her hunter training certification and she actually just passed her test today so it looks like I will be taking yet another 1st time woman hunter out this fall. That will be 3 years in a row.
 
Thank you for sharing your hunt and pictures with us PARA45!
 
24 Jul 2012
Today we were going to a new place called Uncle Louis in search of the illusive wildebeest, warthog & kudu. We got to this place a little passed 7 AM, and 10 minutes into our drive we are driving pass this rocky hill, and we spotted 5 kudu cows and behind them a very nice young bull kudu. Obviously not a shooter, but big enough for me to get my heart pounding. As we cleared this rocky hill, John spotted some wildebeest running up hill and to the West of us. We jumped off the truck, checked the wind and started our stalk. We walked roughly 3-4 miles in trail of this heard of wildebeest, and every time we got close to them, the wind would change on us and as usual we ended getting busted. We continue this game for about 4-5 hours and we finally got close to them again, but nothing no bulls in sight all cows and calves. We waited and continue to glass and see if maybe the bull would step out, but our friend the wind, changed direction on us once again and the heard left a trail of dust for us.

We went back to the truck and continue our drive next to a river called 鼎rocodile River? There we couldn't hunt wildebeest, but we could hunt warthog & kudu. We drove right by the river, and we were able to see some young kudus, some young warthogs and some very nice nyalas (which were not on my package) and some nice zebras.

At around 5:30 PM, we decided to call it a day and head home. That night, as usual we sat around the fire smoking a cigar and listening to everyone's tales and about the one that got away. My friend Sergio had gone a serious hunting spree, and he again had shot a very nice wildebeest bull.

25 Jul 12

Today we went back to Uncle Louis again in search of the Kudu & the illusive wildebeest. As soon as we drove into the property we went by the same rocky hill, and the bull from yesterday was there with all his females. Unfortunately it was too dark for me to take a picture of him, but hi looked magnificent standing there facing at us on the ledge of a rock, head straight up with a majestic look. We continue on our drive, and John spotted a nice impala ram with horns in the 24-25 and John told me that it was a monster. I had told John, that if we could I would take an additional Impala & Warthog. We jumped off the truck, and tracked them. With the heard of Impalas was a single Blesbok; a very nice ram with maybe 18+ horns , so now we had to nice animals that we were after. Well, as usual, the wind did not want to cooperate with me, and every time we got close, we ended getting busted by them. We did this for about an hour, and finally the heard had enough of us chasing them and decided to leave us a nice cloud of dust.

We went back to the truck, and continue our drive, with not too much activity. At around noon, we decided to find a nice shaded area to have our lunch, and maybe even a little cat nap. At around 1400 hrs, we continue with our drive, and no more than 5-10 minutes into our drive, John jumped off the truck and walked in front of the truck and called me over. He said, these are fresh track of the heard of wildebeest we致e been after. I know where they like to bed down, and I think we might have a good chance of sneaking up on of them. I told my wife to stay behind, this was an uphill stalk and I didn't think she was up to it, after being with us during the stalk on the Impalas. She gladly decided to stay. We got on it, and we walked up hill real slow. This was a tough stalk, with lots of loose rocks, with branches and leaves on the ground. Walking without making any noise a painful trek. We had walked maybe 4-5 miles, and John spotted some zebras. They did not know we were there, and we didn't want to move, because we knew that the wildebeest would be close to them. We waited for what it seemed an eternity, and John said to me that we could either sit here all day and wait for them to move or take our chance and see if when we moved maybe spotting the heard of wildebeest. I said to him, let's move and take our chances. Sure enough, we moved and we got busted by the zebras and they took off away from us. We waited hoping to see the heard of wildebeest and nothing, not a single one. We continue to walk, and we heard the distinctive sound of the wildebeest coming from our right. The wind was still good, and we walked maybe some 500 yds, when John stopped on his tracks and said that there was a wildebeest behind the bushes. I looked and couldn't see jack! He got down, and said to me to get behind him to shoot off his shoulder, and that the wildebeest would eventually step out. Sure enough, this bull came crashing to check what was going on and stood in front of us no more than 90+ yds. John took one good look through his binoculars, and he whispered to me that it was a good bull and to shoot him in the chest. I had him on my cross hair, and pulled the trigger. The bull took off like nothing! John listen and before we could give chase the rest of the heard came our way to check what was going on. The heard got spooked, and we walked up to where the wildebeest had been standing. We walked maybe 20-30 yds, and John looked at me a little worried, and told me we F-up. I知 looking at him, like, what did I do? He laughed and told me that it was nothing we did, that the heard had walked all over the tracks of our wildebeest and he didn't know which way it headed.

