SOUTH AFRICA: Ten Days In June With KMG Hunting Safaris In The Eastern Cape

Outstanding animals thus far...keep it coming.
 
Days 5 and 6. Back at the coastal lodge after our trip to the Stormbergs mainly looking for a bushbuck for Lucy. We did a mix of checking neighboring property’s and by the lodge. The 14” or so ram that we’d seen in the headlights with Marius on the day of our arrival started showing up in the open mid afternoon. Nick did get Lucy to about 60 yards for an attempted shot. She wasn’t steady enough for the quick shot needed and the ram was gone. An experienced hunter would have had a better result.

Day 7. Lucy still hunting for a bushbuck and I had a caracal on my want list. Nick has his own pack of hounds and a houndsman that runs them usually for the farmers that call him for predator control. He set up with a farmer to run his pack close to a dairy farm we were bushbuck hunting.
The morning started slow but about mid morning Nick and Lucy got to about 160 yards on a grazing ram. Lucy got on the sticks and after aiming a bit longer then most, she shot, the ram jumped, kicked and went into cover. Nick thought it might be good or just low. Waited about 20 minutes then Nick and Temba went into the bush a bit and found a decent pool of bright red blood. They backed out and Nick got a message from his hounds man that he’d treed a cat. We changed gears to give the ram time to stiffen up or die and went to the hounds.
They were down in a steep draw that we worked our way towards the commotion. The cat was about 20’ up a tree about 10 yards straight out in front of me. All had for a rifle was Nicks 308. He thought it would punch through and not open up. It opened up and blew the back out pretty good.
40A59970-2258-4126-9138-CB936D40AB3C.jpeg
Back to the wounded bushbuck. Nicks tracking dog Bruno had jumped off his truck on the hunt before ours and the PH Jeremy who had been on the hunt with Nick was keeping Bruno until Nick could go pick him up. Bruno was needed for this tracking job. Nick called and Jeremy says he’s on his way to help in the hunt. These guys love their bushbuck hunting!
Jeremy and Bruno were there in about an hour and they went in after the ram. If he stiffened up it wasn’t much. Jeremy took Nicks 308 and Nick had his 9mm. Bruno had his Kevlar vest. We heard barking and then one shot. I said to Lucy that‘s good. Then we heard another shot and I said I don’t know what that means. Finally after what seemed a very long time the guys came out with a thumbs up. Bruno had found the ram and in the thick stuff Jeremy had a shot at 2 meters and hit a tree. The ram came for them head down, horns leading. Bruno grabbed a leg and as the ram turned to butt him Jeremy shot the ram at he said 1 meter.. Bruno thanks to the vest only had a tender side, and guys had an adrenaline buzz for the rest of the day.
Very exciting couple hours for two old folks that are well past their “sell by date”
67A6A96E-F280-4C92-B2C6-2A068CD2AC43.jpeg

15” ram.
 
That's a dream bushbuck, congrats!!!!!!!!!!
 
Awesome bushbuck! Lucy did well! From what I have read, bushbuck can be one of the most dangerous of PG. This was a prime example!
 
Great photos !! Love that bush buck and lechwe!
 
Great write-up of your trip, I thoroughly enjoyed it @JOHN GRENZ . Outstanding trophies!
 
Very nice. Some good looking trophies. Your Amalie came way too easy tho. Most of us work darn hard to get one! Congrats
Bruce
 
Day 8.
Thanks all for the positive comments. I should have mentioned if Lucy’s shot had been two inches higher there would have been a lot less drama. She had picked up a copy of The Perfect Shot Book and was trying for a heart shot so the ram didn’t suffer. Took me to long to figure that one out.
Now it’s nyala day. We’d been seeing some good bulls almost every day while looking for bushbuck. Nick kept saying we can do better. I had doubts because some looked very nice. Went to a 11,000+ acre concession and seen one mature bull that had good length but his horns were almost touching at the tips. Not very good look. We can do better. We drove past some very thick tangle, dark bush and spotted a likely bull. Kept on driving for a ways. Stopped and Lucy and Nick slowly walked back along the trail. They went past where the bull had been a bit and seen a different bull. Not gonna do better then this one. Lucy threaded about a 20 yard shot into the thick stuff and was done nyala hunting. We drug him out for a good photo. Pretty proud of this newby hunter.
7EBFF550-D27D-4F34-8C1D-CED0A5059B76.jpeg
 
Thx John & Lucy for sharing your enjoyable ‘boots on the ground’ trip report + pics & it hits canny close to home - I’m 63-days from my KMG adventure, actually 62-days in 4hrs not that I’m counting or anything! And four/4 of your trophies are on my hit-list, plus, Nick will be our PH, plus, we’ll be using Nicks rifle to ease air travel so I’m feeling schooled right now!