We went back to where the wildebeest had been standing, and he started to track it. He immediately noticed that this animal was running on three legs. Still no sign of blood, and I was worried that maybe I had pulled the shot, and maybe had missed the vitals. We walked some more, and John found a real small drop of blood. Great sigh, I was a little more relieved, and now had something to track. Then John found some more blood, but this time it had saliva mixed with blood. John asked me if I had shot him in the face, and I laughed and said, no, that was one big ass target and had no reason to shoot him in the head. I said, I知 sure it hit a lung and he bleeding from his mouth. We continue to track it, and about 80 yds, we found laying down in the bush next to a tree. John told to me to shoot it, but all I could see where the hind legs and didn't want to shoot in the rear. Well, this thing jumped up and started to wobble away from us and John told me to shoot it in the rear. Which I obediently obeyed and pulled the trigger. That shot brought it down, it was 4:20 PM and we finally had my wildebeest. A very nice mature bull with a 27" spread and nice bosses. Again, I was super excited to finally have my wildebeest, and we gave each other high five. This had been a great hunt and an awesome pursuit of this elusive animal. Now we had to figure out how to get the truck in there to take this animal out of here. John, said to me to stay there and that he would be back. Close to half an hour had gone by and I could see John Boy in the front of the Land Cruiser and John driving and making a new trail up the hill.

We took the usual number of pictures, and now to load this huge animal into the back of the truck. By the time we got done, it was time to head home, so we decided to hunt on the way out of the property. Right before, we got to the gate, John spotted a huge Impala, and quickly told me to jump off the truck. We walked into the bush to take a better look, and John told me that it was maybe a 23-24 inches, but it was very young bull. Not worth shooting this early, and that the horns would not be good. So, we let him go to grow into a nice mature ram.

Got back to the lodge and we had another delicious meal with baby back ribs, corn, potatoes. As usual, we sat around the fire smoking and re-living our hunting stories. What a great way to end the day. John came back to me and told me that we would go back to the same place after Kudu. I was very excited, because I was hoping to maybe see that big impala again.

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My wife pretending to help out with the skinning. don't tell her I said that....LOL!!!!

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26 JUL 2012

I have my routine down pat! I wake up, go out for a cup of coffee, and chit chat with the help. Wait until around 6 AM to wake up my wife, eat breakfast and out the door we go around 0630. Even my wife is getting used to the routine and now picks her binoculars, hat and stuff that she needs.

Out the door we go and heading out to Uncle Louis place again. Since I already had my wildebeest, this time were going for Kudu, Warthog, maybe another Impala and if we saw the Gemsbok him too. We got into the property and started driving around like we normally do. Of course, what do we see within 10 min of driving? A heard of wildebeest just standing there looking at us at about 200 yds. There were some bulls in the heard, but not as nice as the one I got. We laughed, because since we had our wildebeest already, we knew this was going to happen.

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We drove around some more, and at around 10 AM, we spotted four warthogs in this open savannah type field. They were probably 1200 yds out, so we jumped off the truck and decided to take a closer look and see if there was a shooter or not. We got within 500 yds, and we could tell that the two boars were young and not worth shooting! This of course got my blood pumping.

John, decided to drive around the river and see if we could spot a kudu, and we did, but were young bulls and cows. We continue to drive around and around 1100 AM, John suggested we walk the river. This is the Crocodile River, and was barely running, but I could tell that it would be a mean river during the rainy season. We walked for about 6-7 miles along the river; we crossed it several times and nothing. While we were walking along the river, I found a warthog skulls, and was lucky enough to recover both tusks. We continue our walk and John stopped and pointed at the ground, and pointed a snake shed. I picked up, and looked at him and asked if it was from a Mamba, and he nod in agreement. I was excited, because I wanted and hoped to see a venomous snake in the Africa, especially a Black Mamba! Well, that never happened. LOL!!!

As we crossed the river once again, and went up the bank, John called the driver to come and pick us up. Well, no more than 3 min after he made the call, a nice kudu bull stepped into the road, maybe a little over a mile away from us. John called the driver to not come our way, and we put the stalk on this bull. We went in the bush, and as previous times, we ran to cut the gap, glassing to make sure that he was a shooter. When we got to within 120-150 yds, the bull was no longer there. We step into the road, checked the wind and of course my friend the wind had played a trick on us again. As we are standing there looking to see where he might have gone, he reappeared on the opposite side of the river, and was standing there looking our way. I didn't have a shot because he was behind some bushes, and the bushes were a few yards in front of him. As we moved to get into a better position, and as I get my rifle up, a pair of warthogs ran his way and the kudu and 5 cows ran away. We looked at each other questioning what happened, and wouldn't you know it, the driver was coming our way. He spooked the warthogs, and they in turned spooked the kudus. I don't speak or understand African, but I could tell that John chewed John Boy's a new a$$ that day. John was not happy, and I could tell John Boy was not either. This Kudu was not huge, maybe 45-46 inches, but was nice and wide, a good shooter bull for sure.

We found a tree to park the truck and have our picnic lunch. After our lunch, we continue our drive without seeing anything. We walked into the bush to come out on the other side of the road and see if maybe something was on the other side of the road and nothing. As we walk toward our truck we see a warthog, no more than 50 yds away from us. John sized him and he was too small to take. Well, he came right up to the truck, and stood within 10 ft from us. John asked me if I wanted to take him with his pistol, and I declined. I wanted a bigger warthog. We let him go so he can grow bigger. LOL At around 4:30, we drive around the river and take a side road, and there is the same Kudu standing inside the thick brush, at about 100+ yds away. John told me to take him, but all I could see was brush, and didn't have an opening to try to put the bullet through. I could see where he was standing, all I could cleanly see was part of his neck and his head. I thought about a neck shot, but I decided to wait. Well, he never came out into the open, and stayed in the brush all the time until he was gone, never giving me a clean shot. This is a big animal, and I didn't feel good about taking that shot, wounding the animal and having to track him in the dark. I was patient and didn't pull the trigger. John didn't fault me for not taking the shot. He understood, and he said that we had plenty of time and more kudu hunting to do. What a beautiful animal!

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We drove home, and again had another magnificent meal. We sat around the fire, smoking another great cigar, and talking about our adventure. My friend Sergio, again, had scored once again, and was working on getting the Spiral Horn Slam. Well, tomorrow will be another exciting day, we are going to ride elephants, and in the afternoon more Kudu hunting.
 

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Here are the rest of the trophies I got.

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Playing with this 3 month old cub put the icing on a fantastic trip.

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All my trophies :)

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Our last afternoon in the bush. :(

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And our last meal in South Africa: Eland, Wildebeest

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Like I said earlier, I sincerely would like to thank the country of South Africa for giving us the opportunity to hunt their land. To Cruiser Safaris, Pieter, John and the rest of the staff for their outstanding operations, and fantastic trophies I was able to take. Without Cruiser Safaris staff this would have not been the trip of a life time! We were sad to leave, but in our heart we knew we had made new friends, and that one day we will go back. From our hearts my wife and I thank you!
 
Some images in your posts do not show, try uploading them again PARA45.
 
Fantastic hunting report, and that Gemsbok is amazing/beautiful.
 
Still not working, you may have to post them in a reply to thread as an insert.
 
Hunted with Cruiser in '08. 5 of 6 animals SCI. Good outfit.
 

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