Question: Nick on the camera? Great trophy pics capturing the moment: trophy, Hunter, natural Topo back drop. Splendid stuff … congrats!
 
Thx John & Lucy for sharing your enjoyable ‘boots on the ground’ trip report + pics & it hits canny close to home - I’m 63-days from my KMG adventure, actually 62-days in 4hrs not that I’m counting or anything! And four/4 of your trophies are on my hit-list, plus, Nick will be our PH, plus, we’ll be using Nicks rifle to ease air travel so I’m feeling schooled right now!

Question: Nick on the camera? Great trophy pics capturing the moment: trophy, Hunter, natural Topo back drop. Splendid stuff … congrats!
Yes, Nick was on the camera. Be prepared for long photo sessions with a very particular photographer who wants the perfect photos.
I don’t know if it would be possible to have a more determined PH trying to find the perfect animal for his hunter.
 
Thx John for the F/U message & kudo’s for Nick/KMG … I have read & heard that allot lately! I feel the avg. Hunter totally under-estimates the value of properly preparing & setting the trophy for that prize post-Hunt moment. I did in my early hunts & I have bad (yikes) Kodak moment to prove it!
 
Thx John for the F/U message & kudo’s for Nick/KMG … I have read & heard that allot lately! I feel the avg. Hunter totally under-estimates the value of properly preparing & setting the trophy for that prize post-Hunt moment. I did in my early hunts & I have bad (yikes) Kodak moment to prove it!
Sometimes the animals would be loaded on the truck and unloaded again at a better spot for photos. If you wanted some on the spot the animal fell that would be done as well.
 
Days 5 and 6. Back at the coastal lodge after our trip to the Stormbergs mainly looking for a bushbuck for Lucy. We did a mix of checking neighboring property’s and by the lodge. The 14” or so ram that we’d seen in the headlights with Marius on the day of our arrival started showing up in the open mid afternoon. Nick did get Lucy to about 60 yards for an attempted shot. She wasn’t steady enough for the quick shot needed and the ram was gone. An experienced hunter would have had a better result.

Day 7. Lucy still hunting for a bushbuck and I had a caracal on my want list. Nick has his own pack of hounds and a houndsman that runs them usually for the farmers that call him for predator control. He set up with a farmer to run his pack close to a dairy farm we were bushbuck hunting.
The morning started slow but about mid morning Nick and Lucy got to about 160 yards on a grazing ram. Lucy got on the sticks and after aiming a bit longer then most, she shot, the ram jumped, kicked and went into cover. Nick thought it might be good or just low. Waited about 20 minutes then Nick and Temba went into the bush a bit and found a decent pool of bright red blood. They backed out and Nick got a message from his hounds man that he’d treed a cat. We changed gears to give the ram time to stiffen up or die and went to the hounds.
They were down in a steep draw that we worked our way towards the commotion. The cat was about 20’ up a tree about 10 yards straight out in front of me. All had for a rifle was Nicks 308. He thought it would punch through and not open up. It opened up and blew the back out pretty good.View attachment 408342Back to the wounded bushbuck. Nicks tracking dog Bruno had jumped off his truck on the hunt before ours and the PH Jeremy who had been on the hunt with Nick was keeping Bruno until Nick could go pick him up. Bruno was needed for this tracking job. Nick called and Jeremy says he’s on his way to help in the hunt. These guys love their bushbuck hunting!
Jeremy and Bruno were there in about an hour and they went in after the ram. If he stiffened up it wasn’t much. Jeremy took Nicks 308 and Nick had his 9mm. Bruno had his Kevlar vest. We heard barking and then one shot. I said to Lucy that‘s good. Then we heard another shot and I said I don’t know what that means. Finally after what seemed a very long time the guys came out with a thumbs up. Bruno had found the ram and in the thick stuff Jeremy had a shot at 2 meters and hit a tree. The ram came for them head down, horns leading. Bruno grabbed a leg and as the ram turned to butt him Jeremy shot the ram at he said 1 meter.. Bruno thanks to the vest only had a tender side, and guys had an adrenaline buzz for the rest of the day.
Very exciting couple hours for two old folks that are well past their “sell by date”
View attachment 408351
15” ram.
A “Chief” Bushbuck! A bit dicey for sure but - whew! Yet Well done to all.
 
Day 8.
Thanks all for the positive comments. I should have mentioned if Lucy’s shot had been two inches higher there would have been a lot less drama. She had picked up a copy of The Perfect Shot Book and was trying for a heart shot so the ram didn’t suffer. Took me to long to figure that one out.
Now it’s nyala day. We’d been seeing some good bulls almost every day while looking for bushbuck. Nick kept saying we can do better. I had doubts because some looked very nice. Went to a 11,000+ acre concession and seen one mature bull that had good length but his horns were almost touching at the tips. Not very good look. We can do better. We drove past some very thick tangle, dark bush and spotted a likely bull. Kept on driving for a ways. Stopped and Lucy and Nick slowly walked back along the trail. They went past where the bull had been a bit and seen a different bull. Not gonna do better then this one. Lucy threaded about a 20 yard shot into the thick stuff and was done nyala hunting. We drug him out for a good photo. Pretty proud of this newby hunter.View attachment 408411
That’s a smoker Nyala, Lucy! A prize in any trophy room.
 
The last 2 days of the trip were much more relaxed. Lucy was wanting an impala so we spent time doing that. Also had to go into East London for the COVID brain scratcher swab. Had the results back in 6-7 hours. Had to stop for milk shakes while in town. Pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve had a shake at 9am.
Have to thank Debbie and Andrew at the lodge for taking such good care of us and Andrew getting us to the airport for the start of our trip home. The meals at the lodge were excellent with a variety of game meats. The kudu sausage was awesome!
This was my fourth trip and Lucy’s second, and don’t know if we’ve got another in us. I hope so. My son and grandson are talking about a hunt in a few years and may have to tag along on that hunt.
83220B65-9569-40B0-8FC6-0675D4B4E63E.jpeg
Lucy first game animal she ever took was an impala in 2017 and last animal of this hunt was an impala.
2D329807-0E9E-46FC-B513-F0C44C4DF39E.jpeg
Here’s the 2017 Limpopo ram.
 
Thx John & Lucy for sharing your enjoyable ‘boots on the ground’ trip report + pics & it hits canny close to home - I’m 63-days from my KMG adventure, actually 62-days in 4hrs not that I’m counting or anything! And four/4 of your trophies are on my hit-list, plus, Nick will be our PH, plus, we’ll be using Nicks rifle to ease air travel so I’m feeling schooled right now!

Question: Nick on the camera? Great trophy pics capturing the moment: trophy, Hunter, natural Topo back drop. Splendid stuff … congrats!
Just remembered I have a photo of Nick and Temba trying for the perfect pictures.
FBBD232D-EF7F-4C30-9B4F-FE4AFDA9099B.jpeg
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,441
Messages
1,125,809
Members
92,309
Latest member
LeilaLemie
 

 

 

Latest profile posts

thriller wrote on Bronkatowski1's profile.
Until this guy posts something on pay it forward free I would avoid him at all costs.
sgtsabai wrote on Buck51's profile.
If it hasn't sold by next week I might be interested. Stock would have to be changed along with some other items. I'm already having a 416 Rigby built so money is a tad bit tight.
The35Whelen wrote on MedRiver's profile.
Hey pal! I'll take all the .375 bullets if they're available.
Thanks!

Cody R. Sieber
@DERIAN KOEKEMOER SAFARIS is proud to say that we are members of PHASA.
WhatsApp Image 2024-03-09 at 08.11.01_9d17b32f.jpg
 
Top